“What are you doing here?”

Richard Bolton was caught off guard by the sudden question. Three years—it had been a full three years, and this foolish kid hadn’t even called him uncle, let alone said anything else. The only unchanging interaction between the two was that, at exactly 12:00 noon on the 12th of every month, the kid would wait at the entrance of the district notary office to collect his living expenses, never missing a second, come rain or shine.

Richard Bolton had never intended to pocket that little bit of living expenses for himself. The 260 yuan left each month was indeed for the boy’s future schooling. But seeing how useless he was, he had no hope for him to get into college at all; even getting a high school diploma seemed unlikely.

“You think I want to come? If the school hadn’t called me, would I be here? At my age, I got scolded for almost half an hour. Xiao Chi, you should think about your uncle too. I have social standing, don’t I care about my reputation?” Richard Bolton tried to persuade him earnestly.

David Bolton looked at Richard Bolton. In his diary, he had already formed a preliminary opinion of Richard Bolton’s character. Through conversations with Zhou Liangmin and the materials he found in the room, he had already labeled this uncle as a despicable scoundrel taking advantage of others’ misfortune.

“Are you done?”

Richard Bolton had wanted to say more, but hearing this, he remembered that the kid had suffered a head injury in the car accident. Why waste more words? So he just nodded.

David Bolton turned and walked away.

Richard Bolton hurried after him. “Hey, don’t leave so fast, Xiao Chi. You haven’t eaten yet, have you? Uncle will treat you to a meal.”

David Bolton immediately stopped in his tracks. No reason to refuse a free meal—his own living expenses were barely enough. This uncle definitely had another motive for coming; if he needed something from him, then he should take advantage of the situation.

Chapter 10: Do It Without Delay

Richard Bolton, ever stingy, took David Bolton to the old Dibei rice noodle shop near the school. He ordered one large and one small bowl of rice noodles, and one marinated egg. He didn’t even get one for himself, pointing at the steaming big bowl of noodles, saying, “Uncle knows this is your favorite.”

“I want to eat donkey meat,” David Bolton said honestly. They say dragon meat in the sky, donkey meat on the ground. In the past, he never had a chance to taste dragon meat in the heavens, and now that he was on earth, he hadn’t yet tried the donkey meat restaurants all over Beichen City.

Richard Bolton was momentarily stunned, then handed the peeled marinated egg to David Bolton, speaking earnestly, “That’s a ‘trigger food,’ not good for young people. Eat an egg for nutrition.”

David Bolton said, “Boss, add thirty yuan worth of beef, two more marinated eggs, and ten quail eggs.”

Richard Bolton’s mouth dropped so wide he could have swallowed a marinated egg whole. It hurt—really hurt. He wanted to say it wasn’t necessary, but then remembered something and finally acquiesced to his nephew’s request.

He quickly finished his own bowl of noodles, then opened his briefcase and took out a document, saying to David Bolton, who was happily eating, “Xiao Chi, I have a few documents here that need your signature.”

David Bolton didn’t even look up, still focused on his deluxe bowl of noodles loaded with meat and eggs. “What documents?”

“You see, your little house is about to be demolished, right? I’m your guardian, so I need to add a few documents to ensure your legal rights.”

David Bolton replied, “Just leave them there, I’ll look at them when I get home.”

Richard Bolton smiled, but it was clearly forced. “I’m your real uncle, would I harm you? Silly child, you don’t even trust your uncle anymore?”

David Bolton ignored him and kept eating. Richard Bolton felt that the kid was acting strange today, but couldn’t quite put his finger on what was wrong.

In the end, Richard Bolton didn’t get David Bolton’s signature, nor did he leave the documents with him. Richard Bolton was cautious; these documents were actually statements for David Bolton to give up his inheritance rights to the old house. David Bolton probably wouldn’t understand them, but that didn’t mean others wouldn’t.

When David Bolton got home, he immediately noticed someone had been inside. Many things had clearly been moved. He thought of his uncle—Richard Bolton must have a key. The real reason his uncle came was probably for the house deed and the notary certificate.

After realizing the true value of the old house, David Bolton had put the house deed and notary certificate in his backpack and carried them with him at all times. Better safe than sorry. He had once been a great immortal roaming the heavens—how could he lose to a petty civil servant like this?

Tomorrow he would turn eighteen, which meant from then on he wouldn’t need a guardian and could handle everything within the law on his own.

Zhao Qijin hadn’t told the truth either. The demolition compensation was sixty thousand, but just the qualification to buy a house was worth fifty thousand. Now, many people had their eyes on the resettlement housing here, and a single house number was being speculated up to fifty thousand. This was a private transaction—officials neither encouraged nor intervened nor stopped it.

Having basically adapted to life in the mortal world, David Bolton’s IQ was steadily rising. After eating a big bowl of rice noodles, thirty yuan worth of marinated beef, three marinated eggs, and ten quail eggs, his IQ had reached 120, successfully entering the excellent range.

If he signed the demolition compensation agreement and gave up the house, he could get the money quickly. But if he chose to keep the house, he wouldn’t get any cash. According to policy, the compensation would be used to offset the cost of the new house, and when it was time to move in, he’d have to pay off the remaining balance all at once.