Chapter 363: This Is Just the Beginning
Chapter 363: Chapter 363: This Is Just the Beginning
"Yes, yes, we should definitely close the door. Don’t want that annoying Gao Manting coming in and trying to snatch it from me."
Jiang Yun quickly shut the door, then scurried back and continued eating the fish.
Jiang Gong didn’t fight his brother for the food, simply sipping his alcohol.
Jiang Yun finished a whole fish and devoured all the side dishes. Rubbing his half-full belly, he grumbled, "How come I feel even hungrier the more I eat? Big Bro, you must not have brought enough."
"Big Bro, where’d you buy this grilled fish? It’s amazing. How about you take me there for a late-night snack tonight?"
Jiang Gong chuckled and ruffled his silly little brother’s hair. "Forget about it. The shop is only open for lunch, and it’s in the Lower City District. I can’t go to the Lower City District these days."
"Only open for lunch? What the hell, what kind of shop is that? So bizarre."
"Alright, you’ve eaten everything. Go on and play."
’He wanted to be alone.’
"Big Bro, you don’t want to marry Sister Xiao He, do you?" Jiang Yun asked suddenly.
"You’re just a kid. Focus on your studies."
Unlike Jiang Gong, Jiang Yun was an ordinary person who hadn’t awakened a superpower. The family’s expectations for him were much more relaxed: just study hard and find a cushy job in the future.
If he couldn’t find a job out in the world, he could always come back and take a management position in the family’s Mercenary Corps.
After all, with his father and older brother backing him up, he wouldn’t have to worry about anyone defying him.
"I’m sixteen years old! I’m not a kid anymore, okay?"
"Talk to me about this when you’re twenty."
Sometimes, Jiang Gong envied Jiang Yun. But that was only occasionally. Most of the time, he was thankful he had awakened a superpower and had the strength to protect his family.
...
"You guys live here?" Sang Yue asked, grabbing the shabby handrail on the wall and straightening the hat that the wind had knocked askew.
Wang Daguo led her up the stairs. "Fang Ming and his mother live here. I live in a one-story house."
Sang Yue fell silent. She already knew Fang Ming and Wang Daguo were neighbors from the same street, living in the slums of the Lower City District.
She had done charity work in slums in her past life and had assumed they would be much the same. But upon arriving, she realized the slums here were even more run-down.
The tenement building where the Fang family lived was considered one of the better ones on this street. Wang Daguo knocked on the door, and it took two minutes before someone came to open it.
"Daguo, what brings you here?"
Mrs. Fang recognized Wang Daguo; she only dared to open the door after getting a clear look through the peephole.
"My colleague and I came over to see you and Fang Ming."
Mrs. Fang glanced at the girl beside him. She was wearing a hat, a face mask, and a pair of transparent swimming goggles. After a moment’s hesitation, she let them both in.
"Fang Ming is out scavenging." Mrs. Fang coughed a couple of times with every sentence she spoke. Her movements were sluggish, and she looked extremely weak.
Sang Yue’s heart instantly overflowed with sympathy.
"Ma’am, please don’t trouble yourself. Sit down and rest."
’She was genuinely afraid Mrs. Fang might accidentally cough hard enough to break a rib.’
The home was utterly bare, with nothing to offer guests. Mrs. Fang did as she was told and sat down, taking a few deep breaths.
Sang Yue took off her hat, mask, and goggles. After straightening herself up a bit, she began to explain why she had come.
"Ma’am, I heard your family is facing some difficulties, and I’d like to sponsor you."
Mrs. Fang thought she must have misheard.
"Huh? What did you say?"
"Sponsorship. I’m willing to sponsor you. That means I’ll give you money so you can see a doctor and so Fang Ming can go to school. The sponsorship will end when he turns eighteen."
Sang Yue’s sponsorships always followed this model. She would support a child’s education until they were eighteen. Whether she continued to sponsor them through college depended on their grades and how strong their desire to study was.
If they just wanted to take her money to coast through life, she wouldn’t give them another cent.
But if the student’s grades were excellent, Sang Yue would continue the sponsorship and even provide some job recommendations when the time was right.
However, these latter steps weren’t things Sang Yue handled alone; they required approval from the adults in her family.
Now that Sang Yue had arrived in this Otherworld all by herself, what she could do was limited.
After all, she no longer had a powerful family to back her up.
"This... this... COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!"
Overcome with emotion, Mrs. Fang began to cough violently.
Just then, Fang Ming, who was returning from scavenging, heard her.
The boy rushed in, freezing for a second when he saw Wang Daguo and Sang Yue. Then, he skillfully took out an inhaler for his mother to use.
"You..." Fang Ming’s voice was low. "What are you doing in my home?"
Mrs. Fang grabbed her son’s hand, tears of joy streaming down her face. "Fang Ming, they’re here to sponsor us! You can go to school!"
"I’m not going to school," Fang Ming said. "If you really want to sponsor someone, then just pay for my mom’s medical treatment."
"You don’t have to be so upset," Sang Yue said. "You must go to school, and I will also provide money for your mother’s treatment."
Fang Ming was skeptical. "You?"
"Yes, me."
Sang Yue took out the Star Coins she had prepared. "Here’s 5,000 Star Coins. Take this for now and get your mother to a hospital. I heard schools have exams soon and then break for the holidays. Registration isn’t until next spring, so I’ll give you the school money then."
Sang Yue wasn’t completely naive. She’d made the mistake once of giving the full amount up front, only for the family to lose it all when their relatives squandered the money.
She had learned her lesson since then.
Looking at the Star Coins on the table, Fang Ming’s expression didn’t relax.
"What do you want me to do for you?"
’There’s no such thing as a free lunch. For her to give so much money, she must want something in return.’
"Study hard and become someone who contributes to society. That’s all I ask."
After seeing Wang Daguo and Sang Yue out, Fang Ming stared at the 5,000 Star Coins, a persistent unease settling in his heart.
"Mom, what do you think... what does she really want?"
A small smile touched the corner of Mrs. Fang’s lips. "Probably just a rich person’s random act of kindness."
Sang Yue’s bearing and mannerisms revealed she wasn’t from an ordinary family. She exuded an air of grace that could only be cultivated by the wealthy.
"So that means... we can use this money?"
"I think so. Wasn’t Wang Daguo with her? If she were unreliable, he wouldn’t have brought her here."
Shen Lu saw Wang Daguo come back, hauling Sang Yue along as if he were carrying a baby chick.
Sang Yue was so slender that a strong gust of wind could practically push her over. It was for this and other reasons that Shen Lu had sent Wang Daguo with her.
Wang Daguo dropped her off inside and then dashed home in a hurry.
Sang Yue took off her hat and mask, her face alight with happiness.
Shen Lu understood. Things must have gone well, or Sang Yue wouldn’t be this happy.
"Boss Shen, I think my method is more direct and effective. Do you want to do charity with me?"
One person could only do so much, after all. Sang Yue remembered how, back when she did charity work before, many people would join in. There was strength in numbers, and the funding was always more plentiful.
Shen Lu just smiled. "Let’s not be hasty. We’ll wait and see."
’This is just the beginning.’
Sang Yue didn’t press the issue. "Boss Shen, I know you’re actually a good person, your methods are just a little questionable. Just you wait. I’ll prove it to you."