Chapter 34: Liberation

Although there were few people renting discs, Huang Ya told her younger brother that business was very good and that she had to wait until after getting off work at 7 o'clock to go over; clearly, she had reservations and did not want to return to that home for the New Year's Eve dinner.

Di Ye had originally planned to arrange for Huang Ya to work in another city after she graduated next semester, far away from the trouble, but he had now changed his mind and decided to help her resolve her mental burden once and for all.

The residential complex where Fan Dazhi lived was not far from the Chenghuang Temple; Di Ye walked over to borrow the Jinbei Van, drove to the vicinity of the Radio Factory No. 3 Residential Area, and used cigarettes to lure a few street urchins who were carrying loose firecrackers and setting them off everywhere, so he could ask about the situation with Huang Zongshan and Huang Zonghai.

Once he had figured out the general situation, Di Ye returned to the Chenghuang Temple, first buying a few boxes of different types of fireworks, and then arrived in front of the disc rental shop, telling Huang Ya, who was sitting alone in front of a heater reading a book, to close up shop.

"It's only 4:30, let's wait a little longer; maybe someone will come to rent a disc in a while."

"The streets are so deserted right now there isn't even a sparrow, and the Spring Festival Gala is on tonight; who would come to rent a disc? Let's go, don't waste electricity here."

Under Di Ye's persuasion, Huang Ya sluggishly pulled down the shop's rolling shutter; after sitting in the Jinbei Van, she showed no reaction to the fireworks, looking dazed and listless, completely lacking her usual liveliness.

"Don't be afraid; if you want to hit your brother tonight, I'll back you up."

Huang Ya gave a strained smile and explained, "I'm not afraid, I'm just annoyed. My mother loves to be unreasonable and make a scene; you can't reason with her. Besides, why would I hit my brother? Although they don't listen, they've never bullied me."

"If you won't hit them, then I will."

"You can hit Xiao Hai as much as you want, but Xiao Shan is very sturdy; you might not be able to beat him."

Di Ye laughed, started the Jinbei Van, and drove back to the Radio Factory No. 3 residential area, parking at the entrance of the Tongzi Building where the Huang family lived. Before getting out of the car, he said to Huang Ya once more, "Don't be afraid, I'll back you up."

"I'm not afraid."

Although Huang Ya said she wasn't afraid, her footsteps became involuntarily sluggish when she arrived at the entrance of the Huang home. Seeing this, Di Ye had no choice but to take the lead for her, lifting the thick door curtain and walking inside.

All three members of the Huang family were in the room; Huang's Mother was sitting on the edge of the bed watching television, Huang Zonghai was playing Tetris on a knock-off handheld console, and there was another youth with a buzz cut who looked quite sturdy reading a movie magazine.

"Auntie Huang, Happy New Year."

Seeing Di Ye enter, Huang Zonghai immediately shouted to complain, "Mom, brother, he's the one who hit me at noon!"

"Did I hit you?"

Di Ye gave a mocking laugh. Seeing Huang's Mother wearing a sour face, eyes fixed on the television, and ignoring him completely, he couldn't be bothered to pay her any mind. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, tossed it to the sturdy youth, and said, "Huang Zongshan, come out, let's talk."

Huang Zongshan caught the cigarettes and discovered they were a high-end brand he couldn't usually afford; his expression softened. He followed Di Ye outside. When he saw Huang Ya at the entrance, he didn't greet her, but he did turn sideways to hold the curtain, only letting it down after she had entered the room.

Seeing this, Di Ye's impression of him improved slightly, and he said, "Huang Ya, I'm taking your brother out for a while; you have a good talk with your mother. Huang Zonghai, come out!"

Huang Zonghai was sensible enough to run out of the room and follow the two of them outside the Tongzi Building. Di Ye had already taught this guy a lesson at noon and didn't want to repeat it, so he moved a box of fireworks out of the Jinbei Van and sent him away.

After his younger brother had walked far away, Huang Zongshan opened the cigarette pack, lit one, took a puff, and asked with narrowed eyes, "What do you want to talk to me about?"

"About making money."

To overcome the smoking habit left over from his previous life, Di Ye took a pack of stick-shaped chewing gum from his pocket and said unhurriedly, "You haven't been to school for a long time, have you?"

Huang Zongshan's hand holding the cigarette paused slightly, and he asked, "How did you know?"

"I just had to ask someone; it's only your mother who's still being kept in the dark."

"Did you tell my sister?"

"No, there's no need to tell her. She knows you don't like studying, your grades are terrible, and it makes no difference whether you go to class or not."

"Then why are you telling me this?"

