Shu Ning arrived at the capital just after four o’clock in the morning. He dragged his suitcase behind him and walked out of the airport with a bunch of other passengers, all of them weary and travel-worn. He hailed a taxi and headed to the hotel he had booked. After rushing through the check-in procedures, he took his room card and laid down in his cramped one bedroom.
In order to save money, he booked the cheapest room. Even though the room was cramped and small and didn’t have windows, it still cost 100 yuan per night.
They really weren’t exaggerating about the high prices in the capital.
Shu Ning didn’t wash up. He just went straight to bed. He slept until noon the next day before getting up and checking out of the hotel. He really didn’t have much money left in his card. In the end, he ended up staying at a youth hostel that wasn’t too far from his destination.
The beds were bunk beds, and it cost 40 yuan a night. However, the environment turned out to be better than expected. All of the other tenants were boys.
There were some who were traveling solo, some who were looking for a job…who knows why they were job-searching during the holidays.
Either way, Shu Ning thought that their way of thinking was quite romantic. They were young, fun, and pleasant to get along with. He had a good impression of them, and they also had a good impression of him.
After all, it wasn’t everyday that a fourteen-year-old boy came to the capital to play all by himself. In the eyes of others, Shu Ning was also pretty peculiar.
He spent one day settling down. The next day, Shu Ning took the document bag with him and headed towards Wei Corporation.
The Wei Corporation headquarters was quite large. The district it was located in was full of different companies. It was actually rather well-known.
Shu Ning took the subway to the Wei Corporation headquarters. The building required ID for entry and exit, and there were security guards all over the place.
Shu Ning begged them for a long time, but they didn’t let him pass. Eventually, he dejectedly exited the building.
However, he didn’t give up. He continued to squat near the building. Since he couldn’t get inside, he would just have to wait for them to come out. He had memorized the faces of important members of the Wei family. He just needed an opportunity to run into one of them.
As a result, he ended up squatting for two whole days, yet he didn’t manage to catch a single strand of their hair. He, on the other hand, had almost frozen solid.
Winters in the north were really very, very cold…
He didn’t know whether he had missed them or whether the Wei family just didn’t show up to work.
Shu Ning continued to squat outside like a little mushroom. His continued presence was really a pain in the neck for the security guard. He asked him a couple times, “Hey, kid, what exactly do you want?”
Shu Ning shivered. His face was pale from the cold. “I want to see Chairman Wei, CEO Wei, and Madam Wei.”
The security guard looked at him like he was an idiot.
After squatting like this for three days, he had practically been frozen to death. Maybe his sincerity moved the security guard, or maybe the security guard felt pity for such a young kid. Finally, the guard showed him a bit of compassion. “If you really want to see the Wei family, you can try waiting by the parking lot.”
Shu Ning was dumbfounded.
Ah! How could I be so stupid!?
Shu Ning was almost moved to tears by his own stupidity. The Wei family obviously entered the building through the parking lot elevator. Why the hell would they walk in through the front door?
“Thank you so much!”
Shu Ning held onto the document bag and ran to the entrance of the parking lot. Then, he was promptly chased out by the security guard.
A thickly dressed paparazzi saw him being escorted out. He said sympathetically, “They’re super strict, aren’t they? You have to squat further away. Otherwise, you’ll get chased off.”
Shu Ning: “…”
Shu Ning held the document bag in his arms and squatted with the paparazzi.
The paparazzi asked him, “Kid, who’re you waiting for?”
Shu Ning replied, “Chairman Wei, the CEO, and Madam Wei. Any one of them will do.”
The paparazzi looked at him with admiration. “What do you wanna see them for?”
Shu Ning shook his head. He didn’t dare to carelessly spread around the truth. The situation would become difficult to handle then. Wealthy families like these had too many things to consider. It was best to contact them privately first and see how they plan to handle it.
It was really difficult for him to adapt to the winter in the north. Fortunately, he brought the thickest down jacket he owned with him. He could jump around and get his blood pumping to warm himself up. If it was too cold, he could warm up in the building’s lobby. Otherwise, he might have frozen to death in the snow.
However, he didn’t stay inside for too long because he was afraid of missing the Wei family. He would only stay inside for a little bit to warm up before running back out.
The paparazzi couldn’t take the cold anymore and decided to call it quits. Shu Ning was the only one left in the snow. He remembered the car model that the Wei family frequently appeared in. As soon as he saw a luxury car, he would run over and check whether it was the Wei family or not.
After an entire day had passed, everyone in the building knew that there was a child waiting for the Wei family.
That evening, a luxury car drove out of the parking deck. Shu Ning hurried forward to stop the car. The window rolled down, revealing an old and solemn face.
“Old Mr. Wei!” Shu Ning was overjoyed when he saw the face that he had seen in news reports. God had finally answered his prayers!
He quickly gave him a greeting. “My name is Shu Ning. Someone asked me to give this document to you. That person said that this document is very important. Please be sure to read it.”
As he spoke, he handed the document bag into the car window.
Wei Shanhe looked him up and down with a serious expression. He probably felt that Shu Ning was just a kid and didn’t pose any threat, so he reached out and took the document bag. Then, he handed it over to the assistant next to him.
The window was rolled back up, and the black car drove away. Shu Ning clenched his fist, his face full of excitement.
He finally succeeded!
Then, he turned around and left the headquarters. It was freezing. He needed to hurry back to the youth hostel.
Inside the car.
The assistant opened the document bag. The plastic bag containing the hair sample fell to the ground without anyone noticing.
The assistant pulled out the papers inside. The first page said: This person is the real son of the Wei family!
On the second page, there were several photos of a boy from all sorts of different angles. The boy in the pictures had black hair and black eyes. He had fair skin, and his features were as delicate and beautiful as a fairy’s. He looked like he had walked out of a drama.
The assistant frowned and flipped to the next page. The third page detailed the melodramatic story of how two kids were switched fifteen years ago at Wuxian Hospital. The person in the photos was the real heir of Wei’s family. His hair was included in the document bag, so they could perform a paternity test.
