“She wouldn’t dare!” Shu Guobing’s bleary eyes bulged.
“I’m calling Wen Dongrong to ask how he raised such a sharp-tongued girl!”
Neither Shu Lu nor Wen Hongyan stopped him. Shu Lu figured repaying was one thing, but Wen Ying shouldn’t get off easy. After humiliating her at the school gate and threatening her, Wen Ying deserved a scolding from Uncle Wen Dongrong.
When Shu Guobing called, Wen Dongrong was in a meeting. Expecting an apology, Wen Dongrong was instead blasted.
“I’d rather starve than borrow a cent from you again! List every penny you spent on Shu Lu—I’ll pay it back. Just you wait, Wen! That daughter of yours has no respect for elders—she’ll get what’s coming! What’s so great about you? Just some dirty money, probably from bribes—”
*Click.* Wen Dongrong hung up, muted his phone, and flipped it face-down, calmly resuming the meeting.
Shu Guobing’s booming voice carried, and colleagues caught snippets of the tirade, though they pretended not to hear. Privately, they wondered who dared speak to Wen Dongrong so brashly—and bribery? That wasn’t something to toss around lightly.
Wen Dongrong, swallowing his anger, finished the meeting. At home, he found Chen Ru at the dining table, a notebook open, scribbling calculations.
Chen Ru, a banker, meticulously tracked expenses. Every subsidy—date, recipient, amount—was logged. Not just for the Shu family; even Wen Ying, her only child, had a dedicated ledger detailing every cent spent on her education and life since kindergarten.
Chen Ru had transcribed all records tied to Wen Hongyan’s family, tracing back to Shu Lu’s elementary days. Wen Dongrong had secured jobs for Wen Hongyan and Shu Guobing, and Chen Ru personally handled Shu Lu’s urban school fees after their move from the countryside. Earlier rural subsidies weren’t even counted.
Still, the tally shocked her: over eight years, she’d funneled 20,000 yuan to the Shu family—about 2,500 annually. That seemed modest now, with her monthly salary exceeding 2,500, but in 1996, her pay was mere hundreds. And this was only what passed through her—Wen Dongrong’s secret handouts, like last summer’s 3,000-yuan camp fee, pushed the total far higher.
No wonder, with only Wen Hongyan working and Shu Guobing’s failed ventures, Shu Lu studied carefree—Chen Ru and Wen Dongrong were their cash cows. Why strive when money flowed in?
The more she calculated, the colder her fury grew. When Wen Dongrong walked in, her face was ice.
Before she could recount the school-gate drama, Wen Dongrong erupted, “What did you and Wen Ying say to Hongyan today? Pressuring them to repay? That money was a gift, not a loan! Demanding it back now—what will people think? You want them gossiping behind my back?”
Wen Dongrong, ever the patriarch, saw it as his duty to uplift his less successful siblings. He’d never expected Wen Hongyan to repay; it was for family—his sister and niece. The money didn’t dent their lifestyle but transformed Shu Lu’s. Without it, with such deadbeat parents, she’d likely have dropped out after junior high.
He wasn’t blind to Shu Lu’s cunning—poor kids needed guile to succeed. He even liked her sharpness, reminiscent of his youth. Compared to Wen Ying, Shu Lu felt more like his daughter. Seeing Chen Ru’s neck flush with anger, he softened, “Besides, you agreed to the subsidies. We said we’d help Big Brother, Little Brother, and Hongyan settle in the city, not forever. They’ve offered to repay early subsidies—you refused. I know you’re big-hearted. I must’ve burned lifetimes of incense to marry you!”
Wen Dongrong, still handsome and charismatic, had charmed Chen Ru in youth. Usually, his sweet talk smoothed over spats. Not today—Wen Ying’s spark had ignited a blaze. Wen Dongrong hid two things: Shu Guobing’s seafood market rivalry with Deng Shangwei and his grab for Wen Ying’s shop.
Deng Shangwei, flawed but family through Chen Ru’s sister, and Wen Ying, her own flesh—Wen Dongrong knew yet stayed silent, now raging for Shu Guobing’s sake. Chen Ru’s temper flared beyond suppression.
“Agreed?” she sneered. “I agreed to help your sister, not to let her curse my daughter’s upbringing while spending my money! Nor to raise her daughter to trample mine. Swear on your conscience you didn’t sneak her camp money last summer!”
Why bring up the camp? Wen Dongrong frowned, sensing Chen Ru’s unusual fury. Before he could argue, she hurled the ledger at his face.
“Without me, could you have brought your whole family to the city? Look at what we’ve spent on them! Others aside, none are as vile as Wen Hongyan. I don’t care if they’re rich now—I won’t take advantage, but if she dares not repay, this isn’t over!”
