BH (QT) – Phoenix Man (3)

Chapter 3 – Phoenix Man (3) *edited

After Jiang Pingxiu left, Yan Jingze returned to his dormitory and sat on his seat, thinking about how to earn money. He possessed the memories of the original owner’s first nineteen years, including the general outline of future events, but the specific details of what would happen were still unclear.

He had no recollection of his life before he crossed over, so now he was just an ordinary freshman who had come from a poor county. He found the academic subjects a bit challenging because he hadn’t had much exposure to computers before entering university.

How could he earn money? Tutoring? Part-time jobs?

Regardless of the method, he couldn’t rely on Jiang Pingxiu’s support!

Yan Jingze knew that Jiang Pingxiu’s job was very tough, washing cars for people in the freezing winter. He had even considered asking him not to work.

However, he had no income at the moment, so what right did he have to ask Jiang Pingxiu not to work?

Moreover, according to his memories, Jiang Pingxiu’s grandmother would break her leg while farming in less than a month…

While pondering about making money, Yan Jingze was asked by his roommate, Huo Liang, who had already returned to the dormitory, “Yan Jingze, where did that person who came to see you before come from? Why was he dressed like that?”

Yan Jingze’s mood was extremely complicated.

Huo Liang continued, “You treat him pretty well, treating him to meals and giving him clothes.”

“I borrowed money from him for my living expenses and tuition,” Yan Jingze explained.

Huo Liang was taken aback.

Yan Jingze then asked, “Huo Liang, do you know how we can find part-time jobs? My family’s financial situation isn’t that good.”

The original owner was indeed poor, but he had a strong sense of pride and didn’t want others to know about his financial situation. After entering college, he didn’t apply for any financial aid or scholarships and wasn’t stingy with his spending. As a result, everyone thought he came from an ordinary working-class family.

Huo Liang was a bit puzzled but didn’t dwell on it, “If you want to find a part-time job, you can do tutoring or become a part-time worker. You can check the school forum or use special apps to look for opportunities.”

“Thank you,” Yan Jingze replied and opened his phone to start searching for part-time job listings.

Huo Liang then asked, “Yan Jingze, are you really going to do a part-time job? We have quite a lot of classes, and there are activities on the weekends. Will the part-time job affect your studies?”

Yan Jingze looked at Huo Liang and said, “But if I don’t do a part-time job, I won’t have money for food.”

During lunch break, Yan Jingze spent the time searching for various part-time job opportunities. Later, he attended classes with Huo Liang. They were majoring in computer science, and the first-year courses were numerous and dry, making it a bit difficult.

The original owner came from a poor family and had little exposure to computers before, so he often found it hard to keep up in class. However, he was determined to change his life through education, so he listened attentively during lectures and managed to complete the assigned tasks.

But that was the extent of it.

However, when Yan Jingze listened to the lectures… he suddenly realized that he could quickly comprehend what the teachers were saying.

In fact, he could completely remember everything after hearing it once.

The teachers repeated their lectures to avoid students not understanding, but he didn’t need to listen again.

Clearly, as a transmigrator, he had a “gold finger”!

But without his previous memories, the original owner had no other skills apart from his fast learning ability. Even though he could study quickly, it wouldn’t immediately lead to earning a large sum of money. He could only start with a part-time job.

That evening, Yan Jingze went to the place for part-time job interviews.

While Yan Jingze spent the day thinking about earning money, Jiang Pingxiu had already returned to the car wash shop.

The shop where Jiang Pingxiu worked was quite large and not just for car washing; they also did car detailing and other services.

The shop was usually managed by the owner’s wife, and aside from her, there were four employees. One of them was skilled in car repairs, and everyone called him Master Chen. He earned a monthly salary of eight thousand yuan. Another was the owner’s wife’s relative, earning six thousand yuan per month. The third employee had been working for some time and knew more than Jiang Pingxiu; they both mainly washed cars and earned a monthly salary of four thousand yuan. Jiang Pingxiu had the lowest salary, earning only three thousand yuan per month.

