Free Web NovelChapter 127: Chapter 127: Arriving at Yaoxing
"Hello passenger, you have arrived at your stop, Yaoxing. Thank you for flying with Interstellar Airlines."
Shi Lan heard the ship’s announcement and glanced outside. It was a little after nine in the morning. The sky was clear and cloudless, and the weather looked wonderful.
A young male flight attendant reminded her to disembark. Shi Lan nodded, set down the blanket, slung her bag over her shoulder, and walked out.
Yaoxing was like a desolate village forgotten by an era of rapid development. Most of the young people here worked off-world, and the planet’s population was sparse.
That was why several young males had boarded the ship, but Shi Lan was the only one to get off.
Perhaps surprised that such a young female would come to Yaoxing, the few males boarding the ship gave her several glances before entering the cabin with looks of confusion.
Shi Lan didn’t look back. She walked along the landing platform, sizing up the somewhat barren and empty spaceport, and couldn’t help but sneeze.
There was no smart climate control outside the ship. With December approaching, the temperature on Yaoxing was a bit low. The weather was nice, but cold gusts of wind blew intermittently.
The difference in temperature was especially noticeable the moment she stepped off the ship. To keep from catching a cold, Shi Lan quickly took a fleece-lined jacket out of her Space Bag and put it on.
She headed out in search of transportation.
Fortunately, while there were no express Hovercar rentals, public transport was still quite convenient. There were shared automated trains and buses. All one had to do was input a specific address from their seat, and the vehicle would intelligently analyze the route, dropping passengers off in order at the stop closest to their destination.
On Capital Star, Hovercars could take you right to your doorstep.
But Yaoxing was a notoriously backward planet, so she couldn’t ask for more than this.
Shi Lan thought for a moment and chose the bus. It could get her almost all the way to her door, and even though it was a bit slower, she was in a strange new place. Relying only on the original owner’s memories, having the bus take her there was the better option.
Shi Lan was the only person on the bus departing from the spaceport. She entered her address, and the bus reminded her to fasten her seatbelt before officially setting off.
According to the smart navigation, the trip to the original owner’s house would take a little over an hour. During that time, only four or five other people got on.
These passengers were all older males. Upon seeing a young female on the bus, their eyes also held surprise, but they all tacitly kept a safe distance from her.
One middle-aged man asked curiously, "Young lady, are you back home to visit family?"
Shi Lan glanced at him and nodded.
The middle-aged man sighed with emotion. "It’s rare for a young lady to be so thoughtful. My eldest son... he said he was going to make a name for himself on another planet, but we haven’t seen him in years. He does send us some money every month, though. But as family, we don’t ask for much from him. As long as he’s safe and sound, that’s enough."
The man’s words instantly struck a chord with the others.
"Tell me about it. My eldest son is the same way. At least your boy is still dutiful. My son... we haven’t seen him, and we haven’t seen a cent either."
"Sigh... It’s one thing not to see him, but you’d think he’d at least send a communication. But we can’t even get in touch with him. My younger son got worried and went looking for him. I just hope we hear something soon."
...
The men on the bus started up a conversation, and it grew lively without anyone noticing. Shi Lan sat in her seat at the back. Aside from asking her an occasional question, they didn’t bother her much.
Shi Lan didn’t reveal that she was, in fact, an orphan.
Passengers got on and off, and eventually, Shi Lan was once again the only one left. The bus fell silent again.
Shi Lan watched the buildings fly past the window, feeling a little out of place for a moment. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
It wasn’t long, however, before she reached her destination: Chang’an Village.
Shi Lan got off the bus and followed her navigation for another ten-odd minutes before arriving at the original owner’s house.
Although Chang’an Village was called a village, the houses here weren’t dilapidated thatched huts. They were all two-story buildings, and some were constructed quite beautifully.
Yaoxing’s poverty was mainly in reference to its overall economy. Compared to other planets, it lacked job opportunities. In reality, however, many young people who worked off-world sent money home to support their families, so the people living here weren’t actually that poor.
The original owner’s place was also a duplex-style house. It was the first house she had built with her own savings. Though it wasn’t expensive and was on the smaller side, it meant that she, an orphan, finally had a real home of her own on Yaoxing.
Shi Lan opened the door and walked in. There were no cleaning robots in the room, and the original owner hadn’t been back in four or five years, so a thick layer of dust had accumulated.
The moment she opened the door, dust billowed down. Shi Lan quickly waved her hands and took a few steps back, covering her nose.
She glanced inside. Thankfully, most of the furniture was covered with dust sheets, but the floor was still very dirty.
Shi Lan felt a headache coming on. In all the time since she’d transmigrated, she’d hardly ever had to suffer through cleaning. Especially on Black Star, where she could call on a robotic butler for anything. Now, suddenly thrown back to a time where she had to do things herself, she found it hard to accept.
’It really is easy to go from frugal to lavish, but hard to go from lavish to frugal.’
But she would probably be living here for a while. No matter what, she had to tidy up the living area.
With that in mind, Shi Lan could only brace herself and start cleaning.
However, just as she picked up her cleaning tools, a middle-aged male walked over. He looked at her with a puzzled expression and asked tentatively, "Is that you, Xiao Lan? Have you come back?"
Shi Lan turned her head. In that instant, the original owner’s memories surged through her mind again. She paused for a moment before speaking, "Uncle Gao, it’s me."
Uncle Gao. The neighboring uncle who, according to the original owner’s memories, had often brought her meals when she was a child.
Yaoxing had a designated shelter. The original owner lived there until she was ten. After turning ten, children could wait for an adoptive family. If they didn’t want to be adopted, resources were limited, and they couldn’t stay at the shelter any longer.
But the original owner had always stubbornly believed she had her own parents, so she didn’t want to be adopted. She refused the adoptive family and chose to rely on herself.
And that potential adoptive family was Uncle Gao’s.
Uncle Gao and his family didn’t mind. Instead, they built a simple hut for the original owner next to their house for her to live in, and they often helped her out.
Therefore, Uncle Gao could be considered the original owner’s Benefactor.
’Actually, the original owner probably wanted to come back and see them all these years. But she wasn’t doing well on Capital Star and felt she had lost face, which is why she was unwilling to return home.’
’Perhaps in the book, her stubborn desire to be the male lead’s wife wasn’t just about feelings, but also for this reason.’
After hearing her reply, a happy smile immediately spread across Uncle Gao’s face. "That’s wonderful! I’ll go tell your Aunt Gao. She’ll be so happy to see you’re back."
Shi Lan snapped out of her thoughts and quickly said, "Wait, don’t, Uncle Gao. Aunt Gao should be at work at the hospital right now. This will disturb her."
"It’s fine, it’s fine! Your aunt is always wondering how you’re doing. She’ll only be happy to know."
"Besides, how many patients can there be on a small planet like ours? She has a lot of free time all day."
Uncle Gao beamed at her, eagerly sending a message to his wife.
Seeing that her attempt to stop him was futile, Shi Lan could only offer a helpless smile.
