At the Luo Family's, for a Free Meal

The front door opened.

"Oh, Shi Fen! You're here to visit, and you even brought something. You really didn't have to!"

The person who opened the door was Luo Feng's father, Luo Hongguo. Seeing Shi Fen, he warmly invited him inside.

"Hello, Uncle. I've made a little money from forging lately, so I bought some more economics books for Luo Hua. He has a real talent for it, and it'd be a shame to let it go to waste." Shi Fen was unfailingly polite.

"I really admire Old Shi. Not only is he impressive himself, he's raised two impressive sons, too."

Luo Hongguo envied the Shi Family next door. Shi Fen still lived here, but the other three had already moved elsewhere. With Shi Fen's college entrance exams coming up and the family's new business doing well, the other three had moved out, leaving Shi Fen to study at home by himself.

They'd given Shi Fen a room of his own so he could shut himself away and focus on preparing for the exams.

Though Luo Hongguo envied them, his own two sons weren't far behind.

Luo Hongguo pointed toward the bedroom and said with a smile, "Luo Feng and Luo Hua are both in there. Go right in. Oh, you haven't eaten yet, have you? Stay for dinner."

Before Shi Fen could answer, he turned toward the kitchen and called, "Honey, Shi Fen's staying for dinner. Make a couple more dishes."

Shi Fen often came over for a free meal, so he was used to it. Smiling at Luo Hongguo as he headed for the kitchen, he said, "Great! I haven't eaten yet, so I'll be imposing on you two again."

Gong Xinlan was cooking when she heard the commotion outside. She hurried out to take a look and smiled when she saw Shi Fen. "You're in luck, Shi Fen. I made a big pot of braised pork tonight. I'll have to make a couple more dishes. There isn't enough here to feed all you boys. Hahaha!"

With that, she returned to the kitchen and got busy with Luo Hongguo.

Luo Hongguo and Gong Xinlan were deeply grateful to Shi Fen.

Shi Fen didn't have many friends, and their two sons, Luo Feng and Luo Hua, happened to be his good friends.

Shi Fen was rather cold to strangers, but he treated his friends and their families wonderfully.

Only later did the family realize how "terrifying" Shi Fen was—the boy who'd played with Luo Feng in diapers.

Shi Fen's intelligence was astonishing.

Even at a very young age, he could solve advanced math problems when they could barely make sense of the letters and symbols.

They knew that if their children hadn't grown up alongside Shi Fen, they probably never would have become friends with someone like him. Most geniuses were loners, indifferent to others, and hard to befriend.

As an adult, Shi Fen really was like that. He was extremely cold toward outsiders and had no interest in dealing with them. With family and friends, though, he was a completely different person.

What they didn't know was that Shi Fen did it on purpose. He'd deliberately cultivated a loner persona to avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Shi Fen was very good to Luo Feng and Luo Hua.

Whenever he had time, he helped Luo Feng with difficult math problems and tutored him.

He did the same for Luo Hua.

But after Luo Hua had an accident and lost the use of his legs, he stopped going to school. Shi Fen gradually shifted from tutoring him to guiding him.

When Luo Hua had his accident,

Shi Fen's family had not only helped out in every way they could, they'd also lent them a lot of money in their time of need. Shi Fen had helped Luo Hua overcome his trauma and start looking for things he enjoyed.

Later, when Luo Hua began showing a talent for economics, Shi Fen immediately brought over a big stack of books on the subject. Luo Hua devoured them, and little by little, he found a new goal in life.

That finally put the couple's worried minds at ease.

Shi Fen didn't just bring Luo Hua books. He also became his personal tutor, teaching him economics. Whenever Luo Hua had a question, Shi Fen could answer without even needing to think. He'd even come up with additional examples to help him understand.

The couple had attended Shi Fen's lessons before, but they couldn't understand a word. Still, when they saw Luo Hua's look of sudden realization, they knew Shi Fen was truly "brilliant beyond belief."

They couldn't begin to grasp the depths of Shi Fen's knowledge.

But they could see the kind of person he was.

When Luo Hua had learned enough to stand on his own, Shi Fen secretly lent him thirty thousand yuan to practice trading stocks. When the couple found out, they were truly shocked. Thirty thousand yuan was no small sum for either family.

They worried that Shi Fen might have stolen the money and caused trouble between the families. As soon as they heard, they didn't even ask Luo Hua about it. They hurried over to the Shi Family to ask Old Shi. What they learned left them stunned.

More than half the Shi Family's money was in Shi Fen's hands!

Using the economics he'd learned while teaching Luo Hua, Shi Fen had multiplied his family's savings many times over in the stock market.

