Striking It Rich

Chapter 1

In her fiftieth year, Sister An encountered the greatest turning point of her life: she was about to strike it rich.

Sister An was a caregiver, and her charge was a very wealthy old lady.

The old lady had only one grandson, who was currently hospitalized. It seemed there were no other relatives.

One evening, as was her routine, Sister An massaged the old lady’s head, hoping to help her get a good night’s rest.

The elderly woman kept her eyes closed as if she had already drifted off. Sister An turned off the light and prepared to leave when, suddenly, an aged hand caught her wrist.

Sister An turned back. In the darkness, the old lady’s voice was barely a whisper, as if she were afraid of being overheard.

“Close the door. I have something to tell you.”

Sister An didn’t understand why, but she closed the door anyway.

The old woman asked, “You’ve been here for over a week now. Do you trust me?”

Sister An certainly did.

So, the old woman whispered to her, “I have a favor to ask. If you can get it done for me, I’ll give you two hundred thousand yuan.”

A sharp “smack” rang out.

The old woman finished speaking only to see the caregiver slap herself across the face.

“Why are you hitting yourself?”

Feeling the sting on her cheek, Sister An said, “I think I’m dreaming.”

A caregiver, a caregiver strapped for cash, looking after a wealthy old lady—and suddenly the old lady says, “Do me a favor and I’ll give you two hundred thousand.”

Sister An was a timid soul; she wouldn’t even dare to dream of something so wonderful.

If it had been any of the other elderly people she had cared for in the past, she would have assumed they were going senile and thought nothing of it.

But this woman was different. She used to be a university professor. Even though she was in her nineties now, her body was sturdy and her mind was sharp. Her way of handling things was truly admirable.

Take an incident from a few days ago. Someone from an upper floor had thrown a bag of trash down, and it landed right on their balcony. The black plastic bag had burst, splashing liquid and filth everywhere.

Sister An was just a caregiver. Although she was angry, she prepared to simply clean it up herself.

The old lady had been inside reading. Hearing the commotion, she came out and saw the situation. Her first move was to call property management.

After hearing that no one was hurt, the property manager apologized and said they would issue a warning in the building’s group chat.

“Aren’t you going to investigate who did it?”

“There’s no point. No one was hurt. Even if we find them, there’s not much we can do.”

The old lady didn’t get angry. Instead, she called the police herself, explained the situation, and requested that they come to review the surveillance footage.

Sister An followed her, watching her speak to the police and the property management.

No matter how others acted, she remained calm, simply expressing her perspective.

“I am not throwing a tantrum, nor do I need compensation.”

“This time they threw trash and nothing happened, so next time they will throw it again. This time it didn’t hit anyone, but we might not be so lucky next time. I want to find the person, see if it’s an adult or a child, and hope they can recognize their mistake so we can control the risk.”

In the end, the police found the culprit. It was an unemployed man. The police gave him a lecture, and the property management posted a notice about the dangers of throwing objects from heights.

The matter seemed to end there.

After they parted ways with the police, the old lady suddenly said to Sister An, “From now on, don’t use the ground floor exit. They didn’t handle the situation thoroughly. I have a feeling something else is going to happen.”

The ground floor exit was directly beneath the spot where the trash had been thrown.

Sister An felt that was a bit much. Hadn’t the man apologized? He said he wouldn’t dare do it again, and his attitude seemed very sincere.

However, she was obedient. She did exactly as the old lady said, using the basement level from then on, exiting through the parking garage to go grocery shopping.

Then yesterday, when she returned from shopping, she heard that someone at the ground floor exit had been hit by a falling wine bottle. Blood had sprayed everywhere, and they were currently searching for the owner of the bottle.

That evening, the owner was found. It was the same man who had thrown the trash before.

Everything happened exactly as the old lady had predicted.

“Ma’am, you’re practically a psychic.”

The old lady replied, “When you’ve seen enough of these things, it’s no longer surprising.”

Sister An was a simple woman. From that day on, she admired the old lady from the bottom of her heart.

So, when the old lady said she needed a favor and offered two hundred thousand yuan, Sister An viewed her as a clear-headed elder who was perfectly capable of making her own decisions. She didn’t think for a moment that anything was amiss.

