Chapter 63: Bang Geng, the Child of Destiny

It was a pity that He Yuzhu was still recovering from his injuries, so in the end, it was Bang Geng who called First Aunt out to help move everything from outside inside.

After coaxing the tearful and incessantly cursing First Aunt back home, Bang Geng finally let out a sigh of relief as he walked into He Yuzhu's room and began to drink tea in large gulps.

"What is all this?" He Yuzhu asked, pointing at the five large bundles that had appeared in the room, his voice full of confusion.

"Don't even ask, it's naturally the junk you wanted." Setting down his teacup, Bang Geng nimbly closed the door and said with a huff.

Then, Bang Geng laboriously moved one of them onto the table, grabbed a kitchen knife, and sliced through the knots of the bundle that had been tied with three layers inside and three layers outside, revealing the items within.

"Damn, where did you get all this? This... is this whole pile? Tell me, you dog-brained brat, where have you been all this time?" He Yuzhu asked, staring dumbfounded at the layers upon layers of books and calligraphy paintings piled inside the bundles.

"Sigh, don't mention it. I was dragged by Wang Xiumei to Dazhou, and then we went to Huodu. It was hard enough to get back. Hey, Zhuzi Shu, you don't know, we did something huge. If it weren't for worrying about your pile of junk, I wouldn't have come back at all." Bang Geng grew excited, speaking with a tone of complaint mixed with pride.

"What did you go there for? How did you get all this? Tell me about it." He Yuzhu had a general impression of what Bang Geng was talking about, but he remembered that event being carried out by groups of high school and college students; he wondered how Bang Geng had gotten involved.

"Hehe, my ideology is advanced, isn't it? Of course, I also caught a bit of your luck. Let me tell you, we followed Brother Zhao and had a real blast. Everywhere we went, all those with backward ideologies were severely disciplined by us." Bang Geng became even more excited.

"And then?" He Yuzhu sat in his wheelchair and moved to the edge of the table, carefully examining the items on it.

Famous calligraphy, hand-copied books by ancients, ancient poetry collections, military strategy books, local gazetteers, genealogies, paintings by Tang Bohu... and all sorts of other miscellaneous things.

"And then? We linked up with the progressive students there, and the whole south was in chaos. You don't know, now we students don't even need to pay for bus rides; it's so lively. I came back this time to report that I'm safe and to bring you these things, and then I have to go back tomorrow." Bang Geng was incredibly excited, his eyes filled with memories.

He Yuzhu casually set the high-value items aside and then asked in a solemn tone: "Bang Geng, do you trust your Shazhu Shu?"

"Trust, of course I trust you. Otherwise, why would I bring so many things back from so far away? What's wrong with your body? Why are you in a wheelchair?" Bang Geng said with a huff.

"My body is fine, I just suffered some injuries, it's nothing serious. You remember one thing your Zhuzi Shu says: you can participate, and make more friends, but as for disciplining others, don't get too deeply involved!" He Yuzhu warned him earnestly.

"Why?! Everyone does it, and besides, who told them their ideology wasn't advanced enough?!" Bang Geng was puzzled; the more advanced one was, the more one had to show it, otherwise others wouldn't acknowledge him.

"Bang Geng!"

He Yuzhu suddenly shouted! It gave Bang Geng a start.

Then He Yuzhu stared into Bang Geng's confused eyes and said every word clearly!

"You must know!"

"For thirty years, the river flows east, do not bully the young for being poor!"

Bang Geng was greatly shocked; he stood up stammering and asked: "Sha... Shazhu Shu, you, you, you're having another episode, aren't you? The ones being disciplined are all middle-aged people and old men..."

He Yuzhu was stunned, then flew into a rage: "For thirty years, the river flows east, do not bully the middle-aged for being poor! Do not bully the elderly for being poor!"

"Forget it, you're already an old man, what 'do not bully the elderly for being poor' are you talking about? Is the next line going to be 'the dead are the most important'?" Bang Geng put away his shock and retorted with a huff.

"You are still young, there are many things you don't understand. How about this, you promise me: don't be too showy when disciplining others, and if you have the chance, give some benefits to those being disciplined. Do more of this kind of thing; if even one person remembers your kindness, you'll be set for life! Do you understand? I don't have this opportunity, but you do, you must seize it, understand?"

"I don't understand, don't talk to me about this. Hurry up and look at these things, are they what you wanted? I spent a lot of energy collecting these things right under Wang Xiumei's nose. Even my return was done sneakily; I didn't dare let them know."

