Returning to his childhood home, He Lin felt a mix of emotions. However, for him, his family had never caused him any trouble. Compared to the pitiful, poor little Yu Lian now, lacking food and clothing, his childhood was utterly awful. For the first time, He Lin felt a burning hatred for the identity of being "rich"—he wished he had the ability to foresee the future as a child, so that even if he gave away all his allowance, it wouldn't affect his development. Just a little bit would have saved the three of them from being trapped in this quagmire.

Following his memory, He Lin, carrying a shovel he'd somehow found, climbed over the fence into the backyard of the He family's old house when no one was around. The yard was filled with flowers and plants, a pond, and artificial hills—plenty of hiding places. Now, in the dead of night, it was the perfect time to strike. He wouldn't be mistaken; as a child, he'd buried an iron box here, filled with unwanted gifts. But for He Lin, now penniless and unable to earn money, it was a treasure left to him by his childhood self.

Halfway through digging, a childish voice suddenly rang out from behind: "Move again, and I'll stab you in the stomach right now."

Two or three seconds later, He Lin felt a chill on his back. But what he didn't expect was that his younger self would suddenly appear. Even more surprising was that this time he hadn't disappeared; in fact, his younger self was staring intently at his grown-up self. However, He Lin didn't turn around, and the two didn't make eye contact. This scene was tense, but now He Lin's mind raced, and he thought of a way to make his younger self stop.

"I only care about the money, not my life. Let me go, and I'll tell you something you want to know, anything."

Normally, He Lin would never believe such slander. But this time, he seemed to be bewitched, putting down the knife in his hand and not even calling for his family to come out.

"Anything? Why should I believe you? And how did you know I buried something here? I've never seen you in our house; have you been spying on us?"

"You don't need to worry about that. I won't show up after I take the item. Just ask what you want to ask. If that's what you're thinking about, it would be a waste of this opportunity."

Why should I believe you?

"Your belief comes at no cost. If you don't believe me, just ask me a question right here that you think I couldn't possibly know the answer to, and see if I can answer it."

Xiao Helin looked at the person in front of him who refused to turn around, wanting to see his face clearly—because the other person was obviously hiding.

"Why won't you show me your face? Are you afraid I'll recognize you later?"

Based on He Lin's understanding of himself, he might actually be able to recognize himself more than twenty years from now at this age.

"There has to be some suspense. If you don't ask, you'll miss your chance. You're no match for me now that you've sheathed your sword, you brat."

Xiao Helin frowned, struggled internally for a moment, and then tentatively asked, "Any question is fine? Are you a fortune teller? Playing tricks... What will I do in the future..."

He said he wouldn't accept it, but in the end he couldn't help but ask. He Lin, as if he could read his mind, knew what he hadn't finished saying and gave him the answer he wanted: "You won't do what you want to do. There have been changes in the family. You will inherit the family business, but not in Yuncheng."

He Lin did want to ask himself if he would become the kind of person he wanted to be in the future—and before he could even say it, the other person already knew what he wanted to ask.

"Coincidence. I asked you what was in the box, and you said you knew everything."

He Lin chuckled lightly: "The Buddhist amulet from my own mother, the gold ingot pendant from my own father, all sorts of valuable gifts from my uncles and aunts, and the things you wrote about..."

"Alright! I believe you. Take all of these things! I don't want them anymore, you can sell them if you want!"

Looking at his younger self now, He Lin only feels that he wasn't as precocious and intelligent as he remembered, and that he also had the thoughts and little schemes of a child. What the younger He Lin didn't want him to talk about was actually the sense of loss he felt after his younger sister was born, and the dark thoughts in his heart—all written down on paper. But as his sister grew up, he felt that he was particularly petty back then, and wanted to bury all these "bad" things. The reason he stopped him from talking about it just now was probably because he felt ashamed.

"Okay, I'll take it. But I'll leave the thing you care about most for you."

He took out a thick stack of papers and put them aside. He picked up the box and quickly rummaged out of the yard, leaving behind Xiao Helin with a look of curiosity on his face.

"Knock knock knock—Is anyone home?"

Xiao Yulian had just gotten up and was carrying a basin of hot water to wash her younger sister's face.

Who is it?

"I deliver goods from the vegetable market."

With questions in mind, Xiao Yulian opened the door and saw an uncle wearing dark blue overalls pushing a cart full of rice, flour, cooking oil, and fresh vegetables.

"Uncle, you can call me if you need anything."

"You must be Yu Lian. I've been looking for you. This is the government subsidy for the families of martyrs. I'll deliver it to you every week from now on. Remember, don't be away from home, or I won't be able to find you. I heard from the neighbors that you're the little adult of this family, right? Come and sign this."

The other party pulled out a stack of receipts from his pocket, with red stamps on them. His explanation was reasonable and well-founded, and given that staff from relevant departments had indeed visited recently, Xiao Yulian nodded.

"Thank you, Uncle." She used all her strength to say those four words.

These supplies were a godsend for the mother and her two daughters. The deliverymen came and went quickly. Looking at the things in the yard, Xiao Yulian closed the door and cried uncontrollably. Wang Meixia, who had been listening intently to the sounds outside, heard her daughter crying and got out of bed without thinking, only to lose her footing and fall to the ground.

Little Yu Lian didn't even have time to wipe away her tears before running into the room and immediately helping her mother up. Her little face was contorted with effort as she finally helped her mother onto the bed and checked that everything was alright before she felt relieved.

"Mom, we don't need to worry anymore. We'll have plenty of food to eat from now on!"

Xiao Yulian relayed everything her uncle had said to her mother. Seeing the official receipts in her daughter's hand, Wang Meixia burst into tears, repeatedly expressing her gratitude.

An hour later, when the aroma of meat wafted from the Yu family's courtyard, He Lin finally breathed a sigh of relief. Hearing the laughter of the three eating through the brick wall, he felt as satisfied as if he had tasted an unparalleled delicacy.

"Found you!!"

He Lin, who had been eavesdropping on the Yu family's activities, was startled by the sudden sound behind him. Realizing who it was, he quickly got up and left, covering his face the whole way to make sure he wasn't seen by the person behind him. He just couldn't understand it—getting close to little Yu Lian was impossible, but getting close to his younger self was. Realizing he couldn't shake off this clingy person, He Lin stopped.

Why are you avoiding me? You're afraid to see me. I must know you, otherwise you wouldn't be like this.

Being too smart isn't always a good thing. He Lin sighed, "What do you want to do? I told you everything you asked yesterday."

Xiao Helin looked up: "You...who exactly are you?"

"It's a secret that can't be revealed. But I'm in a good mood lately, so I can tell you about it." He Lin pretended to be mysterious, but actually he wanted to test whether telling He Lin now which pitfalls the He family needed to avoid in the future would prevent them from experiencing those things.

"He Lin, remember this: in * years, the He family will be ********."

A sentence of several dozen words, most of which were censored. He Lin did not verify it again—he had anticipated similar possibilities, but he had not expected it to turn out this way.

"What are you babbling about? Are you from out of town?"

He Lin sighed: "Don't come looking for me again. But you can do me a favor—if you help that little girl from now on, I can tell you anything you want to know before I leave."

Actually, He Lin wasn't sure if he could still speak then; he needed to intimidate the kid behind him first. But little He Lin looked completely confused: "Weren't you just squatting in the open space? Where did this family come from?"

One sentence killed all possibilities. He Lin understood—even if his involvement improved the lives of the Yu family mother and daughter, he couldn't expect to change the overall course of events. They were destined not to meet now.

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