She immediately said, “Ma’am, just tell me what you need. I’ll definitely help.”

She was desperate for money. She thought to herself that whether she had to climb a mountain of swords or cross a sea of fire, she would get the job done perfectly to ensure she earned those two hundred thousand yuan.

She waited for the woman to explain the favor.

The old lady said, “It’s not the right time yet. You’ll know in a few days.”

Haste makes waste. Since the old lady had put it that way, Sister An could only wait, no matter how curious she was.

She waited for three days, and soon the weekend arrived.

Around noon, Sister An received a call from her employer, saying he would be coming over.

The person who had hired Sister An wasn’t the old lady, but a very kind middle-aged man. He was a truly good person. Sister An had previously had a conflict with her last employer, which had made it impossible for her to find work.

She had been reduced to working as a dishwasher in a hotpot restaurant. At her age, washing dishes all day long left her back so stiff it felt like it would snap.

It was then that she received the man’s call. He asked about her previous job and then asked if she would be willing to care for an elderly person.

Sister An had agreed immediately. She met the man at the hospital; he had a broken leg and two broken ribs.

Sister An had experience caring for the elderly, but the man still repeatedly reminded her of various details.

Only then did Sister An learn that the person needing care was the man’s grandmother.

The middle-aged man was truly a filial¹ descendant, calling every day to ask if his grandmother was eating well and taking her medicine.

Sister An reported everything to him. She found it a bit strange, though; the old lady didn’t seem particularly concerned about her grandson’s condition.

On Sunday morning, the middle-aged man returned in a wheelchair. As soon as he arrived, he called out for his grandmother, bringing her sweet glutinous rice balls he had bought from the shop outside the hospital.

“Last time we were at the hospital, you kept saying these tangyuan² were delicious, Grandma. I saw some on my way back today.”

Sister An noticed that the paper box he was carrying didn’t contain finished dumplings, but rather the glutinous rice dough and filling.

“Sister An, could you help boil these?”

Sister An thought this man was truly thoughtful. Most people would have just bought them pre-cooked, but he knew that if he bought them ready-made, they wouldn’t taste good by the time he got back.

The old woman was also pleased, saying, “You are very kind.”

The man seemed to have returned to pick up some books; he appeared to be an intellectual.

As Sister An kneaded the tangyuan in the kitchen, she could vaguely hear the man in the living room asking the old lady if she was getting used to her new caregiver.

Sister An pricked up her ears. Fortunately, the old woman was very satisfied with her.

The man then mentioned that he had slipped away from the nurses to come back today. He said something about not letting anyone know about a certain matter, telling her not to worry, and urging her to take her medicine properly, saying he didn’t blame her.

Sister An couldn’t hear exactly what the matter was. She didn’t pay it much mind; as long as the old lady was satisfied with her, that was all that mattered.

“The tangyuan are ready.” Sister An brought the boiled dumplings out. In the living room, the man was checking the old lady’s medicine box. At that moment, the old lady reached out and stroked her grandson’s hair.

“I watch Teacher Yang take her medicine every day. You can rest easy with me on the job.”

As Sister An spoke, she set the bowl on the table. “Would you like a bowl as well?”

The man replied, “I don’t have time. I have to get back to the hospital.”

The man cradled his books, took a few more photos of the old lady, and then said his goodbyes.

As soon as he left, Sister An said to Teacher Yang, “Teacher Yang, your grandson is truly filial. I’ve been a caregiver for so many years, and this is the first time I’ve met someone so devoted.”

Most caregivers understood that praising the younger generation was usually the quickest way to an elderly person’s heart.

The old woman’s gaze was fixed on the medicine box. Hearing Sister An’s words, she snapped out of her thoughts but didn’t follow along with the praise.

Fearing the tangyuan were too hot, Sister An picked up a nearby fan to cool them down. She added, “How did he fall so hard? I heard the doctor say he broke two ribs.”

The old woman finally looked up and said, “I’m the one who pushed him down the stairs.”

Sister An let out a gasp, doubting her own ears. “Why would you push him? He seems so filial to you.”

Old Madam Yang glanced at her and said, “Because he isn’t my grandson.”

Sister An’s head snapped up. There was a story here! She loved hearing about this kind of drama.