The assistant fumbled through the document bag but couldn’t find any hair sample. His brows furrowed even more. He quickly lowered his head to look for it and found the plastic bag on the floor of the car. There was, in fact, a hair sample in the bag.
Wei Shanhe shut his eyes to rest. “What did it say?”
The assistant said, “It says that the Wei family heir was switched at birth.”
Wei Shanhe hadn’t expected this response. He opened his eyes and turned his head. “Switched at birth?”
The assistant handed him the document. Wei Shanhe read through its contents and stared at the photos for a long time. “He doesn’t look like me at all.”
Wei family members tended to have a heroic air about them, but the boy in the picture was as pretty as a girl. He didn’t look like Madam Wei either.
“Yin Mingzheng, Grade 7 Class 3 of Longpanshan Middle School in Chuzhou…”
Wei Shanhe spat, “What nonsense!” He threw the document towards his assistant. “These people are getting more and more outrageous these days. Which illegitimate child is it this time?! Hmph!”
The assistant asked cautiously, “Then, this document…”
“Don’t tell me you want me to perform a paternity test just because of this document? Throw it away!”
“Yes, sir.”
The assistant put the documents into his briefcase in a practiced manner. He planned on locking them away in a filing cabinet.
Old Mr. Wei said to throw them away, but he didn’t dare to actually throw it away.
In the past, he had always handled information regarding illegitimate children like this. Old Mr. Wei hated illegitimate children. He had never recognized any of them as legitimate members of the Wei family.
This was probably just another new strategy. They came up with this melodramatic story in order to force the old man to perform a paternity test. That way, they would be able to justifiably enter the Wei family. They even tried to pull the Wei family heir into this mess. They sure had guts.
He didn’t dare to throw away the document. What if it was needed later?
After handing over the documents, Shu Ning felt as though everything was now right in the world. He called his mother that night to tell her that he was ready to go home now.
Mrs. Cai chatted with him and asked about him for quite a while before finally hanging up.
Shu Ning had pretty much used up all his resources. If he didn’t leave soon, he’d probably end up running out of all of his money. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been sure about how long he would need to stay, so he didn’t buy a return ticket. Plane tickets were so expensive right now that Shu Ning wanted to cry.
There was nothing he could do. He could only ask Mrs. Cai for some more money in order to be able to afford it.
Mrs. Cai asked, “You should still have 10,000 yuan in your balance. I’ve never cut your allowance short. How come you’re still asking me for money?”
There’s no way Shu Ning could tell her that he was raising a little villain. He stammered out and excuse, “I lent some money to a classmate. Cai Cai, can I borrow some money for now? I’ll return it to you in a few days.”
Mrs. Cai gave him 5,000 yuan. Shu Ning took a flight back to Chuzhou. Once he was back in above zero temperatures, he finally felt like he had come back to life.
Yin Mingzheng was sitting in the library reading a book when he heard some movement from across the table.
When he looked up, the young man with curly hair was sitting across from him again. He shot Yin Mingzheng with a smile. “Hi.”
Yin Mingzheng looked back down and continued to read.
The curly-haired young man said, “Hey, are you interested in earning some extra money?”
This time, Yin Mingzheng finally raised his head and stared at him quietly.
His eyes were deep and unfathomable, as if they could peer straight into a person’s heart.
The young man said, “Let me introduce myself. My name is Wang Anshi. That’s right, just like the poet Wang Anshi.”
Yin Mingzheng continued staring at him.
Wang Anshi offered, “How about I pay you to help me look for bugs?”
Yin Mingzheng asked, “How much?”
“Huh?”
“How much?”
Realizing that Yin Mingzheng was agreeing, Wang Anshi pushed up his glasses and said, “Okay, how about one hundred yuan? Just look over the code for me.”
“Sure.”
Wang Anshi quickly opened up his computer. “Take a look.”
Yin Mingzheng walked up behind him and scrolled through with the mouse. “Here, here, here…”
Wang Anshi’s jaw dropped. “There’s that many mistakes?”
Yin Mingzheng replied, “I suggest you restart from scratch.”
Wang Anshi: “…”
Yin Mingzheng said, “It’ll be too troublesome to fix it all.”
Wang Anshi: “…”
This was a little too big of a blow.
“There is no need for such a complicated algorithm.”
Wang Anshi: “…”
Yin Mingzheng offered, “If you pay me some more, I’ll write it for you.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Wang Anshi: “…Five hundred yuan.”
“Gfji.”
Qjcu Ccrtl rabbv eq jcv rafqqfv jrlvf. Tlc Zlcuhtfcu rja bc atf rabbi jcv rajgafv asqlcu jkjs ja atf xfsybjgv.
Lf kjrc’a j ojra asqfg yfmjerf tf’v cfnfg tjv j mtjcmf ab gfjiis erf j mbwqeafg yfobgf. Lf kjrc’a nfgs ojwliljg klat atf xfsybjgv. Snfc ja tbwf, tf rqfca wbra bo alwf kjamtlcu nlvfbr, rb tf vlvc’a rqfcv j iba bo alwf asqlcu.
However, the more time he spent typing, the faster he became.
Wang Anshi watched him type for a while. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and piped up, “You type with your index fingers? Typing like that isn’t very efficient.”
Yin Mingzheng had never learned how to type before. No one had taught him how to type, so he taught himself, poking at the keyboard with his two index fingers.
Yin Mingzheng’s hands froze. He turned his head and wondered aloud, “How am I supposed to type?”
Wang Anshi held both of his hands in front of him. “With all ten fingers. There are typing courses online. It just takes a little bit of practice. Plus, you’re less likely to injure your fingers if you type the correct way.”
Yin Mingzheng nodded. “Thank you.”
Then, he continued to stab at the keyboard with his two index fingers. Wang Anshi felt so anxious while watching him that he wished he could just do the typing himself.
About half an hour later, Yin Mingzheng finally finished typing out the code.
The curly-haired guy pushed up his glasses and leaned in for a closer look. The more he looked, the more surprised he became. “Yo, this is amazing! This algorithm really is better.”
Yin Mingzheng silently stood up, his pitch black eyes pinned on the curly-haired dude.
