Chapter 132: The Return Trip

I didn’t expect him to ask that suddenly. My mind went blank, and I stared at the computer screen for a long time before coming to my senses. I scratched my head, not knowing where to begin, and tried to brush it off.

This tactic worked well on my Fourth Brother, but it was useless with He Yu. He was incredibly sensitive to certain social cues, so he quickly poked me with his finger. “What’s the matter? You’ve already said so much. We’re close enough now, what’s there to hide?”

I hadn’t spoken about this to anyone outside before. For one, I was naturally honest and tended to pour my heart out to everyone since I was a kid. My classmates throughout the years were always looking for ways to scam me, so I didn’t have many people I truly trusted out in the world. I eventually learned my lesson and tried to avoid mentioning family matters whenever possible.

Secondly, I felt that talking about these things was too melodramatic, so I simply kept quiet.

I had originally thought I would spend my life alone, but life is always full of surprises. He Yu was someone worth being completely open with.

While waiting for the people on QQ to bid up the price, I leaned back in my chair and said, “I don’t really get along with my mom. She and Han Cheng have been together for several years and have a good relationship, but I can’t seem to fit in with them.”

As I mentioned before, my mom left Henan just after her month of postpartum recovery. My childhood impression of her was limited to the various stories my grandfather told me. It wasn’t until I was six that she occasionally returned for the New Year, but I still wasn’t close to her. After all these years, I can’t remember if the problem was mine or hers.

My grandfather was the first to realize this, and he tried to explain it to me. He said my mom went away to work for the sake of the family’s livelihood. At first, I believed him without a doubt, but as I grew older, I realized it was a lie.

Back when my grandfather was still alive, he had a formidable reputation. High-end clients constantly sought him out to inspect land, so our family’s finances were quite substantial. My grandfather even used to joke that the family assets were enough to support me for three lifetimes with plenty to spare. From that perspective, the “working for a living” excuse was far too flimsy.

“So you think your mother left Henan for another reason?” He Yu asked.

I nodded and said calmly, “I think she doesn’t like me.”

Perhaps my tone was too flat, because at first, He Yu didn’t catch anything wrong. He paused for a moment before the meaning sank in, and then he let out an “Ah!” of surprise. “No way. You’re her own flesh and blood, and the only child in your family. There’s no reason for that.”

“How did you determine that she doesn’t like you?” Lu A’yao had sat up at some point without me noticing. He pulled over a swivel chair and sat next to me, helping me keep an eye on the computer.

I blinked and began to reminisce. “I don’t know. There’s no specific reason. When I was little, she never hugged me or held my hand. She would just send me toys at regular intervals. After I grew up, she would send gifts for holidays and birthdays, but it never went beyond that.”

I then gestured toward the bracelet in my hand. “This is just one of many gifts. But I don’t have any particularly deep feelings for these things. Its only value now is hopefully fetching a high price so we can live a little luxuriously and order more meat when we eat out.”

I looked at the computer with a smile, pretending not to notice that neither He Yu nor Lu A’yao had any trace of a smile on their faces. He Yu opened his mouth as if to say something, but I was starting to feel annoyed by the direction of the conversation.

Just then, I saw an account suddenly post a message: “5,000. Selling?”

The amount stunned me. I quickly patted He Yu. “Holy crap! Someone just bumped the price up to five thousand!”

Hearing this, He Yu stood up from his chair with a “whoosh” and leaned in close to my screen. He scrolled the mouse twice, looking at the cartoon crab avatar. “For real? How rich is this person? They just hiked the price up by two thousand! Definitely a rich upstart with no eye for value. Quick, quick, send them a private message before they regret it!”

I was still a bit hesitant. “Wait, selling this bracelet for five thousand is a bit ridiculous, isn’t it? If we sell it for that much, we’ll be total profiteers.”

“Who cares about that! You’d be a fool not to take the money. The three of us can barely afford to eat!” He Yu ruffled my hair.

I thought about it and realized he was right. Besides, the account was mine, even though I was using my Fourth Brother’s name. His reputation might suffer a bit because of this later, but all he would lose was his reputation. If we didn’t sell it, we’d literally be begging on the streets.

So, I decisively opened the chat box and messaged the crab user: “Transaction via bank account for 5,000. Shipping on the same day as payment. I’ll send you a photo of the shipping receipt. Do you agree?”

The other party replied quickly with an “OK” and then sent a detailed address. I glanced at it; the address was actually in Kaifeng.

Without waiting for me to react, He Yu quickly pulled his bank card out of his pocket and gave it to me. I immediately typed in the account number. After waiting less than ten minutes, the other party replied again: “The transfer has been made.”

“I’ll go check.”

He Yu took the card and found a nearby bank. When he came back swaggering like a wealthy man, I knew we had the money.

This was the first time I felt that having money versus not having money were two completely different lifestyles. We leisurely went to the post office to mail my bracelet. That evening, with the five thousand in hand, we took a bus into the city for a great meal, went to a clothing store to buy some new outfits, and finally headed straight for the train station to buy soft sleeper tickets.

Listening to the rhythmic clatter of the train, I suddenly didn’t feel so irritable. A sense of comfort spread through my entire body. Lu A’yao sat in the aisle, staring blankly.

He Yu was sleeping across from me. He turned on his side and asked, “So, do you want to go anywhere else? With these funds, we have more than enough to visit another place!”

I lay on the bed and waved him off. “Forget it, let’s just get back. Once we’re in Kaifeng, I want to take Old Lu to the hospital for another checkup.”

He Yu gave a dry laugh. “Take him to the hospital? You’d better give up on that idea. I asked him a couple of days ago if he wanted to go to the hospital to check on his Corpse Poison wound and all that. He said he’s not going. Have you seen him go to a hospital once since we came out of Shennongjia?”

I asked, confused, “Why?”

“Think about it,” He Yu glanced at Lu A’yao sitting outside and lowered his voice. “How would we explain that thing on his face at a hospital? Forget a doctor, he couldn’t even see a nurse. They would definitely wheel him straight into an operating room to dig those porcelain shards out of his face.”

I sat up abruptly, forgetting for a moment that I was in the middle bunk. My head slammed into the bunk above me, the pain so sharp it nearly brought tears to my eyes. The commotion startled the guy in the top bunk, who immediately started swearing at me. He was speaking a dialect I didn’t understand, so I could only apologize profusely.

Lu A’yao heard the noise and came in, looking up at the cursing man. I have no idea what kind of look they exchanged, but the guy shut up instantly. After staring him down, Lu A’yao silently walked over to the bottom bunk and lay down.

He Yu secretly gave me a thumbs up, then made a chopping gesture and mouthed the word, “Badass!”