Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Yuan Qingguang’s electric scooter ran out of power halfway, forcing them to push it back.

Yuan Qingguang chuckled awkwardly: "Son, don’t worry, Dad will earn enough to buy a car."

Yuanting followed behind, pushing the scooter, his head drooping and mood utterly despondent.

Yuan Qingguang, seeing his son like this, thought it was because of their poverty, feeling disheartened himself. His son, who had lived like a young master, would now have to endure hardship with him.

Father and son, both in low spirits, returned to Yuan Qingguang's rented room.

Yuan Qingguang rented three small rooms in an urban village, complete with a small courtyard, but the space, including the yard, was still smaller than the toy house Cheng Shaolin once gifted Yuanting.

Yuanting walked around the place, two bedrooms to the left and right, and what passed for a kitchen in the middle. The left bedroom was decently furnished, with blue curtains, a desk, and a single bed with new bedding.

Yuanting looked at his father in surprise: "What, you knew I was going to be sent back?" How was everything prepared in advance?

Yuan Qingguang, a bit embarrassed, explained: "No, it's just that... Xiao was starting high school, he ranked first in the district for his middle school exams. The top school in the city directly recruited him, offering a scholarship and waiving tuition fees. He has health issues, so I thought it better he doesn’t board at school. I can take care of him here..."

Yuan Qingguang's voice trailed off, feeling guilty about taking care of someone else’s child while neglecting his own.

"Wow, my brother is amazing," Yuanting remarked, having been too preoccupied with fighting his mother over the past couple of years to remember Xiao's middle school exams.

He recalled from his previous life that his grandmother had told him Xiao was accepted into the city's top school’s rocket class as the top student in the district, a first for their village and a proud moment for the Yuan family.

"When’s he coming?" Yuanting lay on the new bedding, feet propped up, "Get another set like this for me, we can share the room." No one would force him to study now, but at least he'd have someone to help with his homework.

Relieved to see Yuanting unfazed, Yuan Qingguang readily agreed, "Alright, I’ll get you a new set too. Hungry? I’ll cook something for you."

Yuan Qingguang was genuinely happy to have his son back. Over the years, feeling hopeless and aimless, he never expected his son to return – it was like a blessing from heaven.

Yuan Qingguang went out to buy meat and groceries, while Yuanting lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking, "Damn, it's so hot here."

After living in an air-conditioned house, his body had become accustomed to comfort.

"Really, when have I ever suffered like this?"

After all, those four years of confinement were in five-star conditions.

Sweating profusely, Yuanting took a cold shower in the yard, and after cooling off, he flopped onto the bed and fell asleep.

Tired, not from physical labor but from emotional exhaustion.

He should have felt relieved, but for some reason, his heart still felt heavy and uncomfortable.

Yuanting slept restlessly, hearing Cheng Nanyi’s voice in a half-dream state: “Yuanting, come here, come with me.”

Just as Yuanting was about to approach, Cheng Nanyi in the wheelchair looked at him with disdain: “Stay away from me.”

Come here!

Stay away from me!

Why are you staying so far away?

Who told you to get so close to me?

Agitated and furious, Yuanting shouted in his dream: “Cheng Nanyi, damn you.”

“Why are you cursing?” someone shook Yuanting continuously, “Yuanting, wake up, wake up…”

It took a while for Yuanting to open his eyes from the confusion, his head throbbing painfully. He blinked several times before recognizing the person in front of him was Yuan Xiao.

Yuan Xiao looked down at him, concerned: “Are you feeling unwell?”

Yuanting blinked.

“Of course, you’re unwell. You’ve got a fever of over 39 degrees. Get up and take some medicine.”

Yuanting sat up, and Yuan Xiao stuffed a pill into his mouth, then held a glass of water for him to drink.

After swallowing the pill, Yuanting regained his senses: "Why are you here?"

"I was planning to come the day before school started, but Uncle called last night saying he was bringing you back today, so I came early. When I arrived, I saw you with a flushed face and talking nonsense."

"By the way, what were you dreaming about? You kept saying you wanted, then you didn’t, and even cursed Cheng Nanyi."

Yuanting: "..." You heard quite clearly.

"Grandma made lots of delicious food for you. Mom was worried you wouldn’t be comfortable on this bed, so she had me bring the bedding you use at home, adding a few layers to make it softer."

Yuan Xiao then took a thermometer to check his temperature: "You’re probably not used to the environment, and it's hot. I feel it's hotter here than at home."

At home, a fan is enough, but here, even with the fan, it’s stuffy and hot. Yuanting, having lived so comfortably, must be struggling in this environment.

Yuan Xiao kept talking, which significantly lifted Yuanting’s mood.

Yuanting’s fever broke in the afternoon, but it returned at night. This cycle continued for several days, leaving him with little appetite and noticeably thinner.

By the time Yuanting fully recovered, there were only a few days left before school started.

Yuan Xiao's school, the city's best middle school, required high grades for admission. Yuanting, due to residential zoning and his household registration no longer being with the Cheng family, couldn’t continue at his previous school.

