"All this... did you win all this?"
"Not, ah no, yes, I won it."
"It’s not appropriate for a kid to have so much money. Let me handle it for you."
"No, that won’t work."
"What’s the matter, don’t want to give your grandpa the money you won?"
"Principal, right, the principal is Xiao Yuan’s, it’s his pocket money."
"Oh, I see..." Mr. Shan took half of the money from the bag, "Then this part is yours, I’ll keep it for you."
"Grandpa, this, this won’t do, this..."
"Alright, stop nagging, it’s decided, what are you still doing at home?"
"Aren’t we going to eat together, grandpa? I’ll go to town later to get some meat, and we’ll have a good meal together."
"Eat what? You and Little Yuanhou eat. Grandpa is busy."
After that, Mr. Shan headed back to battlefield once more, touching the weighty "bullets" in his pocket, feeling extremely excited, for he had never fought such a wealthy battle in his life.
Li Zhiyuan came back and saw Run Sheng standing there with an awkward and embarrassed face.
"Xiao Yuan, I’m sorry..."
After listening to Run Sheng’s explanation, Li Zhiyuan was stunned.
"Xiao Yuan, I was waiting here for you to come back to ask for your consent. Let’s be clear about the truth, and I’ll go to the hall and get your money back from my grandpa!"
"No need, Brother Runsheng, it was earned together by you and me. It’s only fair to give half to Mr. Shan."
"Xiao Yuan, are you not angry?"
Li Zhiyuan shook his head, not only was he not angry, but he was also somewhat touched.
"Brother Runsheng, weren’t you going to buy something for Mr. Shan? Hurry up then."
"But, grandpa already took so much money..."
"What needs to be bought still has to be bought."
"Xiao Yuan, you are really nice."
Run Sheng rode off to buy things, and Li Zhiyuan found a small stool to sit down in the yard.
Tapping his forehead with his finger, he began to recall the relevant content from the books, specifically, how this money should be spent.
He found it, according to the logic of the books: this money, he can use.
But it must be based on being fair, or at a bargain for himself, meaning when buying something, either at a fair price or bargaining down. You absolutely cannot make the person who sells goods or labor to you feel generous, to feel that they got the better deal.
Otherwise, they are sharing in the karma, because you also enjoyed the extra benefits from the money.
"No wonder there was the notion of ’guilt by association’ in ancient times..."
Although the actual purpose was to enhance the shocking effect on illegal acts, legally speaking, even the children of the family benefit from the illicit gains of the family.
Li Zhiyuan stood up, stretched, just as Run Sheng also returned.
"Xiao Yuan, I bought some cooked food, grandpa is not here, let’s have lunch by ourselves."
Run Sheng cleaned the pot to cook, besides the braised pork liver and jellyfish salad he bought, he also fried an egg and boiled a loofah soup.
However, the eggs were burnt, and the soup was sticky and not refreshing at all.
"Xiao Yuan, this is all the cooking I can do."
Run Sheng took a mouthful of the aroma, then took a bite of the egg first, followed by a sip of the soup, as if testing the food for poison.
Li Zhiyuan also understood. You can’t expect someone who usually can hardly get a clean meal to be a great chef.
After the meal, Run Sheng cleaned both the house and the yard, then rode the bike, taking Li Zhiyuan home.
Turning from the main road to the village path, they saw Panzi and Leizi, covered in dirt, pushing a cart of bricks.
Nowadays, even in the city, it’s hard to find a summer job, let alone in the countryside.
Workplaces further away were inconvenient for commuting, so a nearby brick kiln, despite being tough work, was a good place since it offered daily pay.
It was quite suitable for young people like Panzi and Leizi to earn some money for themselves during the summer vacation.
"Panzi, Brother Lei!"
Panzi’s mouth corner had a blood scab, and traces of bruising were still visible on Leizi’s face, the marks of fatherly love.
"Yuanzi, thankfully you left early that day, haha."
"Yeah, you were lucky to leave earlier, otherwise you would have ended up in the police station with us, and they even drew blood."
"Brothers, thank you for not exposing me."
"How could we do that? We’re brothers; we could never betray our brother."
"Exactly, you are our little brother, how could we not protect you."
Actually, they weren’t so tough as to purposefully help Xiao Yuan hide the truth, but they were very clear that if they let out the fact that they dared to bring Little Yuanhou to watch a pornographic film, they would probably be beaten even worse.
"Brothers, are you going back to the kiln?"
"Yes, today we are delivering bricks to the kiln." As he spoke, Leizi pulled out a cigarette from his pocket. It was unclear who gave it to him, but he struck a match with great style, took a puff, then passed it to Panzi.
Panzi took a drag and handed it to Run Sheng.
This practice of brothers sharing a single cigarette was common at the time, even stores sold cigarettes by the single stick.
Run Sheng shook his head, pulled out a fragrant cigarette, lit it with a match, took a puff, and blew out a smoke ring.
Panzi and Leizi were astonished and asked, "What are you smoking?"
Run Sheng replied, "Genuine cigarettes."
Then Run Sheng passed the lit incense stick to them, intending to share.
Panzi and Leizi quickly shook their heads, declining the generous offer.
Then Panzi turned to Li Zhiyuan, "Xiao Yuan, tomorrow at Sihai’s place they’re going to harvest the fish pond. We two will go help. Will you come? They’ll provide a meal, and you can take some fish home."