Wang Anshi immediately understood and pulled out his phone. “Come on, add me on WeChat and I’ll send the money to you.”
They exchanged contact details.
Ding.
This was the first bit of money Yin Mingzheng had earned himself. He discovered that being a programmer really was very profitable.
“Hey, how long have you been studying programming?” Wang Anshi asked casually.
Yin Mingzheng replied, “A week.”
Wang Anshi paused. He looked up, incredulous. “How long?”
“A week.”
Wang Anshi pushed up his black-rimmed glasses. His mouth felt a little dry. “Then, who taught you?”
“I’m self-taught.”
Wang Anshi wanted to vomit blood. “Self-taught?”
Yin Mingzheng nodded.
Wang Anshi dramatically leaned back and said, “Oh my god, dude, you’re a genius!”
Yin Mingzheng stood quietly.
After Wang Anshi finished sighing, he gripped Yin Mingzheng’s shoulders. “Yo, you have a lot of potential. Lemme introduce you to this website. I just managed to get an account on there. You can find a bunch of jobs there. If any big companies come to recruit you, you can just name your own price.”
Wang Anshi felt that Yin Mingzheng had a bright future. Yin Mingzheng would definitely be able to make it to the top, so Wang Anshi wanted to make a connection. “Make sure to remember me when you become rich and successful.”
Yin Mingzheng nodded lightly.
Wang Anshi smiled. Then, he recommended a website to Yin Mingzheng. He even gave him the username and password to his account.
Yin Mingzheng clicked on the link, and the words “Pegasus Forum” popped up.
“This is a forum for software development. You can ask questions, interact with others, and publish your own projects. You can publish projects for free or you can charge money. If your code is elegant enough and efficient enough, you might be able to catch some big shot’s attention, and they might contact you to work for them. As for the price…well, you can negotiate that yourself. After you’ve gained a bit of a reputation, you can dive straight into the industry. Once that happens, you can get an annual salary of hundreds of thousands or even millions! A lot of people from the forum went professional through this method.”
Wang Anshi patted Yin Mingzheng’s shoulder. “I believe in you. Darker was also about fifteen years old when he became famous. Now, he’s Pegasus’ chief technology officer. I think you could become the next Darker.”
Yin Mingzheng said, “Oh.”
Once Yin Mingzheng got home, he logged onto Pegasus Forum. Sure enough, there were a lot of people posting threads and asking questions. Yin Mingzheng simply lurked around at first.
He realized that he learned a lot more from the forums than he did from books because the forum was full of practical questions and answers. All of the answers had their own reasoning. He could compare and contrast the algorithms and ways of thinking from different people’s replies.
Yin Mingzheng was completely fascinated by the forum.
At first, he hadn’t really participated in the discussions, and he didn’t answer any of the questions. He only read other people’s responses without posting any of his own. Later, he started answering questions, trying his hand at publishing his own code.
When he posted his code, an account called Hehe commented on his program. Out of all the comments on Yin Mingzheng’s code, Hehe’s was the most insightful.
So, he clicked on this account to see his comments on other threads. All of his comments and replies were very good and well thought out, so Yin Mingzheng sent him a private message. However, it wasn’t guaranteed that the other person would reply.
Yin Mingzheng wasn’t discouraged. He edited the code and reuploaded it.
Hehe reviewed his code again, praising him for a job well done.
Yin Mingzheng didn’t pay this much mind. He continued to write his programs and post them online for review. At first, the people on the forum were still able to pick out some small problems, but, gradually, these small flaws became less and less frequent. Eventually, they weren’t able to pick out any problems at all.
At first, Yin Mingzheng used to pick up requests for free in order to get some practice. The simpler requests could be written fairly quickly.
Yin Mingzheng’s code was always very elegant and functioned very well, so he quickly caught other people’s attention.
He was finally contacted for a paid request. After negotiating for a bit, Yin Mingzheng agreed to create a small software for 1,000 yuan.
Yin Mingzheng wrote it up and sent it to the other party. After running it, the other party then transferred 1,000 yuan to him.
He continued to study, read, and answer questions on the forum. There was a rather difficult question that he was able to solve, and he ended up getting a lot of likes.
Hehe finally replied to his private message. They started corresponding with each other about programming.
Yin Mingzheng would ask him about things that he didn’t understand. When Hehe found out that he only just started learning programming, he immediately said: [You should come for me, and I can teach you! This is great! A beginner is just like a blank sheet of paper, perfect for inheriting my legacy!]
LoveToEatShiitake: [I have school.]
Hehe: […How old are you?]
LoveToEatShiitake: [Does it matter how old I am?]
Hehe: [It doesn’t matter. What matters is your skills.]
LoveToEatShiitake: [Fifteen.]
Hehe: […]
Hehe: [You’re a lot like me in my younger days!]
LoveToEatShiitake: [?]
Hehe: [I’m Darker.]
LoveToEatShiitake: [Oh.]
Hehe: [Oh?]
LoveToEatShiitake: [?]
Hehe: [Alright, you’re just as cold as I was back then too. I’ll accept you as my disciple.]
LoveToEatShiitake: [I want to make money.]
Hehe: [I’ll pay you, alright? I have something I need you to code for me.]
LoveToEatShiitake: [Okay.]
Hehe sent him a module and explained what his requirements were. [Once you finish, I’ll give you 10,000 yuan]
LoveToEatShiitake: [Okay.]
Yin Mingzheng received the network packet and wrote it up using Visual Basic. After working on it for half a day, he sent it over to Hehe.
Hehe: [You’re finished?]
LoveToEatShiitake: [Finished.]
Hehe: [So fast?]
LoveToEatShiitake: [I can try being slower next time.]
Hehe: [That’s not necessary.]
Hehe didn’t send any more messages. Yin Mingzheng didn’t pay him any attention. He brought his laptop with him to the library and continued to study. On his way to the bathroom, he noticed a man watching the stock prices on his cell phone and paused.
After returning from the bathroom, he started reading up on stocks and finance.
The next day, Hehe messaged: [Give me your bank details.]
LoveToEatShiitake: [Don’t have one.]
Hehe: [Add me on WeChat.]
