CHAPTER 370: CHAPTER 360: BETTING ON WEALTH AND HONOR

"I once crossed mountains and seas, also waded through a sea of people."

After dinner, Xiao Yu sat on his own balcony, legs crossed, belting out songs, his tune nowhere to be found.

"I once had everything, and in the blink of an eye, it all dispersed like smoke."

A powerful voice from across the building picked up where he left off.

"I once lost hope, disappointment, lost all direction, until I realized that the ordinary is the only answer."

The song carried over from somewhere far away.

Stuck at home these past few months had been utterly stifling; he tried to sneak some fishing only to have Zhou Nan snap his fishing rod and absolutely forbid him from going out. He had no choice but to entertain himself. Luckily, there were plenty of others just as bored, and together they had formed a singing club across balconies.

"I once destroyed all I had..."

"Stop howling, it’s just a delayed return to work. It probably won’t be delayed for long," Zhou Nan, listening from the living room, had a headache; this guy couldn’t sing but still loved to bellow.

"What howling, look how happy your son is listening—are you?"

Xiao Yu turned to his son sitting in the rocking chair playing with his toy, smacked his lips, then continued his howling.

Being unemployed for several months had put a lot of pressure on him financially; fortunately, his two-year-old child had always been healthy, which wasn’t as costly as when the child was just born. That barely kept him from having to borrow money again.

Having just bought a house and then encountering this unlucky event put him under great stress.

"Look at He Fang and his spouse, one writes novels at home, the other paints, seemingly unaffected... Why don’t you learn from your buddy, have him teach you how to draw manga?"

Zhou Nan threw her legs up on the couch, stretching them while continuing to interrupt his wailing.

"Why don’t you learn to write novels?" Xiao Yu retorted.

"Is that the same thing? You’re originally an artist, doing animation and manga wouldn’t be much different..."

"And you originally studied literature, right? Don’t you always articulate your arguments well?"

"Arguing, is it?!"

"Exactly..."

"Are you asking if I want to argue?"

"..."

"Go ask him, all this humming and hawing, singing every day, what good does it do? Didn’t you say before, Qin Guanglin even wanted to mentor you, make you draw that ’My Wife is Too Cute’? Ew."

The name of the manga made Zhou Nan shudder; such a nerdy title.

But to make life a bit better and pay off the housing loan sooner, cute might just be cute. She thought about it, then tentatively tried, "Babe~?"

"F*ck, what are you trying to pull?!" Xiao Yu was so frightened by her contrived tone that he nearly jumped.

"Tsk, just go ask."

Zhou Nan’s cheeks reddened, and she turned back and continued stretching as if nothing had happened.

If it were He Fang, he probably would have learned well, right?

...

...

"Honey! Come here!"

He Fang called out from the bedroom, urgency in her voice. Qin Guanglin quickly dropped his pen and ran from the study.

"What’s wrong, what’s wrong?"

"Quick, quick, she can’t finish it..."

Qin Guanglin looked speechlessly at He Fang feeding their child, "Um... I’ll go get a bowl, waste it if we must, it really doesn’t taste good."

"Really not?"

"No more."

"Such a pity... Hurry, it’s getting everywhere."

After Qin’s Mom left here to head back to North Fly Road and enjoy her simple life, the young couple was liberated, giggling every day. At first, Qin Guanglin found it novel, but later...

"It’s either a drought or a flood; it would have been nice if you’d had twins."

Qin Guanglin felt heartache at the waste, "I’ve heard there are even specialized masseuses for that..."

"And some even sell the excess," He Fang scoffed, wiping their daughter’s mouth with a soft cloth.

"That’s amazing?!"

"What’s amazing about it?"

"Cough... who would buy that?" Qin Guanglin was curious, put down his bowl, picked up his phone to search on a certain platform, and first discovered a milk storage bag. Surprised, he said, "There are even specialized bags for storing this... Wait, let me buy you some, to store a few dozen bags..."

"Store them for you to drink?"

"...I won’t."

"Then why are you storing them?"

"Uh... just in case we run out in the future..."

"There will be no ’in case’. Out you go, and wash the bowl properly."

Once he was of no further use, He Fang coldly waved him off.

"Okay."

Qin Guanglin went out to bring the bowl into the kitchen, was about to pour it out, but pursed his lips and couldn’t help but bring it to his lips to taste it.

Yuck—still the same, bland with a bit of a fishy taste, disgusting.

