Chapter One Hundred and Eighteen: More Troubles Ensues
Having said that, even Xiao Yu could get angry.
The human being was just like a spring – if it was compressed for too long, it would eventually bounce back. Even if Xiao Yu was more flexible, he also had limits.
When his spring reached its limit, it would naturally bounce back.
However, after it bounced back…
Xiao Yu sat on his couch thinking for the next hour. Then, he paced between the couch and the door. Specifically, he stood up from the couch, walked past the kitchen to the door, turned around, and then walked back to the couch to sit down.
Ohmygawd, I actually said something like, ‘We will meet in court’. Am I crazy?
Why did I make it sound so certain when I could have just said that I needed more time to think and dragged it out?
I’m agitated because it’s Yan Jin we are talking about.
They can’t blame me for having a wonderful impression of Yan Jin, for thinking that he would never do such a thing.
Xiao Yu curled himself into the couch feeling aggrieved as he unconsciously sought that warm palm to nudge against and ask for comfort.
It was not there.
He was suddenly awakened by the fact that he was no longer in a form which could solve everything just by acting cute.
Ughhhh, come on. Now that I’m back to human, I have to use some intelligence.
Xiao Yu encouraged himself.
I chose this road, and I shall stick to it.
Anyway, he had p.i.s.sed off the lawyer. Now he could only wait for the summon ticket from the court now.
Xiao Yu went online to check on past court procedures. If the information found online was accurate, then before he would be prosecuted, there would still be a period of time when his movements would not be restricted.
During that period, he must meet Yan Jin in person no matter what.
To meet and explain everything.
According to Old Wu’s information, Yan Jin should be holding the funeral for his pet during this time and would not be free to care about anything else.
Honestly speaking, this was the first time Xiao Yu had ever heard of a funeral being held for over a week. In addition to that, this was also the first time he had heard of a pet funeral.
Xiao Yu browsed through the comments online and the majority of the netizens were praising Yan Jin for having such loyalty. He could only wonder if perhaps it was he, the one who felt that the proceedings strange, was the weird one?
At first, when Xiao Yu had heard about the funeral, he felt that it would be the perfect opportunity to meet Yan Jin. It was only later that Old Wu told him the depressing news –
The funeral could not be attended by anyone whose surname was Xiao.
Frustrated and aggrieved, Xiao Yu could only give up on catching Yan Jin at the funeral and look for other options instead.
Xiao Yu continued pacing – sitting on the couch, tilting his head, falling back on the couch, getting up, and walking back to the doorway. Maybe even G.o.d was feeling bad for him and to help him end the meaningless pacing caused the doorbell rang.
Ding-dong.
“Coming,” Xiao Yu shouted as he went to open the door.
He headed towards the door. It would only take him around ten seconds to open it.
In those ten seconds, the thought ‘who could it be’ filled Xiao Yu’s mind.
It was most probably one of his colleagues from SI. However, he had told Old Wu to inform his coworkers that he would like to rest peacefully at home. How could someone be so ignorant as to disturb him? Old Wu was a reliable person, so if someone was planning to visit him, he would have informed him through QQ messenger beforehand. Not that he had many friends who were closed enough to visit him anytime they wanted. Could it be Lin Zhou?
In those ten seconds, many questions appeared in Xiao Yu’s mind. Thankfully, he would find out soon.
Xiao Yu opened the door to find in front of him a person he had not expected.
To describe her as a middle-aged woman would not be accurate; she had black hair that was clipped neatly at the back of her head, an appropriate pair of jade pendant earrings that brightened her pale-looking face, and eyes that told a story.
However, the obvious wrinkles at the edges of her eyes and slightly sunken eye bags indicated her age.
“…… Aunt Fang.”
Xiao Yu took half a step back to invite the person in.
“There’s no need.” The woman’s voice was cold and arrogant. Even as the years had left their mark on her looks, it seemed as if nothing had left even a scratch on her icy-cold heart.
“I came here to ask why the money for the past six months hasn’t been transferred yet. Why wasn’t it transferred within the first few days of March as usual?”
Xiao Yu stammered for a moment before he spoke. “I’m sorry. I was quite agitated after winning a grand prize, and I forgot about it. I will transfer the money within the next two days. Is that okay?”
The woman looked suspiciously at Xiao Yu and replied slowly: “Lil’ Hao needs money now. Give us one-year’s worth of money.”
“That’s a large- “
“You have a career that earns you a few million a year. You have good prospects, and you’re the elder brother. You should take more responsibility. Just wait till Lil’ Hao is back from studying overseas. We won’t treat you unfairly.”
Xiao Yu went silent for a while before he finally nodded his head.
He wanted to explain that even in the best case scenarios, his salary would only about one million per year at best. If something went wrong, he would not even earn a million. However, he knew that regardless of what he said, the woman in front of him would just think that he was trying to quibble, crying poverty just because he did not want to be responsible for her son’s education fee.
