What? You're a notorious bandit? What a coincidence, me too!

Lin Chang'an shook his head. "Third Uncle, Third Aunt, I came here today mainly to thank you."

Lin Jianguo was taken aback for a moment: "Why are you thanking us? We're all family, why say such things?"

As Lin Chang'an spoke, he took out three stacks of money from his pocket and placed them on the coffee table.

"Here's 30,000 yuan, Uncle. Please accept it. 10,000 is to repay your betrothal money, and the remaining 20,000 is what I owe you and Aunt over the years. It's just a small token of my appreciation."

Lin Jianguo's eyes widened instantly, and he looked up abruptly at Lin Chang'an, his voice urgent: "Chang'an, what are you doing? Where did you get so much money?"

Auntie's eyes were full of surprise as she looked at Lin Chang'an.

"I earned it," Lin Chang'an said.

"Earned?"

Lin Jianguo shook his head, looking incredulous. "Kid, don't lie to me. You only make a few hundred yuan a month, how could you possibly earn 30,000 yuan? Did you get into trouble again? Did you steal the money? Or did you do something illegal?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Chang'an rolled his eyes helplessly: "Third Uncle, can you please stop thinking so badly of me? This was really earned honestly."

He then briefly recounted the events of the day to the two of them.

Upon hearing this, Lin Jianguo's mouth gaped open wide enough to fit an egg. It took him a long time to react before he slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "My goodness! There are people this generous? Just for chasing a contract, they give so much money?"

His aunt rolled her eyes at him, "You're so naive! There are plenty of rich people in this world! The boss isn't short of money. Chang'an did him a huge favor, so what's 50,000 yuan?"

Lin Jianguo was still a little worried, so he held Lin Chang'an's hand and said, "Son, as long as the money is from a legitimate source, that's good. But you don't need to rush to pay me back. Didn't you say you wanted to open a mobile phone shop? That's when you need the money, so keep this money."

"I still have a way to pay for the mobile phone store."

Lin Chang'an shook his head. "Third Uncle, you must accept this money. I was a bastard and ignorant before, causing you and Third Aunt a lot of worry and trouble."

He paused, then added, "And Shengnan, tell her not to go work at the machine factory. Her grades are good; for a girl, education is the only way to succeed. The machine factory is tiring and dangerous; she won't learn anything there."

Upon hearing this, Lin Jianguo let out a heavy sigh.

Auntie San beamed with joy, as if she hadn't smiled like this in years. She stood up and said, "I've been so busy talking, Chang'an, have you eaten dinner yet? If not, Auntie San will make you noodles with two eggs."

Lin Chang'an was indeed hungry. He had only eaten some spicy hot pot since noon, which had long since been digested, so he nodded and said, "Then I'll trouble you, Auntie."

"It's no trouble at all, what's the trouble?"

Third Aunt was very quick and efficient, and soon prepared a meal for Lin Chang'an.

Lin Chang'an ate while chatting with the two men.

Lin Jianguo looked at his nephew with eyes full of satisfaction.

The Lin Chang'an of the past was unserious and had a reckless and unruly attitude.

But now this kid is like a completely different person, it's really strange.

After finishing his meal, Lin Chang'an got up to say goodbye.

Lin Jianguo saw him to the door and repeatedly reminded him, "If you need money to open the shop, remember to tell your third uncle. Don't try to carry it all on your own."

"Understood, Third Uncle." Lin Chang'an nodded, got on his motorcycle, and disappeared into the night.

Watching Lin Chang'an's departing figure, Lin Jianguo turned around and said to his third aunt, "See? I told you so! Chang'an has really turned over a new leaf! He'll definitely amount to something in the future!"

His aunt rolled her eyes at him, but a smile played on her lips: "I wasn't wrong, was he a scoundrel before?"

The two bickered as they turned and went inside, unaware that the curtain in the inner room had moved slightly.

Lin Shengnan sat in her room, having heard the entire conversation outside.

She clutched the hem of her clothes, her eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions—surprise, confusion…

…………

Lin Chang'an rode his motorcycle back to his home, opened the door, and was instantly stunned.

The house used to be a mess, but now it's clean and tidy.

The wall was covered with bright red "double happiness" characters, a new bed sheet was laid on the kang (a heated brick bed), and several potted green plants were placed in the room. Although they were not expensive, they exuded a sense of vitality.

A warm feeling washed over Lin Chang'an.

It's obvious that Auntie San came to clean up.

Although her aunt complained a lot, she was more sincere than anyone else and always took care of him like her own son.

He lay in bed and slowly drifted off to sleep.

…………

As dawn broke and the first hint of light appeared in the east, the sparrows in the yard began to chirp and chatter, while Lin Chang'an was still fast asleep.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

A sudden, loud banging on the door jolted Lin Chang'an awake from his sleep like a heavy hammer.

"Who is it? Knocking on the door so early in the morning!"

Lin Chang'an rubbed his eyes and sat up, his heart filled with anger. He took out his phone from beside his pillow and saw that it was just past six o'clock.

He shuffled to the gate, grumbling and cursing, and unlatched it.

Standing outside the door was Guo Xiaowu, a fellow villager. He was about the same age as Guo, with messy hair, wearing a faded jacket with the cuffs rolled up, and a look of excitement on his face.

This guy is just like the old Lin Chang'an. He doesn't do anything serious, just wanders around all day, looking for odd jobs to get by, and he's done his fair share of swindling and cheating.

"Chang'an, I'm so glad I woke you up!" Guo Xiaowu said.

Lin Chang'an frowned, leaning against the doorframe, his tone impatient: "What's wrong? Spit it out, can't you see I haven't had enough sleep yet?"

"There's work! Good work!"

Guo Xiaowu leaned forward and lowered his voice, "One hundred yuan a day to watch over a place, paid daily, three meals provided. Interested?"

"one hundred?"

Lin Chang'an scoffed, his eyes full of disdain.

He just earned 50,000 yuan and 700 yuan yesterday (Zhang Shaodong gave him 500 yuan and Li Zheng gave him 200 yuan). 100 yuan is not even enough to fill a tooth gap for him.

He waved his hand. "No way. Is this little bit of money worth you waking me up so early in the morning? Don't keep me from sleeping, get out of here."

As he spoke, he was about to close the door.

Guo Xiaowu quickly reached out to stop the door, looking surprised: "Wait, you've become so arrogant now? You don't even care about a hundred yuan?"

He looked Lin Chang'an up and down several times, as if he were seeing him for the first time, and suddenly asked, "I heard that you caught a murderer a couple of days ago, is that true?"

Lin Chang'an yawned; the news spread really fast.

He was too lazy to explain to Guo Xiaowu, and waved his hand: "It's fake, just a rumor."

"I knew it!"

Guo Xiaowu breathed a sigh of relief, his face showing an "I knew it" expression. "That's a murderer, he's terrifying. How could you possibly beat him? Fine, if you're not going, I'm leaving."

As Guo Xiaowu spoke, he turned to leave.

"etc."

Lin Chang'an suddenly called out to him, asking, "When you said 'watching over the place,' who are you referring to?"

Guo Xiaowu turned around and scratched his head: "I think it's called something like 'Beach Beach,' but I can't remember exactly. We'll find out when we get there."