Chapter 53: The Debonair Rich Man

A gentle breeze blew, rustling the books scattered on the ground.

The covers of the books opened, revealing a striking red seal.

The seal, though faded, still clearly displayed the words “Capital University”.

Chi Wan’s initial surprise was evident on her face.

These books were textbooks from a prestigious university!

Moreover, they were from a field that was about to lead the next wave of trends.

Such books were hard to find, even in the library of this small county.

If Huo Nanchuan saw these books…

He would surely be delighted!

And with his self-learning ability and intelligence, he might even be able to master them.

In that moment, the books that had been discarded as trash seemed like jewels.

They shimmered in Chi Wan’s eyes.

She was even more thrilled than if she had found gold.

Chi Wan immediately parked her bicycle.

At that moment, a voice, both unfamiliar and vaguely familiar, came from the side.

“Hey, isn’t this the little wife?”

The teasing tone made Chi Wan frown.

She looked up and saw a young man in his twenties.

He was quite handsome.

His face was fair, his features delicate, with a hint of the refined beauty of a man from the Jiangnan region.

He wore a crisp white shirt and black trousers.

He even had a decorative bow tie at his collar.

Such a refined outfit was probably unique in this small county.

However, unlike his refined appearance, a playful smile graced his lips.

His lips curled up slightly.

Three parts nonchalance, seven parts debauchery.

It transformed his original scholarly demeanor into that of a dissolute playboy.

Chi Wan looked at the man.

A fleeting sense of familiarity flashed through her mind.

They had met before.

But Chi Wan couldn’t recall when.

The debonair man spoke again.

He raised an eyebrow at Chi Wan and reminded her,

“Little wife, we’ve met. It was at the supply and marketing cooperative last time, we were in line together.”

As soon as he said that, Chi Wan instantly remembered.

It was the rich man who wore a woolen coat and black leather shoes.

They had indeed met and spoken.

But—

“Please be respectful. I have a name, I’m not some little wife, and I have nothing to do with you.”

“Last time at the supply and marketing cooperative, I was in line with my lover, not with you.”

“You were just a stranger behind us.”

Chi Wan’s expression was cold.

She spoke carefully, clarifying the “ambiguous” things that the rich man had said.

However, the rich man was clearly not deterred by Chi Wan’s cold rejection.

He leaned against the door frame of his house, his long legs crossed lazily, his eyes, filled with a playful glint, still fixed on Chi Wan.

He continued with a smile,

“Little wife, you said you have a name, so what’s your name?”

“If you don’t tell me, I can only continue calling you little wife.”

“By the way, my name is Liang Qiuchi. Qiu of autumn, Chi of pool. You can call me whatever you want, I don’t mind.”

Liang Qiuchi.

It was a name with a strong cultural flavor.

But such a refined name was paired with such a dissolute man.

Chi Wan didn’t comment.

However, she was still thinking about the books on the ground and couldn’t just turn around and leave.

At that moment, there were a few more clanging sounds.

More things appeared at Chi Wan’s feet.

This time, it was densely written notebooks and a few expensive-looking fountain pens.

The notebooks had a few pages open.

The handwriting on them was clearly visible.

To Chi Wan’s surprise, the handwriting was neat and sharp.

Page after page, they were all filled with notes.

Did this man named Liang Qiuchi write them?

The neatness and rigor of the notebooks were in stark contrast to the man’s dissolute demeanor.

Chi Wan looked up again.

This time, she saw not only Liang Qiuchi standing by the door, but also a woman inside.

The woman was about forty years old.

But she was well-maintained, her fair face showed no wrinkles at all.

She had a retro perm, wore a rare cheongsam, and had delicate high heels on her feet. She even wore a touch of light makeup.

Even though she was burning with anger, she didn’t show any signs of rage or fury.

Her delicate face remained calm.

If Liang Qiuchi had a hint of Jiangnan charm due to his looks, then this woman was undoubtedly a Jiangnan lady from a Republic of China painting.

She exuded a graceful aura.

