Our Entire Family Has Secrets [Transmigrated] - Chapter 14
The buff brought by Lin Shuanghuai had a huge effect in an extremely short time.
In just an afternoon, Yuan Bozhu had been asked by many people, “Did Lin Shuanghuai really chat with you during the morning flag-raising ceremony? How do you know Lin Shuanghuai?”
He looked at the cup on the table and was glad that no one saw Lin Shuanghuai bring him coffee, otherwise there might have been even more people around him.
Yuan Bozhu rarely faced such surrounded questioning and couldn’t come up with a good answer to cope with it.
“Ah, so annoying. Always asking about Lin Shuanghuai, it’s not like he’s from our class.” Qin Rui unexpectedly became the one helping Yuan Bozhu out.
His words were more effective than Yuan Bozhu’s cold face, and everyone gave Qin Rui face and dispersed.
Yuan Bozhu breathed a sigh of relief, feeling relieved, and took out the book he would need for the next class from the drawer.
But unexpectedly, Qin Rui, his desk mate, spoke up.
“Do you really know him?” Qin Rui’s face, which always seemed carefree when speaking, suddenly showed some complex doubt.
Yuan Bozhu glanced at him.
“It’s not for me to gossip, but… anyway, if it’s not necessary, you’d better not get too close to him.”
After saying this, Qin Rui seemed to be a little annoyed with himself for speaking out, took out his phone, and started playing with it.
Actually, his worries were unnecessary; Yuan Bozhu wouldn’t get too close to Lin Shuanghuai anyway.
But Yuan Bozhu didn’t understand why Qin Rui would say that.
As far as he knew, Qin Rui shouldn’t know Lin Shuanghuai, at least not in school; he had never seen them have any contact. The only possibility was Qin Rui’s “second-generation rich circle.”
Because of Qin Rui’s father, he could come into contact with many heirs from upper-class circles in Qiancheng.
Qin Rui himself wasn’t someone who liked to socialize with dandies; he preferred the comfortable life he had among commoners.
But he still had many channels to learn about various secrets of prominent families, and occasionally he would share various gossip like “illegitimate children,” “sibling rivalry,” “mistresses rising to power,” and so on in class.
However, Qin Rui was very discreet; some gossip could be shared, while others could not.
Probably, Lin Shuanghuai’s gossip belonged to the type that couldn’t be shared.
What puzzled Yuan Bozhu was that he and Qin Rui were not close; before last week, Qin Rui might not even have remembered his name, but now he came specially to warn him.
“I actually quite admire you. Last Friday at Nightless Continent, everyone was clamoring for this and that, but you remained focused the whole time, not even glancing at anything, able to withstand even the most expensive things. That’s commendable for someone with prospects.”
Qin Rui glanced at Yuan Bozhu from the corner of his eye while playing with his phone.
“But someone like you, who is honest and straightforward, is the easiest to be bullied. You’re the kind of person who, even if cheated, would still help count the money for others. What I mean is, some muddy waters, you better not wade into.”
Yuan Bozhu couldn’t agree with the first half of his sentence, but he found the last sentence to be true.
Lin Shuanghuai was a muddy water he didn’t want to wade into.
People are sometimes strange, as if there’s some kind of mystique; fortune never comes singly, misfortune never comes alone.
As one wave subsides, another rises.
Before the effects brought by Lin Shuanghuai had dissipated, another group of people brought new attention to Yuan Bozhu.
It was the four school bullies, of various heights and sizes.
Perhaps after accumulating a week’s worth of anger, they finally realized something: dealing with small fry like Yuan Bozhu didn’t require much effort.
Beating someone up could risk getting a school punishment, and why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut? They decided not to beat up Yuan Bozhu anymore.
Just pure harassment.
For example, during lunch break, deliberately passing by Class 7 of Grade 3, shouting loudly when their class teacher left the room: “Hey, dork Yuan Bozhu, come out and play.”
