Apocalyptic Forecast - Chapter 16
Chapter 16: Universal Love
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Is that Lil Shi? It’s Lil Shi, right?!”
Before Huai Shi could process the voice, he saw the skinny woman standing behind him. Her face was slightly pallid, and she wore a wooly hat even in this summer heat. There was no trace of her hair underneath.
“…Sis-in-law?”
He had not seen her in a while, so Huai Shi could barely recognize her now. He could barely believe this was the unscrupulous agent Old Yang’s wife, the only kind heart left in Old Yang’s family.
The last time Huai Shi saw her, she was a beauty with waist-length black hair and rosy cheeks. Now, however, her hair had fallen off after all that chemotherapy, and her complexion was terribly weak.
Only her smile remained as warm and friendly as ever.
“Sigh, your Brother Yang said you’ve been working here for the past few days. I thought he was lying, but to think it’s actually the truth…”
Before Huai Shi could say anything, she walked up to him with one hand holding her vegetables and the other hand on his. “You haven’t eaten yet, right? C’mon, it’s Brother Yang’s birthday today, so let’s go have a nice meal at home!”
…
Half an hour later, Huai Shi and Old Yang looked at each other across the boiling hotpot on the table and the wisps of rising smoke.
After a long time, Old Yang glanced at his wife, busying herself in the kitchen. He turned back around and said wistfully, “She asked you to come, but did you really have to come…?”
“Why not?” Huai Shi patted his knee. “You said you wanted to treat me to a meal, right?”
“I was just being polite, don’t take it seriously…”
“Then what about the way you conned me into a gigolo club?”
“That was a misunderstanding.”
Old Yang rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Besides, you seem to be enjoying it, right? You even brought your colleague here. See, I saw the best in you when even you didn’t know it…”
“Oh, can it already!”
Huai Shi huffed when Old Yang brought that up. If this b*stard had not sacrificed his conscience for that tiny commission, would Huai Shi be as unfortunate as he was now?
“Can we eat now? I’m hungry.”
In a corner of the living room, Liu Dongli raised his head and asked. This b*stard was also the type who did not know how to hold back. When someone offered to treat them to a meal, he followed Huai Shi here without even trying to be polite. Right now, he was crouching in front of the aquarium, playing with the fish by sprinkling fish food.
Stingy Old Yang was so angry that his eyes threatened to pop out of their sockets.
“Aye, I’m coming! Thanks for your patience, everyone. Here, time to eat.”
Sis-in-law brought the chopped vegetables out of the kitchen and called Liu Dongli over to eat. She even mixed the sauces for them. When she saw how unhappy Old Yang looked, she even glared at him. “It isn’t often that Lil Shi comes here to eat, so why’re you looking all grumpy? Oh, this is Lil Shi’s colleague, right? You sure are handsome… C’mon, time to eat!”
After his wife glared at him, Old Yang’s hard temper wilted, and he put a piece of meat into the hotpot, sulking. He even mumbled that Huai Shi did not give them a commission this time.
Old Yang’s surly expression was the best flavor enhancer, so Huai Shi truly enjoyed this meal. After they were done, Old Yang was exiled to the kitchen to wash the dishes. Huai Shi sat in the living room and chatted with Sis-in-law happily. She was already looking better than she had before, so it seemed that Old Yang’s conscience-killing exploits helped after all.
“I’ll just take every day I can get, one day at a time.” Sis-in-law ignored Huai Shi’s advice and lit a cigarette nonchalantly. “I mean, this disease is torturing me enough as it is, but I feel bad that Old Yang is getting pulled into this mess too.”
“What are you even saying?”
Old Yang had been eavesdropping from the kitchen, and presently he stuck his head out to say angrily, “What the heck are you doing, Li Xuemei? What did the doctor say? Put out that cigarette, now! Right this instant!”
“What did you say?” Sis-in-law turned around to look at him.
“…”
Old Yang’s knees went weak, and he lowered his voice. “Please put the cigarette out.”
“That’s more like it.”
Sis-in-law gave Huai Shi a cocky look and threw the cigarette into an ashtray, whispering to Huai Shi, “You see that? If he tries to con you out of your money again, tell me and I’ll teach him a lesson.”
“…Sure, sure!”
Huai Shi’s eyes lit up. This just showed that there was an antidote to every poison, and everything in this world had its weakness…
Once their stomachs were full and the dishes were clean, an aproned Old Yang finally managed to walk these two freeloaders out of his house, just as he had wanted to all this time.
As they walked, he glared at Liu Dongli angrily. That stupid flirt had been up to his tricks in front of Old Yang’s wife, so Old Yang bulled him into calling them a cab. Once he was gone, Old Yang turned to look at Huai Shi.
His gaze was strange.
“What’s the matter?”
Huai Shi instinctively took one step backward. His first reaction was, ‘He’s so embarrassed and pissed that he wants to beat me up now.’
Old Yang stared at him suspiciously for a long time before he pulled the boy over and whispered, “You didn’t offend anyone, did you, kid?”
“Hmm?”
Huai Shi finally reacted and he immediately heard Old Yang say, “Someone came by my place yesterday trying to get some info about you. Offered quite a bit of money, too.”
“You didn’t tell them, did you?” Huai Shi grew anxious.
Old Yang rolled his eyes. “Did you have to ask? Of course I did!”
“That’s g… Wait!” Huai Shi raised his eyes. “What did you say?”
The sellout Old Yang sighed and held up five fingers. “They gave me fifty thousand in exchange for some info about you. Even if I didn’t tell them, do you really think they won’t be able to find out from your school? You’d better think carefully, kid. Have you gotten involved in anything fishy lately?”
“…”
Although he had long since been aware of this man’s utter lack of scruples, Huai Shi still had the urge to beat him up.
After that, he saw Old Yang pull up his apron and stuff two rolls into Huai Shi’s pocket.
Huai Shi touched them and froze.
They were two thick rolls of cash.
There was at least twenty thousand there.
“Big Bro was wrong this time. I betrayed you… but I just need the money too badly. If you’re really mad, you can beat me up.” He lowered his head and begged for forgiveness. “Take the money and go somewhere else for a few days. Don’t come back for now. I’ll keep an ear out and call you when the storm’s blown over.”
Huai Shi had not expected that b*stard to suddenly grow a conscience, and all of a sudden, his emotions felt very complicated. He did not even know what to say. After being screwed around with for so long, he finally received some apology money and it somehow left him rather touched.
Although he really wanted to hit Old Yang, his fist grew powerless when he remembered Sis-in-law’s pale face.
Forget it. They had been comrades in suffering for so many years now. If Old Yang did not con him, was he supposed to stand back and watch his wife die?
Huai Shi only had one other question.
“Who’s asking about me?”
“Those guys didn’t say. They just acted all mysterious.” Old Yang smoked a cigarette in frustration and snorted coldly. “Did they really think I was stupid? As if I wouldn’t search up a license plate number. Apparently, they’re from some charity with some pretentious name. I think it was…”
He scratched his head for a long time before suddenly patting the back of his skull. He remembered now.
“—Universal Compassion!”
…
Two hours later, Huai Shi sat in the armored vehicle, looking quite confused.
What the heck was this?
What the heck was happening?
Who the heck were they playing?
The three questions of life that he was so familiar with filled his mind once more.