The old woman spoke with absolute certainty. “In my life, I only had one daughter, and my daughter only had one girl. Where would I get a grandson from?”

Sister An’s brain couldn’t process it. “Then who is this person? Why does he keep calling you Grandma?” If they weren’t related, and she had pushed him down the stairs to the point of breaking his legs, why hadn’t he called the police?

“They are a fraud ring. They’re taking advantage of the fact that my relatives aren’t around. At first, they played the part of good people, coming to help me so everyone around here would think they were my family. Once I started realizing something was wrong, they began telling everyone else that I was sick and that’s why I wouldn’t recognize them.”

“Then why don’t you call the police?”

When Old Madam Yang reached this point, her eyes dimmed. She let out a sigh and said, “If you were also old, you wouldn’t ask that question.”

Sister An didn’t understand.

Old Madam Yang explained, “For an elderly person like me, as long as someone says I’m senile, they can produce all sorts of evidence to prove we’re related. They even have medical records to prove I have mental issues.”

She seemed to think of something darkly humorous. Like a teacher instructing a primary school student, she warned Sister An, “Don’t go to the police. If you go, then I’ll just be a senile old fool who’s giving her money away because her head isn’t clear, and you’ll be the malicious caregiver who’s trying to swindle a confused old lady’s fortune.”

Hearing this, Sister An immediately recalled a previous incident. It was exactly like that; an old man she was caring for insisted on buying some “Divine Power Pills,” claiming they would cure his back and leg pain. She had tried desperately to stop him, only to be beaten and cursed by the old man. In the end, she couldn’t stop him, and when his children returned and found out, they accused her of conspiring with the scammers to cheat him. She had been unable to clear her name and resigned in a fit of rage.

Thinking of this, she felt that Teacher Yang truly lived up to her reputation as an intellectual. Even in her old age, her mind worked faster than Sister An’s.

“Then… the thing you want me to help with is related to this?” Sister An didn’t have a plan of her own.

Fortunately, the old lady did. “There’s no rush. You must be worried that what I’m saying is a lie.”

As she spoke, she held out her hand. “This is a strand of that liar’s hair. Take one of mine as well. You can go get a DNA test first. He calls me Grandma, which means he would have to be my daughter’s child. My daughter is definitely mine, right? So he should be related to me by blood regardless. Go get the test, and you’ll know if I’m telling the truth.”

This was the benefit of being educated.

The old woman gave her money and instructed her on where to go and what to say.

Sister An already believed the old woman in her heart. Following the instructions, she actually went to get the DNA test done.

Two days later, she received the results.

In black and white, it stated: No Biological relationship.

In other words, that man really wasn’t Teacher Yang’s grandson.

Sister An hesitated. Should she call the police? With this report, the police would surely believe her.

She walked along… until she reached the entrance of the police station, where she hesitated again.

If she reported it and the police rescued the old lady, then… would the old lady still give her the money?

She wouldn’t have done anything or sacrificed anything; why would anyone give her money then?

She admitted that at this moment, her eyes were clouded by greed. Her mind was filled with thoughts of that money. If she didn’t call the police and rescued the old lady herself—ideally breaking an arm or a leg while protecting her—then she could accept the reward with a clear conscience.

Besides, if she called the police and the man had other schemes, it might alert the enemy prematurely.

Finally, the old lady herself didn’t want to call the police.

And so, Sister An convinced herself step by step and returned home.

Seeing her return, the old lady didn’t even ask for the result, simply saying—

“You believe me now, don’t you?”

“I believe you.” Sister An summoned all the courage a caregiver should possess: “If he comes back later, I definitely won’t let him get near you.”

“They have my will, and they were planning to kill me. Now that I’ve made the first move, they wouldn’t dare call the police either, but it’s still dangerous here.”

Sister An nodded; it truly wasn’t safe here.

“Take me out first. Lately, they’ve been feeding me more and more medicine. I’m afraid if I stay here any longer, I won’t last until my granddaughter returns.”

“Alright, I’ll pack your things and take you out.”

Sister An, a caregiver and a long-time fan of listening to “face-slapping³” webnovels, had finally encountered her own power-fantasy plot at the age of fifty.

