CH 44

Luo Bei had suspicions that the girl only asked Zhou Jiangguo for his business because she wanted to pursue him. 

She doesn’t believe that Zhou Jiangguo didn’t finish elementary school. How should she put it, it’s a woman’s sixth sense. She also thinks Zhou Jiangguo is a capable and powerful person. But everyone has their own secrets. If Zhou Jiangguo doesn’t want to share, then she won’t go out of her way to find out. 

At the moment, Zhou Jiangguo had just finished his shower and was preparing to go to his part-time delivery job.

He goes to the construction site early in the mornings. He comes back in the afternoon for lunch, takes a shower and goes straight to his part-time delivery job until 10pm. If there’s time in between, he delivers water. Luo Bei believes even a person made of steel wouldn’t be able to handle the workload.

But Zhou Jiangguo had his own reasons. “Don’t you think sleeping is a waste of time?”

Luo Bei thought, a waste of time? She rather enjoys lazing around in bed on the weekends.

“Research shows that on average, people who sleep seven to eight hours every day have the longest life span. Those who sleep for over 10 hours have an 80% chance of a shorter lifespan. I come back from my deliveries around 10 pm and take no more than 20 minutes to brush my teeth, wash my face, and take a shower. Because I’m bustling around all day, I fall asleep very fast. I normally sleep before 11 pm and wake up at 6:30 am, so I sleep for about 7.5 hours. That’s exactly enough.” 

“Moreover, from what I know, very few young people sleep before 12 am. Spending your time after work until 12 am playing on your phone or watching T.V, and the likes is a waste of time.”

She admired the logic in that sort of schedule.

Wait! She was almost brainwashed.

Nowadays, not many young people sleep before 11 pm.

Zhou Jiangguo can be considered to have a very consistent work and rest schedule.

Luo Bei and Zhou Jiangguo split off on the first floor. She told him with sincerity, “I believe you will get rich in the future. Truly.”

Frankly speaking, she doesn’t know anyone who works this hard. Everyone lives the 9 to 6 life. Moreover, many people who join the workplace with fervor will eventually burn out. She has never seen someone who has such a high-intensity work life and enjoy it. 

She genuinely believes that even if Zhou Jiangguo was telling the truth about his education, despite his current impoverished situation, he will accomplish much in the future.

Zhou Jiangguo chuckled, “I’ll take your word for it.”

Honestly, he doesn’t have strong feelings about becoming rich. He simply enjoys the feeling of working hard and earning money.

To be more specific, he doesn’t have high standards for food, as long as it’s clean. As for his living situation, he’s quite comfortable in his current basement room. He doesn’t care for anything else beyond that.

His coworkers said that he’s working hard for his future wife. He didn’t confirm or deny it but he knows it’s false in his heart.

Wouldn’t life be quite dull if you were living just for the sake of obtaining a house?

***

Zhao Pianpian was heartbroken for Fang Jingzhou. Especially as a new mother. She couldn’t comprehend Chen Lan. What kind of mother would slander her son by calling him a thief in front of strangers? And what kind of mother would lock her son in his room for days without lights and ignore him? It was crueler than scolding or beating him.

This incident left a psychological mark on Fang Jingzhou.

He was very sensitive to the word ‘thief’. Even if he heard a character in a T.V. drama say it, he would hide in a corner. Even more concerning, he needed the lights on when he slept. He feared the dark.

If Zhou Jiangguo’s prediction is correct, this is just the beginning for Chen Lan. If Fang Jingzhou goes back to living with her again, there will truly be a day where the whip cannot reach.1 At that time, what would it be like for Fang Jingzhou? No one can say for sure, but it would be worse than it is now.

Luo Bei was vaguely aware that Chan Lan broke up with her boyfriend. There’s also a high chance that her boyfriend knows about Fang Jingzhou’s existence. So, Chen Lan must believe that Fang Jingzhou is the reason why her life has become this way. That’s why, though she had always ignored and been impatient with him, it’s now turned into loathing and hatred.

She called Chen Lan’s mother and gave a brief rundown of the situation.

Chen Lan’s mother immediately said she would take the train over to check out the situation.

Actually, Luo Bei couldn’t guarantee whether this would bring about results or not. After all, she doesn’t know whether the grandmother values the daughter or the grandson more.

It’s hard to deny that a person’s background influences how much their personality warps.

Chen Lan probably found out that her mother was coming. The next day, she coincidentally met Luo Bei at the door. And even though she was still a little scared of Luo Bei, she was so bitter that she couldn’t hold back and blurted, “Luo Bei, you’re overstepping here! You wanted to take care of the child so I let you be a nanny for free. Who do you think you are, contacting my mom? You even told her that I abused the child. No matter what, this is my family business. Don’t overreach and be unreasonable.”

“Isn’t it abuse? Telling others that he’s a thief, locking him in his room for days, and even refusing to turn on the lights. No, you didn’t hit or scold him. But what you did constitutes emotional abuse. Chen Lan, I sincerely suggest you go to a psychologist.” Luo Bei didn’t feel like being cordial with her anymore. Some people simply bully the weak and fear the strong. “Besides, you think that your life is terrible, and that Jingzhou is dragging you down. But have you ever considered that the reason why your life has turned out this way is all self-inflicted? He didn’t ask you to give birth to him. He didn’t have the option to choose. You have to bear the consequences and responsibility. How can you vent your failures and dissatisfactions on your child?”

Chen Lan was so angry her eyes turned red. “What do you know? You’re not a single mother. Who are you to criticize me?!”

