Wen Qiao patted Wen Chi on his shoulder. "Everything's fine. Go into the room, turn on the lights and do your homework. It's getting dark, doing homework outside is bad for your vision."
With that, Wen Qiao went out too. There was a small bluestone alleyway outside the door. Wen Qiao walked out, and she heard someone sobbing around the corner.
Not daring to go any further, she simply leaned against the wall.
Her mother was squatting in one corner and crying secretly.
Her mother would cry in her moments of frailness too. Her mother, too, needed someone to lean on.
Su Yun's sobs were very soft and restrained. Shortly after, Wen Qiao heard the sound of footsteps gradually weakening. Adults only vented their emotions for about five minutes and she only allowed herself that much.
In those five minutes, secretly find a corner and cry to one's heart's content, then it was back to facing reality.
When Su Yun came back, it was raining outside. She carried a plastic bag containing four pears, and also some bananas with black spots and a few apples.
Wen Qiao quickly grabbed a towel and went up to help her mother wipe her hair. With eyes that were still reddened, Su Yun said softly, "Eat the banana. I'll go to the kitchen to stew snow pears for Xiao Mo."
Wen Qiao trailed behind her mother like a tail and entered the kitchen.
With the continuous patter of raindrops outside, as Su Yun pared the skin by the stove, Wen Qiao said to her softly, "Mom, I'm sorry."
Su Yun shook her head. "I'm the one who let you three down, to have made you three lead such a difficult life."
When she heard those words, Wen Qiao felt even more guilty. She knew her mother was doing her best to make sure she and her brothers didn't lead a life worse off than an ordinary family.
Even though finances were tight, her mother still signed her up for pipa classes, only because she was talented in this area and because her mother felt that girls who played a musical instrument tended to have a better disposition.
"Mom, even when we haven't looked for Wen Jianmin all these years, he had never once thought more highly of us because we have pride. He doesn't feel an ounce of sympathy towards us when he sees us struggling to make ends meet. By doing this, other than touching our own hearts, it doesn't serve any other purpose. Do you get what I'm saying?"
Su Yun put the snow pear on the steamer and filled the bottom with water, before turning on the gas. She glanced at Wen Qiao. "He's your father. You're not to address him by his full name."
"You're asking me to regard him as my father, but he has never regarded us as his children. Throughout these eleven years, he has neither cared to inquire about nor to hear about us. Even if it serves no other purpose than to piss him off, I must get this money from him."
Su Yun opened her mouth, but upon seeing the resolution in her daughter's eyes, her hands fell limply by her sides. "I'm just worried you'll get hurt."
For Zhong Hui to successfully convert from Wen Jianmin's secretary to his proper wife, she must be a scheming and manipulative person. The daughter she brought over, Xu Lu, wasn't a simple character either. How was her Qiaoqiao, who had always been one to wear her heart on her sleeve, to compete with that devious mother-and-daughter pair?
Wen Qiao clutched her mother's hand. "Mom, I will protect myself. I will protect you and my younger brothers."
With a sigh, Su Yun finally relented. "Talk it over nicely with your father. If you really fail to get the money from him, just forget it. Mom will think of ways to earn more money. Okay?"
Feigning compliance while planning to act in opposition, Wen Qiao nodded her head.
Talk it over nicely?
Not gonna happen.
A person like Wen Jianmin wouldn't shed tears until he saw the coffin. No way was she going to talk it over nicely with him.
After half an hour, the stewed snow pear with rock sugar was ready. Su Yun scooped out a large bowl and brought it into the living room. "Xiao Mo, come over and drink this soup."
Compared with Wen Chi, Wen Mo was thinner and fairer. He sat down by the dining table and obediently drank the pear soup.
Wen Qiao touched his forehead. "If you're still coughing tomorrow, go to the hospital for a checkup."
Wen Mo nodded.
Twisting her head, she saw that Wen Chi had already tossed his homework aside and was off to play games on his computer.
They had two computers in the house—one desktop and one laptop, both of which were brought back by Wen Mo. He said he won them as prizes in a Weibo lucky draw.
Even the smartphones used by the three Wen siblings were won in a lucky draw by Wen Mo.
At this moment, Wen Qiao had some doubts. Was this kid really that lucky?
