A Pressing Need

After Fu Junting finished speaking, the room fell silent.

He hurriedly added:

"Two hundred is fine too. I made a little money selling discs myself, enough to buy two. If you give me another two hundred, I can buy one more."

Fu Junting forced an awkward smile.

Three Energy Crystal Blocks were nothing compared to those classmates who prepared ten or even twenty at a time.

But Fu Junting knew his family's circumstances very well.

If he did not truly need it, he would never have brought it up.

Yao Jinying slowly set down her bowl and chopsticks and blinked.

"Oh... all right. This isn't something we can skimp on. Four hundred it is. One extra block means one more chance.

You don't have to get outstanding results, but you must stay safe for Mom, understand?"

Yao Jinying took a deep breath, smoothed the hair beside her ear, and nagged as she opened the small hidden compartment in the wall.

But a large hand pressed down on the back of Yao Jinying's hand.

"Mom."

Yao Jinying looked up and met Fu Junlin's eyes, warm with a spring-breeze smile.

Fu Junlin patted his mother's hand reassuringly, then returned to his seat and gently placed a full bundle and a thick roll of cash on the table.

Fu Junting's little mouth slowly formed an O, and his eyes widened like two bells.

Because every bill in that bundle was worth one hundred!

Yao Jinying, meanwhile, dropped to the floor with a thump.

"Fu Junlin! Wh... what's going on?"

Yao Jinying raised a trembling hand, pointed at the money, and glared at Fu Junlin as she questioned him.

The moment Fu Junlin saw his mother's reaction, he knew she had not assumed the best.

Sure enough.

"I'm telling you, you're in college now. You've got skills, you've got ability! But if you dare do anything wicked, I'll never forgive you!

I sent you to school not for this!"

Yao Jinying panted heavily, a flicker of fear and anger visible in her eyes.

But Fu Junlin did not refute her immediately. His eyes misted over as he continued smiling at his mother.

This was the greatest woman in his eyes.

In this slum district, where people could barely afford to eat, where anyone with even a little ability had to kill and rob—and where robbing the rich to help the poor was even seen as something honorable—

Remaining kind was harder than reaching heaven.

"What are you smiling at?!"

Yao Jinying scolded irritably.

"Mom, do you really think your son is the sort of person who gets a little strength and forgets who he is? I'm your son..."

Fu Junlin snorted with laughter and asked Yao Jinying.

Fu Junting leaned toward Fu Junlin, carefully examined every feature on his older brother's face, and nodded seriously.

"You do!!"

Fu Junlin planted his large hand on Fu Junting's face and pushed him away.

"Then what happened?"

Yao Jinying thought about it and felt that she had indeed been overthinking things. She knew her son best, and she had just panicked in the heat of the moment.

Fu Junlin immediately explained everything from beginning to end, even telling his mother about the laboratory.

Yao Jinying was dumbfounded!

Her son had saved a factory?

He had only gotten three days off from school, and he had casually saved a factory while he was at it?

"My brother! That's fucking awesome!!!"

Fu Junting spread his arms, threw back his head, and shrieked so hard his voice cracked.

His voice boomed and echoed through the cramped house.

Curses and the sound of pounding walls immediately came from the neighbors next door, upstairs, and downstairs.

Smack!

Yao Jinying slapped the back of Fu Junting's head so hard that she nearly sent him face-first into the bowl in front of him.

"Keep your fucking voice down!"

Yao Jinying snarled under her breath.

As she spoke, she reached out and grabbed the money from the table.

Even after it was in her hands, she still felt as though she were dreaming. She clutched it for a long time without letting go.

"Mom, can you let me hold it for a second? I've never held this much money."

Fu Junting swallowed and shamelessly pleaded.

"Get lost!"

Yao Jinying glared at him, then carefully hid the money in a small iron box.

She still hugged the iron box without letting go, as though she wished she could sew the money directly onto herself. Those who had never known poverty would never understand.

"Bro, you saved the factory. Why didn't you ask for more? Even just a little more."

Fu Junting held up his pinky fingernail to demonstrate.

"Don't talk nonsense. Your brother did the right thing. Remember this: greed for wealth brings danger, and greed for power brings ruin. Neither is a good thing. Understand?"

Yao Jinying told Fu Junting solemnly.

Fu Junting immediately sat properly and nodded, muttering, "Got it."

"Mom, once the laboratory is cleaned up, our whole family should move over there. I went to see it—it's huge!"

Fu Junlin dropped his second bombshell.

"Awesome!"

Fu Junting was so excited that he nearly jumped up.

"Awesome my ass!"

Yao Jinying glared at him again, then shook her head repeatedly.

"No. Since that's where you do your experiments, you need to focus. Study hard and do your experiments properly. Mom is doing just fine living here, okay?

And you too. You're not allowed to keep going over there and disturbing your brother."

"What do you mean, living fine, Mom? Don't you complain every day about how noisy they are? And every time you come back, you have to climb that ridiculously high Sky Ladder. Every time, I worry myself sick.

That time you burned your hand, you got scraped by a barb and nearly lost your grip and fell!"

Even though he knew his mother did not want him to mention it, Fu Junting spoke anxiously.

Yao Jinying shot him fierce looks and glared at him, but it did not work.

How could Fu Junlin not understand what his mother was thinking? He had prepared a solution long ago.

"Mom, that laboratory is big enough to partition off two bedrooms. It even has a bathroom..."

Fu Junlin said confidently.

Sure enough, Yao Jinying's hand froze in midair just as she picked up her chopsticks.

A bathroom. Bathing...

For a woman, that was no less tempting than the jewelry and gems of high society.

Yao Jinying could go more than ten days without bathing, because water was expensive these days.

First, she could not bear to spend the money. But without paying, there was nowhere to wash, and buying water to bring home was not cost-effective either.

After work, she and several female coworkers would often pool their money to bribe a cook, borrow the kitchen, and lock the door.

They would bring their own towels, dip them in water, and wipe down their bodies.

The more cautious ones would even bring small curtains so the cook could not peep at them.

"Th-then, it won't disturb your experiments?"

Yao Jinying asked hesitantly.

"I don't do experiments all day. Besides, it's not like you play piano or beat drums all the time. How could you possibly interfere with me?"

Fu Junlin was completely speechless at his mother.

"Okay, then we're moving!"

Yao Jinying immediately grinned.

Fu Junting beside her grinned even more happily than she did.

It made Fu Junlin laugh too, and the whole family sat together, giggling foolishly without end.

"Hey, hey, quit laughing like idiots, will you? What about the forty minutes of experience time you promised me?!"

At that moment, Big Black howled from inside Fu Junlin's head.

By then, they had finished eating, and Fu Junlin set down his chopsticks.

"Mom, I'm going outside to exercise for a while."

"Fine. Rest a bit before you start jumping around. No intense exercise right after eating!"

Yao Jinying reminded him.

"Got it."

Before the words had even faded, Fu Junlin had already climbed down the Sky Ladder.