The Summoning Charm Returns

Turn it down?

Impossible. This was money for the taking!

Lin Er looked around and shifted her backpack onto her chest. Lowering her head as though searching for something, she stepped on the money.

Good. Now nobody could see it.

She only had to wait a little longer. Once nobody was around, she could crouch down and pick it up.

The minutes and seconds ticked by. Lin Er took a bag of Jialijia snacks from her backpack, squatted down and started eating, then shifted her foot.

She put the bag of Jialijia on the ground and took a bottle of water from her backpack for a drink.

That was the thing about these snacks: they tasted great, but after a few bites, her mouth got terribly dry.

Once she had packed the leftover Jialijia and the water into her backpack, Lin Er happily skipped off toward the outskirts of the city.

As she hopped along, a thought suddenly struck her: the money was an inanimate object too!

She looked back at the bustling city, and her eyes suddenly lit up.

"Accio paper money on the ground!"

In the city, a gentle breeze swept up leaves. Fallen leaves lay everywhere in mid-September, and the clear weather had left them crisp. When the wind blew, they rustled as they tumbled across the ground.

After calming her racing heart, a student lowered her head and moved her foot to pick up the money. Suddenly, she muttered in disappointment.

"What? It was just a leaf."

A girl a few steps ahead looked back at her classmate in confusion. She had thought the girl's shoelaces had come undone.

"Lili, hurry up! Class is about to start!"

"Coming, coming!"

Hand in hand, the two girls ran into school as the bell rang. Maybe their teacher would arrive a few minutes late today?

At a deserted intersection, Lin Er raced along with her backpack in hand, her legs pumping furiously. Behind her, a man stared blankly at the intersection, then suddenly slapped his forehead.

"Geez, I really am getting old. I even went the wrong way buying soy sauce!"

He then reached into his pocket for his money. He wouldn't need that much, so he'd buy a pack of cigarettes first.

But he couldn't find it. He jumped straight up on the spot.

"Holy crap, where's my money!?"

Lin Er stumbled mid-stride, then ran even faster without looking back.

She had always believed she had a line she wouldn't cross, that she would never use magic to break the law. But in fact, forcing people to buy peanuts was already illegal.

She had tried the Summoning Charm on a whim just now, and because she hadn't controlled its range, paper money had flown toward her like leaves.

That would have been one thing. After all, if it was on the ground, someone must have dropped it. Who knew someone nearby had accidentally dropped money on the ground right then?

And as luck would have it, because he was so close, he had seen it happen when the wind swept the money away. It was fifty yuan! Of course he had to chase it!

But the moment he came out of the alley, he locked eyes with Lin Er, who was fumbling to open her backpack and catch the money.

They were both stunned. Lin Er had never reacted so quickly: she dropped her backpack and cast Obliviate with a flick of her hand.

Her heart raced uncontrollably all the way home. Grandma Lin and the others had already eaten, and because Lin Er hadn't come back, none of them had gone to Fourth Uncle's house to watch the show.

Hurrying out of the bamboo grove, Lin Er paused. Somehow, it felt as though lying had become an everyday habit.

She pretended to peek at the houses on either side, then quietly beckoned to the expressionless Grandma Lin.

"Grandma, is anyone else here?"

Grandma Lin narrowed her eyes, waiting to see what she had to say.

Lin Er shrank back, turned around and went back into the bamboo grove. She quickly pulled out a fish. Fortunately, so much had happened today that she had forgotten to leave her backpack in the new house before coming back.

The moment that little chatterbox Lin Huihui saw the fish, she jumped up and was about to shout. Grandma Lin smacked her, and the shout turned into a wail.

It was a big fish. Once again, they had to shut the doors and turn on the big courtyard light to clean it.

Lin Er rubbed her backside with a grimace and swatted Lin Huihui away twice. As usual, the girl was pawing through her backpack while crying.

"Let me see. You must have money. If you don't let me see, I'll tell Grandma!"

Lin Er raised her hand, and Lin Huihui opened her mouth to shout.

"Shut up. If you dare shout, I'll beat you every time I come home!"

Lin Huihui stared at her, her eyes full of disbelief.

"Sis, shouldn't you offer me a share of something? You won't give me anything, and you still expect me to keep quiet?"

Lin Er sneered. "Because I've figured out I can't buy you off. You have no sense of loyalty, so smacking you works better!"

Grumbling, Lin Huihui shut her mouth. She had finally realized that her sister really did hit her now. As soon as Grandma hit her sister, her sister would hit her, and even Grandpa and Grandma couldn't stop her.

At that thought, she gave another sob. She had cried so hard just now that she couldn't stop.

She couldn't let the old backpack out of her sight. That night, Lin Er slept with Grandpa again, using the backpack as a pillow.

Amused, Grandpa Lin handed her a pillow.

"What have you got in there? You even have to hold it while you sleep?"

Lin Er tilted her head and sat on the bed thinking for a while.

"Grandpa, if I had a way to make money, would you and Grandma do it?"

Grandpa Lin was about to pull the cord to turn off the light, but when he heard that, he drew his hand back.

"What, have your classmates already lost their books now that school's started?"

It took Lin Er a moment to remember that Grandpa Lin was talking about how graduating students tore up and threw away their books. She couldn't help finding it funny.

"No, not that. Selling food."

Seeing that the two of them still hadn't turned off the light, Grandma Lin pushed the door open and came in just in time to hear that. When she saw Lin Er still holding her old backpack, she rolled her eyes.

"Sell what? You're just like your parents, chasing every idea that pops into your head. Put the backpack down. Nobody's looking through it. Go to sleep!"

Lin Er glanced at her grandma, looked down and rummaged through her backpack, then took out a patchwork cloth bag.

With a rustle, she poured a bagful of small bills onto the bed.

Under the dim light, Grandpa Lin and Grandma Lin both fell silent.

Then Grandma Lin spoke, her voice a little strained, and came at her with a hand raised.

"Where did you get that?"

"Wait, wait, wait! I earned it selling things! Grandpa, Grandpa, help me!"

Being small came in handy. Lin Er darted around to Grandpa's other side.

Grandma Lin was stopped. She pointed at Lin Er, trembling with anger.

"Selling things? You're just a child. What could you sell? Where did you sell it?"

Clinging to Grandpa's arm, Lin Er made sure Grandma couldn't reach her without coming around to the other side, then hurriedly spoke in a low voice.

"Grandma, keep your voice down. Well, remember that basin of river snails I brought back at noon? That's what I sold, one yuan a cup, outside Experimental High. I sold a whole bucket!"

Grandma Lin shot her another fierce glare, then sat on the edge of the bed and counted the money.

Grandpa Lin went over to help. Seeing that the danger had passed, Lin Er slowly edged over too.

She had only just reached out when Grandma Lin smacked her hand.

"You've got some nerve, Lin Xiao Er. Just you wait!"

When they finished counting, there were 134 yuan. Grandma Lin held the stack of one-, two- and five-yuan bills and stared at them for a while, then looked at Lin Er.

"How much did you say you sold to make this?"

"One bucket. I picked the snails out of the river, and the seasonings and oil cost a little over thirty yuan. I haven't used them all yet."

Grandma Lin slipped off the bed and went out. A moment later, they heard the landline buttons being pressed in the main room on the other side of the wall.