Chapter 2: The Xu Family in Qingshui Town – “Bug Catching”

Chapter 2: The Xu Family in Qingshui Town - "Bug Catching"

Speaking of Xu Zeping, he was indeed a pitiable child.

At the age of eight, his biological father died from stomach cancer. His mother was a rural woman with little education and poor health. She didn't have any major illnesses, but she was always weak, suffering from various aches and pains. Such a person couldn't support him.

Although Xu Zeping's mother didn't abandon him, they lived a life dependent on others.

First, they lived with his maternal grandparents until he reached the fourth grade.

In fifth grade, he was sent to live with his aunt.

In sixth grade, his mother remarried to an honest man surnamed Tang, bringing Xu Zeping along.

His stepfather was also honest but earned very little, barely making ends meet, let alone affording a house or a car. It was precisely because of this that he married a widow with a child at nearly forty years old.

To make a living, Tang Dashun, Xu Zeping's stepfather, took Xu Zeping and his mother to work in a third-tier city, renting the cheapest apartment for about three hundred yuan per month. It was a room without a toilet, where cooking was done in the hallway, and using the bathroom meant going to a public restroom. There was no place to shower, making life extremely inconvenient.

Since Tang Dashun had no special skills, he worked as a laborer on construction sites, earning between two hundred twenty and two hundred eighty yuan a day. However, there wasn't work every day; having twenty days of work in a month was considered good. Most of the time, he only had work for ten days a month.

Though Tang Dashun didn't earn much, he wasn't harsh on the child and found a school for Xu Zeping to continue his education.

Without a house or connections, they couldn't enroll him in a public school, so they had to find a private one, which cost three to four thousand yuan per semester. Despite this, Tang Dashun gritted his teeth and supported his education.

Xu Zeping felt grateful to his stepfather, even though he didn't have deep affection for him. He wasn't particularly smart but worked hard, resulting in average grades.

He wasn't outstanding in school.

Such a frugal life, without extra money, was manageable.

Xu Zeping hoped to maintain this life, but tranquility was bound to be disrupted. In the second year of junior high, his sister was born.

Given the advanced age of his stepfather and mother, his sister Tang Minxue was born with poor health and spent ten days in an incubator before leaving the hospital... This was a heavy blow to their already impoverished family.

Xu Zeping vividly remembered that during the second semester of his second year in junior high, his tuition hadn't been fully paid yet... He had prepared himself to drop out of school but was surprised when, on the night before the new term began, his stepfather handed 3,500 yuan to his mother to pay for his enrollment.

Later, Xu Zeping learned that his stepfather had borrowed the money from someone in the village.

Tang Minxue's health was poor, and she would develop bronchial pneumonia whenever she caught a cold, requiring hospitalization each time, costing three to four thousand yuan... Having lost his father at a young age, Xu Zeping was naturally more sensitive and understanding than other children. He knew how difficult their lives were and that dropping out was always a possibility.

Though he was unwilling, he understood it was something he had to face.

Despite this, Tang Dashun supported Xu Zeping through high school until his final year.

In the second semester of his senior year, Xu Zeping voluntarily proposed dropping out of school.

This was partly because his sister was hospitalized again, and partly because his maternal grandfather needed surgery for cancer... His mother, being the eldest, had to contribute to the medical expenses. Over the years, the family had accumulated significant debt, and Xu Zeping knew there was no money left for his education.

So rather than face the disappointment of not being able to afford college after passing the entrance exams, he decided to pretend he never passed.

In the second semester of his senior year, Xu Zeping kept his student status but found a job as a waiter.

He earned three thousand yuan a month at a chain hotel.

For the first month's salary, he kept a thousand yuan and gave the rest to his hospitalized sister for her medical expenses.

Xu Zeping and Tang Minxue, despite being half-siblings, had a close relationship like full siblings, so he was willing to spend money on her.

Xu Zeping was diligent and adept at handling social situations. From serving dishes to becoming a hotel supervisor, he spent five years climbing the ranks, increasing his salary from three thousand to eight thousand yuan.

Even so, he hadn't saved much money over the years.

Most of his earnings went to supporting his family. He knew that at twenty-three or twenty-four, he should be thinking about marriage, but he had neither a house nor a car or savings.

Xu Zeping gritted his teeth and decided to try his luck in a big city.

With rapid economic growth, housing prices had skyrocketed, even in their small county, reaching three to four thousand yuan per square meter.

Ideas were beautiful, reality was harsh.

Xu Zeping did manage to come to a big city, but he found that with his educational background, even small companies required a bachelor's degree. After two months, he realized that if he wanted a higher salary, he had two options: working in a factory assembly line or delivering food or packages.

In the end, he chose the delivery industry.

To earn more, he worked thirteen to fourteen hours a day.

The rewards were substantial; his efforts doubled his previous salary.

Xu Zeping stopped his scooter by a utility pole on the roadside, gazed at the moon in the night sky, and exhaled softly, revealing a crescent smile in his dark eyes.

He suddenly realized that the future was promising.

The sky was hazy, and the morning breeze was cool.

Xu Zeping got up from his cramped rental room, quickly brushed his teeth and washed his face, rushed to a breakfast shop downstairs for a few buns, and then rode his scooter to the delivery company.

Thinking about his conversation with his sister yesterday, Xu Zeping smiled, planning to buy a SpongeBob SquarePants plush toy to send back for her birthday after work today.

Seeing the green light ahead, he immediately stopped his scooter. While waiting for the red light, Xu Zeping adjusted his helmet and glanced around, habitually observing the road conditions.

However, when he looked to the right front, his eyes widened. A toddler, less than three years old, was stumbling toward the edge of the road... He saw that no adult was following the child.

By then, there were fewer than three seconds left before the red light turned on.

Xu Zeping gritted his teeth, knowing that saving the child was urgent. He abandoned his scooter and swiftly scooped up the toddler, intending to run back to the sidewalk. Just then, a swerving truck crashed straight into them!

Bang!

Under the massive impact, Xu Zeping instinctively held the child close to his chest.

Of course, they were both hit by the truck and sent flying...

When Zeping regained consciousness, he felt a forceful pressure on his head, causing his entire body to slide downward uncontrollably...

Upon sensing the light, he instinctively let out cries.