Chapter 507

I lit the cigarette and took a puff,

"Don't mention Brother He's past; how's your work now?"

"Pretty good; I have an idle position here, with no specific responsibilities. Just steady work is fine; I'll retire in a few years."

"Let's have a good drink together tonight," He Daoguang invited me.

"As for drinking, there's plenty of time; I came to see you about something very important."

"You say, brother, what important matter?"

"Mr. He, haven't seen you in a while?" I asked.

"My dad, hum, yeah, it's been five or six years without contact; I don't know where he ran off to."

"At his age, he's not at all reassuring." He Daoguang complained.

"Recently, I and Mr. He have met in Sijiucheng. You also know, my relationship with Mr. He."

"In Sijiucheng, Mr. He entrusted me with a matter,"

"asking me to handle it for him."

"That is, to help him publish a book,"

"His years of Feng Shui experience in society have all been left as manuscripts."

"He wants to publish it, to leave it for posterity."

"As for this manuscript, he said he left it with you."

"I came today mainly to see you, just to ask about the manuscript."

"My dad again ran off to Sijiucheng to go crazy playing; these years the money he saved has all been squandered by him like this. Whenever I mention him, I get angry."

"I still have to worry about him; what has he left for us?"

"As a father, he is highly unqualified."

"He only knows how to eat, drink, and have fun, never thinking for his children." He Daoguang directly complained.

"Listening to He Daoguang's complaints,"

"I thought to myself, could it be that people nowadays all complain about their birth parents? It seems his unfair treatment in society is all caused by parents."

"I said to He Daoguang, 'Brother He, Mr. He is a decent person; out there he only makes a living by divination, and hasn't earned much money.'"

"Your life is very comfortable now; you don't need Mr. He's help from this side."

"Actually I haven't mentioned Mr. He's cricket‑fighting losses at Sijiucheng's amusement hall; if I did, the money he lost there could buy a house in Sijiucheng, and I believe He Daoguang would go crazy."

"Brother, you don't know; I can only say I'm getting by."

"People of our standing usually have two or three houses, but I only have one."

"A few years ago I took a liking to a house in Xin Cheng, wanted to ask my dad for some money for a down payment; I didn't expect him to refuse outright."

"Hum. I feel I'm not his biological child."

"You don't know, brother, my dad, when he has money, he just burns it away."

"A few years ago he had several ten thousand in hand,"

"heard that somewhere a Daoist temple was being built, he just donated the whole amount."

"Isn't that infuriating,"

"Is donating to a Daoist temple important, or is buying a house important?"

"Just thinking about it makes me furious all over."

"He Daoguang nagged on and on, making me somewhat annoyed."

"I thought to myself, if it weren't for He Zuming,"

"where would your job and your house come from?"

"I don't even know you, He Daoguang,"

"I only know He Zuming."

"Back then, He Daoguang worked at a township glass factory, just an ordinary worker."

"It was He Zuming who asked me to get him a job in the urban management bureau."

"Buying the house was also thanks to He Zuming's influence; I merely asked for a token amount of money."

"Sigh, I never expected him to complain endlessly about He Zuming."

"I then said to He Daoguang, 'Brother He, enough, don't keep telling me about your family matters.'"

"I also don't have time to listen."

"Today I came mainly to ask you about the manuscript."

"Give me Mr. He's manuscript."

"He still wants to publish a book; I heard that nowadays publishing means paying out of pocket." He Daoguang worried.

"I'll handle the publication; you don't need to worry about the cost." I said angrily.

"It's just fear of money matters."

"How could He Zuming have such a son?"

"Ah, brother, let me be frank: I don't even know where I put those manuscripts." He Daoguang said then.

"Think carefully; something so important, you wouldn't just misplace it." I reminded He Daoguang.

"This? Brother, I think I recall now."

"My father's those manuscripts, I've always kept them in the storage room,"

"the storage rooms are now underground, you know that."

"A few years ago, we had a heavy rain here,"

"Xin Cheng was flooded."

My storage room also got flooded.

Those manuscripts were soaked by the water.

Sigh, once the water soaks them, I can't recognize any of the characters.

When I got angry, I threw all those manuscripts away as trash.

What's the point of keeping them?

"You threw them all away," I asked anxiously right away.

"Yeah, they take up space in the storage room," He Daoguang said confidently.

"At that time, Mr. He didn't tell you that this thing was important? Why did you put it in the storage room? Couldn't you have kept it at home?"

"Do you know how important this thing is?" I slapped the table with my hand at that moment.

"Don't get angry. My wife gets upset when she sees the things my father left behind, so to avoid making her angry, I didn't dare to bring them home.

Putting them in the storage room, who could have imagined a heavy rain would flood it.

I'm not to blame for this either.

My father is a mystical chatterbox, saying how important it is to turn these things into a book.

It doesn't matter at all; in these days, who reads books?

"Right?" I said, brother.

He Daoguang argued with sophistry.

I said nothing more,

I gave He Daoguang a glance,

"Fine, stop talking, I understand."

After I finished speaking, I turned and left.

"Brother, don't go. Tonight, let's have a drink. It works out, I also have time tonight," He Daoguang deliberately yielded to me.

I ignored He Daoguang and turned to walk downstairs.

I quickly got to the car,

Shi Yong was sleeping.

When he saw me come in,

Shi Yong woke up,

"Brother, how's it going? Did you find Mr. He's son, He Daoguang?"

"Let's go, Shi Yong, we're heading back to Zaocheng Grand Hotel," I said with a heavy heart.

"What's wrong, brother? Is that kid not recognizing you? I'll go fetch him right away."

"Who are you going to fetch? Let's go quickly," I said angrily.

Shi Yong started the car,

We drove the car away from the City Management Bureau.

I sat in the car, thinking about how He Zuming had entrusted me back then,

"Jianqiang, I have no other concerns, just this one wish: when the time comes, help me get the book published,

The contents are all my decades of Feng Shui experience.

Sigh, I suppose I've left something for future generations.

This life has no regrets now.

"Mr. He, how should I tell you? Since we left Sijiucheng, I haven't known where you've gone now.

The manuscript you told me about, your son has ruined it.

I'm heartbroken, but there's nothing I can do.

"Mr. He, please forgive me.

I'll explain when I see you again.

I muttered to myself.

A saying came to mind: a son sells his father's field without feeling sorry.

"He Zuming thought that the treasured items were worthless to He Daoguang, not worth a single cent."

So he never valued them and just threw them away.

"He Zuming probably didn't expect He Daoguang would treat his legacy with such an attitude."

"In He Daoguang's eyes, only money is hard currency."

"If He Zuming had left not manuscripts but bundles of cash,

what kind of attitude would he have toward his own father?

Society is becoming increasingly cold and realistic.