Chapter 13
The holiday quickly ended, and Mo Yousen reluctantly got up and went to school on his first day back. Senior year entered its final sprint, with daily intense preparation for various exams. Yan Yuheng was also studying for the IELTS in preparation for studying abroad, and Jiang Ting was so busy that she barely had time to pore over her practice test collections. Zhang Qianyi, who would be moving to Jiangcheng in a few months to gradually take over the group's business, had been diligently studying economic law for the past two days. His grandfather, Zhang Jinkun, had arranged a series of business courses for him.
Mo Yousen was bored. Everyone seemed busy, but he was the only one sitting idle. He tilted his head and lay on the table playing games. Suddenly he turned and looked at Ji Fei, "Do you want to go out for a walk?"
Ji Fei was so panicked that he stuttered, "Go... go outside? I, I, I'm afraid the teacher will come to find me. Wait, I have class later."
Mo Yousen straightened up, leaned back in his chair, and patted his deskmate. "What are you afraid of in swimming class? Let's go."
Mo Yousen half-pushed and half-pulled Ji Fei up from the chair. Ji Fei was still a little scared, "Are you really okay?"
"It's okay, just go out and play for a while."
"Well... okay then."
The two of them went to the commercial street behind the school together. Mo Yousen ate all the way from the beginning to the end of the street, bought everything he wanted to eat, and also stuffed some for Ji Fei along the way.
"Mo Yousen, I can't eat anymore." Ji Fei was holding stinky tofu in one hand and ice cream in the other, with egg pancakes and octopus balls hanging on his fingers.
Mo Yousen wasn't much better. "I can't eat anymore either. Just put your food in your bag and take it back for dinner."
Ji Fei was stunned and stared at Mo Yousen blankly, his eyes revealing helplessness and panic. The gap in family conditions always made him feel inferior. Ji Fei lowered his head. He was afraid of being looked down upon by others, so he studied hard in order to change his fate. However, reality always seemed to like to give him a blow and wake him up from his sleep. Yes, he had a life where even eating was difficult.
Mo Yousen said, "There's a dessert shop over there. Let's go and try some."
Ji Fei raised his head and looked at Mo Yousen with empty eyes. Mo Yousen was stunned for a moment, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Ji Fei shook his head, his voice seemed to float from the void, "Do you also look down on me, pity me, think I can't afford to eat, and give me alms?"
Mo Yousen hurriedly shook his head. "No, no, I just wanted to avoid wasting food. Although you are quite thin, you are not so thin that I would think you can't afford to eat. Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry, but I really didn't mean that."
Ji Fei took a step forward and said, "Let's go."
"Huh? Where are you going?"
"Aren't you going to the candy shop?"
Mo Yousen ordered two bowls of double-skin milk and sat down, fiddling with the bowl in his hand from time to time. Seeing him look listless, Ji Fei slowly spoke, "I don't blame you, I just have a low self-esteem."
Mo Yousen asked softly, "Is it because of your family? I don't mean to offend you."
Ji Fei lowered his eyes and nodded. "I grew up in a poor family. My mother was a salesperson and my father was a security guard. I studied harder than anyone else so that my parents could live a good life and have more respect from others. After my mother died of cancer, my father was devastated and became an alcoholic. He was fired for drinking during the night shift and has not been to work since then. He has been drinking, smoking and playing cards at home. All the money in the family was used to treat my mother's illness, and now we still owe 600,000 yuan in foreign debt. The only thing I'm thankful for is that my father doesn't beat me when he's drunk. He just lies down in his room and sleeps."
Mo Yousen twisted his fingers and looked at him with watery eyes, "I'll come to your house tonight! Let's buy some food and eat together at your house! Is that okay?"
Ji Fei looked at him in surprise, "Why?"
"No reason. I don't want to go home at night, and Yan Yuheng and the others are busy with their own things."
"Well, then I'll talk to my dad."
Ji Weiye rarely drank alcohol today. He waved the playing cards in his hand and held a cigarette in his mouth as he agreed vaguely, saying that he would make two dishes to entertain the guests after the game.
Mo Yousen had always known from a young age that it was a matter of etiquette to bring gifts when visiting someone's home. He dragged Ji Fei along to buy all sorts of daily necessities, frozen foods, and even some cigarettes and alcohol for Ji Weiye. Ji Fei kept trying to dissuade him, but Mo Yousen simply patted his hand and reassured him.
Ji Weiye looked at the several full shopping bags at home with an embarrassed look on his face. He rubbed his hands and wiped them on his pants a few times. He bent down and reached out to hold Mo Yousen's hands, "Thank you, thank you for taking care of my Ji Fei."
Mo Yousen hurriedly helped him up, "No, no, uncle, it was Ji Fei who tutored me."
"Come, sit down. You all sit down and rest for a while, I'll go cook two dishes." Ji Weiye invited the two to sit on the sofa. Ji Fei's house was an 80-square-meter two-bedroom, one-living room apartment. The small sofa was cramped in front of the glass door of the balcony. There were lace curtains on the glass door, and cute ornaments were posted on the door of each room. It can be seen that the hostess of this family is a person who loves life.
With tears in his eyes and bloodshot eyes, Ji Weiye got up and went to the kitchen to cook two dishes. Mo Yousen saw him wiping his tears with the back of his hand while he was busy in the kitchen.
At the dinner table, Ji Weiye said with a guilty conscience, "Ever since Ji Fei's mother passed away, our family has been in debt. I really don't know what to do. Every day I just want to drink and escape. I thought that this way I wouldn't have to face reality, but my Ji Fei has become less and less talkative, and it seems that he has no friends around him. I feel even more sorry for my wife. I haven't fulfilled my responsibilities as a father. Every day when I see my son come home, I am afraid and can only hide in my room. You are the first person in all these years who has come to our house and is not disgusted."