As a matter of fact, even with a low salary, most people of his age didn’t have family responsibilities yet, and with free meals and accommodations provided by the shop, they could still live comfortably. As for the young man who earned four thousand yuan per month, he not only had enough money to buy cigarettes but also ordered takeout from time to time. He frequently bought clothes and even changed his phone every year.

But Jiang Pingxiu… they had never seen him spend money.

Not only that, Jiang Pingxiu was particularly easy to bully.

Apart from Master Chen, the other two employees initially loved pushing their work onto this boy who had just arrived from the countryside. Jiang Pingxiu never complained and did all the work, leaving them feeling a bit guilty. Even the shop owner and his wife had some sympathy for Jiang Pingxiu, which was why they gave him the packed roasted duck.

Yet, Jiang Pingxiu surprisingly couldn’t bring himself to eat it.

Jiang Pingxiu had one day off each month, which he had never used before. But when he received the roasted duck, he decided to use his day off to visit his brother and give the roasted duck to him.

Everyone at the shop thought this kid’s mind was a little off.

Normally, Jiang Pingxiu never spent a penny unnecessarily. When they asked him about the reason, they found out that he was saving the money to support his brother’s living expenses and education. They were dumbfounded by his response.

They had heard of elder siblings helping their younger brothers and sisters when they started working, but they had never seen a younger sibling working to support their older brother’s education.

Even if such a thing did happen, it wasn’t the way Jiang Pingxiu did it!

Jiang Pingxiu earned three thousand yuan per month, and he gave two thousand to his brother, saving the remaining one thousand to contribute to his brother’s future tuition fees…

He wasn’t even of legal age yet!

His brother had the nerve to spend the money of an underage child!

Yesterday, the owner attended a dinner party and brought back several dishes in takeout containers. In addition to the roasted duck given to Jiang Pingxiu, there were a few more dishes for lunch. At the moment, the people at the car wash shop were eating together while the boss and his wife were out.

Master Chen said, “This boy, Xiao Jiang… he might come back crying after seeing his brother.”

“Why?” Xiao Zhang, who was also a car washer like Jiang Pingxiu, asked. Xiao Zhang was twenty years old, four years older than Jiang Pingxiu. At first, he looked down on Jiang Pingxiu, who was poor and rustic, but later, Jiang Pingxiu helped him a lot with his work, and Xiao Zhang no longer had any ill feelings toward him.

Of course, he would still push his work onto Jiang Pingxiu.

“If you were studying in college, would you like it if your younger brother came to see you dressed like that?” Master Chen asked.

Without hesitation, Xiao Zhang replied, “No, I wouldn’t.” Even if he were studying at university or working here, if he had a younger brother like Jiang Pingxiu visiting him dressed like that, he would feel embarrassed.

Jiang Pingxiu’s appearance was actually not bad, but his dressing style… too outdated and ugly!

“He even brought leftover roasted duck for his brother… He treats his brother like a treasure, but the other party might not feel the same way,” Brother Wang, the relative of the shop owner, mocked.

Brother Wang was the shop owner’s nephew, and although he worked at the shop, he didn’t do much heavy or tiring work. He only helped out during busy times and occasionally assisted the shop owner with errands and purchases. Among the three of them, even though Master Chen had the highest income, he had a family to support and wasn’t financially well-off. Although Master Chen  could eat his fill every day, he could only spend a maximum of four thousand yuan each month, which couldn’t be considered affluent. However, Brother Wang was different; not only did he have a salary, but his family also provided him with financial support. He had a house and a car and lived a carefree life.

He didn’t like the meals the shop owner’s wife prepared and would either eat at home or order takeout. Naturally, he had no interest in that roasted duck either.

Xiao Zhang said, “Xiao Jiang’s brother must have tricked him! Brother Wang, remember when the shop owner’s wife wasn’t here that day, and she gave each of us fifty yuan to buy lunch for ourselves? Xiao Jiang only bought a five-yuan steamed bun and ate it for the whole day. He wouldn’t even buy a sausage, saying he was afraid his brother might not have enough money for next year’s tuition.”

