144 Compensation

◎The seven days since returning to Shanghai have been like a journey through hell for Ah Shui.◎

To be honest.

Zhu Qi and Maomao were not the type to gossip, and they shouldn't have listened to it, but A Shui's mother spoke too fast on the phone, allowing Zhu Qi and Maomao to hear the general reason.

That is...

Ah Shui's parents often work in different places for business, with her father working in the south and her mother managing a company in the eastern coastal area. In the south, her father found a concubine and has been living with her for several years. They even have an illegitimate child who just turned three this year.

A Shui's mother knew about this when A Shui went to play in the Moscow World Games.

However, because A Shui was going to play in the World Games, A Shui's mother did not want to affect her daughter's game and also wanted to save the marriage, so she kept silent.

As a result, A Shui's father's illegitimate child was born the following year.

A hopeless marriage means nothing more than divorce.

The divorce lawsuit has lasted until now. If it was just a divorce certificate, perhaps A Shui's mother would not have called her daughter in such a desperate crying tone.

Most importantly, Ah Shui's father repeatedly pushed and prodded Ah Shui's mother for two years, feigning deep affection and a reluctance to give up his first marriage. In reality, he had been secretly transferring assets and selling off shares in private enterprises. He also obtained British citizenship after obtaining a marriage certificate abroad with his second wife.

By the time A Shui's mother reacted, a group of merchants from the electronics factory came to her with the invoice to ask for money.

Looking at Ah Shui who was crying out of breath, Zhu Qi roughly understood the whole story from her words.

"My parents used to run a traditional textile factory in Shanghai. A couple of years ago, due to overcapacity, they gradually closed it down and switched to a computer mall business..."

Maomao was completely confused and had no idea what these business matters were. So she asked Zhu Qi, "What is a computer mall? Is it just a place to buy computers?"

"Yes and no," Zhu Qi replied. "Traditional textiles have always been Shanghai's 'mother industry,' and were its primary business before the 1990s. But then, with the introduction of numerous machines capable of replacing manual labor, overcapacity in the textile industry arose. Between 1993 and 1996, a large number of textile workers were laid off. Computer malls are now the hottest industry, but..."

"But my mother told me that my father left her a debt of more than 2.7 million..." Ah Shui's tears fell.

Zhu Qi understood.

The millennium was the era of the Internet explosion.

Not to mention the national team, when Zhu Qi went to the Bayi Team for a meeting, he found that even many stores near the Bayi Team had started to install fiber-optic broadband.

If you have broadband, you definitely need a computer.

It is also a period of explosive profits in the computer industry.

It must be said that A Shui, this scumbag father, does have some investment vision.

Zhu Qi knew it was because he had lived once after all, but Ah Shui's scumbag father was able to keenly capture the most profitable industry, no wonder he was one of the first people to get rich during the wave of going into business.

But then again, a man who harms his wife will never gain anything.

Zhu Qi was a materialist and never believed in the power of metaphysics, but the old saying did make sense after all.

Seeing that Maomao didn't understand, Zhu Qi explained to her, "Computers are actually assembled. For example, it's similar to our tennis rackets. The motherboard is the racket, the rubber is the chassis, the expansion oil is the connecting wires, and the glue is the memory card. There are people who import these parts from abroad, assemble them, and make a working computer. They then sell it for a high price, making a profit from the difference. It's like someone glues the rubber on for you and sells you a complete racket that you can play with right away."

Maomao understood, and then asked Ah Shui: "This job should be quite profitable, as it's a skilled worker. Computers are needed everywhere these days, and the General Administration of Sports was even looking for people to buy them. Why do they owe over 2.7 million?"

"Because, because my father used his original investment to buy a bunch of defective products, and then he left with the remaining money."

The cat doesn’t understand again, how can this be fake?

Zhu Qi explained to Maomao: "It's like I agreed to give you Red Dragon rubber, but I gave you the worst Kunlun rubber. You can't even bounce the ball. I agreed to put oil on the rubber, but when I got it, it was as hard as a shoe horn. I agreed to give you Kar glue, but I used the worst glue. I couldn't even hold the rubber after hitting a ball..."

"So that's it. It means the goods are not what was ordered. How could he do that?" Maomao was also anxious.

More than two million seven hundred thousand!

In this era when popsicles only cost fifty cents each, this is definitely a huge sum of money!

A Shui is not Zhu Qi, and he does not have a business sense. Moreover, he belongs to the current high-end luxury group. The things he uses are no worse than those used by Mori Yunan when he came to the national team. Various sneakers, bags, and jerseys are basically limited editions of various famous brands.

The bonuses he earned from playing basketball over the years and the salary from the national team only add up to more than 600,000 yuan.