Xiao Yu could only acknowledge it as he was used to compromising with Mdm Fang.
He had gotten used to it fourteen years ago.
Even though Mdm Fang had misconceptions about his salary, her requests were still within an acceptable range and didn’t drive him to a corner.
Four hundred thousand for half a year, and eight hundred thousand for a year. Adding in the time when Lil’ Hao video called him to ask for a ‘red packet’ during the Lunar New Year, it should not exceed nine hundred thousand.
Back then, Xiao Yu had disagreed with Mdm Fang about sending Lil’ Hao to study overseas but there was no use in objecting to it. In Mdm Fang’s opinion, she had been raising Xiao Yu for free for so many years, it was about time to use him to the fullest. Xiao Yu had owed so much to both of them that he would not be able to repay them fully in his entire life. She was merely asking for eight hundred thousand a year from Xiao Yu who earned a few million dollars annually; that was nothing.
“Are you still renting an apartment?” Speaking of money, Mdm Fang suddenly mentioned the apartment.
Xiao Yu unconsciously nodded his head, then shook it again.
He wanted to speak but chose not to in the end, opting to silently listen to Mdm Fang.
“You should buy a place of your own and settle down. Are you planning to rent an apartment long-term? It’s such a waste of money.”
That was the last thing that Mdm Fang said to Xiao Yu before she turned away and left.
Her back still looked just like it did all those years ago.
Xiao Yu closed the door and stood behind it for a long time.
He did not tell Mdm Fang that he had been involved in an accident two days ago, which was why he could not transfer the money on time to her son, his young brother. He did not tell Mdm Fang that he wanted to purchase a place of his own, but that he couldn’t even afford the down payment.
He could sense why Mdm Fang was concerned about him renting an apartment. She was probably worried that without a fixed residence, he could just run away from them if he wanted to s.h.i.+rk responsibility.
He would not run away. Mdm Fang did not need to worry about that
Because if he did, then he would really be all alone in this world.
……
It was not really a melodramatic story.
The day Xiao Yu was born, his mother pa.s.sed away. He then lost his father when he was twelve years old. When he was fifteen, he was caught in the dilemma of whether or not he could continue his studies. His stepmother, Mdm Fang, did not take his father’s inheritance and remarry. This woman who had been cold hearted like an icy mountain ever since she had appeared in Xiao Yu’s life had given him two choices:
One, he could choose not to further his studies and she would provide him with enough to attend a vocational inst.i.tution so that he could get a job after graduation. Three years later when he turned eighteen, he would be on his own, and they would go their separate ways.
Two, the house would be hers and she would share one-third of the inheritance with him. He could use this money to continue his studies, and he could decide how far he wanted to pursue his studies. However, he would need to sign an IOU for ten times that amount. Regardless of which career Xiao Yu decided on, whether he would earn a high income or an average one, he would still need to repay both princ.i.p.al and interest to her son and Xiao Yu’s stepbrother, Xiao Zihao.
Xiao Yu chose the second option because he did not want to be disa.s.sociated with his own family.
Ever since the beginning, he had never forgotten what his father had told him on his deathbed. They owed it to this woman. Even if Xiao Yu had already returned more than what he should have repaid, he had never once thought of breaking ties with Mdm Fang.
There was no evil stepmother story line, neither was there a war over inheritance. Mdm Fang did not owe him anything, or should he say she had given him plenty. If she had brought along her son and remarried when he was twelve, Xiao Yu’s life may have been even worse during the past few years.
Instead, compared to Mdm Fang, Xiao Yu was even more worried about his five years younger brother.
In that stone-cold heart of Mdm Fang, the only soft spot was probably for that son whom she gave birth to. That was why two years ago, before Xiao Yu had a stable career in SI, Mdm Fang forcefully sent her son who had failed his college entrance exam away to study overseas.
The expensive school fees and living costs were fully undertaken by Xiao Yu. In the first year, the total cost was about three hundred thousand. Xiao Yu had transferred one hundred and fifty thousand biannually. However, on the second year, the funds needed per transfer became three hundred thousand, which meant six hundred thousand a year. This year, the third year, the amount had increased to eight hundred thousand.
Xiao Yu was never a proper student who had studied overseas, but during the time when he had followed his teacher to study and travel around the world, he had gained some understanding of the fees for universities overseas as well as the estimated amount of decent living expenses. That the ‘school fees’ seemed to be increasing so rapidly was something that could fool Mdm Fang but not him.
However, Xiao Yu could not tell Mdm Fang that, and neither could he travel and find out what his step-brother was doing . Hence, he could only choose the easiest way –
Compromise.
It was not the first time Xiao Yu had felt relieved that money could resolve everything,
so even though he did feel guilty, he still turned away and closed his eyes.
……
Xiao Yu buried himself into the couch once again.
Suddenly, he really missed Yan Jin, really, really missed him.