Chapter 10

Du Hongting said that he might need to take a leave of absence from school for a period of time, depending on the situation of his company.

When I heard this, I was actually a bit shocked. He’s only three years older than me, and although he’s a guy, he’s inherited the family business, which is a huge task. Young man, aren’t you going to reconsider giving up?

Du Hongting asked me, “Do you think it’s better for me to go back to school to continue my studies or to stay and take care of the company?”

Big brother, are you asking me?

Asking a weak chicken who has experienced the biggest hardship in life is getting an ear piercing, with an IQ half of yours, me?

I don’t even understand what kind of answer someone like me could give that would have any meaning.

Just as I was wracking my brain and trying to come up with a profound philosophical statement, he said, “Everyone else wants me to give up everything and study abroad. But I can’t let go.”

The answer was a good one.

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Myjl dsvl.

Ebld psxlsdl nsdqkelp kd usw, wdelapvydekdt vblka kddla dllep kp jlu.

Rq lhlausdl kp yehkpkdt bkx vs ts pvweu ycasye, vbld esd’v yehkpl bkx vs ts, sa usw’zz clnsxl sdl sq vbl “svbla rlsrzl” obs esd’v wdelapvyde bkx.

Fs R nzlhlazu yehkple bkx, “Ebu zlv ts? Fvyu!”

Fwal ldswtb, yqvla R pyke vbyv, vbl ekpvydnl clvolld vbl qyv twu yde xl dyaasole cu y qlo nldvkxlvlap.

Rv qlzv zkjl pdwttzkdt wr vs y tkydv blyvla kd vbl xkeezl sq okdvla.

Mblal oyp y vswnb sq lxsvksd kd bkp vsdl: “Fs usw wdelapvyde xl iwkvl olzz.”

R fwpv jdso bso vs rzlypl usw.

Ashamed, ashamed.

Du Hongting said, “When I was sorting out the affairs of the company, I realized that we were actually losing money. At that time, I was ignorant and got angry with my dad for cutting my allowance, so I moved out. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had the chance to meet you.”

I was shocked at that time. It turned out that he didn’t leave home because of his family’s financial troubles or his parents’ divorce, but because he was angry about having less spending money.

I can’t believe that I sympathized with you, comforted you, cared for you and looked after you back then…

I despise you.

No, wait, when he was living with us, he did pay quite a bit for rent and food.

I asked, “May I ask how much your allowance was after it was cut?”

Du Hongting said, “80,000.”

I was speechless.

Du Hongting added, “Per month.”

I was even more shocked.Other people’s dads can still give their sons an allowance of 80,000 yuan per month even with a negative net worth, while my dad’s monthly salary is just over 2,000 yuan but he gives me only 800 yuan for the whole academic year…

Maybe I had a fake dad.

It was clear that my advice to Du Hongting to stay and make big money on his own was the right decision.

80,000 yuan per month!

I have never seen him buy anything to wear or use, nor have I seen him have any hobbies. Even games, he doesn’t know how to play, so this money must be used to buy food.

What if he goes abroad to study and runs out of money?

Our family can’t afford it!

It’s good for him to stay and start a business.

Besides, it’s not really starting a business, it’s his dad’s company, which even if it’s a bad ship, still has three pounds of nails.

And it’s not a bad ship, it’s a huge vessel!

Sometimes Du Hongting talks to me about company affairs, although my intelligence is occasionally offline, I still understand a little.

If the company is running normally, the goods in the warehouse, plus the outstanding accounts receivable, would be worth at least five hundred thousand.

He’s so smart, there’s no reason for him to play his good hand badly.

With this kind of thinking, I supported and encouraged Du Hongting’s bold and risky idea.

Then he heartlessly returned to school to study.

A few months later.

I received a soul-stirring phone call: “I want to borrow money from you.”

I saw the caller ID, it was Du Hongting.

Oh my god, who came up with this stupid idea!

Me.

Yes.

Why did I encourage a bookworm who knows nothing about the world to venture into the dangerous waters of the world?

