Chapter 37：Reciprocation

'What f*cking empire?

'Are you guys the Shimada clan?'

When Huai Shi opened his eyes, he felt like he had a bunch of things to rant about. 'After I defeated a strong opponent this time, shouldn't my blood level return to normal as I get two more technique points?'

He stared at the dust on the ceiling hopelessly.

'Where am I?

'Who am I?

'Where am I going?'

"Do I have to continue?"

Crow seemed to be laughing silently.

He sighed and recalled the killing intent that he had experienced. It was as if he could feel those eyes peering at him from the dark.

How unlucky was he?

"Continue!"

He gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and was once again submerged in darkness.

Crow shook her head in pity, took out her phone, and added another line of text to the meme: Two beatings are fine too.

As such, the beating continued.

The severe beatings continued until the afternoon of the second day. When Huai Shi was finally able to clear the fight without sustaining any injuries, he felt like crying.

That Red Glove guy was not a simple opponent!

After rejecting Crow's persistent suggestions, he had made the rare decision to use Old Liu's remaining electricity fees to take a hot bath. He then changed into a tuxedo which he only put on when he had official performances, then prepared to head out.

"It's rare to see you dress so neatly." Crow quipped. "Where are you planning to bring the little lady?" 

"…the funeral home."

Huai Shi sighed.

'What little lady?'

Today was the day Old Yang was to be cremated. Regardless of the situation, he had to go.

The couple had always been nice to him. Even though sister-in-law was mainly the one who was always nice to him, in this day and age, how many people would be willing to give you a second chance to turn your life around?

Even though that troublemaker had caused him quite a bit of trouble, he still redeemed himself in the end.

To a certain extent, Old Yang was the reason why he could still live with his dignity intact and did not have to struggle to do harsh labor, picking up scraps, and working illegally.

Even though Old Yang was sometimes unreliable, Huai Shi was not some high-class talent either. After so many years of causing trouble for each other, they had pretty much gotten used to it.

Were not all friends like this?

Now, Old Yang was departing. No matter what, he had to see him off.

Although he hurried all the way there, by the time he arrived at the funeral parlor, the farewell ceremony was almost over.

Old Yang had been an intermediary all his life. Throughout his life, he had garnered a huge network and many friends. He had many local relatives as well, meaning a huge crowd had gathered there to send him off.

Huai Shi followed the group silently. When it was his turn, he did not dare to look. After he put down the flowers, he evaded sister-in-law's gaze and ran off to the back of the room with his head down.

Even though Old Yang had died in Old Pond's church, his death was announced as a result of a car accident. After being restored by the funeral parlor, the unrecognizable face had recovered a bit of his original charm. When you looked at him now, he seemed as if he was sleeping carefree and peacefully. It made people sad.

This bastard had spent most of his life working hard for money. In the end, he had sold himself for a good price. He got what he wanted and died without a care in the world.

He heard people from both sides of the family say that when they were checking his will, they found that this guy had left his wife a large sum of money. It was enough to pay for her upcoming treatments.

After Huai Shi heard them say a few sentences, he moved away, not wanting to hear anymore.

After the farewell ceremony ended, the body was sent to the back to be cremated… what surprised Huai Shi was that even though her eyes were red, sister-in-law never cried throughout the entire procession. Instead, she had made sure that Old Yang's last farewell was run in an orderly manner, and that he would have a decent departure.

'That bastard, how did he manage to marry such a good wife?'

Huai Shi felt even more conflicted.

Very soon, the funeral ended. While the guests were dispersing, Huai Shi had received word from sister-in-law to meet her at the back.

In the family room of the funeral home, after that woman had driven away every unrelated person, she closed the door, retrieved a thick envelope from her bag and handed it to him. 

"…What is the meaning of this?"

Huai Shi was stunned as he stared at the envelope on the table. If it was filled with money, there must have been at least ten or twenty thousand inside.

"Take it, it's what Old Yang owes you."

She seemed to smile regretfully. "In the past, he did so many things, but he did it all for me. So, in the end, sister-in-law is the one who has failed you.

"Lil Shi is a good kid. You kept getting cheated of your money, but you never said a thing. Having said that, this money can't remain a debt forever. Now that he's gone, I want his debts to be cleared.

"If you truly want to make me feel better, don't decline."

Huai Shi was quiet as he looked at the envelope on the table. After a long time, he shook his head slowly.

"What is there to owe?"

He said softly, "In the past, when I didn't know anything, I always felt that it was natural that people were nice to me, because in the future I would pay them back a hundred times or a thousand times more.

"But after I became wiser, I slowly understood that sometimes, when those people were helping me, they were never expecting me to give anything back.

"Perhaps Old Yang would laugh at me if he heard me say this too.

