DLRC – Chapter 21 The Handsome Drunk Man

Yu Wei froze, her brows tightly furrowed as she turned to look at Yuan Guifang.

“What are you talking about? How could I possibly sell my own son?”

Yu Hui clearly understood what Yuan Guifang had said, because she used to threaten him like that before—saying she’d sell him off if he didn’t behave.

He knew what being “sold” meant. It meant being taken away from home, away from his mother, away from everything familiar. It meant being sent to a very dark place, all alone, where he wouldn’t have enough to eat, wouldn’t have warm clothes to wear…

He was clearly terrified by Yuan Guifang’s words. Sitting motionless on the bed, he stared at Yu Wei, his small hands tightly clutching the bedsheet beneath him.

He looked just like he had when Yu Wei first came—like he’d lost his soul, lifeless, shutting out the outside world.

Yu Wei’s heart clenched in panic. She quickly scooped him up and held him tightly, gently whispering comfort into his ear. “Huihui, don’t listen to Grandma’s nonsense. Mommy will never sell you, never ever.”

“Be good, don’t be scared. I won’t sell you. We’ll always be together.”

“Don’t be afraid.”

The little boy’s frail body trembled slightly. He didn’t dare shake too much—he was afraid his mother would dislike him. Those awful memories surged into his mind again, the darkness engulfing his tiny cold body.

His eyes were vacant. Through the gap in Yu Wei’s arms, he saw Grandma. Her face bore no smile, only a deep frown as she stared at him.

“Where did you even get the money to rent a place? Huh? And for two whole months at that!” Yuan Guifang pressed. What bothered her most was that Yu Hui had been going out with Yu Wei these past few days. If she wasn’t planning to sell him, then why take him along to job hunt?

Yu Wei didn’t want to argue anymore, worried Yuan Guifang would say something even more hurtful to the child.

She set Yu Hui down beside her and started packing up the things she had just taken out, placing everything neatly at the foot of the bed. She planned to leave early the next morning.

“It’s not what you think. I’ll bring Yu Hui back once a month to visit you, isn’t that enough?” She couldn’t believe her mother actually suspected her of selling their house for money—what a terrifying accusation.

“Then why are you moving out, huh? Going to shack up with some man?” Yuan Guifang exclaimed, as if she had uncovered some huge secret. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

“I get it now! You must’ve arranged to live with some man! Oh Yu Wei, really! Having Yu Hui wasn’t enough for you? Now you want to run off and pop out another one?!”

Yu Wei couldn’t take it anymore. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself, but found she simply couldn’t.

Matching Yuan Guifang’s volume, she shouted back, “Don’t you know why I want to move out? Every day at home I get scolded and yelled at. You can’t talk for a few minutes without hitting me—I’ve had enough!”

It wasn’t just the yelling—it was the oppressive atmosphere, pushing her to the brink of collapse.

Yuan Guifang hadn’t expected her daughter to see her that way, to judge her so harshly. She flew into a rage. “I scold you? I scold you for your own good! Look at you! Just a few years without my discipline and you go and get yourself a kid. If I don’t scold you, who knows how many more you’ll pop out!”

“That was an accident!”

“Accident? You did it on purpose just to spite me!”

Then came a loud bang!—Yu Wei flung the door open and shoved Yuan Guifang out of the room, locking her outside while she continued ranting.

“Sigh…”

Yu Wei had just wanted to make it through the day, but Yuan Guifang wouldn’t let up. Even through the door, the insults kept coming.

“Yu Wei! You ungrateful wretch! I raised you for over twenty years and this is how you repay me?”

“Unbelievable. You’ve got money to rent your own place but can’t spare a dime for your mother, huh? I work myself to death and you can’t even buy me some supplements?”

“You’re already in your twenties and still can’t take care of yourself. And now you’re taking Da Bao with you—how are you going to raise him?”

Finally, Yu Wei couldn’t hold back anymore. She stormed to the front door and shouted back with just as much force.

“I have money! I am moving out! And don’t worry, Yu Hui is my son—I’m perfectly capable of raising him! Whether you agree or not, I am renting that place!”

“Unbelievable! Absolute rebellion! I raised a daughter who turned out to be a thankless wretch!” Yuan Guifang screamed, pounding on the wooden door even harder. Their argument had already drawn the attention of several neighbors.

Yuan Guifang was truly a spectacle of a woman. She had no sense of keeping family matters private—no sooner had curious neighbors gathered around than she started slapping her thighs and loudly recounting all sorts of tales about how useless and ungrateful Yu Wei was.

Yuan Guifang had a loud voice, and her words carried clearly into Yu Wei’s ears.

