Baby's Breath

Chapter 3

Xue Tianliang arrived only in the afternoon, finding his home already filled with people. The old house had been refurbished in the past two years, pairing an ancient wooden table with European-style sofas, and snow-white walls adorned with Zhuge Liang fans. The air conditioner and an old, oscillating fan stood side by side, giving the house's style an indescribable mix.

Xue Youka was forced to read in the small living room.

It was He Xiaoyou who borrowed the junior high school textbooks and workbooks from his cousin Fang Liqing.

He Xiaoyou even assigned him homework, demanding that Xue Youka preview the first units of Chinese and mathematics by the afternoon, leaving him no chance to step out.

The textbooks were filled with notes that testified to Fang Liqing's attentiveness in class, yet Xue Youka grew increasingly restless, especially upon hearing the sounds of a cartoon from the next room—his cousin Gao Gao was snacking while watching an animation. Unable to concentrate any longer, Xue Youka suddenly heard someone greeting from outside: "Tianliang! You've finally arrived, but you're too late!"

"No choice, work, work. I took a bus back early in the morning, got stuck on the road, and only just got here."

Xue Youka immediately put down his textbook and looked out the window.

His father was offering cigarettes to a group of elder relatives, fumbling for a lighter in his pocket.

A few crumpled notes of ten and five yuan fell to the ground, and a relative crouched to pick them up: "Tianliang, you dropped your money... Oh, you've bought a lottery ticket too!"

Xue Tianliang awkwardly snatched back the lottery ticket: "Just bought it on the way."

The relatives laughed: "Did you win anything on the lottery?"

"I already said it was a casual purchase."

Another relative, unconcerned, addressed the group: "Lotteries are addictive, don't you think? I've loved buying them these past few years, but never had the luck of Hai Ming. The most I've ever won was a thousand yuan!"

"Hai Ming, share your experience with us. How did you win seven hundred thousand?"

Through the blue window, Xue Youka saw his uncle Fang Hai Ming playing Dou Di Zhu, holding a hand of playing cards, with the table piled with both large and small denominations of money.

He remembered, the story of his uncle winning the lottery was from when he was very young. The adults often mentioned it, and his uncle would just smile and say, "I was just lucky at that time."

"That wasn't just luck! How many people can, like you, not only not spend it all but also use that seven hundred thousand to turn things around and open a leather factory? What's your net worth now? I heard you're planning to send Qingqing to study in Beijing, right? You've even bought the house…"

-

"Handsome guy, are you studying?" Xue Tianliang stood at the doorway, bathed in light, looking travel-worn but smiling broadly, his features marked by the passage of time yet handsome.

He worked as a tour guide, mostly working in Beihai and could only return home once or twice a month, unable to stay long before having to leave again.

"Dad..." Xue Youka originally wanted to ask why he had bought another lottery ticket, wasn't it agreed upon not to buy them anymore? Yet, he couldn't bring himself to voice the question.

Xue Tianliang's obsession with the lottery was far from casual. Come rain or shine, he would purchase his tickets diligently, ten or twenty at a time, and if they didn't win, he'd toss them into a black bag, which would fill up in less than a month.