âMy son asked the neighbor to help out before he left,â said the old lady as she walked outside. She gave Shu Yan a very judgmental look and asked, âHow many of you will be living here?â
âJust me and my two kids.â Shu Yan noticed that the old lady was really not that nice. Or that she especially looked down on anyone who was an outsider.
When Lin Hui introduced her to the old lady earlier, her first questions were where was she from and what did she do for a living.
âAnd two kids? How old are they?â asked the old lady with a frown.
âThe old one is 7 and the younger one is 3. But my two kids are very mature for their age and wonât be a hassle.â Shu Yan understood that many people didnât like renting to someone with children, especially those with young children. Kids could be naughty and might draw on the walls or break the doors, windows, or furniture.
âThird Aunty, her daughter is a classmate of Tongtong. Her daughter is a very well-behaved kid. I have met her son too. He, too, is very mature. Both of them are nice kids and wonât cause troubles at home.â Lin Hui tried to speak up for Shu Yan.
âNo way. No way.â Third Aunty kept on shaking her head. âAll furniture inside my sonâs house is expensive and made out of real redwood. Very valuable. Kids donât know any better. I donât want them dinging or scratching them. No way. No way.â
Shu Yan liked this place a lot, but there was nothing she could do if they were not willing to rent the place to her.
They heard a door open next to them on their way out. Shu Yan looked over and met the manâs eyes. Shu Yan paused. It was the hero whom she had split the ride with last time. She didnât know that he lived here too.
The man nodded at Shu Yan when he saw her before he turned and left.
âYou know him?â asked Lin Hui.
âNo, I donât know him. I split the ride with him when I went merchandising last time. I donât even know his name. But the driver said heâs a hero.â Shu Yan took another look at the man who had already walked away and asked, âIs this his house?â
âWhat hero? Heâs a murderer,â said the old woman as she locked the door and spit on the ground in the direction of the man. âThe house next door belonged to a sister of mine. She is getting old and confused. That was the only reason sheâd rent to her place to someone like that.â
âMurderer?â Shu Yan paused and looked at the old lady in disbelief. Did the driver lie to her?
âThird Aunty, it was an accident. Besides, that only happened because he was trying to save someone else. Itâs not the same.â Lin Hui gave Shu Yan a look and said to her softly, âYes, you can call him a hero.â
âWhat happened?â Shu Yan was very curious about it.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Lin Hui told Shu Yan everything that she knew as they walked away.
âHis name is Fang Zeyu. His father was an educated youth who had been sent to City Nan during the Down to the Countryside Movement. His parents separated very early on so I donât know much about his motherâs side. His father was a worker at our factory. As the saying goes, âit thereâs a stepmother, thereâs a stepdadâ. All in all, his family treated him poorly, so he joined the military after he graduated junior high school.
He spent five years in the military. After his return, he was assigned a job as a chauffeur. One day, when he took the leader to dinner, he saw a group of people trying to drag a female student into a car. He went to try and stop them, and they ended up in a fight. It was late at night, and nobody knew what happened, but one of the boys was pushed into the road, got hit by a car, and died. That person has some background, so all the blame was placed on Fang Zeyu.â
Having said that, Lin Hui sighed. âAny other family would have pleaded for him. But Feng Zeyuâs father didnât want to risk offending anyone, so he never said a word. Even the girl that he saved turned around and said she was friends with the others and they were just messing around when Feng Zeyu suddenly started the fight.â
âThatâs so awful.â All he tried to do was the save someone, and even that person ended up turning on him. Shu Yan couldnât even begin to fathom what sheâd do if that had happened to her. Sheâd probably be so disappointed that sheâd never do another nice act for the rest of her life.