After adding him on WeChat, Hehe transferred 10,000 yuan to him.
Yin Mingzheng studied stocks and investments in the morning and software development in the afternoon. In the evening, he would study whatever he felt like studying. Zhou Juan didn’t notice anything unusual about him. She left early and came back late just like she always did.
One day, Zhou Juan told him that he needed to appear in court. Yin Qiang’s case was currently on trial, and she wanted him to make an appearance.
Yin Mingzheng shook his head. “I’m not going.”
The only reason Yin Mingzheng didn’t kick him while he’s down was because he was still living in Yin Qiang’s house. He wanted Yin Mingzheng to defend him in court? Keep dreaming.
Zhou Juan was incredibly disappointed. Fuming, she left for court.
Yin Mingzheng’s heart did not fluctuate in the slightest. His emotions were now very muted. The affection that he used to have for Zhou Juan had been whittled down to a fraction of what it used to be. Sometimes, he couldn’t even be bothered to pay attention to her.
He didn’t know if it was because of his injury or if it was because he knew about what Zhou Juan had done at the hospital. Maybe it was both. Even if Zhou Juan bought him gifts and raised him, Yin Mingzheng was finding it harder and harder to feel touched by any of it. Because, sometimes, the things she said and the things she did really, truly disgusted him. Especially lately. Recently, she’s been trying to get Yin Mingzheng to help plead on Yin Qiang’s behalf, causing Yin Mingzheng to loathe her more and more.
Once the mirror’s been shattered, it is really difficult to fix.
Not long after, the verdict came down. Yin Qiang was finally sentenced to life in prison.
Yin Mingzheng didn’t really care about the verdict at all. He was busy gaining knowledge, earning money, and using that money to improve his life.
He didn’t contact Shu Ning again. When he opened up the group chat on QQ, he would often see the shiitake mushroom avatar lighting up, joking around with their classmates. He watched silently, wanting to say something but not knowing what to say.
It was as if they lived in another world. That shiitake mushroom was the brightest, liveliest mushroom in the world, and there were lots and lots of tiny mushrooms circling around it. It was a world that he could not enter.
That little mushroom went far, far away. He was spending New Year’s in the northeast.
Occasionally, he would post photos of cedar trees. The world through those photos was sparkling and pure, beautiful beyond compare. It was a world he’d never seen before.
Sure enough, that little mushroom was from another world. The world he lived in was clean and clear, flawless and pure.
Yin Mingzheng dropped his gaze and exited out of QQ. His screen faded to black.
New Year’s was approaching. Since the city didn’t allow firecrackers or fireworks, most of the residents headed elsewhere to celebrate. The city seemed a little cold and desolate.
Yin Mingzheng was used to being alone, so he wasn’t really affected.
He was cooking in the kitchen, the aroma slowly drifting towards the living room.
Zhou Juan followed the fragrance into the kitchen. “It smells so good. Is it shiitake and chicken again?”
Yin Mingzheng’s eyelashes trembled slightly. “Mn.”
The phone rang. Zhou Juan rushed back into the living room to answer the phone.
“…Ah, we’ll go back and visit in about a week. Yes, we’re celebrating New Year’s with my husband’s family. Don’t worry, we’ll definitely go back and visit…”
Yin Mingzheng listened for a while. Then, he walked over to the gas stove with a blank expression and stirred the soup that was cooking. The pot burbled as hot steam rose to the ceiling, the fragrance tickling his nose.
He didn’t understand why Zhou Juan lied to her family every year. She was clearly being beaten within an inch of her life, yet, whenever her family called her, she would always say that she was doing well.
Was her reputation really so important?
What was even more ridiculous was that she also lied about Yin Qiang’s job. She claimed that he did business. She claimed that he was the boss, and she was the boss’ wife. For fifteen years, Zhou Juan would haul Yin Qiang and Yin Mingzheng back to her hometown every year. Every time, they would dress up in their nicest clothes, and they would be looked up to by the villagers in her hometown.
Yin Mingzheng couldn’t understand this bit of vanity.
Zhou Juan and Yin Qiang seemed to be extremely stubborn about things he didn’t understand.
Zhou Juan answered a lot of phone calls. All of them were greetings from her hometown.
Yin Mingzheng listened to the faint sound of her voice and quietly kept cooking.
“…Mingzheng!”
Yin Mingzheng turned his head.
Zhou Juan walked into the kitchen with the phone. “Your classmate!”
Classmate?
Yin Mingzheng was baffled.
He used to have an awful reputation, so he’d never had a classmate call him during New Year’s.
Yin Mingzheng wiped his hands on his apron and received the phone from Zhou Juan. “Hello?”
“Yin Mingzheng, happy new year!” A familiar voice sounded from the phone. “I don’t know your phone number, so I called Mrs. Zhou instead.”
Yin Mingzheng looked as if he had turned to stone. He was completely frozen.
“Yin Mingzheng, make sure you’re happy this year.” The sound of laughter rang out. That laugh was like a little bird. It flew out of the speaker and darted straight into Yin Mingzheng’s heart.
He opened his mouth and said softly, “Happy new year.”
Actually, he had wanted to yell out as loudly and emotionally as Shu Ning did, but he couldn’t. After waking up from his coma, he slowly started to realize that, not only did he lose his color vision, he also seemed to have lost his emotions. His reaction to everything was always very, very dull.
In the past, whenever Chen Hui harassed him, he would yell and shout and scream. His anger would expand like a balloon and go straight to his head. However, he hadn’t felt like that in a long time now.
In the past, he was very sensitive to other people’s facial expressions and their hostility. His emotions often bobbed back and forth very quickly. He could face the whole world by shaking his leg and puffing his chest. He couldn’t do that anymore. He was still aware of their expressions, he was still aware of their hostility, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care like he used to.
He rewatched August the Great. Before, he used to be entirely immersed into the show. His emotions would rise and fall with the progression of the plot. He would copy the way August dressed and things August said.
When he watched August the Great now, his emotions were very calm. His attention was more focused on the big picture now. For example, he had never noticed before that August’s clothes changed sometimes. He had never noticed the sharp cuts between scenes. He had never noticed that the glove that was on his right hand was now on his left hand.
