Can I still be saved? [Transmigration] - Chapter 7

Fu Hanzhou ignored Su Yunjing.

“If you wait too long, the fritters won’t stay crispy,” Su Yunjing urged him to eat quickly.

Fritters were a popular Southern snack made with shredded radish and scallions mixed into a batter and deep-fried until golden crisp.

Beyond the rich aroma of oil, there was also a faint fragrance of scallions. Kids especially loved them.

Fu Hanzhou pressed his lips together, his still-youthful face blank with indifference.

He didn’t believe anyone in this world could be truly kind to him.

Especially not someone who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

He didn’t need friends. Fu Hanzhou thought coldly.

Su Yunjing picked up a fritter and held it near Fu Hanzhou’s mouth. “Try it. It smells really good.”

Clearly, Fu Hanzhou didn’t want to eat it but as if under some spell, he opened his mouth and took a bite.

It was indeed fragrant. And very crispy.

Seeing him take a bite, Su Yunjing smiled and placed the rest into Fu Hanzhou’s hand.

“Greasy food like this can get cloying. Have some pickled cucumbers—my mom made them. They’re refreshing and whet the appetite.”

He nudged the plate of pickled cucumbers closer to Fu Hanzhou.

But Fu Hanzhou remained silent.

After a long pause, he fixed his gaze on Su Yunjing and asked, “Why do you want to be friends with me?”

Looking into those overly calm, jet-black, beautiful eyes, Su Yunjing thought to himself, no matter how mature he acted, he was still just a seven-year-old child.

Children are very sensitive.

They need affection, and a healthy environment to grow up in.

Fu Hanzhou’s early maturity, in the end, was just a symptom of his lack of security.

Su Yunjing reached out to pat the little guy’s head. He had the tender face of an eight-year-old, but spoke like an old man.

“No real reason. But if I had to give one—let’s just say it’s fate.”

There were so many people who died in car accidents, but he was the one chosen by the system, assigned to Fu Hanzhou’s side.

Su Yunjing believed that this was fate.

Fu Hanzhou clearly didn’t like being touched. He slapped Su Yunjing’s hand away.

Su Yunjing looked at the palm print on the back of his hand.

Hmm, not bad. The ‘cold and prickly’ character had not collapsed .

After that, Fu Hanzhou said nothing more. He just sat there silently, holding the fritter and eating it.

Having fed Fu Hanzhou, Su Yunjing returned home feeling satisfied.

As Su Yunjing’s figure disappeared into the distance, Fu Hanzhou’s beautiful face was slowly swallowed by the darkness after sunset.

The flickering lights from thousands of homes in the distance reflected in Fu Hanzhou’s calm eyes, making it hard to guess what he was thinking.

Summer vacation was just around the corner. The weather was getting hotter by the day, and the trash bags at home had to be taken out daily.

Especially kitchen waste, leave it a day and tiny flies would appear.

When Song Wenqian passed by the kitchen, she noticed that the trash bag had been changed again.

“You’re doing well lately, Old Lu,” she teased her husband, sprawled on the sofa watching the sports channel, in a good mood.

Lu Tao looked up, puzzled. “What do you mean, doing well?”

“You actually took the initiative to take out the trash. Not bad. Keep up this level of awareness, and I’ll reward you with a cup of sour plum juice.”

Lu Tao was even more confused. “I didn’t take out the trash.”

“You didn’t?” Song Wenqian blinked. “Then who did?”

“If it wasn’t you or me, then it must’ve been our son,” Lu Tao said, glancing toward Su Yunjing’s room. “Where is he?”

Just as they were talking, Su Yunjing pushed open the door and came with his keys.

He changed into slippers and saw the original owner’s parents in the living room. “Dad, Mom,” he called out.

“My little darling’s home. Are you thirsty? I poured you some sour plum juice,”

Song Wenqian said, walking over and handing him the cup she’d just taken from Lu Tao.

Lu Tao: “Wasn’t that for me?”

Song Wenqian shot him a glare. “At least my son knows how to take out the trash. And you? You get home from work and plop down on a sofa like a lord.”

Knowing he was in the wrong, Lu Tao dared not argue.

With a cold snort, Song Wenqian stopped paying him any attention.

Turning back to Su Yunjing, her tone softened significantly. “Were you the one who took out the trash these past few days?”

“Mm. I took it out while I was going out to play.”

Emotionally speaking, he didn’t have any real ties to this family. Su Yunjing felt it wasn’t right to just eat and live here without doing anything, so he helped out however he could. It put his mind at ease.