“It’s true, I’m not a single mother. But I know that adults take responsibility for their decisions. You chose to give birth to him, and you chose to be a single mother. No one forced you to. So why are you forcing a child to shoulder the burden? He did nothing wrong. The only thing he did wrong was to have you as his mother!”

Before Luo Bei went down the stairs, she turned to look at Chen Lan. “No one will blame you for not loving him. But if you hurt him on purpose, I believe that even god won’t stand idly by and watch. He’s your child after all.”

She didn’t bother to wait for Chen Lan’s response. She turned around and left. 

***

Luo Bei was really impressed with Zhou Jiang Guo. 

A nearby milk tea shop had recently become popular. Luo Bei arrived at the store to a long queue extending out the door. Just as she was about to head to another shop, she heard someone call her name. 

She peered closer and saw Zhou Jiangguo. Wasn’t he supposed to be at the construction site at this time? 

“Why aren’t you at work?” Luo Bei asked. 

“We have the afternoon off. There was a dispute at the site.”

Luo Bei nodded. “Are you lining up for bubble tea?”

“I don’t like it, it’s unhealthy. This store has been popular recently so I’m helping others buy it for a fee.” 

Luo Bei, “…”

“Do you want one? It’ll be my turn in about 10 minutes. What do you want? I’ll buy it for you.” Zhou Jiangguo paused to think, then said, “Don’t worry. I won’t charge you.”

How many jobs does he have?!

Luo Bei stared at Zhou Jiangguo, who looked like he was injected with chicken blood2 and was fighting with his life on the line to earn money, and felt ashamed.

He can actually make a job out of lining up and buying bubble tea for others…

If he doesn’t make it rich, then heaven won’t tolerate it!

While in line, a pair of lovers behind them were discussing the stock market. The man confidently said that the stock he bought would rise. Once it did, he would be able to have enough to make a down payment. The woman thought it wasn’t safe but she didn’t say anything. She just advised him to be cautious. 

“It won’t rise, it’ll fall.” Zhou Jiangguo saw that Luo Bei was intently listening in on the conversation and whispered into her ear. “Don’t buy it.” 

Luo Bei didn’t have any intentions of buying stock. But after hearing Zhou Jiangguo’s candid words, she was curious. She asked, “How do you know?” 

Zhou Jiangguo briefly explained his reasoning. 

But Luo Bei couldn’t understand the jargon…

“I’m less and less convinced that you didn’t complete elementary school.”

The truth was, Zhou Jiangguo wasn’t sure why he knew this information either. In fact, a few days ago, he bumped into two foreigners who spoke English and he surprisingly understood what they were saying.

Sometimes, he was curious about the type of person he was prior to his memory loss. But no one had recognized him yet. So he refused to waste more time thinking about this. 

This seemed to be his natural disposition. He refuses to waste time on matters he believes are insignificant.

Since he has amnesia and can’t remember anything, he won’t bother lingering on the issue.

It doesn’t matter what kind of person he was before. The only thing he wants to guarantee right now, while he doesn’t know his identity, is to live well.

***

That night, Luo Bei had a dream for the first time in a long time. 

The male lead was a typical financially poor-in-money but rich-in-knowledge man. His family consisted solely of him and his elderly grandmother. He was the top student in school and established his own company while still in school. His company successfully hit the market before he turned thirty. To outsiders, this male lead was handsome and tall, comparable to a celebrity. He was very capable and skillful, simply a rich and powerful CEO. However, his personality was very strange.

He despised and looked down on women, had no friends, and didn’t trust anyone. So much so that he seemed to have been treating everyone with contempt from birth. 

Cold-blooded and emotionless, he had no regard for others. 

It’s not an exaggeration to say that he’s a high-quality man. But to be honest, the reason he became like this, aside from his natural disposition, was because of his birth mother – the person who had influenced him the most.

The male lead’s mother was a countryside girl who passed the city college exams. Her appearance wasn’t bad but she was a vain person. She wasn’t content with living an ordinary life and hated her background. Through a stroke of luck, she met the male lead’s father. The two quickly hooked up. She thought she would be able to marry into a wealthy family and become a rich wife. But the man warned her that he wanted to marry the person he had been in love with for a long time. If she dared to stir up trouble, he would make her disappear. 

She was frightened. She knew this rich second-generation man had power in the capital. His fiancée’s family was even more prestigious. Even if she succeeded in causing trouble, they wouldn’t care for the child in her stomach. Originally, she wanted to get rid of the child. But at the hospital, she wasn’t willing to go through with it for some reason. She wanted to give birth to the child. Maybe, the child could receive a part of the inheritance in the future.

But who would have guessed that when the male lead was two years old, these two families fell. The male lead’s father took his wife to America and was never heard from again.

His mother didn’t dare to bring the child to the father’s place, afraid she would be implicated.

Afterwards, she met a good man. Their relationship progressed to meeting his parents. But the man had a cousin that turned out to be an ex-classmate who knew about her past. The man could not accept her past, and was even less able to accept the fact that she had a child. So he broke it off with her.

She let out all her feelings onto the child. When the child turned five, she simply gave up on herself and started hooking up with various men.

Different men came to their place every day. The male lead was such a young child, yet he watched his mother be intimate with strangers day after day. He grew resentful in his heart. He wished his mother wouldn’t go out, and that strangers wouldn’t come to his home every day. He wanted to lock the doors but it didn’t work. He wanted to run away from home but couldn’t. She became sick when he turned 10 years old. Possibly because she felt life had no meaning, she committed suicide by jumping into the river. 

The male lead’s grandmother brought him back to her hometown. But his personality had already become twisted by this horrible environment. 

**********

1. The whip cannot reach: To be too far away to be able to help. 

2. To be injected with chicken blood: To be extremely excited or energetic