Now, he could see all of it.
He was able to notice more details than before, but his mood was calm. It was like a lake freezing over, like a river drying up, like leaves falling from a tree one by one…
Like losing all sense of feeling.
“Then…I’ll hang up now,” Shu Ning said.
“Mn.” Yin Mingzheng didn’t know what to say. It would only get more awkward if they continued.
Shu Ning hung up the phone.
Yin Mingzheng returned the phone to Zhou Juan.
Yin Mingzheng kept his head down and continued to stare at the pale white chicken soup boiling in the pot. His eyelashes trembled, and his face was blank.
While others were celebrating the new year, Yin Mingzheng was working.
During Chinese New Year, a lot of companies were short-staffed, so they would seek help on Pegasus Forum whenever they ran into a problem. Yin Mingzheng accepted several emergency requests and made several thousands of yuan.
A week later, Zhou Juan was preparing to head back to her hometown. Yin Mingzheng refused to go with her. He didn’t want to waste time on meaningless things. Before, he wouldn’t have rejected Zhou Juan, but, after getting injured, he didn’t seem to care so much about Zhou Juan’s feelings.
He wasn’t going to be so considerate of her anymore.
Zhou Juan was incredibly angry. She really wanted him to go back with her. If it was before, Yin Mingzheng definitely would have agreed, but, now, he didn’t want to do that.
After losing his emotions, he became a lot more rational.
So, he simply refused.
He sat alone in his small and narrow bedroom, typing away at the keyboard.
It was almost a week after New Year’s. Most people had returned to the city and were getting ready to go back to work. The city started bustling once more. Lanterns were hung around the community. Children ran around the community in their festive holiday clothing.
Yin Mingzheng got tired of programming. He walked to the window and looked down, and he saw a world of black and white.
The trees were a mix of gray and black, the night was pitch black, the children were a light gray, the fireworks were stark white, the street lamps were a soft white…
He blinked his eyes and headed back towards his room to continue coding.
“Bang!”
Fireworks rose above the city skyline, one after another. Then, they burst open in a spray of light. Those were the fireworks set off by the city government.
Most of the citizens in Chuzhou could see it.
Yin Mingzheng concentrated on his laptop. Outside his window was pitch black. There was nothing there.
On the seventh day of the new year, Shu Ning returned to Chuzhou with Mrs. Cai and Papa Shu. His stay up north was a lot of fun. Shu Ning learned how to ski with his cousins. His face ended up getting bruised, and his fingers were bright red due to the cold. It was a good thing he was wearing a helmet. Otherwise, he would have cracked his head open.
He had no idea how others were able to make it so easy, and on a snowboard at that. Shu Ning looked like a penguin on skis. If he skied more than three meters, he was guaranteed to fall. Then, he would end up rolling all the way down the slope. At first, it was really painful because he couldn’t get up once he’d fallen, so he would keep rolling and rolling and rolling. Later on, he gradually started to get the hang of it under his cousin’s guidance.
Once he had gotten the hang of it, he thought about taking the villain skiing. He’s probably never seen snow before, right?
When he got home, Shu Ning summoned up his courage and decided to give the villain some sausages, a local product from the northeast. He was going to knock on his door and ask for his phone number or something. However, before he even had the chance to head out, there was already a knock at his door instead.
Shu Ning opened the door and found the villain standing outside. He was wearing a black cotton jacket. He was thin and slender, and his features were delicate. He looked as perfect as a picture.
“Yin Mingzheng?” Shu Ning was stunned for a moment. Never in a million years would he have expected the little villain to show up at his door.
Yin Mingzheng stared at him and said, “Shu Ning.”
“Oh, come in.” Shu Ning ushered him into the room.
The little villain walked in silently.
Shu Ning closed the door. “What a coincidence. I just got back.”
“It’s not a coincidence,” the villain said.
Shu Ning was confused. “Huh?”
“I knew when you were coming back.” The little villain’s voice was low.
Shu Ning was surprised. “How did you know?”
Yin Mingzheng did not speak.
He saw it in the group chat and memorized the date by heart.
“Is Aunt Cai here?” the villain asked.
Oh. So he wasn’t here for me.
Shu Ning shouted towards the kitchen, “Mom!”
“What’s the matter?” Mrs. Cai’s voice rang out from the kitchen, along with the bang bang bang of the kitchen knife. Before they left, his grandma shoved a bunch of preserved meat onto them, including a huge rack of spare ribs.
“Yin Mingzheng’s looking for you.”
Cai Qin hurried out of the kitchen and wiped her hands on her apron. When she saw the villain, her face revealed a bit of surprise. “Yin Mingzheng, do you need me for something?”
Yin Mingzheng stood awkwardly at the entrance of the apartment. Cai Qin waved at him. “What are you doing standing by the door? Come in, come in.”
Shu Ning still had the sausages in his hand. When he heard Cai Qin say this, he realized that he had been a little impolite. He hurriedly put the sausages down on a cabinet by the entrance and said apologetically, “Come on in.”
Yin Mingzheng rarely visited his classmates’ houses. Shu Ning’s living room was spacious, bright, and clean. It was completely different from the living room in his house. He shook his head. He didn’t want his shoes to dirty their white, pristine floor tiles.
“No.” Yin Mingzheng’s voice was very quiet. “Aunt Cai, I’m here to pay back the money. I’ll leave once I’m done.”
“Pay back? Pay back what money?” Cai Qin was puzzled.
It wasn’t everyday that the villain paid a visit to his house. How could Shu Ning just let him go like that? He was going to get some slippers from the shoe cabinet, but he ended up giving up on that. Instead, he stepped forward and pulled Yin Mingzheng’s arm. “The house is already dirty as hell. You don’t need to change your shoes. Just come in.”
Yin Mingzheng was pulled two steps forward. His sneakers left a faint footprint on the tile.
Shu Ning said, “I’m the one in charge of mopping the floor. Don’t worry about it, it’s fine.”
Cai Qin came over to welcome him as well. “We’re having braised pork ribs tonight. Why don’t you stay for dinner?”
