He had no memory of his own mother.
When he was young and playing with other children in Chenjia Village, after dark, the mothers of his playmates would call out their children's nicknames in the village, urging them to come home early.
And Yan Shouyi was always the last one to go home.
Because Yan Shouyi did not have a mother.
The educational methods of Yan Baixiang and Yan Chou, two grown men, were simply to ensure he didn't die. They lacked the delicate and comprehensive care of women.
This gave Yan Shouyi a carefree childhood, but it also left him with a sense of loss in his heart.
Now, finally getting some news about his mother, the seed that had been hidden in Yan Shouyi's heart for many years began to sprout.
His fingers gently brushed over the worn cloth of his satchel, as if crossing decades of time to touch his mother's hand.
Did his mother also carry this backpack, following his father on his journeys?
A blurred face appeared in Yan Shouyi's mind.
He found an excuse and called Zhu Ling aside.
Zhu Ling asked, puzzled, "Little friend Yan, is there something you need?"
"Elder Zhu, I'd like to visit Feng Yixuan if I have the chance," Yan Shouyi said.
Zhu Ling smiled, "You are most welcome. My granduncle said before he passed that Feng Yixuan still owes the Yan family three favors. As long as you are willing, you can visit Feng Yixuan anytime."
"Thank you, Elder Zhu."
Yan Shouyi smiled gratefully. In fact, he wanted to visit Feng Yixuan to investigate his mother's identity.
They exchanged a few words and returned to the stall, just as the vendor came back.
The vendor brought back three contracts and a POS machine. Because the transaction amount was so large, even though the vendor had that much cash in his account, it couldn't be transferred immediately.
So, he drew up contracts, transferred five million to Old Jin first, and the remaining money would arrive within a week.
Old Jin naturally had no objections. Sixteen million was no different from finding money to him.
The contracts were signed in triplicate, with Old Jin and the vendor each holding one copy, and the remaining copy to be kept at the bank.
With a ding, five million appeared in Old Jin's account.
Long Feicheng was envious and asked Old Jin, "Tell me, Old Jin, how many are you going to take down tonight?"
"If you're talking about that, then I'm interested," Weng Qianxiang said with a solemn expression. "Old Jin, you're getting old and your health isn't good. I'm willing to share the burden for you."
Among them, only Wang Jiwang was relatively serious, but anyone with discerning eyes could see he was feigning seriousness. He was currently pretending to be aloof, but might soon quietly latch onto Old Jin and ask him to take him along.
Hearing the remarks from Yan Shouyi's undesirable friends, Lin Zitong coldly reminded them,
"I heard Chang'an has been very strict lately, and our schedule is tight. We don't have time to wait for you for fifteen days."
Long Feicheng snapped back to reality and immediately shouted, "Sister-in-law, what are you saying? We are all good comrades, and we are irreconcilable with gambling and drugs!"
"Are you not mentioning 'that' at all?" Yan Shouyi said speechlessly.
Joking aside, Old Jin finally spoke, "Actually, with my abilities, making money is not difficult at all. It's just that this money feels hot in my hands, and I'm just enjoying the thrill. I'll be donating it all to children left behind in mountainous areas."
"Five million, all donated?" Long Feicheng couldn't believe it.
"I'll keep at most five thousand. Keeping more will cause trouble," Old Jin replied.
Inheritors of folk sects are basically estranged from "wealth." With Old Jin's capabilities, becoming fabulously wealthy would be effortless.
But correspondingly, he had to give up something.
There were always things more important than wealth and status, which was why Old Jin chose to live a more austere life.
Watching Old Jin ruthlessly donate all the money he had just received, Long Feicheng's heart bled.
However, he also knew the consequences of keeping the money, so he could only say tearfully, "I'm more or less a left-behind child myself. Why don't you donate a little to me?"
Yan Shouyi patted Long Feicheng on the shoulder and said, "That's enough. We should move to another place."
The people watching them were becoming restless, and it was not wise to linger here.
Just as Yan Shouyi and his group were about to leave, Zhu Ling suddenly received a call, and his expression immediately became grave.
Seeing this, Yan Shouyi asked, "Elder Zhu, what's wrong?"
Zhu Ling shook his head, "It's nothing major. Huansi is being pestered by some swindlers and punks on the street."
Every market has its local ruffians, and where there are ruffians, there are always thugs, especially in places like Xiaodongmen where money changes hands.
The swindlers Yan Shouyi encountered earlier were already considered well-behaved. It was estimated that the inexperienced young girl Zhu Huansi had annoyed those people by not being adaptable.
Zhu Ling said apologetically, "I won't bother little friend Yan with such a small matter. I'll go over myself."
In fact, the people Zhu Ling had stationed around Zhu Huansi were all experts. Dealing with a few thugs was a piece of cake. It was probably that Zhu Ling deliberately wanted Zhu Huansi to suffer a minor setback, which was why those experts had not intervened.
Yan Shouyi thought for a moment. Since they were waiting for Ma Jinxuan anyway, and they had nothing to do, they might as well go and watch the show.
So, they all accompanied Zhu Ling, walking through a few alleys. They saw a crowd of onlookers by the street.
Pushing through the crowd to get to the front, they saw Zhu Huansi being blocked by several men, with an ugly antique ornament on the ground.
The bystanders were chattering and discussing, and Yan Shouyi quickly understood the whole story.
It turned out that Zhu Huansi had passed by this stall and taken a fancy to a pair of antique ornaments. She had asked the vendor to take a look. However, when handling them, due to someone's fault, one of the ornaments was broken.
The vendor immediately blocked Zhu Huansi, refusing to let her leave. He insisted that the ornament was originally a pair, and if one was broken, the other would be worthless, so Zhu Huansi had to buy them both.
And that palm-sized ornament was priced at a hefty thirty thousand yuan.
Zhu Huansi could afford the money; she just felt wronged. She hadn't even received the ornament, and the vendor had suddenly let go.
In terms of responsibility, it should be half and half!
The vendor was grabbing Zhu Huansi's slender arm and said fiercely, "Let me tell you, I've seen plenty of clumsy customers like you. You broke something and want to run? No way!"
The pampered Zhu Huansi had never seen such a scene. Now she regretted throwing a tantrum and leaving her grandfather's side. She had no one to help her when she encountered trouble.
For a moment, her small face turned red with nervousness, and tears were about to well up in her eyes.
Yan Shouyi watched for a while and shook his head helplessly.
It was better to rescue this Zhu Huansi and build a slightly better relationship with Elder Zhu. If he wanted to visit Feng Yixuan in the future, at least they would be more welcoming.
So, he walked out of the crowd, stepped forward, grabbed the vendor's hand, and said coldly,
"Let go. I don't want to say it a second time."