Chapter 2506: Chapter 2570: Time Flies and Things Change
The passage of time, Chapter 2570
Li Yifei and Su Yiyi were obviously not reporters, but when they heard the old lady’s words, they both stopped in their tracks. Su Yiyi’s face was unpleasant, and Li Yifei frowned, asking, "Ma’am, did you say that the water is often cut off?"
"Yes, even if it’s not cut off every day, it’s almost like that. Every household prepares large barrels for water, and when water comes, we use large barrels to collect it. Last week, someone came to repair it and said there would be water every day, so my family forgot to store any. And now, ironically, on New Year’s Eve, water is cut off, in this freezing weather, are we supposed to fetch water from hundreds of meters away?" the old lady grumbled.
Nearby, an old man was less composed, directly cursing, "Damn it, the **** officials are just trying to make our lives miserable, aren’t they? The heating is cold, no water, electricity often cuts out too, haven’t we paid the bills? This world is really done for!"
"Stop cursing for a moment, if cursing worked, we’d all be doing it. Don’t scare these two reporter comrades!" the old lady turned back to say a few words. Then she turned back and smiled at Li Yifei and Su Yiyi, "Please, comrades, help us contact the newspaper. They say if it’s published, the leaders will intervene. We’ve lived here most of our lives. If we had the capability, we’d have left. But the requirements are simple, just water and electricity, we’re used to insufficient heating already. But without water and electricity, we can’t cook or celebrate the New Year!"
Su Yiyi’s face was unpleasant, she turned her head to look at Li Yifei. Her dad said he lives here; if that’s true, then she’s really unfilial, letting her dad live in such a place.
Li Yifei held Su Yiyi’s hand and turned to say to the old lady: "Ma’am, I’m really sorry, we are not reporters, we are here to find someone!"
"You’re not reporters?" After hearing this, the old lady’s face showed obvious disappointment, and she sighed heavily, saying: "Well, alright, I’m just grabbing at straws here. Go ahead and find your person."
"How about this, ma’am, I have some friends, after I find my person, I’ll ask them about the situation. It’s unacceptable to have no water or electricity during the New Year, even if it needs repairing, at least solve it during these few days of the festival," Li Yifei saw the old lady like this, and felt compassion, agreeing to help.
"Really?" The old lady and several others immediately found hope when they heard, saying: "That would be great, young man, really thank you, we have no other way!"
"I can’t guarantee it, but I will ask around. We’ll head upstairs first." Li Yifei said.
"All right, head up first, leave the car here, we’ll watch it for you!" the old lady said.
Li Yifei naturally didn’t think much about it, nodded, and led Su Yiyi upstairs. As soon as they stepped into the corridor, it was very dark, almost pitch black. The stairs were a cement type, covered in dust, and it was unclear when it was last cleaned, or if it could be cleaned. The corridor was full of clutter, bicycles, jars, bags, with only a narrow path to go up. Li Yifei whispered, "Be careful."
"Hmm!" Su Yiyi replied, only feeling her nose sour.
Father Su lived on the fifth floor, and there were six floors in total. When they reached the second floor, both felt breathing was laden with dust, and various odors filled the corridor—rotten smells, something fermenting, and even a stench similar to rotten meat, very unpleasant. Li Yifei was used to it, but Su Yiyi felt worse, wondering how her father resided here.
On reaching the fourth floor, Li Yifei even heard a household quarreling, a woman scolding a man for being useless, unable to earn money, having to live in such a rundown place, questioning how to survive the New Year without water or electricity. The man refuted, questioning the woman’s capabilities, saying earning money isn’t one person’s task, and the woman also indulged in gambling instead of work. The two were swearing at each other.
Shaking his head, Li Yifei headed up to the fifth floor, finding the environment even worse. But there was a unit whose entrance was quite tidy, with an old mat placed before the door, and Li Yifei recognized it as Father Su’s residence.
The two stopped, glanced back at Su Lio, who pressed her lips together, took a deep breath, and walked over to knock on the door.
Knock, knock, knock. Inside, Father Su’s voice sounded, saying he was coming, immediately followed by coughing, seemingly trying to hide it from them. After coughing for a while, he approached the door and opened it. It was an extremely old door, and upon opening, Li Yifei saw Father Su, and Su Yiyi saw her father too, and both froze, noticing just how long it had been since seeing the old man, who had indeed become old.
