Chapter 74: Born!!

  I need to find a place to rest and recover from the mental exhaustion!

  As soon as the idea occurred to Wang Ke, his eyes fell on a big tree not far away. Without hesitation, he stepped out and walked quickly towards the big tree in the distance.

  Under the shade of a large willow tree, a gentle breeze blew, and Wang Ke sat down against the trunk, slowly closing his eyes. Feeling the cool and refreshing sensation, he no longer thought about any problems in his mind, letting his spirit slowly recover.

  Time is slowly passing by, and half an hour has passed in the blink of an eye.

  Wang Ke slowly opened his eyes, feeling a significant recovery of his spiritual energy. He scanned the surrounding area with his gaze and suddenly noticed an old man sitting under another large willow tree not far away, looking at passersby with a worried expression. The old man wore a gray jacket, dirty black pants, and had a tattered yellowish-white towel draped over his shoulder. His appearance clearly indicated that he was a newcomer to the antique market. In front of him, on a red cloth, were several ordinary household items from ancient times, which looked somewhat like antiques but didn't attract much attention due to their commonality in this market.

  Wang Ke didn't really believe that the middle-aged man, who looked like an old farmer, was a real peasant. He had been in the antique market for some time and had seen all sorts of people. Men like this "old farmer" were not uncommon, and he had discovered that many of them were pretending to be poor and pitiful, displaying a few items in the hopes of eliciting sympathy from others, so they could sell their goods. Some people even secretly collaborated with these "farmers", acting as their accomplices in scams.

  After hesitating for a moment, Wang Ke still decided to walk over and take a look.

  Walking a few steps to the old man under the willow tree, Wang Ke's line of sight looked at the red cloth laid out by the old man and saw that there were several items on it. Suddenly, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, because he felt that these things in front of him looked like antiques.

  Slowly lifting his head, Wang Ke looked at the old man's face.

  The old man at this moment was extremely agitated.

  He has been setting up his stall for almost a day, and only two people have come to take a look, without even asking the price, shaking their heads and leaving. Now Wang Ke's arrival makes him seem to see hope, with a gaze full of longing, staring at Wang Ke's face, hoping that this young man can appreciate the items he has set out.

  The old man's eyes, filled with longing, made Wang Ke's heart tremble violently, for he felt the other's intention in the old man's extremely yearning gaze. Those pure eyes absolutely could not be feigned. Even the aura emanating from this old man, apart from a hint of being oppressed by life and slightly out of breath, did not contain any other aura, nor could any craftiness be sensed from him.

  Maybe he is just an ordinary old farmer.

  Wang Ke had some faith in this old man.

  "This young fellow, I'm not cheating you, old man. I don't even know if these things are good or bad, anyway they've been in my house for many years. I heard people say that in big cities now there are many people who fancy this kind of antique stuff, so I came here. Our village is tens of miles away from here, and I walked the whole day. If you like it, sell it to me at a discount."

  The old man's trembling hands slowly pulled out a large pipe, then took out a black cloth strip sewn with a brocade belt, and carefully poured some tobacco threads, lit them up and slowly puffed on it.

  In the midst of the swirling smoke, Wang Ke looked at the old man's face full of wrinkles, and saw the marks left by time on his face, and let out a faint sigh in his heart.

  "Walked for a whole day?!"

  Wang Ke's heart skipped a beat, and his eyes revealed an incredulous light. His gaze fell on the old man's feet, where he saw that one of the tattered shoes had a small crack inside, caused by a broken thread.

  Suddenly he thought of his old father, and his eyes became moist. In the past, in order to save money for himself, he would not take a two-dollar bus ride, but instead walked all night from the city back home.

  In order to save two dollars for his son, he walked all night!

  Fatherly love is as boundless as a mountain!

  If it wasn't for his mother telling him later on, he would still be in the dark.

  After learning of this news, he locked himself in his room, knelt on the ground and wept, vowing to heaven that he would make his parents live a good life, no matter how bitter or difficult it was for him!

  He knew that if life wasn't so difficult, it wouldn't be like this. Looking at the old farmer in front of him, Wang Ke couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy.

  "That's right!"

  The old farmer nodded: "Originally, I didn't think it would be so far to get here. Er Zhuzi from our village told me that taking the bus would be quick, but I couldn't bear to take the bus. If I had taken the bus to get here, I wouldn't have known how much these things could sell for. It's better to save some money if possible."

  Wang Ke squatted down in front of the old man, and from his words, he heard a heart full of bitterness and helplessness oppressed by life.

