No. 29 Goddess' Fragmented Past

  Wang Jian's text message had been sent, but he hadn't received a response from Lin Yaxuan yet. However, according to Wang Jian's character, not getting an answer didn't bother him at all. In his opinion, Lin Yaxuan was just a mediocre woman who was terminally ill. If she weren't Tianran Er's sister, Wang Jian wouldn't even have bothered sending her a message, let alone glance at her.

  "Hey, isn't it against ancestral teachings to make money this way? It's so mysterious!"

  Dawei, Wang Jian and Tianran sat in a row behind the school's artificial hill on a sunny spring afternoon, basking in the warm sunlight. Although the spring breeze still carried a hint of coolness, it was already late March or early April, and the sun's temperature was just right, making people drowsy.

  Tianran Er was lowering her head, seemingly lost in thought. However, judging from the frequency of her finger movements, her brain must have been spinning at high speed. It's worth noting that Tianran Er is not stupid, but rather a personal computer with an IQ rivaling that of Da Vinci, according to Dawei. The only reason she hasn't succumbed to her exceptional intelligence is because fate occasionally causes her super intellect to jam, temporarily rendering it useless. Of course, Dawei's words aren't entirely trustworthy. Wang Jian had asked Tianran Er herself, and she claimed that she was never clever, but rather a bit dull-witted since childhood. Her achievements were solely due to her lack of social skills, which led her to stay at home and study diligently... Wang Jian found this explanation more plausible than Dawei's eccentric one.

  Dawei was reading the message Wang Jian sent to Lin Yaxuan, stroking his beard and muttering to himself: "People who usually have a family motto usually fall into two categories. One is because they're really too awesome, can't help but hide their light. Otherwise, they'll be the first to get shot down. The other is because they've already suffered greatly from it, so they must keep a low profile. Looking at Wang Jian's situation, he's poor and has many good skills, that means he must have been really awesome before, didn't hide his light, got shot down, suffered greatly, and now he's reflecting on the past and must keep a low profile."

  Wang Jian turned his head and took a look at Dawei, and he was truly impressed by this guy. With just a slight tone and a few ambiguous words, he had already guessed the general idea of what was going on in his own family.

  And from his eyes, it can be seen that he is not talking nonsense, absolutely has gone through his mind and replayed the whole thing in his mind several times. And summed up an answer that he thinks is about 80% correct, and then... this answer was marked as correct.

  "Don't look at me like that, I'm not gay." Dawei sighed: "I've been receiving logical training since I was three or four years old, cruel training, three or four years old..."

  Wang Jian snorted at Da Wei, looking at him with disdain: "I started carrying sandbags when I was two years old and carried 55-pound water buckets when I was three or four."

  "I also received enlightenment in aesthetics, music, reasoning, management, planning, socializing, literature and psychology at the same time." Dawei seemed to have thought of something painful, covering his temples and burying his head in his knees: "You dare to be more miserable than me?"

  "You won, your parents must really hate you."

  At this time, Tianran raised her head and looked at the white clouds floating in the sky. Her eyes were empty, just like her brain was also empty: "I've rarely seen my parents since I was a child, and I grew up in my aunt's house. When I was three or four years old, I would run around naked with my sister on the ridge of the field, just like the boys. As I got older, I followed the boys to catch fish in the water, and almost drowned several times. I must have gotten water in my brain back then."

  "You still have a strong sense of being brainwashed." Wang Jian lay down on the ground, lit a cigarette: "I've never seen my own parents."

  "Let the mascot continue!" Dawei slapped Wang Jian hard: "Don't interrupt, when she's not clear-headed, you won't be able to hear it anymore."

  She didn't care about Da Wei's teasing at all, and simply gently tucked a strand of her naturally chestnut-colored hair behind her ear, tilting her head to let the sunlight shine into her eyes from the side, revealing a black-blue light like crystal.

  Wang Jian felt she was really beautiful, truly no star could be as beautiful and transparent as her.

  "My aunt's family was quite poor at that time, and they could only eat meat during the holidays. They even gave me all the lean meat, while my sister got the fatty meat and skin. I think from then on, my sister started to resent me?"

  "That's for sure, little girl's jealousy is the root of all evil." Dawei said with a professional tone: "This can also explain why you two grew up in the same environment but became two extremes. No wonder neither of you can find a boyfriend."

  Later when I was in high school, my aunt passed away, leaving only my uncle who struggled to make ends meet with his small restaurant and the money my dad sent back. Actually, I had known for a long time that my parents got divorced not long after I was born, probably due to cultural differences. My mom never cared about me, and at that time, my dad was still a young writer with very thin income from his articles, and it was already the limit for him to send back several hundred yuan every month.

  She said that the natural second eyebrow raised, but did not have the general girl's misfortune when telling her own misfortune, but rather a nostalgic thought.

  "Although I'm poorer than when I was a kid, I'm still quite happy." Tianran's smile revealed the typical elegance of an internationalized girl: "After school, I help people watch their stores and sell clothes. During summer vacation, I work at KFC while distributing flyers. I'm really strong, my highest monthly salary was over 3,000 yuan when I was 16 years old."

