If He Lin remembered correctly, Uncle Chen only learned about the disaster in his great-grandfather's hometown six months later. By then, the situation had improved, and Uncle Chen, having survived the ordeal, mentioned it to those around him, revealing a lot of information. Coupled with He Lin's photographic and auditory memory, this gave him an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Before Uncle Chen could ask too many questions and become suspicious, He Lin told him what he knew.

"Your direct descendants are all doing well now, but each family is struggling financially. Water is a problem in the village right now, let alone food. Uncle Chen, you…"

Uncle Chen said, "Don't worry, your Uncle Chen may not be very capable, but I guarantee you'll have a job and food to eat. I'll give you some money tomorrow, send it back for emergency use, and I'll figure something out later."

He Lin nodded. Sending it back now would solve the immediate problem, and it wouldn't be considered that he had tricked Old Man Chen.

"Uncle Chen, thank you so much! Aunt Guihua is right, you really are helpful."

Old Chen vaguely remembered the osmanthus flower the young man was talking about. He had visited her hometown with his great-grandfather when he was a child, and Aunt Guihua had been very hospitable, cooking him a hometown dish he still remembers fondly. Judging by her age, Aunt Guihua was now almost seventy.

"Wait a minute, young man, you said you're Aunt Guihua's cousin, you should be about my age, right?"

"Uncle Chen, my family has a high seniority, and my parents were already quite old when I was born."

He Lin's answer was watertight, leaving no room for suspicion.

"Okay, you can squeeze in with me today. I'll ask around tomorrow and arrange work and a room for you."

From that moment on, He Lin's anxiety finally subsided. This was his first real interaction with the world as a participant. Although he wasn't in the same bed as Uncle Chen, the old man's snoring kept him awake. He thought a lot that night, knowing this wasn't the end, and that he could disappear again at any moment.

The next day, He Lin finally fell asleep but was woken up by Uncle Chen.

"Get up quickly, the master has agreed. From now on, you'll be guarding the yard, with room and board provided, and it'll cost you thirty-two yuan a month. But remember, you must tell everyone you're a distant relative the He family invited to help out, understand?"

"Yes, thank you, Uncle Chen."

"It's alright, change your clothes and come with me."

His monthly salary was equivalent to that of a regular factory worker. Since the He family didn't need a housekeeper, it seemed that Uncle Chen had explained the situation to his parents, which was why they made an exception and let him stay. After changing his clothes, He Lin followed Uncle Chen to the front yard.

"Someone cleans the yard. Although you're officially assigned to look after the yard, you're working for someone else's family to earn a living, so you need to be observant and attentive to your duties, understand? The host is kind to you, so you should be even more grateful. I won't say more; take this money and send it home."

"Understood, Uncle Chen, I'll go right away."

He didn't immediately transfer the money; instead, he used it as seed money. Two hours later, Uncle Chen thought the young man had run off with the money, when he suddenly reappeared.

"Uncle Chen, please keep this remittance slip. I thank you on behalf of my family back home." Looking at the words on the remittance slip, Uncle Chen examined it carefully and confirmed that it was correct.

"But you've been out for so long, was the post office crowded?"

"Yeah, there are a lot of people. I played around outside for a while; it's my first time in the city."

He Lin portrayed the timid and inexperienced young man seeing the world for the first time so convincingly that he successfully fooled Uncle Chen.

"I understand. But next time, just let me know, and I'll give you some time off so you can go out and have some fun."

"Thank you, Uncle Chen. I'll go take care of the trash now."

Uncle Chen waved him away, and after the man left, he carefully examined the remittance slip—it was indeed correct. These days, he was terrified of encountering scammers.

He Lin used work as an excuse to wander between the front and back yards, observing the situation of the He family. Before long, he found an opportunity to go outside.

"Uncle Chen, I need to go out to buy some things. Can I ask for two hours off?"

In just half a day, Uncle Chen had a general understanding of the young man in front of him: "You're a good young man. You should always be as honest as this. Anyway, there's not much work right now, so go ahead and remember to come back early."

He Lin casually split his surname into two parts and came up with a new name: "Okay, I'm off then. I'll bring you some braised pig's head when I get back. Let's have a couple of drinks tonight."

Uncle Chen hadn't interacted with young people in a long time. The only son in the family was taciturn, and he had never seen such vitality in He Lin since he was a child: "Sigh—maybe the burden is too heavy."

After receiving permission, He Lin walked to a nearby bus stop. It was quite a distance from the other property of the He family, and walking there would take too much time. However, He Lin, who had almost never taken a bus before, was unfamiliar with the routes, and the bus stop signs weren't clearly marked.

"Where are you going, young man?" An older woman next to him asked, looking at the thin young man in front of him.

"Auntie, which bus should I take to get to Chengfu Road?"

"You're from out of town, right? To get to Chengfu Road, you need to take the bus across the street. This one goes in the opposite direction, so don't get on the wrong one. It's bus number six. The conductor will call out the route, just pay attention. Oh, and remember to have your money ready."

The car the old lady was waiting for arrived, and she hurriedly gave her instructions before getting on. In the minute that he walked to the roadside, He Lin's mindset completely changed—this body, as an ordinary citizen living in the same society, received vastly different information and experienced a very different atmosphere.

After successfully boarding the bus, he glanced around. Everyone had their own destination, and few people would pay attention to him. Upon arrival, He Lin followed the others off the bus and wandered through the streets and alleys according to his memory, finally arriving at a quiet place. The surrounding area was all residential housing; the bustling city center was just two streets away. The villa was in a secluded location with convenient amenities.

He Lin walked nervously from the intersection to the entrance of the villa, thinking the whole way about how to face Yu Lian, who was now trapped in a predicament.

As a participant in this matter, he fell in love with Yu Lian years later. Looking back and even participating in it again, he felt very uncomfortable.

"Oh, you're going back to your parents' house with lots of bags again? You don't know, I don't think her sister is going to live much longer."

He Lin immediately recognized the two maids working at the villa. Because it was far from the old mansion, the maids here weren't supervised every day like they were at the old mansion, and no one cared if they gossiped. But what they were saying was very clear; it was obvious they were talking about Yu Lian.

"Gossiping behind people's backs, do you want to quit?"

The two maids exchanged a glance and turned around to look at the voice behind them. It was a dark-skinned, skinny man with an unfamiliar accent.

"Hey? What's it to you? That stinky out-of-towner isn't some poor woman's relative, is he?"

He Lin forgot that he was a different person now, and they would not back down because of the words of a lowly young man.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like