However, there was still the option of paying a cross-district tuition fee, but it required pulling some strings.

Cheng Shaolin had anticipated these issues and contacted the school principal. Yuan Qingguang paid the cross-district tuition, and with both fathers' efforts, Yuanting's school admission was secured just before the new term.

Yuan Qingguang was now working on a factory assembly line, earning two to three thousand a month, which was decent, but the work was exhausting, with shifting three shifts daily.

So with both kids here, Yuan Qingguang simply couldn’t manage to take care of them, and Yuan Xiao had been doing all the cooking these past few days.

"I was thinking of not coming back for lunch and just eating at the school cafeteria, but now that you're here, I'll come back to cook for you," Yuan Xiao said as he placed the bowl of noodles in front of Yuanting.

Yuanting had been sick recently and was eating lighter meals.

Yuan Xiao even specially fried two eggs as a meat dish, but when Yuanting poked into them, the yolks ran all over, turning the bowl of noodles into a sorry sight.

Yuanting looked speechlessly at Yuan Xiao, who scratched his head: "I saw on TV that rich families eat these half-cooked eggs. I thought you might like them too."

Yuanting eyed the messy bowl of noodles and gritted his teeth: "Brother, you're really something."

Yuan Xiao chuckled awkwardly. He had never cooked before, and his culinary skills were indeed lacking. These days, he really had been troubling Yuanting.

"How about this, I’ll take you out to eat. I’ve got money," Yuan Xiao suggested.

Money?

Yuanting's eyes lit up: "How much money do you have?"

"Three... three hundred," Yuan Xiao said, feeling uneasy under Yuanting's intense gaze. He stepped back, clutching his waistband warily, "It's my first month’s living allowance."

"Lend it to me," Yuanting reached out his hand.

"Maybe not..." Yuan Xiao’s face turned sour. It wasn’t that he was stingy, but with Yuanting's previous spending habits, three hundred yuan wouldn’t even cover one of his meals...

"Are you going to lend it or not?" Yuanting narrowed his eyes.

"...Alright, alright, I’ll give it to you," Yuan Xiao said, lifting his T-shirt and pulling his pants down slightly to take out a wad of cash from a small pocket sewn into his boxer shorts.

Yuanting was stunned.

Yuan Xiao, somewhat embarrassed, explained: "It’s my first time going out alone. My mom was worried I might lose the money or it could get stolen, so she sewed a little pocket for me."

Yuanting looked up at the dilapidated ceiling, cursing under his breath at the situation.

"You don’t plan to wear only this pair of boxers, do you?"

"No, my mom sewed pockets in all my boxers."

Yuanting: "..." Impressive.

"Look at Yuan Xiao, a 17-year-old lad with both height and good looks. Despite the somewhat unfashionable black-framed glasses, he has the handsome features of the Yuan family – refined and gentle. Yet, unbelievably, he pulls out money from his boxers."

Yuanting took the money from his hand, and Yuan Xiao’s mouth twitched visibly in distress.

The money from his aunt was of various denominations – a hundred yuan note, two fifties, and some tens and fives.

Yuanting then returned the money to him.

Yuan Xiao was puzzled: "What’s wrong? Don’t you need money?"

"It's too little."

"How much do you need?" Yuan Xiao coughed lightly, "...I can maybe scrape together a bit more..."

Yuanting clicked his tongue, realizing Yuan Xiao had some hidden savings.

"A few thousand, maybe."

"Ah?" Yuan Xiao immediately waved his hands and hastily stuffed the money back into his boxer pocket, "I don’t have that much, not even if you sold me."

"What do you need so much money for?" Yuan Xiao asked again.

"To live like a young master," Yuanting replied.

Yuan Xiao: "..." He had no response to that.

Even if his dad and uncle both sold their kidneys, Yuanting couldn't live the life of a young master.

Yuanting lay back on the bed, feet propped up, thinking how he could play the role of a young master when even his dad was struggling.

Author’s Note:

Sorry to disappoint everyone, but there’s no time travel in this story.

Also, the story's biggest supporting character, Yuan Xiao, has now made his entrance.

I’m short, so let me perform a ritual belly-cutting, pfft...

Thank you to the angels who voted for me or nourished me with nutrient solutions from 2023-08-30 18:16:45 to 2023-08-31 19:33:55~

Thanks to the angels for their nutrient solutions: Yue 85 bottles; Don’t Bother Me I’m Sleeping 55 bottles; X 42 bottles; Ningyin 34 bottles; Iced Americano, Cool and Warm, You Got Me? 20 bottles; Update Soon, A Bunch of Big and Little Monsters 10 bottles; Cute Little White 6 bottles; Pulling Wind, The Adventures of Fat Crab 5 bottles; Chang’an City 3 bottles; 50342280, Pufferfish Melon, lucky, Marisa, 404 Big Ghosts, Big White Dumpling, Water Wind Light, 67132556, Sunken Ship by the Shore, Xi, Xi Xingye 1 bottle each;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!