"Fine, let's talk about something you can understand. If even one person remembers you, there might be hope for your mother's situation. They are all people with great capabilities, it's just that they are in a difficult spot right now; maybe some of them know a few miracle doctors or something." Looking at the indifferent Bang Geng, He Yuzhu's eyes rolled, and he changed his approach.

Sure enough, the impatient Bang Geng immediately became nervous, his lips trembling as he asked: "Really?"

"Have I ever lied to you?"

"No, no, thank you, Zhuzi Shu." Bang Geng stood up straight and bowed respectfully to express his thanks.

He was not stupid; he could naturally understand He Yuzhu's good intentions. His previous impatience was merely because he thought there was no benefit and it was a thankless task.

Now that Qin Huairu was mentioned, Bang Geng immediately became excited.

He had been indifferent before, but ever since various things happened in the family, plus traveling to many places by train and broadening his horizons, he was no longer the little fool who only knew how to steal food and drink.

"Heh, as long as you understand. Alright, bring up the next bundle. This one is sorted, but how did you manage to scrounge all this up? You've got quite the ability."

"Hehe, they were searched out from the homes of those being disciplined. Brother Zhao and the others told us to destroy them, so I took a few classmates and took on some of these tasks. I didn't burn them; I secretly buried them and dug them up at night to hide them well. There are still many that haven't been dug up yet. How about it, am I smart?"

"Smart, who are you, hehe." He Yuzhu opened the bundles one by one, separating the high-value items from the ordinary ones, and then gave Bang Geng a thumbs up.

"Oh right, Zhuzi Shu, you have to give me some more money. I promised to treat those classmates of mine to something good so they'd help me keep it a secret."

"Easy, easy. Huh, what is this?" He Yuzhu pulled a handful of money from his bosom, about one or two hundred yuan, along with quite a few various vouchers rolled together, and tossed them to Bang Geng. Then, from the very last bundle, he took out a heavy, antique-looking wooden box about the size of a human head.

Between his sign-in rewards, his salary, and his night market dealings, he really wasn't short on money.

Bang Geng took the money and stuffed it into his inner pocket. He looked at the beaming He Yuzhu; in truth, Bang Geng didn't care much about money now, but there were some things you couldn't do without it.

Because he had seen the world now, he just didn't understand why He Yuzhu liked this junk that should have been destroyed.

"This? Oh, this is something we got when we passed by the Yue Wumu Temple in Yintang, Nanhe. When they were tearing down the temple, I dug it out from under the stone statue of Yue Wumu." Bang Geng looked at the antique box and said after thinking for a moment.

He Yuzhu looked at the rusty ancient lock, and his left hand suddenly exerted force, ripping it right off the heavy wooden box.

With a push of his hand, the box was opened by He Yuzhu, revealing the bright yellow cloth inside.

He Yuzhu gave a light tug and saw a pale yellow, seal-shaped object beneath the cloth.

He Yuzhu looked closely: the top knob was shaped like two dragons holding a pearl, the body of the seal was heavy, and on the bottom, eight large characters were written in Great Seal script: "Having received the mandate from..."

"Clap!" He Yuzhu immediately snapped the lid shut, his heart pounding.

Bang Geng, who had leaned his head over from the side and was about to reach out, was startled and quickly pulled his hand back, asking with a huff: "Almost pinched my hand! What kind of thing is that? It's such a big piece, it wouldn't be jade, would it?!"

"Ah? Oh, no, it's beeswax. It's afraid of light, afraid of being touched; it melts when it sees light." He Yuzhu suppressed his excitement and controlled his tone, though it still trembled slightly as he spoke.

"Tch! What's the use if it can't see light? If I'd known, I wouldn't have taken it; it's heavy as death." Bang Geng complained with a huff.

"Sigh, if you run into similar things, you still have to bring them back. This big piece alone is worth over fifty yuan, understand?"

"Ah?! It's worth that much? Good heavens, no wonder you like collecting this stuff. If you sell it for money, you have to give me half!"

"Haha, if I sell it, I'll give it all to you." He Yuzhu laughed heartily. Good heavens, could Bang Geng be the Child of Destiny? This thing hadn't had any clear news about it since Yuan Shu was defeated in the late Three Kingdoms period, and after the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, it had completely vanished without a trace. And yet, he was able to find it...

As for why it was hidden in Yue Fei's temple, that was not something He Yuzhu could concern himself with.

Looking at the sneaky Bang Geng, the two of them looked at each other with satisfaction and laughed "hehe" at the same time.