DLWAV CH152

Ao Ruize: “It’s nothing. I beat that guy up.”

Hearing this, Zhang Jianguo’s brows furrowed instantly.

Yet his mouth opened and closed, and in the end, he still couldn’t bring himself to utter words of lecture.

“It’s good that you’re fine, it’s good that you’re fine.”

“School just let out as well, so why not come home with me today? I’ll stew an old hen soup for you.”

Ao Ruize glanced at him, mimicking Zhang Ruize’s mannerism by lifting his chin slightly: “Alright.”

Zhang Jianguo immediately said, overjoyed, “Good, good, good.”

Then Ao Ruize sat straight onto the back seat of his bicycle.

In this era rampant with patriarchal authority, hardly any father would speak to his son like this.

And the reason Zhang Jianguo was so polite to Ao Ruize, even carrying a hint of ingratiation, was that Zhang Ruize was not his biological son.

Before marrying Zhang Ruize’s mother, Kong Li, Zhang Jianguo had already been married three times.

Yet less than two years after marrying his first wife, she died of illness.

Later he found another one, but she despised him for being poor and ran away after a year.

The third one didn’t look down on his poverty, but on the day after their wedding, she died in that meteor shower, taking his parents and two children along with her.

Over the following decade or so, perhaps because his wives leaving and dying one after another left him traumatized, he never looked for a partner again.

Not until he was forty-five did the leadership at the electronics factory where he worked see that at such an advanced age, he still didn’t have an intimate companion—and most importantly, didn’t even have a child to care for him in old age and see him off to his grave.

So under their strong recommendation, he married Kong Li, who washed dishes in the factory kitchen and had two children with her.

At first, Zhang Jianguo wasn’t particularly satisfied with Kong Li.

Because Kong Li was simply too beautiful, while he was so old; he feared he wouldn’t be able to hold onto her.

But what he never expected was that after Kong Li married him, not only did she strictly mind her place and never get too close with other men, she also diligently washed clothes and cooked meals for him every day without a single complaint. Later, she even took the initiative to change both children’s surnames to his.

Most importantly, the elder of the two children she brought, Shen Xinghui, was remarkably considerate toward him: bringing him water when it was hot, bringing him clothes when it was chilly, and always saving him a portion whenever he got something delicious. In the words of bystanders, even biological fathers and sons couldn’t compare to the affection between them.

Just like that, he completely put his worries to rest, whole-heartedly providing for Kong Li and the two brothers.

But what he never expected was that Kong Li wasn’t preserving her chastity for his sake at all, but for her ex-husband’s—

She naturally had an ex-husband; otherwise, how could the two brothers have come into being?

It was just that the country had suffered a disaster at the time, and domestic resources were scarce. Commoners in many places couldn’t even get enough food to eat. In order to save more lives, the state simply established a specialized supplies allocation department to uniformly allocate survival resources, strictly prohibiting private trade.

But her ex-husband coveted the exorbitant profits of smuggling and chose to take the risk. Sure enough, he was caught and sentenced to ten full years.

Kong Li knew she couldn’t support two children on her own in this era, but she could find another man to help raise them. So after discussing it with her ex-husband, they decisively divorced.

And the patsy she selected was Zhang Jianguo.

Over a decade passed, and Zhang Jianguo had risen from an ordinary worker to a Grade 6 worker, earning a monthly wage of seventy-six yuan—more than the entire net annual income of a rural household.

When he retired at age sixty, he would also be able to receive a monthly pension of fifty yuan.

Most importantly, he was old, so he wouldn’t spend all day thinking about laying hands on her.

So ten years later, when her ex-husband was released from prison, and Zhang Jianguo’s wages and over a decade of savings had been completely squandered by them, didn’t she eagerly want to take the two children back to her ex-husband to reunite as a family?

Naturally, Zhang Jianguo refused to agree.

But it was already a society governed by law; even if he refused, there was nothing he could do.

Most importantly, the reason Kong Li’s ex-husband, Shen Weijie, had been sentenced to so many years back then was that he and another brother took the full blame for their boss.

Although their boss had fallen on hard times in the first few years, in recent years, as the country gradually opened up, he relied on his sharp mind to vault into becoming Qianshi’s newly rich in a mere four years. He managed the logistical supplies for the entire Qianshi government and opened several karaoke bars and nightclubs.

Moreover, he was someone who remembered debts of gratitude. The moment Shen Weijie came out, he immediately arranged for him to become a supervisor in the logistics department of the Qianshi Museum, securing him an iron rice bowl, and even gifted him a Western-style townhouse.