He couldn’t understand how his daughter enjoyed it so much.

"Honey honey I love you, just like..."

The ringtone of his phone went off. Qin Guanglin held the bowl under the tap with one hand and picked up his phone with the other and put it to his ear.

"What’s up? What happened?"

"Ah, I haven’t worked for several months, and funds are tight..."

"Short on cash? Wait, let me check and send you some, just remember to give me an IOU." Qin Guanglin was straightforward. He understood Xiao Yu’s current situation, having anticipated it; just half a year had passed since he had borrowed here and there to buy a house, and he hadn’t recovered when he ran into this situation, staying at home for a few months, which was difficult for anyone.

Fortunately, he had resigned early. After releasing his new comic, Chen Rui strongly promoted it on the platform, and riding on the popularity of He Fang’s novel, his income hadn’t been much affected, not as much as his daughter’s birth had been.

"No no, no need to borrow yet." Xiao Yu, on the other end, was speechless. How much fortune had his brother made?

While others were tightening their belts because they couldn’t work, he acted as if nothing was the matter.

"Cough... It’s better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish, right... Your comic, I just want to understand it and see if it’s feasible to work on..."

"Hey, why didn’t you say so earlier? ’My Wife’ has been closing to an end for half a year now, and now what use is it for you to draw about you and your spouse—but I can’t say it’s completely useless; if drawn well, you might still catch the last sip of the soup."

"That’s exactly what I want! I don’t mind even scraping up the leftovers; talk to me about this, guide me."

Xiao Yu hadn’t really thought it could become very popular, to be able to scrape a living here, to add a few extra clothes for the kids, anything was better than nothing.

"Okay, it’s hard to explain over the phone... Has your area opened up yet? If you can come out, come over tomorrow." Qin Guanglin knew Xiao Yu well; he might be terrible at other drawings, but he had always been drawing notebooks for fun during school, so picking up comics wouldn’t be hard. Picking up the brush to practice for a few months, he would be better than Yu Le, at least.

Yu Le now was a special effects assistant at Chen Rui’s; he had rotated through almost every position, starting from scratch with no background in drawing to his current level, and just a bit more time, being the chief artist in a small studio wouldn’t be a problem.

"Okay, I’ll check the situation tomorrow and contact you then."

After hanging up the phone, Xiao Yu breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a slight easing of the pressure in his heart.

This year he had also turned thirty, supporting a family was hard, making ends meet was hard, family was like a Five Elements Mountain pressing down on him, not daring to slack off.

Being a man was tough.

...

...

Sun Wen was alone in the empty gym, wiping from one end to the other, then from that end back to this one.

Everything here, all the equipment, even the lights overhead and the floor beneath his feet, were his treasures.

He had gambled his dignity and freedom to win them back.

Over seven years since graduation, he often reflected, had he ever imagined this day when he successfully interviewed at Chen Rui’s company during the graduation season?

From an inexperienced graduate to his current position, it hadn’t been easy.

After rinsing the cloth clean in the sink and draping it over the handle of a treadmill, Sun Wen stretched, turned around to take in everything in the gym, then pulled out his phone to check a text he just received. Seeing the message about the delayed resumption of work, he cursed softly, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it.

As the smoke curled up, spiraling as it rose, he tilted his head back and blew out a dense puff, something coming to his mind, a hint of anticipation flickering in his eyes.

He was gambling again—Xu Wei was ultimately a woman, stripped of all statuses, she was just a woman.

An opportunity to change his fate, hoping that fate would grant him favor.

Both their pasts were checkered, neither one was praiseworthy. If they could come together to form a family, that would naturally be ideal.

Winning would mean making a fortune, securing a wealthy wife and children; losing wouldn’t be a loss, at most it meant breaking up—Sun Wen believed he had thought everything through, this was a sure win, he couldn’t possibly lose.

He was now thirty-one. He had made his money and achieved his initial dreams, only a family was missing.

The idea of passing on his legacy was deeply ingrained in his mind. No matter what, having a child carrying his blood, especially one with Xu Wei’s excellent genes, would be ideal—success or not depended on accomplishments, morality could be taught.

Child...

A spark of excitement crossed Sun Wen’s face as he swung his fist fiercely.

This year, Xiao Yu was thirty with a two-and-a-half-year-old son, wracking his brains to support his family; Qin Guanglin was also thirty, his daughter had just learned to roll over at three months; Sun Wen, a year their senior, was still single, imagining his future life in the gym.