Chapter 380: An Overly Shrewd Old Man, Missing Him
The old man took a glance at the red and soft money in the little girl’s hand, and a sparkle flashed in his eyes. So much money.
The old man’s hand was a little itchy. He wanted to reach out to take it, but he was also afraid of being cheated.
Qin Shu saw the old man’s hesitation, and she said again, “Old Man, don’t be afraid of being cheated. I’m a student of Imperial College. This money was just withdrawn from the ATM too, so it can’t be fake.”
The grandfather glanced at the little girl in front of him again. She was wearing glasses and looked like a scholar. After thinking about it again and again, there was no reason for him not to accept the soft money that was delivered to his door.
So…
“Then I reluctantly believe you this time. Give me the money first.” In the end, the grandfather still did not forget to take the money first before doing the work, in case he was cheated.
“No problem.” Qin Shu was also straightforward. She handed half of the money in her hand to the old man. “I’ll pay half of it first, and pay the other half after you say it.”
The old man took the money with a smile. He even deliberately counted it and found that the amount was just right before putting the money into the cloth bag on his shoulder. Only after putting it away did he point to the north and say, “Do you see the fog over there?”
Qin Shu looked in the direction of the old man’s finger. Her eyes were full of confusion because there was indeed fog in the north, but she could not see that there was any mountain over there.
The old man seemed to know that she could not tell. He continued, “You can’t tell from afar. You’d have to go to the side. The fog is even thicker there. Even in summer, the fog won’t disperse and the temperature is especially low. If you want to enter the mountain, you’d have to wear more clothes.”
Qin Shu was even more puzzled when she heard this. She retracted her gaze and looked at the old man. “Then when do you usually enter the mountain?”
“I enter the mountain once a month. The mountain path is difficult to walk on. Entering once took half my life.” The old man did not forget to complain. Was it easy for him to earn money? Was it so easy to support his family?
“Thank you, Old Man.” Qin Shu passed the rest of the money to the old man. If he did not point these out, it would definitely be very troublesome to enter just like that.
The old man took the money and counted it again and again. Only when the number was correct did he put it into the cloth bag and cover it well.
The old man was happy in his heart. He had earned quite a lot today.
Before the old man left, he deliberately reminded her, “Little girl, if you want to enter the mountain, you’d better find a few boys to go in with you. It’s too dangerous to go alone.”
After the old man said this, he turned around and left.
Qin Shu watched the old man’s back as he left. The clothes on his body were a little old, as if they had been worn for many years. Also, as for the cloth bag on his shoulder, it had been mended in several places and it looked out of place on the flourishing streets.
When the old man had gone far away, Qin Shu retracted her gaze and looked towards the north. She was not in a hurry to go because it was already late. In addition to what the old man had said, she had to think carefully and prepare sufficiently to enter the mountain.
Qin Shu did not continue shopping. She hailed a cab and returned to Imperial College.
When she returned to the school, the sky was already completely dark.
Qin Shu held the doorknob but it did not open, which meant that there was no one inside. She took out her keys and opened the door. It was pitch-black inside and very quiet.
She turned on the lights and the pitch-black dormitory instantly lit up. Her gaze swept around the dormitory. Just as she expected, Mu Ke was not in the dormitory.
Qin Shu stayed outside for a day. Before she left, she had put a lot of dried fish and water on Boss’s plate. How was Boss eating?
Before Qin Shu could finish her thought, she heard a “meow” that sounded very aggrieved. She lowered her head and saw Boss’s dark green eyes looking at her aggrievedly. He was almost rolling on the ground to express his resentment.
Qin Shu bent down and picked up the resentful Boss. She walked to the chair, sat down and placed it on her lap, rubbing its head. She could not help but laugh, “I went out for a run today and I’m exhausted. Why are you so resentful sleeping in the dormitory?”
“Meow” Boss cried out in dissatisfaction.
Qin Shu helplessly smoothed Boss’s fur. “I have something to do outside. It’s indeed inconvenient to bring you along. I’ll let you eat delicious fish tomorrow. How about it?”
“Meow” Boss meowed at Qin Shu. Its voice was cheerful, indicating that it liked it very much.
Seeing Boss’s greedy look, Qin Shu could not help but laugh.
After the weekend, it was another week of classes. Mu Ke had become more well-behaved in the past few days.
When listening to music at night, she would not deliberately turn up the volume to create noise.
Qin Shu also had some free time in the past few days. The reason was that Han Xiao had gone home. She did not need to go to class. Now, she already knew what the teacher taught her.
That was other than elective classes which she would go for.
After breakfast, Qin Shu and Ye Xue went to class together. They bumped into Fu Tingyan on the way, but they did not see Jiang Yu, who was always with them.
“Isn’t Jiang Yu always with Fu Tingyan? Why haven’t I seen him today?” Ye Xue asked in confusion.
Qin Shu could not help but tease Ye Xue. “Do you miss him?”
Ye Xue blushed. “No, I’m just curious.”
“Go ask and you’ll know.” Qin Shu looked at Fu Tingyan. When he got closer, she asked, “Why are you alone? Where’s Jiang Yu?”
Fu Tingyan’s face did not look good, and his voice was cold. “He’s recuperating in the dormitory.”
Hearing that, Ye Xue’s heart tightened. She no longer cared whether she was embarrassed or not and asked, “What happened to him? Why is he injured?”
Qin Shu also waited for Fu Tingyan’s answer. How could Jiang Yu get hurt when he looked fine?
“Last night, he went out to buy something. On the way back, he was beaten up by a group of unknown people. It hurt even when he was lying in bed, but he wasn’t willing to be hospitalized. He didn’t see who the other party was. Don’t let me know, or I’ll beat them up until they regret coming to this world.”
Fu Tingyan said coldly. He and Jiang Yu were good friends. Jiang Yu was usually reluctant to even hit him when they fought, so how could he not be angry when Jiang Yu had been beaten up like that?
Qin Shu frowned. “Did he offend someone?”
Fu Tingyan shook his head. “I don’t think so. Little Yu has a very easygoing personality. Other than being a little straightforward, he gets along very well with his classmates.”
Ye Xue’s heart ached when she heard that Jiang Yu was beaten up. Her hand hanging at her side clutched the hem of her clothes tightly. She did not care about anything else. “I, I want to go and see him.”
Fu Tingyan knew that Ye Xue liked Jiang Yu. If she wanted to see Jiang Yu, he would have no reason to object. What if they became a couple.
“If you want to go, you can come with me.”
Ye Xue blushed slightly and said gratefully, “Thank you, then.”
“Let’s go.”
Fu Tingyan glanced at Ye Xue and then took the lead to leave.
Ye Xue hurriedly followed.
Qin Shu looked at Ye Xue’s back as she left with her footsteps hurried. She was thinking whether Ye Xue would be able to say anything later in front of Jiang Yu?
She sighed helplessly. Ye Xue’s character was too weak, and introverted, and her inferiority complex has been deeply rooted in her heart.
She would only silently like someone, and would not take the initiative to pursue.
Unless Jiang Yu also liked Ye Xue, and took the initiative to start dating.
Qin Shu’s eyes lit up for a moment. It was worth a shot.
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Ye Xue followed Fu Tingyan all the way to the boys’ dormitory.
Seeing a girl enter, the dormitory management lady hurriedly stopped her. “Hey hey, here is a boys’ dormitory, it’s not good for a girl to enter.”