Chapter 6: The Home-Buying Trouble

Upon hearing Granny Bai’s words, Li with Birthmark and Mr. Wang were both slightly taken aback. They looked at each other, and the birthmarked man spoke up. “Granny Bai, compensation is secondary. The main issue is these kids are too rowdy. The neighbors really can’t take it anymore!”

“We will discipline them.”

Granny Bai stood up and said to Auntie Chen, “Auntie Chen, go with them to check. Pay whatever needs to be paid.”

“This…”

The two men saw that Granny Bai wasn’t addressing their point at all and was clearly trying to make them leave. They were genuinely annoyed, but in the end, they angrily stormed off, their sleeves flicking. Auntie Chen followed them.

“Granny Bai, I don’t believe Manzi killed the dog.”

Yang Qi spoke up, wanting to stop the departing men. He felt something was off about this situation.

“Yeah yeah, I didn’t, I didn’t!”

Hearing this, Huang Man started yelling again.

“Enough. I know the truth well enough. But, what’s the use arguing with them? It’s impossible to clear things up.” Granny Bai said calmly.

Hearing this, Yang Qi thought it over and understood Granny Bai’s meaning. Given Manzi’s special condition, whatever they said would be useless, unless they had solid proof. But these two men coming like this, whatever their intentions, probably wouldn’t have left any evidence. Granny Bai’s approach was wise, yet helpless.

“What exactly are these two trying to do, falsely accusing Huang Man for no reason?”

This made Yang Qi even more confused.

Regarding Yang Qi’s absolute trust in Huang Man and his question, Granny Bai didn’t answer. Instead, she walked over to Yang Qi, looked at him steadily, and slowly said, “Today, you are very different.”

“Oh, I was just about to tell you earlier, but you said you were taking a nap, so it got delayed.”

Hearing this question, Yang Qi immediately perked up, excited. “Granny Bai, my illness is completely gone. My body isn’t cold anymore, and my mind isn’t slow anymore.”

Granny Bai froze in place. A glimmer of light seemed to flash in her calm eyes. The dense crow’s feet around her eyes momentarily gathered together, then smoothed out. Her voice held a slight rasp as she said, “Child, you were never slow.”

“Mhm.”

Yang Qi nodded heavily. Tears, for some reason, flowed naturally from his eyes, while his mouth wore a broad smile.

“This is a good thing. What are you crying for!”

Granny Bai scolded Yang Qi with a stern face, though her voice trembled.

Yang Qi’s illness had always been extremely strange. Countless doctors couldn’t do anything about it. Now, this strange illness was just… gone, which made it seem not strange at all. Granny Bai asked about Yang Qi’s physical condition and finally confirmed he was truly better. She was extremely happy deep down.

“Since you’re better now, from now on, you should help Auntie Chen and me shoulder some of the tasks in the courtyard. You are the oldest child here.”

To change the subject and stop her own tears of emotion from falling, Granny Bai said to Yang Qi, “Take Manzi back to the courtyard. Keep an eye on the other little ones too. Don’t let them go out and cause trouble anymore.”

“Those two men today wanted to…”

“Enough. Don’t worry about that. Just help watch the little ones.”

Granny Bai waved her hand, telling Yang Qi to take Manzi inside. Seeing this, Yang Qi had no choice and didn’t dare disobey Granny Bai. Back in the courtyard, Yang Qi pulled Manzi into a corner and asked what really happened. Manzi’s speech wasn’t clear, but Yang Qi roughly understood that Manzi was walking on the road when the two men suddenly pulled him here, and then everything else happened. Yang Qi knew Manzi’s personality well; this was definitely true. The more true it was, the stranger it seemed. Were those two men here to extort money?

For the whole afternoon, Yang Qi stayed in the courtyard, helping look after the children there. The tasks were numerous and detailed, but Yang Qi handled them in an orderly manner. He was used to it before, and now he was even more adept. Auntie Chen praised him several times. In the courtyard, only Manzi and a few young children had mental issues; most others had physical problems. Some noticed the change in Yang Qi and were happy, though being young, they didn’t think much more about it.

Looking at the children in the courtyard, some with mobility issues, some acting foolish or slow, Yang Qi felt a pang of sadness in his heart. He secretly vowed to help them, just as Granny Bai had helped him. This was something he absolutely had to do. Now that he had the Superpower List, all of this would surely be achieved.

“Ding!”

As the afternoon chores were nearly finished, a prompt suddenly sounded in his mind: “Ding! Task triggered: Treat the illnesses of the children in the courtyard.”

“Task completion reward: Receive a corresponding reward for each person treated. The reward depends on the treatment outcome.”

“Task failure penalty: None.”

Yang Qi was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed. He wasn’t happy just because there was a reward and no penalty, but because the task prompt indirectly told him these children’s illnesses could definitely be cured through the Superpower List.

“I must work hard to improve my superpower levels, and also find ways to activate other superpowers!”

Yang Qi clenched his fist, extremely excited.

