Zhou Cheng plopped down on the bed, which was soft and springy yet firm, making it incredibly comfortable to sit on.
He was as happy as a child, bouncing up and down several times, enjoying the sensation.
Liu Mei couldn’t help but chide him, “You’re a grown man, acting like a fool in front of Xiu’er. Shh—don’t disturb her while she’s studying.”
Zhou Cheng quieted down.
Liu Mei urged her husband to go to sleep quickly. Zhou Cheng whispered, “This place is so expensive, I feel uneasy sleeping here.”
If they hadn’t gotten it for free, Zhou Cheng would have preferred sleeping in the unfinished rooms at the construction site.
Liu Mei looked around. The room was as beautiful as the scenes in TV shows, the kind of place only rich people could afford to stay.
With a delicate crystal ashtray, porcelain dishes, and silver-plated cutlery, even the smallest items in the room made Liu Mei hesitant to touch anything for fear of breaking something they couldn’t afford to replace.
The light, airy silk comforter, the air conditioning that ran all night long, and the massive LCD TV made the room feel warm and cozy. They wouldn’t be like their fellow workers, shivering in the cold through the night.
Liu Mei was even warm enough to break a sweat. She had to take off her sweater to stop sweating.
“Leave the light on for Xiu’er and go to sleep,” Liu Mei said.
Zhou Cheng called out to Zhou Xiu, “Xiu’er, stop studying and go to bed early.”
Zhou Xiu paused for a moment, then turned off the room’s light and moved to another spot to continue her homework.
Before 6 a.m., the entire family was awake.
At 7 a.m., a hotel staff member brought breakfast to their door. Zhou Xiu had already washed up and spent half an hour focused on memorizing vocabulary.
Zhou Cheng and Liu Mei were stunned as they looked at the exquisite and delicious breakfast. Staying at a hotel where breakfast was delivered to the room—just how much must this place cost per night?
Zhou Cheng secretly went out into the hallway and caught a staff member to ask, learning that a regular double suite cost 1,088 yuan per night.
When he heard the price, it was as if he’d been struck by lightning. He had to stand by the stairs in the cold for a while to calm down. Otherwise, he might have lost control when he saw his daughter again.
He wanted to ask his daughter where she had gotten the card from but ultimately held his tongue.
Zhou Xiu told her parents, “I want to take half a day off to help you find a place to stay. You’re new to the city and unfamiliar with everything.”
But Zhou Cheng refused, “You focus on your studies. There’s no need to take time off for something like this. Don’t treat us like children—we’re not disabled.”
Zhou Xiu wasn’t worried that they couldn’t find a place, but she was concerned they would choose to stay in a run-down place to save money.
But Zhou Cheng’s face grew redder as he insisted on taking Zhou Xiu’s school bag and urging her to go to school. He didn’t leave until he saw her safely enter the school building.
Before leaving, Zhou Cheng bought some buns, keeping the vegetable ones for himself and giving the meat-filled ones to his daughter.
“Xiu’er, study hard,” he said.
Zhou Xiu nodded.
Zhou Cheng watched his daughter walk into the school—a beautiful, solemn place that clearly wasn’t cheap. Gritting his teeth, he turned and melted back into the crowd.
…
When she arrived at the classroom, Zhou Xiu, as usual, began previewing her lessons.
However, the normally focused Zhou Xiu found herself distracted today. She twirled her pen in thought, staring blankly at her scratch paper for a long time.
Finally, she asked the system, [How should I reasonably take out the money I’ve earned from you?]
Zhou Xiu couldn’t stand seeing her parents so hesitant to spend money on a place to stay or food to eat. All she wanted now was to take the money she’d earned over the past few months and rent a place where the family could be together.
The system slowly responded, [I was wondering when you’d finally ask this question.]
It added humorously, [From the Xi family?]
Zhou Xiu snapped, [No way!]
She’d worked hard to earn that money and would be frustrated to the point of vomiting blood if she had to give credit to the Xi family.
The system calmly reassured her, [In various forms. Don’t worry about it; you just focus on your studies.]
After school, Zhou Xiu went to the construction site to find her parents and quickly understood what the system meant.
