Chapter 127: Jingcheng, a City of Wealth and Vanity

Bai Yunxing had long suspected something.

After all, his father hadn’t always been a scoundrel. He had only fallen into depravity when faced with hardship and despair.

And his mother, who had once lost her memory, now seemed to be recalling things from the past. That wasn’t entirely unreasonable either.

But now, Bai Yunxing felt something was off—especially after his parents arrived in the county. Their behavior had been… peculiar.

They kept talking about things he couldn’t understand, and the way they interacted more and more resembled old acquaintances from the same hometown.

That feeling of “villagers reunited” was something he’d seen countless times in the military camp. It was all too familiar.

【Mother might not be from Niantao Village. Maybe where she used to live, there were things I’ve never heard of. But Father was born and raised there. He shouldn’t know any of this.】

【Still…】

Juanjuan looked at her second brother: ???

Why was Second Brother starting to get suspicious too?

But Bai Yunxing simply smiled to himself, feeling oddly at peace. 【It’s fate. And honestly, the parents we have now are far better than before.】

Jiang Dai and Bai Tian had no idea their children were already starting to see through them.

At that moment, they were still explaining to their eldest son what “paid early access” meant.

“Paid means you spend copper coins. Early means ahead of time. Access means to click and listen.”

“So put together, it means people who like listening to stories can pay money to hear the storyteller’s tale in advance.”

Bai Tian explained thoroughly and clearly, in simple terms.

Bai Yunqi marveled, “That’s brilliant!”

You could make money like that?

So shady!

No, wait—the money’s coming to their family.

What’s shady about that? That money’s clean. So clean it sparkles!

It’s a fair trade, after all. How could it be considered a scam?

Bai Yunxing couldn’t even begin to imagine how much money this method could make in Jingcheng, that city of wealth and one-upmanship.

Bai Yun’an thought to himself, 【This really is a great way to get people to spend money. No wonder people before the apocalypse lived such good lives.】

Juanjuan tilted her head, only thinking how amazing her parents were—especially her father. The moment he started talking about making money, it was like he lit up.

“In the future, your mother and I will make big money, and you kids will eat well and live well!”

Bai Tian clicked his tongue and declared boldly.

Just then, a young apprentice from the pharmacy came over, carrying their prepared medicine.

“Consultation fee plus the cost of the medicine—after rounding down, it’s eight taels of silver.”

Some of the herbs were cheap, others expensive. This family had specifically asked for the pricier ones, so naturally the cost was higher. But the effect on healing skin and scars was excellent.

Bai Tian, who had just been boasting about treating the kids to good food and drink, now said, “Here’s six taels. You take this first, I’ll go home and get the rest.”

…

“That Kang An was a real piece of work!”

“I told you Zhenxiu Restaurant wasn’t a proper business! Foreign dancers, my foot!”

“Shiwei Restaurant is still the best. Even their storytelling is more interesting.”

“Forget Shiwei Restaurant for a second. I heard when Kang An died, he was covered in blood. It soaked through his clothes. But the weirdest part—guess what it was?”

Jiang Dai unconsciously stopped walking.

So did Bai Tian, who was carrying groceries.

With both parents pausing, the four children behind them naturally stopped as well.

The whole family of six stood there in perfect sync, quietly pricking up their ears to listen in.

The speaker lowered his voice.

“Kang An was kneeling on the ground in blood-soaked clothes. In front of him, written in blood, were three words: ‘I deserve death.’”

Bai Tian couldn’t help but shiver. He leaned in and whispered to Jiang Dai, “Is it really that creepy?”

Jiang Dai felt a chill too. But thinking about how Kang An had repeatedly caused them trouble, and how they’d never wronged him or set him up, she felt justified.

She cleared her throat and whispered back, “Who cares? He did too much evil. Even the heavens couldn’t stand it anymore. Whoever took him out did a good deed.”

Bai Tian nodded in full agreement.

“Beautifully done.”

Behind them, Bai Yun’an’s lips curled ever so slightly. A faint sense of smug satisfaction rose in his chest.

That feeling of watching others praise your handiwork after you’ve pulled the strings behind the scenes—Bai Yun’an didn’t feel giddy from it, but he certainly didn’t mind it either.

【Who else could it be? Obviously, it was me…】

But the next second, his eyes met his sister’s.

Bai Yun’an’s smile instantly turned bright and harmless.

Juanjuan smiled back at her third brother, then shyly looked away.

Third Brother… is really amazing.

Of course, that was because Juanjuan hadn’t seen Kang An’s corpse with her own eyes.

Anyone who had seen it couldn’t help but feel a chill deep in their bones.

After all, when a person first sees the corpse of someone like themselves, it leaves a lasting psychological mark.

Jiang Dai was no exception. In the modern world, things rarely went that far.

But today, she had experienced firsthand what it meant to be in real danger.

The knife in her hand had plunged into flesh again and again, each time drawing blood. That feeling of the blade slicing into a body, then pulling back out…

In the heat of the moment, with adrenaline surging, she hadn’t thought much of it. But once things calmed down, the aftershock hit hard.

And with her injury, Jiang Dai’s body—just barely recovered—relapsed into a fever.

When Bai Tian returned from the magistrate’s office, he saw his youngest daughter pacing anxiously at the doorway.

“Juanjuan?”

“Daddy!”

The little girl looked like she’d just found her anchor. She quickly said, “Mom has a fever. She’s talking in her sleep. Third Brother went to get the doctor.”

It was supposed to be the eldest brother who went, but Third Brother had insisted on going instead.

What puzzled her even more was that Third Brother kept muttering something in his mind…

Something like “Buluofen¹”?

And what was that xiaoyanyao²?

She couldn’t understand it at all, and Juanjuan was even a bit curious—could these things really cure illnesses?

How strange.

———

布落分 (Bùluòfēn) – This is a phonetic translation of “Brufen,” which is a common brand name for Ibuprofen, a well-known painkiller and anti-inflammatory drug

“笑眼药” (xiaoyanyao) seems to be a mishearing or mispronunciation of “消炎药” (xiaoyan yao), which means “anti-inflammatory medicine”

Translator’s Notes