A Valiant Life

Cloud Street.

The other shop owners all started chattering as they saw Lin Fan and the rest return. They were concerned about the final verdict of the trial. They weren’t surprised when they heard that Lin Fan had gotten three hundred and twenty thousand dollars.

All of them were happy for Master Lin. The person who had smashed up Master Lin’s shop had probably not expected to have to compensate such a large amount. Furthermore, he had to serve 6 months instead of the original 1 month. They all laughed at the thought of it.

Even an idiot wouldn’t screw up this badly.

Lin Fan and the others looked on in confusion as they listened to the designer explain to them the different design concepts from the blueprints.

The designer then took out the finalized concept art out of his bag.

“You should have brought that out earlier. I couldn’t really understand what you were trying to explain just now,” Fraud Tian commented.

“…”

The final concept art for the renovation looked satisfying enough. It was an easy design which was refreshing to look at and it was definitely better than the old shop design.

Lin Fan pointed at the picture. “Leave this part empty instead of installing a glass door. It’ll be much more comfortable this way. Otherwise, we’d feel constricted inside here.

Although he wasn’t an expert in design, he had some concept of how the renovation should look like. The designer took a note of Lin Fan’s request, writing it down diligently.

“I hope that you guys can complete this as fast as possible. Price wise, you can just look for him” Lin Fan said as he looked at Fraud Tian.

The designer nodded. This kind of easy-going customer who didn’t ask for much was the best.

…

The verdict for the case was posted online by some netizens, inciting a flurry of reactions.

“How wonderful! This guy is just sky high on bullying people. Too bad he doesn’t have sky high luck”

“His 1-month sentence became a 6-month sentence. He’s gotta be kicking himself in the butt right now.”

“So amazing! I almost can’t believe that the compensation fee is three hundred and twenty thousand dollars! Looks like all shop owners have to wait for that stroke of luck to strike it rich!”

“Wasn’t it Master Lin’s shop that got destroyed? Looks like that ultimate winner in this whole case is Master Lin.”

“Master Lin’s shop has already began renovations. Not only did he earn some money, he even got a free renovation for his shop. It’s like killing two birds with one stone.”

“I’m laughing my a*s off! He courted his own disaster and now he’s the one paying for it!”

…

Weibo.

“Master Lin should treat all of us since he earned so much money from this case!”

“It is only right that Master Lin has gotten some compensation after his shop front got destroyed.”

“Whoever thinks that smashing up shops is be a good idea after this case would either have to be filthy rich or have some mental disability. But I’ve got to hand it to this guy for getting an extended sentence for creating such a ruckus in court.”

“To the guy above me, stop saying he has some form of mental illness. That is a crude understatement.”

…

This piece of news didn’t have much of an impact on anything but the netizens enjoyed laughing at it.

Nighttime, eleven o’clock.

Lin Fan had had a mini gathering with the rest and only got home this late.

“Mum, I’m tired,” a child who was carrying a schoolbag said listlessly to his mother. His eye bags were drooping down.

“Liven up a bit, will you? When we get back, we’re going to take another look at what your teacher gave you. You must be hardworking when it comes to our learning,” the lady said.

Lin Fan glanced at them for a few moments. “The kid is in junior high school already, right?”

The lady took a look at Lin Fan. “He’s already in year two. Hey, I haven’t seen you around before. Did you just shift here?”

Lin Fan nodded. “Yep. Just recently.”

Lin Fan had never seen both mother and child around before. But he had guessed about right. He always left the house at eight in the morning and only came home at nightfall. The chances of meeting them were pretty low.

“It looks like the kid is pretty tired. Is school really that stressful now? It’s almost eleven thirty already.” Lin Fan had never been a good student. Even when he wasn’t tired he would just sleep around nine or ten o’clock.

“Ah, it can’t really be helped even if he’s tired. If he doesn’t go for tuition, he’s going to lose out to the rest of the kids in class.”

“Tuition can’t really be that important, can it? All you have to do is to pay attention in class and that should be enough, right?” Lin Fan chuckled.

The lady shook her head. “It’s hardly enough. In school, they don’t really teach well. Only in tuition classes do they summarise everything for him. So if he doesn’t go for tuition classes, he probably wouldn’t be able to string together everything that the teacher taught in school and will definitely lose out to the rest of the students.”

Lin Fan shook his head. “With this kind of situation, shouldn’t you talk to the principal of the school?”

“That is impossible! How would my kid be able to stay in school like that? The other parents would get angry at me. I’ve heard my son tell me before that there was a parent who did exactly that and their kid got shoved aside in class. There were even a couple of other parents who turned up at their door to create a ruckus, telling them to mind their own business and not to get up their alley just because their kid didn’t go for tuition.”

The kid looked up. “Mum, you got this all wrong. My classmate comes from an underprivileged family and can’t afford to attend tuition classes. In the end, the teachers didn’t really pay any attention to her in class and they didn’t have a choice but to send her to tuition classes. I realize that she is always in tears, saying it’s hard on her parents, but she won’t say anything more other than that.”

The lady patted her son on his head. “Now you know, you should go and read a bit more. Mummy will cook supper for you and then you can sleep.”

The child gave a blank stare, listless. “I’m thinking of changing classes already. Only my teachers are like that. The students from other classes told me that the teachers in the other classes aren’t like that at all.”

“Since when was it that easy to change classes? Your school is an elite school. Daddy and mummy spent a lot of effort to get you into that school. You better study harder!” the lady said.

The kid heaved a heavy sigh. “I know. I’ll work harder.”

“Yup, now that’s a good kid.”

The elevator reached the floor.

Lin Fan didn’t say anything else. All he felt was a sense of helplessness after hearing that situation. The number of similar cases was many. Even if the governing board created new regulations and policies, the people on the ground always would find a way to oppose it. It was an endless cycle.

After talking about school, Lin Fan also recalled his school days.

He didn’t know what was going on with the governing board for education, but they kept on changing the syllabus in school and the school kept on changing the content that they taught. All the other students were suffering since all of them became Guinea pigs for the new syllabus. Regardless of whether the new syllabus was a success or not, the result was futile.

They were as good as cannon fodder.

At that time, Lin Fan had complained to the higher ups but nothing was ever done. It was just pilot tests after pilot tests. He didn’t know how he even managed to survive all of that.

The first floor.

Lin Fan nodded goodbye to both mother and son. This was the first time that he had met them.

The next day!

*Ding ding!*

The phone was ringing.

The caller ID showed Jiang Fei on the screen. It was someone that Lin Fan hadn’t contacted for quite some time.

“President Lin…” Jiang Fei’s voice echoed on the other side of the call.

There was a momentary silence.

“Elder Jiang, could you repeat that again? I’ve never heard anyone call me that before,” Lin Fan said in a hushed tone.

Jiang Fei was momentarily taken by surprise before letting out a chuckle, “President Lin…”

Lin Fan felt a sense of happiness when he heard that title.

“What’s up so early in the morning, Elder Jiang?”

Jiang Fei paused for a while, looking at his watch. “It’s already eight thirty, it isn’t early at all. Do you remember that guy called Han Lu? He came to the association. He said he was looking for you.”

Lin Fan was stunned for a moment. “Looking for me? What for?”

“I’m not sure. We tried asking him to be he didn’t say. We thought that he was looking to pick a fight with you but he said it wasn’t for that reason,” Jiang Fei replied.

Lin Fan couldn’t figure out a reason why Han Lu would look for him. “Alright, ask him to wait there. I’ll come over in a moment.”