She saw Zhou Cheng crouched on the ground, happily eating a boxed meal.
When Zhou Cheng saw her, he beamed and proudly said to his fellow workers, “Look, that’s my daughter.”
The workers around him clicked their tongues in amazement. They hadn’t expected Zhou Laosan, who didn’t look like much, to have such a smart and pretty daughter.
But after a brief glance, they lost interest and resumed their discussion about buying lottery tickets. Their conversation grew more animated, and they even dragged Zhou Cheng to the welfare office to buy tickets.
“Old Zhou, you can’t say no to this. It’s not gambling, and I hear buying lottery tickets supports poor mountain villages.”
Zhou Cheng was a poor man himself and couldn’t even take care of his own needs, let alone support anyone else. But looking at his new co-workers, he felt torn. If he bought a ticket, it would feel like wasting money. If he didn’t, it would seem like he was looking down on them.
Finally, Zhou Cheng pretended not to hear and avoided wasting his money.
Zhou Xiu couldn’t stand seeing her father in such a dilemma, so she handed over 10 yuan for a ticket.
Zhou Cheng haphazardly picked a lottery ticket and half-heartedly scratched it. He didn’t even bother to check the numbers, just tucked the ticket into his pocket to show he’d participated.
But then Zhou Xiu glanced at the numbers and said, “Wait a minute… Dad, I think we won.”
Zhou Cheng’s face slowly registered confusion: “???”
“Xiu’er, don’t joke around with your dad.”
Zhou Xiu wasn’t joking. She pulled out the ticket and handed it to the lottery shop owner, who lazily checked the numbers.
“Hmm, let me see…”
After taking a closer look, the owner suddenly got excited, “Wow, Mr. Zhou, you’ve won 6,000 yuan!”
[Ding—Rewards have been converted into cash. Account balance: zero. Keep it up, kid!]
Zhou Cheng’s co-workers, who had been scratching tickets for years without ever winning, were left in shock.
Jealousy made them tearfully insist that Zhou Cheng stay, saying, “With luck like that, why don’t you try scratching one more? Even if you don’t buy one, you can scratch ours!”
Zhou Cheng sheepishly scratched his head and modestly declined, “No more for today. I’ve used up all my luck.”
Zhou Cheng had never believed in such things. Getting lucky once was like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse—a rare occurrence not to be repeated.
If he had 10 yuan to spare, he’d rather buy a few more meat buns for Xiu’er. Wasn’t a steaming hot meat bun fragrant enough?
When Zhou Xiu returned to the Xi family’s home, she opened the box where she kept her money and counted it. The amount was 6,000 yuan less than before. The allowance from the Xi family and the 30,000 yuan from Tan Ming were still safely tucked away in the box.
She smiled and thanked the system, [Thank you.]
Zhou Cheng and Liu Mei spent one more night at the construction site, and the next day, after collecting their winnings, they went out to find a place to live.
By the time Zhou Xiu came home from school, they had already settled into the new place. The freshly painted walls were clean, and the bright sunlight streamed in through the windows.
It was even better than the place Zhou Xiu had found.
Zhou Cheng said, “Your mom ran her legs off to find this place. What do you think? Is it good enough?”
Liu Mei proudly puffed out her chest, “Your dad and I now make 150 yuan a day each, and the rent is only 700 yuan. We can afford it.”
“I heard you say Mrs. Xi really likes that herbal foot bath. Your dad and I made sure to bring a lot of herbs from the mountains this time. We’ll go to the Xi family to thank her in person.”
Zhou Xiu nodded repeatedly, feeling a warmth spread through her heart.
With the new house found, Zhou Xiu began planning the move.
…
Back at the Xi family.
Mrs. Xi had taken a rare few days off and noticed that she hadn’t seen Zhou Xiu around. So she decided to chat with her son.
During their conversation, a friend of Mrs. Xi mentioned that it wasn’t wise to have a sponsored poor student live in their home. She warned that spending too much time together might lead to issues between a teenage boy and girl.
“Aren’t you worried about leaving a girl in your house? To be honest, Shaoyuan is tall and handsome—girls really like that.”
Mrs. Xi suddenly recalled how her son had asked her to buy clothes for Zhou Xiu and finally pieced things together.
