Chapter 3: A life for two thousand yuan

  A good night's sleep under the starry sky, reluctant to get up from the warmth of the quilt. It feels so comfortable, even better than sleeping on a ten-thousand-yuan bed.

  Xīng yè felt refreshed after a good night's sleep. After getting out of bed and washing up, Xīng yè carefully looked at himself in the mirror for the first time.

  Knowing that she had inherited her mother's good looks, she was a little beauty from a young age. But when she looked in the mirror at night, she was still surprised. At this time, she was only sixteen years old, like a flower bud just opening, with a small face and skin as smooth as water, clearly a naive and lovely girl, but her eyes flowed out of a charm that didn't match her age, and when she smiled, it was even more like a charming little elf.

  For a long time, Xing Ye practiced in front of the mirror, trying to make her already mature and worldly self produce the slightly shy smile of a young girl. It's just like acting, isn't she already used to wearing a mask in life? Pretending to be innocent isn't difficult either, and later generations have seen many 30- or 40-year-old women pretending to be cute.

  When Xing Ye was finally satisfied with his expression, he went to the kitchen to cook porridge and then fetched water to his mother's room.

  Yu Youyue was already awake, half leaning against the pillow.

  At night, she put down the basin and held her mother's hand to lean against her. She helped her mother wash up. When combing her hair, Xīng Yè quietly hid the fallen hairs, not wanting her mother to see them. Due to chemotherapy, her mother's hair had been falling out badly, and what was once a thick head of hair gradually became sparse.

  The two of them simply had breakfast, and then some neighbors came one after another. Some brought two catties of meat, others a chicken, and still others some fresh vegetables. It was clear that they had discussed it beforehand, as the things they brought were not repetitive, but rather exactly what they needed.

  Xīng yè was afraid that they would mention her father's matter, but unexpectedly the few people who came had a tacit understanding and didn't mention it at all. They only inquired about her father's entrustment of his dream in private, and after getting Xīng yè's affirmative answer, everyone's curiosity was satisfied, and many repeatedly comforted Xīng yè. Only then did Xīng yè realize that the dream she had fabricated had long been spread throughout the small town and had gained everyone's recognition.

  Third Aunt also came once, telling the Starry Night Engineering contractor that it was her father's fault for operating incorrectly, so the compensation was very little. Luo Jia San Shu is still negotiating hard.

  The contractor is actually a foreman from the county, and this compensation money is his own pocket money. He was naturally unwilling in every way, but now Luo Xingye's heart is devoted to his mother and he can't afford to go find him to solve it.

  These days, Yūgetsu's pain has been getting more and more frequent, and the amount of painkillers she takes has also increased. Most of the time, she is drowsy, and her clear-headed moments are becoming fewer and farther between.

  She stayed by her mother's side as much as possible at night, and when her mother fell asleep, she would take a book and sit beside her to read. If her mother didn't wake up for several hours, she would wake her up.

  What made Xingye puzzled was that her mother had never mentioned her father, and even when she pretended to complain about her father not coming back quickly, her mother remained silent.

  Afternoon and evening guarding at mother's bedside, holding a high school English book.

  The sound of knocking came, and Xing Ye gently put down the book. Seeing that his mother was already asleep, he got up to open the door.

  Opening the door, there were Luo San Shu and a tall middle-aged stranger standing outside, with a red Santana sedan parked not far behind them.

  "Yèzi, this is Liu Lǎobǎn, the big boss of the construction team your dad works for. He wants to meet your family." Luo Sān Shū introduced him.

  Liu boss took out a business card and handed it over, Xing Ye received it.

  The business card read "Liu Yaofa, General Manager of Yaofa Construction Co., Ltd." Xing Ye sneered in his heart, this guy is really good at bluffing. Looking at Lao San's expression, he was probably also deceived. What kind of company is this? The business card can be printed casually, right? Isn't it just a small contractor? This company probably doesn't even have any qualifications or certificates.

  "My mom doesn't know about this yet, I don't want her to know now. If there's anything you want to say, just tell me." Xing Ye looked cautious.

  "Can you be in charge? Some things still need to be handled by adults." Liu Yaofa had seen many family members crying and making a fuss over compensation, so he was prepared when he came. Seeing Luo Xingye speaking so calmly, he thought she was timid and afraid of trouble, and his tone was slightly disdainful.

  "Uh-huh." Xing Ye really didn't want to say anything more to him and just nodded.

  "You just take charge, I'm also afraid others will say I'm bullying a kid"

  "It's better if we go back to my place to talk." Old Man Luo intervened, seeing that the host had no intention of letting them in.