And now he’s back asking me for money, with a pile of debt on his back!

I was wrong.

I called my mom: “I want to discuss something with you.”

Mom: “How many times have I told you that you only have 800 yuan for monthly food expenses?”

Me: “No, it’s not that. This is a difficult topic to bring up, but I…”

Mom: “Are you pregnant?”

I summon my courage and shout: “Du Hongting’s company is short on cash, and I want to borrow some money from you!”

Mom: “Oh, that’s all it is. You scared me. I thought it was something serious. Okay, I’ll go talk to him myself.”

And then she hung up the phone.

Du Hongting is really something else.

He lives with my parents, but he had to go through me to borrow money.

I guess he was too embarrassed to ask directly.

There’s really nothing to be embarrassed about. Our family is not wealthy.

At most, I can lend you a maximum of 1 or 2 thousand yuan.

One week later.

Du Hongting called me: “Thank you.”

I felt embarrassed: “It’s nothing, really.”

It serves me right for being so arrogant back then.

Du Hongting said, “I will definitely pay the money back as soon as possible. What interest rate do you think is more appropriate?”

I have no idea what interest rate means. You’re asking a financial idiot like me what interest rate is appropriate?

I forced a smile and said, “What kind of relationship do we have? Why are we talking about interest rates? Just forget it.”

The main thing is I don’t have much hope for you to repay the loan of one or two thousand yuan anyway.

Du Hongting replied, “That’s not good. Okay, I know what to do.”

A few days later, there was good news in my family.

By chance, I found out from the news that our old house was requisitioned by the government due to being in a natural disaster-prone area. According to our house’s size, the compensation for demolition must be no less than two million yuan.

Our family lived in an old-fashioned bungalow that was both old and short. There was not even a tiled floor in the house, only a concrete floor.

Since I was young, I had a wish to live in a high-rise building with a floor. Finally, my wish could be fulfilled.

But before that, I had to ask my mom to buy me a laptop.

As a programming student, almost everyone had one, except for me and a few classmates who still relied on school computers.

I knew that my family’s financial situation was poor, so I never had the courage to ask before. But now, I had to buy one.

Unexpectedly, my mother said, “We lent all the money to Du Hongting from the compensation for demolition.

Me: ! ! !

My mom added, “Right after we received the compensation for the house demolition, you called and asked me to lend money to Du Hongting. I thought you did it on purpose.”

My vision went black, and I passed out on the spot.

It was the lowest point in my life, a time of darkness that I couldn’t bear to look back on. I cried every day.

Two million yuan…

A luxurious apartment with a floor…

All gone.

It’s all because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut! 

I was so proud of myself that I dug a hole and buried my whole family.

You have to understand what a house means to a family like ours. It may be a lifelong shelter.

Later, I came to my senses.

I tried to lift myself up, and never brought up the money issue again.

Instead, I often called Du Hongting to encourage him and support him, urging him to work hard and hard —

To make money and pay me back.

I went home after freshman year.

The area where our house stood had been flattened, and the once dilapidated houses were now just piles of earth.

I wiped away my tears and called my dad.

According to his description of the address, I arrived at a high-end residential area on the busiest street in the city.

It was a multi-story building with an elevator and a top-floor duplex.

When I entered, the house was being renovated, and my father came over with a painter’s hat on, excited to show me around.

My mother said that Du Hongting wanted to give me a surprise and told everyone not to tell me about the new house.

All of the rooms had hardwood floors, even the bathroom.

I was overwhelmed with emotions and broke down in tears.

I didn’t care who was standing next to me and threw myself into his arms, crying uncontrollably.

I was wrong.

I wouldn’t dare to do that again.

After a moment of realization, I decided to turn over a new leaf, only to realize that I had just thrown myself into Fatty’s arms.

Looking around, my father and mother had both gone off to do their own thing, leaving only Du Hongting with a smirk on his face, holding his chubby hand over my head, “Twenty percent interest per month. Are you satisfied?”