She called her son over and chatted with him for a while.
Xi Shaoyuan frowned, realizing that the house had been quieter than usual lately.
Although it was usually pretty quiet, Zhou Xiu’s presence had been barely noticeable. But recently, she’d been coming and going at odd hours, sometimes not even returning on weekend nights.
Although he didn’t care to pay attention, it was unusual enough for Mrs. Xi to ask him about Zhou Xiu’s whereabouts.
Xi Shaoyuan couldn’t answer a single question.
“How would I know where she goes?”
She probably had money to burn and was busy spending it, Xi Shaoyuan thought disinterestedly.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Xi Shaoyuan got up to answer it.
A middle-aged couple stood at the door, each carrying a large snakeskin bag. They smiled shyly and greeted the handsome young man politely:
“Are you Young Master Xi? Hello.”
“We’re Xiu’er’s parents. We came specifically to thank Mrs. Xi. Thank you for taking care of Xiu’er. Xiu’er mentioned that Mrs. Xi often has stomach pains, and we brought some herbal foot bath remedies from our village. We made sure to bring two bags of it.”
As they finished speaking, they set down the heavy snakeskin bags.
Zhou Cheng and Liu Mei walked inside.
When Mrs. Xi saw their warm, bashful faces, a sense of unease crept into her heart.
As Zhou Cheng repeated what he had just said, Mrs. Xi finally understood and looked at the two large bags of herbs by the door. She kept a polite smile on her face and said, “You’re so thoughtful to have brought these all the way here. It’s really no trouble.”
Zhou Cheng wiped the sweat from his brow and quickly said, “No trouble at all. Mrs. Xi, you’ve been a great benefactor to Xiu’er. My wife and I have come to the city to work so we can pay for Xiu’er’s education… We don’t want to burden you any further.”
Although Mrs. Xi had met many people who tried to curry favour with her, she now understood that this couple had no intention of climbing the social ladder. Her earlier worries had been unfounded.
She had been concerned that Zhou Xiu and Shaoyuan, both teenagers, might develop romantic feelings. But it seemed that the girl had no interest in staying with the Xi family any longer.
Zhou Cheng continued to thank Mrs. Xi profusely, chatting with her for quite some time.
Xi Shaoyuan was standing outside in the garden when he saw Zhou Xiu walk in, carrying her school bag.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead and stopped when she saw him. Zhou Xiu asked in surprise, “Did my parents come to visit the Xi family today?”
She peeked inside with a smile and saw the two familiar snakeskin bags, confirming her suspicion.
She smiled, showing a hint of her small canine teeth, and said slowly, “Young Master Xi, can you give me your WeChat ID?”
Xi Shaoyuan gave her a strange look.
But Zhou Xiu, knowing how he operated, had already asked Hua Xue for his bank account information in advance.
Zhou Xiu said calmly, “If you’re not willing to give me your WeChat ID—”
“Are you worried I’ll bother you? Your attitude is a bit troubling. Actually, I’ve been meaning to say this for a while now. Can you please stop being so self-absorbed? I’m sure I’m not interested in someone like you. Fortunately, we’ve managed to get along these past few months, so thank you.”
The days of mutual annoyance were finally coming to an end.
After she finished speaking, Xi Shaoyuan’s phone chimed with a notification.
He opened his phone to check the message—it was a transfer of 100,000 yuan from an unfamiliar account.
Zhou Xiu held up her phone, her face calm but with a hint of mischief in her eyes, “This is to repay you and Mrs. Xi. Thank you for taking care of me these past few months. I think 100,000 yuan should be enough, right?”
Zhou Xiu pressed her lips together and straightened her back.
The girl’s gaze was clear and upright as she told Xi Shaoyuan, “If it’s not enough, just let me know.”
After speaking, Zhou Xiu quickly turned and went upstairs to pack her things.
Author’s Note:
Side Story:
Xi Shaoyuan: “…”
Giving me my own money back?
Xiu’er: I earned it with my own effort. Isn’t that enough?
Reader: Why give it to him?
Take it back!
Not a single cent should be spent on him! Xiu’er, use the money to buy yourself some food, eat well, and grow tall~
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