Chapter 373 - 368: Su Huan’s Story

As soon as their afternoon classes ended, Yun Jiao and the others ran to the dean’s office and grabbed the crayfish.

Yun Xiaojiu wanted to take Su Huan to their house, and he didn’t refuse.

The idea Yun Xiaojiu had mentioned—beachcombing for things to sell for money—had really appealed to him.

But Su Huan had to go home first.

Yun Xiaojiu: "We’ll go with you!"

Su Huan: "No, it’s fine. I’ll just go back and tell my grandma myself."

Yun Xiaojiu: "Come on, it’ll be faster together."

Yun Jiao: "Let’s go."

In the end, Su Huan took them with him.

His home was in town, not too far, but located in one of the old, communal apartment buildings on the outskirts.

The environment here was clearly not great, but it was crowded.

It was right next to a wet market and a seafood market, and the smell on a hot day was especially awful.

Su Huan felt a sudden wave of insecurity.

But Yun Xiaojiu and the others had also grown up poor, so they followed Su Huan through the market and into the apartment building without batting an eye.

The building was three stories tall, and Su Huan’s family lived on the first floor.

It was a very small unit.

When they went inside, an old woman with a full head of silver hair and a hunched back was hanging laundry out to dry.

The unit was piled high with clutter, mostly things like plastic bottles and cardboard.

Though there was a lot of stuff, it was all organized very neatly.

Hearing the noise, the old woman turned to look.

"Huan, you’re back. And who are they?"

The old woman’s eyesight was a bit poor; she squinted, staring at them for a good while.

"Grandma, they’re my..."

For a moment, he didn’t know how to answer. Only Yun Xiaojiu was his classmate.

"We’re his friends."

Yun Xiaojiu slung an arm over Su Huan’s shoulders, grinning like a cheerful, sunny puppy.

"Good, good... Come in and sit down."

It was probably the first time Su Huan had ever brought friends home, so the old woman seemed especially happy and enthusiastic.

"What a pretty little girl. Truly blessed."

"Thank you, Grandma Su."

The old woman mumbled on, pulling them into a long conversation that eventually turned to Su Huan’s father.

"That damn fool, trying to be a hero. He saved someone, sure, but he ended up killing that scoundrel. And the girl he rescued? She just went into hiding and refused to see anyone. So he went to prison, leaving an old woman and a child like us to be gossiped about by everyone. Even Huan’s mother couldn’t take it and ran off."

The old woman sighed and wiped her tears as she spoke.

"My Huan has had such a hard life. None of the other children wanted to play with him. It’s so good that he has friends now, and such wonderful kids like you."

So that was the story. Su Huan’s father had been trying to save a woman from a drunk who was threatening her. During the ensuing scuffle, the drunk man lost his footing and fell onto a sharp, jutting steel pipe, killing him instantly.

Su Huan’s father was jailed for manslaughter. Considering the circumstances, he wasn’t given the death penalty, but he still had to serve several years in prison.

If the woman he had saved had come forward to testify on his behalf, Su Huan’s father could have gotten a lighter sentence, but she never showed up.

Su Huan’s family had even gone to her home to beg for help, but her family refused to see them and even threw them out.

As the story spread, it got twisted into "Su Huan’s father is a murderer who’s in jail."

Unable to bear the pointing fingers and financial hardship, his mother took what money they had and ran away, leaving only an old woman and Su Huan, a child still too young to earn a living.

The neighborhood kids who knew Su Huan all taunted him, calling his father a murderer and saying he was a kid whose own mom didn’t want him.

Su Huan got into more than a few fights over it.

Yun Xiaowu was filled with righteous indignation. He clapped Su Huan on the shoulder and said, "Don’t you worry, brother. Big bro will look out for you from now on!"

Having read a few wuxia novels, Yun Xiaowu now saw himself as a developing chivalrous hero, full of heroic spirit and loyal to his brothers.

Yun Xiaojiu looked at Su Huan with teary eyes.

Su Huan: ...’Don’t. I’m really not used to this.’

When Granny Su heard her grandson was going to a friend’s house to play, she took out a fifty-cent bill from a tightly wrapped bundle of spare change and handed it to Su Huan.

"Take it. Go have fun with your friends."

Su Huan didn’t want to take it, but Granny Su just stuffed it into his hand.

"Grandma, I’ll be back early."

The group of older kids walked out, surrounding the younger Yun Jiao.

"Let’s go, time to go home~"

They stopped to buy quite a few things first, which Yun Jiao stuffed into her brothers’ backpacks or just had them carry.

Watching Yun Jiao spend money without the slightest hesitation, Su Huan couldn’t help but stare at her a few times.

Of course, it was purely out of shock.

"Unexpected, right? The richest person in our family is my little sister," Yun Xiaojiu told him with a grin.