  Wang Jian sighed again after Da Wei, and then sighed at Tianran Er: "I was too ordinary three thousand years ago."

  "Where's your money then? You should have over a million by now?" Dawei snorted: "Don't brag."

  "I didn't let you down, I've sent people off." Wang Jian said this with a swagger: "Several college students in my village were funded by me to go to school."

  Tianran glanced at Wang Jian, who was holding a straw in his mouth, and his eyes narrowed into a smile, but he didn't respond to him. Instead, he continued telling his own story: "Later on, my uncle's small restaurant went out of business due to demolition, and he lost his income. But the year I graduated from high school, he suddenly took out a large sum of money and sent me to France."

  "Send it to your mom's place?"

  She nodded naturally and smiled slightly.

  "I still remember the look on my mom's face when I showed up with a backpack. She was already a well-known star in France at that time, and of course, she couldn't suddenly acknowledge having a grown-up illegitimate daughter like me. So I ended up living with her under the guise of being her niece, and after studying French and English for three months, I got accepted into Columbia University's law school and then headed to the US. Actually, I was trying to escape the atmosphere of that home which didn't belong to me, so I set my heart on getting into a school, and unexpectedly, I really did get in."

  "This is genius......" Dawei gave a thumbs up: "Alright, now I roughly know the story behind you."

  Wang Jian sat up with a start, looking at Dawei with a puzzled expression and said: "Impossible!"

  "Then I'll continue for her, see if what I say is right or not." Dawei chuckled: "Later after going to university, your uncle mysteriously got rich and became a wealthy tycoon. Do you know why? People, when forced into a corner, can do anything, do you know how Old Lin got rich?"

  Tianran Er and Wang Jian nodded in unison.

  "It's a drug dealer." Dawei also lit a cigarette: "I knew that. Lin Wu, originally named Lin Shaohua, was 38 years old when his wife died, and 40 years old when he became rich. Then, because of his ruthless and efficient methods, he quickly rose to become a notorious drug lord at the age of 45. At 47, he retired and lived out the rest of his life in peace. His daughter took over his position and was even more ruthless than him. Lin Wu only dabbled in drugs, but our Xuanxuan, she's into everything: eating, drinking, whoring, gambling, and taking drugs. By her early 20s, she had already surpassed her father's reputation."

  "What does this have to do with mascots?"

  Wang Jian asked the right question, and both Tianran Er looked at Dawei with eager eyes, determined to extract something useful from his words.

  "Of course, it's related. The mascot just said so. Lin Wu suddenly took out a large sum of money to send the mascot abroad. Where did this money come from? He definitely didn't say. In other words, he didn't want us to know his every move, so he kept the mascot overseas until he was about to die and then summoned her back because he missed her. Then she was entrusted with his last wishes."

  "What's with the orphan?" Wang Jian was a bit dizzy: "What kind of orphan?"

  "How did you know?"

  Tianran looked extremely surprised, gazing at Dawei's playful and mischievous face, suddenly feeling a chill run down his spine. Meanwhile, Dawei leaned against the grass, just like Wang Jian, biting on a blade of dogtail grass, staring straight up at the blue sky.

  "I said, I'm a master of logic." Dawei said calmly: "Do you know why your uncle wants to send you away? Because he also wants you to maintain the clean state you are in now. I think you're the cleanest person in this world, so clean that I don't even dare look into your eyes."

  But he said, suddenly pausing: "Should be one of the cleanest people now, with an extra one."

  "Who!" Wang Jian looked extremely curious, leaning over to look at Dawei: "Is there someone else like her?"

  Dawei stretched out one finger and pointed at Wang Jian's nose tip: "You."

  "Stop messing around."

  Wang Jian's face turned slightly red, and to cover up his embarrassment, he stood up abruptly, patted his butt, and stretched: "The lunch break bell has rung, I have to go catch people."

  "Arrest him?" The natural second glance changed instantly, and he said tactfully: "Isn't that too violent? Don't use violence again, it will harm yourself."

  Wang Jian rubbed his nose: "This doesn't depend on me, it depends on whether the other side cooperates. I have to catch everyone in my class within a month."

  "Oh..." The naturally soft voice responded with a gentle "oh", then suddenly and urgently called out to Wang Jian:

  "You... if my sister comes to find you again, don't make things difficult for her, okay? Please."

  Wang Jian turned his head to look at Tianran Er's bright and shiny eyes, nodded affirmatively, smiled at him, and then jumped down the nearly vertical fake mountain like a goat.

  "It's really cool to have stairs and not walk them." Dawei whispered to Wang Jian, then flipped over: "Mascot, help me substitute for class this afternoon, I'll take a nap here."

  "It's me again..."

  "Yes... you also know I just got dumped, so be considerate of me."

  "Alright, take good rest and don't be too sad."

  After sending Tianran Er away, Dawei excitedly made a V sign and then took out his phone and dialed a number: "Uncle Yao, I have a favor to ask of you. This afternoon I'll come to your place, you see... Alright, alright, I knew Uncle Yao would spoil me the most! So this afternoon we won't part ways."