CH 18

[Chapter 018] Bian JinYuan’s past

Shuang Shuang possessed a good disposition, and walked over once more.

The boy asked him, “Do you want to eat it?”

Shuang Shuang had been rejected by him before, and so he shook his head, “No.”

Not bad, Lu YunFei wanted to rub Shuang Shuang’s little head.

The boy saw his rejection and was unsatisfied, “Don’t be like that. I’ll let you eat, here.”

As he said that, he brought the hamburger over to Shuang Shuang’s mouth. Shuang Shuang was young; seeing that he was given permission, he let go of any past grievances and prepared to take a bite out of it.

However just as he bit down, the boy swiftly moved the hamburger away and laughed loudly, “And you said you didn’t want to eat it.”

Shuang Shuang was shamed and vexed at once.

The boy took another bite in triumph and said intentionally, “You can yearn for it all you want, but I’m still not letting you eat it.”

Shuang Shuang was truly angered now. He huffily walked back and lost the mood to read his storybook. And so he pulled a stool to sit in front of the Tmall Genie and said coyly, “Tmall Genie~”

Lu YunFei was so infuriated by the boy that he wanted to spank him. When he heard Shuang Shuang’s child-like voice, he immediately went to comfort his little baby, “I’m here.”

Shuang Shuang was a child and so his attention was easily grabbed. This time his attention was held by the Tmall Genie, and so he was no longer angry. He asked Lu YunFei, “Where did we stop for the last story?”

Lu YunFei thought for a bit, and then continued from where he had left off.

His storytelling was full of life, and he even modulated his tone, acting out the voices of the calabash brothers and monsters. Shuang Shuang was captivated by the story. In one moment he was anxious, and in the next he was delighted.

The boy saw this and walked over curiously to ask, “What’s this plaything? It can even tell stories.”

Shuang Shuang immediately stood up and blocked the Tmall Genie from his sight, “Go and watch television.”

“I don’t want to, I want it to tell me a story.”

“Then you can listen to this story with me,” Shuang Shuang said nervously.

The boy was unwilling, “I’ve already watched the entire series of the Calabash Brothers. Hey, tell another story.”

Lu YunFei silently said, who wants to listen to you.

Shuang Shuang said anxiously, “Not changing stories.”

The boy heard this and reached out to push him. Shuang Shuang unhappily pushed him back.

Lu YunFei saw how Shuang Shuang’s tiny arms were no match for the other’s thick arms. He wish he could roll up his sleeves to do something about it, when he heard a familiar voice sound out coldly, “ Zhào YǔPéng , what are you doing?”

The next moment, Bian JinYuan walked over and pushed him away.

Shuang Shuang quickly grabbed onto Bian JinYuan’s hand and leaned against his gege.

Lu YunFei breathed a sigh of relief knowing that Bian JinYuan was back.

Bian JinYuan looked at his didi, and then at Zhao YuPeng, his eyes full of disgust. He had just entered the yard to find Bian Jie washing laundry by the pond and had wanted to let her rest inside, “I’ll wash the rest. This is a cake that was leftover from today. Liu jie gave me one. Small aunt and Shuang Shuang should eat it.”

However Bian Jie had said, “Bring it in for Peng Peng and Shuang Shuang to eat. Your aunt has something on today, so I’m helping her to look after Peng Peng. It’s just nice for the both of them to eat.”

Bian JinYuan didn’t have a good impression of this aunt. To be specific, he didn’t have a good impression of any relative from the Jiang family. He knew Bian Jie since he was a child. After his mother died, Bian Jie had taken care of him. Bian JinYuan assumed that all relatives were family, or at least that was how Bian Jie had always treated him… until he met the Jiangs.

Bian Jie’s husband, Jiang Feng, was a very good man. This was shown from the fact that he was willing to look after Bian JinYuan — the child of his wife’s elder sister. He treated everyone the same way, especially his younger brother Jiang Jian and younger sister Jiāng Fāng . When Jiang Feng was alive, even though they weren’t well-off, his younger siblings often took advantage of their elder brother Jiang Feng.

Bian JinYuan had only observed their actions coldly. As he wasn’t Jiang Feng’s blood-related son, he hadn’t spoken up about it.

After that when Jiang Feng fell ill, Bian Jie took out their entire savings. Bian JinYuan also withdrew all the money that his mother had left him. Jiang Jian and Jiang Fang visited once carrying a basket of fruit, their mouths running on about how they felt sorry for their ge, but not a peep was said about money. Eventually Bian JinYuan was unable to continue looking on and pulled them to the stairwell when they left the hospital room.

“Do you need me to calculate how much money you took from my uncle over the years?” Bian JinYuan took out a piece of paper and showed them.

The black text on the white paper was written clearly; who borrowed how much from Jiang Feng on which month, but only returned a fraction of what was owed. Who needed Jiang Feng’s friends’ help, and Jiang Feng needed to spot how much money, and in the end the other party didn’t mention it and acted as if it was what Jiang Feng was supposed to do etc.

Bian JinYuan looked coldly at the people in front of him, “If my uncle hadn’t gotten into trouble, I wouldn’t care about what goes on among you siblings; now that my uncle is lying on a sick bed, then you should either voluntarily produce the money that you owe him, otherwise I’ll think of some way for you to get that money out.