Even when she was angry, she only frowned, speaking sternly, “Since you don’t want to study anymore! Don’t keep these things! Burn them all. And don’t appear in front of me anymore, go find your father!”

The woman finished speaking to Liang Qiuchi.

Then she saw Chi Wan standing not far away.

Her expression immediately changed.

It was like the panic of being caught by an outsider when she was losing her temper, or the arrogance after being furious.

The woman glared at Liang Qiuchi.

Then she turned and left.

With a bang, she closed the door.

Leaving Liang Qiuchi outside.

The woman was Liang Qiuchi’s mother, and she had kicked her own son out for refusing to study.

FaChing such a predicament, Liang Qiuchi didn’t show any panic.

He seemed indifferent, even comforting Chi Wan.

He said, “She’s my mother, don’t be scared by her. She’s usually very gentle, she hardly ever gets angry.”

A person who hardly ever gets angry was driven to such a point by him.

Chi Wan found it ironic.

She was just not interested in other people’s family affairs.

She just felt a little familiar…

Just now, when Chi Wan caught a glimpse of Liang Qiuchi’s mother, she had a strange sense of familiarity.

But it was hazy.

She couldn’t tell where that feeling came from.

Perhaps it was because she had met Liang Qiuchi first.

Because Liang Qiuchi’s appearance was a perfect inheritance from his mother.

That’s why he had such a debonair and handsome face.

Chi Wan was thinking about this.

Suddenly, she heard a tearing sound.

It was the sound of paper being torn.

It turned out that Liang Qiuchi, who had been kicked out, calmly took out a pack of cigarettes and matches from his pocket.

This rich playboy.

Not only did he use matches, but he also tore a page from his densely written notebook.

He lit the paper.

Then used that paper to light the cigarette in his lips.

The casual and carefree action.

Coupled with Liang Qiuchi’s dissolute demeanor.

It was indeed a charming sight.

But—

“Liang Qiuchi, what are you doing!”

Chi Wan was nervous.

She rushed over and snatched the page of notes from Liang Qiuchi’s hand.

Hiss, hiss, hiss…

She kept blowing, extinguishing the slowly burning flame.

But the densely written page was already half gone, leaving black burn marks.

It made Chi Wan feel a pang of pain.

It was like losing five yuan.

“Heh.”

From the side, Liang Qiuchi chuckled.

He held a cigarette in his mouth, his eyes narrowed, and he said playfully,

“It’s just waste paper! Didn’t you hear my mother say to burn it all? Now that I’ve used it to light a cigarette, it’s got a new use.”

Chi Wan listened to his words.

For some reason, she heard a hint of cold self-deprecation.

This man…

“You don’t want these books or these notes anymore?”

Chi Wan asked directly.

Liang Qiuchi didn’t answer, but asked back.

“What? Little wife, are you interested in these things?”

“Are you going to take them home to start a fire? Or are you thinking of selling them for scrap?”

“Don’t bother, they’re not worth much.”

Chi Wan was still unhappy with the term “little wife,” but for the sake of these books, she had to continue talking to this man.

She said in a negotiating tone,

“You don’t need to know what use these books have for me. Since you don’t want them anymore, why don’t you sell them to me?”

As soon as Liang Qiuchi heard that.

His eyes, which had been dim, suddenly lit up.

“Using the word ‘sell’ is too vulgar. Why don’t you tell me your name, and I’ll give you these books. We’ll exchange them.”

One was “sell”.

The other was “exchange”.

Both were transactions.

But the meaning behind them was vastly different.

Chi Wan，who had also been a scholar in the ivory tower in her previous life, understood the inherent pride of scholars.

It seemed that this Liang Qiuchi wasn’t completely hopeless.

Chi Wan didn’t answer immediately.

She began to organize the scattered books on the ground, one by one.

The dust on the books, the creases on the notebooks, and the torn page…

Chi Wan carefully organized them all.

She didn’t miss any detail.

While Chi Wan was doing this.

Liang Qiuchi still leaned against the door, a cigarette between his fingers, constantly puffing away.

