You on the other side of time

"Oh, sorry, sorry, I didn't see it." The man grinned, revealing two yellowed teeth.

Seeing that the other party was so nice, Wen Jinxin could only swallow his anger and mutter "It's okay".

Si Yang then looked up at the house across from the single mother's. His door was noticeably tidier, with several fruit crates neatly stacked together, filled with miscellaneous items, and a few old books with curled edges.

The bottom basket was crammed full of pineapples with their skins on, the green and yellow peels clinging tightly to the edge of the basket, and you could faintly smell a sweet and sour aroma.

The door was ajar, but it was pitch black inside. Si Yang peered inside for a long time but couldn't make out any outline. The man looked quite old, with some gray hair at his temples, probably around the same age as his father.

Si Yang took a few steps forward, his attitude sincere, "Uncle, hello, has the aunt from house number 3 come back recently?"

Since they are neighbors living across the hall, he should be well aware of any disturbances or changes happening across the hall.

"I don't know him, don't waste my time." The man in the white vest suddenly frowned, his tone slightly impatient. Judging from his posture, he was about to throw the rest of the water away.

Si Yang suddenly became agitated and instinctively tried to move forward, but Wen Jinxin grabbed his arm tightly. Wen Jinxin took out a pack of cigarettes from his bag, tore open the packaging, took out two cigarettes, and respectfully handed them over. He then took Si Yang's student ID from his bag and waved it in front of the man.

"Uncle, I'm so sorry, my brother is too young and doesn't know any better. Please don't take it to heart." Wen Jinxin said with a smile. "We're both college students, working part-time at a restaurant. You know, it's not easy to find a job these days. We're doing this to earn our tuition fees and ease the burden on our families."

The man in the white vest glanced at the student ID, then at the hand offered to him, squatted down, and sat on the threshold.

Wen Jinxin immediately followed and squatted down next to him. He turned around and secretly gave Si Yang a signal, signaling him to squat down as well. Then he took out a lighter, lit it with a "click," and brought it to the man's lips, saying with a grin, "Uncle, you can smoke this first."

The man took a drag of his cigarette, watching the smoke rings slowly drift out of his nose. Seeing that he had calmed down, Si Yang began to speak slowly and deliberately: "The aunt at No. 3 ordered a lot of takeout from the restaurant where we do part-time work, but she hasn't paid. We had no choice but to come and see if she was home, otherwise we would have our wages docked."

The man in the white vest took another deep drag of his cigarette, the butt glowing red. He stared at the remaining cigarette in his hand, paused for half a second, then expertly hung it up behind him.

"A student..." the man drawled, his eyes darting back and forth between Si Yang and Wen Jinxin. "He looks like a student, but you're very experienced, not like a student at all."

"Hey, Uncle, you've misunderstood." Wen Jinxin quickly chimed in, putting his hands behind his back and making a "shut up" gesture to Si Yang, which Si Yang understood immediately.

"My brother is from Jinchuan University, a pure academic genius. He deals with books every day, but he's not good with words and has a hard time talking to people. He's nowhere near as talkative as me."

Upon hearing this, the man's eyes suddenly lit up, his impatience lessened, and his tone softened. "Jinchuan University... I was hoping my daughter could get into Jinchuan University, but it's a pity... I feel that studying is seven parts talent and three parts hard work; you can't force it."

Si Yang listened to the man's repeated sighs, but felt nothing. He didn't quite understand the meaning of the word "talent," and learning had never been difficult for him. He consistently ranked in the top ten throughout middle school, even staying up all night to cram for practice problems. But after being stopped by Wen Jinxin just now, he learned his lesson and didn't dare utter a single word about Versailles, only sighing along with him.

"Uncle, I was just lucky. I barely made it into Jinzhou University. Back then, I stayed up all night almost every day to prepare for the exam. I even had stomach bleeding several times and had to be hospitalized. Now my health is very poor, and it's still a question whether I can graduate smoothly."

Wen Jinxin, who was listening nearby, secretly gave Si Yang a thumbs up from behind. "This acting is truly something my brother can learn from."

