I Became the Blacksmith NPC

Liu Kongkong hadn't expected that a single offhand remark from him would leave his parents with such a poor impression of Gao Yiwen's family.

But he hadn't been talking nonsense that day either. The two of them had chatted before the meeting, and she had come across as indifferent and dismissive the whole time — not that Liu Kongkong had been particularly warm himself.

After quite a while, Gao Yiwen finally came out, moving at a leisurely pace. Just a minute earlier, she had received a call from her parents telling her that Liu Kongkong's father would give her a ride home.

After the blind date ended that day, her mother had asked how it went, and she had made it clear that Liu Kongkong wasn't really her type.

"You said he ran a small business of his own — I assumed it was something like an online shop. Turns out he does boosting and carry work for games." If she had known from the start that Liu Kongkong made his living doing boosting and carry work, Gao Yiwen would have felt the meeting itself could have been skipped entirely.

But the older folks at home had no idea what boosting and carry work even was, so when their daughter expressed her dissatisfaction, they simply tried to smooth things over.

Still, the two of them had exchanged a few words in the car, so Gao Yiwen figured the ride home wouldn't be too awkward. She greeted Liu Liming politely, and he, not one to hold a grudge against the younger generation, smiled and told them both to hop in.

Along the way, Liu Liming casually asked Gao Yiwen about herself. She answered with evident pride, talking about still being in school and her plans for the future. After listening, Liu Liming had to admit that when it came to academics, Gao Yiwen was indeed quite a bit ahead of Liu Kongkong. But that was where it ended — in every other respect, he was perfectly satisfied with his son. In his eyes, Liu Kongkong was filial, even-tempered, and though he had been a mischievous kid who loved playing games during school, he had matured considerably since graduating.

After dropping Gao Yiwen off at her home, Liu Liming let out a sigh. "Son, you're a good kid in most ways, but this job of yours really is a problem. That girl just thinks you're…"

"Alright, Dad, I'll figure something out about the job. Here — take this phone." To cut Liu Liming off before he could go further, Liu Kongkong handed the phone over preemptively.

Liu Liming was delighted on the inside, though his face put on a displeased expression. "What did you buy this thing for? My old phone still works fine!"

"Come on, it takes a full minute just to open an app…"

"How much did it cost?"

"A little over a thousand yuan." Liu Kongkong said casually — in reality, the phone had cost him over four thousand.

"Throwing money away." Liu Liming, satisfied enough with the price, accepted it, then picked up his old phone and transferred two thousand yuan to Liu Kongkong.

Liu Kongkong was used to this. He accepted it without a word.

Back home, Sun Yuchang had already prepared dinner. Seeing the father and son return, she immediately called them over to eat.

"My, my — looks like you've been eating well lately." Sun Yuchang looked Liu Kongkong up and down. "You've filled out a bit."

"Have I?"

Liu Kongkong paused, glancing down at himself. His diet hadn't really changed much recently.

"Of course you wouldn't notice — you see yourself in the mirror every day. It's been so long since Mom's seen you." Sun Yuchang said with a smile.

How long? Just a little over a month?

Liu Kongkong thought back to the last time he'd come home. He had filled out — probably had something to do with his Constitution stat in Hunt Heaven.

"He has gotten a bit bigger." Liu Liming chimed in from the side.

"Oh right, Mom — I got you a birthday present." Liu Kongkong smiled and went to his room to retrieve the gold bracelet from his backpack. He could hear Sun Yuchang outside laughing and scolding him for wasting money — but the moment she saw the bracelet in his hand, both she and Liu Liming froze.

"This thing… how much did it cost?"

"Uh… thirty thousand?"

Liu Kongkong didn't dare throw out a random number for this one. If he said too little, his mom might think it was gold-plated, and that would be a whole mess.

"Why did you spend that much?" Both of them knew Liu Kongkong's income and knew he had been saving up, but for him to suddenly spend such a large sum on a gift for her — Sun Yuchang was happy on the inside even as she scolded him out loud, then turned and told Liu Liming to hurry up and transfer the money back to their son!

