Chapter 56: Debt Collection

Wen Lan Sheng felt as if he had been struck by a hammer. The happiness he had been waiting for was shattered by Rong Xiu’s words. He almost couldn’t resist smashing his phone to pieces on the ground. The strength in his hands and feet was suddenly drained, and he collapsed powerlessly to the floor.

“What are you doing?” His entire being seemed to have received a huge trauma, briefly entering a state of shock. His voice was eerily calm.

Rong Xiu held the phone in one hand and weakly clutched a crumpled soft pillow in the other. His voice was sticky, as if he had fallen into a honey pot sweet enough to melt human bones: “What are we doing? Don’t you know?”

Rong Xiu’s sticky and blissful voice clawed at his eardrums, brazenly flaunting. The faint, intermittent watery sounds were like huge waves crashing against his eardrums one after another, violently colliding, deafening. Like gunpowder, it ignited in his heart full of anger and jealousy, exploding instantly.

“Stop! Stop!” Wen Lan Sheng’s senses finally recovered, his throat almost screaming blood.

Rong Xiu, however, seemed to be eagerly accommodating Fan Xia. He, Wen Lan Sheng, the son of the murderer who killed Fan Xia’s parents, an accomplice, had enjoyed Fan Xia’s care for so many years. Even if it was fake, it made Rong Xiu jealous.

He had finally waited for a chance to vent, how could he obediently listen? Not only would he not stop as Wen Lan Sheng wished, but he would call out even louder.

“Give the phone to Xia Xia, let her answer the call, did you hear me! Give her the phone!” Wen Lan Sheng shouted this sentence as if he had gone mad, but every word was trembling, revealing the inferiority and fear in his bones.

Rong Xiu laughed smugly and contemptuously: “Sorry, with me here, Fan Xia is completely focused on me now~ Mmm~ She has no time to deal with you, nor does she want to.”

Wen Lan Sheng’s bloodshot eyes were almost bleeding. Hearing the □□ sounds Rong Xiu deliberately amplified, he laughed in extreme anger: “What are you so proud of? Every position Xia Xia is sleeping with you in now, she’s tried on me before.”

Rong Xiu’s smile froze.

Wen Lan Sheng laughed loudly: “I’ve been with her for so many years. We did it in the school’s grove in our sophomore year. Every trick you can think of, she’s played on me. She’s sleeping with you just because she hasn’t slept with you before. You’re new, and shamelessly throwing yourself at her. Why wouldn’t she take advantage of a free deal? After a while, she’ll get bored of you.”

Wen Lan Sheng’s words sharply poked at Rong Xiu’s most hidden pain point. He, who was usually so aggressive to the point of being harsh, was now left speechless by Wen Lan Sheng. Perhaps because they both had the same fear, afraid of not being able to hold onto Fan Xia’s heart.

Rong Xiu forced himself to maintain his composure and said calmly: “So what? At least Fan Xia is lying in my bed. She’d rather be here with me than see you.”

With that, Rong Xiu quickly hung up the phone.

“What did he say to you?” Fan Xia leaned down, interlacing her fingers with his, kissing his lips.

The call wasn’t on speakerphone, so she hadn’t heard what Wen Lan Sheng said. But she sensed that he, who was usually so eloquent, had a moment of stiffness, and she asked curiously.

Rong Xiu hugged Fan Xia’s neck, his long fingers twirling her long hair. His gold-rimmed glasses had been thrown somewhere long ago. The small burgundy mole under his slender, enchanting eyes swayed in the lamplight, exuding charm. But his tone was like freshly squeezed lemon juice, bubbling with sourness.

“You’ve done everything with Wen Lan Sheng over all these years?”

Fan Xia thought carefully before realizing that by “done”, he meant things in bed.

To avoid arousing Wen Lan Sheng’s suspicions, she had been playing the role of deeply loving Wen Lan Sheng all these years. Naturally, they interacted like a normal couple, and intimate matters were certainly not left out.

She didn’t want to lie to Rong Xiu, so she nodded.

Rong Xiu’s heart was filled with sourness: “So every time we have sex in the future, every time we try something new, will you think of him?”

Men in love have pitifully little sense of security. Even knowing that Wen Lan Sheng was deliberately provoking him, he still fell for it, still couldn’t help but doubt himself, wondering if he was living in the shadow of her ex.

“How could that be? I don’t love him,” Fan Xia said.

Reassured, Rong Xiu relaxed a little, but his legs still clung tightly around Fan Xia’s waist like a koala: “Then I want to do all the positions you’ve done with him before.”

Fan Xia gently patted his fair, firm thighs and smiled: “Tomorrow, I’m afraid you can’t handle it.”

“Who says I can’t handle it? Don’t compare me to Wen Lan Sheng, my stamina is much better than his.” Rong Xiu climbed up like a boneless, smooth beauty snake.

Fan Xia chuckled softly, helpless yet indulgent: “Alright then.”

After who knows how long, Rong Xiu’s sweaty arm encircled her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder, whimpering: “Did I make you feel good, or did Wen Lan Sheng make you feel good?”

“Didn’t you say not to compare you with Wen Lan Sheng?” Fan Xia said with a smile.

Rong Xiu lightly bit her earlobe, his voice hoarse and raspy, like the weak wind of late spring: “This… we can compare.”

Fan Xia stroked his smooth back, her fingertips sliding down along his spine: “Of course it’s you.”

Rong Xiu smiled brightly, like a flower that had finally drunk its fill after a long drought, yet still unsatisfied, wanting more.