After dinner, Granny Bai called Yang Qi over. They chatted for a while. Granny Bai had originally decided to give him the items he was found with when she picked him up, but after some thought, she decided to wait until after he graduated from high school. Granny Bai was born into wealth and could tell the items were finely made. She also understood they might represent too many things behind the scenes. She decided to observe Yang Qi a bit longer. If he was truly fully recovered and getting better, then some things and some matters should be given to him and told to him.

After chatting, Yang Qi went back to put the little ones to sleep as usual. Then, alone as usual, he went to the bookstore. Before, to reduce his headaches, he would find boring books in the bookstore and read until he fell asleep. He kept this habit, and now with his photographic memory, he naturally wanted to read more books, arming himself with more knowledge.

Someone once said, if you’re foolish, read more. If you’re ugly, read more. If you’re poor, read even more. That saying is probably correct.

It was nearly nine o’clock. Yang Qi had been reading for about three hours. Just as he was about to use meditation to practice Psychokinesis, he heard rustling sounds in the bookstore. Looking over, he saw it was the little fellow Huang Man, tiptoeing through the bookstore trying to go outside, occasionally glancing to see if Yang Qi had noticed.

“What is this little guy doing out so late?”

Yang Qi thought to himself. Seeing Huang Man had already left the bookstore, he immediately got up and followed. He saw the kid start running, heading straight towards the home of Li with Birthmark from earlier that day. Seeing this, Yang Qi immediately activated his speed and caught up. In no time, he reached Huang Man, pulled him into a corner, and scolded, “Manzi, what are you doing?”

“Bad guys. I want to hit bad guys.”

Seeing it was Yang Qi, Huang Man said in a muffled voice.

Hearing this, Yang Qi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He didn’t know if this little guy had been holding it in or suddenly remembered and got upset enough to come here. He whispered, “What bad guys? Come home with me. Don’t cause trouble for Grandma.”

“Not happy.”

Huang Man tried to struggle, but how could he break free from Yang Qi’s grip.

“Brother, Auntie Chen, and Grandma all believe you didn’t do it. Don’t be unhappy. Be good and don’t go out to cause trouble for a while. I will definitely clear your name, understand?”

Yang Qi didn’t know if Huang Man could really understand his words, but he had to say them. If Manzi really kept sneaking out at night like this, who knew what trouble might happen? He’d have to ask Auntie Chen to keep an eye out too.

Just as Huang Man was about to yell something, Yang Qi suddenly covered his mouth and quickly pulled him into another dark corner.

“Quiet.”

Yang Qi hissed a low command, then cautiously looked towards the other side. Two people were walking over there. It was Li with Birthmark and Mr. Wang.

“Lao Wang, I’m telling you, don’t be too soft-hearted. Only a fool turns down easy money! The trouble caused by the kids from the orphanage isn’t a one-time or two-time thing. If we help create a few more incidents of trouble, absolutely no one will suspect. The incidents don’t need to be big. As long as there are enough incidents, the neighbors will definitely complain. Then, with enough rumors, we won’t have to worry about not driving away that stubborn old lady.”

Li with Birthmark had clearly been drinking. He walked unsteadily, supported by Mr. Wang, gesturing as he spoke. “That old lady has so many orphans. She’ll need a place to stay. She’ll definitely have to sell this house to raise money to find another place.”

“Brother Li, what if the old lady, when she really has no choice, hardens her heart and sends all these kids to a real orphanage, and just stays alone in this house until old age? What then?”

“You don’t understand that old lady. Her temper is hard and stubborn. She would never abandon these children. And precisely because of that temper, she definitely can’t stand the gossip and long-winded complaints from the neighbors. She’ll definitely sell the house. Once this house is sold and bought by that person, you just wait to count your money. Five hundred thousand! Each of us gets five hundred thousand. What money is easier to earn than this!”

The birthmarked man got more and more excited as he spoke, spittle flying. “Even if this plan doesn’t work, I have plenty of other tricks.”

“Yes, yes. I’ll listen to you then, Brother Li. But it is strange. I don’t know why that person wants to buy that courtyard so badly. Brother Li, we’re home. Be careful.” Lao Wang helped the birthmarked man towards the house. After just a few steps, the birthmarked man started vomiting again. Luckily, his family came out.

By now, Yang Qi had already taken Huang Man away from the corner and was heading back. He walked in silence the whole way, his mind replaying the conversation he just heard. His expression grew heavier and heavier.

After quietly putting Huang Man to sleep, Yang Qi went out again. He stayed near the birthmarked man’s house for a long time. Hearing no more conversation, he had to return to the bookstore. He practiced the Meditation Technique and entered his dreams.

The next morning, after finishing his tasks, Yang Qi tried to sound out Auntie Chen. He asked if anyone had recently come to buy the property here. Auntie Chen said yes, there had been, but Granny Bai directly refused. The offer wasn’t low; it was even far above the market price.

Now Yang Qi had a better idea. Someone, for some unknown reason, wanted to buy this property. After failing, they got Li with Birthmark and Mr. Wang to help.

Yang Qi thought it over and still went to Granny Bai. He told her about what happened last night.