Yin Mingzheng opened his mouth to say something, but he was pulled into the living room by both mother and son. Then, they pressed him down onto the sofa.
Cai Qin instructed Shu Ning, “Go pour him some water.”
“Okay!” Shu Ning grabbed a disposable cup from the coffee table and walked over to the water dispenser. As he was filling the cup with hot water, he peeked over at the villain and saw him sitting on the sofa with his head lowered. His quiet and well-behaved appearance was particularly heartbreaking. Shu Ning couldn’t help but want to care for him a bit more. He picked up a bag of red dates and wolfberries and poured them into the cup.
Why was the villain still so skinny?
He handed the cup to the little villain, and the little villain accepted it with both hands, cupping it in the palm of his hands. The warmth spread from the cup to his hands to his chest, driving away the discomfort of suddenly finding himself in an unfamiliar environment.
“Where’s your mom? If she’s home, you can call her over, and we can have dinner together,” Cai Qin warmly extended an invitation.
“Mom went back to her hometown.” The little villain’s voice was very soft.
Cai Qin was surprised. “You’re at home by yourself?”
Yin Mingzheng raised his head. “I didn’t want to go back with her.”
Cai Qin was even more surprised. “Why?”
Yin Mingzheng wasn’t good at lying, so he decided to keep silent. The reason he didn’t go back was because he didn’t like the way Zhou Juan acted in her hometown. Whenever she lied to the villagers, he also had to lie along with her. This kind of thing was rather embarrassing to say out loud, and he didn’t want to look bad in front of Shu Ning.
As soon as he fell silent, Shu Ning knew that he didn’t want to answer, so he rushed to help smooth things over. “Mingzheng hasn’t been feeling well, so he stayed at home to recuperate.”
Cai Qin felt a little sympathetic towards him. “I’ve been at home these days. You can always come over for dinner if you’re home alone.”
Shu Ning’s heart started thumping with excitement. He looked at Cai Qin with gratitude and admiration. As soon as he heard that the villain was home alone, he started thinking about how to invite him over. He hadn’t expected Cai Qin to mention it first. It really saved him a lot of trouble.
Yin Mingzheng seemed a little surprised and shook his head. “Aunt Cai, can I add you on WeChat?”
Cai Qin smiled and said, “Of course you can.”
The two of them pulled out their cell phones and exchanged contact info. Shu Ning stood to the side, wagging his tail. He stared at them with both anticipation and anxiety. He also wanted to add the villain’s WeChat, but, unfortunately, the other two ignored him.
Just as he was hesitating on whether he should open his mouth and ask, Yin Mingzheng said, “Aunt Cai, thank you for organizing the donation last time. I have some money on hand right now, so could you help me return the money to the people in the neighborhood group chat? Or, you can add me to the group chat, and I can return it myself.”
“Ah?” Cai Qin was dumbfounded. “What are you talking about? That money was a donation. Why would you return it?”
Shu Ning was also surprised. On the day he was discharged from the hospital, the villain said that he wanted to return the money. Shu Ning had thought that he was joking. He didn’t expect him to actually return it. Plus, how was he able to get so much money in such a short amount of time?
The little villain silently picked up his phone. Ding. Cai Qin looked down and saw that 70,000 yuan had been transferred to her account.
Cai Qin was given a fright. He actually gave her the money.
“Don’t, don’t, don’t.”
“If Aunt Cai doesn’t agree, I’ll return the money to them one by one.”
The little villain was very earnest when he said this. Anyone could tell that he wasn’t joking. His words didn’t carry very many emotions, but they were earnest. Cai Qin understood that he really would do it.
Shu Ning and Cai Qin looked at each other.
“Where did the money come from?” Cai Qin asked, puzzled.
Everyone knew what his family’s economic situation was like. There was definitely something fishy about this 70,000 yuan.
Shu Ning was also very nervous. His heart was beating like a drum. It wasn’t very likely that the villain just happened to have 70,000 yuan.
“I earned it myself,” the little villain said.
Shu Ning and Cai Qin didn’t believe it.
Shu Ning was afraid that he would go down the wrong path. He asked, “How did you earn it?”
The little villain quietly looked at him. “Software.”
Shu Ning asked again, “What kind of software?”
Shu Ning could admit that, at this moment, his mind drifted towards peer-to-peer loaning or something like that. He knew the villain had a lot of pride, so what if he took out an online loan to pay back the donation? What should he do then?
Yin Mingzheng could see the distrust in his eyes. He pursed his lips and said in a low voice, “It’s proper work.”
Then, he stood up, said thank you one more time, and started to leave.
Maybe he shouldn’t say that he earned the money himself. No one would believe him. Who knows, maybe Shu Ning thought he did something illegal. After all, he was the son of a criminal. Even if the man wasn’t his biological father, he was still raised by a criminal. Other people were always going to view him through those lenses.
Shu Ning was caught off guard by this. He chased after him. “Mingzheng, are you staying for dinner?”
Yin Mingzheng silently gave him a glance. Then, he reached out to open the door and left.
Shu Ning awkwardly stood at the door. He felt that the little villain seemed a little angry and a little sad, but Shu Ning didn’t know what he was supposed to do next.
After a while, he dejectedly returned to the living room. The cup on the coffee table was still full. The villain hadn’t taken a sip.
He didn’t manage to give him the sausages
He didn’t manage to add his WeChat.
What a complete failure.
In the end, Cai Qin did as Yin Mingzheng asked and returned the money to those who donated. The people in the group chat were incredibly surprised, and their impression of Yin Mingzheng changed a lot.
Before, they had sympathy for him, but now, it was admiration.
Yin Mingzheng’s image had completely changed.
Yin Mingzheng went home to pick up some more work. He drowned himself in an ocean of knowledge.
The city library was already open.
He resumed his usual routine, leaving for the library in the morning and returning home at night.
He needed to become stronger. He would only be able to enter that other world once he was stronger. Otherwise, he would never be able to lift his head up in front of Shu Ning.
Before he could stand on equal footing as him, Yin Mingzheng needed to pick up the pieces of the dignity that he had lost, little by little.
