Chapter 23: Being Raised Into a Useless Person
Yu Deng had guessed things wouldn’t go smoothly, but he hadn’t expected them to be this difficult.
Yu Guoqing not only refused to give him tuition but also wouldn’t give him any possibility of studying.
Abominable!
His anger was bottled in his chest; Yu Deng’s cheeks were puffed out like a ball.
“Not going!”
“If we go, they’ll have more people, and I’ll get beaten!”
He wasn’t actually that stupid. Everyone in that village was in cahoots; he was afraid that if he went to the Yu house, it would be a “nine deaths, one life” situation.
The reason he could escape in the first place was because he said he was coming to the county seat to work.
Zhou Yuejun’s eyes darkened with thought, and he nodded slightly: “Alright. They’ll come tomorrow anyway. As long as the final ones submitted are your preferences, it’ll be fine.”
“I’m going to make a call.”
Zhou Yuejun made a call to the construction site from the general store outside the school gates to ask for tomorrow off. Wu Da knew his “younger brother’s” results were out, so he’d have to stay home for two days.
As for the nightclub, Xie Meng was also understanding, saying he’d have someone on rotation cover his shift first.
Since they weren’t going to Yu Deng’s house, they could only go to Zhou Yuejun’s house.
Zhou Yuejun lived in the county seat. After his parents passed away, he was the only one left in the house.
Zhou Yuejun’s father used to be an employee at the welding factory, and they had been assigned a two-bedroom apartment.
The apartment building was crowded. As soon as Zhou Yuejun appeared downstairs, someone recognized him.
“Xiao Jun, you’re back?”
“How is it outside? Is it hard?”
“You’re in a strange place without anyone to look after you. If it really doesn’t work out, just come back.”
They had all watched Zhou Yuejun grow up. Their words were filled with care and concern.
Zhou Yuejun answered them one by one, saying everything was fine.
Someone noticed Yu Deng following behind Zhou Yuejun. He looked to have “red lips and white teeth”—a truly good-looking person, even more beautiful than someone in a painting.
“This is…”
Given the relationship between Yu Deng and Zhou Yuejun, Zhou Yuejun knew it wasn’t easy to say the truth. He only gave his usual explanation to the outside world.
“A relative. He’s back for a couple of days for the holiday.”
A “wife” was also a relative.
Zhou Yuejun’s apartment was also on the fourth floor. When the door opened, the interior was dim, but as soon as Zhou Yuejun pulled the light cord, the room instantly became bright and clear.
Zhou Yuejun had been gone for nearly three months, and the house had gathered dust. To live in it, it would inevitably need a cleaning.
He set down the vegetables in his hand and habitually took off his sweat-stained shirt: “I’ll clean up a bit. You sit and watch TV for a while.”
Having spent the whole trip taking buses and walking, he was covered in sweat. If he didn’t take it off now, his body would smell sour.
The TV at home was black and white, but it could still pass the time. The old electric fan had been used for several years; Zhou Yuejun carried it out from the master bedroom and wiped the dust off before letting Yu Deng use it.
Yu Deng felt it wasn’t good for him to do nothing at all and proactively took on a task: “I’ll go boil some noodles.”
It was just a matter of adding some seasoning and boiling the noodles until cooked; he could do it.
“No need. I’ll boil them in a bit. They won’t taste good if you do it.”
Yu Deng: “…”
Zhou Yuejun scrambled to do all the work. No wonder in the original plot, the original owner couldn’t do anything after leaving Zhou Yuejun.
He was being raised into a useless person.
If only it could always be like this.
But Yu Deng also knew he only had two years of enjoyment.
However, 107 had also said that after completing the mission, he would be given a generous bonus.
The apartment was small, so cleaning it didn’t take much effort. Zhou Yuejun only tidied one bedroom; he didn’t clean the larger one.
The black-and-white images on the TV weren’t enticing at all. Instead, it was the half-naked Zhou Yuejun…
Wiping here and there with a rag, then casting a seemingly unintentional glance at Yu Deng—it was outright seduction.
