Chapter 148 Pyramid Scheme (ETL) Part 2
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Chapter 148 What a joyful parent-child game!
After the old woman’s case was closed, Gu Ye saw her again one evening. She came to tell him, “I received a notice from above that I’m going to be reincarnated. I’ve come to say goodbye before I go.”
Gu Ye looked at the karmic lines on her face and asked with a smile, “Do you know why you couldn’t be reincarnated before?”
The old woman replied blankly, “I don’t know.”
Gu Ye patiently explained, “Because you were deceived by the scammers, your karmic debt wasn’t severed, so you couldn’t be reincarnated. Now that they’ve all been arrested and received their due retribution, you can be reincarnated.”
At this point, the old woman was still somewhat incredulous. “I was really deceived?”
Gu Ye sighed helplessly; the old woman hadn’t quite grasped the situation yet. “Yes, the police have already announced it.” Gu Ye showed the old woman the police report. “They’re going to take them to court, do you believe me now?”
The old woman finally understood and sighed with a complicated expression. “What’s the point of lying to an old woman like me?”
“They’re swindling your money. Did they take all the pocket money your son and daughter-in-law gave you?”
The old woman fell silent, her expression growing increasingly complicated.
Gu Ye smiled. It seems that the old woman is now aware of how she had died. He chuckled, “Go on, go reincarnate.”
The old woman thought for a moment, her expression growing serious. “I can’t leave now. I’ll return that money to the previous customers.”
Gu Ye paused, then smiled, “Okay.”
The old lady returned Gu Ye’s money first. Her face serious as she said, “I can’t cheat people, so this is the money for your 11 cushions.”
Gu Ye accepted it with a smile. Looking at the hell money, he sighed, “Alright, don’t delay your reincarnation.”
The old woman chuckled, “No rush, there’s still a month left.”
Gu Ye waved, “Goodbye, Grandma!”
The old woman disappeared into the night, busy trying to process refunds to her previous customers.
Returning to the living room, Gu Ye offered incense to the King of Hell and said earnestly, “The ghost realm has run out of stock of the cushions, so the one you have is a limited edition, extremely valuable. Aren’t you happy?”
The incense smoke circled around Gu Ye several times. Gu Ye felt deeply moved by himself and said, “I’m so filial!”
Gu Ye had a dream that night. He dreamt he was being chased on a dark road. In the dream, he wasn’t afraid at all; in fact, he was quite happy. He didn’t know who was chasing him, but he had one thought in his mind: I swear I won’t go back, I absolutely won’t go back!
Finally, he reached a door with light and rushed through it without looking back. The person behind him angrily threw something, hitting Gu Ye on the head, and shouted something, but the distance was too great for Gu Ye to hear. Opening his eyes in the pitch-black night, Gu Ye sat up blankly. He touched the back of his head, feeling a strange pain there.
Yu Ze sat up too. “What’s wrong? Had a nightmare?”
Gu Ye scratched his head. “It wasn’t a nightmare, I don’t know what it was.”
He put his arm around Yu Ze, pushed him down, and lay down side by side. “It seemed like someone was calling me somewhere, but I didn’t want to go, so that person hit me on the head, and I think they even cursed at me. But they couldn’t run as fast as I and couldn’t catch me.”
Yu Ze hugged Gu Ye closer and comforted him, “Dreams are just dreams, go back to sleep.”
Gu Ye grabbed Yu Ze’s hand and pushed it to the side. “Get away from me, you’re too heavy.”
After saying that, Gu Ye closed his eyes and fell asleep, sleeping soundly.
Yu Ze waited until Gu Ye was asleep before moving closer and hugging him tightly again.
…
The next day, Gu Ye went home; he wanted to spend some time with his parents. Just then, his father was leaving the house. Papa Gu was dressed casually; the weather was gradually warming up, and he could easily go out in just a sweater and a coat.
Gu Ye asked, “Dad, where are you going?”
Papa Gu was in a good mood. “I’m meeting your Uncle Wang to play ball together.”
Gu Ye asked ingratiatingly, “I’ll come with you. Golf or billiards?”
“Golf, do you know how?”
“I don’t, but I can learn from you,” Gu Ye said with a smile. “Shall I drive you?”
Papa Gu’s lips curled into a sneer. “No, I don’t want to ride in your fancy stuff.” Just then, Papa Gu’s chauffeur pulled up. He said to Gu Ye, “Get in.”
Perhaps it’s because he’s getting older, but he just wants to be closer to his child. Papa Gu was quite happy taking his son out for the first time. On the way, he asked Gu Ye, “Why did you decide to come out with me? Is something wrong?”
Gu Ye replied discontentedly, “Can’t I go out to play with you if there’s nothing wrong? I like parent-child entertainment.”
Seeing his son so grown up and still wanting to be with him, Papa Gu was both amused and exasperated. “You’re being naughty again!”