In the blink of an eye, school was about to start again. Zhou Juan returned from her hometown.
This year, she returned earlier than usual. Her expression was unpleasant. She was weary and travel-worn.
Yin Mingzheng didn’t ask her how things went, nor did he ask about how she explained her husband and son’s absence.
Zhou Juan sat on the sofa for a long time. Finally, she walked into Yin Mingzheng’s room and said, “Mingzheng.”
Yin Mingzheng raised his head. His eyes were dark and reflective.
Zhou Juan said, “If Grandma calls and asks about Dad, just tell her that he went to do business in another city and can’t come back often, you got that?”
Yin Mingzheng gave her a faint smile and nodded.
Zhou Juan breathed a sigh of relief. Then, she reminded him again, “If anyone else asks, remember to say the same.”
Yin Mingzheng replied, “Okay.”
Zhou Juan walked out of the room.
Yin Mingzheng continued to program without a single change in expression.
And so, the days slowly passed by like this. Zhou Juan started to bring different men home, all types of men. Yin Mingzheng didn’t say anything.
Once the man had left, Zhou Juan would complain at the dinner table, wiping at her tears as she ate.
“How am I supposed to find a decent man like this?” She sobbed, “I knew it, Yin Qiang was the best.”
Yin Mingzheng’s chopsticks paused. “What kind of man are you looking for?”
Zhou Juan said with puffy eyes, “Looks good. Has a house. It’s best if they have money, but it’s fine if they don’t.”
Yin Mingzheng said, “Isn’t that just two requirements? It shouldn’t be that hard.”
Zhou Juan shook her head. “It’s not easy to find someone who has a house and looks good. Even if a guy like that existed, most of them look down on me. I’m old, and I’m not good-looking. I don’t have a job, I don’t have a diploma, why would a guy like that like me?”
“What about an older guy?”
“No, no, no.” Zhou Juan shook her head. “I’ll be laughed at if I bring an old guy back to my hometown.”
“I remember the second guy you brought back was okay.”
Zhou Juan said, “He has two children.”
“Don’t you have a kid too?”
“That’s different. You’re not my biological kid,” Zhou Juan blurted out. Then, she awkwardly followed up, “Sigh, what I mean is I don’t want to be a stepmother and raise someone else’s kid for them.”
Yin Mingzheng lowered his head to eat. His face was blank.
Zhou Juan observed him for a moment. When she saw that he didn’t get angry, she seemed to feel a little guilty and sighed, “Mingzheng, don’t you understand why I stayed with Yin Qiang, right?”
Yin Mingzheng put down his chopsticks and stared at her quietly.
Zhou Juan sighed and said, “All of this started more than ten years ago. You know that I’m from a rural area. Our family was pretty poor, even within our village. The other villagers looked down on our family. I have an older sister. She was able to marry a man from the city and live a good life. I also wanted to marry a city guy. I wanted to find an amazing guy and be looked up to.”
“When I was in high school, I fell in love with a classmate. I think his last name was Tang. I ended up getting pregnant. The Tang family could be considered rather wealthy within the county. I thought that since I was pregnant with his child, I would be able to marry into his family, but they refused to own up to it.”
At this moment, Zhou Juan started weeping. Her tears streamed down her face.
“They looked down on me. My family looked down on me. Even the other villagers were mocking me, so I ran away. I swore to myself that I would turn things around. I was gonna marry a handsome, rich man. I was gonna show all those people who made fun of me.”
“But…Mingzheng, you don’t know how hard it is to work a job from morning to night. Kids like you don’t need to lift a finger. Your parents feed and clothe you. You don’t know how difficult it is. Anyway, you’ll understand when you grow up…”
“Even after working for a couple of years, I didn’t make much money. All of the men I met were horrible, and I was getting older. You know, once a woman passes the age of twenty-five, no one will want her. She’ll never be able to marry. Her life will be over. I was anxious, so I came to Chuzhou and was introduced to Yin Qiang.”
“Yin Qiang was so good looking. He was much more handsome than my ex. He was a local, and he even owned a house.” Zhou Juan started getting excited as she recounted the past. “Back then, I thought that I was so lucky! You could say that he saved me.”
Yin Mingzheng’s eyes dimmed. “So you married him.”
Zhou Juan nodded. “Yeah. Oh, you have no idea! When I brought Yin Qiang home, everyone was so jealous of me! I had never felt so good in my whole life! The Tang family was just a big fish in a small pond. How could they possibly compare to a guy from a big city? My ex wasn’t even as handsome as Yin Qiang. My sister was always showing off about how she married a city guy, but I managed to get a guy that was a hundred times better!”
Yin Mingzheng said, “So you lied about Yin Qiang being a business owner?”
Zhou Juan awkwardly pinched her chopsticks. She wanted to defend herself, but Yin Mingzheng had seen everything she had done since he was child. It was impossible for her to deny it, so she muttered, “I-I guess so,”
“Whatever.” Yin Mingzheng said, “The people in your hometown don’t have anything to do with me. But, it sounds like you just want someone from the city with a house. Couldn’t you just get a divorce and find someone new?”
Zhou Juan shook her head. “Divorce isn’t an option! They don’t do divorces where I’m from. If I got a divorce, I’d never be able to raise my head in public again.”
Yin Mingzheng blinked. “Oh. Then why have you been bringing men home these past couple of days?”
Zhou Juan was embarrassed. She said, “I’m out of options now. Yin Qiang’s already been sentenced to life in prison. I can’t just wait for him for the rest of my life, can I? Once I find someone who’s about the same as Yin Qiang, I’ll get a divorce. That way, I’ll have something to show for myself when I report back home.”
Yin Mingzheng didn’t quite understand. “Report back home?”
Zhou Juan explained, “I want to marry someone better than my ex and better than my sister’s husband. I’ve been aiming for this my whole life. Do you understand?”
Yin Mingzheng didn’t understand, but he still nodded.
Zhou Juan breathed a sigh of relief. However, she soon became worried again. “My circumstances aren’t good. I wasn’t good enough for Yin Qiang to begin with. Now, I’m old and faded. Where am I supposed to find someone like Yin Qiang?”