“What the hell, this fool is really asking to be ab*sed!” Brother Wang said with a sneer while crossing his legs and lighting a cigarette.

Master Chen also lit a cigarette for himself. “It’s been a few months already, but every month, Xiao Jiang transfers his salary to his brother’s account, and yet his brother has never come to visit him… tsk tsk.”

“I’m telling you, he’s just too naive!” Brother Wang concluded once again.

As they were talking, they saw Jiang Pingxiu hurrying over.

Jiang Pingxiu was wearing an oversized long coat and carrying a plastic bag. His face, already red from the cold, turned even redder.

Feeling everyone’s gaze on him, he felt a bit uncomfortable and greeted, “Master Chen, Brother Wang, Xiao Zhang.”

“Xiao Jiang, weren’t you going to see your brother? Why did you buy new clothes?” Xiao Zhang asked.

“I… I didn’t buy them. My brother gave them to me,” Jiang Pingxiu’s eyes gleamed, and he took out the thermal clothes he was holding, speaking without stuttering, “My brother gave them to me because he’s afraid I’ll feel cold.”

This development was different from what they had expected! Unable to hold back, Brother Wang asked, “What about the roasted duck? Did he eat it?”

“Yeah,” Jiang Pingxiu nodded, savoring the memory, “We ate it together, and it was delicious.”

Brother Wang: “…”

Jiang Pingxiu continued, “My… my brother is so good to me. He took me out for dinner today and even gave me these clothes.” He had originally wanted to mention the hand-holding incident with Yan Jingze, but he realized it wouldn’t be appropriate to share that, so he changed to a different topic.

“All the money he spends comes from you, and the money he used to treat you to dinner also belongs to you,” Brother Wang sneered.

Jiang Pingxiu looked displeased as he gazed at Brother Wang, “My brother… will make sure I live a good life in the future.”

“Only you would believe that,” Brother Wang retorted.

Jiang Pingxiu was just too naive!

As far as he knew, Jiang Pingxiu gave his brother two thousand yuan each month.

For an ordinary boy from an average family, receiving two thousand yuan as monthly living expenses from his parents wasn’t considered much. Some families with money would give their children seven or eight thousand yuan or even tens of thousands each month without much concern.

However, Jiang Pingxiu barely made ends meet, dressed shabbily, and sent two thousand yuan to his brother each month, which was too much.

Who didn’t know that the cafeteria at A University was particularly cheap for meals! Even if his brother saved some money and only spent a thousand yuan each month, he could still manage to get by.

At the very least, he should come and visit his younger brother. But Jiang Pingxiu had been working with them for five months, and they still hadn’t met his brother.

“My brother will definitely make sure I have a good life. He… he said he will bring my grandmother to the city in the future,” Jiang Pingxiu said earnestly while looking at Brother Wang.

Seeing Jiang Pingxiu’s determined expression, Brother Wang began to doubt if he had misunderstood something.

Could Jiang Pingxiu’s brother be a good person after all?

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<< ToC >>

**TN

Just started editing this today, July 25, 2023~

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9 thoughts on “BH (QT) – Phoenix Man (3)

  1. Wow!!! too interesting.pls update as quickly as possible.jian ping xiu is very cute🤩

  2. I just wanna ask how do these ppl took someone’s TL to novelupdates.Is it just by linking or sth?Ive seen a lot of translators getting upset tat their tl were put without permissions.Altho Im one of the lucky readers to found this on NU still it would be nice to ask

    1. Me too, found it in NU. I think it should be fine since it’s just a link to the original work, and also a platform to lure readers like us.

      Thank you Translation-Sama for such a beautiful work!!

      1. If the Translator doesn’t want their work to be put there, then that’s it- they did the translating after all. It could be just a link to you but it could be a problem to the Translator. Please everyone respect their wishes! If they are uncomfortable by it or have some other reason for not wanting their translations to be linked on NU, it’s their choice. They don’t have to tell us their personal reasons. ^.^

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