Gu Ye laughed, “Dad, see? Not going to work has its advantages. I can keep you company. I’ll spend today with you, and tomorrow I’ll go see Mom.”
Papa Gu laughed, “Be careful your mom doesn’t drag you into being a model.”
Gu Ye grinned, “My mom wouldn’t be that stingy, would she? She could have hired celebrities for endorsements and just asked my second brother for help.”
Papa Gu said helplessly, “She’s too embarrassed to do so.”
Gu Ye smiled, “True, I’ll talk to my second brother about it later.”
This golf course was a birthday gift from Gu Sen to Papa Gu. It’s conveniently located near the land they bought. On the way there, Gu Ye took a careful look and nodded to himself. His father had excellent taste; the very aura emanating from this land indicated it was a place to make money. With a slight adjustment to the feng shui, they’ll become incredibly wealthy—that’s all money!
Not long after the father and son got out of the car, Uncle Wang arrived. Seeing Gu Ye beside Papa Gu, Uncle Wang teased, “Bringing little nephew along to play?”
[Banana: Apologies for the interruption here. Uncle Wang said 大侄子, which translates to big nephew, but I’m going to write ‘little’ here to denote the age gap/hierarchy. On the other hand, Uncle Wang is not blood-related to the Gu family in any way. In Chinese culture, calling non-blood-related people by family titles (like brother, sister, aunt, or uncle) is a social practice used to show respect, signify status, and build trust or intimacy.]
Papa Gu replied with a hint of disdain, “Yes, he insisted on coming along.”
Despite his apparent disdain, Papa Gu was clearly quite happy. Uncle Wang chuckled and teased, “Isn’t it good that the child wants to stay with you? I’d like to bring someone, but nobody wants to come with me.”
Gu Ye politely greeted, “Hello, Uncle Wang!”
“Hello, you’ve grown so much in the blink of an eye. The last time I saw you, you were still a high school student. You’ve become more and more handsome.”
Hearing that, Gu Ye thought to himself, “When did I see this uncle? How could I have forgotten?”
The two old friends exchanged a few words and then went to play ball. Gu Ye chuckled, “You guys play first, I’ll watch and learn.”
After watching for a while, Gu Ye brought his father some water and also poured a cup for Uncle Wang. Uncle Wang immediately gave Papa Gu an envious look. “Nephew, you said back then that I wouldn’t be able to retire for another 3 years. Was that true?”
Gu Ye paused for a moment, then finally remembered where he’d seen Uncle Wang before. The man had asked him for a reading about his retirement once, asking as if it were a small joke. After Gu Ye answered it, his father had said at the time that his predictions were inaccurate. Soon after, the son said he wasn’t coming back, and his father called him a jinx. From that moment on, Gu Ye understood that his father was an unreasonable creature. Gu Ye smiled. “Yes, he’ll be back soon.”
“I hope so,” Uncle Wang said, a smile on his face, but his eyes held a complex expression. “I just hope he’ll be like your older brother, coming back to take over the job so I can rest.”
Gu Ye laughed. “It really will be soon, don’t worry. Soon you’ll be able to play ball with my dad, whenever you want to come out and play.”
Gu Ye could tell that Uncle Wang and his son hadn’t had a good relationship when they were younger, which might explain why the son hadn’t returned for so long. But they were father and son after all. If the son were filial, he wouldn’t let his elderly father work so hard. Uncle Wang’s son really was coming back soon; he wasn’t lying.
Uncle Wang was still laughing heartily at Gu Ye’s flattery, praising him, “Old Gu, you’re so lucky to have such a precious son! He’s so good with words, he must be making you smile every day!”
Papa Gu retorted disdainfully, “He’s more likely to make me jump up and down (from anger) every day.”
“Yes,” Gu Ye said earnestly, “My dad is especially cute when he jumps up and down.”
Papa Gu blushed from being teased, wanting to spank his son again, but Gu Ye quickly coaxed him, “Just kidding, please do it at home if you want to hit me.”
Looking at his son, who is now so tall and in his twenties, Papa Gu couldn’t help but feel exasperated. “Why are you so mischievous?” Despite his disdain, Papa Gu handed Gu Ye the golf club. “Want to play a couple of rounds?”
Gu Ye took the club. “Sure.”
“How’s it going after watching for a while? Did you understand it?”
Gu Ye nodded. “Almost, but this definitely requires skill.”
Papa Gu stood up. “Come on, I’ll teach you.”
Gu Ye walked over and gestured. “Is it like this?”
Papa Gu laughed, “Your posture is pretty good, but it’ll only fool the little girls. Use this hand harder, go!”
“Go!” Gu Ye hit the ball with force, sending it flying, which amused Papa Gu. “Practice harder.”
Gu Ye chuckled, “Looks pretty simple. Everything has its techniques. As expected, one can’t learn without practice.”