Hearing that Zhang Jianguo was holding onto Kong Li and her two sons and wouldn’t let them go, he directly sent people to make trouble at the Zhang home every few days, leaving neither the neighbors nor the factory in peace.

In the end, Zhang Jianguo had no choice but to resign himself to fate.

But unexpectedly, Zhang Ruize didn’t agree either.

Right at this moment, they arrived at the Zhang home.

Zhang Jianguo lived in the electronics factory’s family dormitories, built over twenty years ago. One could imagine just how dilapidated this building was now.

Zhang Jianguo set Ao Ruize down: “You go home first. I’ll go to Aunt Liu’s place to buy an old hen.”

Ao Ruize: “Alright.”

And seeing the two of them and hearing what they said, the residents bustling in and out of the dormitory building instantly rolled their eyes.

They immediately began discussing it loudly among themselves.

“Buying an old hen again?”

“An old hen costs four yuan each, and buying one every three to five days—no matter how high Master Zhang’s wages are, it can’t withstand such squandering.”

“My wife has given birth to three children, and the old hens she ate during all her postpartum confinements combined isn’t as much as Zhang Ruize eats in a single month. It really makes your blood boil just thinking about it.”

“Isn’t that right? I heard every time Zhang Ruize comes back, Master Zhang has to eat at the cafeteria for a full week straight.”

“Logically speaking, Zhang Ruize not only gets free room and board at Qianda, but also a twenty-yuan monthly stipend. How could he possibly be lacking a bite of old hen?”

“Don’t say that. Even if Zhang Ruize is a bit gluttonous, his character is at least decent. Otherwise, he would have run off with that little tramp Kong Li long ago, just like Zhang Xinghui.”

“Pfft, you guys actually believe what Zhang Ruize says?”

“Look at Zhang Xinghui back then—no, we should call him Shen Xinghui now. Back then, how affectionate Shen Xinghui was toward Master Zhang! He kept the words about caring for Master Zhang in old age and seeing him off on his lips all day long. Everyone in the compound said their relationship was better than that of a real father and son. In the end, didn’t he turn his back on Master Zhang in the blink of an eye?”

“Zhang Ruize is his biological younger brother. How much better could Zhang Ruize possibly be?”

“If he truly wanted to repay Master Zhang and care for him in old age, he wouldn’t have gone back with Kong Li in the first place.”

“He only ran back after an entire month had passed.”

“Most likely, after he returned to the Shen family, he realized Shen Weijie and Kong Li still preferred Shen Xinghui, who had better grades and was cleverer. Plus, he heard our electronics factory was about to distribute new housing soon—Western-style townhouses too, and Master Zhang alone could qualify for two units—so he simply ran back.”

“After all, if he returns to the Zhang family, all of Master Zhang’s wages and property will be his in the future, and he can even gain a good reputation…”

“Aren’t these Shen family people all sly demons incarnate?”

“Or maybe they’re spirits born from sheer thick skin; otherwise, how could their skin be so thick?”

Ao Ruize ignored their back-and-forth chiming and headed straight upstairs.

Because he knew they meant well; they merely wanted to anger him into leaving so he wouldn’t ruin Zhang Jianguo anymore.

Most importantly, everything they said was true.

Zhang Ruize was indeed no good.

Zhang Jianguo naturally knew this as well.

But he wanted to prove that he wasn’t an outright sucker, and that providing for Kong Li and her two sons for over a decade had yielded some reward after all.

Most of all, now that he was old, he naturally grew more anxious by the day that no one would take care of him in his twilight years, and no one would shatter the mortuary bowl and carry his funerary tablet when he died. So even though he knew Zhang Ruize harbored ill intentions, upon hearing that Zhang Ruize wanted to remain his son, he still fell for it, even treating him twice as well just to keep him around.

Of course, at that time, Zhang Ruize had not yet entered the Youth Class.

In fact, because his academic grades were abysmal, no one in the compound thought he could even get into junior high.

And the reason he was selected into the Youth Class was that his hands-on aptitude was extraordinary.

Since childhood, he had loved dismantling things: when he was young, taking apart the door locks at home, light switches, other people’s wristwatches… As he grew older, he ran to the electronics factory to dismantle decommissioned television sets and refrigerators…

Unlike Kong Li and others who thought Zhang Ruize was merely incorrigible and misbehaved, a researcher at the electronics factory felt Zhang Ruize had immense talent for research, because Zhang Ruize not only knew how to dismantle those appliances, he could reassemble them as well, and could even explain the functions of every single component clearly and logically.

So upon learning that Qianshi University was also preparing to open a Youth Class, he recommended Zhang Ruize for it.