She knew her daughter had always been thin-skinned since she was little. By airing her dirty laundry in front of the neighbors like this, surely Yu Wei would feel embarrassed—maybe even regret her decision and abandon the idea of moving out.

But the Yu Wei of today was no longer the Yu Wei of the past. Her skin was, in fact, a lot thicker than Yuan Guifang had imagined.

Besides, if a food livestreamer were thin-skinned, how would she ever dare to appear on camera? How would she ask for gifts? Would a shy girl ever dare to ask her audience for support?

Listening to the constant babbling and chatter outside, Yu Wei felt a headache coming on.

She hugged Yu Hui tightly and buried her face in the little guy’s soft tummy. At first, the action startled him, but then he gently placed his small hand on her shoulder.

He didn’t say anything. He wanted to call her “Mom,” and he even wanted to tell her not to be sad.

But when the words reached his lips, he couldn’t speak them out loud. His two beautiful big eyes just blinked as he stared at Yu Wei’s fragrant black hair.

That evening, Jiang Min came home with groceries. Once the food was ready, the whole family sat down to eat.

Yuan Guifang didn’t call Yu Wei to join. Only Yu Yi came by once to knock on her door, but when he found it locked from the inside and got no response, he had no choice but to go back and eat with the others.

Halfway through the meal, Yu Bing came home—with a woman.

“Oh my, Xiao Bing’s back! We’re just having dinner. Let me grab a bowl for you.” A few seconds later, they heard her again: “Eh? Is this Xiao Bing’s girlfriend? Oh dear, we didn’t make anything special today. You two sit down. I’ll go reheat the leftover meat from yesterday.”

Footsteps echoed as Yuan Guifang bustled about, but Yu Bing called out to stop her, clearly impatient. “Mom, stop fussing. I brought Xiao Qiu back on purpose today. How do you expect someone to eat with dishes like these?”

The tone of disdain was obvious. Yet Yuan Guifang didn’t seem to mind. She replied gently, “Bing, you should’ve told me you were coming. I didn’t have time to prepare. Of course plain fare like this isn’t good enough for guests.”

As she finished, she glanced at Xiao Qiu. But the woman didn’t even spare her a proper look. Her eyes roamed around, sizing up the Yu family’s small home with a face full of discomfort—anyone could tell she looked down on this run-down old place.

Yuan Guifang, however, paid it no mind. She fished a small wad of bills out of her pocket and, eyes crinkling with a smile, handed them to Yu Bing. “Bing, there’s not much to eat at home. Take this money and take Xiao Qiu out to a restaurant—don’t let a young lady go hungry.”

Yu Bing was clearly pleased with his mother’s gesture. He crumpled the money and stuffed it into his pocket casually, just about to leave when Xiao Qiu stopped him.

She pouted. “Yu Bing, didn’t you say I could stay at your place tonight? It’s so small here—how are we supposed to fit?”

She had gotten into a fight with her stepmother today, and with her father having long since stopped caring about her, she had made up her mind to spend the night elsewhere. But with no money in her pocket, she had no choice but to rely on someone else.

Even so, her manner was still cold and haughty. Even if she had quarreled with her family and lost her allowance, that didn’t mean these people could compare to her.

Staying at Yu Bing’s place was only because of the face he gave her—but honestly, the house was even worse than she’d expected.

When Yu Bing found out she was coming home with him today, he had practically exploded with excitement. Didn’t this mean she saw him as a potential marriage partner?

If they really ended up together, he’d be the son-in-law of the textile factory’s director. A bright future awaited him!

No matter what happened today, he was determined to make a good impression on Xiao Qiu.

No one knew what was going on in their heads, but all the onlookers were wide-eyed with shock.

Xiao Qiu… was already so close to Yu Bing that she’d stay overnight at his place?

Yu Bing… this guy really had some skills!

But it wasn’t just the neighbors of this 1980s setting who were stunned—even Yu Wei, who was still inside her room, was deeply surprised.

An unmarried woman spending the night at a man’s house—in this era, and honestly, even in more conservative families of the future—was still seen as scandalous.

The two of them were only dating, not even married yet. How could a young lady just move into the man’s home like that? It was completely improper.

If the two of them were already discussing marriage or had set a wedding date, then this might be understandable—just don’t sleep in the same bed, right?

But in this situation? …

Word was that Yu Bing had only been seeing this Xiao Qiu for three months, and things had already progressed this far?

Still, Yuan Guifang’s thinking really wasn’t like other people’s. What she was thinking now was that Yu Bing was truly capable—only three months and he’d already secured Xiao Qiu. What other guy was this impressive?

