Chapter 632: “Coming to Chan Lin Town Again (2)”
“Young Master Jun, you’re here.” Mu Qian Fan’s voice was filled with joy.
Jun Wu Xie acknowledged with a slight nod.
Mu Qian Fan hurriedly stepped back to allow them in as he said enthusiastically: “Come in and take a seat please.”
Jun Wu Xie and her companions went into the house and found the interior of the house even more dilapidated than its exterior. Besides only having a old and tattered wooden bed and a worn wooden table and chair, the whole house could be said to be empty with the four walls.
“Sigh, why does all of this feel so familiar?” Qiao Chu surveyed his eyes over the incredibly bare interior of the room and could not help but remember the dire straits they were all in, before they met Jun Wu Xie.
In all those years, they had not been in a situation much better than Mu Qian Fan.
“You got so much money for that piece of black rock previously, why are you still…..” Qiao Chu asked, as he stared puzzledly at Mu Qian Fan.
The black piece of rock had been sold for several hundreds of thousand tales and it was no small sum. Just taking a few hundreds taels out from there would have made Mu Qian Fan’s days a whole lot easier.
Mu Qian Fan was a little conscious of himself as he looked at the youths before him, slightly embarrassed by his state of poverty as he said: “I gave all that money to the families of my brothers in arms. Many of my brothers were the main breadwinners of their families and most of them have elderly and young ones sorely dependant on their income. Now that they are no longer in this world, leaving behind their orphaned children and widowed wives with no one to care for them, how could I allow myself to prey on that money? At least I am still alive and active enough to keep myself alive. Their families need the money more than I do.”
Mu Qian Fan had not only given all the money he had received at the auction away, he had even dug out all his savings he had painstakingly accumulated all these years and had not kept a single cent for himself.
Qiao Chu and Fei Yan exchanged a glance and their eyes were filled with pity, together with an underlying tinge of respect.
Mu Qian Fan was already living in such poverty himself but he had not allowed himself to take a single copper from the sum of money. He had felt so deeply ashamed towards his brothers in arms who had departed from this world that he would rather allow himself to suffer than to touch the money that had taken his brothers’ lives in exchange.
Maybe it was due to Qiao Chu and Fei Yan being too obvious with their pity filled eyes, and it made Mu Qian Fan even more embarrassed.
“My place is rather tiny, please forgive me. Do you want….. to have a seat on the bed?” Mu Qian Fan quickly walked over to the bed and pulled off the blanket that had already turned dark from a lack of being washed. He attempted to smooth out the badly crumpled bedsheet with his hands and then stepped aside with a sheepish grin, inviting Qiao Chu and the others to sit down.
Seeing Mu Qian Fan in such a state, Qiao Chu felt himself feeling all choked up.
To Qiao Chu, it was not important how much riches a man possessed, nor how capable he really was, but how sincere that man’s heart really was.
On Mu Qian Fan, he saw the stalwart sense of responsibility of a matured man, himself living in such abject poverty, but not lusting after any of the money placed in his hands in the slightest. Irregardless of Mu Qian Fan’s powers or abilities, his act of selflessness towards his deceased brothers’ families had already gained Qiao Chu’s and his companions’ deep respect.
Jun Wu Xie scanned her eyes around the interior of the house before she simply said.
“All come out.” And she turned to go out.
Mu Qian Fan was looking even more embarrassed. He knew deep in his heart, with his house in such a state, he really shouldn’t have guests come. Although the youths before him were all still young, judging from the way they were dressed, they did not seem to come common backgrounds.
Qiao Chu and the others obediently went out of the house and Mu Qian Fan hurried after them. After he stepped out, Mu Qian Fan even carefully closed his door.
He had not recovered from his injuries yet and he was not able to find work to earn money yet. The tiny little house was at least his last sanctuary against the wind and rain.
However, Mu Qian Fan had just barely walked away from the house when Jun Wu Xie suddenly pulled out a stick of glowing ember and lit it up. She next took that small glowing flame and threw it onto the roof of Mu Qian Fan’s house!