"To me, when I was going through the most difficult part of my life, Old Yang was there to give me a hand, and that was enough. Nothing else mattered, and there's no debt involved."

He slowly pushed the envelope on the table back to her, and said seriously, "So, even if my share is in this envelope, please treat it as a small act of reciprocation from someone that you have helped in the past."

Sister-in-law was quiet for a long time but did not say anything to refuse him.

She just lowered her head, wiped her nose, and forced a smile. "If Old Yang was alive, he'd surely be ashamed to hear these words."

'No, that guy? Surely he would be satisfied with himself?'

He would put the money away neatly, tucking it into his wife's purse. Then he would speak delightedly, saying that it was Huai Shi himself that had refused the money, it was too late to regret it, and that he would now be bringing his wife to a fancy dinner.

'How did that as*hole manage to marry such a good wife?'

Huai Shi sighed.

.

He did not follow the second part of the funeral. It was already upsetting enough to participate in one farewell ceremony, and there was no need for him to be sad all over again for Old Yang.

Moreover, he did not want to see sister-in-law's crying face.

After bidding her farewell, he prepared to go home.

Unlike when he was rushing to get here, he did not take a cab. When he was going back, he wanted to save a little money and decided to take public transportation. He had to change across two lines to cut through the entire city, as only then could he arrive home on the other end of New Ocean.

It was said that it would be more convenient once the subway opened, but it was also said that they had started digging New Ocean's railway tunnels ever since he was born. Even after being under construction for so long, it was still nowhere in sight.

Moreover, New Ocean was a medium-sized city, so there were many people coming and going in the city. Even though there was a bit of a jam during before and after peak hours, there would still me movement even without the subway.

Over time, everyone no longer had any expectations for it to be completed.

During the long wait time, he decided to click his rarely-opened WeChat to see if there was anything important to read.

One of the benefits of his long-term poverty and pressure was that his interpersonal relationships were lacking. He only had one or two close friends, and they, for the most part, knew of his situation. Therefore, there were hardly any outgoing people who sought him out during the summer.

Other than the class WeChat group that had turned into a mobile gaming group, he had no other messages.

Huai Shi swiped up and found out that other than the mobile gaming group's messages about having meals and treating them to lunch, there was a notification about the adjustment of the practice room's allocated time slots as well a bunch of stupid photos.

Sadly, Huai Shi found out that someone had turned the photo of him standing in front of the gigolo club into a meme…

"Can't you guys be more decent?"

Huai Shi was furious, he then identified all the people in the group who had swiped his meme. He matched them with panda heads and sent them out one by one.

While the stupid netizens were having a meme war, he suddenly stopped moving. He could feel a malicious gaze fall upon him from the last row of the bus.

He did not know if it was as Crow had said, that his puberty stage would cause his perception to grow, or if he was just used to the feeling of the Premonition of Death being activated, but now, Huai Shi had become more sensitive to other's malicious intents.

Even though he could not read their minds, after being stared at the whole trip, it felt like caterpillars were crawling down the back of his neck. It made him extremely nervous.

Staring at the reflection of the bus's window, he vaguely saw the man with a peaked cap in the last row, who looked like he was sleeping with his head down. He was obviously the source of the malicious gaze.

When he saw him take out his phone to send a message, Huai Shi stood up abruptly and got off the bus.

Just as he had expected, the man froze for a moment, then quickly followed after him.

In the bustling city center, and the busiest pedestrian street, he walked around leisurely, like he was on a stroll. He even stopped to buy a pack of cigarettes. However, from the beginning till the end, he followed closely behind Huai Shi, never once letting him out of sight.

Looking at that person's weird expression, his crude gaze, and the two gigantic pectorals that were bursting from his chest, Huai Shi suddenly trembled as his butt clenched. A discouraging thought flashed across his mind,

'Holy sh*t, could that be a perverted gay guy?'

After strolling around for ten minutes or so, Huai Shi could confirm that the brat behind him was indeed stalking him.

After all, it could not be a coincidence that they both went to the same public restroom, right?

He pretended like nothing was happening as Huai Shi started to quicken his pace in the crowded streets. He passed through two malls, turned down a few streets, and walked into the old city's public square.

The person following behind him turned when he did, and never let him escape his line of sight. Nevertheless, after he turned a corner, he found that Huai Shi had disappeared from the street.

Just as he was looking around in shock, he saw that behind a glass door, the youngster had taken out five bucks from his pocket. After he spent a long time haggling with the middle-aged lady at the counter, he had shamelessly exchanged the money for a tag.

Then, he walked through the door at the back of the hall.

The stalker froze for a moment, looked up in a daze, and saw the shop's signboard.

Spring Bathhouse.