Wen Qiao went behind Wen Chi with one arm akimbo. "You're fifteen now, you ought to have some self-awareness. Have you finished your homework? You only know how to play games."
With half a banana hanging from his mouth, Wen Chi said, "I've finished it."
Wen Qiao picked up his math assignment and swept a casual gaze over it and flew into a rage almost instantly. It was clear that Wen Chi didn't put any effort into it—he had randomly filled in the multiple-choice questions with ABCD, and eight out of ten of them were wrong.
"Redo it. Do it seriously."
With reluctance written all over his face, Wen Chi said, "Sis, I'm just not cut out for studying. Forcing me to study is a complete waste of time. I've talked with Xia Bo and the rest. Once the nine years of mandatory education ends, I'm off to earn money."
"What will you rely on to make money?"
Straightening up, Wen Chi stopped being his dilly-dallying self. "Enter a club and become a professional gamer. You've heard of Ding Hai, haven't you? His uncle runs a club. Their team has made it into the world top three before, it's just that they've declined a little now. We're planning to enter the team and help his uncle's club reclaim its past glory."
As the youth spoke of his dream, his eyes sparkled with a passionate glow.
This made Wen Qiao begin to review her assessment of Wen Chi. In her previous lifetime, because he had vehemently refused to enter senior high, he broke his mother's heart and things at home became really tense. In the end, he even left home and cut off all contact with them.
Even then, he would still secretly pay attention to his family's situation and would stand out to fight for Wen Mo when he saw his brother get bullied.
From the looks of it now, if he genuinely had no interest in studying, so perhaps professional gaming was a viable option.
As the saying went, 'every road leads to Rome'.
"Are you playing PUBG?"
"Mm."
"What's your standard like?"
"If nothing goes wrong, I'm a master. I can easily get 10 kills and win the game."
Hearing the conversation, Su Yun frowned. "You ought to prioritize your studies. Don't keep thinking about playing games all day long, child."
After Wen Mo finished drinking the pear soup, Su Yun brought the bowl into the kitchen.
Wen Qiao said in a hushed voice, "I support your idea in entering the club, but you have to guarantee that your studies won't be too greatly affected. You must enter university at least. Can you promise me that?"
"Deal! Eh, who was that man today? I saw you acting like a wimp in front of him."
Who was acting like a wimp? Wen Qiao raised a hand, threatening to give him a vicious beating. Wen Chi assumed a posture of shouting for his mother.
Ugh! Wen Qiao immediately relented, before whispering, "That's my boyfriend. But you're not to tell Mom."
Perhaps after finding a new means of survival she would be able to leave Fu Nanli. She decided not to alarm her mother for now.
Even Wen Mo looked shocked.
Wen Chi asked, "Who is he? What does he do? How old is he?"
"Are you investigating his entire household?"
"Xia Bo said his car is quite expensive. I don't know about that stuff. I'm just worried you'll be stupidly deceived by that man."
"Alright, alright. I know what to do. If you let slip of this in front of Mom…" Wen Qiao raised a hand again.
Though furious, Wen Chi knew he was no match for his sister. "You only know how to threaten me."
The school bully's pride was being trampled upon time and again, he couldn't take it lying down. But because he was no match for her, there was nothing he could do about it except to hold it in.
After Wen Qiao was reborn, she did have many means to make money. Firstly, she could compose songs. In her previous lifetime, she had lived till 24, and by then she had developed an understanding of which company valued talents and copyright, and could also provide her with good development.
After careful consideration, she decided to choose Ocean Lux Records. In her previous lifetime, the songs that she composed impromptu were misappropriated by the pub boss and sent to the record company by him. Even when the songs subsequently fell in popularity, that scumbag boss could earn a steady six-figure income every month in royalties. While he earned a lot of money from misappropriating her work, she didn't gain a single cent from it.
This lifetime, she naturally had to plan for herself in advance.
She first wrote a tune, then created a demo using Logic Pro and MIDI keyboard, before sending them to the Ocean Lux Records music director in one compilation. She knew that the music director of Ocean Lux Records would show great interest in this tune.
Even if she could rely on herself to earn money, she had to get back from Wen Jianmin what he owed to her.
No way would she allow that heartless cad who abandoned his wife and children to live in peace.
あなたも好きかも