Jiang Jian and Jiang Fang naturally didn’t want to agree to this, however Bian JinYuan was not someone who was easy to deal with. Ever since he could remember, his home had only consisted of him, his mother, and his small aunt who frequently visited. It was a household without a father. A young boy who had injured himself could only lick his wounds and take it upon himself to get revenge.

Even though Jiang Jian was older than him, he was not his match when they fought. Bian JinYuan looked at the person in front of him stonily, “My uncle gave his best for the both of you, but you return his efforts in this manner. You’re worse than rearing a dog.”

Ultimately, Jiang Jian and Jiang Fang were forced by him to return to Jiang Feng’s bed once more.

Before entering the hospital room, Bian JinYuan warned the both of them, “Do not say what happened today. Of course if you want to you could, but don’t forget that I’m still a student, and a good student who consistently scores first place at that. Do you think that my small aunt and uncle, as well as other people, would believe your words?”

Nobody would believe that two adults were threatened by a child, especially a top student such as Bian JinYuan. Jiang Jian furiously made a note in his heart, after Jiang Feng passed away, the first thing he would do was to persuade Bian Jie to get Bian JinYuan to drop out of school and say that he had found Bian JinYuan a good job. After Bian JinYuan was gone, this would lighten the load on their family. As a result of his scheme, he especially brought up Shuang Shuang.

“Sister-in-law, Shuang Shuang is the birth child of yourself and my ge, you can’t possibly hinder his studies just because of him. You’ve already treated him well enough, it’s time for him to repay you.”

However Bian Jie unhesitatingly rejected his proposal. She was very close to her sister Biān Tíng . Bian JinYuan started living with her when he was eight years old. Despite Bian JinYuan not being birthed by herself and Jiang Feng, the both of them had always treated him like he was their firstborn son. How could they let their son drop out of school, and furthermore Bian JinYuan’s grades were excellent, so Bian Jie was not swayed no matter how hard he tried convincing her.

Seeing this, Jiang Jian thought of another scheme, to get Bian Jie to remarry. No one would be as good-natured as his ge as to take in this extra baggage. And so he asked around, intending to introduce someone to Bian Jie. Who knew that he had just brought the topic up when he was chased out by Bian JinYuan.

But this was all after the fact.

That day in the hospital, Jiang Jian and Jiang Fang made an arrangement between themselves, and decided to lend Jiang Feng fifty thousand – Jiang Jian would loan twenty thousand, while Jiang Fang would loan thirty thousand. Bian Jie was astonished. She had previously looked for Jiang Jian and Jiang Fang, but the both of them had pleaded their case, saying that they had no money. Now they were actually able to produce fifty thousand.

Jiang Feng was very appreciative. He had always believed that siblings had to help each other out, and that was always something that he put into action. Now that he saw how his younger siblings lent him money out of their own initiative, he thought that his efforts had come back to him.

Bian JinYuan didn’t uncover them. Jiang Feng asked Bian Jie to write an IOU and discussed with his younger siblings to repay the loan after two years. Jiang Jian and Jiang Fang didn’t say much and happily signed it. Bian JinYuan didn’t oppose it either. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but that he couldn’t. Fifty thousand yuan was the amount that Jiang Jian and Jiang Fang owed Jiang Feng over the years, but Jiang Feng himself possibly couldn’t remember their debts to him accumulated over several years.

These debts had only been mentioned in passing between Jiang Feng and Bian Jie during their casual conversations. Jiang Feng never made notes of it, and Bian Jie never took part in them, it was only Bian JinYuan who remembered. His memory was excellent, in spite of how long ago things happened, he was still able to remember them word for word. But with this kind of frightening memory, Bian JinYuan was afraid of scaring Jiang Feng.

Bian JinYuan clearly understood that his uncle was the type of person who treasured close familial ties. He worried that calculating their tab would cause Jiang Feng to worry that he would do the same to Shuang Shuang if he were gone, someone who wasn’t a blood-related brother.

Furthermore, Bian JinYuan thought about what the doctor had told Bian Jie. If Jiang Feng really wasn’t able to make it, then rather than letting the end of his life be spent in disappointment at how his younger siblings treated his wife, it was better to let him go in happiness.

Jiang Feng had always believed that his younger siblings would look after his wife. Bian Jie didn’t dare to bring up the fact that they had refused her request to borrow money from them, and Bian JinYuan couldn’t bear to break his illusion in the end.

He was after all someone who was virtually a father to him. Bian JinYuan wished that he would go in peace. He would take care of Bian Jie and Shuang Shuang, and no one would be allowed to bully them, including Jiang Jian and Jiang Fang.

Bian JinYuan sighed and thought that his small aunt was too softhearted. Jiang Fang was selfish, disliked the poor and chased after wealth, and had taken advantage of Bian Jie numerous times, and yet Bian Jie was still willing to help her look after her unruly child. He worried about Zhao YuPeng bullying Shuang Shuang, and so he quickly brought the cake into the house and saw the scene of Zhao YuPeng and Shuang Shuang in a tussle.

Bian JinYuan had never held much affection towards children other than Shuang Shuang. He pushed Zhao YuPeng away, looked at him, and said coldly, “Sit properly, otherwise you’re going home.”