Ji Fei listened to his father's words, silently picking at his rice with his chopsticks, which tasted like chewing wax. He didn't know what kind of feelings he had for his father; there was both love and hate. Most of all, he hated his father's evasion and irresponsibility, and how he could even say such things so openly.
Mo Yousen raised the corner of his mouth, his eyes twinkling like stars. He reached out and gently hit Ji Fei's shoulder, "I will protect him in school from now on!"
Just as Ji Weiye was about to thank him, he was interrupted by the sound of banging on the door. "Ji Weiye! Get the fuck out here! Paying back debts is only natural. If you don't open the door, I'll go to your son's school and break his arms and legs!"
Ji Fei stared at the door fiercely, throwing his chopsticks in anger. Mo Yousen quickly pushed Ji Fei into the room and said, "Go inside, I'll take care of it."
Ji Weiye opened the door a crack tremblingly, but the person at the door kicked it open and Ji Weiye was knocked to the ground by the force.
Mo Yousen helped Ji Weiye up, his eyelashes trembling slightly, and looked at the three strong men at the door without any emotion, "Hey, Ji Weiye, where did you bring back another son?" The leading man pinched Mo Yousen's face with his dark hands.
Mo Yousen slapped his dirty hands away. Ji Weiye covered his stomach and said, "Don't touch him. He's my son's classmate. Come to me if you have any problems!"
One of the younger brothers spat on the ground and said, "Bah! You owe money but you still act like a big shot. If you can't pay today, we will own your house."
Mo Yousen's voice was as cold as if it had been chilled. "Oh? Really? I paid the money for him."
The burly man grabbed Mo Yousen's collar and forced him to look at him. The various smells on the man's body made Mo Yousen turn his head and rub his nose. The burly man's voice became louder and louder, "You little idiot, you still want to? Who do you think you are!"
Mo Yousen kicked the man in the stomach, and the two younger brothers immediately rushed over to hit Mo Yousen. Mo Yousen was not afraid at all. After kicking him, he sat on the stool, straightened his collar, looked at the two men standing in front of him and said nonchalantly, "Yusen Investment, go and ask around and then ask if I'm qualified."
The man lying on the ground asked the person next to him, "What kind of store is this? Is it profitable?"
The thinner brother shook his head and said, "I don't know."
The other man with tattoos helped his boss up first, and then the three of them began to whisper.
The burly man asked first, "This kid is so arrogant, his shop might be making a lot of money."
The man with the tattooed arms nodded, "Boss, you're right!"
The thin guy also agreed, "Just let him pay back the money! Who knows if this investment money is real or fake?"
Mo Yousen was speechless and desperate when he heard what they said. "Just send me the card number and how much it costs."
The burly man held up two fingers, his yellow teeth bared. "Two million."
Ji Fei couldn’t bear it anymore and rushed out of the room, “We only borrowed six hundred thousand! How did it become two million!”
The man with tattoos reached out and pinched Ji Fei's collarbone. "Little brother, this account can't be settled like this. It's been borrowed for so many years, so there has to be interest."
Mo Yousen sat on a stool, playing with his phone, and glanced at the burly man. "I'll only give you 600,000 yuan in principal, and a maximum of 60,000 yuan in interest. If it exceeds this amount, you can talk to my lawyer. I don't mind sending you to jail."
The tattooed man chuckled. "You have a lawyer? Why are you so arrogant?"
The thin man felt something was wrong with Mo Yousen's posture, so he took out his phone and searched the Internet. He was shocked by the search, "Boss, Boss, hurry up and look at this, this."
The burly man snatched the phone away and stared at the thin man with disdain. "What are you stuttering about, you good-for-nothing?" He glanced at the phone and slowly read the obscure words on it. "Yusen Investment, Ningcheng's No. 1 Investment Company, founder Mo Guozheng, scale... tens of billions!?"
The tattooed man was shocked when he heard this, but then he thought about how Ji Fei, with his qualifications, could possibly know such a person. "You think you can scare us by just mentioning a company name?"
Mo Yousen felt that he couldn't communicate with them, "Just go and search for Mo Guozheng's photos and see if my dad and I look alike."
The burly man returned the phone to the thin man without searching for Mo Guozheng's photo. He pondered for a moment, deciding it was better to believe it than not. This young man wasn't from the same world as him. The three of them couldn't defeat this guy even if they risked their lives. This guy could crush them like an ant.
"Just 660,000. Transfer it to my card now." The burly man handed over his bank card.
Mo Yousen clicked a few times on his phone and showed them the page showing the successful transfer. "Can you get out of here now?"
The burly man received a text message about the deposit to his bank card, and walked out the door with his two younger brothers, grinning and saying, "Ji Weiye, you're damn lucky. Your son has found a rich man."
With a bang, Ji Fei slammed the door shut. He hugged Mo Yousen tightly and burst into tears. "Mo Yousen, I'm sorry for getting you involved in my family's affairs. I'll work part-time after school to pay you back slowly. I'm still studying now, so I'll pay you back two thousand yuan a month. When I get a job, I'll be able to pay you back more. I won't run away. I'll work for you all my life. You can come to me if you have any problems."
Mo Yousen patted Ji Fei's back gently. "It's okay. You can pay it back when you get a job. I don't have many material desires and don't need to buy much. There's no need to rush."
Ji Weiye covered his face with his hands, tears flowing from between his fingers, and Ji Fei's bean-sized tears fell drop by drop on Mo Yousen's shoulder.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