“That’s right, you still have a lot to learn,” Papa Gu said cheerfully. “I’ll bring you along next time.”
“Okay.” Gu Ye nodded with a smile and waved the club a few times.
Papa Gu sat to the side watching, and after a while, he couldn’t help but take out his phone and take a picture. He also saw many friends posting on WeChat Moments, showing off this and that. Papa Gu had never shown off anything before. This time, amidst the envious gazes of his old friends, and with something urging at him, he forced a straight face and posted on WeChat Moments: “Silly Little Duck.”
After Papa Gu finished posting, his face was slightly flushed. He looked at Gu Ye with a serious expression, occasionally offering a few pointers. Watching Gu Ye’s increasingly impressive poses, he said disdainfully, “All he can do is pose.”
Papa Gu’s old friend, seeing the video he posted on social media, mocked with envy and jealousy, “You too, if you’re really that disgusted, why post it on social media? Just showing off how many good sons you have?”
After hearing this, Papa Gu thought about it and realized it was true. He didn’t have much to boast about; his greatest achievement was having many sons, each more outstanding than the last. Although the youngest wasn’t a good student, he was kind-hearted, and Papa Gu would never worry about discord among the brothers. Papa Gu has come to terms with it. Gu Yang is working hard now, so whatever the child does in his studies is fine. Anyway, his brothers can support him. As long as he can keep his innocence, that’s good enough.
After a day of golf, the two older men finally decided to go home in the evening. Just as they were saying goodbye, Uncle Wang received a phone call. While listening, he looked at Gu Ye with a surprised and intense gaze, which startled Papa Gu. He pulled Gu Ye behind him, his eyes filled with wariness. His son already had several fathers; he couldn’t afford another one.
After hanging up the phone, Uncle Wang happily said, “My son just called and said he’s coming back to China on the first of May. He’s really coming back this time!”
Papa Gu, no longer so wary, laughed, “That’s great. Your son will be taking over in a year or two, then we can retire.”
Uncle Wang excitedly grabbed Gu Ye, “Nephew, your prediction was so accurate! You should also acknowledge me as your…”
Papa Gu interrupted Uncle Wang sternly, “Impossible! Don’t even think about taking my son!”
“How can you be so stingy? You have so many sons. I heard about you giving your son away after drinking. Why don’t you have another drink with me?”
“Get lost! Don’t even think about it!”
The two elderly men were playfully shoving each other, while Gu Ye watched with a smile. To have a true friend, to grow old together from youth to old age, was a blessing in life. Good thing was that he also had several friends; it would be nice to play mahjong and sports together when they were old. Gu Ye stroked his chin, thinking for a moment. He needed to find some time to trick Qiao Qiao into coming down the mountain; he couldn’t leave him alone there.
After returning home, Papa Gu happily called his two sons back and Yu Ze over as well, so they could have a family reunion dinner together. Today, Gu Ye had been coaxing him so much that he had a smile on his face the whole time.
After dinner, Gu Ye pulled his two older brothers and Yu Ze to play cards. Gu Ye was on a team with his second brother. Seeing the two usually serious men (GS and YZ) now smiling, Gu Lin immediately lost interest. “Can we switch seats?”
Gu Ye protested, “Why should we switch? Second brother, are you looking down on me?”
Gu Lin slammed his cards face down on the table, annoyed. “Are you stupid? When they’re on a team, we don’t even need to play anymore; we’ve already lost. You can’t beat them in a psychological battle.”
Hearing that, Gu Ye looked at Yu Ze with a wronged expression. “I want to win.”
Yu Ze lowered his eyes, looked at his cards, then at Gu Ye, and hesitated for a moment.
Seeing this, Gu Lin picked up his cards, feeling he could still win.
Gu Sen: “…”
Gu Ye was just acting spoiled when he heard Papa Gu call out, “Old Third, answer the phone, it’s your Uncle Wang.”
Gu Ye ran over curiously, “Uncle Wang is looking for me?”
Papa Gu sighed. As soon as he answered the phone just now, the other person said, “I’m not looking for you, I’m looking for your son.”
Papa Gu asked, “Which one?”
The other person got impatient, “Having many sons doesn’t mean you can show off like this! I’m looking for your youngest son, Old Third!”
And so, Gu Ye took the phone from his father, asking suspiciously, “Uncle Wang, is there something you need?”
The person on the other end said apologetically, “There’s a strange thing. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, and I still wanted to ask you to take a look.”
The author has something to say:
Papa Gu, with a serious expression, showed off a picture: Hmph! The eldest is just a bit more stable and capable at work. The second is just a bit more cunning and a little more charming. Old Third is just a bit better looking and a little more eloquent. Old Fourth was just a bit naive… Oh well, let’s delete Old Fourth.
Gu Yang: ? ? ?
Raw word count: 7717 (whole chapter)
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