Besides the house he had previously bought with Zhu Qi in Chaojing, which could probably be sold for over 400,000 yuan, it was still far from enough. The house he had received as a national award for winning the World Games championship didn't even belong to him...

"The house can't be sold!" Zhu Qi didn't even think twice before telling Ah Shui to give up the idea. "Does your mother still have any savings?"

Ah Shui shook his head: "My dad took away all the money, everything! Some of the computers we assembled can't even be turned on. There's no way to sell them. Now the buyers are preparing to buy the goods, but my mom can't deliver them, so she can only lose money..."

That’s not all.

Her father has now simply disappeared and cancelled all his contact information in China.

A Shui called several people, but all their phones were turned off.

"I don't understand, how could he do this to us..." Ah Shui stopped crying and almost gritted his teeth, shaking with anger.

Although A Shui has always had no worries about food and clothing, Zhu Qi has never seen A Shui's parents come to the national team to visit her since she joined the national team.

Only A Shui's mother often sends money to A Shui and calls him.

Zhu Qi always thought that it was because A Shui's family was well-off, and her parents probably didn't expect A Shui to achieve any results. After all, if she didn't, she could still go home and inherit the family business. So if their daughter liked to play basketball, she could play.

But now it seems... maybe A Shui's father never cared about her at all.

How else could I not even have half an hour to watch TV or see my daughter play a game?!

This matter is very serious.

Ah Shui's whole spirit and energy changed.

After understanding the situation, Ren Xinhua gave Ah Shui a seven-day home visit leave, so that he could return to Shanghai to talk to his family about the situation and find a lawyer to find out what happened.

A Shui was not in the team, and Maomao called her several times but always got busy tones. It was only when it was almost dawn that A Shui called back.

And on the phone, A Shui's voice sounded weak.

Of course Maomao also knew that these seven days were not enough for Ah Shui.

Such a big thing happened at home, and it takes a lot of time just to adjust my mood.

Although Ah Shui said on the phone that he could handle it, Zhu Qi and Maomao still planned to go to the bank on Sunday.

But Ah Shui resolutely refused to accept Zhu Qi and Maomao's financial help, and kept saying on the phone: "My mother still has a house in my hometown, and I think it's okay to sell it. If the computer city doesn't work out, I will bring my mother to Chaojing and live in the house given to me by the national team. Anyway, I can still play in the competition, and I can still make money..."

"But..." Zhu Qi was about to say that he wanted Ah Shui not to have too much psychological burden, and that the relationship between them was not divided into you and me.

But Ah Shui's voice on the phone was unusually firm: "Actually, my parents' divorce didn't hit me that hard, because I also knew that there might not be any so-called love between them a long time ago. Ever since I joined the national team, they have been running around like strangers, not even coming home for Chinese New Year. Every time I go home for Chinese New Year, I stay home alone. Occasionally, my mother will come back to accompany me for a night and leave the next day. If they don't like each other anymore, then divorce. It's not comfortable to force them to live together. I just didn't expect my father to be so decisive. After all, we are a family who have lived together for more than 20 years. Why not leave any room for me..."

Zhu Qi was deeply touched by what he heard.

She could understand this feeling very well.

Perhaps there are some roads that should be walked alone in order to see the scenery farther away.

Zhu Qi and Maomao didn't say any polite words on the phone, but decided to withdraw some money first just in case.

A Shui suddenly left the team for three days, and the news spread throughout the team.

Everyone knew that something might have happened to A Shui's family, but no one knew what had happened. Only Ren Xinhua and a few coaches knew the whole story.

After all, family disgrace should not be made public, and Maomao also asked the female team players not to listen or ask questions blindly.

But for some reason, Qin Xiaoba knew about this earlier than most people. He even ran over to ask Zhu Qi if he was going to withdraw money from the bank to give it to Ah Shui.

Zhu Qi frowned and asked him, "How do you know? Did you hear it from Ah Shui?"

"Well... she took a bottle of oil from me a while ago. I called her to ask where she put it, and she told me..." Qin Xiaoba scratched his head and said something to Zhu Qi, baffled. "She said she'd collected enough money, so you don't have to give it to her. Besides, she wouldn't take it even if you gave it to her. You don't know her, she's very stubborn..."

"You know a lot." Zhu Qi glanced at him.

Qin Xiaoba suddenly lowered his head, his eyes a little evasive.

Something is wrong.

Zhu Qi keenly sensed that something was wrong, but couldn't put his finger on it. He felt like this kid was hiding something from him.

After all, A Shui is a national-level athlete, and he has been preparing to join the party in the past two years, which requires political review.

If his parents have any lawsuits or are simply listed, it is estimated that it will affect A Shui's joining the party when the political review is so strict in this era.