  Both of them agreed, and at night they asked their neighbor Auntie to come and take a look at their mother, while he himself went to his Third Uncle's house 100 meters away.

  Three people sat in the main room, Third Aunt poured tea and also sat beside Xing Ye.

  Liu Yaofa looked at the three people in front of him and spoke first:

  "Miss, I'm deeply saddened by your father's sudden passing. On behalf of the company, I offer my condolences to you..." Liu Yaofa spoke a bunch of empty words without mentioning anything about responsibility or compensation.

  "Manager Liu" interrupted him in the middle of the night "My mom can't be left alone for a long time, I won't stay too long, get to the point."

  Liu Yaofa was somewhat stunned, before coming he had already learned that Luo Zhigang's wife was ill and there was only a teenage daughter taking care of her, so he deliberately made things difficult for the third uncle to talk to him, requesting to speak with Luo Zhigang's family members in person. After all, it's easy to fool women who haven't seen much of the world. He had prepared a long speech to persuade them, but hadn't even said a few sentences when he was met with a lukewarm response, the meaning was very clear: if you have something to say, say it quickly, no time to waste chatting with you.

  Liu Yaofa sized up the little girl sitting in front of him, who looked very delicate, wearing old but clean clothes, with her head down as if studying her own fingers, and even when speaking, she didn't raise her head, confirming that she was just an ordinary small-town girl.

  "Although Luo Zhigang's master's accident was caused by his own negligence and had nothing to do with the company, considering your family's actual difficulties, your mother is ill and you are in school, the company specially subsidized you two thousand yuan, take it!" Liu Yaofa took out 2,000 yuan from his bag and put it on the table.

  Xīng yè zhēn de shēng qì le, tài pī fù rén le, bù dàn tuī shì zé rèn, hái yī fù zuò shàn shì shī shě de yàng zi. Tā bǎ zhe bié rén dōu dàng chún zi ma?

  Third Aunt couldn't help but speak up, "Two thousand yuan? You're being too outrageous."

  Liu Yaofa didn't respond to Luo San's words at all, because the starry night opposite him raised his head and picked up the money on the table with two fingers, giving him a cold smile. He felt that the other person's gaze was like two sharp blades piercing into his heart, was this still the quiet little girl? How could just one smile make him feel a hint of fear, had he misjudged her?

  "Yèzi" (Auntie Ye) saw Xīngyè taking out the money at night and, fearing that she would really accept it, hastily called out.

  "Two thousand bucks for a life, Manager Liu is indeed a good businessman!" Xing Ye Ao Ran said.

  Liu Yaofa, after all, was an old hand, and he immediately recovered from Xing Ye's gaze. He himself was somewhat angry, a man in his 40s who had actually felt intimidated under the gaze of a teenage girl.

  "Luo Zhigang's death was clearly his own fault, caused by his own violation of rules. Our company has no responsibility for this accident. Even if you take us to court, the court will rule in our favor. We're only giving you money because we see that you're a widow with difficulties, so don't be ungrateful."

  "Was it an illegal operation? My father's accident happened at around 9 pm, right? His job is considered high-risk and has specific regulations. Moreover, if there were safety nets around the building, it's unlikely that someone would die on the spot.

  Xing Ye paused for a moment before staring at the other person and saying: "As for taking legal action, if I need to use legal means to protect my rights, I will definitely do so. How the court rules is not up to anyone's whim; I believe there are still places in this world where reason prevails."

  "You're just a little girl, what do you know? We're a big company with professional lawyers, are we afraid of going to court with you? In the end, I'm afraid you won't even be able to afford the litigation costs."

  "It's just right that Manager Liu is going back to ask the lawyer how to calculate this work injury compensation, when my mother gets a bit better we can also calculate it properly. Third Uncle, Third Aunt, thank you, I'll take my leave first." After saying that, Luo Xing didn't wait for Liu Yawei to respond and stood up to leave immediately.

  He walked two steps and stopped again, turned back to smile: "I heard that the project requires the contractor to have a national second-level qualification to do it, is that right? It seems that your company is really a big company!"

  Three people looked at the small figure of Xing Ye walking out, and Luo Jia San Shu and his wife did not understand the meaning of Xing Ye's last sentence. Liu Yao Fa, of course, knew that his company had taken the county leader's route, and a thorough investigation would reveal what qualifications it had. What he couldn't understand was that this trip completely overturned his expectations, and this always-expressionless underage girl was even more puzzling to him, making it impossible for him to take her lightly.