Chapter 55 - 53: One Man, Destroys a City! (Part 1)

"No wonder I didn’t recognize myself on TV..."

He took a deep breath.

Chen Yu’s anger rose quickly.

And disappeared just as quickly.

He quickly calmed down and hugged his frail Ms. Chen, then excitedly walked to the stove to inspect, "Mom, what are you cooking? It looks like a buried mine."

"Shoot! It’s burnt!" Chen slapped her thigh and hurriedly rushed to turn off the gas.

"Burnt?" Ms. Chen turned around in confusion and then with frustration, rubbed her eyes hard, "I’m really useless..."

"Okay, let my sister cook. You rest for a while." Chen Yu supported Ms. Chen, walked her around the tent, looked up at Chen, "Do we usually sleep on wire, sister? There’s nowhere even to sit."

"There is! Wait till I finish cooking, flip these pots over, lay out the plank, and it becomes a bed," Chen said as she scraped off the burnt food.

"Alright, then we’ll just stand and chat for a while." Chen Yu gently patted Ms. Chen’s shoulder and asked softly, "Mom, when did you lose your sight?"

"..." The joy on Ms. Chen’s face instantly faded, "...Son."

"Yeah, you tell me."

"During this time you’ve been outside... you haven’t been beaten up much, have you?"

"It’s okay." Chen Yu nodded.

"You should talk less and do more in the future," Ms. Chen said earnestly, "And ensure your own safety."

"I understand," Chen Yu agreed wholeheartedly.

"If someone bullies you outside..."

Chen Yu, "I will definitely tell my family."

Ms. Chen, "Never tell the family. It just gets me fired up."

Chen Yu, "..."

Conversation not going well, Chen Yu quickly changed the subject, "Mom, where’s Dad?"

"Your dad’s sleeping in the back room; he hasn’t been feeling well these last few days," Ms. Chen sighed. "Probably caught a cold."

"Then I guess, it must be a cold from the cold."

"Could be," Ms. Chen nodded.

"But pretty cool, huh? Such a small tent and still, we’ve got a ’back room’?" Chen Yu looked around the tent but didn’t find any small door, "Where is this back room?"

"It’s under your feet." Below, an old man’s voice came, "Make way."

Chen Yu startled, quickly pulling Ms. Chen aside.

Then, from where he previously stood, a small iron "door" opened, and an old man crawled out.

"Good grief!" Chen Yu was shocked.

"What are you staring at? Hurry and help me get the wheelchair." Chen passed a folded wheelchair.

"Oh!" Realizing, Chen Yu promptly stepped forward, took the wheelchair, and also helped Chen onto it.

"Didn’t you sleep?" Ms. Chen, while feeling her way, expertly unfolded the wheelchair.

"With you all clanging upstairs, how could I sleep?" Sitting down on the wheelchair, Chen closed the "basement" iron door, then looked at Chen Yu, and after a moment of silence, said, "Kid, you’re back."

"Back."

"When did you return?"

"Just got back."

"When are you leaving?"

"I’m leaving now."

"Hmm." Chen nodded, then suggested, "Have dinner before you leave."

"Sure." Chen Yu nodded.

Ms. Chen, "You two, if you have nothing to talk about, don’t need to force it."

Sitting in the wheelchair, Chen fiddled with his nails for a while, then suddenly spoke, "It’s too cold inside, Xiaoyu, take me outside for a stroll."

"It might be colder outside," Chen Yu reminded.

"No problem. Let’s go." Chen grabbed the wheelchair’s wheels, ready to move, "It’s too hot inside."

Chen Yu immediately reached out to push, but Chen refused, "No need to push, I’m ace with the wheelchair now."

"Then all right," Chen Yu let go.

"Be quick to come back, dinner’s almost ready," Chen busy cooking handed a jacket to Chen, helping him put it on.

They left the tent.

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The father and son still had little to say to each other.

Just like that, they went along the path in the park, moving forward.

Facing the piercing cold wind, Chen’s strong hands continuously moved the wheelchair tires, speeding it up.

Soon, Chen Yu found that he couldn’t keep up by just walking, "Dad, slow down."

"How’s that? Fast, isn’t it?" Chen looked back and asked.

"Fast," Chen Yu nodded, "But you’re speeding recklessly."

"—"

Chen immediately hit the brakes.

When Chen Yu caught up, after a brief silence, he asked, "Xiaoyu, you haven’t been bullied too much outside this year, have you?"

Chen Yu, "..."

Once again, father and son fell into silence.

After a long while, Chen put on the jacket he was wearing, took a deep breath and said, "You’ve seen the situation at home, right?"

"I have."

"Don’t get involved in this matter, you hear me?"

"Sure," Chen Yu nodded, expressionless, "It’s because of that construction unit issue before, right?"

"...Yeah."

"Compensation hasn’t been paid yet?"

"They only gave us the death compensation," Chen closed his eyes, "And I’m not dead."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"How much was the death compensation?"

"Three hundred thousand," Chen pursed his lips, "Together with the other compensations, it totals over twelve hundred thousand."

"Whose fault was the accident?" Chen Yu asked.

"Definitely theirs! They bought that shoddy material; the building collapsed halfway through construction," Chen banged the wheelchair angrily, "If I hadn’t run fast, could I be playing with the wheelchair this fast now?"

Chen Yu, "..."

"But don’t you get involved!" Chen turned his head towards Chen Yu, warning, "Your mom and I are old, your sister’s just a girl, they can’t do much to us. At most, they’ll smash things and scare us. But if a young man like you stirs things up, they’ll definitely be ruthless."

"I understand," Chen Yu laughed, "Do I look like such a fool?"

"When you were little, didn’t the editors of the Xinhua Dictionary use your photo as the illustration for the word ’fool’?" Chen surprised.

Chen Yu, "…You’re really humorous."

"Anyway, just stay out of it," Chen waved his hand, pushing his own wheelchair back the way they came, "Your dad is going to handle this easily, just like Hawking."

"What’s there to compare with Hawking?"

Chen slapped his legs, "Aren’t we both skilled in astronomy and paralyzed in the legs?"

Chen Yu, "…You have trouble even getting on the bed now."

"What’s that supposed to mean? With a fulcrum, I could even hang myself!"

…