“What kind of vest costs 80? Xiao Chen, I know you’re a rich young master now, but we can’t forget the traditional virtues of diligence and thrift! Don’t forget how I taught you before? We should…” Wang Nanshan not only interrupted Lin Chen, but also gave him another half hour of traditional virtues education.
Later, his voice finally went hoarse, so he stopped talking.
"Uncle Nan, I remember everything you taught me! But please let me finish. It's true that the vest cost 80, but it also gave me a chance to win a prize! Guess what I won?" Lin Chen hesitated whether to tell Wang Nanshan the truth, after all, he didn't want to be too flashy.
Especially if Lin Yiming or Lin Ruoyue found out, who knows what problems might arise. But Wang Nanshan held a different place in Lin Chen's heart, and he didn't want to keep it from this honest old dean.
"What else could I get? Thanks for your patronage! Or is it 'Buy one more item' again? Xiao Chen, where was I? Right, right, 'Farmers toil under the midday sun, their brows furrowed, 'Who says it's not hard work...'" Wang Nanshan started reciting again.
"It's not 'thank you for your patronage,' nor 'buy another item,' but rather, I won a pair of shoes," Lin Chen explained.
“A pair of shoes is good! At least you can wear them! But shoes that cost a few dozen yuan shouldn’t cost 80, right?” Wang Nanshan asked doubtfully.
“Not a few dozen yuan, but 100,000,” Lin Chen replied.
"10 yuan? You won slippers?" Wang Nanshan still didn't hear clearly.
“It’s 100,000… Uncle Nan.” Lin Chen’s voice was almost hoarse.
...
Wang Nanshan exaggeratedly picked at his ear, as if trying to remove every obstacle preventing him from hearing. "You kid, repeat it to me verbatim again. My ears were a little blocked just now, and I didn't hear you clearly." He said slowly after a long while, his eyes revealing an undeniable seriousness.
Lin Chen smiled helplessly and had no choice but to speak again: "I said I spent 80 yuan to buy a vest, and it turned out that the vest was part of a lottery. I drew a prize and won a pair of limited edition shoes. Then, I resold them and made 100,000 yuan."
Wang Nanshan's eyes widened in disbelief: "Really? You kid, don't lie to me. I'm not well-educated, so don't try to bully me!"
Lin Chen's wry smile deepened; he knew Wang Nanshan's words weren't entirely unfounded. "Of course it's true. I've deposited all the money into this bank card. You can check it directly."
As he spoke, he handed over a bank card, which he had opened in the name of Wang Nanshan's coworker, to store this windfall.
He planned to keep the other card as a backup fund in case of unforeseen circumstances. The reason he chose to use someone else's name was to avoid being discovered by Lin Yiming and Lin Ruoyue.
Wang Nanshan took the bank card, his hands trembling slightly. He still couldn't quite believe it. "You brat, are you sure you only won 100,000? You didn't steal it from home to fool me, did you?"
Lin Chen shook his head, a wry smile tinged with helplessness. "Don't worry, Uncle Nan, when have I ever lied to you? There's 70,000 yuan in this card right now. Take it and buy yourself some good food and clothes. The rest is for the reconstruction fund of our orphanage! I'm going to use the other 30,000 yuan to go to school and finish my studies..."
He spoke excitedly, completely unaware that Wang Nanshan's eyes were already moist. Perhaps it was because he had suffered so much these past years, especially with the orphanage reconstruction fund that Lin Chen mentioned—that had been his lifelong goal!
"Xiao Chen, I don't even know what to say..." Wang Nanshan said, tears streaming down his face, as he tightly embraced Lin Chen. Their hug was filled with warmth and strength, as if two people abandoned by fate had rediscovered hope for life at this moment.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye. No accidents occurred at Wang Nanshan's construction site, and Lin Yiming, Lin Ruoyue, and the others did not pursue Lin Chen. Lin Chen, meanwhile, earned his first pot of gold. This money not only gave him hope for life but also deepened his understanding of the world.
During this time, Lin Chen kept a close eye on the news. Because Lin Yiming was likely to be arrested for assault, he had been closely monitoring the situation.
However, there has been no news coverage on this matter. Lin Chen figured that even if he didn't take the blame for Lin Yiming, with his wealthy parents and Lin Ruoyue's powerful connections, finding another scapegoat would be more than enough for them.
Lin Chen is even starting to suspect that Lin Yiming may have done this on purpose! In his memory, Lin Yiming is not the kind of person who would hurt someone with a knife. The whole thing is strange and suspicious.
In other words, what if Lin Yiming deliberately wanted to frame him? Did he intentionally create this incident, then brainwash his parents and sister to make him take the blame for him, thus ruining himself? If that's the case, Lin Yiming is indeed ruthless!
"My dear brother, since you're ruthless enough, then I'll show you what it means to be even more ruthless!" Lin Chen secretly vowed in his heart.
He suddenly realized that besides coveting the Lin family's wealth, Lin Yiming also had a long-held dream: to get into Haizhou University, a top-tier 985 university in China.
Since both Lin Ruoyue and Lin Ruoyan are high achievers, Lin Yiming will need an impressive academic background to rightfully inherit the family fortune.
However, his academic performance would normally be insufficient to get him into Haizhou University. But the Lin family came up with a solution: to sponsor the establishment of a Hope Relief Fund at Haizhou University, which would provide subsidies to disadvantaged children and reward high-achieving students each year.
This might lead the principal and the school board to make an exception and accept Lin Yiming.
With this in mind, Lin Chen came up with a plan. The first step in implementing this plan was for him to also enter Haizhou University. This was a difficult task for him, because he had always been oppressed by the Lin family and had never had the opportunity to study properly.
Since he couldn't go back to his original school, Lin Chen quickly found a high school in a county town and asked Wang Nanshan to register him as his parent, treating his 30,000 yuan as tuition.
Although the school principal and director found it strange that a student was transferring schools right before the college entrance exam, especially a senior high school student, they agreed because of the money.
"Staying at school isn't necessarily a bad idea. How could Lin Yiming and Lin Ruoyue have imagined that after escaping this ordeal, I would still be thinking about preparing for my college entrance exams while I'm still at school? The most dangerous place is probably the safest place!" Lin Chen thought to himself.
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