Fine, Fine, Go, Go, Go!
Su Jingyang didn’t have much luggage to begin with. He grabbed his money and clothes, then left in anger.
Then… then he was thrown straight back to square one, continuing his street-by-street search for work. He made a full round under the sun until his skin nearly felt scorched, yet he still found nothing.
He was exhausted, so he found a cooling tea stall, ordered a pot of cooling tea, and bought a steamed bun. The more he ate, the more sorrowful his expression became.
He wasn’t really afraid Liang Lu would do anything else to him. Staying would just make him feel disgusted. Regret still crept in though, because he was a man without status papers. Other than Liang Lu, no one was willing to hire him. Even hauling cargo at the docks required an identity plaque. He heard the yamen had been checking strictly. If people didn’t follow the rules, fines would follow.
Su Jingyang lied, saying he was from Rongcheng, but they insisted he produce some kind of travel permit.
Su Jingyang was really about to be defeated by this era!
He slumped over the table and dozed, half-asleep while mulling over whether he should ask around and first find a way to get forged papers. Suddenly, his sharp senses told him someone had come up beside him, and a faint, pleasant fragrance drifted into his nose.
Su Jingyang abruptly sat up, opened his eyes, and looked to the side. He discovered the person was actually Ling Li!
Su Jingyang’s eyes lit up. He happily called out his name, “Ling Li! It’s you!”
Ling Li was dazed by Su Jingyang’s radiant smile for a moment. He quickly returned a faint smile and said, “So I wasn’t mistaken. It really is you.”
Ling Li was holding neatly folded clothes. He’d come, as promised, to return Su Jingyang’s clothing. He looked outside the shop and discovered Su Jingyang wasn’t inside. Unease immediately rose in his chest. He was afraid that hiding from the rain in the shop yesterday had been discovered, and Su Jingyang had been dismissed because of him.
Yet by sheer coincidence, he spotted Su Jingyang’s figure at a roadside tea stall on his way back.
Ling Li glanced toward the stall owner without thinking. The owner was an elderly man. He either didn’t recognize Ling Li or simply hadn’t paid attention. He sat there calmly, fanning himself with a palm fan, and didn’t chase him away.
Su Jingyang pulled Ling Li to sit down, then poured him a cup of tea. Ling Li’s body stiffened slightly, yet he still sat down with the flow of it. “Jingyang, I came to return your clothes.”
Su Jingyang took them from his hands and lifted them to his nose. “So fragrant, it smells just like you.” Su Jingyang grinned at him. “Right, how did you know I was here?”
“I went to the shop to look for you and didn’t find you. I was going to head home first, then I caught sight of you here.” Ling Li’s hands clenched tight. His eyes carried a few traces of melancholy as he looked at Su Jingyang and asked softly, “Why did you run out? Was it because of what happened yesterday…”
“How could it be?” Su Jingyang was afraid Ling Li would misunderstand, so he cut him off at once. “The boss was such a bastard. I couldn’t stand it, so I quit. It has nothing to do with you.”
Ling Li stared at him. After a moment, he lowered his eyes slightly, pressed his lips together, and let out a soundless, gentle sigh. Guilt filled his expression.
Su Jingyang knew he hadn’t believed him. With an “aiya,” he told the truth. “I’m serious. The boss got handsy with me. I beat him up and ran out.”
Ling Li jerked his head up and asked tensely, “Are you all right?!”
Su Jingyang snorted. “I’m fine. I beat him until he yelped.”
Ling Li felt a little relieved, yet his worry only grew. He was afraid Su Jingyang would be reported to the yamen. After Su Jingyang understood that worry, he didn’t take it seriously. He felt Liang Lu didn’t have that sort of nerve.
They didn’t sit for long. Ling Li had to go home because he was worried about the child. Su Jingyang had nothing else to do, so he escorted him part of the way.
As they neared Ling Li’s home, Ling Li’s steps gradually slowed. He lowered his gaze to the ground for a long while before asking, in a softened voice, whether Su Jingyang had nowhere to go.
Su Jingyang had only just given a small “Mm,” when Ling Li lifted his face. His light brown eyes looked at Su Jingyang as he said, “If, if you don’t mind… you can come to my home and stay a few days first. I have space.”
