Chapter 0051: June's Debt

The outcome of a fight between a man and a woman is ultimately mutual destruction, just a matter of who suffers more. The same roughly applies to arguments.

Of course, Mu Qingqing and Zhao Fusheng were not at the point of arguing, because Zhao Fusheng had no intention of arguing with her.

Although today's events had made him slightly uncomfortable, seeing a side of Mu Qingqing different from her usual lofty demeanor was unexpected.

Watching Tan Kaixuan and Hu Xia board the bus, Zhao Fusheng turned to Mu Qingqing standing beside him. "Why aren't you leaving?"

"I'm going home." Mu Qingqing blinked and said to Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng was startled, not knowing that Mu Qingqing was also a local.

"My father was sent to the countryside here back then, and later settled down." Mu Qingqing walked as she spoke to Zhao Fusheng. "I've thought about what you said the other day. You're right; I'm not qualified to negotiate with you."

Hearing her words, Zhao Fusheng raised an eyebrow, completely surprised that Mu Qingqing admitted it so readily.

But then he thought of something and asked curiously, "Since you know I'm right, why did you today..."

"Oh, I just felt that since you said that about me, I had to get back at you." Mu Qingqing gave Zhao Fusheng an answer that left him dumbfounded.

Watching the girl walking ahead, Zhao Fusheng suddenly felt that whether a girl was pretty or not, they were all the same when it came to being unreasonable.

"What, you think I'm being unreasonable?" Mu Qingqing's voice rang out, carrying a hint of chill.

"No, how could I?" This time Zhao Fusheng was smart enough; after all, with his mental age, he had enough sense.

Arguing with a creature that bleeds for seven days a month without dying was indeed foolish of him.

"My aunt will come to talk to you soon." Mu Qingqing said to Zhao Fusheng.

"Your aunt?"

Zhao Fusheng was somewhat surprised, having originally thought it was Mu Qingqing's father who ran the record company.

Mu Qingqing nodded. "My aunt is a music lover. Back then, with the family's help, she started a record company. It was fine at first, but in recent years, there are too many newcomers in the music scene and too few good songs. Otherwise, do you think I would have recommended your song to her?"

By the end, Mu Qingqing couldn't help but roll her eyes at Zhao Fusheng.

For some reason, this guy avoided her like the plague. Other boys wished they could stick to her, but he treated her like a flood or a beast, fleeing before she could even get close.

If it weren't for business, Miss Mu would have cracked open his skull in a second.

Zhao Fusheng had no objection to Mu Qingqing's statement; after all, he didn't know much about music. Someone who couldn't even read staff notation knew nothing about music.

"Let me be clear first: I just sang this song casually. The lyrics are fine, but as for the tune, I hummed the melody myself. If your aunt wants to buy it, she'll have to find someone to write the score."

Zhao Fusheng first absolved himself of responsibility; he had no interest in playing composer.

He hadn't eaten pork, but he'd seen pigs run. In his past life, he'd seen plenty of articles online and in the news. Domestic original musicians were far less carefree than their foreign counterparts; they worked hard but earned little—that was the reality for music creators in China.

"You!"

Mu Qingqing was stunned. "Don't tell me you don't even know staff notation."

"Of course." Zhao Fusheng nodded. "I don't."

If this were a comic, Mu Qingqing would have had a black line across her forehead.

"Don't worry, I still remember the general tune." Seeing Mu Qingqing's bad expression, as if she might lose it at any moment, Zhao Fusheng quickly tried to calm her.

Taking a deep breath, reminding herself they were on the street and she couldn't grab him by the collar and ask why he hadn't said so earlier, Mu Qingqing struggled to maintain her ladylike image. But if looks could kill, Zhao Fusheng would have been riddled with holes.

"I understand. I'll tell my aunt to bring someone who can compose." After a long while, Mu Qingqing said bitterly to Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng nodded. Just then, a bus came from ahead. He smiled at Mu Qingqing. "The bus is here. I'm off. Talk later."

And then he left, leaving Mu Qingqing standing there dumbfounded.

"Am I... that hard to look at?"

Touching her face, Mu Qingqing began to doubt life itself. She had been receiving love letters since middle school, and in high school and college, she had countless admirers. But this guy Zhao Fusheng seemed completely oblivious to her beauty, making her even wonder if he might be a gay.

If Zhao Fusheng knew what was going through Mu Qingqing's mind, he would have jumped off the bus, dragged her to a hotel, and booked a room to prove whether he was a real man.

But unfortunately, he didn't know, so Zhao Fusheng sat on the bus, staring blankly at the scenery outside the window.

This city was roughly the same as in his memory, except for some different trademarks hanging outside. Overall, it was still the same.

The reason he stayed despite knowing Tan Kaixuan had set him up was simply that Zhao Fusheng cherished his own memories.

Sometimes, people just like to be nostalgic.

In this bizarre world, no one can live a life as smooth as flowing water. But Zhao Fusheng always believed that having walked through lakes and mist, years and mountains, having endured life-and-death trials and tasted all the flavors of the world, he would make his future days more vivid and clean.

And before that, he had to have enough chips to remain undefeated in the gamble of life.

The future is called the future because, ultimately, it is uncertain and full of change. So how to take the first step is crucial and important.

…

…

When he got home, Li Yuan and Zhao's mother had already returned. The three elders were sitting and talking. Fan Beibei was not there; she seemed to be sleeping in the inner room.

"Dad, Mom, Aunt Li." Zhao Fusheng greeted the elders and was about to go to his bedroom.

"Fusheng, sit down. We need to discuss something with you." Zhao's father called to his son.

Zhao Fusheng was startled but sat down anyway, looking at his parents and Li Yuan. "What's up, Dad?"

"It's like this. The money your Uncle Fan owes is almost due. I was thinking you could go with me these days to pay it back." Li Yuan spoke calmly, her expression peaceful.

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, then remembered it was true. He had been reborn on June 6th and made the bold claim to repay the debt in a month. Now the deadline was approaching.

The reason he had forgotten about this was mainly because Chen Shijie had suddenly appeared that day, telling him that the people at Han Family Alley were about to leave and he didn't need to worry about repaying the debt. So after that, Zhao Fusheng hadn't thought about it again.

Now that Li Yuan brought it up, he realized that for Li Yuan and his parents, this was a big deal.

But the problem now was that Zhao Fusheng couldn't tell them the truth, because Chen Shijie was still undercover among those people.

Seeing Zhao Fusheng silent, Li Yuan said, "This counts as the last thing I do for that Fan. From now on, neither I nor Bao Bao and Bei Bei will have anything to do with him!"

As she spoke, Li Yuan's eyes reddened. After all these years, now her home was about to be gone, and her body was in this state. Just thinking about it was painful.

Zhao's mother quickly comforted her in a low voice, while Zhao's father said to his son, "Your mother and I won't go. You're Bao Bao's fiancé, so you're the most suitable."

Zhao's father's reasoning was simple: this was Fan's family matter, and it wouldn't be appropriate for him and Zhao's mother to get involved. But Zhao Fusheng's presence was perfectly fitting. As the saying goes, a son-in-law is half a son. Zhao Fusheng was now the pillar for Fan Bao Bao and her mother and sister. No one could fault him for stepping up.

"When should we go?" Zhao Fusheng asked his father.

"Tomorrow. Handle it in the morning, and you need to go back to school in the afternoon." Zhao's father thought for a moment and said, "If they cause trouble, don't argue with them. Just put down the money and leave, got it?"

Zhao Fusheng nodded, and the matter was settled.

Of course, in his heart, he knew this was just a formality.