C6 Baiting Bees and Butterflies

Yun Buhui had received an acceptance letter from a university, but he chose to hide it away. He feared the heartache it would cause his parents to see it. With the family's financial struggles, what difference would attending university make? Even with the option of a student loan, he couldn't just abandon his parents and pursue an education for a brighter future. He simply couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Mm, what time is the train? I'll take you to the station tomorrow," Yun Buhui said, though he had no desire to visit the Hu family. Just the sight of Dr. Hu was enough to infuriate him, but he kept those thoughts to himself.

"Meet me at the entrance to the village at seven tomorrow morning," came the reply, to which Yun Buhui nodded once more.

Together, they walked the ten-mile journey for nearly two hours, yet it seemed to pass too quickly. Yun Buhui wished the road were longer. After watching Hu Feiyan enter her home, he finally walked away, feeling an indescribable emptiness inside.

The next morning, he rose early to prepare meals for his parents and filled the pig trough with feed. He then retrieved the Spirit Storage Bottle and was astonished to find it contained four or five drops of Spirit Liquid after just one night.

After mixing a drop into the pig feed, he set out. Today, Hu Feiyan was heading off to school, and he felt compelled to see her off. He arrived at Huang Family Shop village early and waited at the entrance. As dawn broke and the aroma of cooking filled the air, Yun Buhui's stomach couldn't help but rumble with hunger.

That's when he spotted Hu Feiyan approaching with a leather suitcase in hand. He hurried over and took the suitcase from her, asking, "Why so early? Are your feet still hurting?"

"I'm fine, Buhui. I've written you a letter with my university's address. Please come visit me if you get the chance," Hu Feiyan said as she handed Yun Buhui a thick envelope, clearly filled with her words.

"Don't look now. Wait until I'm gone," Hu Feiyan instructed just as Yun Buhui was about to peek into the envelope.

With a smile, Yun Buhui refrained from further insistence and continued on from the Huang Family Shop, the highway lying just over three miles ahead. This area's prosperity, compared to Fallen Mountain Village, was due to its more convenient transportation.

A few miles from the village, the highway was easily accessible. Standing there, it wouldn't be long before a bus came by. The so-called 'seeing off' was simply waiting for a bus at the roadside.

Early in the morning, the highway was quiet with few vehicles. Yet, being a main artery, even at dawn, the occasional car would drive past. As they chatted and laughed while waiting, suddenly two or three bees appeared, buzzing incessantly around Yun Buhui.

He swatted at them, irritated, and finally managed to shoo the bees away, only for a few butterflies to take their place. Yun Buhui couldn't help but feel a sense of resignation.

"Buhui, what's with you today? You seem to be a real bee and butterfly magnet," Hu Feiyan teased.

Yun Buhui, somewhat at a loss for words, found it odd too. Why were the bees so taken with him today? After a short wait, the bus finally arrived. As Hu Feiyan boarded, Yun Buhui waved and called out, "Safe travels!"

"Buhui, don't forget to visit me at school," Hu Feiyan called out from the bus window, beaming as she waved back at Yun Buhui.

"Definitely!" he promised.

Though Yun Buhui agreed readily, he knew he wouldn't be able to make it. Aside from not being able to get away, he couldn't afford the round-trip fare. Watching Hu Feiyan's arm waving goodbye as the bus disappeared into the distance left him with an inexplicable feeling of loss.

It was only then that he took out the letter Hu Feiyan had entrusted to him. Opening it with eager anticipation, he was curious about its contents. But as he unfolded the letter, he was completely taken aback.

Inside the envelope was a stack of cash, totaling exactly two thousand yuan. Confronted with this unexpected turn of events, Yun Buhui quickly went to return the money to the departing car. He couldn't justify keeping a girl's money, no matter how poor he was. But by the time he made up his mind, the car had vanished into the distance, leaving no trace to follow.

With a resigned chuckle, he unfolded a letter from within the envelope: "Buhui, don't get the wrong idea. I'm aware of your ambitions and your desire to achieve something. This money isn't a gift or a loan; it's my investment in your venture. Remember, if you make a profit down the line, don't forget to share the dividends with me."

In that moment, Yun Buhui stood still, overwhelmed with appreciation. "Rest assured, Feiyan, I won't disappoint you. I, Yun Buhui, am destined to succeed!"

On his journey home, bees and butterflies still flitted around him occasionally. It was a mild annoyance, but he didn't dwell on it. Upon arriving home, he found his parents waiting to have dinner with him. "Dad, Mom, you don't need to wait for me; go ahead and eat, or the food will get cold," he said, smiling at the sight of his mother's now healthy complexion.

"Your father-in-law stopped by earlier," his father, Yun Jie, said. "He left a message saying today is the first day, and you have two more days. If you can't come up with the money, the marriage is off. By the way, what exactly did he ask you to gather? Was it money? If it comes to it, we could sell the house."

Yun Jie might seem unassertive now, but in his youth, he was a man of great ambition. A notable scholar, he once proposed to excavate all the stones from the hills and sell them, while also carving out a road through the mountain to facilitate better transportation. Even back then, he championed the motto, "To get rich, build roads first!"

Regrettably, the task was left unfinished when a falling rock from the mountain broke Yun Jie's leg. The locals were too frightened to continue their work on the mountain. They believed Yun Jie's misfortune was a result of angering the mountain god, and that sparing his life was already a generous act of mercy.

With this incident, Yun Jie's lofty ambitions were abruptly halted, as he found himself bound by the relentless chains of his circumstances. To make matters worse, his mother, Xue Ruyin, took on the heavy responsibility of caring for him and the household. Despite her youth, she was worn down by the strain, becoming ill herself. Those who knew the family understood that the Yun family was among the most cultured and morally upright in the village.

This reputation was precisely why, when Chu Yuvlin visited today and uttered a single sentence, Yun Jie immediately intuited the underlying reason for his visit.