The sun was setting after Tang Hao had dinner with Elder Ma and Old Master Zheng.
Tang Hao rode on his little three-wheeled motorcycle and returned to Tang Village.
The evening breeze was cool. Street lights shimmered on both sides of the street, and it was easy for one to be lost in the moment.
Tang Hao’s heart was in the clouds. He had earned eight million yuan in an afternoon. He felt the incident was like a dream.
Two out of the eight million yuan was won from the bets with Bucktooth Zhou. The other six million was from selling the Warring States period terracotta statue. He briefly counted and found that he had about eight million and seven hundred thousand yuan in his bank account.
Just half a month ago, when he left the hospital, he only had five hundred.
He reflected fondly upon the events that transpired in the past half a month.
His life had undergone a complete transformation. Not only had he earned so much money, but he had also made friends with people like President Biao and President Liu.
Of course, there was also Sis Xiangyi.
His heart pumped a little faster when he thought of her.
‘Things will only be better from now on!’ Tang Hao thought to himself.
At this moment, he was confident about his future.
After a half-hour journey, he returned to Tang Village. He was met with many people at the entrance of the village. They all crowded around and greeted Tang Hao enthusiastically when they saw him.
“Oh, Lil Hao is back!”
“Have you had dinner, Lil Hao?”
Tang Hao smiled and waved his hands. “I’ve had my dinner earlier!” He replied.
As he rode on his way back home, people came out of their houses to look.
“Lil Hao is back!”
“You’ve gone and made a name for yourself, Lil Hao! You know so many big bosses and are even brothers with them. You’ve struck a gold mine!”
“Isn’t that so! I’ve heard that Lil Hao is rich now. He has a few million yuan in his bank account!”
“Wow, a few million? That means he’s a millionaire! I wonder how many years I will have to work to earn that much money? Oh, math confuses me!”
Tang Hao’s cheeks felt stiff from smiling. He did not know how to react to all the adulation.
He did not have a few million yuan in his account that morning. It was only eight hundred thousand. As the story evolved through the day, it had become a few million.
He was indifferent toward the hospitality displayed by his fellow villagers.
Tang Hao had been living in poverty since he was born, and he was used to surviving the vicissitudes of life and the fickleness of human relationships. When he was just a poor kid with not a penny to his name, no one treated him like how they treated him now. Many of them simply ignored him.
Just that morning when the police officers came looking for trouble, many people were mocking him behind his back. Their attitudes toward him changed only after they knew that he was rich.
“Are you currently seeing anyone, Lil Hao? I can introduce to you someone if you don’t! Hong from the next village is a cute and intelligent girl. You’ll like her.”
“Pah! Don’t listen to her, Lil Hao. I have many girls to introduce to you. Whatever you’re looking for: A beautiful face, a sexy body, I have just the right girl. I guarantee that you’ll like them.”
A group of mothers crowded around Tang Hao volunteering to find a girlfriend for him.
All of them were chattering loudly around Tang Hao. He felt dizzy and his face blushed.
“Auntie Zhang, Auntie Liu, there’s no need for your diligence. I’m still young. There’s no rush,” Tang Hao said urgently.
“Eh! You’re turning eighteen soon! That’s not young! You should be looking to settle down a partner, and in a few years be ready to raise a child!”
Tang Hao could not argue with that logic and so fled the scene.
When he reached the front gate of his house, his neighbors came out of their houses and greeted him.
He entered the house. Someone came knocking on his door as soon as he switched on the lights.
“Lil Hao! Now that you’re rich and well-connected to so many big bosses, can you help my son look for a job?”
“Lil Hao, I’ve heard that you’re a millionaire now. Do you think… you can lend me some money? I promise I’ll pay you back soon.”
The villagers visited his house in hordes. They were there to either build connections or borrow money. He did not know many of those people too well and had to tactfully decline them.
Some people felt embarrassed and left after being declined, while some of them became angry.
“I can’t believe that you’re like this. Now that you’re rich, you forget your fellow villagers. I’m facing some troubles now, how can you not help me?”
“You’re such a miser. It’s not like you’d be missing the ten or twenty thousand from the millions you have anyway!”
