Chapter 30

Was This Kid Really That Lucky

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?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

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?