Chapter 16: Chapter 15 Love Charity_1
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Is it Little Shi? It must be Little Shi!"
Huai Shi hadn't reacted before she saw the thin woman standing behind her, her face a bit waxy yellow. Even in the peak of summer, she wore a fluffy hat, yet there was no trace of hair to be seen.
"...Sister-in-law?"
After not seeing her for a while, Huai Shi could hardly recognize her, uncertain if this was Old Yang's wife, arguably the last conscience in Old Yang's household.
Previously, when Huai Shi saw her, she had black hair down to her waist and a rosy complexion, a real beauty. But now, her long hair had fallen out due to chemotherapy, and her face looked unhealthily pale.
Only her smile remained warm and friendly.
"Hey, your brother Yang told me you were working here these days, I didn't believe it, but it turned out to be true..."
Before Huai Shi could say anything, the woman came over, holding vegetables in one hand and pulling Huai Shi with the other: "You haven't eaten, right? Come on, today's your brother Yang's birthday, let's go to our house for dinner!"
.
.
Half an hour later, across the bubbling hot pot, amid the rising steam, Huai Shi and Old Yang were silently staring at each other.
After a long silence, Old Yang glanced at his wife busy in the kitchen and then turned back to say in a low voice, "I told you to come, and you really came..."
"Isn't that true?" Huai Shi slapped her knee. "Didn't you say you were going to treat me to a meal?"
"I was just being polite, don't take it seriously..."
"Then what about you stuffing me into Cowherd's den?"
"That was a misunderstanding."
Old Yang's eyes almost rolled back to the ceiling: "Besides, haven't you been quite happy? Bringing colleagues right to your doorstep, it's clear that a good horse is common, but a good horse owner is not..."
"Enough already!"
Huai Shi got infuriated just bringing it up. If it weren't for this scumbag, driven by a bit of brokerage fee to lose his conscience, would Huai Shi be as unlucky as she is now?
"Are we going to eat? I'm hungry."
Liu Dongli, who was in the corner of the living room, looked up and said. This guy was just as unceremonious – someone offered a meal, and he had no qualms about tagging along. Now he was squatting in front of Old Yang's fish tank, playing with Old Yang's fish food.
Old Yang, the stingy miser, looked like his eyes were about to pop out of his head.
"Ah, here we are, here we are, sorry to keep everyone waiting. Come on, let's eat."
The sister-in-law came out of the kitchen with the sliced vegetables, calling Liu Dongli to join them, and even prepared dipping sauce for them. Seeing Old Yang's displeasure, she gave him a stern look: "Little Shi rarely visits, who are you making that face for? Oh, is this Little Shi's colleague? Such a handsome fellow... come on, let's eat."
Being stared down by his wife, Old Yang lost his steam, meekly dropped a piece of meat into the hot pot while muttering about Huai Shi not giving any brokerage fee this time.
Eating with Old Yang's sour face, Huai Shi enjoyed her meal thoroughly. After dinner, Old Yang was dispatched to the kitchen to wash dishes, while Huai Shi sat in the living room casually chatting with the sister-in-law whose complexion had improved considerably. It appeared that Old Yang's conscienceless money-grabbing had been of some use after all.
"Live one day less for each day lived, take one day at a time," the sister-in-law said, unconcerned, lighting up a cigarette despite Huai Shi's protest, "You see, it's one thing for this illness to torment me, but it's another to have Old Yang suffer because of it. I can't live with that."
"What are you saying?"
Old Yang, eavesdropping in the kitchen, popped his head out and suddenly exploded, "Li XuMei, what do you think you're doing? What did the doctor say? Put out that cigarette right now, immediately!"
"What did you say?" The sister-in-law turned to look at him.
"..."
Old Yang's legs went weak for a moment, his voice lowering: "Please put out the cigarette."
"That's more like it."
Triumphant, the sister-in-law gave Huai Shi a knowing look, threw her cigarette into the ashtray, and whispered to Huai Shi, "You see? If he ever tricks you out of your money, just tell me, and I'll take care of him."
"...Alright, alright."
Huai Shi's eyes lit up, thinking to herself that within the range of a snake's bite there must be an antidote. Indeed, there's a counter for everything in this world...
The meal had finished, the pot washed, and Old Yang, still donning an apron, finally managed to kick out these two freeloaders who had come over for a meal.
All the way, he scowled at Liu Dongli, who hadn't been shy about showing off in front of his wife, and after squeezing him into hailing a cab, Old Yang turned to look at Huai Shi.
His expression was odd.
"What's wrong?"
Huai Shi instinctively stepped back, his first thought being that the bastard was so humiliated he was going to become violent.
Old Yang stared at him suspiciously for a while, then pulled him over and asked in a low voice, "You haven't offended anyone, have you?"
"Hmm?"
Huai Shi suddenly became alert, only to hear Old Yang say, "Somebody came here last night asking about you, and they gave quite a bit of money."
"You didn't tell them, did you?" Huai Shi became anxious.
Old Yang rolled his eyes, "Bullshit, if I didn't tell them, would I still be human?"
"So that means... Wait a second!" Huai Shi's eyes widened, "What did you say?"
Having just sold him out, Old Yang sighed, raised five fingers, and said, "They gave fifty thousand to get information about you; even if I hadn't told them, do you think they wouldn't be able to find out from your school? You better think hard about what shady thing you've done lately."
"..."
Even though he was well aware of Old Yang's nature, Huai Shi couldn't help the urge to hit him.
Following that, he saw Old Yang lift his apron and stuff a couple of rolls into Huai Shi's pocket.
Huai Shi felt them and was stunned.
They were rolls of thick money notes.
There must have been at least twenty thousand.
"I wasn't righteous this time, sorry... I was just too short on cash. If you're too angry, feel free to beat me up."
He apologized with his head down, "Take the money and go somewhere else for a few days, don't come back yet. I'll ask around, and when things have settled down, I'll call you."
Huai Shi had not expected this son of a bitch to actually have a conscience. His heart was a mix of emotions and he didn't know what to say; after being tricked so many times, he was unexpectedly moved to see some payback.
Although he wanted to hit him, he felt powerless when he thought about his sister-in-law's pale face.
Forget it, after so many years of struggle with his difficult brother, would he rather see his wife die?
He finally asked one last question.
"Who exactly is asking about me?"
"Those guys didn't say, playing mysterious." Old Yang grunted coldly while puffing on a cigarette, "They think I am dumb enough not to check their license plate number, huh? Seems to be some charity foundation or something. The name sounds pretty intimidating; seems like it's called…"
He scratched his head for a while, then slapped the back of his head, finally recalling it.
"—Love Charity!"
.
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Two hours later, Huai Shi sat in an armored vehicle, surrounded by soldiers armed to the teeth, his face full of confusion.
What the heck is this?
What's going on?
How am I supposed to handle this?
The familiar Third Question filled his head once more.
-- Gift
received