Courtyard No. 95, Nanluoguxiang, Sìjiǔ City!
Li Anquan sat on a wooden plank bed, dazed for a long time. Next to him was a little girl of five or six, her eyes red and swollen, her voice choked with sobs.
"Brother, I'm so hungry! When is Mom coming back?"
The little girl had a slender frame, slightly yellowish hair, and a thin, malnourished face.
At that moment, Li Anquan was processing the memories in his mind. After a short while, he finally snapped back to reality. Just as he was about to speak, the original owner's voice echoed in his mind.
"Please, help me take care of my sister. This is my... only request!"
As the voice in his mind faded, Li Anquan was finally able to move. Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings and the little girl before him, he felt a complex mix of emotions.
He was an outsider. Having died in an accident, he had transmigrated into this body, leaving everything from his past life scattered like smoke. Still, he had to thank the heavens and the original owner for giving him a second chance at life; he would fulfill the original owner's dying wish and give this body a proper closure.
"Dujuan, don't worry, you still have your brother!"
The siblings' mother was a worker at the Red Star Rolling Mill who had died in an industrial accident. At eleven years old, Li Anquan already understood many things. Consumed by grief over their mother's passing, she too had left this world. Li Dujuan was only seven and didn't fully grasp what was happening.
With swollen eyes streaming with tears, she cried, "Brother, I miss Mom! Why isn't she coming back?"
For a moment, Li Anquan didn't know how to respond. He had already accepted this sister. In his past life, he had been an only child and had always wanted a sister, so this could also be considered fulfilling a wish from his previous life.
Just as he was wondering how to comfort his sister, the door to the Li family's home was pushed wide open.
Qin Huairu and Yi Zhonghai walked in. Seeing the siblings inside, both of their expressions turned somewhat unnatural.
"Anquan, Dujuan, you're both home!"
Li Anquan raised his head, furrowed his brows, and asked with some suspicion, "What are you two doing here?"
The original owner's mother had been a widow raising two children alone, so she had never been close with the people in the courtyard and rarely interacted with anyone.
A trace of sorrow hung on Qin Huairu's face; Jia Dongxu had also perished in the same accident. Looking at the two children in the room, Qin Huairu kept the compensation money in mind and patiently explained to Li Anquan.
"Anquan, it's like this: your mother is gone, and the factory issued five yuan in compensation. I've brought it over for you, and I thought I'd check in on you two siblings at the same time."
When Qin Huairu finished speaking, she felt a twinge of guilt. In her view, Li Anquan was young, and five yuan must have seemed like a huge fortune to him.
This was what she and Yi Zhonghai had agreed upon before coming over! Although Yi Zhonghai was the First Elder of the courtyard, Jia Dongxu had been his apprentice. Now that his apprentice was gone, it was only natural for him to help support his apprentice's family. Even though Yi Zhonghai always liked to place himself on a high moral pedestal, Qin Huairu was smooth-tongued, and since no one else knew about this besides the two of them, as long as they managed to fool the two children, everything would be fine. Besides, Qin Huairu had even made a few promises.
A playful smile appeared on Li Anquan's face. Did they really take him for a fool? If it were the original owner, he might have just taken that five yuan! Qin Huairu truly lived up to her reputation as a parasitic white lotus. She even wanted to scam children out of their money—and that was their mother's compensation money!
"Qin Huairu, who do you think you're kidding? Just five yuan? My mother's monthly salary alone was forty-six yuan and fifty cents!"
"You even dare to scam money meant for two kids! You must really have a death wish!"
"Don't you know my grandfather and my father both sacrificed their lives for the country? My family are military dependents!"
With a hostile look, he turned his gaze to Yi Zhonghai standing nearby.
"Yi Zhonghai, you're the First Elder of this courtyard, and you helped cover this up?"
"How about the two of us go down to the Support-the-Military Office together, and then make a scene at the Red Star Rolling Mill? Do you really think I'm just a kid you can fool however you want?"
Qin Huairu was left utterly speechless by Li Anquan's sharp words, and even Yi Zhonghai furrowed his brows tightly! If this matter blew up, Yi Zhonghai would lose face right along with her. He hurriedly tried to spit out the excuse they had prepared beforehand!
"Li Anquan, don't make a fuss! Weren't we just doing this for your own good? You're so young, keeping so much money on you isn't safe. Just leave it with Qin Huairu for now, and whenever you need money, you can ask her for it!"
Hearing this, Qin Huairu breathed a sigh of relief. That was indeed a solid excuse. As long as the money stayed with her, wouldn't it practically be hers?
However, Li Anquan refused to play along with them!
"Yi Zhonghai, are you out of your damn mind? Why on earth should I leave my money with her?"
"By that logic, you look like you've got one foot in the grave already—why don't you leave your money with me? I'll keep it safe for you!"
"And you, Qin Huairu, how much was the total compensation? Hand it over right now! It's not like I don't know how to find the Red Star Rolling Mill. Do you really want me to blow this whole thing wide open?"
The two of them simultaneously furrowed their brows. Why was Li Anquan suddenly so hard to deal with? Previously, they had thought this kid was honest, a bit slow and foolish, and easy to trick! Little did they know that the current Li Anquan had completely changed into a different person.
Qin Huairu's eyes rolled as she schemed. "Anquan, it's safer for the money to stay with me. It's just you and your sister here—what if you lose it? Besides, I didn't bring the money with me."
She was still stalling, trying to hold onto the money. Seeing her brothers arguing, Li Dujuan's eyes welled up with tears once again.
"Brother, Brother, don't fight!"
Li Anquan gently patted his sister's back. "Be a good girl, Dujuan, just stay right here."
This was a fight that had to be had. If he stayed quiet, that money would probably be pocketed for good by Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu!
"Qin Huairu, if you don't have it on you, go get it right now. Not a single cent can be missing, or I'll go verify it at the Red Star Rolling Mill myself."
"And as for my mother's job placement, I'm going to look into that too, no matter what. If you've shorted me on a single penny, you can just wait to be dragged to the Public Security Bureau!"
"Anyway, if I don't get my money, I'll go straight to the Red Star Rolling Mill to demand it! I'd also love to find out why this money ended up in your hands instead of mine!"
Compensation funds naturally needed to be claimed by the family. The only reason Qin Huairu and Yi Zhonghai had been able to collect it in the first place was because of Yi Zhonghai's status as the First Elder!
Yi Zhonghai hadn't expected Li Anquan to think things through so thoroughly! If this really kicked up a fuss at the Red Star Rolling Mill, not only would he have to fork over the money, but he would lose all his dignity. Worse still, it would leave a terrible impression on the factory leadership and the residents of the courtyard.
Feeling rather helpless, Yi Zhonghai gave Qin Huairu a pointed look. "Qin Huairu, you'd better go get the money."
But how could Qin Huairu bear to part with the money? She put on a pitiful, heart-wrenching expression, the corners of her eyes turning red.
"First Elder, Dongxu is gone, and my family has no source of income. If we hand this money over, how are all of us supposed to survive?"
Yi Zhonghai let out a long sigh, but Li Anquan burst into furious curses.
"Qin Huairu, when you and your dirty hands swallowed my mother's compensation, did you ever consider how my sister and I were supposed to survive? Hand over the money right now, or else we're marching straight to the Support-the-Military Office!"
"And... even if you fork over the cash, this isn't over yet!"