"I bought you some cigarettes," Lu Dapao hurriedly took a bag from the couch, which contained two cartons of Furong Wang.

"This..." The old man was taken aback, and then he widened his eyes: "Where did you get Furong Wang? This... this is too expensive."

"Bought them," laughed Lu Dapao: "Your grandson here can make money now, so I bought some things to properly honor you, old man."

"You rascal, come on, confess, what bad thing did you do?" The old man was furious, because Lu Dapao had never given him any peace of mind, starting to swipe firecrackers from street stalls at age five. At ten, he began to casually take cigarettes from shops, and at fifteen, he even became a thief once, stealing a few hundred bucks from someone. He got a serious beating for it. Although he straightened out after that one time, the old man was still somewhat uneasy. This time, the kid came back carrying so much stuff, the old man immediately sensed trouble. He grabbed his smoking pipe and threatened: "Return the things to their owner immediately. Apologize."

"Old man, I bought these with the money I worked hard to earn," Lu Dapao said discontentedly.

"You're still arguing." The old man was beside himself with anger: "Our Lu family are descendants of the Lu Country, and although we're poor now, we absolutely cannot do things like stealing and thieving that bring shame to our family's name. You... you... return them right now."

At this moment, Lu Dapao's grandmother hurried out, running while wiping her wet hands with her apron: "Old man, what are you doing? Looking fierce, did Da Pao do something bad?"

"Look!" The old man pointed at the pile of things on the couch: "This rascal brought back so much stuff, I bet he did something bad again. He's going to be the death of me."

"Da Pao, what... what's going on?" Grandmother hurried to open up the stuff, which were all bought for herself and the old man.

"I bought it with the money I earned," Lu Dapao hurried to say.

"You earned it? Is your job being a thief?" The old man, annoyed, tapped Lu Dapao's head with the smoking pipe: "You can be poor, but you mustn't lose your spirit, how many times have I told you? You smoke, you drink, I give you money for it, just so you won't steal."

"I really didn't steal," Lu Dapao was also burning with anger.

"Old man, why are you being so fierce?" Grandmother glared at her husband and said: "Let me take care of this. Da Pao, tell Grandma, how did you make the money?"

"Lin Chuan bought me and Zhou Kai two six-wheel trucks, and let us go to the construction site to earn money by hauling soil," Da Pao bowed his head and said: "These two months, I've been waking up early or working till dark each day, and I've finally saved up forty thousand yuan. Today, I got paid, so I immediately went to the market to buy clothes for you two, and also got your favorite treats, and Jin Luo ham. I know that you two have been spending all your money on me, so I wanted to really take care of you."

Upon hearing this, tears came to Grandma's eyes. The old man still had some doubts, but since things had been said to this point, he couldn't continue being angry.

"Child, you foolish child." Grandma hugged Lu Dapao, choking up.

"Grandma, I really earned this money with my own hard work," Lu Dapao hurriedly explained: "If you don't believe me, you can ask Zhou Kai."

"No, Grandma won't ask," Grandma shook her head: "Even if it was stolen, I would be content."

"Grandma, you don't believe me?" Lu Dapao became anxious.

"I believe, of course, I believe," nodded Grandma: "I've heard long ago that you're doing well outside, Grandma is very pleased."

Saying this, the old lady burst into tears. She hurried back into the room, wiping away her tears with her hand. Her grandson had grown up and finally understood. She had made up her mind - if it was indeed stolen, she would cover the loss with her own money. But if it was really earned by her grandson, then she should go to the temple to fulfill a vow, because her grandson had finally grown up.

The old man sat in the living room, smoking his pipe.

After a long while, Grandma came out of the room, breaking the silence: "Old man, since the Lin family's kid has helped Da Pao, shouldn't we go and properly thank them?"

"I was thinking the same thing," the old man nodded.

"Take this Jin Luo ham as well. It's also a token of appreciation," suggested Grandma with a smile.

"Alright," agreed the old man, if Lin family's kid really helped his grandson, not just one ham, he'd be willing to give ten hams.

Lu Dapao, who had been worrying about where to seek justice, suddenly heard the elders say they would visit the Lin family, and he burst out laughing. Then the family of three generations, carrying gifts, went off toward the Lin family's home.

Around noon, Mrs. Lin came home from work and was cooking, while Lin Chuan was smoking outside.

"Brother Chuan." Suddenly, a figure called out from a distance.

"Da Pao?" Lin Chuan stood up from his chair, asking with confusion, "Why are you here?"

"You... you are Lin Daguo's son?" the old man asked.

"I... I am." Lin Chuan said with an embarrassed face, feeling like this family came to blame him for something. He quickly said, "Grandpa, Grandma, please come inside."

