Chapter 171

Put-put—put-put—

In the snow, Ling Yue sat on a tractor for the first time, her whole body jolting up and down; she turned her head and couldn't help but let out a 'pfft' laugh.

Bai Ze sat in the vehicle just like her; the snow-covered white landscape paired with his handsome looks should have been a very pleasing sight.

But he wore a big oily-green felt hat on his head that almost covered half his face; in an instant, the rustic countryside aura it gave off could not be concealed.

Ling Yue found everything funny; Bai Ze seemed to see through her thoughts, suddenly reaching out to straighten the same big hat on her head.

Only then did Ling Yue remember that she was wearing one too.

The weather in Dongbei was truly cold, especially in the afternoon when the sun was about to set; Ling Yue felt a bit regretful for insisting on experiencing some farmyard specialty—by the time she got off the vehicle, her face was frozen stiff.

Ling Yue rubbed her face and went to the nearest express stop; at that moment the sky had grown dark, on the foreign street colorful lights lit up one by one, and suddenly a string of bright red candied haws appeared before her.

Bai Ze handed it to her: 'The old man over there said little girls like this the most.'

Ling Yue blinked, then took it with a smile; the sweet crisp sugar coating was covered in sesame, combined with the sweet-and-sour hawthorn, a fresh fragrance instantly filled her whole mouth.

Suddenly, she heard a shout from the roadside.

"Holy shit, save the dog!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, someone save my brother! My brother fell into the river!"

Ling Yue jumped in fright, instinctively looking over; not far away, by the small river in town, several dogs circled the embankment, barking loudly downward—obviously the sound came from them.

In the biting cold wind, the dogs were almost in a tangled mess.

As Ling Yue hurried over, a large hole had already appeared in the thin ice beneath the riverbank; something seemed to be struggling in the water, sinking and rising, and not only the dogs but people had noticed it.

"Whose dog is this, how did it fall into the river?"

Someone shouted, yet no one moved; even though the shallow water posed no danger, in the deep winter nobody wanted to rashly jump into the bone-chilling icy water.

Ling Yue immediately took off her outer coat, about to rush over to save the dog, when suddenly a figure jumped in before her, the water surface making a 'bang' and sending up countless splashes.

A man in the water was shivering from the cold; he grabbed the small dog and pulled it out, but he himself remained in the water, looking utterly exhausted, possibly from the freezing cold that had stiffened his whole body.

The people on shore grew more anxious, their discussion rising and falling, drilling into Ling Yue's ears.

"This water isn't deep, it only reaches my chest—what's going on?"

"He won't be able to get out, will he? Pah pah pah, I'll jump in to save him!"

Ling Yue glanced around; many were taking off their clothes, and some shouted at the river: 'Brother, hold on a bit—I'll jump in right away to save you!'

"Brother, hang in there!"

The man in the water suddenly popped his head up again, as if he had choked, he coughed violently; lifting his head, seeing the crowds of onlookers on the shore, he suddenly found he could climb out.

Ling Yue furrowed her brows, sensing something odd.

By the time the man climbed ashore, he was completely soaked; in temperatures of minus ten-odd degrees, not to mention dogs, even people were shivering from the cold.

Ling Yue heard the bystanders' discussion.

"How did you just jump in like that—how cold is this water?"

After a moment of silence, the latter gave a simple smile, rubbed his hands, and said: 'The dog fell in—if we don't save it, are we just waiting for it to drown?'

"Besides, the dog looks rather pitiful."

Ling Yue heard the dog's shivering thanks; she called out to the man who was about to leave: 'Look at it.'

The dog's whole body was soaked into strands, shivering; its two thin forelegs pressed together, it kept lowering its head, as if bowing.

The dog whined: 'Thank you! Thank you!'

Around it, a pack of stray dogs gathered, looking gratefully at the man who had saved their brother.

Sometimes, small animals understand gratitude better than people do.

Onlookers seeing this scene couldn't help but cluck in amazement, while many more praised the man.

"What a man—he dares to jump into the water in such cold weather!"