“Then am I better looking, or is he?”

“You are.”

“Am I more gentle, or is he?”

“You are.”

“Which of us is more virtuous?”

“You are.”

“Then who do you like more?”

Fan Xia patted his back, comforting his insecurity, answering his repeated questions: “It’s all you, Rong Xiu, it’s all you.”

The night deepened with the sounds of insects, the latter half of the night falling into silence.

But Wen Lan Sheng remained sleepless all night. He sat motionless on the large bed full of once-happy memories, holding Fan Xia’s old clothes, inhaling the lingering scent that belonged to her, enduring the torment of Rong Xiu’s mockery from that phone call earlier.

The big red “double happiness” characters still pasted on the wall mocked his now desolate plight.

His phone kept ringing and buzzing with messages. He stared at it unblinkingly, not daring to even blink, afraid of missing a message from Fan Xia. But he never received a message from her. The constantly popping up message boxes were only filled with curses from Xie Cen, Wen Ming Yue, and Wen Jing.

“Is this the house you rented for us? Not even an elevator, and it’s on the fourth floor. Are you trying to exhaust your mother and me to death?”

“Look at this decoration, the walls are moldy. Are you treating us like beggars?”

“All this old furniture smells of mildew. Your mother’s rheumatism is about to flare up! Wen Lan Sheng, how can you be so heartless? It’s bad enough that you kicked your own parents out, but you deliberately found this kind of shabby house to torment us two old people. What exactly are you planning?”

The last message was from Wen Jing: “You deserve to be dumped by Fan Xia!”

Wen Lan Sheng could no longer hold back. He buried his head in the pillow, his wailing cries miserably escaping from the pillow.

In the old apartment building, a rickety old chandelier hung in the empty living room. The chandelier hadn’t been cleaned in who knows how long, covered in a thick layer of dust, looking both dirty and old.

Wen Ming Yue sat on the wooden sofa in the living room, anxiously asking, “Has Wen Lan Sheng called you back?”

Xie Cen shook his head, and so did Wen Jing.

The atmosphere in the room was dead silent. They had lived in Fan Xia’s beautifully decorated, convenient house for so long that they had become accustomed to that lifestyle. Suddenly returning to a rented place similar to their old house was like big rats who had tasted sesame oil, no longer able to look at the rotten vegetables and leaves they used to eat.

Especially Wen Jing, who had gone abroad right after high school and had lived there for so many years. She had seen the glitz and glamour of foreign countries and had long since erased the memories of the old house. She was even less able to accept the current environment.

Overnight, they had fallen from heaven to earth.

Wen Jing was furious, speaking with sarcasm: “Why are you still counting on that white-eyed wolf Wen Lan Sheng? He said it clearly in the hospital, he’s hoping for Dad to die. He’s probably at home right now, praying to the gods, wishing you’d breathe your last tonight.”

Xie Cen slammed the table hard: “That dog! When he was born, we should have strangled him!”

“But Jing Jing, given our family’s current situation, you can’t keep wasting time anymore. You need to hurry up and find a job, otherwise your mother’s small salary won’t be enough to cover our daily expenses,” Xie Cen said helplessly.

Wen Jing’s face changed: “Me, wasting time? It’s not that I don’t want to find a job. It’s just that those jobs are too tiring and the pay is too low. I can’t stand them.”

Xie Cen anxiously said: “Times have changed. Wen Lan Sheng only paid three months’ rent for this house. We’ll have to pay the rent ourselves from now on, plus living expenses and such. It’s really not enough.”

“Then make Wen Lan Sheng pay the rent. He’s the son of the Wen family. You gave birth to him, raised him. Even if he has to sell himself, he should support you and mom,” Wen Jing said, then stormed into her room.

Xie Cen shook his head: “This child.”

“Jing Jing’s mom, from now on, this family can only rely on you,” Xie Cen said, holding Wen Ming Yue’s hand, his voice helpless and haggard.

Wen Ming Yue’s face was expressionless, but her heart was even more powerless and desperate than his. Their son couldn’t be relied upon, their daughter still needed her support. She thought she could count on her salary to get by, but in reality, she now carried hundreds of thousands in debt, weighing her down so much she could barely breathe. Even her dreams were nightmares.

After muddling through the night, she went to work listlessly the next day. Her body was in the office, but her mind was full of the stock market. Looking at the still falling stock prices, Wen Ming Yue’s heart completely sank to the bottom.

“Old Wen, what’s wrong with you today? Why aren’t you saying anything? Did something happen at home?” Old Zou slapped Wen Ming Yue’s shoulder.

Wen Ming Yue’s heart jolted violently: “Nothing, nothing’s wrong.”

Old Zou smiled: “That’s good. Oh, by the way, didn’t you borrow some money from me a while back? My son-in-law found out yesterday that they’re expecting their second child. My daughter is planning to change their two-bedroom apartment to a three-bedroom and asked me for money. If she finds out I lent the money to you, she’s sure to argue with me. When do you think you can pay me back?”

Wen Ming Yue’s face suddenly turned pale, like a startled bird. After a long while, she replied: “Okay, okay, but I don’t have the money right now. Give me a couple of days and I’ll pay you back.”

Old Zou laughed heartily: “It’s fine, as long as you can pay it back. Hey! Even if you can’t pay it back, it’s not a problem. Your daughter-in-law is so successful, a hundred thousand or so is nothing to her.”

Wen Ming Yue’s heart turned to ashes.