The sun was blazing at the village entrance. A few elderly men had set a table in the shade and sat down to play cards again.
Father Ji squeezed himself in, and the others looked at him with open contempt.
"Hey, hey, why are you playing so slowly?" Father Ji frowned tightly, complaining.
The old man across from him didn't look too happy either. "If you have so much to say, don't come play."
Father Ji gave an embarrassed smile and shut his mouth.
He eyed the cigarettes on the table, helped himself to one with a casual, familiar air, then bent over and picked up the lighter belonging to the man opposite him to light it.
The cigarette's owner wore a look of pure annoyance and promptly stuffed the pack back into his pocket.
Father Ji pointed at him with the cigarette in his hand. "Stingy."
Called stingy, the man didn't react at all. He genuinely didn't want to talk to Father Ji—not even a little bit.
Just then, a dusty white car pulled up beside them. Before long, a man in a wrinkled suit got out.
He clutched a briefcase and grinned apologetically. "Oh, Uncle Wang, you're still in such great shape!"
The insurance agent cheerfully squeezed into the card game, handing each person a cigarette.
In the village, the person everyone usually despised the most was Father Ji. But now, with this agent around, Father Ji started putting on airs, letting out a snort of contempt.
"The insurance salesman is back," Father Ji said with a scoff. "If you're going to sell, go ask the young people. What's the point of asking us old folks? Where would we get the money?"
The agent kept explaining his insurance policy, but every time he spoke, Father Ji interrupted—either sneering or adding exaggerated gestures.
It wasn't really that he had anything against the agent personally. He just liked being the center of attention when there was an audience.
The agent, who had been inexplicably shut down multiple times: …
Eventually, the agent gave up on him and turned his attention to Uncle Wang instead.
"Uncle, people eat all kinds of food, so there's bound to be a small accident or two. That old man from the west end of the village—did you hear? He also bought my insurance."
Hearing about the village's west end, Uncle Wang looked up. "That west-end guy did get quite a payout."
The agent grew more enthusiastic as he talked, and soon the others stopped playing cards entirely, listening attentively.
Father Ji kept shouting from the sidelines that it was all a scam, but no one paid him any attention.
Feeling bored and ignored, Father Ji just went home, his mind filled with everything the agent had said.
What if he bought a policy himself, and then found some sucker on the road…
As soon as he got home, he immediately called Ji Fangyun, but the call wouldn't go through. He tried Ji Chaoxi's number, but no one answered either.
Furious, he threw the phone down and started rummaging through the house for anything valuable.
As he searched, a sudden thought flashed through his mind—hadn't Ji Fangyun bought her sister a gold necklace and gold earrings a while back…
"Spending all my money," Father Ji spat. He stared at the nearby room, lost in thought.
At the racetrack, just approaching the platform, his ears were stung by the dense roar of engines, the air thick with the acrid smell of burning tires.
Every time a car passed, the crowd in the stands let out a burst of screams.
Ji Chaoxi appeared, wearing a hat and holding a grabber in her hand. Amid the confused stares of those around her, she began picking up bottles.
Picking up bottles was just the excuse. What she really wanted was to ask for money.
Ji Chaoxi's eyes were dark and focused as she watched the cars on the track, even though she had no idea which one belonged to Zhou Chiye.
Zhou Chiye probably didn't know yet that he had drawn the attention of a money-draining devourer!
After a long while, the roar on the track finally stopped, replaced by the sound of engines cooling down.
The doors lifted upward. Zhou Chiye propped himself on the roof of the car and stepped out, pulling off his helmet, his hair slightly disheveled.
As soon as Zhou Chiye appeared, the stands erupted in cheers.
"So handsome, Brother Ye!"
"Old Lin, you're such a loser—dude, do you even know who you're racing against?"
Zhou Chiye walked up onto the platform, leaned against the railing, and took a few sips of water handed to him by others. His peripheral vision suddenly caught a familiar figure.
When he turned to look, his eyes locked precisely with Ji Chaoxi's.
Zhou Chiye frowned at her. She was wearing a hat, but it wasn't much help—her face was still flushed red from the sun. She clutched the grabber so tightly that her fingertips had gone pale.
Zhou Chiye looked at her with annoyance. The money he'd given her couldn't possibly have left her so broke that she had to come pick up bottles here, looking so pitiful.
If she couldn't take care of herself, no amount of help from others would make a difference.
The people around him felt the cold aura radiating from Zhou Chiye and were momentarily confused.
What was Brother Ye so angry about this time? No one could ever figure out his temper.
Feeling glared at by Zhou Chiye, Ji Chaoxi's spirits sank, and she shuffled off to pick up bottles somewhere else.
Zhou Chiye frowned, watching her retreating figure until it grew distant, then let out a sarcastic laugh.
Before anyone could react, Zhou Chiye strode over and grabbed hold of Ji Chaoxi. He jabbed at her shoulder with a fiercely irritated expression, scaring her, and she stumbled back a few steps.
Now it wasn't just Ji Chaoxi who was stunned; everyone around was too.
"Bro… Brother Ye," Ji Chaoxi whispered, her eyes reddening.
Zhou Chiye's face was cold, his expression furious. He pulled Ji Chaoxi back from where she was close to the staircase and jabbed her a few more times.
The others stared in shock.
Someone quickly intervened: "Brother Ye, no need to go that far. She's just picking up bottles—she didn't do anything to you. Really, take it easy."
"Yeah, Brother Ye, you shouldn't push a girl around."
Beside him, a guy in glasses started sweating. Had Brother Ye somehow evolved into someone who bullied girls too?
Zhou Chiye's tone was hard and cold. "Why are you out here picking up bottles again in this blazing heat? Are you short on money?"
Ji Chaoxi murmured softly, "Brother Ye, there's never enough money."
Zhou Chiye gave a dismissive laugh, his eyes fixed on her. "How much money can you earn picking up these bottles? More than what I transferred to you? And if you drop dead from heatstroke, won't that be too bad for you?"
The guy in glasses kept glancing between the two of them, trying to smooth things over. "Really, Brother Ye, it's not that serious. The weather is a little hot, but it won't kill anyone."
If anyone was going to drop from heatstroke, it'd be Zhou Chiye first—he was the one who loved playing basketball under the scorching sun.
Zhou Chiye stared at Ji Chaoxi, whose head was hung low, and his anger peaked. "It won't kill her? Her face is red, her hands are red, she's swaying from the heat, and she's dragging that huge machine around—call that not deadly?!"
He had seen her dragging that huge contraption just earlier, almost taking a fall.
He really couldn't figure out what was going through her head!
Was money more important than her health?
A strange, heavy silence fell over the air.
The guy in glasses glanced at Zhou Chiye's face. Brother Ye's face was way redder than the girl's. Maybe he should worry about himself first…
The guy in glasses cleared his throat. "Miss, Brother Ye is just concerned about you. Next time, try not to make him worry, okay? Maybe lay off the bottle picking for a while."