Di Ye tore open the outer packaging and, imitating the God of Gamblers eating chocolate, put the gum in his mouth. While chewing, he said, "You don't go to school, you don't have a job, and you hang around the streets all day; you must be short on cash. I've found a money-making gig for you, are you in or not?"

"That depends on what kind of gig it is. I won't do factory or construction site work, no matter how much it pays."

Hearing this, Di Ye remembered that internet catchphrase about working for others from before he transmigrated and couldn't help but laugh, saying, "A job buying discs in Guangdong Province, are you in?"

Huang Zongshan stopped smoking and asked, "When are we going?"

"Tomorrow."

"What exactly do I need to do?"

Di Ye gestured with his palm and said, "Be a bodyguard. There are many road bandits on the route between Yuncheng and Guangdong Province; you help protect the discs so they don't get snatched."

Huang Zongshan was very interested in this job and said boldly, "I'll take the job. How much can I earn in one trip?"

Di Ye raised his hand to signal him not to get excited and explained, "Being a bodyguard isn't as easy as you think. Road bandits are local bullies with strength in numbers. Even if you had three heads and six arms, you couldn't beat them, so you can't just resort to fighting and killing. You have to build connections and talk about favors; otherwise, forget the discs, even the van will get torched."

Huang Zongshan blew a smoke ring and said in the tone of a seasoned street veteran, "I know how to do it. It's just helping to hold down the fort in the van so the road bandits don't look down on us and think we're easy to bully, right?"

Di Ye was somewhat surprised and said, "You're quite knowledgeable. Have you done this kind of work before?"

"I basically didn't go to school at all last year; I went out every few days to collect protection money, so of course I know. Of those who hang out on the streets, nine out of ten live by intimidating people; only fools and lunatics actually use their hands to hit people."

Seeing that he wasn't a brainless brute, Di Ye didn't say anything more and instructed, "1,000 yuan for a round trip. Go find your sister at the Chenghuang Temple before 9 o'clock tomorrow morning; she'll help you get everything arranged."

Huang Zongshan was very satisfied with this wage, a slight smile appearing on his face as he asked, "What is your relationship with my sister now?"

Di Ye gave a cold laugh and asked, "You care about her?"

"Don't talk nonsense, she's my sister, of course I care."

"You don't care about anything! Do you know what your sister likes to eat? Do you know how your sister's tuition has been paid for the last three years? Do you know how many part-time jobs your sister has worked at school? Do you know that your sister's hands and feet have chilblains, itchy and painful, swollen like steamed buns?"

Huang Zongshan was left speechless, unable to respond.

"You didn't care before, and you don't need to care in the future. The only thing you can do is not let your sister worry about you."

After Di Ye finished speaking, he spat the gum onto the ground and turned to walk back to the Tongzi Building. As soon as he reached the second-floor stairwell, he heard Huang's Mother wailing at the top of her lungs: "Everyone come and see! My family has produced an ungrateful little bitch! I worked so hard to raise her, and now she won't even spend a penny on me, and she even dared to hit me..."

This shrew!

Di Ye walked to the entrance of the Huang home in two or three strides. Lifting the curtain to look, he saw Huang Ya standing in the middle of the room with obvious scratch marks on her face, while Huang's Mother was sprawled on the floor in front of the wardrobe, wailing and making a scene.

"What's going on?"

"She said I made a lot of money and wanted me to give her 5,000 yuan for the holiday. I said I didn't have it, she didn't believe me, and she insisted on stripping me to search me. When I resisted, I accidentally pushed her, and now she's sitting on the floor screaming."

What era is this, and she's still trying to strip-search people?

Di Ye completely failed to understand Huang's Mother's thought process. Seeing her sitting on the floor making a scene regardless of anything else, he decided to fight fire with fire. He took out his wallet, pulled out all the cash, shook it in his hand, and shouted, "Stop yelling!"

Huang's Mother stopped wailing immediately, her eyes fixed straight on the money. But Di Ye didn't give the money to her; instead, he intended to give it to Huang Zongshan, who was standing at the door with a gloomy face, and let him deal with his mother's disgraceful behavior.

However, just at this moment, Huang Ya grabbed Di Ye's arm and said, "Don't give it to her."

Di Ye felt a calmness in her voice he had never heard before, so he stopped and made no further move.

Huang Ya ignored Huang's Mother, who had started wailing again on the floor, shifted her gaze to look around the cramped room, and then turned to Huang Zongshan and said, "Xiao Shan, I'm leaving. This home is yours now."

After saying this, she pushed Huang Zongshan away, lifted the door curtain, and walked out; Di Ye hurriedly chased after her, and under the watchful eyes and gossip of the neighbors, they left side by side.