“And you think you’re so good with money? When I’m not around in the future…” Chen Weiguo suddenly chuckled, then said, “If someone’s willing to spend money on you, why complain?”
Ming Ming pouted and went into the kitchen. “I’ll make you a pancake.”
But Chen Weiguo absolutely refused. “Spare me, will you? Last thing I need is you setting the kitchen on fire and me having to waste the effort putting it out.”
Ming Ming scratched her head. “Wait, don’t tell me I actually did that before?”
Chen Weiguo pointed at a blackened patch on the kitchen wall. “How could you forget? What do you think that came from—cooking fumes?”
Inwardly, Ming Ming muttered, Chen Chanjuan, fate really did bring us together, huh…
She carried in the things delivered yesterday and started tidying up. Suddenly, someone outside shouted: “Old Chen, someone’s here for your Juanzi!”
Chen Weiguo told her to check. “What’s going on? Is it Junsheng looking for you?”
Ming Ming doubted it. If it were Yan Junsheng, he wouldn’t need someone else to call out.
Could it be Wang Hu?
She stepped outside and saw—
It was actually the rich man from the neighboring Niuyun Village.
The villager who’d led him over said a quick goodbye and left. Ming Ming brought the man in, but as soon as they entered, he dropped to his knees with a thud.
“What’s going on…” Ming Ming rushed forward to help him up, but before she could, his voice rang out in excitement:
“Chen Po—your great kindness and virtue, I, Yuan, can never repay in this lifetime!”
“…”
Ming Ming froze, startled, still half-bent in her attempt to help him. Hearing the commotion, Chen Weiguo hurried out.
“What the heck is all this?”
The rich man’s name was Yuan Chenglong, in his thirties or forties. From Ming Ming’s past dealings with him, he’d always carried the air of a “successful man”—except for being a bit too superstitious.
After all, in this era, to make a fortune despite all the restrictions, he couldn’t have been ordinary.
But in this moment, all that aura shattered.
Yuan Chenglong was bawling, snot and tears streaming, and worst of all, he kept trying to grab Ming Ming’s hand and kowtow to her. Ming Ming nearly panicked, terrified of being smeared with his tears and mucus.
She backed away in circles while Yuan Chenglong shuffled forward on his knees after her.
“D-don’t grab me!” Ming Ming darted behind Chen Weiguo. “Our store accepts cash as thanks, not… yourself!”
Chen Weiguo glared at her, then looked closely at the man. “Wait, you’re… Old Yuan from the next village?” He helped him up, baffled. “Spit it out already, what’s going on? Did my girl cause trouble again?”
“I did not!” Ming Ming shot back instantly.
Yuan Chenglong wiped his tears, patted Chen Weiguo’s arm, and said with deep emotion, “So Chen Po is actually your daughter. I almost wish she were my mom!”
Chen Weiguo: “…”
He snapped, “Say something that makes sense, or get the hell out. Nobody asked for your nonsense!”
“Eh, eh, fine,” Yuan Chenglong said quickly, moving on.
“Last time, Chen Po helped ward off disaster for my father. And just a few days ago, her prediction about my son came true too!” His eyes locked on Ming Ming as if she were a living deity. “That night, just like you told me, I lit incense by my son’s bed. And right then, I caught a trafficker sneaking in to drug and kidnap him—”
“What?!” Chen Weiguo’s face paled. “The kid’s alright?”
“He’s fine.” Yuan Chenglong still shivered recalling it. “That night was unusual. The whole family had gone with my father to offer incense to the ancestor, so only my mother and my son stayed home. They should’ve been back before dusk, but on the way, the horse got sick. I kept your warning in mind, worried something might happen, so I bought another horse and hurried back. I never expected to run right into the trafficker. By then, my mother was already unconscious.”
“How dangerous!” Ming Ming exclaimed.
“Exactly! Without your foresight, Chen Po, my family would’ve been destroyed! Such a debt I can never repay. I have nothing worthy to give, only some worldly wealth. I know you must be above such things—”
“No, no, no,” Ming Ming cut him off quickly. “Worldly goods are great! I’ll take those. Gods like worldly goods too.”
“Oh, oh, that’s good.” Yuan Chenglong handed her a bundle. Ming Ming opened it to find a thick stack of cash, ration tickets, and beneath them, something hard. One glance, and—hah, familiar. It was the same kind of gold bar she’d stashed away this morning.
This stack of money was twice as thick as Yan Junsheng’s stash, and the gold bars were ten times as many as hers.
Nearly twenty thousand yuan…
Ming Ming hadn’t felt the dizzying rush of being buried in money for a long time. In an instant, she was practically a rich woman herself!
Hehehe…
Chen Weiguo’s eyes went wide. He snatched the bundle from her hands and shoved it back at Yuan Chenglong. “No, no, she can’t accept this! It’s way too valuable! The girl was just spouting nonsense; you can’t take it seriously. This all comes down to your own good deeds earning you blessings. What’s it got to do with her? She can’t take it, absolutely not!”
And just like that, the money slipped from Ming Ming’s grasp. She looked at her empty hands, weakly protesting, “She can take it, she can take it…”
Yuan Chenglong shoved the bundle back into her arms and blocked Chen Weiguo with the other hand. “I’m offering this to a goddess, not to you. Stay out of it!”
Ming Ming inhaled sharply, thrilled beyond words.
But Chen Weiguo barked, “If she takes it, it’ll just prove my daughter’s wrapped up in superstition! No way. I’m still the brigade leader—I won’t let you ruin her!”
Ming Ming let out half a sigh, shoulders drooping.
“You must take it!”
“She can’t!”
“She must!”
“She can’t!”
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152