  "Old man, what if these things are worthless? Wouldn't you have wasted your time for nothing?" he asked.

  The old man smiled wryly and said, "We farmers aren't afraid of wasting a little time. Besides, there's nothing urgent to do in the fields right now. I can go back home and work later! Young brother, take a look at these things, are they worth anything?"

  Upon hearing this, he quickly sensed the surroundings with his spiritual energy and found that there was no fluctuation of spiritual energy around him, so what was placed in front of the old man did not contain any magical instruments.

  Looking at the old farmer's hopeful expression, Wang Ke couldn't bear to crush his hopes and didn't say anything definitive.

  "It's hard to say, it's impossible that everything is too valuable, but if you're lucky, there might be one or two antiques in here that could sell for some money."

  The old man's lips trembled slightly, and he lowered his head and muttered: "If it can't be sold, what will my partner do?"

  As he spoke, the old man's eyes welled up with tears and his hand holding the pipe trembled.

  Wang Ke looked at the old man with some pity, not minding the messy room, and sat down cross-legged before speaking: "Old sir, can you tell me about your family situation? What happened to your wife?"

  The old man raised his head, rubbed the corner of his eyes, and then said: "You don't know! I have an elderly partner at home who has a broken spine and can't take care of herself. She's lying in bed, and now I don't even have money to buy her Chinese medicine. It's not harvest season yet, so there's no income to speak of. And I also have a son... my son used to be very smart and sensible, his grades were always the best in class when he was young, every year he would bring home the "Three Good Student" award...

  As he spoke, the old farmer became completely absorbed in his own memories, speaking of how his son's face radiated an unusual glow, with pride and arrogance, as if his son was the greatest pride of his life.

  But as time passed by, the pride on the old farmer's face completely disappeared, replaced by helplessness, anger and desolation...

  "Although life was tough back then, it was happy, but who knew what would happen later..."

  At this point, the old farmer took a deep drag on his water pipe, his face full of painful expression.

  "When he got to high school, my son completely changed into a different person, at that time..."

  Listening to the old man's description, Wang Ke began to get angry, extremely angry!

  The old farmer's only son was obedient and had good grades when he was young, and was the pride of his parents. However, after entering high school and going out to study, he changed completely, often skipping class and fighting, and was eventually expelled from school, so he didn't continue studying. He hung out with a group of hoodlums, smoking, drinking, and fighting every day. Even when he returned home, he would beat his parents after just a few words, sending them to the hospital several times.

  Even if they are hospitalized, they won't bypass them and will even make a big fuss in the hospital asking for living expenses.

  Is this still a son? It's clearly a beast!

  It's hard for Wang Ke to imagine how much suffering he and his boss endured behind the old farmer's light and casual words.

  The old farmer is only forty-six this year, but he has been tormented by his own son to the point where he now looks like a seventy-year-old man!

  To save his wife, he walked for a whole day to get to the antique market, and didn't even spend money on a hot meal or take a car, eating only the cold mantou and pickled vegetables he brought from home along the way.

  "The old man, I don't know what kind of sin I committed to make my child turn out like that. If he can change his ways and become a good person, even if it means I have to knock my head against the ground eight times as an apology, I would be willing to do so!" The old man's eyes welled up with tears again, and his aged face was filled with sorrow and despair.

  Bastard!

  Damn it!!!!!

  Wang Ke clenched his fists tightly, with extreme anger in his heart.

  Is it something humanly possible for a child to beat up their parents?

  Parents nurture their children with hardship and bitterness, holding them in their mouths for fear of melting, cradling them in their hands for fear of dropping. But when the children grow up, is this how they repay their parents?

  Damn it!

  "Old man, come on! If your son still doesn't know how to repent, you might as well consider him dead."

  Wang Ke looked at the old farmer in front of him who was in pain and could only comfort him like this.

  The old man wiped away the tears on his face and said with an unusually bitter and helpless expression: "I used to think so too, but after all, he is my son! And now that he's grown up, I couldn't disown him even if I wanted to! Whenever he runs out of money, he comes home asking for more. My wife and I have spent our entire savings on him over the years. Sometimes when we really can't afford it, he beats and scolds us... Alas, what sin did I commit in my previous life?!"

  Wang Ke took a deep breath and suppressed the anger in his heart.

  Although the forest is big and there are all kinds of birds, how can there really be such a scumbag in this world?

  Why doesn't heaven just take a few more glances at him and let him return to dust earlier, sending him straight to hell!

  He silently lowered his head, Wang Ke prepared to buy these items, as a token of his own heart. This old man was not easy, he couldn't just watch him become desperate in the end.