"No, no need. I landed a big job recently and made quite a bit." Watching the smile his mother couldn't quite hide, Liu Kongkong felt the money was well spent. Both his parents were frugal people, which meant Sun Yuchang had never owned a decent piece of jewelry to this day.

"Sounds like he really did make a lot — the kid even bought me a new phone."

"No matter how much you earn, you can't just spend it freely. Money is so hard to come by these days." Sun Yuchang happily slipped the bracelet onto her wrist, feeling its satisfying weight. "Actually — I need to go for a walk in a bit. Especially past Old Gao's place…"

So the business with Gao Yiwen still wasn't over. Liu Kongkong shook his head with a smile, then looked over at Liu Liming, who was still fiddling with his new phone. "Dad, isn't it about time you got a new car too?"

The two of them, who had been in high spirits a moment ago, both froze at that — and then their expressions turned serious.

"Kongkong, tell your dad the truth. Are you mixed up in something illegal?" Both of them knew their son's capabilities well enough. What Liu Kongkong was suggesting was clearly that he wanted to buy his father a new car.

Faced with their wary looks, Liu Kongkong had no choice but to pull out his phone, bring up his bank transaction records, then open the family computer and show them that all the money had come from the game.

"This thing can really earn that much?" Liu Liming stared at the computer screen. He was getting on in years and only had a vague understanding of some things. But based on what he knew of his son, he chose to believe him.

Sun Yuchang looked at the balance on Liu Kongkong's bank card and suddenly burst out laughing — but said nothing.

"Impressive, impressive — well done!" After Liu Kongkong pulled up a Huaxia News report about Hunt Heaven, Liu Liming finally relaxed. No matter how the kid had done in school, having that kind of savings at his age was genuinely remarkable.

"So… the car?"

"We're buying one!" Liu Liming immediately declared. "Let's go this afternoon! My son's earning money to buy me a car — I'm going to drive your mother around town and show it off!"

And so, after finishing lunch, the family wasted no time heading to the dealership. Liu Kongkong already knew what his father wanted — an SUV. The old man had mentioned it from time to time, and Liu Kongkong had remembered every word, so choosing the car took almost no time at all.

They traded in the old car and paid the balance — 250,000 yuan. The vehicle was in stock and handed over on the spot. Liu Liming's mouth didn't close the entire drive home. He rolled down the window as he cruised through town, greeting everyone he passed. A stretch of road barely a kilometer long took him the better part of half an hour to drive.

He was even humming to himself in the bathroom after dinner that night.

"Look how happy your father is." Sun Yuchang dragged a chair over and sat down beside Liu Kongkong. "He'll probably be dreaming about his new car all night. Still, spending that much money all at once…"

"As long as he's happy. Money is meant to be spent. Seeing you two happy makes me happy too."

Sun Yuchang smiled and ruffled Liu Kongkong's hair. "Son, tell Mom the truth — did you just not like that Gao Yiwen girl?"

Liu Kongkong paused, then smiled.

He hadn't wanted to get married in the first place, but even if he had, Gao Yiwen wouldn't have been the one — she'd barely said hello before asking him to support her for a while. He wasn't an ATM.

But what Sun Yuchang said next caught him off guard.

"Is it that you don't want to get married at all?"

"More or less." Liu Kongkong didn't deny it. His mind instantly filled with a dozen reasons and explanations, but Sun Yuchang didn't give him the chance to use any of them.

"You're grown up now. You know what you want. If you don't want to, Mom won't force you."

Even so, Liu Kongkong caught a flicker of regret in Sun Yuchang's eyes. But not everything could be compromised away out of filial duty or family love. Every person's life was their own. Once you made a decision by compromising for someone else's sake, there would always come a night, somewhere down the road, when you'd lie awake hating yourself for it — and from there it was only resentment and blame.

"I'll work hard and earn money. With enough money, even when I'm old, there'll be plenty of people who'll want to take care of me."

Liu Kongkong said it with a smile.

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