Chapter 454: The Long Road of the Mortal World

The driver sighed and said, "This female comrade, you discovered it too late; the thief has already gotten off the bus."

Before his voice had even faded, the little girl beside him let out a "Wah!" and began to cry. As she cried, she said intermittently, "That was money my mom and dad saved for a whole year... to buy me an accordion..."

The big man who had just been arguing with Zheng De shouted, "I know it! The thief is that kid who was arguing with me! It's normal to bump into people on a bus, but he insisted on making a scene; it's obvious he was providing cover for his accomplice!"

"Exactly! Exactly!"

"This female comrade, you should hurry up and call the police!"

For a moment, everyone in the carriage was offering advice to the female comrade.

At this time, in Liuyin Hutong.

Yan Jiefang trembled as he took out the wallet and counted it; there were a full 600,000. Just as he wanted to secretly pull one out to hide it, Zheng De was already standing before his eyes.

Seeing his Siqiang reach out a hand, Yan Jiefang had no choice but to obediently hand over the wallet.

Zheng De counted it, a smile appearing at the corners of his eyes, and said, "It really is a fat sheep!"

He pulled out a 100,000 note and stuffed it into Yan Jiefang's hand, then tossed the wallet into a pile of trash.

Although Yan Jiefang only got 100,000, his heart was already blooming with joy—at least now he could buy himself some decent food.

On the same day, the No. 95 Siheyuan was exceptionally lively.

He Daqing had brought Shen Guizhi and their daughter back from the hospital.

The moment the three of them entered the main gate, Yan Bugui came up to greet them with a face full of smiles: "Daqing, having a daughter in your old age, this is a great happy event! You must hold a full-month banquet, right?"

"We will! We definitely will!" He Daqing was grinning from ear to ear.

When He Yushui heard that her mother was back, she didn't even bother to put on her coat before rushing out.

Shen Guizhi called out, "Aren't you cold! Running out like that!"

"I want to see my little sister!" He Yushui said as she reached into her mother's arms to lift the blanket.

"The wind is strong outside, go inside to look!" Shen Guizhi swatted her little hand away.

Once the baby was settled on the kang, He Yushui leaned in to examine her for a while, then suddenly wrinkled her little brow: "Why is little sister so ugly... and she has no hair."

Shen Guizhi was amused and patted her lightly: "Silly child, all newborn babies are like this. When you were little, you weren't even as pretty as your sister!"

In the morning light of Paizi Hutong, just as He Yuzhu was about to get up, he was pulled back into the covers by Lin Wanning.

"You aren't allowed to leave! I'm leaving early tomorrow morning! Maybe we will never see each other again for the rest of our lives! For the time we have left, you must stay with me."

He Yuzhu sighed softly and said, "My mother is being discharged today, I have to go pick her up..."

"No. To pick up your mother, you still have your father; today you belong only to me."

He Yuzhu stopped arguing, turned around and took a bankbook from his bag, placed it in her hand, and said, "There are 300,000 Hong Kong Dollars inside. In the coming decades, houses and shops will only become more valuable. You take this money to buy a few properties; even if you don't work, just living off the rent will be enough."

Lin Wanning flipped open the bankbook to look, smiled, and said, "You're a good person, but I don't want to live the life you've arranged for me. I want to open a clinic to help people treat their illnesses. Do you think that's okay?"

He Yuzhu smiled and said, "Healing the sick and saving people is, after all, a virtuous deed. If the money isn't enough, go find Zhao Ying and take my dividends."

The next day, when seeing Lin Wanning off at the boat, she cried bitterly and held onto He Yuzhu's hand tightly, refusing to let go. Only when the crew urged them and the boat was about to depart did He Yuzhu pry her fingers loose.

He turned and left; no matter how Lin Wanning called out, he did not look back again.

On the drive back from Tianjin, He Yuzhu sang "Red Dust Inn" out loud over and over: "The eaves and window lattices cast slanted shadows on the branches, sitting on the ground with you drinking tea, I use fine brushwork to firmly record you..."

The singing drifted in the wind, and He Yuzhu's tears couldn't stop falling; he didn't wipe them away.

Whether he admitted it or not, among his three women, Lin Wanning was the one with whom he had the fewest barriers to communication.

They were actually the same kind of people; these days spent together were less like companionship and more like a journey of mutual learning and support.

He Yuzhu returned to the Siheyuan and saw Zhao Yingzi chatting with Shen Guizhi.

He called Zhao Yingzi upstairs and said, "The money your father lost, I helped him find it." He Yuzhu took out 300,000 and handed it to her.

Zhao Yingzi's eyes went round: "Who did it?"

"Liu Haizhong's second son, Liu Guangtian." He Yuzhu paused and said, "This kid found a master outside and went down the wrong path."

"How did you find out?"

"I heard the old lady's bracelet was also missing, so I went to ask her. I didn't expect the old lady to be as clear as a mirror; she had long noticed Liu Guangtian hanging around outside her room. She told me about it, and I went back to 'ask' that kid, and he spat everything out—and even begged me not to make a scene."

Zhao Yingzi's brows knitted together: "This... if this child really goes down this path, if we don't tell his father, won't he be ruined?"

He Yuzhu smiled: "His parents aren't worried, why are you bothering?"

Zhao Yingzi took a few long breaths and nodded: "Fine, I'll listen to you." She suddenly remembered something and added: "By the way, the First Aunt is pregnant; she says she has to thank that little Doctor Lin."

He Yuzhu sighed and said, "Little Doctor Lin has already left; she probably won't be coming back!"

"Little Doctor Lin is a woman, right? Are you two..." Zhao Yingzi asked.

"No! We are friends!" He Yuzhu didn't tell her the truth.

In the days that followed, He Yuzhu devoted himself entirely to work.

During the day, he guided the converter transformation and the improvement of agricultural machinery at the Red Star Rolling Mill, and at night, he dove into the Time Cabin, burying himself in the research of integrated circuit computers.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was midsummer.

This day, He Yuzhu was assembling a diesel engine in the workshop when Factory Director Lao Yang sent someone to call him to the office.

As soon as he entered the door, he looked closely and saw that the visitor was actually Yang Xiuqing, whom he had met at Heifengzhai several years ago.

When Yang Xiuqing saw He Yuzhu, he immediately stepped forward and hugged him tightly: "Brother He, we haven't seen each other in five or six years! I heard you became the Deputy Chief Engineer of the Rolling Mill, congratulations!"

He Yuzhu smiled and asked, "You've come this time, there must be a mission, right?"

Factory Director Lao Yang hurriedly introduced: "Zhuzi, the higher-ups have notified us to transfer our most advanced production line to Lao Yang's side. He came specifically for this matter."

He Yuzhu nodded: "No problem, it should be finished in half a month. If we have to move the old masters from the factory over there too, their ideological work won't be easy to do."

Factory Director Lao Yang said: "For those who really don't want to go, we can't force them; we'll just have to train new ones."

He Yuzhu asked: "Can't we just not let the people from the Big Brother country into the factory? Why go to all this trouble?"

Factory Director Lao Yang sighed: "The higher-ups don't want to tear the mask off either. They just aided us with 156 projects; it wouldn't be appropriate for us to hide our technology while we have it."

He Yuzhu said: "But they didn't teach us their most advanced technology either."

Factory Director Yang smiled and said, "Overall, they are the ones helping us more."

He Yuzhu also understood it now and said, "Actually, moving into the mountains is good too; not only are there mines over there, but it is also difficult for special agents to infiltrate!"