By then, Shi Fen was the biggest earner in the Shi Family.

He was the family's mainstay!

That thirty thousand yuan was only a tiny part of Shi Fen's personal savings.

Who wouldn't be stunned to hear that?

As soon as Luo Hongguo got home, he went to find Luo Hua. He wanted to get to the bottom of it and return the money to Shi Fen as soon as possible.

But when he asked Luo Hua, he was completely floored.

Luo Hua had paid Shi Fen back a long time ago, and he had seventy or eighty thousand yuan sitting in his account. He had more money there than the couple had saved between them.

Luo Hua had planned to round it up to a hundred thousand, then ask his older brother to withdraw it in cash so he could surprise their parents. Now that they'd found out early, he was a little disappointed.

Luo Hua felt dejected, while Luo Hongguo and Gong Xinlan could barely believe what they were hearing. What kind of situation was this? Their younger son, who was disabled and never left the house, had earned more in a year than the two of them combined.

Who could accept that?

That night, the Luo Family's home had a very strange atmosphere.

After that, though, Luo Hua stopped hiding things. He gave his parents a lot of money to improve their living conditions. They renovated the house and added a small partition in the living room. The couple no longer had to sleep on the sofa, and the pressure of work eased considerably. Like the Shi Family, their lives grew better and better.

After everything Shi Fen had done, how could Luo Hongguo and Gong Xinlan not like him?

Besides, they'd recognized him as their godson long ago.

Their beloved godson came over for meals all the time. They couldn't have been happier!

Shi Fen was a little afraid of the "butterfly effect." He rarely interfered in anything directly related to Luo Feng, worried that he might change too much.

But when it came to the people around Luo Feng, he was much bolder.

Only by meeting Luo Hua in person and experiencing his situation firsthand could someone understand how hard his life was and how deeply unhappy he'd been.

In the book,

Luo Hua was merely a character brought to life with words.

In Shi Fen's life,

Luo Hua was real family! Not his biological younger brother, but closer than one!

How could an older brother bear to watch his younger brother suffer?

That was why Shi Fen took such good care of Luo Hua.

He and Luo Feng were close friends, and he was just as close to Luo Hua. Ever since Luo Hua was born, Shi Fen had treated him like a younger brother.

In some ways, Shi Fen was even more affectionate with Luo Hua than with Luo Feng.

Only after his godparents had disappeared into the kitchen did Shi Fen walk into the bedroom.

"Luo Hua, these are the books I picked out for you. They should help you develop your economic theories." Smiling, Shi Fen handed the big stack of packages to Luo Feng, who had gotten up to greet him.

Shi Fen took out his phone and sent his parents a quick message, telling them he'd be eating at the Luo Family's that night.

Luo Hua stopped staring at the computer screen. When Shi Fen had finished sending his message, he turned to him with a warm smile. "Thanks, big bro."

Shi Fen smiled back, then glanced at the screen Luo Hua had been looking at. "Not bad! You picked a good stock."

Luo Hua chuckled proudly. "Of course it's good—you taught me. I've been watching this stock for days. I might be able to cash in tonight. Hahaha! You go talk with my brother. I need to keep a close eye on it tonight. I can't let the big fish get away."

As for Luo Feng, he set the packages on his desk and quickly tore them open. He stuffed all the trash into a bag and stacked the books on his desk for now.

Seeing that his younger brother hadn't asked Shi Fen about any economics problems he couldn't understand, Luo Feng was delighted. "Hey, Shi Fen, you came at just the right time. Can you take a look at this problem? I've been working on it for ages, but I can't figure out the last part."

Shi Fen glanced at the problem and immediately came up with several ways to solve it. With a soft chuckle, he chose the approach that suited Luo Feng best and began explaining.

Luo Feng listened closely, nodding from time to time. With Shi Fen's help, his incomplete line of reasoning suddenly clicked.

Shi Fen was in high spirits that evening and had a huge appetite, eating several bowls of rice.

Luo Hua stayed at his computer to watch the stock, so he didn't come to the table. Luo Feng brought him a serving, and Luo Hua stared so intently at the screen that he didn't even know what he was eating.

After dinner, Luo Hua saw his brother come over to clear away the dishes and timidly asked, "Big bro, what did we have tonight? I wasn't paying attention. Could you get me some more? I'm still hungry."

Luo Feng: "..."

Late that night, Shi Fen lay in bed.

It had been a long time since he'd enjoyed the pleasure of sleep. Tonight, he decided to get some proper rest and stop thinking about the trial.

Shi Fen slowly closed his eyes, relaxed his body, and emptied his mind. Little by little, he drifted into a deep sleep.