And who was Xiao Qiu? She was the daughter—the biological daughter—of the head of the security department at the textile factory. If their family could establish a connection through marriage, they’d be in for a lifetime of wealth and status!

With that thought in their heads, Yu Bing—dull-witted as he was—started spilling the beans on Yuan Guifang.

“No problem, there’s enough room! Don’t be fooled by how small our house is. My mom already promised me—once I get married, she’ll buy me a new house!”

As soon as he said that, the air fell silent. An eerie, suffocating silence hung in the room. Inside, Yu Wei heard everything and could already sense a family war brewing.

Sure enough, once Yu Bing left the house holding Xiao Qiu’s now-satisfied hand, Jiang Min exploded.

“Mom—!” She was practically gasping from anger, slamming her chopsticks to the floor. “What did Yu Bing just say?”

“Keep your voice down! Don’t let others laugh at us.” Yuan Guifang hurried to close the front door.

“Keep my voice down?! I wish I could! Mom! Tell me—where are we supposed to get the money to buy a house?”

“No wonder we’ve been eating plain porridge every meal—so you could save up money to buy Yu Bing a big house!”

“I’ve been married into this family for four years, cramped up in this little room every day. Not once have you ever said anything about buying a house!”

“Are you playing favorites or what?”

“Isn’t Yu Yi your son too? Why are you treating Yu Bing—who’s such a mess—so well?!”

“Do you even have a heart, Mom?!”

“Yu Yi, are you even a man? Say something, damn it!”

No wonder. Despite the Yu family being a multi-income household—which, in the 1980s, would’ve made them relatively well-off—the meals they ate every day were unbelievably plain.

Turned out it was because the mother, Yuan Guifang, was saving up money to buy her son a house. Truly… her sister-in-law Jiang Min was quite pitiful, stuck with a mother-in-law like that.

The shouting continued outside. Thankfully, Yu Hui had fallen asleep before it all started. Yu Wei gently patted his soft little shoulder a couple of times. Seeing he had no intention of waking up, she opened the door and stepped out.

The quarrel outside paused briefly. Yu Wei saw the chaos—food was spilled all over the floor, each step she took squelched in the mess. She quickly opened the main door of the house and rushed out of the courtyard.

No one asked where she was going at such a late hour. Yuan Guifang and Jiang Min were locked in heated battle.

Once outside the alley, Yu Wei finally exhaled a long, heavy breath.

What a suffocating family.

Her livestream hadn’t been fully shut down yet. When she opened it, most of the viewers had already left—but even the remaining half were enough to surprise her.

【I think I just overheard a full-blown family drama】

【Same here】

【Honestly, that mom really does play favorites. Didn’t they say they’ve been eating porridge every meal to save for a house for the younger son?】

【People like this exist in real life. I’ve met some myself】

【Oh my god, I can’t take it. What kind of family is this? Streamer, are you okay?】

【Didn’t the streamer say she was going to move? When’s that happening?!】

Yu Wei switched the camera to front-facing and greeted everyone, but it was already too dark—on screen, only her bright eyes were faintly visible. Everything else was pitch black.

“Thank you to everyone who stayed until the end. That’s all for today’s stream. See you tomorrow—moving day!”

【Okay, bye streamer】

【Bye, good night】

【Rest well, Yuwei】

【Wishing you all the best!】

They were all such sweethearts. Yu Wei’s sour mood finally calmed down.

After ending the stream, she checked her account balance. Besides the few yuan she had already withdrawn, there was about 2006 left—withdrawable to 200.6 yuan. That should barely cover her living expenses for the next few months, as long as she didn’t spend recklessly…

She put her phone away and began aimlessly wandering through the alley. No matter where she went, it was better than staying at home.

Summer nights in the 1980s were cool. Even though it hit 30 degrees during the day, you could wear a light jacket at night. The air in Lucheng was still fresh. Looking up, the sky was full of stars.

No smog in the air—Yu Wei inhaled deeply. The scent of grass mixed with… huh? Alcohol?

She turned her head. Under the utility pole, a man was slumped against it, head down, hugging the pole tightly, breathing heavily—the sound particularly sharp in the stillness of night.

He looked like he was in pain. Even from a distance, the strong stench of alcohol coming off him made Yu Wei instinctively step back.

Just a drunkard stumbling around at night.

She frowned, about to walk around him and leave, but the man suddenly stood up. Only then did Yu Wei realize how tall he was—easily over 180 centimeters.

Not some middle-aged drunk—but a stunningly handsome, perfectly built drunk man.