Tang hao frowned when he heard those words. They had filled him with anger.
When his father passed away back then, his life fell into hardship, but none of those fellow villagers helped him. When he was expelled from school, those people spread rumors and talked negatively of him behind his back
Now that they saw that he was loaded, they fawned on him to get something out of him.
This behavior caused him to be disgusted.
“Looks like I won’t be staying here for long. I’ll be troubled by these issues for a long time.” For the first time, Tang Hao thought of moving.
He declined five or six people in a row. The crowd in his house thinned, and those that remained were close to him. They filled his house and they chatted merrily. Soon, the village elder was there too.
As they chatted, the village elder mentioned how the roads in the village needed repair. Tang Hao agreed to donate two hundred thousand yuan.
Tang Hao had strong feelings toward Tang Village since he was born and raised there. He felt like he owed the village a debt of gratitude.
The gathering went on for about another two hours before everyone left.
Tang Hao was about to close the door when he saw his uncle emerge from next door with a hand pushing him from behind.
“Go! Quick!” It was his aunt.
His uncle was still hesitating. He turned around and was surprised to see Tang Hao standing there.
“Is there something, Uncle?”
Tang Hao guessed that he must be coming over for a reason. However, he knew better than to embarrass his uncle.
“Lil… Lil Hao! The… um… It’s not very convenient for me to say it…” His uncle stammered.
“Ah, you useless piece of trash! You can’t even string together a whole sentence… isn’t it just borrowing money? What’s so inconvenient about that?” His aunt came out of the house while scolding at him loudly.
“Let me tell you, Lil Hao, our family has helped you quite a lot, and it’s about time you returned the favor. You have so much money now. It’s perfectly fair to lend us some, right?
“Bowen, that kid, he’s living in the city. Everything is so expensive there, and he’s having a hard time. I don’t want him to suffer so I want to send him some money.
“How about treating it like helping out your cousin brother? You can share his glory when he becomes a government official in the future.”
Tang Hao could only smirk when he heard that.
His cousin brother behaved exactly like his aunt, always displaying a condescending attitude toward Tang Hao as though he were superior. Tang Hao never liked him.
He smirked and said, “Auntie, this money… I will not lend it to you.”
“You…” His aunt nearly exploded when she heard that. “You… little whelp! Ungrateful creature!”
“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten, Auntie? How did you treat me when I asked to borrow money from your family? Not only you did not give me a single cent, but you also said that I should just starve and die.”
“I…” His aunt could not find the words.
She began to regret that she had not treated him better. She did not expect that this boy would be rich one day.
“But. I will give this money to Uncle. Back then, Uncle gave me some money from his personal savings. It’s not a lot, but I am grateful for that,” Tang Hao said.
“Here’s fifty thousand yuan. Consider this as repayment for my debt of gratitude. After this, I will not interfere with your family matters.”
Tang Hao retrieved five stacks of hundred-yuan notes and handed it to his uncle.
“Lil Hao, I…” His uncle did not take the money. His face was wracked with guilt.
On the other hand, his aunt ‘s eyes brightened and snatched the money from Tang Hao’s hands.
“I say, Lil Hao, you want to appease us with just fifty thousand yuan?” His aunt shrieked.
“Enough! Shut up!” His uncle roared. He was not able to tolerate anymore.
His aunt looked at him, stunned.
Then, like an agitated female cheetah, she nearly pounced on him. “Tang Dayong! You- you dare yell at me? YOU DARE YELL AT ME!”
“Shut up!” His uncle roared again. His face had never been so grim.
He was standing straight. His gaze was intimidating. The aura he emanated had intimidated his wife into silence.
“We are the ones who should be sorry to Lil Hao. Lil Hao has been more than kind to lend us fifty thousand yuan. What else do you want? Stop making a fool out of yourself!”
After his uncle said his piece, he threw open the door to his house and entered it.
His aunt stood there for a long time, looking at the money in her hands. After that, she started howling, “Tang Dayong, you god-forsaken heartless bastard!”
Her howls were heard far and wide in the night. Many people came to watch.
Tang Hao glanced coldly at her, then closed the door.