"This water is way too cold!"

"Hiss, I only just shouted a moment ago and you already jumped in, brother—you're amazing!"

The man rubbed his wet hair; he was inarticulate and suddenly didn't know what to say.

But amid the others' praise, his head lowered lower and lower; after a while he muttered in a low voice: 'I just saved it a bit—I didn't intend to do anything, don't praise me.'

In the light, Ling Yue finally noticed many traces of wind and sun on his face; what surprised her even more was that the man's visage showed two utterly opposite directions—one pointing to heaven, the other to earth.

Suddenly, the man shook off the crowd, wrapped in his wet clothes, and walked back to the bridge hole where he lived.

Only then did the crowd realize he was actually a homeless man living under the bridge; they were stunned, and no one spoke.

What could they say?

Although he had no fixed abode, he was braver and kinder than most people.

Ling Yue also gathered some information about him; in such a small town, once a stranger arrives, within a few days every household knows about it.

He seemed to have come here suddenly a few months ago; no one knows his background, only that he has been living under the bridge all along, occasionally doing odd jobs.

He had superb masonry skills; his knuckles were thick, his palms covered in thick calluses and scars—undoubtedly, these were the hands of a laborer.

Watching his retreating back, Ling Yue waved at the dogs.

"Can you help me with something?"

Never mind how shocked the dogs were to hear her speaking to them; Ling Yue didn't pay much attention, she had them wait there, then went to the store to buy several bags of bread and other dry food and water, handing them to the dogs: 'You want to repay the kindness, right? Carry these over to him.'

She thought it over and wrote a note to let him know these were from legitimate sources.

Among the dogs, the largest one suddenly stepped forward—it should be a German Shepherd, its fur a bit messy, bravely taking the lead and communicating with Ling Yue: 'I'll go deliver it.'

After saying that, it looked disappointedly at its timid little sibling: 'Just now he saved Ahua; he's our benefactor, and you're afraid to even deliver something? You've utterly disgraced my dog face.'

Hearing this, the other dogs jumped, immediately puffing out their chests and raising their heads: 'Boss, I'll go!'

"I'll go too!" they said—although they were dogs, and dogs that repay kindness, just delivering something, why wouldn't they dare?

Ling Yue then grabbed some pet food for them; after they ate, the dogs' enthusiasm surged to unprecedented heights; watching their departing figures, Ling Yue's lips curled up in a faint smile.

After finishing these, Ling Yue frowned, recalling the scene she had seen earlier—

In the hospital ward, divided into three beds, the man and his wife lying inside stayed silent; the woman suddenly burst into tears: "The breadwinner."

Anyone hearing this news would feel the sky collapsing; she never imagined her working husband would suddenly contract this fatal illness, clutching the faded hem of his washed clothes with both hands, chattering outside his ward, yet never mentioning the astronomical medical fees of several hundred thousand.

The man suddenly coughed, as if knowing she was hiding something, but he pretended not to, telling her to take good care of the child; after the wife left, he secretly went to ask the doctor.

The doctor looked at him pityingly: "It's a tumor, but you're lucky—caught early; if you have surgery, there's an eighty percent chance of cure!"

The man's lips trembled: "Then... how much would it cost?"

Medical

Raw one startled: "Twenty-odd thousand, right?"

With a "crack", to him these words were nothing short of a bolt from the blue.

Ling Yue saw his hands hanging at his sides, the clenched fists suddenly loosening helplessly, repeatedly thanking the doctor: "Thank you, thank you."

The doctor waved a hand: "This illness can't be delayed; it must be treated quickly, otherwise the longer you wait, the harder it is to cure."

The man forced a smile and nodded; every wrinkle on his face was filled with bitterness—several hundred thousand, even if he were torn apart, he still wouldn't have it.

Then, after a few days, the emaciated wife brought a meal from home, only to see a neat, tidy bed and a crooked letter.

"I'm leaving; take good care of the child."

The wife burst into tears, the prepared soup spilling everywhere; she couldn't fathom what her husband meant, yet what was this?