Ah Shui's point was that her mother had originally wanted to resolve the issue herself, but then businesses that bought assembled computers for sale, unable to deliver them, or whose computers were not what they had ordered, started to gang up on her. They blocked Ah Shui's mother's office, causing trouble, and even filed a lawsuit. Ah Shui's mother felt she could no longer conceal the situation. After liquidating all her assets, she was still short of over 1.5 million yuan, so she called Ah Shui to see if he could raise more money.

There is actually a mediation stage before the trial. If both parties can agree on the price during the mediation stage, there is no need to go to court.

What the plaintiff wants is compensation, and the so-called mediation is nothing more than bargaining.

Zhu Qi didn't know how Ah Shui managed to get the money, but when Ah Shui came back, Zhu Qi saw an Ah Shui who had lost all his weight.

"Try to calm your mother down. Money is the last thing you can call a problem." Ren Xinhua patted A Shui's shoulder and felt a handful of bones.

Just seven days.

Ah Shui lost a lot of weight and almost all the fat on his body was gone.

I guess he didn't get any rest or a proper meal.

"How much is still needed?" Ren Xinhua meant that the national team could help A Shui advance the money.

If A Shui's mother is really sued by those sellers, it will be a serious matter, because those sellers intend to pursue responsibility in the name of fraud, which is a criminal offense.

By then, it is not certain whether A Shui can still play in the game.

A Shui shook his head.

Ren Xinhua thought she was embarrassed, so he said in a more serious tone, "This isn't just your fault. The national team has trained you for so long, and they're going to use you soon. There are also the National Table Tennis Championships and the World Games coming up, and we can't miss you. If you can't compete, the national team will also lose gold."

Ah Shui shook his head again: "It's all gathered, and the plaintiffs have withdrawn their lawsuits."

"real?"

"real."

Seeing A Shui said it so confidently.

Ren Xinhua was a little surprised. So fast? Such a large sum of money... Could it be that Ah Shui sold his house in Chaojing?

The seven days since returning to Shanghai were like a journey through hell for Ah Shui.

The previously bright and beautiful home was torn to pieces. Her parents' wedding photo hanging in the living room was thrown away, and everything related to her father was smashed and thrown away.

The ground was in a mess.

A mother with an emotional breakdown.

A Shui became the calmest person.

People can learn something once they are taught.

Zhu Qi felt that Ah Shui had matured a lot after his return, although sometimes he felt distressed and dazed because all the money he had earned from playing games over the years had to be used as compensation.

But A Shui is much stronger than Zhu Qi imagined.

Although the compensation has been paid, the matter is not over yet.

A Shui and her mother called the police and searched everywhere for the man who was seeking death.

Although the two have divorced, the man took away the couple's joint property before the divorce, and the stolen property must be recovered.

Thinking of this, Zhu Qi wondered if it was a clever arrangement of fate.

If it was the path of her previous life... she didn't join the provincial team, didn't join the national team, didn't know Maomao and A Shui, would everyone's outcome be different from now?

It's hard to describe something like fate.

At least now, everyone’s future is different from before.

However, what surprised Zhu Qi even more was that A Shui did not sell the house he bought before coming to Beijing.

So how did she get the rest?

/

Song Linzhou swore that he didn't eavesdrop on purpose.

It’s because Qin Xiaoba has been going to the rooftop a lot recently, and he also liked to go to the rooftop after something happened in A Shui’s family.

Zhu Qi and Maomao both gave the rooftop to A Shui, knowing that A Shui would be strong in front of others but liked to go to the rooftop to cry alone.

People always need to vent their emotions.

But why does Qin Xiaoba always run to the rooftop?

The coach had just finished checking the dormitories when Qin Xiaoba ran to the rooftop again.

Song Linzhou was annoyed that this kid made a lot of noise every time he returned to the dormitory, so he decided to bring Qin Xiaoba back from the rooftop.

As soon as I reached the edge of the rooftop, I heard Qin Xiaoba talking to someone on the rooftop.

The men's and women's dormitories are less than one meter apart.

Talking from the edge is no different from talking face to face.

"Wait for me for two months, and I will pay you back part of it when I get my salary in February." A Shui's voice.

"It's okay, just use it, it's not much." Qin Xiaoba's voice.

"Two years, no, one year! By this time next year, I will definitely pay you back everything. Plus interest! It'll be based on the bank's annual interest rate..."

"Oh, why are you so slow? I told you I don't need it. I'm not a capitalist, why should I need your interest?"

"Why...why did you give me all the money you've earned from playing games over the years? Does your family know? I'm not sure if I can even get my dad's money back..."

"If I don't give it to her, my sister will give it to her. My sister's foot...it's not easy for her to make money. Don't tell her about this, or she will worry about me later. But it's not like I can't make it back later! I can just beat her again..."