She was about to help an elderly woman escape the control of a fraud syndicate, and would then receive praise and financial rewards. She had even thought of the news headline that would praise her—

“Shrewd Caregiver Enters the Tiger’s Den, Bravely Rescuing Elderly Victim of Fraud”

It was a beautiful thought.

The two of them left the residential area quite happily.

Sister An didn’t have a car and needed to hail a taxi. While they were waiting, another matter occurred to her, so she asked: “Old Madam, where is your granddaughter? When is she coming back? Should we send her a message first?”

Hearing this, the old lady closed her eyes and cupped her hands around her ears like a megaphone, as if listening for something.

Sister An was very confused; it was a strange gesture.

After a moment, the old lady said: “My granddaughter has already been kidnapped and sold into the mountains.”

“Huh?”

Sister An was hit by the sudden impact of this information. Her first reaction was: “Then we have to call the police right away!”

She took out her phone and was about to dial when she asked: “Old Madam, how do you know?” She needed to explain the situation to the police.

The old lady maintained her previous tone, explaining unhurriedly: “Everyone in our family has a connection. I just sensed that she was tied up and taken away by a group of people.”

“Huh?”

Sister An’s head was full of questions. She could only ask them one by one. “That connection of yours… is it real?”

“Yes.”

“Then do we still call the police?” If they did, what would she say? Tell them about telepathy? Sister An might be uneducated, but she wasn’t brainless.

Fortunately, the old lady’s next sentence made Sister An put down her phone and give up on the idea of calling the police.

“The police can’t help us, because this is a tribulation my granddaughter must undergo.”

What?

What was she talking about?

The old lady looked around, and seeing no one nearby, she whispered: “My granddaughter is a Constellation Descending⁴ from the heavens to undergo tribulation. Don’t be fooled by the fact that she’s about to suffer; in reality, every one of those people who kidnapped her is going to die.”

Sister An’s body froze for a few seconds. Then, her mind raced through everything that had happened over the last few days. Her eyes, which had been blinded by the prospect of money, finally cleared. She immediately began pushing the wheelchair back toward the house.

She was suffering for her lack of education. So this was what happened when intellectuals grew old and went senile; she had certainly learned something new today.

At fifty years old, Sister An was still not destined to strike it rich.

The old lady frowned: “You don’t believe me?”

Sister An might be uneducated, but she knew that things like gods and ghosts were all superstitions and couldn’t be trusted!

Old Madam Yang sighed and said: “You don’t believe it? I wouldn’t lie about such things. My granddaughter really is a constellation from the heavens. The immortals above were afraid I’d suffer while looking for her, so they specifically came to tell me everything so I could sense her.”

Sister An looked pained. Teacher Yang, you are an old intellectual, how can you be so superstitious?

But Old Madam Yang didn’t understand her expression and continued: “She is undergoing her tribulation. She was just sold into the mountains.”

The old lady repeated: “She is a Constellation Descending, a reincarnation of a heavenly immortal. She only came to my family for a visit. The other immortals in heaven told me not to worry; everyone who harms her will die.”

“The human traffickers will die, and the family that bought her will die too.”

Traffickers dying and buyers dying were good sentiments, but the old lady’s sudden descent into rambling nonsense truly frightened Sister An.

“Teacher Yang, don’t scare me.”

“I’m not scaring you, I’m telling the truth. Take me out first. When my granddaughter returns from Undergoing Tribulation, I’ll give you three hundred thousand. I have money, I have a lot of money.”

Sister An believed her! She certainly believed the old lady had money!

A full three hundred thousand. In just this short time, the old lady had raised the offer by another hundred thousand! This was three hundred thousand!

At this moment, Sister An wished a villain would appear before her. She was born to risk her life for this wealthy old lady against the forces of evil.

Sister An looked around. It was broad daylight in a peaceful era; there wasn’t a single force of evil in sight. She couldn’t be the brave caregiver who made the news. She could only refuse with tears in her eyes: “Old Madam, please stop. I don’t need the money.”

The old lady glanced at her, the light fading from her eyes like a child who wasn’t trusted. She said: “If you don’t believe me, then I won’t say any more.”

Sister An hung her head. She really wanted to believe. Believing meant three hundred thousand; who wouldn’t want to believe?

But a person still had to have a conscience.

Translator’s Notes