Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Four: About His Elders (1/2)
“Yes, that’s the way it is,” Xiao Yu said.
He Xinjia looked first at him, then at Jing Mo. She wanted to say something but stopped.
Jing Mo shrugged helplessly.
“Right, let’s gather your teams’ designs. There won’t be any problems with the meeting this afternoon, right?” Although Xiao Yu cared a lot about the exhibit, it definitely couldn’t compare to the collaboration with Master Andy.
“No issues on my side. All of them should already be on the company network,” Jing Mo replied.
“Aside from my own work, the rest of my teams’ work is ready. I’ll ask them to hurry up with my work in a while.” He Xinjia laughed embarrassedly while fiddling with her new nail polish.
Xiao Yu said, “YL’s already course-corrected to using the proper methods. You—”
“Don’t think of it that way. It takes a thousand days to train raw recruits, but only one day to use them.” He Xinjia laughed. “Don’t resent me for being useless right now. There’s still some benefit from me having less to do. Isn’t it good that you have someone close to confide in?
“Ugh… alright then.”
……
It had been raining for a few days now, and the weather had become stuffy and humid. It already felt like summer.
On the second month at Yan Jin’s villa, Xiao Yu received a call from Madam Fang.
Faye hopped onto Xiao Yu’s knee and gave a meow. Xiao Yu quickly grabbed Faye into his arms and picked up the call.
“Hello.”
“Hi Aunty Fang.”
“How have you been?”
She’s not referring to him and Yan Jin, right?
Xiao Yu’s grip tightened on the phone.
“P-pretty good.”
“That’s good to hear.”
The sound faded away for a bit. When she returned, her voice clearly sounded hesitant.
“Little Hao mentioned a few days ago that he’s enrolling in a dual degree and needs another hundred thousand.”
Naturally, the currency wasn’t in RMB.
Xiao Yu wasn’t too surprised. Typically, Madam Fang never called him for anything other than money. However, he knew that no matter how much money he gave, Madam Fang would give all of it to Xiao Zihao, who was studying alone overseas. She wouldn’t leave a single cent out.
“Aunty Fang, dual degrees shouldn’t need so much money…”
“Right, I haven’t told you the good news yet. Little Hao was accepted to country M’s S University as a graduate student. The additional money is for his graduate studies.
Xiao Yu turned to look at the calendar on the wall. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it currently wasn’t the time of year for graduate school applications.
During the last New Year, Xiao Zihao had called him. He had decisively told him that he had no intentions to enroll in graduate studies. Instead, he had said that he’d look for a job to sustain himself after graduation.
“Aunty Fang, if you have time, you can go visit Little Hao. I think that it’s possible…”
“We’ll return all the money in the future. The housing prices in city S are still increasing. Once the market stabilizes, I’ll sell the house and return all the money.
“That’s not what I mean, I—” Xiao Yu inhaled deeply and drooped his head. “Send me your account number. I’ll send the money in a bit.”
“I’ll convey my thanks in place of Little Hao.”
“No need…”
“Right, one more thing.” Before, Madam Fang had never continued talking for too long after getting Xiao Zihao’s money, but this time she surprisingly added, “It’s been fifteen years since your father passed away.”
Xiao Yu thought hard, not knowing where she was going with this. “Mhmm.”
“Your birthday in February’s already passed too.”
“Yes.”
“I’m saying that you’re already twenty-six years old now. Twenty seven or eight if you count by lunar years. So you should start thinking about settling down with a family now.” [TLN: Traditional Chinese culture counts age by number of lunar new years, although this is used relatively infrequently nowadays.]
Xiao Yu choked.
“It’s not my place to say this, but because your parents passed very early, you don’t have any elders to impart this knowledge to you. It’s very normal to not understand the logic that older people frequently talk about. Don’t take my words too personally. I’m just a busybody stepmother that’s overstepped my duties.”
Xiao Yu had just made noises of assent throughout without saying anything, but at her final words, he hurriedly reassured her, “No, no, it’s okay. I’ve always valued my relationship with you…”
“A while ago, I lost the necklace your father gave me. It’s probably because he blames me for not caring enough about you.”
Xiao Yu was at a loss. Beside him, Faye had flipped over to beg for belly rubs. Xiao Yu’s conscience panged as Faye let out a meow.
“About the jade necklace, Aunty Fang…”
“I know what you’re thinking. It originally should have been left for you. I can only offer my apologies. When I sell the house, I’ll compensate you.”
Xiao Yu covered his face.
*Sigh*. He’d always felt that Madam Fang at least held some responsibility for his weak personality.
“In the end, you should have known this stuff long ago. Others at your age already have multiple kids. You’re very qualified and you make a lot, so it’s very normal for you to think that most girls aren’t worthy of you. But ultimately, marriage isn’t like fitting two jigsaw pieces together.”