Chapter Fifteen: Uneasy Conscience

“Spending a bit of money to see someone for the scum they are—I think that's pretty cheap,” Yan Xuan turned to look at Gu Ming. “If you have time, go upstairs and bring down the junk he brought.”

“...It's settled, altogether 958,” Song Yang said after calculating for a while on his phone.

Yan Xuan couldn’t be bothered to argue and simply transferred a thousand. “From now on, don’t bother my sister again. Get lost!”

“Hmph! What are you so proud of? Aren’t you just a burden?” Song Yang spat on the ground after confirming the payment. He looked at Gu Ming, who was coming down with his things. “Gu Ming, you refuse to listen to me, but you’ll suffer for it sooner or later, just wait. This house will belong to someone else in the end, and you won’t have anything to do with it!”

“Get out! Get out of here!” Gu Ming threw the things to the ground.

“These are mine. If you break them, you’ll have to pay me,” Song Yang retorted, making Gu Ming’s chest heave with anger. Yan Xuan shook his head and pulled her behind him. “If I’m not mistaken, your 958 includes today’s stuff, right? So these things are ours—we paid for them. My sister can smash them or throw them away if she likes. Unless you want to pull up the transaction record and settle accounts right now?”

“I—I already deleted it!” Song Yang blustered, but when he saw the angry faces around him, he lowered his head, grabbed one of the items, and ran off.

“Let’s go home. Mom’s made lots of good food,” Yan Xuan sighed silently, putting his arm around Gu Ming’s shoulders as they went upstairs.

At the front door, Gu Ming stopped. “Yan Xuan, am I really stupid? I spent over half a year with a man like that.”

“It’s alright, good things come after some trials. The right person is out there waiting for you—when fate comes, nothing can stop it.” Yan Xuan wiped her tears. “You’re my sister, you’ll definitely marry your prince charming!”

“Smooth talker,” Gu Ming managed a smile through her tears. “Suddenly, I really envy Zhou Man.”

“Come on, time to go!”

The house was still quiet, but Old Gu wasn’t there—only the little girl, Lanlan, remained.

“Where’s Dad?” Yan Xuan asked, nudging Gu Ming to go wash her face.

Gu Ming went into the bathroom. Old Gu came out as she entered, and father and son met eyes, neither saying a word. But between men, everything was understood without words.

Old Gu patted Yan Xuan’s shoulder, sighing with relief.

“Ready to eat?” Old Ding called from the kitchen, and everyone began to tidy the table.

Today’s dishes were indeed plentiful—fish, meat, cold appetizers—all Old Ding’s specialties.

Although there was one less person than expected, everyone tacitly avoided mentioning it, as if nothing had happened today.

They even opened a bottle of wine Yan Xuan had brought back.

Gu Ming and Old Ding had a bit too much, and each went to their room to rest.

The living room was left with just Old Gu and Yan Xuan. Their division of labor was clear—one cleaned, the other washed dishes. Yan Xuan naturally chose cleaning. By the time Old Gu finished tidying the kitchen, the living room was spotless, with even the trash and old junk gone.

“When did you go downstairs?” Old Gu wondered, feeling he hadn’t noticed Yan Xuan leaving.

Yan Xuan quickly changed the subject.

“By the way, you asked me earlier about buying a house, right?” Old Gu remembered. “Did something happen?”

“Yes,” Yan Xuan smiled and nodded.

He would never tell anyone about the system, his golden finger. But winning five million—he didn’t intend to hide that from his family.

“What happened? Are you getting married? That’s good news. If you need a bigger house, I have a little savings. And—”

Yan Xuan grinned and called toward the bedroom, “Mom, Dad’s got a little—”

Old Gu quickly covered Yan Xuan’s mouth, giving him a helpless look.

“So, what’s the matter?”

“Dad, I won the lottery,” Yan Xuan said seriously.

“Hm? You play the lottery?” Old Gu’s focus was a little off. “I study the lottery too. Next time, let’s figure out a set together.”

“Dad, aren’t you going to ask how much I won?” Yan Xuan said with a sigh. Now he knew where Gu Ming got her nature.

“How much did you win?”

“Five million. After taxes, four million.”

“...How much?” Old Gu’s eyes glazed over.

“Five million. But after taxes and donations, it’s down to three hundred eighty—oh, now just over three hundred fifty thousand.”

Old Gu was completely stunned.

He’d been an honest man all his life. His first wife passed away early, and he raised his daughter alone until he met Old Ding. Even though Old Ding had a son, a burden, he never resented it, treating him as his own.

The couple were ordinary people, raising three children together. Life was tight and hard.

The family’s savings had never exceeded a hundred thousand—money set aside for their children’s weddings.

But now, what had he just heard?

His son bought a lottery ticket and won a five million grand prize?

Five million! In his whole life, he’d never dared to dream of such a sum!

“Dad, come to your senses,” Yan Xuan laughed. “I’ll keep five hundred thousand. The rest is for you and Mom to buy a bigger, better house.”

Old Gu finally came back to himself, but shook his head at Yan Xuan. “I don’t want the money. You keep it, buy a house, buy a car, live well.”

“What are you saying? Aren’t you my Dad?”

“I…” Old Gu rubbed his temples. “I feel like I drank too much. I’m a bit confused.”

“Just go sleep. We’ll talk when Mom wakes up.” Yan Xuan pushed him into the bedroom, then sprawled on the sofa, idly scrolling through news on his phone.

Thunderbolt! The lottery jackpot was stolen—the five million prize was claimed yesterday!

Yan Xuan sat up abruptly.

Five million? Claimed yesterday?

Were they talking about him?

But what’s this about the ticket being stolen?

Yan Xuan quickly clicked the link.

It was no gimmick—a man with his face blurred was recounting his story.

Apparently, a few days ago he bought a lottery ticket and put it away, not paying it any mind. After the draw, he saw that the winning numbers matched his, and was overjoyed. But what infuriated him was that he couldn’t find the ticket.

Today, he learned the jackpot had already been claimed, so he angrily contacted the media, demanding that whoever stole his ticket return the money.

Yan Xuan read the whole article, his brows tightly furrowed.

There was only one winner this time. If the man claimed that his ticket was lost, then… this ticket could very well have been his.

Yan Xuan felt uneasy.

He hurriedly asked the system about the ticket’s origin. The system had said all items exchanged were ownerless. And lottery tickets weren’t registered or replaceable—if lost, it’s just bad luck. But if it really had been stolen from someone…