Stars In His Eyes
Chapter 673 Brother, I’ll Take You Home 7_1

Chapter 673: Chapter 673 Brother, I’ll Take You Home 7_1

No one knew what the person on the other side of the phone said to He Zhongguo, only that everyone saw He Zhongguo lifting his hand to cover his face, his shoulders trembling, and crying like a child.

"Older sister, could you please go to my house and call Dongxue for me, tell her that her second brother is on the phone," It took a while for He Zhongguo to collect himself and turn to his neighbor.

Everyone was good neighbors, who wouldn’t give a little help? Even more so, since this was a phone call from He Da, the member of the He family who had been missing for many years, everyone was joyous for them.

Upon hearing that her second brother is on the phone, He Dongxue sprinted to the small convenience store without even stopping to properly put on her shoes. After picking up the phone and calling out to her second brother, and confirming that it was He Da on the other end, she didn’t say a word. She just wept, incessantly.

He Da’s return had, indeed, brought another exciting piece of news to the He family’s summer. He didn’t say anything else to his father over the phone, only that he would be coming home with He Zhilan in a few days, then hung up the phone amidst his own choking sobs.

Looking at his leg, He Da wondered how he would explain everything to his father when he got home.

Most people return home from a long absence with a full wallet. But him, he barely escaped with his life, and at the expense of a leg. Moreover, were it not for Zhilan, he wouldn’t have thought of returning home in this lifetime.

"Second Brother, what on earth happened to you? You used to write home and send money every month, then suddenly, without reason, you vanished and ended up in C Province?" He Zhilan looked at the empty trousers leg that her brother was staring at. "Second Brother, don’t worry, I will work hard to earn money and get you a prosthetic leg. The doctor said that once you have a prosthetic leg, you can walk like a normal person."

"No need. It’s very expensive, and unnecessary. After all these years, I’ve adjusted to this life. I can get by with two wooden crutches. It’s just that when I return this way, I’m afraid it will break Dad’s heart." He Da sighed and then began to speak about what happened all those years ago.

When he left home, he was a passionate young man looking to earn money, lighten the family’s burdens, and initially found work on a construction site. Then, he met someone who told him that there were plenty of opportunities and money to be made in the south, leading him to naively follow this person to C Province, where he was trapped.

At first, they wanted him to steal with a gang, but he refused and was beaten until he complied. But he was a novice, slow, and the money he managed to steal was either minimal or he got caught, leading to more beatings.

During this time, he kept looking for chances to escape, but he was always monitored by his captors, afraid he would run. All the money he made he never got to keep, and he was given just enough food to survive, which lead to him stealing food a few times only to be beaten again.

In the end, because of his lack of skill, the brutes maliciously cut off his leg and left him to a traditional healer who barely managed to save his life. From that day on, he became a pitiful one-legged beggar on the streets.

"Even without my leg, I never gave up the thought of returning home. I even went to the police in hopes they could help me. But after getting kicked out of the station, I sobered up - the police didn’t care at all. Some were even friendly with my captors, eating and drinking with them. It was then I felt despair, realizing that the world had such a dark side."