The Landlady and The Amnesiac – Chapter 28

Actually, Zhou Jianguo isn’t eating not because he can’t afford it, but rather because he doesn’t like these kind of sweet and greasy things. One time, he followed his coworkers to buy a cone, but after taking one bite, he felt something was off and never ate it again.

He came out to buy things for the contractor as a runner, so he couldn’t stay outside for too long. After hurriedly saying goodbye to Luo Bei, he rushed to the construction site.

Luo Bei watched his departing figure and couldn’t help but sigh, “Your Uncle Zhou is really a positive and proactive person.”

She rarely saw someone who worked as hard as he did.

It was as if the virtues of hard work, positivity, and self-discipline were ingrained in his bones. Even in this kind of environment, he would not waste a single second, as wasting time was shameful in his eyes. Therefore, he used every moment he could to work and earn money.

But Fang Jingzhou didn’t understand what she was saying. His thoughts were entirely on the cone in his hand.

Knowing that Fang Jingzhou would leave soon, Chen Lan who had been disgusted with his existence before had become much more tolerant of him these past few days. At least, she didn’t deliberately trouble him anymore. She even gave Mother Chen two thousand yuan as living expenses for Fang Jingzhou.

Chen Lan wasn’t short of money. When Fang Jingzhou’s biological father found out about his existence, he gave her a large sum of money. Although she had spent most of it over the years, she has never been short of men. She never worked, but she still had money to spend, that was Chen Lan’s current state of life.

Zhao Pianpian bought several sets of clothes for Fang Jingzhou and also bought many toys as gifts. The other tenants in the building vaguely knew about the child’s previous life situation, so some of them would give him drawing books as gifts, while others would give him snacks. In short, Fang Jingzhou spent several days being the center of everyone’s attention.

Luo Bei knew that Fang Jingzhou returning to his hometown with his grandmother would not suddenly transform his life from hell to heaven. He still had to adapt to a new environment, which was much more painful for a child than an adult. However, this was the best choice for Fang Jingzhou. Although he may not be able to gain much material or spiritual satisfaction, at least he could be a normal child.

After witnessing Fang Jingzhou’s story, Luo Bei came to realize that for many children, having a normal and ordinary childhood is already a very rare thing.

Jiang Sihan knew that Fang Jingzhou was leaving, but he was on the set and not in the same city. He really couldn’t spare the time to go shopping and select gifts, so he transferred 500 yuan to Luo Bei and asked her to buy clothes and shoes for Fang Jingzhou or take him out to play. He allowed Luo Bei to use the money at her discretion.

Luo Bei accepted the money and said, “Thank you, Boss.”

Jiang Sihan saw the message and couldn’t help but laugh, “I don’t have to pay for food or lodging on the set. When I get paid, I’ll have some money on hand. After we finish filming, I’ll take you guys to eat seafood buffet.”

Luo Bei pretended to be dissatisfied, “??? You’re almost a big star, and you’re treating us to a 100-yuan-per-person buffet. Don’t you have a conscience?”

Jiang Sihan was lying on the hotel bed at this moment, having just taken a shower. He wasn’t in the mood to memorize lines and just wanted to video chat with Luo Bei, but unfortunately, she cruelly refused him.

“I’m not doing video since I’m not wearing makeup. Let’s do voice.”

Jiang Sihan replied, “It’s okay, I’ve seen you without makeup before.”

The words were ambiguous, but for some reason, they didn’t sound suggestive coming from him.

Luo Bei : “I hate front-facing cameras.”

Jiang Sihan : “Oh.”
“Did you receive the chocolate I sent you?”

If it had been from someone else, Luo Bei might have thought that they had feelings for her, but since it was from Jiang Sihan, she didn’t think too much about it.

What kind of person is Jiang Sihan, she knows well. If someone is good to him, he can return ten times that kindness.

It was precisely because she and her grandmother had brought him some food during his most difficult times that he always thought of her whenever he had something delicious.

“I received it, it was really delicious, but I gained a pound because of it.”

Jiang Sihan’s low laughter came from the other end, “It was sent by the crew, I think it was brought back from abroad, so I sent it to you to eat.”

… She knew it.

“Are you doing well on the set? Nobody is bullying you, right?” Luo Bei wasn’t worried about Jiang Sihan, after all, he was Tom Sue, his path to stardom was smooth, and others couldn’t envy him. From the moment he joined the crew, he started his Tom Sue path.

“It’s not bad, I’m starting to get familiar with everything now. Everyone is nice, the director praised my talent and said that although I didn’t come from a professional background, I still have a lot of potential.” Jiang Sihan suddenly self-deprecatingly laughed, “What kind of thing is this, I wanted to do music, but I didn’t make a name for myself. Instead, I was recognized so quickly in acting, which I’m not even interested in.”