Yu Deng was, after all, someone who had been bullied by Zhou Yuejun. He had a slight understanding of whether Zhou Yuejun was in a “dormant period” or an “estrus period.”
For dinner, Zhou Yuejun boiled noodles with small green vegetables, paired with two eggs, sprinkled with chopped green onions, and drizzled with sesame oil. Before Yu Deng even started eating, he began to lick his lips.
Just as he was about to pick up his chopsticks, there was a knock on the door.
Zhou Yuejun tilted his chin toward Yu Deng, indicating for him to eat first, while he got up to open the door.
Yu Deng took a bite of noodles, but his gaze followed Zhou Yuejun toward the door.
“Jun-ge!”
“I heard from my mom that you’re back. I came to hang out.”
The visitor was He Yuan, Zhou Yuejun’s childhood friend, who also worked at the welding factory now.
This area was all families of old employees of the welding factory; the children in the families were basically in the factory as well.
He Yuan and Zhou Yuejun had a deep friendship. He had brought roast chicken, watermelon, and alcohol with him.
As soon as he entered, He Yuan saw that face and was momentarily stunned.
Not quite a stranger—he had seen him before.
He was in the same workshop as Zhou Yuejun in the factory. Yu Deng had hovered in front of them twice, and the second time he even called Zhou Yuejun away.
But back then, Yu Deng wasn’t as “obedient” as he was now.
With a mouthful of noodles, his gaze was as clear as spring water. His youthful face was dusted with pink powder, and his features were as delicate as a painting. No matter how one looked at him, he was refined and beautiful.
He Yuan suddenly understood: “Oh~ so he’s a relative. No wonder he came to find you back then.”
Zhou Yuejun stepped aside to let He Yuan in and patted his shoulder: “Off work so early today?”
“No. The machines at the factory are broken, so they’ve all been sent for maintenance. It just so happened someone in the factory fainted from heatstroke, so the boss gave us a few days off.”
The weather was hot to begin with, and the welding factory was even more like a steamer; people were practically cooked inside. Every year in the past, someone would get heatstroke.
A holiday?
A dark light flickered in Zhou Yuejun’s eyes as he brought a stool for He Yuan to sit.
“Jun-ge, how is working in the city?”
“Quite good…”
Zhou Yuejun casually talked about some of the things he had seen in the city, and He Yuan listened intently.
It was clear that he was still full of curiosity and longing for the world outside the county.
The roast chicken He Yuan bought was wrapped in oil paper. As soon as it was opened, Yu Deng smelled the fragrance of the roasted chicken.
Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, it was still dripping with oil. Once torn open, the fresh, tender chicken meat made one salivate.
With a lift of his thick, curled lashes, he saw that Zhou Yuejun had already placed a chicken leg in his bowl.
Immediately, the boy broke into a beaming smile, his eyes curving like crescent moons. His small dimples were more intoxicating than the alcohol in Zhou Yuejun’s hand.
He Yuan didn’t mind these things, his only focus being to ask Zhou Yuejun: “Then are you still leaving after you’re back this time?”
Zhou Yuejun nodded and took the opportunity to explain his purpose: “I’m back to help him fill out his preferences, but his father won’t let him study. There’ll be a scene at the school tomorrow.”
He Yuan already saw Yu Deng as Zhou Yuejun’s relative. Hearing that Zhou Yuejun was going to the school to cause a scene tomorrow, he naturally wouldn’t sit idly by. He immediately slapped the table.
“Fine. I’ll bring them all tomorrow. I want to see how exactly the scene will play out.”
Not letting someone study despite good grades was simply intolerable.
Zhou Yuejun and He Yuan hadn’t seen each other in a long time. As they talked, they downed glass after glass of alcohol.
Yu Deng left the table after he was full.
But because he was a bit stuffed, it wasn’t comfortable to lie or sit, so he paced back and forth in the living room.
It wasn’t until after ten o’clock at night that the two finished, both appearing a bit tipsy.
Zhou Yuejun boiled water, and Yu Deng helped tidy up the remains, throwing the trash by the door to be taken out tomorrow.
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