Of course, Yuan Bozhu couldn’t possibly go out, and they didn’t actually want him to come out.
It was just a way to provoke him.
In addition, they would lurk outside the restroom on the fifth floor during every break, to see if Yuan Bozhu would come. If he did, they would start trouble, not physically, but by constantly keeping him surrounded.
Even his classmates couldn’t stand it.
“How did Yuan Bozhu offend them? It’s so annoying, four people keep targeting him…”
“Who’s going to tell the teacher? They’ve been causing trouble for three class periods already.”
“Who dares to go? They’re guarding the doorway, whoever complains will be remembered, and next time, it’ll be trouble for the complainer.”
“So frustrating, why hasn’t this trash dropped out yet?”
Qin Rui frowned and glanced at the people guarding the doorway, then quickly took out a book to cover his face and whispered to Yuan Bozhu, “Hey, desk mate, they’re now saying you owe them money everywhere, what’s going on?”
Half of Yuan Bozhu’s face was covered by hair and glasses, so his expression couldn’t be seen.
Qin Rui thought Yuan Bozhu was just being dumb and would only swallow his anger, feeling sorry for himself and not daring to speak up.
Yuan Bozhu was taking out tissues to wipe the water off his hair. “It’s nothing.”
He understood these types of people very well.
The more you resist, the more they will come at you.
If Yuan Bozhu were to deal with these thorns hands-on and make them behave, things would escalate even more—
An unknown campus nobody actually making four school bullies back down? Within three days, this news would spread throughout schools in the vicinity.
Absolutely not.
Yuan Bozhu’s final solution was to use money to settle things.
If the other party felt their dignity was offended because he didn’t buy cigarettes that day, then he would smooth things over.
Before the next class started, he took the initiative to leave the classroom.
Seeing Yuan Bozhu approaching, the four were also stunned, probably not expecting someone who had been troubled all afternoon to remain so calm and composed.
Yuan Bozhu still had over six hundred yuan in his wallet, which was the leftover living expenses for the month and his part-time wages.
He didn’t spend much money anyway, so he generously took out two bills and handed them over.
Results extended a hand and directly took the money and wallet together.
“Why didn’t you do this earlier? We had to run so many errands.”
The tall one was called Chen Mu, and he was also the leader among the four.
Yuan Bozhu slowly lifted his eyelids and looked lightly at Chen Mu, saying, “Wallet.”
The implication was that taking the money was fine, but at least leave the wallet.
There were many things inside it: bank cards, ID cards, various documents. Even the wallet itself was important, a gift from his mother for his eighteenth birthday.
Although Yuan Bozhu didn’t show any particular liking for it, it was still significant.
Chen Mu raised an eyebrow, indifferently stuffed the money into the wallet, put it in his pocket, and smirked at Yuan Bozhu, “Wallet? What wallet? If you lost your own wallet, go find it yourself.”
With that, he patted Yuan Bozhu’s shoulder admiringly, “Alright, you’re quite sensible. Our business is considered settled.”
Then he walked away with the others.
Yuan Bozhu watched the four of them leave downstairs and stood there for a while. Many classmates peeked their heads out of the classroom to look.
“He’s so tall, yet he’s bullied without saying a word.”
“I thought he would at least fight back.”
“Being too honest isn’t good either…”
Qin Rui was quite encouraging to Yuan Bozhu. When he returned to his seat, he said, “It’s okay, classmate. Sometimes it’s better to avoid trouble if you can solve it with money. Why waste more energy?” Yuan Bozhu glanced at him and felt that Qin Rui was unexpectedly insightful. However, the next moment, Qin Rui continued, “People like me have money that lasts a lifetime, so there aren’t too many worries in life. Because money can solve most problems, you know what I mean?”
Yuan Bozhu didn’t quite understand.
Yuan Bozhu didn’t have many worries in his life either. If there was something he couldn’t solve, then money wouldn’t solve it either.
