After lunch, Su He sat at the door basking in the sun. Ms. Zhao Shaomei had put him on house arrest, saying that before his head injury was healed, he was not allowed to go back to the city.
Taking advantage of this rare free time, Su He also planned to stay home and accompany his family.
Su Jianguo went to work in the fields, and Zhao Shaomei went to the village chess and card room to play mahjong, leaving Su He at home to watch the house.
"Su He, you’re back! I saw you on my phone, you’ve become a big internet celebrity. Let’s take a selfie!"
"Su He, I heard you deliver takeout in the city, earning at least seven or eight thousand a month. My son Huzi just turned 18. Can you bring him to the city with you to deliver takeout?"
"Nephew, when did you get back? Come over for dinner tonight. I just caught a big carp over 4 jin...”
...
There was a constant stream of acquaintances at the door. Su He had too many friends and had to retreat into the house to take a nap after over an hour.
"Su He..."
Just as he laid down, a head stretched through the window calling his name.
"Huzi, who told you to climb over the wall..."
"Su He, my mom said to ask you to bring me to the city with you to work delivering takeout."
Su He went out and gave Huzi a slap on the head, scolding: "Why didn't you knock on the door and had to climb the wall? You’re not even fully grown and want to go out to work already?"
As soon as Huzi heard this, he immediately retorted: "I'll be 18 soon!"
Su He laughed. Huzi dropped out of middle school after getting sick with a high fever that damaged his brain. His intelligence was much lower than average people. Over the past two years he had been helping his dad grow vegetables in the greenhouse.
Su He didn't agree to let Huzi come with him. If Huzi went into the city he would definitely get bullied. He already had plans to go to the capital city, he just had to wait and see when Shen Yue would go.
In the evening, Ms. Zhao came back elated. It looked like she did well in mahjong. Su He reheated the leftovers from lunch and the family ate while watching TV.
The news was on TV.
"In recent days, a homicide occurred in Jialin City. The victim was a 23-year-old manicurist...”
"She was the third murdered woman this month. The police urge single women to minimize going out late at night and to report suspicious people in a timely manner..."
"The police have set up a task force. Citizens do not need to panic. If you have any clues, please contact the police as soon as possible..."
After watching the news, Zhao Shaomei slammed down her chopsticks and scolded: “What a bastard! To just take the life of a girl who worked hard to raise herself, scum like that deserve to be shot ten times over if caught!"
"It’s not that easy to catch him. It's been so many days and the police don't have any leads yet...” Su Jianguo said.
Zhao Shaomei glared at Su Jianguo: “Are you trying to argue with me?"
Su Jianguo lowered his head and continued eating without a word.
Su He smiled secretly on the side. After dinner he went alone to a hill about a mile from home. From here he could see the lights of thousands of households.
The night breeze was cool but felt very comfortable against his skin. Su He leaned against a large rock when suddenly a shadow flashed by.
"Who's there?" Su He jumped onto the rock and saw someone lying in the bushes.
Su He broke into a smile and shouted, “Snake!”
"Ah..." Huzi crawled up and hid behind Su He, eyes darting around as he asked: "Where? I didn't see anything, Su He!"
"It got scared off by me..." Su He turned to Huzi and said impatiently: "What are you doing out here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"
"I followed you. Su He, were you trying to catch wild rabbits? My dad caught one the day before yesterday. It was so tasty!"
"Su He, is delivering takeout fun? Can you take me to the city with you to deliver takeout?"
"My dad said that when I turn 18 he'll buy me a motorcycle way cooler than your e-bike."
"Su He, my mom said someone brought you a wife today... When will someone bring me one too?"
Sitting side by side on the hill, Su He didn't answer any of Huzi's barrage of questions. Huzi just kept chattering away.
Until Huzi’s mom came over wielding a stick to drag him home, Huzi turned and laughed: “Su He, gotta go get a beating first. See you tomorrow!"
Soon, the sound of Huzi being beaten drifted into the distance.
While Huzi envied Su He for having an e-bike that allowed him to deliver takeout in the city, Su He envied Huzi’s carefree life.
...
On the third day, Su He lugged a huge bag of peanuts back to the Gangwan Youth Apartment.
At 10 am the dorm was empty since even Dong Yong had gone out delivering. Su He put down the peanuts and also started his delivery shift.
"Ding, you have a new takeout order, please process it promptly."
With orders from the platform plus ones he snatches, Su He got a total of 23 orders. He concentrated fully and started picking up and delivering meals.
"Damn, Su He, can you leave us a way to survive!"
"Please bring me prosperity, O Great Master!"
In the delivery worker group chat, some even took Su He's picture and turned him into a Bodhisattva icon to pray to.
But Su He had no time to respond to them. He dashed 72 orders by taking advantage of the noon rush before stopping at 2 pm.
He quickly grabbed some lunch at a random spot, closed off new orders, then went to the bank to withdraw the 50,000 yuan reward for his heroic deed. Combined with the 200,000 yuan reward from the system, the 200,000 yuan his dad took out, and the 200,000 yuan reward from the police bureau that hadn't come in yet, he now had 450,000 yuan.
Su He was very excited. With this money Shen Yue could get treated at a hospital in the capital city without Shen Shushu having to sell his house. As a big city, he could earn 30-40,000 yuan a month delivering takeout there, enough to cover Shen Yue’s subsequent treatment costs.
When he arrived at Xingfuli Community and locked up his vehicle, Su He walked into the building.
"Old fart! If you don't hand over the property deed today I'll kill your whole family!"
"Smash it!"
Loud banging on a door echoed from upstairs.
"Bang!" The door was flung open.
Inside, Shen Yuanzhong and Xiang Wanrong each held a cleaver, looking furiously at the few men who barged in.
"What do you want?" Shen Yuanzhong glared at them.
"Old man, stop pretending. You already took money for the house so you should hand over the deed." The leader was a vicious-looking man, naked from waist up, covered in tattoos, with an iron rod tucked in his belt.
"I only received 30,000 yuan as the down payment. I haven't gotten the balance so why should I give you the deed?" Shen Yuanzhong shielded Xiang Wanrong behind him, completely unafraid of the thugs. He was selling the house to save his daughter's life, but ended up getting cheated instead.
"Old man, I heard you used to be a teacher. You signed the contract yourself in black and white, and now you want to deny it?" The man took out a photocopy of the contract and threw it on the ground, pointing his iron rod at Shen Yuanzhong.
"Scum! You guys set me up. I would rather die than give you the deed."
Shen Yuanzhong was very agitated. To quickly sell off the house and take his daughter to the capital city for treatment, he had contacted an agent but was tricked instead. The contract he signed stated that the balance would only be paid out after 20 years, but he had to transfer the property first. Now the agent had his signed Letter of Authorization in hand. If he handed over the deed, the house would truly be lost.
Shen Yue couldn’t wait 20 years, neither could Shen Yuanzhong!
And the liquidated damages was 10 times the deposit!
These men were ruthless extortionists!
"Hahaha, don't get so worked up old man. You should think about your daughter too. What if I shut off the power switch over there? How long could she last?"
The main power switch was on the left just inside the door. The man had a hand on it, laughing sinisterly at Shen Yuanzhong.