Lin Chuan smiled and walked in casually. The Nuo family's house was filled with a strong medicinal smell. The living room was dark because the ceiling was covered with reeds, leaving no place for light to pass through. A set of worn-out sofas was placed in the living room, with many areas threadbare. Lin Chuan sat down on the sofa.

"I'll pour you a glass of water," said Nuo Xiaoxi with a hint of blush on her face, her family's condition was indeed not very good.

"Don't bother," Lin Chuan quickly gestured with his hand.

At that moment, a middle-aged woman's voice came from the room: "Xiaoxi, who's here?"

"Mom, it's Brother Lin," Nuo Xiaoxi hurried into the room.

Not long after, the middle-aged woman was helped out. She looked very pale, and her movements were sluggish, presumably sick as well. Lin Chuan quickly stood up: "Auntie, I also work at Changlin Factory, I'm Old Lin's son."

"It's you?" When the middle-aged woman saw Lin Chuan, she smiled and said: "Didn't you go missing?"

"No, I just went out to make my way for a few years," Lin Chuan smiled and said, "Now I'm back to care for my mother in her old age."

"What a good child," the middle-aged woman nodded and said, "Xiaoxi mentioned you want to help her? But you..."

She knew the Lin family's condition well; they couldn't possibly afford to take out over a hundred thousand to help their own family, could they? At that moment, Lin Chuan quickly took off his waist bag, a bulging one, and when he opened the zipper, crisp banknotes squeezed out from inside.

"Auntie, I feel sorry for Xiaoxi, this child. This money here, I earned it while making my way outside," Lin Chuan said with a smile, "Of course, it's not all of it. I hope Xiaoxi can return to school. As for the debts owed to others, pay them off first. If you feel uneasy, just write me an IOU. When Xiaoxi graduates from college and starts working, she can slowly pay me back. What do you think?"

"This... doesn't seem right?" the middle-aged woman was taken aback and said: "I think this should all be your money for getting married, how can you give it away?"

"It's okay, I'm still young, I can earn money that's lost," Lin Chuan said with a smile. "It's different for Xiaoxi, once she misses the college entrance examination, her life will be completely ruined."

The middle-aged woman looked at Nuo Xiaoxi, who kept her head down. Clearly, she was very keen to return to school and was preparing for next year's college entrance examination. The entrance exam was the only way to change one's life, especially for children from impoverished families like Xiaoxi.

"Xiaoxi, you're an adult, make your own decision," the middle-aged woman looked at Nuo Xiaoxi.

With her head down and her hair concealing her face, Nuo Xiaoxi clasped the hem of her shirt and after much struggle finally said, "Mom, I want to go back to school."

In the end, the middle-aged woman wrote an IOU for Lin Chuan: "Lin Chuan, this one hundred and ten thousand will be considered a loan from me. Xiaoxi will definitely work hard to pay you back. Moreover, we will calculate interest at the bank rate for you."

"No need," Lin Chuan said with a smile. "It's okay even if you don't pay it back."

"Silly boy." The middle-aged woman chuckled: "Stay for lunch, let Xiaoxi go buy a few dishes to come back with."

"That's too kind of you." Lin Chuan found it difficult to decline, fearing that a refusal might be misunderstood, so, in the end, he stayed. Nuo Xiaoxi was very happy; she took Lin Chuan to the market to buy vegetables. Changlin Community had its own market, mostly run by local farmers, and most of the produce was homegrown. Green and fresh.

Nuo Xiaoxi went to the vegetable market to buy vegetables almost every day; thus, she was very familiar with the people there. Additionally, being fair-skinned and pretty, she naturally made a deep impression on many.

"Girl, you got yourself a boyfriend?" a market vendor teased with a smile.

"No, he's my Brother Lin," Nuo Xiaoxi's face turned red, struggling to explain.

"Brother Lin? I think he looks more like a boyfriend?" the vendor teased as he smoked nonchalantly.

"Never mind you, I'm not buying your vegetables," Nuo Xiaoxi pouted her red lips and tugged at Lin Chuan's hand to leave.

Her angry look actually seemed cute, causing a bunch of butchers and vendors to burst into laughter. Almost every day, the young girl was teased by these men. At the market, she purchased ribs, a fish, and a few greens nonchalantly then happily headed home.

"Brother Lin, not to lie to you, I haven't eaten meat in half a month," Nuo Xiaoxi bit her red lip.

"From now on, you'll have meat every day," said Lin Chuan with a smile.

"I can't bear it," Nuo Xiaoxi shook her head. "It always feels like a waste of money."

"But you're growing up, you can't just eat vegetables," Lin Chuan said earnestly. "Wait, I'll secretly give you some money, so you can think of it as pocket money for school. If you want to eat something, just buy it quietly, okay?"

"Ah?" Nuo Xiaoxi was stunned, her face reddening as she said: "Isn't that improper?"

"What's improper about that?" responded Lin Chuan. "Just consider it as Brother Lin's New Year's red envelope. How about that?"

"Thank you, Brother Lin." Nuo Xiaoxi thought for a bit, then she broke into a smile.

At noon, Lin Chuan had lunch at the Nuo family's house. Nuo Xiaoxi's cooking skills were quite good, especially the braised ribs. It seems that the girl had been craving too, and she ate three pieces in one go, still appeared to yearn for more. Lin Chuan ate several mouthfuls of food unabashedly. He said with a smile, "Xiaoxi's cooking skills are not bad at all."