Then, before the examiners of Qianshi University, on his very first attempt at repairing appliances, he fixed two refrigerators and three washing machines in one breath.

One must remember, he wasn’t even thirteen years old at the time.

Just like that, he smoothly entered the Qianda Youth Class.

As facts proved, that researcher had not misjudged Zhang Ruize; he truly possessed immense talent for research.

After entering the Qianda Youth Class, Zhang Ruize flourished, producing a small invention almost every half-year.

Five years later, he smoothly graduated from the Youth Class and secured a government-sponsored slot to study abroad.

The elderly men and women in the electronics factory compound had not misjudged Zhang Ruize either; he truly was no good.

Once abroad, he spent money even more lavishly, asking Zhang Jianguo for cash the moment he ran out.

For his sake, Zhang Jianguo sold all three of his houses and wired over his entire pension.

With all his heart and soul, he waited for Zhang Ruize to care for him in old age and bring glory to the Zhang family lintel.

In the end, when Zhang Jianguo could no longer walk and needed someone to care for him, Zhang Ruize, who had already made a name for himself in the industry, directly accepted the lucrative terms offered by Country M’s government, took Country M citizenship, and settled down there permanently.

Until the day Zhang Jianguo passed away, he never returned, nor did he ever wire Zhang Jianguo a single cent.

If the electronics factory hadn’t yet gone bankrupt at the time, and the factory workers hadn’t taken pity on him, pooling money for his funeral and helping transport his remains back to his hometown for burial, his corpse might have been dragged away by stray dogs without anyone ever knowing.

Not until decades later, when Zhang Ruize finally retired from the university where he taught, did he finally remember to return to his home country.

Because by then he was already a renowned titan in the field, the country hoped to use his prestige to attract more outstanding Chinese scientists to return, and elevate Great Yang’s standing in the international scientific community while at it, thus granting him exceptionally favorable treatment.

When he passed away, he was even buried draped with the national flag.

Yet compared to Zhang Ruize’s illustrious life, Shen Xinghui’s end was vastly more miserable.

A few years after he returned to the Shen family, the government launched a crackdown on vice and organized crime. Shen Weijie’s boss was subsequently arrested and executed by firing squad less than two months later.

And because Shen Weijie’s job had been arranged by his boss, he was promptly dismissed from the museum.

If attending college hadn’t been tuition-free at the time, Shen Xinghui might not even have been able to finish his degree.

But finishing college wasn’t his goal; he didn’t want to be overshadowed by Zhang Ruize. So after graduating, he applied to study abroad as well. Unable to secure a government-sponsored scholarship, he urged Shen Weijie and Kong Li to sell the family home to buy him a plane ticket to Country M and pay his first year’s tuition.

His plan was grand: he believed his academic record was good enough, and that Country M universities offered generous scholarships. As long as he got a scholarship, he basically wouldn’t have to worry about tuition or living expenses anymore.

But only after arriving in Country M did he discover that professors there favored flexible, quick-witted minds. A student like him who only knew rote memorization might score high in domestic universities, but in Country M, hoping to get high marks from professors and secure a scholarship was pure delusion.

Unable to get a scholarship and with his funds about to run out, Shen Xinghui was naturally anxious beyond measure.

Right at this moment, a second-generation wealthy classmate in his class extended an olive branch to him.

Except this olive branch was not financial sponsorship, but keeping him as a sugar baby.

But how could Shen Xinghui possibly agree? After all, he didn’t like men in the slightest.

That is, until a few days later, when the money in his hands was completely exhausted.

Gritting his teeth, he ultimately accepted the wealthy heir’s terms.

And what he didn’t expect was that the wealthy heir spent money far more lavishly than he could have imagined: designer watches, luxury clothes, branded wallets—whatever he mentioned, the man would buy for him.

Moreover, he frequently took him in and out of high-end private clubs.

Dining on delicacies that even the President of Great Yang couldn’t frequently enjoy, and living in a villa more luxurious than the Great Yang Presidential Palace, he soon lost himself completely.

Until a year later, one of the wealthy heir’s uncles took a liking to him, and the heir simply gifted him directly to that uncle.

In dread of their family’s wealth and influence, he had no choice but to submit.

But that wasn’t the end: the uncle not only liked men, but enjoyed group activities.

Most devastating of all, someone, out of jealousy, leaked photos of him participating in those group activities with the uncle.

And then he was expelled from the university.

One could imagine how his relatives and friends back home would mock him if they ever learned of this.

So he gritted his teeth and chose to remain by the uncle’s side.

Because the man had promised him that he would arrange a respectable job for him in the future.

But until the day he died, he never saw that respectable job, because before long, the uncle grew tired of him, and he became a plaything used to entertain guests.

