Looking at Meng Xuejun, who was crying on the ground with snot and tears streaming down his face, his trouser legs were soaked, made Meng Xueyun feel nauseous.
For a fleeting moment, she truly softened.
In a daze, she seemed to see the little boy from many years ago, who followed behind her and cried out "Sister" when he fell down.
Meng Xuejun is her only younger brother. Before her parents passed away, they held her hands and told her to take good care of him.
For all these years, Meng Xueyun has always done this. When Meng Xuejun caused trouble, she went to apologize.
When Meng Xuejun ran out of money, she borrowed money from all over the place to help him and also raised his daughter for eighteen years.
But that's all in the past.
The warmth between family members has long been worn away by repeated disappointments and heartbreak.
Especially after Ye Zhenghua collapsed this time, she was left helpless and desperate. Her family's savings were spent like water, and she truly experienced what it meant to be isolated and helpless.
Her own brother, on the other hand, took the money he had swindled from her and spent it on a life of debauchery, without even making a single phone call home.
Soft-hearted?
What can you gain by being soft-hearted?
Will this only lead to him making even bigger demands next time?
Meng Xueyun's gaze gradually turned cold.
“Xiaojun,” Meng Xueyun sighed, “it’s not that I don’t want to help you. Look at this family. Your brother-in-law just came back from the hospital, and we’ve both been laid off. I really don’t have a single penny left.”
Upon hearing this, Meng Xuejun became anxious.
He simply did not believe that Meng Xueyun had no money.
In Meng Xuejun's view, his older sister was an honest and easy target, the easiest to manipulate. Her saying she had no money was just an excuse.
He had a knack for dealing with Meng Xueyun; he knew how to soften her heart.
His cries grew louder, and he cried out in despair, "Sister! I know 80,000 yuan is no small sum!"
"Please help me borrow some money, borrow from relatives and friends! You have to help me, I can't die!"
"Sister! If I die, who will visit Mom and Dad's graves? Can you bear to see our Meng family line die out?"
He started using his old excuses again.
This time, Meng Xueyun did not back down and awkwardly spread her hands.
“It’s not that I don’t want to help you borrow. When your brother-in-law was sick, we didn’t have enough money for treatment, so we had to borrow from all over the place. I asked everyone I could, and I borrowed from all my colleagues and friends at work. Now we still have a lot of debt to pay back. People avoid me when they see me, afraid that I will ask them for money again.”
As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes. "I've already lost all face. I wanted to help you borrow it, but there's nothing I can do."
Seeing that his self-inflicted injury and appeals to family ties were ineffective, Meng Xuejun's eyes lit up and he thought of another way.
"Where's your daughter!" He grabbed Meng Xueyun's arm. "I've heard about it. Your daughter, Ye Linchen, is quite something now! She's a proper college student and has found a big boss who drives a car as her boyfriend!"
"She must be rich! Sister, you're my own sister, and she's your own daughter. Please beg her for me! Ask her to help Uncle out of respect for you and because she's my niece! Consider it a gift from her to you, and then use it to save my life!"
He spoke with such self-righteousness, as if Ye Linchen's money was rightfully his, and should be readily available for him to use.
Before Meng Xueyun could speak, Ye Linnan and Ye Linbei, who had been silently eating beside her, could no longer hold back.
"Bang!" Ye Linbei slammed his chopsticks on the table and stood up.
Although he is still in high school, he has grown very tall, almost 1.8 meters.
He looked down at Meng Xuejun on the ground, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt.
"Uncle? I really don't see how you resemble an uncle."
He sneered, "You have quite the nerve! A grown man, you've racked up a mountain of debt from drinking, gambling, and whoring outside, and instead of trying to pay it off yourself, you come to my house and expect my sister, a girl who's still in school, to pay it for you? Don't you feel ashamed to say that?"
Ye Linnan, who was sitting opposite him, also stood up.
He was more straightforward and outspoken than his younger brother.
"Exactly! He has hands and feet, yet he doesn't know how to make money, instead he comes to us? When he gambled, did he not think about whether he could pay it back? Now that he's being chased for debts, he comes to our house to throw a tantrum. What kind of man is he!"
Ye Linbei chimed in, mockingly saying, "You haven't been seen for over ten years, and the first thing you do when you reappear is ask for money. Last time you asked for my parents' severance pay, and this time you're asking for 80,000."
"Are you really our uncle? To me, you look no different from those con artists who stage accidents at the train station and ask for money?"
“If you’re a conman, you’ve come to the wrong family. We’re not a wealthy family, and we can’t afford to be fooled like this. You should turn right and find a rich family instead.”
The two brothers sang in unison, and every word they said hit Meng Xuejun right where it hurt.
Meng Xuejun had always been used to throwing his weight around in front of Meng Xueyun. When had he ever been lectured like this by two juniors?
His face turned bright red, and anger surged within him.
He jumped up from the ground, pointed at Ye Linnan and Ye Linbei, and started cursing.
"This is outrageous! You two have no manners! How dare you interrupt when adults are talking? After all these years of schooling, you don't even know basic politeness?!"
Ye Linbei retorted without backing down: "You ask my family to pay off your 80,000 yuan gambling debt? Don't you even know how to be polite?!"
"you!"
Meng Xuejun was so choked by those words that he almost fainted.
He had lost all his money at the casino, and had also been bullied by Zhou Shixian. Meng Xueyun refused to lend him money, so he was already seething with anger. Now, being confronted by a teenager, all his rationality crumbled instantly.
"I'm going to teach you a lesson today on behalf of your parents!"
He roared and raised his dark, thin hand, slapping Ye Linbei across the face.
"How dare you!" Ye Zhenghua's eyes turned red with anxiety upon seeing this.
That's his son!
That bastard Meng Xuejun came to his house to ask for money, and when that didn't work, he even tried to beat up his son!
Do they really think the Ye family has no one left?!
He roared and struggled to stand up from his chair to stop it, but the aftereffects of his stroke left half of his body weak. The more anxious he became, the less his limbs obeyed his commands. He could only shakily hold onto the table and watch helplessly as the slap came flying.
Just at this critical moment, Meng Xueyun suddenly cut in.
She grabbed Meng Xuejun's wrist and shoved him hard, causing him to stumble, and positioned herself between him and his two sons.
"Enough!"
Meng Xueyun roared angrily.
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