Su Jingyang froze for a moment. Then, without another word, he nodded hard, eyes shining. “Fine, fine, go, go, go!!!”
Su Jingyang truly was troubled by this matter. He had limited money on him and there was no way he could stay at an inn every day. He had been thinking that if it really came to it, he would go back to sleeping in the ruined temple. Ling Li’s offer was a lifeline in the snow. Su Jingyang already considered Ling Li a friend, so he didn’t bother with polite refusal and agreed immediately.
Ling Li seemed to loosen a breath when he heard him agree so readily. He gave Su Jingyang a soft, gentle smile and led him toward home, his pace a touch faster than before.
Where Ling Li lived was a bit better than Su Jingyang had imagined. From outside, the house looked rather run-down, yet once the door opened, it felt somewhat different from the exterior. It wasn’t dazzlingly new, but it was obvious someone had put care into setting it in order.
There was one main hall, two rooms, and a kitchen built in the small courtyard. The courtyard also had a well. The total area wasn’t large, front to back, but it was kept very neat, making it feel especially comfortable to look at.
Ling Li noticed Su Jingyang’s slight surprise. While pouring him tea, he spoke naturally. “This is the house my father handed down. It’s too old, so he used to bury his head in tinkering with it from time to time, wanting me to live more comfortably.”
Su Jingyang turned and took the teacup, thanking him. The “father” in Ling Li’s mouth should be the old constable from the rumors.
Seeing Ling Li’s expression stay calm as he mentioned him, Su Jingyang smiled in an equally casual way. “Your father was impressive. If you didn’t look from outside, you would really think this was a newly built house.”
Ling Li’s lips curved slightly. He told Su Jingyang to sit for a bit, then walked to the innermost room and used a key to open the lock on the door.
Su Jingyang held his teacup and followed. The door had just opened, and Su Jingyang craned his head to peek inside. Ling Li’s son was sleeping soundly on the bed. Ling Li bent down, tenderly kissed the child’s cheek, then closed the door lightly and went back out to the hall with Su Jingyang.
Ling Li rummaged around at home for a while. Somewhat awkwardly, he brought out a small dish of pumpkin seeds to treat Su Jingyang. “It’s been a long time since there were guests in my home. There really isn’t anything to serve. I’m truly sorry.”
Su Jingyang was gnawing seeds, shell and all. Hearing this made his heart feel strangely sour and swollen.
Su Jingyang really didn’t want Ling Li to be like this all the time. He let out a light sigh and spoke to him with a serious face. “Ling Li, my skin is thick. I already take you as a friend, so when you told me to come to your home, I didn’t even think before agreeing. You shouldn’t be so polite with me in the future either. All right? Otherwise it will be too awkward!”
“…A friend?” When Ling Li heard those two words, the hands clasped on his thighs tightened into a hard grip. His eyes shimmered with watery light. His trembling voice was clearly mixed with emotion. He parted his lips as if to speak, but it was as if something blocked his throat. In the end, with reddened eyes, he nodded at Su Jingyang with all his strength and said, almost in a quivering breath, “All right!”
After that, Ling Li asked Su Jingyang’s age. Ling Li was two years younger, so he said, “Jingyang, then in the future, call me Ah Li. My father called me that.”
“Sure, Ah Li!” Su Jingyang smiled at him warmly. What Su Jingyang never expected was that the moment his words fell, seven-colored rings of light suddenly flickered all around him.
Su Jingyang could hardly believe his eyes. He had actually gained energy from this and a lot of it!
Just because he said he treated him as a friend, Ling Li was that grateful?!
Su Jingyang couldn’t quite put the feeling into words. He only felt the man in front of him was truly someone you couldn’t help wanting to cherish.
Su Jingyang remembered the first time he met Ling Li. Back then, Ling Li’s speech was cold and indifferent. It was probably self-protection, so he was guarded against everyone. Even so, he still had taken the initiative to lend Su Jingyang a bowl. Su Jingyang felt he must be soft-hearted and kind.
Although Su Jingyang hadn’t truly had much contact with Ling Li yet, he already firmly believed Ling Li wasn’t the sort of person the rumors painted him to be.