His hair was gray, his face didn’t look good, seemingly flushed with sickness from the coughing, wearing an old set of clothes that appeared quite worn, washed to the point where some areas looked faded.
"Dad!" Su Yiyi called with a sobbing tone.
"What are you crying for, come in quickly." Father Su said somewhat flustered, welcoming them in, seeing Su Yiyi in tears, Father Su hurried to comfort her: "Don’t cry, if you cry dad doesn’t know what to do, during this festive season, don’t cry, be smooth!"
"Dad, how can you live in a place like this? Didn’t I give you money?" Su Yiyi questioned tearfully, "Why are you living here? This environment... these things... sob, dad, did you go gambling again?"
The whole apartment was just over forty square meters, very small, and given the old setup, the layout was poor. It included just a bedroom and a living room, furnished with outdated items; even a basic rice cooker had peeling paint. Though it was cleaned, it couldn’t shine, while the rest, like tables and chairs, seemed vintage, undoubtedly decades-old items. This really was a very old residence, and it was evident Father Su had been cleaning just now, but old was old, unable to be polished out.
As his children, seeing this condition, it was clear why Su Yiyi cried, and Li Yifei couldn’t help feeling emotional too. The old man wasn’t really that evil, and it was all past matters, not deserving to live in such a place, let alone, the Li family was now worth billions, even without much wealth, elderly could not be allowed to live like this. Li Yifei felt a bit of self-blame.
"Well..." Father Su hesitated, trying to cover it up by scratching his head, witnessing his daughter’s heartbroken crying, continuously saying, "Sweetheart, don’t cry, dad... dad has mended his ways, ever since that incident... never touched those things again, you’re reassured, dad can’t be like that again."
Su Yiyi found it hard to believe, asking: "Then tell me where the money went? I gave you money so you’d live better, why did you move here? How can anyone live here, dad!"
"How can anyone not live here? Dad’s living here, isn’t he? It’s better than that shack. Dad isn’t short of money, the money you gave is saved, but... Dad wants to rely on his own efforts, wasted years, dad isn’t completely old yet, can still work, earn money, so just trying first, later when dad can’t work, let daughter take care." Father Su quavered.
Li Yifei understood, the man wasn’t speaking falsehoods but really thought this way and was acting accordingly. He could sense it, Li Yifei hadn’t thought Father Su could truly turn over a new leaf, but... now the old man really had changed, even refusing his daughter’s money, intending to support himself this way, naturally life was harsher.
Su Yiyi paused, understanding and throwing herself into her father’s arms, crying, "Dad, why... your daughter lives well, but you are still like this, it hurts me, dad, let’s not stay here? You want to work, let’s find a relaxing job, don’t stay here any longer!"
"Alright, alright, daughter don’t cry, dad feels bad too, all these years if only understanding earlier, how wouldn’t it be like this now, dad owes you!" Father Su finally couldn’t hold back his tears, father and daughter embraced each other crying, Li Yifei, as the son-in-law... gritted his teeth, also feeling bad. After surviving death following recent Dual Cultivation, Li Yifei realized certain things more clearly, while also cherishing familial affection and friendship, knowing things are precious, sometimes lost, never regained.
Hu, Li Yifei exhaled deeply, saying, "Dad, let’s pack and go home, during the New Year let’s be joyful, after the festival, we won’t stay here either, or Yiyi and I will feel terrible. Our family is so affluent now, it’s really wrong letting you live in such a place."
"Not blaming you, Yifei, you’re a good child, dad knows, the past was dad’s mistake, dad also wants to punish himself this way, those past squandered years, only waking up old, is it a bit late?" Father Su wiped his tears, spoke distressed.
"It’s not late, dad, it’s never too late, just take care of yourself, enjoy life, do what you want, of course, except those things, have a grandson these years, take strolls with the grandchild when free!" Li Yifei said.
"Alright, alright, following your words, dad will pack!" Father Su nodded vigorously, Su Yiyi wiped tears and went inside to help pack.
Actually, not much to pack, Father Su had few clothes, and underwear mostly old, so in the end, only packed a few pieces. The apartment was cold, feeling almost frozen, given Mile City’s temperature, near freezing outdoors, Li Yifei touched the heater, found it almost unheated, merely warm. Such an apartment couldn’t accommodate people, even staying briefly felt cold, while Father Su had spent most of the winter here. Li Yifei felt quite emotional.
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