He knew very well that these days, nobody wanted to hear how easy or amazing you were. Ordinary people preferred to hear tragic stories, especially middle-aged people who had devoted most of their lives to their children. If they knew that what they had worked so hard to get for their children was something that others could easily obtain with a flick of their wrist, they would easily have a mental breakdown.

If things go wrong, the other half of the water might spill over onto your head in a minute.

"Oh, is it that serious?" The man's brow relaxed completely. "If that's the case, then my daughter does have some talent." Although his daughter only attends Jinchuan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, it's still one of the top 5 universities in Jinchuan. Studying is one thing, but health is the most important thing. Stomach bleeding is terrifying. It would be a huge loss if she ruined her health for the sake of studying.

The man was clear-headed. His expression shifted from disdain to slight admiration, and now even a touch of pity. So what if they were students at Jinda University? They were still suffering from stomach hemorrhages, unable to even recoup their part-time job earnings, and might not even graduate. In contrast, his daughter was healthy and somewhat successful, and he ran a small business, living a stable life. He was the real winner in life. These students were too naive, inexperienced in the harsh realities of society.

"That woman hasn't come back for a long time..." The man slammed the remaining cigarette butt to the ground and ground it. "I heard something happened at home. A lot of reporters came and made a fuss at the door for the past two weeks. It was very annoying."

He paused here, then turned around and looked Si Yang over carefully again.

The boy was clearly dressed much better than the smoking boy, and didn't seem like he was really short of money for takeout. But he didn't ask any more questions; it's the rule of adults to see through things but not say anything.

"Son, are you thirsty?" The man stood up and patted his bottom.

"Thirsty, of course I'm thirsty. Uncle, peel two pineapples for me, the biggest ones. Let me know when you've weighed them." Si Yang replied before Wen Jinxin could.

He admitted that he had acted impulsively. It wasn't that he didn't understand social skills, but rather that he was too lazy to deal with them; to put it bluntly, he didn't want to waste his precious time on these unimportant interpersonal relationships.

After all, he's always been the "model child" since he was a child, never needing to actively please anyone or maintain any relationships. But now that he needs someone's help, that's a different story.

"Haha, Uncle likes sensible kids like you." The man smiled, stood up and called into the house, "Liu Meiyue, bring me four pineapples from the storage room, the biggest ones."

Upon hearing "four," Wen Jinxin couldn't help but swallow hard; this man's appetite was enormous. However, he knew Si Yang wasn't short of money. If he could get some crucial clues, he could easily handle forty pineapples, let alone four.

"Uncle, I like your straightforwardness too. My aunt works at Jinchuan People's Hospital. If there's anything I can do to help, just ask, and I'll do my best." Si Yang was neither humble nor arrogant, not making any grand promises. It was an adult's unspoken rule, leaving it at that. Those who understood, understood.

Wen Jinxin thought to himself that Si Yang was really something else. Once he got the hang of it, he could lie without batting an eye. Could this be a required course for top students? Or perhaps this incident had hit him too hard, and he had instantly grown from a bookish boy into a man who could read people?

Faint footsteps came from inside the house, growing louder as they approached. A girl who looked like a student came out of the room, carrying a large red plastic bag. Four large bulges could be vaguely seen inside the bag. Some parts of the plastic bag had been pierced by pineapple branches and leaves, but fortunately the plastic bag was sturdy enough that the pineapple didn't roll out.

The girl had her head down, her hair neatly tied up, and her cheeks slightly flushed.

"My surname is Wang, everyone calls me Lao Wang, you can just call me Uncle Wang. This is my daughter Liu Meiyue, from Jinchuan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. She just received her admission notice this morning. I'll have to trouble Senior Si Yang to take good care of her in the future." Uncle Wang patted the girl's shoulder, his tone full of pride, and then turned his gaze to Si Yang, ignoring Wen Jinxin standing next to him the whole time.

Si Yang was still preoccupied with the issue of single mothers, but at this moment he could only try to suppress his anxiety. He nodded to the girl, "Hello, Liu Meiyue, I'm Si Yang, a senior majoring in archaeology at Jinchuan University. We can exchange ideas if you have any academic questions in the future."