Chapter 11: Chapter 0011: Leaving Quietly
"Impossible! How could this be possible? How could that bumpkin have such ability?"
Song Yuhan immediately shook her head in denial, but inside the house, except for her, there was only him, with no third person present. Apart from him, who else could there be?
"No! I have to find him and ask him clearly."
"Ye Wudao… Ye Wudao…"
Song Yuhan called out Ye Wudao's name a few times but found that no one responded to her. Song Yuhan suddenly felt a bit of oddness and said, "Where on earth did that bumpkin run off to?"
Song Yuhan withdrew her gaze and noticed a small note next to a ballpoint pen. She picked it up and saw a row of crookedly written words: "I'm gone, you don't need to stay in hotels anymore."
Song Yuhan put down the note in her hand, immediately opened the door to the room, but found that it was empty outside. She went back and opened the room Ye Wudao lived in, only to discover that his cherished rattan wood chest had vanished, and only a set of neatly placed Versace clothes remained on the bed.
"Did that bumpkin really leave? He couldn't have taken my words today seriously, could he?" Song Yuhan muttered to herself as she looked at the empty room.
"That bumpkin is penniless, and doesn't even have money for food or accommodation. Where could he spend the night? He couldn't possibly believe that he could really earn a million in a month, could he?"
Song Yuhan suddenly began to worry about him but quickly dismissed the thought from her mind, coldly saying, "Why should I worry about him? It's good that the bumpkin is gone; his departure means one less trouble for me."
As for Ye Wudao earning a million in a month, in her eyes, it was simply impossible. It would be good enough if he didn't starve to death, yet alone earn a million. Even if he stumbled upon incredible luck and won a lottery jackpot, he would still need money to buy a lottery ticket. Pies don't just fall from the sky.
Ye Wudao had left the residential area where Song Yuhan lived, wandering aimlessly, not knowing where to go. It was all that damned old man's fault for giving him a stack of old banknotes when he left, claiming it was a lot of money and he could eat and drink without worry outside. Yet, after buying a train ticket here, Ye Wudao ran out of money.
Everywhere outside required money, even using the restroom cost something, unlike in the mountains where he could eat fruit when hungry, hunt to satisfy his stomach, and drink pure natural spring water when thirsty, without spending a penny.
Ye Wudao suddenly felt regretful. Why hadn't he waited until the next day to leave? Out here on this late night with nowhere to stay, carrying an old rattan chest, wearing a wrinkled old sweatshirt vest, stepping in a pair of flip-flops he found at the train station, with one pant leg higher than the other, he looked so much like a beggar that no one would believe him if he said he wasn't.
As Ye Wudao walked down the street, the passersby avoided him as if he were a plague, and some stylish men and women began to cover their noses from over ten meters away for fear of smelling any odor that he might be emitting.
In fact, Ye Wudao didn't smell bad at all. He not only lacked any unpleasant odor, but if one got close to him, they might even detect a fragrance as fresh as orchids. Before leaving, he had purposefully taken a bath, even sneakily using Song Yuhan's shower gel. However, his clothes were so old it was inevitable that people would suspect the man hadn't bathed in a year and a half and that his body was covered in lice.
As he meandered along, Ye Wudao didn't know where he had wandered off to. When he saw a place ahead with lights and a dilapidated bench, he walked over and had just sat down when he noticed an old man dragging a stack of cardboard from the left. The man came over and shooed him away, "Heh heh heh, move along, this spot is mine."
Seeing that Ye Wudao was young and strong, the old man worried he wouldn't be able to outcompete him, so he hurriedly scurried over. He spread the cardboard on the decrepit bench, then took off his worn-out rubber shoes and lay himself on the bench. His black feet were aimed in Ye Wudao's direction, emitting such a foul stench that Wudao was practically smoked out.
"Young man, I see you're young and strong, with hands and feet, but instead of learning something useful, you mimic others and beg. Off you go, I claimed this spot long ago. Even beggars have a pecking order," the old man said, having successfully smoked Ye Wudao out, and now lectured him with a sense of pride.
Ye Wudao found himself in the absurd situation of explaining, "I'm not begging."
"Oh! Look at you, and you say you aren't begging. Young man, don't deceive yourself. I'm old and can't handle heavy labor with these hands anymore, unlike you. You're as strong as an ox; doing some work would be much better than begging," the old man said solemnly, as if imparting wisdom from a lived experience.
Ye Wudao, truly amused now, found that he had nowhere else to go, so he just squatted by the side of the road and started chatting with the old man, "Old man, I'm really not begging. I just don't have money for accommodation and was looking for a free place to spend the night."
"You're really not out begging?" The old man clearly didn't believe him.
"I'm not, really. Look at how handsome and dashing I am; do I look like a beggar? Actually, I'm not afraid to tell you, I've been kicked out by my wife," Ye Wudao earnestly said.
"Hahaha... keep blowing that horn! So you're playing me, huh, kid? Talking about a 'wife.' You'd be lucky to have a sow agree to live with you, let alone a woman. Alright, enough, young man. You can stop trying to fool this old man. No matter what you say, I won't give up this chair to you. If you really want a free way to spend the night, there is one. Look, just walk three hundred meters forward, there's a little park where you can use the sky as your blanket and the ground as your bed; sleep however you please."
The old beggar didn't believe a word Ye Wudao said, treating him as though he was trying to take over his spot. After saying this, he stopped paying attention to Wudao, covered his head with a piece of torn paper, and started snoring away.
But Ye Wudao actually took the old beggar's words to heart. Excited at the mention of a place to sleep for free just three hundred meters ahead, he hurriedly grabbed his rattan box in search of it.
However, after walking three hundred meters, and then another three hundred, he found no sign of any little park. Realizing he had been duped by the old beggar made Ye Wudao's teeth itch with frustration.
In truth, the old beggar hadn't completely fooled him. Three hundred meters ahead there did use to be a little park, but that was ten years ago. It had long been demolished, with no little park in sight. If there really was such a park, that old beggar wouldn't need to sleep on the street. Clearly, he was worried that Ye Wudao would snatch his bench, so he conned Wudao into leaving.