Chapter 5

That night, Li Yang and his mother returned home with heavy hearts, as his mistake had cost his mother her job. Li Yang felt extremely guilty and tried to console her, but his mother kept sobbing softly, unable to let go of her despair.

Li Yang's mother, Wang Fang, was a woman who had endured much hardship. Ten years ago, after Li Yang's father was paralyzed in a car accident, she was laid off from the cotton mill. To support the family, she had worked as a nanny, set up a small stall on the street, and even carried cement at a construction site. She had endured all kinds of hardships. Only a few years ago, when she found a job singing for money, did their life improve somewhat.

Tonight, she had lost this job she considered decent, and the woman, whose face was etched with the marks of a hard life, felt utterly hopeless.

They lived in a dilapidated two-bedroom apartment on the seventh floor, the top floor, which was unbearably hot in summer and freezing in winter. This old-style apartment, built in the late 1980s, had peeling walls and exposed yellowish sand and cement. Although it was shabby and poor, the rent was only 600 yuan per month, which was considered a good deal in the suburban area of Southeast City.

"Child, tomorrow is the thirtieth, and it's time to pay the rent. If we can't pay, the landlord will evict us. We can manage, maybe stay at the train station for a few days, but what about your bedridden father?" Wang Fang, a frail woman, sat by the bed and whispered her worries to Li Yang.

Li Yang's father, Li Tianjun, was lying beside Wang Fang, already asleep.

On a small table next to the bed, a stack of neatly arranged money lay. Wang Fang had counted it many times, carefully pressing down the corners of each bill. The few dozen yuan in Li Yang's pocket were also included, but there was only 283 yuan, far short of the rent.

Li Yang clenched his teeth and said softly, "If that fat director doesn't give the money, I'll beat him until he's crawling on the ground!"

Wang Fang's eyes welled up with tears, and she said softly, "Don't, that Director Wang Yong is a notorious miser. Even if you beat him to the hospital, he won't give you a single cent. If there's no other way, I'll ask your grandmother for the money she owes us."

"No! I don't want you to beg that old witch!" At the mention of his grandmother, Li Yang's face turned red with anger.

"If we don't ask her for the money, what else can we do?"

"Mom, if there's no other way, I'll drop out of school and work on the street. It's very profitable. Xiao Jun from downstairs cleaned chimneys at a steel plant and earned 1,500 yuan in three days. If he can do it, I can too," Li Yang said, gritting his teeth.

Wang Fang's face turned pale, and she quickly said, "No, your task now is to study. No matter how hard it is, I can't let you go out to work."

Li Yang's face also darkened. He didn't tell his mother that Xiao Jun had earned 1,500 yuan in three days, but he came back with severe chemical burns all over his body, and his saliva was black for a week!

After his father's car accident, the car owner had compensated them 180,000 yuan. They spent about 70,000 yuan on Li Tianjun's medical bills, leaving about 110,000 yuan. Wang Fang had planned to use this money to take Li Tianjun to the capital for treatment, but Li Yang's grandmother found out and borrowed the money, saying she would return it in three days.

But it turned out to be a full ten years!

Li Yang's grandmother used the money to build a two-story house for her son, and the family lived comfortably, but they never returned the money.

Over the years, Wang Fang had gone to her mother's house countless times to ask for the money, but she was always sent away with various excuses, never mentioning repayment.

The last time, the family was so desperate that Wang Fang had to kneel before her mother, who said, "If you want money from me, you must first give me the money I spent raising you from a baby! One million yuan, pay up!"

Faced with her unreasonable mother, the gentle Wang Fang had no choice but to cry and return home. On the way back, she even stood by a bridge, dazed, thinking of drowning herself. Li Yang was only ten years old at the time!

Fortunately, a passerby stopped her. Thinking of her young son, Wang Fang decided not to take her own life.

During the hardest times, Wang Fang even sold her blood to support the family and pay for Li Tianjun's medical bills. With the 100,000 yuan compensation, they would have been poor but not as desperate as they were now. Every time Li Yang thought of his evil grandmother, he felt a surge of anger.

After discussing for a while, they felt there was no other way. Li Yang noticed that his father, Li Tianjun, had tears streaming down his closed eyes, realizing he was pretending to be asleep.

He didn't want to say anything more to avoid making his father more upset, so he said goodnight to Wang Fang and went to his small room to sleep.

"Li Yang, if you want revenge, I can make that person disappear," the voice of the UFO brain echoed in Li Yang's head as soon as he entered his room.

"You're so powerful, can't you help me get my mother's salary back? I don't want that director to die."

"That fat man is already in his house. My Purple Star Ray can't penetrate walls or steel. Even if he were on the street, I could only throw him onto an island. You can threaten him to pay up."

"I'm dizzy! You're a UFO, aren't you all-powerful? No, that's kidnapping, I won't do it."

"Ha ha, I can fly a bit faster and have some powerful weapons. As long as the conditions are right, I can teleport cargo, but I can't do much else."

After Li Yang had a detailed conversation with his UFO friend, he sadly realized that the UFO's ability to teleport him across ten countries wasn't some mystical skill. It was just a matter of flying to Li Yang's head in a fraction of a second, sucking him in, flying to another location, and spitting him out. The speed made it feel like he was traveling through time.

The places he was teleported to were always away from people, as if the UFO had a deep fear of humans.

According to the UFO's understanding, their planet, Gillesdon, was wary of humans. Some ultimate weapons on Earth could harm them, and the human mind and body were very different from theirs, with many unsolved mysteries.