"Xiaoxi has always been precocious; she started helping us with the cooking when she was just eight," Nuo Xiaoxi's mother seemed somewhat sad. After all, no one wants their child to suffer hardship; everyone hopes their children can grow up in a sea of honey.

"Auntie, things will get better as time goes by," Lin Chuan said cheerfully. "Xiaoxi is a sensible child, isn't she?"

"Yes!" The woman nodded and said, "It's just, I don't know if I'll be able to see that day."

"Mom, what are you talking about? You'll definitely see the day when I make something of myself," Nuo Xiaoxi said earnestly.

"Silly child, hurry up and eat," the woman said with a smile.

After the meal, Lin Chuan said goodbye to Nuo Xiaoxi's mother, with Nuo Xiaoxi personally escorting him to the door.

As he was leaving, Lin Chuan took out ten thousand yuan and handed it to Nuo Xiaoxi, saying, "Here's ten thousand yuan for you to spend, and for the New Year, you'll probably need quite a bit of money. Take it and spend it slowly, and if you run out, come find me for more."

"Brother Lin, this is too... too much," Nuo Xiaoxi said hurriedly, shaking her head, "I can't take so much from you."

"Just take it," Lin Chuan insisted as he handed her the money, adding, "Keep it for yourself. You don't have any money for the New Year."

With no choice, Nuo Xiaoxi accepted Lin Chuan's money. She looked up at him and said, "Brother Lin, you're a really good person."

"Silly girl." Lin Chuan chuckled, then patted her hair, and said, "Go back now. Don't let your mom know about this money."

"Mm-hm," Nuo Xiaoxi nodded hastily.

......

Having sorted out Nuo Xiaoxi's situation, Lin Chuan felt a huge relief in his heart. He felt like a weight had been lifted. Nuo Xiaoxi was a sensible girl; growing up poor had made her mature beyond her years. As the saying goes, "the child of a poor family takes the helm early," and Nuo Xiaoxi had indeed taken on heavy responsibilities at home early on, becoming the pillar of the family.

With a cigarette between his lips and stepping on the fallen leaves of sycamore trees, Lin Chuan was in high spirits. In the last few days, he had not been eating or sleeping well, all because of his worries about money. The stress and sadness because of financial issues were now finally resolved.

"The weather is so sunny today, everywhere looks beautiful..." Lin Chuan was in a good mood and couldn't help but start singing a tune.

Not far away, Li Jianguo was speeding towards him in his BMW, the roads in Changlin Community were long overdue for repair, full of potholes. When Li Jianguo caught sight of Lin Chuan, a mischievous idea suddenly sprang to his mind.

He floored the accelerator towards Lin Chuan, who seeing this, cursed aloud, "Damn it, has Liu Gou got rabies or what, driving so recklessly?"

Lin Chuan quickly dodged to the side.

Bang...

The tires rolled over a dip, splashing a puddle of muddy water all over Lin Chuan.

"Fucking hell, Liu Gou, don't you run away," Lin Chuan took off running after him, though of course, he couldn't catch up with a car sprinting at a hundred kilometers an hour.

Lin Chuan looked at his white shirt stained with yellow mud, and immediately felt an itching hate for Liu Jianguo.

"Oh my, Brother Lin, did you just roll around in a mud pit?" Zhou Kai burst out laughing upon seeing him.

"Damn it," Lin Chuan cursed as he took off his jacket, still clenching an extinguished cigarette in his mouth, and ranted, "That bastard Liu Jianguo definitely did it on purpose. Damn, he saw me right there and still drove so fast."

"It was Liu Jianguo who did this?" Zhou Kai frowned.

"Exactly," Lin Chuan nodded.

Zhou Kai was flabbergasted as he picked up the wrench in his hand, fuming, "I'm gonna settle this score with him."

"Don't," Lin Chuan stopped Zhou Kai, saying, "Is it worth it to squabble over such a petty thing?"

"But look, he got you all covered in mud," Zhou Kai was frustrated.

"Forget it," Lin Chuan laughed, asking, "What do you usually call him?"

"Liu Gou," Zhou Kai looked at Lin Chuan in confusion, "Why, what's up? The guy is a lapdog, a government dog, a developer's dog. If not a dog, then what is he?"

"That's the point," Lin Chuan replied with a laugh, "If he's a dog and he bites you, are you going to chase the dog and bite it back?"

Zhou Kai was initially taken aback, and then burst into laughter, "Haha… Brother Lin, that's such an apt analogy."

"Alright, I'm going to go take a shower and change my clothes," Lin Chuan said with a smile.

"Sure," Zhou Kai nodded.

Having been splashed with mud by that bastard Liu Jianguo, Lin Chuan didn't care in the slightest. After all, he didn't need to stoop to that level. As long as Liu Jianguo didn't offend him, bully Zhou Kai and the rest, or infringe upon the interests of the Changlin Factory workers, he was too lazy to bother with such people.

After struggling to light his extinguished cigarette, Lin Chuan headed home with his jacket in hand.

Returning home, of course, meant an inevitable scolding. Mrs. Lin's mobility wasn't great these days, but she still couldn't sit still at home. After coming back from work, cooking, doing laundry, and tidying up were nearly all managed by her. This filled Lin Chuan with a bit of sorrow; his mother was advanced in years yet had to handle so much work.

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