Of course, he wouldn’t press Ling Li for “the truth.” The truth wasn’t his standard for deciding whether he should keep associating with Ling Li.
That was how Su Jingyang happily settled into Ling Li’s home. At night, Ling Li and the child slept in the inner room, while Su Jingyang slept in the outer room by the hall. The two rooms connected, separated by only a single door.
This was the first time since arriving in this world that Su Jingyang slept on a bed. He rolled around on it, comfortable and satisfied. Ling Li heard the noise and thought Su Jingyang wasn’t used to it, so he came to the doorway and asked softly. Su Jingyang climbed up, leaned over the head of the bed, and said, “I’m used to it. I’m too used to it! I only just realized you should cherish it when you have a bed to sleep on!”
Su Jingyang meant it more as teasing than complaint, yet Ling Li took it somewhat seriously. He immediately said that if Su Jingyang couldn’t find a place, he could keep living here. It was empty anyway.
Su Jingyang answered with a grin, told him to hurry and sleep, then lay back down himself. He urged himself in his heart to rest quickly. Tomorrow morning he would keep looking for work. Once he earned money, he would pay Ah Li rent.
Su Jingyang slept soundly through the night. Early the next morning, he got up. Ling Li had risen even earlier and prepared thin porridge and a few side dishes for breakfast. He held Ah Xuan, who was still bleary-eyed from sleep, and ate together with Su Jingyang.
Su Jingyang smiled and pinched the little fellow’s cheek. He gulped down the porridge, then told Ling Li he was heading out for a bit.
Ling Li was much more relaxed around him now, so he casually asked a few questions. Hearing that Su Jingyang was going to search again for work, he kept reminding him to come back at noon to eat.
Su Jingyang set off from Ling Li’s home wearing a straw hat. Half a day passed, and it was still fruitless. Su Jingyang went to ask around about the black market’s forged papers. The moment he heard that absurdly high price, he nearly spat blood. If he had that much money, why would he need forged papers? He could just muddle through eating and waiting for death.
On the way home, he happened to meet an elderly woman, bent-backed, carrying a huge bundle of firewood. Since he hadn’t found work, doing a good deed to collect energy wasn’t a bad idea. With that thought, Su Jingyang rushed over and eagerly offered to carry it back for her.
The old woman handed him the firewood, yet she didn’t look grateful. The whole way, she pursed her lips and kept cutting glances at Su Jingyang with murky eyes. Su Jingyang’s scalp tingled under that gloomy stare.
Su Jingyang set the bundle down in the courtyard. By chance, he looked up and saw, at a window, a young man pretending to read. His eyes kept flicking outside, clearly distracted and absent-minded.
Su Jingyang felt as if he had seen his old self waiting for class to end. He wiped the sweat from his face and couldn’t help laughing. Somehow, that provoked the old woman beside him, who had been eyeing him the whole time. She yanked out a rough, stiff stick of wood and lashed him hard, cursing viciously in her tooth-leaking voice. She called him a fox-spirit seductress, said he was clearly up to no good, that he had deliberately come to seduce her grandson and climb up the social ladder. She said a filthy, wanton thing like him deserved to be drowned in a pig cage. She spat that he ought to rot, that he was shameless, that he deserved to be ridden by a thousand men and pounded by ten thousand. The words grew uglier and uglier.
Su Jingyang was stunned senseless. It wouldn’t do to strike back against an old woman, so he dodged and turned to run. He ran far away and looked back. The old woman was still standing at the doorway, pointing at his retreating back and cursing with full-throated strength.
He took a beating and a barrage of abuse for no reason at all. Su Jingyang was thoroughly depressed. He hissed as he rubbed his arm where the blows had stung.
His damn grandmother! He had only laughed once. How was it that ever since that mole appeared in his palm, bathing behind a closed door could be misunderstood, and now even laughing once could be twisted into something else?! What kind of world was this f*cking place?!
What he never expected was still to come!
The energy he only collected for a few days actually began shining out of his body. Those beautiful rings of light shattered in the blink of an eye, collapsing like bubbles, all of them disappearing into the sky!
Gone. All gone!
Su Jingyang’s hands trembled. He was so furious he nearly warped out of shape.
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