The matter of being harassed by the school bully seemed to end like this.
Until the end of school, there was no sign of those four people at the classroom door.
When Yuan Bozhu was packing his schoolbag, he could clearly hear others discussing, mainly about his “cowardice.”
Because he didn’t even dare to go to the teacher to complain.
Yuan Bozhu remained silent about it.
“Tonight, shall we go to the internet cafe overnight?”
“Let’s go find a good place to eat first. This kid, you can’t tell, but he’s quite wealthy. He has six hundred bucks in his pocket, a rich kid.”
In the corner behind the school’s pedestrian street, where the sunset couldn’t reach, shadows of various heights and sizes mingled on the ground, forming a dark mass.
Chen Mu squinted, cigarette dangling from his mouth, counting change while planning how to spend the night.
Among them, the one with a better family background was Pang Ke, but it wasn’t a wealthy family either. At most, he could keep one or two hundred bucks in his pocket at any time.
As ordinary high school students in public schools, they spent a lot of time at school every day, and their families usually didn’t give them much pocket money.
Having one or two thousand bucks a month was considered good. Three hundred for the cafeteria card, the rest was spent on entertainment.
The four of them usually ate, drank, smoked, and played games all day, spending money quickly.
Now it was the end of the month, and their pockets were empty. Yuan Bozhu’s six hundred bucks would be a good feast for them.
“What else does he have in his bag?” Pang Ke asked, taking the wallet and flipping through it, wanting to see if there was anything else useful.
Yang Pan, the skinny one, was also curious. He spat out smoke and leaned over, taking a quick look. Then he burst into sharp laughter:
“Hahaha, what’s with this ID photo? It’s so funny, isn’t it?!”
He pulled out a small photo of Yuan Bozhu and handed it to Chen Mu and the short guy Liu Xi, causing everyone to burst into laughter together.
In the photo, Yuan Bozhu looked very young, with facial features more immature than now. His glasses were already thick and heavy, covering his expressionless face.
Fourteen-year-old Yuan Bozhu sat straight in front of the camera; lips slightly pursed, obviously uncomfortable facing the camera. At the moment the shutter clicked, his shoulder lifted slightly, as if nervous, adding a touch of awkwardness.
The most important thing was his hairstyle, cut straight along the bangs like a smooth mushroom, dully covering his head.
“He’s such a nerd.”
“Why would anyone keep such embarrassing stuff in their wallet!! Hahaha.”
“Hey, Pang, see if there’s anything else interesting inside, take it out and have a look.”
Pang Ke chuckled as he squatted on the ground, stubbed out his cigarette, and began to rummage through.
A bank card, an ID card, an exam admission ticket, five or six unidentified coupons, nothing particularly interesting.
“Hey, what’s this?” Pang Ke suddenly felt something hard, pulled it out, and took a look. It was a badge.
The badge had a totem similar to a spider engraved on it, with a black and gold base, faintly emitting a mysterious light. The spider legs were thin and long, extending to the back of the badge. The metal was shiny, with very small words engraved at the bottom.
Cold and mysterious.
“Hey, this looks pretty good, is it some kind of toy?”
“Take a look at what’s written above?”
“Hmm… ‘Spider something Pass… The words are too small, can’t see clearly. Probably some edgy anime merchandise.”
“Let me see, I have good eyesight.” Yang Pan snatched the badge, squinted for a while, and said, “Spider Domain Pass, Gabriel… What, is it some mysterious organization? So edgy, haha!!”
“I told you; this kid looks like the type who stays at home all day drinking cola and watching hentai. Just throw it away, what a dumbass.”
The sun set earlier than usual, and before they could finish their cigarette, the surroundings suddenly darkened.
Yang Pan stuffed the card back into his wallet, casually tossing the small badge to the ground.
In that moment, they all felt a cold breeze.
“Whoa, it’s getting chilly even though it’s just the end of September.”
