The Luckiest Man - Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Gushing Spring

The bursary had been approved! It was the second good news that Hong Xiaofu had received in the space of a few days!

First, he had made improvements with his score. Then, he had gotten the bursary. He would be getting three thousand dollars every month! With that sum of money, he would not have to worry about not having enough to eat in the future.

“Really?!” Hong Xiaofu exclaimed loudly, “So fast?”

“Yup.” Li Hong giggled as he handed a passbook to Hong Xiaofu and said, “They have specially approved it due to your circumstances. Su Ying has not gotten hers yet.”

Hong Xiaofu took the passbook and read it carefully. It was a passbook from the Bank of Shencheng. All the teachers used it for their paychecks as well—they would receive their wages on time each month. On the first page of the passbook was Hong Xiaofu’s name, as well as the reference number of the passbook and other details.

Below was the first transaction. Current balance: 3000 dollars.

Three thousand dollars, what a heavy figure! A whopping sum of three thousand dollars!

The combined income of him and Shen Xiaoling used to be only slightly more than one thousand and five hundred a month—that day it had doubled! Without doing anything, he could claim his two-month pay from being a replacement gamer!

“Wow!” Su Ying and Zhao Ming exclaimed when they saw the sum of money. They were happy for Hong Xiaofu and they said, “Xiaofu, congratulations! You finally have a proper income! This would help you and your sister settle down!”

Hong Xiaofu certainly understood what they meant. Stability. The most important thing the sum of money brought to him was stability.

Why were there so many people racking their brains thinking of ways to enter the organization? Wasn’t the majority of them seeking stability?

After putting the passbook away carefully, Hong Xiaofu turned toward Li Hong, Su Ying and Zhao Ming and bowed deeply. He said, “Thank you, thank you for all the help you have offered to me. I’m very thankful!”

The bow was filled with all his sincerity—Hong Xiaofu appreciated those who had helped him greatly.

He was an orphan who had been left at the entrance of the orphanage. As extreme as it might sound, he had grown up eating in a hundred households.

He used to be so poor that he could not put food onto the table. His neighbors knew about Hong Xiaofu’s circumstances, so they would call him whenever they had too much food at home. In school, his classmates knew that he was struggling and they would treat him in the canteen once in a while. Mr Li Hong certainly bought snacks for him to bring back home very often, including savoury crêpes, bento, scallion pancakes, fried cold noodles, and more. Precisely because he had so many kind people around him, he had been living a happy and safe life up until then.

It was kindness, which he had to remember.

“Alright, alright.” Li Hong immediately smoothed things over and said, “Look how you’ve gotten all emotional from this. Let’s go back together.”

Since the era of the recovery of supernatural influence had started, Su Ying had not had to attend night study sessions. Zhao Ming had also become a free man—he had taken leave to focus on his Awakening. Li Hong was aware that Zhao Ming came from a wealthy family, so he did not stop him from doing so. The trio, then, were the few people in school who did not have to attend night study sessions.

“Erm.” As Hong Xiaofu walked to the school gate, he giggled and said, “I finally have some income. I want to withdraw some money tomorrow and treat all of you to a meal. Mr Li, Su Ying, and Brother Ming, are you all free tomorrow?”

Su Ying said, “I’m coming! It’s good news that Xiaofu has gotten his bursary, we must go!”

Zhao Ming sounded hesitant as he said, “I might not be able to make it tomorrow. I have an errand to run with my dad.”

He lowered his voice and whispered into Hong Xiaofu’s ears, “It’s regarding the Awakener quota I told you about. The price has gone up to fifteen million dollars and I have to go check out the details tomorrow.”

Hong Xiaofu asked, “Then… the day after?”

Li Hong thought about it and replied, “Tomorrow I’m not on leave, I have to supervise the night study session. How about we go the day after?”

That was not a problem, so Hong Xiaofu immediately nodded and said, “Okay, the day after then.”

“Sure.” Li Hong knew that Hong Xiaofu did not have it easy. Going out for a meal in a restaurant would easily cost up to a few hundred dollars—it would be much easier to have a simple meal at home. He patted Hong Xiaofu’s shoulders while smiling and said, “Also, once the leaders of another school were having a meal outside and they were stopped by the inspectors and were issued warnings. To keep it safe, let’s go to your house for the meal. Would it be convenient?”

Hong Xiaofu did not have any objections: eating at home seemed to be a more sincere way of showing them sincerity, too. He immediately nodded and replied, “No problem, my house is available anytime.”

Su Ying and Zhao Ming made eye contact. They nodded and said together, “Deal! Let’s go with that!”

Before they left, Zhao Ming secretly tugged Hong Xiaofu’s shirt and added, “Brother, with this, you don’t have to play the game for me anymore. It would be a waste of your time, you should have a good rest at night instead.”

Hong Xiaofu earned one thousand and five hundred dollars from bricklaying for a day, while being a replacement gamer only earned him the same amount in a month. In addition, he had received his bursary. Zhao Ming’s intentions were clear: since being a replacement gamer was a waste of time, Hong Xiaofu did not have to carry on with it.

Hong Xiaofu naturally understood where Zhao Ming was coming from, so he nodded and said, “Alright, I will not play the game anymore.”

—-

He arrived back home very quickly. As soon as he opened the door, Shen Xiaoling ran toward him and hugged him. She giggled and asked, “Brother you are back. Did anything good happen today?”

“Yup.” Hong Xiaofu laughed as he patted Shen Xiaoling’s head and explained, “I have received my bursary!”

Shen Xiaoling widened her eyes when she heard that, and asked, “Really? So fast?!”

Hong Xiaofu smiled and replied, “Yup.” He took out the passbook and showed it to Shen Xiaoling, “Look.”

“Let me see it, let me see it!” Shen Xiaoling took the passbook and looked at it in great detail from all angles. She did it a few times before she kissed the passbook and said, “Wahaha! Brother, you are amazing! With this, we don’t have to be worried about our living expenses anymore!”

Hong Xiaofu nodded and replied, “Of course!”

Shen Xiaoling took the passbook and ran outside as she shouted, “Brother, I’m going to tell grandpa about it!”

Watching his sister from behind, Hong Xiaofu shook his head—that girl would always share her good news with others as soon as she found out.

He breathed lightly and went into the house. He opened the drawer under the desk, proceeded to take his notebook out and started scribbling on it. He pondered before he picked up his pen and wrote down the first line earnestly.

“Zhao Ming: September 2017 – March 2019, total contributions of 27530 dollars. Thank you. I appreciate it. I’m grateful.”

Although it was just a few words, they caused his feelings to surface strongly.

After he was done writing, he breathed in and was ready to close the book. Just then, he felt that there was someone behind him. He turned his head to look back—it was grandpa Liu Huajun.

“Xiaofu.” Liu Huajun sighed and said softly, “That book, can I have a look at it?”

“Huh?” Hong Xiaofu was a little stunned, but he nodded lightly and said, “Al… Alright…”

As he took the notebook, the first thing that Liu Huajun saw was the two big words handwritten using a writing brush on the cover page. They were just average—not extremely beautiful.

Gushing Spring.

Liu Huajun took a deep breath. He knew the meaning of these two words.

The favor of drop water should be repaid by the gushing spring.

That was why the book had that name.