Later, the man fled to a distant place, hiding here; he lived under a bridge, taking each day as it came, the thing inside him growing larger, counting his limited days.

Until today, he jumped into the river to save a puppy; no one knew that at the moment he leapt, a thought flashed through his mind: "What if… I just died like this…"

At the critical moment, he heard shouts from above; the kind-hearted man scrambled up, unable to delay others.

Ling Yue saw this, already knowing his situation; her gaze fell on the nearby bridge opening, her eyes bright.

There is still hope.

Meanwhile, the man looked at the food the dog brought, startled: "Where did this come from?"

Only when he saw the writing on top did he realize someone had sent it to him; he clung to the rustling bag, unable to hold back his sobs.

Who doesn't want to live? But for him, living is a burden; he'd be better off dead.

Suddenly, a rustling sounded; the dog he had rescued trotted over with a letter in its mouth; the man stared, then opened it and jumped in shock.

"A-a lottery ticket?"

He dug out a memory from the recesses of his mind: back then, before the tumor was detected, just after receiving his wages, he went out to eat with a few coworkers.

They got drunk, someone suggested buying lottery tickets, but he hated spending money and said, "With this money we might as well buy a few more packs of salt for the family."

The drunken coworker burst out laughing: "Stingy! If we hit the jackpot, we'll never worry about food or drink for the rest of our lives!"

His head buzzing, he casually bought a ticket, stuffed it into his wrinkled clothes, and later forgot about it.

But this slip said he had won!

The man struggled to breathe, rummaging through his pockets; he wore the same old ragged clothes, finally finding the thin slip in his pocket, staring at it as if his whole self had been split in two.

One half of him said: "Fake, definitely fake—how could he have such luck!"

The other half said: "What if it's real? What if? You won't know unless you try."

Moreover, besides him and his coworkers, no one knew he had ever bought a lottery ticket, and he later forgot all about it.

That night he slept clutching the ticket; the next morning he went straight to the lottery stall, not knowing how to check online, he asked the boss if the draw had taken place; the boss looked him over, caught his fervent gaze, and assumed he was also a lottery fan.

He chuckled: "The draw? You must be sleeping—it's already happened; this period's third prize is a million! But no one has claimed it yet, and it's about to expire."

The man struggled to contain his excitement: "Boss, what's the number for the third prize?"

The boss rattled off a string of numbers; he checked them digit by digit in his mind, his face draining white, lips trembling: "I—I…"

The boss jumped: "Brother, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me—it's just that you didn't win, it's not that bad, really not that bad!"

He shook his head, staggered out of the shop, looked up and down, then suddenly knelt on the ground, burying his face in a snowdrift; in an instant, his face

turned red, he clutched his head and sobbed: "I won! I won a million!"

The man gripped the ticket, held his ID, covered his face, and stumbled toward the sports lottery center.

His mind was only on going home, going home; as he walked, tears streamed down, his heart overflowing with gratitude toward that kind stranger.

"Ah-choo!"

Early that morning, Ling Yue sneezed; impossible to be a cold, surely someone was thinking of her—sure enough, the next moment, the Qiao family gate was being pounded with bangs.

"Open the door! Hurry up and open it!"

Outside the door, Second Uncle Qiao glared with fury; the more he thought about it afterward, the more aggrieved he felt, so angry he hadn't slept well all night, and early that morning he came running over.

Suddenly the gate burst open; Ling Yue glanced lightly, as if a basin of ice water had been poured from head to toe, and the other person's dazed mind instantly cleared.

"Where's Qiao Qiao? You've got a lot of nerve, deceiving me together!"

Ling Yue raised her eyebrows: "Deceive you?"

Ling Yue looked him up and down, her eyes seeming to say, "Deceive you? What do you even have to deceive?"

Second Uncle Qiao nearly fainted from anger, saying directly: "That piece of land behind the village—speak up, will you give it to me or not?" Recent garbled encoding has been severe, giving us more motivation to update faster; please lift the restriction with a tap. Thanks:,,.