Luo Bei: “….. I’ll take it as you’re showing off.”

As an ordinary person with no special talents, not a slacker but not outstanding either, Luo Bei couldn’t really empathize with Jiang Tom’s frustration.

“But since I have already signed a contract with Brother Liu and started acting now, I will do my best in this.” Jiang Sihan said again, “Playing music also requires money, and I have to survive first to achieve my dream.”

That’s right.

This was something that had been on Luo Bei mind all along. People who pursue their dreams are certainly cool, but while iron is strong and can be molded, people still need food to survive. If one can’t even take care of their own life, how can they find the energy to pursue their dreams?

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Fang Jingzhou and his grandmother’s train ticket was for the afternoon, and he was not in a particularly good mood. He didn’t feel any excitement as a child about to travel to another place.

He was wearing new clothes that Zhao Pianpian had bought for him, and he was now completely a little handsome boy compared to when they first met.

Although he was leaving his mother, Fang Jingzhou had not paid any attention to Chen Lan from beginning to end. Of course, Chen Lan was equally unwilling to pay attention to him, and this mother and son looked no different from strangers.

Fang Jingzhou held Luo Bei’s hand tightly.

As Luo Bei’s big hand held his small one, she could feel the fear and confusion of this little child.

Fang Jingzhou didn’t know what kind of environment he would face, whether he could adapt, and he didn’t want to leave the people who cared for him. But this five-year-old child was much more mature than his peers, so he knew that he had to leave.

If he stayed, he couldn’t always stay at Beibei’s house, and it would worry Beibei. He also didn’t want to go back to that rental house, afraid that the woman whom he should call mother would lock him up again.

Grandma was very good to him, and she said that Grandpa would also like him very much.

Fang Jingzhou looked down at the watch-phone on his wrist and silently recited Luo Bei’s phone number in his heart, feeling a little relieved.

Beibei said she would come to see him twice a year when he was feeling very sad.

Luo Bei pulled Fang Jingzhou aside. He was carrying his little backpack filled with snacks prepared by Luo Bei.

She squatted down and kissed him on the forehead, whispering, “Listen to your grandparents over there. They’re all your relatives. If something bothers you, don’t keep it to yourself. Tell your grandma, or call me if you don’t want to tell her. Jingzhou, Beibei hopes you can have a happy childhood.”

Fang Jingzhou nodded hard. “I will listen to my grandparents and get along well with my classmates at kindergarten. Beibei, don’t worry about me.”

Zhou Jianguo looked at the reluctant-to-part adult and child pair, walked up and pulled Fang Jingzhou’s hand to a corner where at least a group of people couldn’t see them.

Luo Bei didn’t know what Zhou Jianguo was going to do, so she followed along.

Zhou Jianguo patted Fang Jingzhou’s little head and said, “Uncle doesn’t know what to buy for you. I see they’ve already bought you clothes, toys, and snacks, which is great. I won’t repeat that. Xiao Jingzhou, I want to give you the most practical thing for people.”

Fang Jingzhou looked puzzled and asked, “What is it?”

Luo Bei vaguely guessed what Zhou Jianguo was going to do.

Sure enough, the next moment Zhou Jianguo handed him a children’s book with ten and five yuan bills tucked inside.

Luo Bei estimated that these bills added up to two or three hundred yuan.

“Keep this book to yourself, don’t let your grandparents know. This is your first little treasure trove, and for you, it’s a big sum of money,” Zhou Jianguo pointed to the ten yuan bill. “Just like this, you can buy an ice cream cone at McDonald’s, or you can buy a serving of fries or a strawberry sundae. According to the price, others will even give you change.”

Fang Jingzhou quickly hugged the children’s book.

After Zhou Jianguo’s words, Fang Jingzhou suddenly realized the importance of these things.

Luo Bei always felt that Zhou Jianguo was leading Fang Jingzhou astray… but she didn’t know how to stop him. After all, the gift he gave was indeed quite practical in the eyes of adults.

“Thank you, Uncle!” Fang Jingzhou bowed solemnly to Zhou Jianguo.

Zhou Jianguo sighed and said, “Remember, own everything but illness, lose anything but money. Take good care of yourself over there. Your parents are not around, and your grandparents cannot replace them. You need to learn to be responsible for yourself.”

At this time, neither Zhou Jianguo nor Luo Bei knew that the words “own everything but illness, lose anything but money” had left a deep impression on Fang Jingzhou.

Many years later, Fang Jingzhou still became a wealthy and powerful CEO. Well, a mentally healthy CEO.

This CEO’s motto is—

“Own everything but illness, lose anything but money.”

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