Chapter 456 - 232: Cable Car Accident?

Chapter 456: Chapter 232: Cable Car Accident?

Xie Yuan ate in silence, his appetite excellent.

Back home.

The water in the bathroom SPLASHED noisily.

While Xie Yuan showered, Wang Yafang tirelessly asked if the water temperature was alright. Judging by the sound of her voice, she stood right by the water heater on the balcony the entire time.

Xie Yuan was moved by this long-absent, heartfelt care, but he also felt a bit helpless in the face of such overwhelming attentiveness. When he came out, he sighed.

"Mom, you should get some rest. I still know how to take a shower."

"I know, I know. I was just worried you might... Hmm. Besides, this water heater doesn’t work very well," Wang Yafang mumbled.

Xie Yuan could tell the water heater was ancient. It started up with a roar like an engine, and the water temperature veered from scalding to freezing.

He fell silent for a moment before returning to his room and lying down on the bed.

Xie Yuan let his minor worries drift away, relaxing completely.

’This feels just like a dream.’

’I don’t even dare to sleep. What if I wake up and find out none of this is real?’

’Waking up in the hospital... I was groggy, but my body was in great shape. No broken arms, no broken legs, no lingering injuries...’

’The family’s finances are in a rough spot, but I’m still young. The future is full of possibilities.’

’There’s still hope.’

’It just feels like I slept for way too long.’

’A month in the ICU?’

’It felt like such a long, long dream.’

Xie Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly. He felt that starting from the cable car incident, the dream involved a village, firewood, an axe, a wandering hero...

His brow slowly furrowed. Then, on instinct, he forced the thought away, refusing to recall any more.

’The first thing I remember is the cable car falling. Luckily, it wasn’t far from the mountainside, so I wasn’t killed on impact.’

’The next time I woke up was so much later.’

’But what happened in between?’

Xie Yuan couldn’t stop himself from thinking back.

’Xie Yuan, Xie Yuan... Zhang Mountain?’

’Little Stone Village?’

Xie Yuan’s expression suddenly tensed, and he blinked.

Sure enough, a panel appeared before his eyes. It was like a bad case of eye floaters, only it was a long string of numbers and names.

It looked like a game interface, filled with Martial Dao Cultivation Techniques.

The skin on his face pulled taut as he slowly raised his hand.

A speck of golden light emerged from his palm, on the verge of forming a luminous shield.

Xie Yuan suddenly clenched his fist, extinguishing the golden light.

His expression was absolutely grim.

’I’m a bit weak compared to my peak in the Qi and Blood Second Transformation Realm, but I’m still far stronger than a normal person. I can recover slowly...’

Xie Yuan instantly assessed his condition.

It was good news, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel happy.

He squeezed his eyes shut, as if he could still hear his parents’ hushed whispers from the next room—how much money they owed, how high the interest was this month...

Xie Yuan slowly pulled the covers over his head, hiding completely in the warmth of his bed.

「Early the next morning.」

Xie Yuan awoke with a jolt. ’Damn it!’ he thought.

’I was determined not to fall asleep, but I must have dozed off at some point.’

But as he looked around at the familiar, yet new-feeling, old room, he froze. He remained in bed for a long while before his body suddenly went slack with relief.

Get up, brush teeth, wash face, breakfast.

Eggs, milk, and a bowl of black sesame paste.

With a blissful expression, Wang Yafang watched Xie Yuan wolf down his food, constantly reminding him,

"Slow down. There’s more if you’re still hungry."

’Her son is so full of life, and his appetite is even bigger than before. This is wonderful!’

"Where’s Dad?" Xie Yuan asked between mouthfuls.

"Your dad’s in charge of morning exercises for the boarding students now. He also supervises their morning study hall, so he left a long time ago," Wang Yafang said.

"He doesn’t come home until after he’s supervised the evening study hall and done dorm checks. He’s at school all day, which at least saves us money on his meals."

’He took on all the jobs the other teachers didn’t want. How much extra would that bring in a month? A few hundred, maybe?’

Xie Yuan fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked,

"Mom, how much money do we owe right now?"

Wang Yafang froze for a second before trying to change the subject.

"What’s a kid like you asking about this for? Oh, right, today..."

"I’m not a kid anymore," Xie Yuan cut in. "After everything that’s happened, I need to think about our family’s affairs. I can’t keep adding to your burdens."

Seeing the newfound maturity in her son’s demeanor, Wang Yafang pressed her lips together and insisted,

"It’s good that you’re thinking that way. But you don’t need to worry about it. We sold the house and the car, and borrowed some from relatives. What we owe now isn’t that much, and your dad’s overtime is enough to cover it. Once we’re certain you’ve made a full recovery, you’ll go back to school, I’ll go back to my job at the factory, and we’ll have even less to worry about."

Wang Yafang had been a bookkeeper at a factory. After Xie Yuan’s accident, she had of course quit to take care of him full-time at the hospital.

Since his mother put it that way, Xie Yuan could only nod.

’Let’s hope so.’

He returned to his room, suddenly feeling restless and at loose ends.

He picked up his old materials for the graduate school entrance exam and flipped through them. The words on the pages felt alien and distant, yet they also bubbled up from the depths of his mind, one by one, stirring painful memories...

Strangely, however, even though the memories themselves were hazy, the moment Xie Yuan saw the practice problems, he could recall them with perfect clarity. The solutions came to him in a flash, gone was the old feeling of confusion.

He flipped a few more pages, his pace quickening, his eyes widening in disbelief.

’How is it that these entrance exam questions don’t seem so hard anymore?’

Xie Yuan stared blankly for a moment, then suddenly snapped the book shut and let out a long breath.

’The Martial Dao is a path of cultivation, of transformation. It enhances all of the body’s abilities—including the mind, not just the muscles...’

Xie Yuan pressed his lips together and tossed the exam materials aside, having no desire to look at them again.

’Given our family’s situation, applying for grad school is out of the question now.’

Although he was still a college senior, he wanted to find a way to earn money as quickly as possible.

Xie Yuan casually picked up the phone from his desk, then froze.

’What a strange feeling. From the moment I woke up until now, I haven’t thought about this thing once. I used to take it with me even to the bathroom...’