She suddenly started crying again.
Yin Mingzheng paused for a moment. “Mom, it’s Yin Qiang who isn’t good enough for you.”
Zhou Juan hurriedly shook her head. “I had an abortion, I never graduated, my family’s from a rural village in the middle of nowhere. How could I possibly match up to Yin Qiang? The fact that he didn’t turn his back on me was already more than I could ask for! I know you hate him for drinking and hitting me, but at least he didn’t borrow money! He was such a good person! If it wasn’t for his life sentence, I definitely would have stayed with him…”
Yin Mingzheng put down the bowl and chopsticks. “I’m full.”
He didn’t want to hear Zhou Juan’s wailing. Because he really didn’t understand.
Translator’s Note:
This chapter is looooong! Like, three times longer than the previous chapters! All the chapters from now on get longer (⊙ˍ⊙)
Also, everyone say hello to my PR/Editor yamyam!
She has brain damage…
Thanks for the chapter ~🌸
At least yin mingzeng didn’t get blindsided by his mother
Also alas for our pitiful mc
When Yin Mingzheng recalled his past behavior I felt really sad for him….yes, he was sensitive and quick to anger, but that was the sort of ordinary childish behavior you would expect from a teenage boy. He had his heroes and his likes and dislikes, but now because of his head injury and the extremely callous way he was treated by the mom he loved & wanted to protect he’s been forced to grow up in such a lonely way…no color and no strong emotions either…the part where it mentioned he couldn’t see the fireworks made me cry
He was just an ordinary teenager before but now he can’t even feel things… I feel so sad for him I hope he will get better
Yin Mingzheng’s name in his QQ app is ‘lovetoeatshiitake’, which is Shu Ning avatar in his QQ, the shiitake mushroom!!!! Zhou Juan do not deserved to be called a mother, tsk tsk. Anyways thanks for the update ♡♥.
Oh no, ML, bebe, this woman really good pair with Yin Qiang. They are like birds of same feathers
Thanks for the chapter ~
I hope our mc soon found out who have hime those gift
Thanks for the chapter even if it’s long it’s was not that long to consume more time, i have read longer Chapter then this one and i would live them half to take breaks
Thank you for your hard work!!!
Poor Mushroom( why are alot of MCs likened to mushrooms?, other then the one that actually is one.) Thinking he keeps failing to get close to the ML.
While to me it feels the ML more so now hes gained – Trait= Cold blooded CEO with no emotions due to tragic past thing. He feels unworthy to be close to our MC do to his ‘scum garbage’ background? So he has ro become rich and powerful to be even worthy.
hah Little Mushroom~
Oh cielos, oh cielos~
Se llama “amo comer shiitake” y Ning tiene un shiitake de perfil… WAH!!!!
✨(≧▽≦)✨Muchas gracias, Traductor-nim!!
Yin Mingzheng… I wish he’d just be happy
+1
Well … Her life sucks…
Poor Shu Ning he did not consider the option of the Wei family not believing in the documents that he had sent. Guess he need to wait for the Wei family to discover the truth themselves.
Thanks for the chapter
At this point, Shu Ning has the worst career as a good Samaritan.
It is really sad how detached Yin Mingzheng got to the world and how he sees Shu Ning as a light in another world. Shu Ning as well try’s to get closer but the misunderstandings keep happening. 🥲 ‘Liketoeatshiitake’ is such a good user name. 😁👍
Shu Ning didn’t get to add him on WeChat…but his mom did…pfft! His plans always seems to go awry! Thanks for the translation! 🤣❤️
Wow that’s beyond even stalkholm syndrome, her IQ & EQ is just straight up -100. I hope she gets completely exposed soon & ML realizes the one caring solely for him even funding him the entire time was MC. I hate negative IQ Green Tea B*tches like her🤡🤡
she’s got a poor taste in men… the perfect definition of having a poor standards lol!!
Thanks for the chapter ❤️❤️
First of all, she could actually live way better without a man. Whether good or bad. She’d earn enough for rent and her own expenses. Even if she did the most basic work, which she’s probably doing now anyway. Then, when she starts looking for someone, she would have more confidence as she also has things she could fall back on. She doesn’t even live in her village anymore, only needs to go there once a year. Why does she even need to ‘report’ her awesome husband? She suffered so much and even lied to her family to make her husband seem awesome. When he was the one leeching off her and abusing her. She definitely has Stockholm syndrome. And she’s not a good person either. So I’m not feeling sorry for her one tiny bit.
Whatever her problems and worries might have been, she switched her own child, brought someone else to suffer her husband’s abuse, threw all the blame on that child, then dumped the child whenever it was convenient. And that’s not all. It’s too exhausting to write off all her wrongs so I won’t go that far. This suffices to show she doesn’t deserve any pity.
this woman must be out of his mind, i can’t believe i’m reading this like????? DON’T YOU PITY YOURSELF, YOUR STANDARDS ARE SO LOW THAT MINE SEEM SO UNREALISTIC.
Sighs…..
And the sad truth is that a lot of ppl like her exist in reality, it’s really messed up.
he keeps making shitake and chicken…..is it because he loves to eat shitake? 😏
Daddy, your baby misses youuu~
Hi yamyam..
yin mingzheng’s user name is [I like to eat shittake] and Shu ning profile picture is shittake mushroom…. I’ll just leave it here….
What the hell? How delusional is she???? I hate to believe that such people exist:( Thank you for the chapter!
Yeah. I didn’t understand her too. and i don’t want to understand what she meant. She have a problem
Ugh, I can’t wait for him to leave that woman. What’s wrong with her, she lives in the city now, she doesn’t need to “report” back home ever if it makes her so uncomfortable. I can’t believe she voluntarily subjected herself and a child to all that abuse just for some bragging rights at new years
First of all!!! “LoveToEatShiitake”!!! LOVE TK EAT SHIITAKE!!!! WUWUWUWU MY SON IS SO CUTE ಥ‿ಥ
2nd: girl…. you’re willing to live a life of violence and abuse just to save your face?! to satisfy your pride? 💀💀💀💀