In the end, due to an overdose of aphrodisiacs, he died in an old man’s bed.

Months later, having received no letters from Shen Xinghui and unable to contact him, Kong Li and Shen Weijie chose to call the police.

The police placed a call to the university he attended, only to learn that he had long been expelled for prostitution.

No matter how unwilling Shen Weijie and Kong Li were to believe it, they were helpless.

Because at that point, they had no formal jobs, no house, and no savings, so how could they have the money to go to Country M to look for Shen Xinghui?

Consequently, their ultimate end was no better than Zhang Jianguo’s.

This was perhaps the sole consolation this original storyline offered to the reader.

But what nobody anticipated was that Shen Xinghui was reborn.

And he was reborn decades earlier, right when he had just left the Zhang household.

He was overjoyed, determined to alter his destiny.

Moreover, he suddenly recalled the only person he had encountered in his past life who, upon learning he was merely a plaything, not only kept his hands to himself, but tried to send him back home: Young Master Zhao Xian of the Nanyang Zhao family.

He had fallen in love with him.

He wanted to marry him.

Because in his past life, Zhao Xian indeed married a man later on.

But that man was the savior of the head of the Zhao family, and his background was equally illustrious, so the Zhao family hadn’t objected to their marriage.

But Shen Xinghui was different: he was merely an ordinary person whose father had even been in prison, so marrying Zhao Xian would be harder than ascending to heaven.

But it didn’t matter; he still had his experiences from his past life.

He had attended college after all, and spent so many years mingling in Country M’s high society.

He knew the development trends over the next decade or so; he knew which industries would yield fortunes and which companies would soar into the stratosphere.

And his first step was entering the Qianda Youth Class and becoming a household-name genius youth throughout the nation.

But having just entered university, he couldn’t simply produce inventions far beyond the scope of his knowledge.

So he turned his gaze upon Zhang Ruize.

And in his previous life, out of jealousy, he happened to have studied Zhang Ruize’s research achievements.

In his eyes, Zhang Ruize was a despicable, shameless traitor anyway, so taking his inventions now was practically doing justice on heaven’s behalf.

Thus, every time Zhang Ruize finalized a topic, he would finalize the same one, and every single time beat Zhang Ruize to the punch, completing the experiment first.

What he didn’t expect was that, feeling the pressure from him, Zhang Ruize’s research progress was even faster than in the previous timeline. Just to be safe, he instigated Xue Jiazhi to sabotage Zhang Ruize’s experiments, providing him with a secretly duplicated key to Zhang Ruize’s lab.

There were no surveillance cameras in this era, so didn’t Xue Jiazhi effortlessly ruin Zhang Ruize’s experimental samples one after another without leaving a trace?

As for why Xue Jiazhi obeyed Shen Xinghui so blindly, it was likely because Xue Jiazhi had fallen for him without realizing it.

This was the inaugural Youth Class hosted by Qianshi University; they failed to realize that while these prodigies enjoyed the spotlight of the entire nation, they also shouldered crushing pressure. They desperately needed psychological counseling, which Qianshi University failed to provide promptly.

Thus, crushed by blow after blow, Zhang Ruize vented his fury in a fit of rage on Xue Jiazhi’s laboratory.

In the brawl just now, Zhang Ruize originally would have been struck in the temple by Xue Jiazhi, resulting in upper-body paralysis.

Xue Jiazhi was consequently sentenced to six years of imprisonment.

But his mother was formidable; even after the court ordered their family to compensate Zhang Ruize three thousand yuan, they preferred having the police knock on their door every day over paying a single cent.

In his grief, knowing that the Shen family refused to support an incapacitated Zhang Ruize, Zhang Jianguo ultimately decided, after careful deliberation, to take Zhang Ruize in and care for him.

Not until a decade or so later, as Zhang Ruize’s psychological trauma grew increasingly severe, did he choose to commit suicide by burning charcoal.

And Zhang Jianguo’s end was still dying of illness all alone at home, his passing only discovered by neighbors once the stench drifted from his corpse.

As for Shen Xinghui, a year later, he graduated from Qianda and secured a government-funded opportunity to study abroad.

A year after that, he smoothly “bumped into” Zhao Xian.

Relying on his “unique insights” into finance, he quickly became close friends with Zhao Xian and borrowed a handsome sum of startup capital from him.

A few years later, having smoothly converted his halo from genius teenage scientist to genius investor, Shen Xinghui married into the Zhao family as he wished, accompanied by tens of millions in wealth.

And Shen Weijie and Kong Li, having raised a genius son, spent the rest of their lives living in outright luxury.