Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Owed Zhou Huai’an 1 Favor

Qian Cuicui’s face was a mask of impatience. "What nonsense are you spouting, you wretched girl? Get your mother out here. Her father and I need to see her about something."

Back when Chi Yuanshan had yet to make his fortune, Qian Cuicui was never pleasant to Song Yinghe and Chi Wan. She was always criticizing Song Yinghe for her poor judgment and going on about how Chi Yuanshan was a good-for-nothing.

After Chi Yuanshan finally made something of himself, the old couple would only have their brief "moments of warmth" during the holidays when he gave them fat red envelopes, or whenever Song Yangming needed more "start-up capital" for a business.

In their own words, they had worked their fingers to the bone to raise Song Yinghe. Now that she, the older sister, was living a comfortable life, she was obligated to look after her brother—the one who could carry on the family line.

But in reality, Song Yinghe had been so outstanding that she brought home scholarship money; otherwise, this pair of parents who so heavily favored their son would have long ago forced her to drop out of school and marry.

Chi Wan had been sick of their hypocrisy for a long time. It was just that Song Yinghe was still held back by their occasional displays of so-called "concern" and could never bring herself to cut them off completely.

Now that her family was bankrupt, Chi Wan knew Song Yinghe had secretly approached her parents for help several times. But not only had she failed to borrow any money, she had also been humiliated. Afterward, they stopped answering her calls and wouldn’t even open the door, avoiding her completely.

The only thing Chi Wan was thankful for was that her mom wasn’t here. Otherwise, she would just get her heart broken again.

After trying and failing to push the door open, and getting stung by Chi Wan’s verbal jabs, Song Yangming kicked the door to vent his frustration. "Do your parents know why we’re here? Are they hiding from us on purpose?"

Chi Wan gave him a huge eye-roll. "Has it ever occurred to you that normal people need to work to get paid? Do you think everyone’s like you, able to just shamelessly hold out a hand and get cash?"

"You! I’m your uncle! You keep talking back to your elders like that, and I’ll teach you a lesson for your parents!"

Song Yangming was fourteen years younger than Song Yinghe. Now twenty-eight, he had accomplished nothing in his life, but at home, he was a little tyrant whose word was law. There was no way he would tolerate being taunted by Chi Wan like this.

His eyes widened in a glare as he grabbed Chi Wan’s wrist. Raising his other hand high, he was actually about to hit her!

And yet, Qian Cuicui and Song Jianguo just watched with cold indifference, making no move to stop him. Clearly, they were displeased with Chi Wan’s insolence and wanted Song Yangming to give her a "lesson."

But for Chi Wan to speak so daringly while facing three people alone, she must have had something to rely on.

Just as Song Yangming’s hand was about to swing down, an incredibly thin vine crept out from behind Chi Wan and silently slithered up his leg to his arm.

Song Yangming felt a jolt of numbness in his elbow. An instant later, it was as if his entire arm had lost all feeling. He could no longer hold it up, and it dropped limply to his side.

The vine then burrowed into Song Yangming’s skin, vanishing without a trace.

Chi Wan had a reason for being so defiant, of course. She had something to rely on.

Li Xingye had given her a piece of his life-bound main vine for protection. She had seen it the moment it started crawling up Song Yangming’s leg, so she wasn’t panicked in the slightest.

Before Song Yangming could even wonder in terror what had happened to his arm, someone grabbed him and yanked him back, causing him to stagger. "Who are you people? What are you doing at Wanwan’s house?!"

Chi Wan looked up in surprise at Zhou Huaijin, who now stood protectively in front of her, slightly out of breath from his sudden burst of action. "Senior Brother? Didn’t you say you were coming over after lunch?"

Grandpa Zhou hurried into the yard after him. "It was my fault. This old man wanted to see the orchids early, so I rushed him. Good thing we made it in time. Wanwan, who are these people? Robbers? Don’t be afraid. I’ll... I’ll call the police right now."

Song Yangming was about to speak, but a searing pain suddenly shot through his arm, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Seeing this, Song Jianguo and Qian Cuicui grew flustered. One worriedly fussed over her precious son, completely unable to help, while the other scrambled to stop Grandpa Zhou from calling the police, explaining that he was Chi Wan’s maternal grandfather.

"Grandparents and an uncle?" Grandpa Zhou’s face was a picture of disbelief. "What kind of family treats a young girl like this? Wanwan, you tell me, are these people really your family?"

When Chi Wan nodded, the grandfather and grandson exchanged a look, not quite understanding what was going on with this family.

"Senior Brother, Grandpa Zhou, please wait just a moment." Chi Wan turned to Song Yangming, who was clutching his arm and howling in pain. "What’s this? Did the orchid extortion scheme fail, so now you’ve decided to play the victim yourself?"

"Victim my ass! If you people hadn’t refused to give me the money, would I have gotten threatened?! AGH, it hurts... What the fuck did you do to me!" The more Song Yangming swore, the more intensely his arm ached. The sight of him drenched in sweat made Qian Cuicui’s heart race with fear.

"Chi Wan! What did you do? He’s your uncle! You... your family pretends to be bankrupt, refuses to buy your uncle a house and pay the bride price, and made the girlfriend he finally managed to find break up with him. And now you... you’ve hurt him! I’m telling you, if you don’t call the police, I will! I’d like to see if there’s any law left in this country!"

Qian Cuicui slapped her thigh, her face a mask of tears and sorrow. Anyone who didn’t know the situation would have thought Chi Wan was the one bullying the three of them.

But Zhou Huaijin had heard Chi Wan’s words and asked with some surprise, "The person who tried to extort you with the orchid last time was working for him?"

Chi Wan let out a cold laugh. "The law? Great. Let’s call the police and investigate together. We can find out if your ’good son’ really needs money to buy a house and get married, or if he gambled, lost, couldn’t repay his debts, and got desperate enough to set his sights on our family’s orchard."

"Gambling?!"

Qian Cuicui and Song Jianguo both turned to look at Song Yangming’s guilt-ridden face. "You said it was for a house! How could you go and gamble?!"

Song Yangming stuck his neck out defiantly. "You believe everything she says? She just doesn’t want to give me the money, she can’t stand to see me doing well! What extortion scheme? Where would I find someone to set her up like that!"

"Song Yinghe, that worthless daughter, must have taught her to say that! Maybe those two are hiding nearby watching us right now! Otherwise, how could my arm have suddenly become like this?"

Seeing Song Yangming stubbornly refuse to admit it, Chi Wan pulled out a photo. It showed an IOU with Song Yangming’s name and a bright red thumbprint clearly visible. The amount owed was a full 200,000.

Song Yangming looked as if he had seen a ghost. "Where did you get that!"

Chi Wan hadn’t planned on answering him, but when she saw Zhou Huaijin’s curious expression, she explained to him, "It was from Brother Huai’an."

Before, Chi Wan had only been suspicious; it had never occurred to her that Song Yangming was involved in gambling. Moreover, she couldn’t figure out how a loser like him could have possibly threatened the people at the wholesale market.

So, she had asked Zhou Huai’an about it. She learned from his complaints that the shop of the man who owned the rental warehouse had been wrecked. He had apparently offended someone, and Zhou Huai’an had to go and clean up the aftermath.

It suddenly dawned on Chi Wan that this incident might be connected to the extortion scheme, so she pressed for more details. That was how she found out from Zhou Huai’an that Song Yangming was in debt.

In truth, she now owed Zhou Huai’an a favor.