The wispy smoke slightly obscured his face.

Making his expression even more obscure.

When she was done.

The books and notebooks were stacked high, tied together with a rope.

Finally, Chi Wan picked up the fountain pen on the ground.

She gently wiped it with her sleeve.

This pen was much better than the ones sold at the supply and marketing cooperative, it even had a “Liang” engraved on the pen cap.

It was clearly given to Liang Qiuchi as a gift by someone.

“Here you go, even if you don’t study anymore, don’t waste someone’s kindness.”

Chi Wan handed the pen to Liang Qiuchi.

Her short sentence struck a chord in Liang Qiuchi’s heart.

He didn’t even notice the Cigarette in his fingers.

The red Cigarette butt burned his finger.

“Ah.”

He gasped softly, the cigarette trembled, and fell to the ground.

“How did you… how did you know?”

Liang Qiuchi asked incredulously.

His pupils trembled slightly.

But he didn’t reach out.

In the end, it was Chi Wan who put the pen in Liang Qiuchi’s palm.

Along with it, she also put twenty yuan.

“I know that knowledge cannot be measured by money. But being treated as worthless waste is the greatest insult to knowledge.”

So Chi Wan gave him a full twenty yuan.

In this era, this money was definitely a huge sum.

It was enough for people in the small village to live happily for a year.

But Chi Wan felt that these books were worth the price.

And she was confident that Huo Nanchuan would be able to use the knowledge in these books to earn back two hundred yuan, two thousand yuan, or even twenty thousand yuan.

Under the astonished gaze of the person beside him.

Chi Wan tied the books to the back of her bicycle.

Before leaving, she said to Liang Qiuchi, who was still stunned,

“My name is Chi Wan. Don’t call me little wife anymore, my lover would be jealous.”

Chi Wan thought of Huo Nanchuan’s possessiveness.

The smile on her red lips became even more charming.

Even her usually cold eyes flashed a moment of tenderness.

That scene.

Suddenly woke up the dazed Liang Qiuchi.

“Chi… Wan…”

Liang Qiuchi held the pen tightly in his hand, silently repeating Chi Wan’s name.

He was about to say something else.

But he only saw Chi Wan’s back as she rode her bicycle away.

…

After getting the unexpected surprise – the books.

Chi Wan went to the black market, as planned, to inquire with Zheng Kui.

She walked around the black market, looking around, observing, and asking prices along the way.

The things in the black market were indeed much cheaper than those in the cooperative.

And you could pay in cash.

Although they also accepted tickets, cash was still the main currency.

Finally, Chi Wan set her sights on a woman in her fifties.

She took out a headscarf from her pocket and covered her face, and rubbed some dust off the wall.

She made her clean clothes dirty.

She didn’t even spare her face.

She instantly transformed from a clean and tidy little wife into a dusty village woman.

She even imitated the local accent of the villagers.

She walked up to the woman and spoke.

“Auntie, my mother-in-law has a sore throat and a bad cough lately, do you have any herbs that can cure it?”

The woman in her fifties was selling herbs.

This was also why Chi Wan targeted her.

As soon as the woman heard that she had a customer, she immediately smiled.

“I do, I do! Look at these… they’re all the best Chuanbei, you take them home, then pick some loquat leaves, boil them together, eat them a few times, and your mother-in-law’s cough will definitely be cured.”

As she spoke, the woman took out a small bag, opened it and showed it to Chi Wan.

Chi Wan grabbed a handful of Fritillaria cirrhosa, smelled it, and touched it.

The quality wasn’t the best.

But it was genuine and unadulterated.

“Alright, I’ll take some.”

“Okay! Girl, you’re so quick, I’ll give you a discount.”

Back and forth.

Chi Wan bought two yuan worth of Chuanbei without hesitation.

The woman was delighted, carefully tucking the money into her waistband.

Chi Wan didn’t leave immediately, but squatted down beside the woman, whispering,

“Auntie, you seem like a straightforward person. I have something I want to ask you, don’t tell anyone else…”