Chen Mu stubbed out his cigarette, pocketed the meticulously counted six hundred and eighty-two yuan in his hand, and said, “Let’s go, let’s go eat hot pot.”
“You’re gonna blow through six hundred bucks in no time?”
“I’ll ask for more if we run out. This kid is a wimp, if he dares not to give, I’ll haunt his ass every day.”
“True, heh heh, found ourselves a long-term meal ticket.”
Yang Pan chuckled as he held his wallet.
Liu Xi and Pang Ke continued to examine the ridiculous ID photo of Yuan Bozhu, even imagining what Yuan Bozhu would look like crying after someone stole his wallet.
The four walked toward the mouth of the alley.
None of them noticed how strangely dark it was getting.
Ten minutes later, Chen Mu scratched his head, “Hey, did we walk this far? Why haven’t we reached the end yet?”
“No, we should have reached the pedestrian street by now.” Yang Pan took a few steps forward, feeling like this alley was much longer than he remembered.
“Could it be we’ve hit a dead end?”
“Nonsense, you might as well say we’ve entered a maze.”
Chen Mu retorted half-heartedly, then quickened his pace towards the intersection.
Strangely, even though the intersection was right ahead, they seemed unable to reach it, no matter how much they walked.
Ten minutes passed, and the four of them started sweating profusely.
“Damn it, what the hell? It’s so dark, but the streetlights aren’t on. What’s going on!!”
As Yang Pan’s words fell, they all got goosebumps and huddled together, shivering.
“Mu-ge… it seems, it seems like we’re really hitting a dead end.”
“Fatty, don’t you dare pick my pocket!”
“I didn’t touch you!”
“…Hey, who took my wallet just now?!!!!”
After a moment of dead silence, the four screamed in terror, scrambling in all directions, bumping into walls, falling down.
“Ghosts, ghosts!!!!”
Yuan Bozhu stood on the high wall, glanced at them with lowered eyes.
He calmly sorted his six hundred and eighty-two yuan neatly, put it back in his wallet, and tucked the mysterious cold badge into the compartment.
Spider Domain was a rare underground intermediary organization unknown to ordinary humans, often assisting rare species in carrying out actions that couldn’t be exposed conveniently.
It also helped some financially troubled rare species find part-time jobs.
Yuan Bozhu didn’t usually lack money, but occasionally he might need it.
He had registered under an alias with Spider Domain and taken on some freelance tasks.
But he wasn’t a true rare species, and at that time, he was only fifteen or sixteen, so he kept his identity concealed to avoid investigation.
Now he no longer took on those tasks, and the badge had become a memento.
As he was about to close his wallet, Yuan Bozhu’s gaze fell on his ID photo, and he furrowed his brow.
He had long destroyed that photo, so the fact that it was boldly placed in his wallet must have been his mother’s doing.
Perhaps she had slipped it in while doing laundry yesterday when he wasn’t paying attention.
Zhang Shu enjoyed teasing her son.
It wasn’t the first time.
Yuan Bozhu took out the photo, twirling it between his fingers. In an instant, the photo burst into flames, turning into ashes in the wind.
Yuan Bozhu didn’t want to see that bangs anymore.
Meanwhile, the four were still screaming and shouting, but they seemed to be getting tired, lying on the ground, crying and panting, muttering prayers like “May Buddha protect us” and “Buddha, show mercy”.
The twilight hues were vibrant in the sky, but they were enveloped in a black haze.
Yuan Bozhu wasn’t interested in punishing the four delinquents who hadn’t grown up yet; he just wanted to retrieve his belongings.
Before they scared themselves to death with their imagined horror scenes, Yuan Bozhu dispersed the illusion.
The evening light fell on their heads again, and the darkness disappeared.
But they didn’t relax; instead, they sat paralyzed on the ground, stiff all over, staring blankly, muttering, “The unjust will be avenged, debts will be repaid…”
Yuan Bozhu didn’t look at them again, turning and leaving.