Mrs. Lin saw that guests had arrived and hurried out to greet them: "Oh, Auntie, it's you guys."

"Yes, I'm... I'm here to thank your child." Grandma said with a smile: "I heard your child is doing well now, working at the City Committee?"

"Not really, he's just driving for the City Secretary, a driver that's all." Mrs. Lin was modest, but she couldn't help but reveal a sense of pride in her words.

"Driving for the Secretary is great, it's being a red man in front of the emperor." Grandma laughed: "This time, your child helped my grandson, so I've come to thank you specially."

After saying this, Grandma placed the ham on the table: "This is a little gift, you must accept it."

The old man was more direct, asking: "Lin family child, has Lu Dapao been doing transportation business recently? And he earned forty thousand yuan?"

"Haha, so you came here for this matter?" Upon hearing this, Lin Chuan laughed: "That's correct, Lu Dapao has always been diligent, working hard, and can endure hardship. This time, forty thousand is actually quite low, by normal calculations, it should be at least sixty thousand for two months. But considering the need to buy a new truck next spring, we decided to save two hundred eighty thousand for now. Please don't get the wrong idea about Da Pao, he's a good kid, an ambitious one."

Upon hearing this, the old man immediately fell silent.

"You old fool." Grandma pointed her finger fiercely at the old man's head and scolded: "I knew our Pao Pao wouldn't do such sneaky things, right? He's grown up; why do you still not believe it, causing such a scene?"

"Sigh, old age." The old man sighed, saying: "Now that things have been cleared up, that's good."

"Chuanzi, thank you." At this moment, Grandma said with gratitude: "Our Pao Pao being successful now, it's all thanks to you."

"You've got it wrong." Lin Chuan quickly waved his hand and explained: "This work is hard, and he can endure it, which shows that he has truly grown up and can now make money to support you two elders."

Having stayed at the Lin family for a while, the two elders then took Lu Dapao back home. Mrs. Lin absolutely refused to accept the gold medal ham, but the elders insisted on giving it because in their view, without Lin Chuan, there would be no Lu Dapao of today; people should learn to be grateful. With no other choice, Mrs. Lin could only accept it. A gold medal ham, its price isn't cheap at all, especially one like this, it's worth at least five or six hundred.

Upon leaving Lin Chuan's home, Grandma kept secretly wiping away tears. It turned out that her grandson got up early and worked until dark these two months because he had been working hard to earn money outside. She had misunderstood him all along. Grandma said with a sob: "Pao Pao, grandma will go home and make you your favorite lion's head meatballs."

"Okay." Lu Dapao nodded excitedly.

"Da Pao, be not arrogant in victory, nor discouraged in defeat," the old man said seriously: "Although you've earned some money, you cannot be arrogant or spend it recklessly. You're already eighteen, and in a few years, it will be time to get married, so this money..."

"This money is for your elder care." Lu Dapao happily said: "From now on, whatever you want to eat or drink, just buy it. The money, I'll give to you."

"That won't do." The old man shook his head and said: "We'll save this money for you, for when you need to buy a house and get married."

Upon returning home, Lu Dapao handed over all of the remaining thirty-six thousand yuan to his grandfather. Although the old man had seen a lot, he had rarely seen so much money; clasping several stacks of bills, he felt a slight thrill. He used a large laundry powder bag to contain it, then carefully folded it, tied it up with a string, and bound it to his waistband.

"I'll make a trip to the bank later, deposit this money into a fixed deposit account and let it earn some interest," the old man said after doing all this, his face flushing a bit.

Grandma had already gone to the kitchen to start chopping meat and make lion's head meatballs.

The news of Lu Dapao earning forty thousand yuan spread quickly throughout the factory area. Grandma, who was rather talkative, never had much to boast about her underachieving grandson before; but now that he had become promising, she told everyone she met that her grandson was doing well, able to earn money to support her, even pointing to the floral dress she was wearing, saying it was bought by her grandson.

The factory area was not very large, having lost half the people, leaving even fewer. The old lady's Xianglin's Sister-like fervor quickly spread the news to many people. Many were envious, and of course, some were skeptical. However, soon matchmakers came knocking, making the old lady incredibly happy.

..........

It wasn't just Lu Dapao who experienced this but Zhou Kai as well.

Returning home with forty thousand yuan, at first, he was scolded by his father and mother; but when they learned that it was earned by their own son, their excitement was immediate. What parents don't want their son to be like Jackie Chan? What parents don't wish for their child to be successful? Even if abandoned by his father and mother, the moment they heard the news, the hope in their hearts was instantly ignited.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.