Ji Ying’s eyes sparkled as she praised Xu Nianhua’s quick thinking. With that in mind, she felt much more comfortable—it had seemed as if she was taking advantage of Wu Meili.
Xu Nianhua continued to be busy with studying.
She had been memorizing texts recently and, luckily, her memory was good. There were many ancient poems and essays to learn by heart, but that was no match for Xu Nianhua’s diligence. On the way back home with Xu Nian’an, or on their way to the canteen, the siblings were either reciting poetry and essays or memorizing formulas.
Or Xu Nianhua would be overseeing her second brother memorizing vocabulary.
Although Xu Nian’an’s foreign language grades were passing, they were barely just that.
Therefore, Xu Nianhua wanted to help her second brother improve his foreign language grades.
"Ling Dong, don’t you have my package?" Pei Yicheng looked at Ling Dong’s empty hands and frowned. It shouldn’t be. He had called Cheng Hao a few days ago. Cheng Hao would definitely send the things, so why aren’t they here?
"Brother Cheng, could it be that it hasn’t arrived yet? Ningbei is quite far from here," Ling Dong reminded him. It should take at least ten days to half a month to send something from Ningbei here, right?
Pei Yicheng thought about it. Sure enough, that’s the case. He should wait patiently. They should arrive before National Day.
What Pei Yicheng didn’t know was that on the day Cheng Hao received the call, he had packed his bags and come to him.
Cheng Hao, having traveled with factory workers before, had memorized the address and was full of anticipation about the expression Yicheng would have upon seeing him.
His expectations were beautiful, but reality was somewhat cruel.
Cheng Hao was also somewhat unfortunate.
He carried a big bag on his back, filled with question papers needed for the senior year and self-study books for mathematics, physics, and chemistry, plus his spare clothes and some food.
On his wrist, he wore a shiny silver watch.
With the train clattering along its way, Cheng Hao arrived in South City the afternoon of the next day. When he got off, it was incredibly crowded. After a lot of effort, he managed to disembark, planning to find a place to stay for one night before heading to Gaoliang County the next day.
However, upon reaching the hotel, Cheng Hao made the unfortunate discovery that his money had been stolen.
He had brought a full three hundred yuan for this trip.
But now, not a single yuan was left.
It was nearly dark outside, and after a tiring day, he couldn’t possibly sleep on the streets, could he?
In the end, Cheng Hao took off the watch from his wrist and pawned it for twenty yuan...
"My watch cost two hundred yuan!" Cheng Hao looked at his watch, heartbroken that aside from one day’s room charge, it only pawned for twenty yuan.
This twenty yuan was only given after Cheng Hao had sadly recounted his ordeal. The hotel owner, feeling pity for him and seeing that the watch did indeed seem valuable, agreed to the twenty yuan.
"Just pay me for the room. I don’t want your watch." The owner returned the watch directly to Cheng Hao and said, "The room charge plus twenty yuan is already a lot. Nowadays, your watch would only fetch fifty or sixty yuan."
"Then give me ten more yuan." Cheng Hao pleaded desperately. "I’m going to Gaoliang County to find someone. If I take the bus tomorrow and can’t find anyone, I’ll still need to eat and drink, right? Otherwise, I might starve to death."
"Please, boss, do me a kindness. I really did pay two hundred yuan for this watch."
From his childhood until now, Cheng Hao had never suffered over money. Yet now, for the sake of ten yuan, he was flattering the owner , and Cheng Hao couldn’t help but stifle a sorrowful tear.
With thirty yuan, he could at least afford the bus to Gaoliang County.