“I knew it. Your dad could never be that diligent. My son is the best.” Song Wenqian cupped his face and gave him a big smooch.

Su Yunjing: “…”

As an adult, he still couldn’t quite get used to the identity of being someone’s child.

He forced out a pure and innocent smile. “Mom, can we have ribs for dinner tomorrow night?”

Ever since that day, Fu Hanzhou had never turned him away again.

Su Yunjing saw this as a good start and wanted to make up for the malnutrition caused by Fu Hanzhou’s inconsistent meals.

“Of course you can. My son can eat whatever he wants. Even if you asked for the moon, Mom would go pluck it down and stew it for you.”

She ruffled his hair and saw that he was sweating. “Come on, let’s go take a bath.”

“…Let Dad bathe me today.”

Song Wenqian didn’t think much of it and called out to the man on the sofa, “Lu Tao! Did you hear that? Your son wants you to give him a bath.”

The man on the sofa moved. “Coming.”

During the last class before school ended on Wednesday, Su Yunjing’s homeroom teacher handed out A4 papers to each student.

“This is for your parents. Don’t lose it. Make sure they read it carefully,” the teacher reminded them repeatedly from the podium.

“Got it!”

The kids shouted back in unison, voices drawn out and full of energy.

Su Yunjing glanced down at the sheet: A Letter to the Parents.

This era loved to promote moral role models. There were always awards for things like “Top Ten People Who Inspired China” or “Top Ten National Model Workers” etc.

Besides national-level honors, the provincial and county levels also had their own versions of moral model selections.

This letter to the parents was because their principal was a candidate in the county’s “Top Ten Most gǎndòng People” contest.

Its purpose was to gather votes by encouraging parents to mobilize their friends and family to vote for the principal.

The county TV station even created a special program to report on these candidates’ stories.

Looking at the letter, Su Yunjing had other thoughts.

Ever since finding out that their principal was participating in the selection, he’d started keeping an eye on his movements.

Finally, during a break between classes, he spotted the long-absent Principal Wang at school.

The local Education Bureau had been holding meetings all week, and with the selection of ‘Top ten touching people’ on top of that, Principal Wang had been busy nonstop.

“Mr. Wang.”

Just as Principal Wang finished a call with the Education Bureau and was heading back to his office, someone called out behind him.

He turned around to see a child, probably seven or eight years old, dressed in the school uniform with a red scarf around his neck.

His cheeks were flushed from the summer heat, making his black eyes look even brighter, like glistening black marbles soaked in water.

Seeing that the boy had something to say, Principal Wang smiled kindly. “What is it?”

Su Yunjing pushed down his discomfort and adopted a childlike tone, earnestly playing the role.

“My dad said you’re amazing, and you’re going to be on TV!”

“There’s an orphanage near where I live. It’s called Xinrong Orphanage. There are lots of kids there without parents, and I heard they need people to donate stuff.”

“Mr. Wang, when you go on TV, can you tell everyone that the kids at Xinrong Orphanage want backpacks, pencil cases, sketchbooks, crayons, and storybooks?”

Su Yunjing hoped Principal Wang would use this special moment to launch a donation drive for the orphanage.

The principal would gain a richer portfolio; the orphanage would receive supplies.

To Su Yunjing, it was a win-win.

Principal Wang looked at the ‘pure and innocent’ Su Yunjing thoughtfully.

Every “Top Ten Most gǎndòng” finalist got a feature interview filmed by the county’s TV station.

Originally, Principal Wang planned to have the shoot done at school, but after Su Yunjing’s suggestion, he changed his mind and decided to hold a charity donation event.

On the day of the TV interview, he took senior students to the orphanage to volunteer.

The orphanage was notified in advance.

When the director heard about the upcoming donation and TV visit, she immediately organized a major cleanup.

Knowing how bad the rodent problem was, she even hired a non-professional extermination team. It was pure chaos all day long.

When Su Yunjing came to deliver food to Fu Hanzhou, the orphanage was buzzing with excitement. The kids were all overjoyed.

Only Fu Hanzhou sat alone in the shade of a tree, eyes downcast, his long lashes catching the last golden rays of sunlight.

His eyes were dark and calm, carrying a coldness far beyond his years.

It created a stark contrast between a lonely child, and the lively world around him.

It wasn’t until he saw Su Yunjing approaching with a tray of food that a flicker of life returned to his expression.