Now it seemed that the aliens' caution was justified. Li Yang's brain had easily awakened the UFO, leading to the deaths of thousands of aliens, which could be considered the price they paid for exploring Earth's civilization.

"UFO brother, can't you give me some powers like wall-penetrating, divine eyes, invincibility, or super strength? Or at least some gene improvement liquid to make me stronger and live for a thousand years?" Li Yang lamented after learning all the UFO's functions.

"Ha ha, brother, you're thinking too much. I don't know what gene improvement liquid is. Those powers don't exist in your solar system or mine. They exist in the distant Qingyun star system and many other worlds, but they are very dangerous, and I've never been there. If you can provide enough star crystals, I can take you there, but how much you can learn depends on your luck."

"The star crystals you mentioned, are they diamonds? How many diamonds do you need to take me there?"

"By your Earth standards, about fifty tons of diamonds would be enough."

"My dear mother, you might as well kill me! I can't even afford 600 yuan for rent tomorrow, and you want fifty tons of diamonds! Forget it, I don't even have fifty tons of coal! Let's just go to bed."

Li Yang had no choice but to lie down and wrap himself in the blanket to sleep. He couldn't fall asleep, though. Before he met the UFO, he could fall asleep as soon as he hit the bed, no matter how much pressure he was under.

But now, it felt like he was sitting on a gold mine but still had to beg for food. He racked his brain trying to figure out how to use the UFO's incredible abilities to make money, but he couldn't find a suitable way.

He didn't dare to get involved in drug trafficking or smuggling weapons. Even if he could get them, he wouldn't know who to sell them to, and he might end up in jail.

He thought about transporting large amounts of goods to make money, but he had no source of goods, no capital, no market, and no experience in the industry. After thinking for a long time, he gave up and finally fell asleep.

The next morning, he woke up at 6:30, quickly ate the breakfast his mother had prepared in the living room, and said goodbye to his father in bed. He rubbed his panda eyes and rode his bicycle to school.

Before he left, he noticed his mother was already gone. His father said she had gone out early to look for a job. Thinking of his mother's difficult job search, Li Yang's eyes welled up.

"Yangzi, you dare to come? The class monitor will tear you to pieces today! Can you tell me why the beautiful class monitor gave you 100 yuan last night?" As soon as he reached the classroom, a chubby boy with thick glasses whispered to Li Yang.

The chubby boy was named Gao Lei and was the class gossip. He looked honest and simple, but he was actually a master of spreading rumors.

"Get lost, if you keep prying, I'll beat you up!" Li Yang waved his fist at him.

Gao Lei quickly ran to the side. Li Yang, in a bad mood, ignored him and quickly entered the classroom. As he looked up, he saw Wang Yuxin looking at him. Their eyes met, and it felt like a spark flew in the air!

Li Yang's face froze, and he quickly forced a smile, walking quickly to his seat and sitting down. He noticed his school uniform jacket was neatly folded in his desk, with a newspaper underneath, which warmed his heart.

He quickly put down his backpack, took out his jacket, and put it on, then stuffed his backpack into the desk. He turned to Wang Yuxin on his right and said, "Class monitor, what do you need from me?"

Wang Yuxin, with a stern face, said, "Li Yang, I'll be watching you today. Your task is to complete your homework and memorize these 200 words. Any problems?"

Li Yang rubbed his panda eyes. Wang Yuxin's reaction was not as angry as he expected.

"No problem, I'll do my best," Li Yang gave her a bright smile.

Li Yang's face was bruised, his left corner of his mouth was swollen, his hair was messy, and he had a big bump on his forehead. His usual handsome appearance was completely ruined.

"Li Yang, didn't you go street dancing last night? Why do you look like this?" Wang Yuxin's eyes showed surprise.

"Oh, nothing, I didn't get to dance and got beaten up. My mom lost her job too. Last night was really bad," Li Yang said softly, his eyes dimming, and the forced smile on his face disappeared.

Wang Yuxin frowned and shook her head. "You're quite pitiful. I understand why your grades have dropped. If you have any problems, you can tell me, and I can help you."

She took out a pink wallet, pulled out a stack of bills, and Li Yang's heart skipped a beat when he saw the money.

After hesitating for a moment, he pushed Wang Yuxin's hand away and said coldly, "I'm a man, I can't take a woman's money."

Wang Yuxin reluctantly put the money away, her eyes slightly red, seemingly angry. Li Yang looked at her gently and said softly, "Yuxin, don't be angry. I appreciate your kindness, and I'll work hard in the future."

Li Yang was stubborn and found it hard to accept Wang Yuxin's kindness. He took the notebook filled with English words and tried to focus on memorizing them. It was not yet time for class, and today's task was heavy, so he had to make the most of his time.

The notebook belonged to Wang Yuxin, and seeing her familiar neat handwriting, Li Yang felt a warm feeling.

As he focused on the words, he suddenly noticed something strange. These difficult English words seemed to stick in his mind after just one look. Li Yang was excited and stared at the 200 words, then closed his eyes and recited them in his mind. Finally, he realized he had memorized them all!

"UFO brother, what's going on? Why did I remember these words after just one look?" Li Yang quickly communicated with the UFO brain.

"Um, when you look at something, I'm forced to look with you. I'm a super powerful star brain in the universe, so remembering these things is no big deal. As for why I remember them and you can too, I'm not sure. Last night, you kept complaining that I only burn diamonds and can't help you. Now you know how powerful I am, right?"

The UFO's tone when communicating with Li Yang was a mimicry of Li Yang's, using his usual phrases like "laozi" (I) without any difference.