Chapter 1431 - 1395: The Home of Cannon Fodder 3
Chapter 1431: Chapter 1395: The Home of Cannon Fodder 3
Anning had thought about what to do next and bought groceries before heading back with her eco-friendly bag.
She just entered the gate of the residential area when someone came towards her.
When the person saw Anning, he paused for a moment, then his face lit up with delight.
Anning looked at him and smiled as well.
"What a coincidence."
"It really is."
The two exchanged smiles, and Anning jingled her keys: "Why don’t you come over to my place?"
So, the two of them went to Anning’s house together.
Once inside, Anning put the groceries in the kitchen and brought out some bowls. They selected a few vegetables and sat on the living room sofa, chatting while sorting them.
"When did you arrive?"
Anning asked while sorting green beans, smiling.
Xiao Yuan sorted spinach: "Two days ago. When did you arrive?"
"Yesterday."
"What’s your situation?"
They both spoke at the same time and then laughed again.
After sorting the vegetables, Anning and Xiao Yuan knew each other’s basic situation.
To be honest, neither of them are doing very well right now.
Anning is a divorced middle-aged woman with two kids, not much savings, and an old house.
Xiao Yuan’s situation is a bit worse.
At least Anning has a proper job, and her life is relatively stable.
Xiao Yuan, on the other hand, has no job. He’s just messing around on the streets. His wife passed away several years ago, and he’s raising two daughters alone. Life is really tight for him.
Moreover, Xiao Yuan’s profession is quite speechless.
Xiao Yuan’s original self turned out to be a swindler.
Don’t assume he’s one of those genuinely skilled in performing rituals. He knows a bit of psychology and earns money by coaxing people with a silver tongue.
After learning Xiao Yuan was a swindler, Anning laughed at him unceremoniously.
Xiao Yuan felt helpless: "There was no other choice. The original self had no degree, didn’t want to endure hardship, and indeed had a mindset of taking shortcuts, so he ended up sprinting down the path of swindling."
"What’s your plan? Continue being a swindler."
Anning asked.
Xiao Yuan nodded: "Yes, I don’t know what else to do. The original self spent half his life doing this, so I have to continue for him. But I’m thinking about specializing in geomancy in the future."
By geomancy, Xiao Yuan meant becoming a Feng Shui Master, planning to focus on adjusting Feng Shui for people.
"That could work."
Anning nodded: "The world gives us a strong suppression, coupled with our injuries, it’s impossible to go against the world rules head-on. If we become fortune tellers, we might face trouble from the world rules. Being a Feng Shui Master would be better."
Xiao Yuan checked the time; it was getting late, and soon the kids would be out of school. He needed to go home and cook.
"Alright then, you head back first. Let’s discuss things together tomorrow."
Anning stood up to see Xiao Yuan off.
She escorted Xiao Yuan downstairs, watched him enter another building, and then went back.
Anning and Xiao Yuan didn’t wait until the next day to meet again.
After the children had dinner and started their homework, they made excuses to take out the trash and left the house.
The two ran into each other again, each holding a bag of trash: "Such a coincidence."
After throwing away the trash, they didn’t go back but came out from the residential area and found a small park to sit in.
"Let’s get married."
Sitting down, Xiao Yuan proposed to Anning.
Anning didn’t hesitate at all: "Sure."
Even though they decided to get married, it was quite challenging.
After all, neither was single, Xiao Yuan didn’t have parents, but had two daughters, while Anning had a son, a daughter, and parents and siblings. She’d have to seek the family’s opinion.
"Tomorrow I’ll talk to my parents."
Anning laughed, saying: "We also have to talk to the kids, make sure they understand properly."
She remembered Xiao Yuan’s eldest daughter was in her second year of high school and said: "You have to communicate well with your eldest daughter. At this critical point, don’t let her feel upset and affect her studies."
"I know." Xiao Yuan held Anning’s hand, his previously empty heart suddenly felt complete.
The two sat in the park for a while before going home.
After returning, Anning checked the homework of Xiao Meng and Xiao Cong. After that, she didn’t go straight to sleep but opened her computer to write.
If she married Xiao Yuan, the two of them would have to raise four children. The current house wouldn’t do; they’d need to buy a bigger house.
Moreover, Anning knew Xiao Yuan couldn’t stay in the small county indefinitely. They both wanted to move to another place. If they moved to the city, given the current house prices, buying a big house would require a lot of money. Anning needed to earn money quickly.
Xiao Yuan considered the house-buying issue after he returned.
The house he lived in was in an old residential district, bought by Xiao Family’s parents back in the day. Xiao Family had just one son, Xiao Yuan, so after the parents died, the house naturally passed to Xiao Yuan.
The house is not only old but also quite small, just over seventy square meters, split into two bedrooms and a living room. Xiao Yuan stays in one, and his two daughters in the other room. It’s really cramped, and the eldest daughter has long voiced her opinion about it.
Xiao Yuan thought about earning some quick money to improve the housing conditions.
If possible, Xiao Yuan considered getting a large flat or villa in the city. The house needs to be big enough, the community environment good, security adequate, and the location advantageous — at least close to schools.
But to meet these criteria, the house prices would naturally be high. Buying would require a large amount of money.
Xiao Yuan quickly filtered through many pieces of information left by the original self in his mind.
The original self could pull off being a swindler and hadn’t been exposed much over the years; naturally, there were tricks to it.
The original self was a busybody who knew everything about county matters, who was facing what issue, what happened to whose children, whose elderly were ill, and why he knew everything. Hence, he could put on such a convincing act.
To be honest, the original self had quite a loyal clientele; otherwise, he couldn’t support two daughters.
Thinking for a while, Xiao Yuan remembered an incident.
The big shot in county real estate, Bao Family, has been having troubles lately.
First, Bao Bufen’s father fell from upstairs and is still lying in the hospital. The doctor said he might not last many days. Then Bao Bufen’s son somehow got depressed, threatening to commit suicide lately. A couple of days ago, Bao Bufen’s wife was diagnosed with an unpleasant illness and needs hospitalization for observation.
Bao Family kept encountering accidents; some said it was retribution for Bao Bufen’s past misdeeds, others claimed they had offended some malevolent entity, causing headaches for Bao Bufen.
He’s been looking for powerful mages these days, trying to find out what’s wrong at home — whether it’s a coincidence or someone has plotted against them.
Thinking about this matter, Xiao Yuan came up with an idea.
He took out his phone and called Liu San, a loyal follower of his, who became wealthy thanks to some random advice he once gave that unexpectedly hit the mark.
"Liu San, hey. It’s me, Xiao Yuan."
Liu San was drinking with some friends. As soon as he heard Xiao Yuan’s call, he hurriedly stood up: "Master Xiao, what’s up?"
Xiao Yuan chuckled: "Nothing major, just calculated by my fingers and found your luck hasn’t been great. I’m wondering if something happened at home?"
Recently, some small things happened at Liu San’s house. The problems weren’t big but annoying.
"Master, you truly have mana beyond measure! You figured out my house’s problems without even seeing me; that’s truly incredible. Master, what should I do? Did I offend something?"