Chapter 73 Encounter with the White Moonlight Once More

At these words, Chen Dabao's face turned as pale as paper. He couldn't help but take a few steps back, preparing to make his escape.

The young man recording the video was immediately displeased, "Hey, what's up with you? I'm still recording! What about the thousand yuan you promised me?"

Chen Dabao hastily replied, "Delete the video and I'll give you two thousand!"

"I'll pay three thousand for the video," Shen Xian said with a grin.

"I'll pay ten thousand! Just delete the video!" Chen Dabao's face twisted in desperation.

But then he realized, to his utter despair, that more than one person was holding up a phone and recording.

In other words, today's incident would soon spread across the internet.

"Chen Dabao, go ahead and eat," Shen Xian said with a smile.

Zhang Doudou's gaze, however, was fixed on the golden bead bracelet in Shen Xian's hand.

No woman could refuse gold, especially gold imbued with every lucky charm imaginable.

Good fortune, warding off evil, safety—who wouldn't be mesmerized?

Christianity says you should do good deeds to get into heaven after death, but hardly anyone pays attention. But if the God of Wealth tells you to kowtow and you'll be rich tomorrow, we'd all wear out our knees kneeling.

Chen Dabao gritted his teeth and turned to leave, not pausing for a moment.

The crowd burst into jeers.

"Hey, didn't you say you'd eat excrement? Why are you running?"

"Don't bother running—even if you do, I'm uploading this to TikTok."

"I've already got a clear shot of your face. There's no escaping this."

At these words, Chen Dabao stumbled, nearly losing his balance.

He truly wished he were dead. Why on earth had he chosen to provoke Shen Xian?

"Do you like it?" Shen Xian crouched down, preparing to put the golden bead bracelet around Qingqing's neck.

She was still too small; her arm couldn't support it.

But just as he was about to fasten it on her, a cool, clear voice suddenly rang out, "Excuse me, sir, are you selling that bracelet? How about ten million?"

The crowd collectively gasped.

They looked at Shen Xian with gazes full of envy and complexity.

So, just a couplet, and he’d earned ten million.

Was it really this easy to make money at a temple?

All eyes turned to the abbot.

But the abbot merely smiled and said, "Don't look at me. This young gentleman can decide for himself. Our Jinshan Temple's fate with this bracelet has ended."

Yet in his heart, the abbot was sneering.

You think it's easy to make money from Jinshan Temple? I think you worshippers are even easier to fleece. Incense that costs five yuan outside, I sell to you for eighty. Candles that cost three yuan a pair, I turn around and sell you for fifty, and you still obediently kneel. Doesn’t that just infuriate you?

Shen Xian's whole body trembled when he heard that voice, as a storm of emotions surged within him.

That voice—he doubted he would ever forget it in his lifetime.

He turned around and looked behind him.

There stood a young woman in a white dress, about twenty-four or twenty-five years old. She wore no makeup, her face fresh and pure, radiating innocence.

She was about one meter sixty-five, her skin extremely fair, her long hair casually draped over her shoulders.

Just standing there, she exuded a kind of brightness.

When Shen Xian turned, she seemed startled too upon seeing his face, but then a faint smile appeared on her lips. "So, it's you. Long time no see."

Looking at her, a myriad of complex emotions flashed through Shen Xian's eyes.

But the strongest feeling was pain.

Half of his self-respect had been ground to dust by this very woman.

In his youth, the things he treasured most had been broken, one after another, until finally he no longer had the strength to pick up the pieces.

As she smiled the smile of an old friend reunited, the hundreds of onlookers all found her beautiful.

Only Shen Xian knew just how false that smile was.

"Long time no see," Shen Xian quickly composed himself, a smile appearing on his face as well.

On the surface, he seemed genuinely surprised.

But no one could know that a tidal wave was raging in his heart.

In his youth, he had lived in a welfare institution.

The government and businesses had launched a campaign to help a million families, pairing poor households with sponsors to lift them out of poverty.

Enterprises with industries provided industrial support to increase the income of the poor. Medical institutions offered assistance so the impoverished could get care more conveniently and with reduced costs.

The company owned by her family was assigned a paired household.

Her father, wanting her to appreciate her privileged life and study harder, arranged for her to interact with the children from the welfare home—to see their hardships, eat and work with them.

He would use these poor boys and girls as examples: "Look at them, then look at your own comfortable life. Why aren't you studying harder?"

Her paired counterpart was Shen Xian.

She studied with him, encouraged him.

Perhaps it was her rebellious phase, or maybe just the novelty, or simply that she found it amusing.

She led Shen Xian to fall for her.

In adolescence, one should not encounter someone too dazzling.

She was, to Shen Xian, the most dazzling girl he had ever met.

She was academically gifted, from a wealthy family, and beautiful. No boy could resist such a girl.

Especially when she took the initiative with Shen Xian.

Shen Xian knew from early on that they weren't suited, that nothing could come of it.

But she told him again and again, "Shen Xian, I think we shouldn't overthink things. Let's just go as far as we can. All I know is, when I'm with you now, I'm happy. That's enough, isn't it?"

She was a superb actress—at fifteen or sixteen, she could play the part of someone deeply in love, her eyes filled with nothing but him.

He, on the other hand, was not an actor at all, and couldn't even pretend to be indifferent.

He fell for her, and fell hard.

Until one day, she told him, "My birthday is next month. You must come, wait for me at the school gate, and we'll go see a movie together."

They were both in their last year of middle school.

For her birthday, Shen Xian started a month early, sorting express parcels, picking up scrap, trying to earn money to buy her a plush toy.

He still remembered it cost three hundred yuan.

It wasn’t much, but for a boy, it was everything he could scrape together.

That evening, it was pouring rain as Shen Xian waited with the plush toy under his umbrella outside her elite school, ready to give it to her.

She seemed in a bad mood that day, or maybe the sponsorship activity was about to end.

When Shen Xian handed her the plush toy, she didn’t even look at it—just threw it into the mud.

Then she said, "Have you looked at yourself? Do you really think you deserve to be with me? Shen Xian, did you actually believe I liked you? I was just curious, just wanted to see how good my acting is, and you took it seriously? Stop dreaming. Study hard, and when you get into a top university, you can come work at my family's company and be a useful ox or horse."

With that, she rolled up the car window, leaving only a pair of cold, mocking eyes.

Like a princess looking down on a commoner.

The driver then stomped the plush toy into the mud.

And along with it, Shen Xian’s dignity.

"How have you been lately?" she asked softly, pulling Shen Xian out of his memories.

He nodded. "Not bad."

"As long as you're okay," she replied with a sweet smile, then asked, "I really like this bracelet. Would you let me have it?"