Chapter 62
Chapter 62
62 Scum Of A Father
Song Jian froze as he heard her question. In a bid to prove himself, he had’t considered the fact that he would have to tell her the full story.
He stared at her for more than a minute, unable to say any words. As soon as Rong Yue saw that he was unwilling to talk, she turned to leave, after all, she still had to meet someone in about two hours.
Also, she still had to change her appearance, which meant that she didn’t have time on her hands.
“I owe them money.” Song Jian finally managed to say just in time to make Rong Yue stop in her tracks.
She couldn’t imagine how much a student could owe that would make those kind of men to be on his neck, after all, she had also lived in abject poverty all through her high school in her past life.
“It’s cold out here, let’s go to the diner opposite if you want to talk. If you don’t, I can give you my contact so you can call me when you are free or think you need my help.” Rong Yue said, afraid to make him feel like she was forcing him to open up when in reality, she wanted no such thing like that.
“It’s okay, we can go across.” Song Jian said and even rushed forward so he could lead the way.
As it was not rush hour time, the diner was relatively quiet and Rong Yue hurriedly made an order to get some hot chocolate. “Would you like the same thing?”
Song Jian nodded absentmindedly and Rong Yue placed the order.
.....
She left him for the next few minutes as she took in details. In this cold weather, the boy was only wearing that barely thick hoodie. The same one she had seen on him all week. More importantly, there was nothing inside the cloth which showed that he most likely had no one being concerned about him and he also didn’t have time for himself.
“Those seven men were sent from Hades. They are called loan sharks and since my father owed them a large amount of money before he ran off, it is now my responsibility to pay the debt off.” Song Jian started making Rong Yue’s searching mind immediately go blank.
At most, he was probably a boy just above the age of nineteen, to think that he had such a childhood responsibility was quite sad.
Unable to resist, she asked “Where did your father go?”
“I have no idea, but since one autumn two years ago, I haven’t laid my eyes on his shadow.” He replied coldly, the tightening of his jaws as he talked about his father was all the indication that Rong Yue needed to know how much it affected him.
But since this was a matter that he brought up, she was also not responsible for closing it. Usually, she wouldn’t have bothered, after all, she didn’t know him and even though they had sat beside each other for a week, they hadn’t even said one word to each other.
Yet, she felt like she could see her past self in him, hardened, desperate and full of despair. Back then, she had been too helpless at all the card that life was dealing with her that even when she knew that Tong Yang didn’t care for her as much as she did, she had willingly accepted that dynamic out of desperation.
Now that she saw that same despair reflecting in the eyes of the man before her, she didn’t want to just walk away without doing anything. To her, turning her back in such a situation would be like her turning her back against herself.
“It’s a lot” Song Jian murmured and then took in a deep breath when he saw Rong Yue’s raised brows that were clearly telling him to continue.
“He loaned about $500,000 from the loan sharks and then eloped with another woman immediately.” He said and then bent his head, ashamed that the man he was talking about was the one who had birthed him.
Disgust and anger coursed through Rong Yue as she tried to imagine how heartless a man could be. “Your mom?” She asked, trying to get the full picture.
“She fell sick from the news and got a stroke, she’s currently in the hospital at the moment.” He said with a sigh.
The more questions Rong Yue asked, the more alarmed she was at how bad it was for him. As a young boy, he was working sixteen hours daily and stole fours hours to attend afternoon classes. She could only now understand the reason why he always rushed out of class. At this age where everyone was living to their fullest and focusing on new gaming technology and relationship, he was racing against time everyday of his life.
It was even more cruel that the loan sharks expected him to work twenty hours instead of the sixteen hours that he was currently doing and that was why he was being beaten up when she saw him.
“I would help you with paying off the remaining de...” before she could complete her words, Song Jian interrupted.
“I understand that this is your kind intentions. But I hate to be indebted to someone after all, I’ll still need to play you back someday. From my calculations, I would be done with paying the remaining off in the next two years, after which I would be completely free...”
Rong Yue watched as his eyes dampened from saying the time he had left to work for, yet, even when she offered two more times, his answer was the same and unyielding.
“Okay, I have about an hour left to meet someone on another side of the city, I’ll think about your matters later and get back to you.” Rong Yue said, having no choice but to give up since his mind was made up. However, no matter how much he had refused, she still couldn’t take her eyes off what had just happened.
As she boarded the cab to take her close to where she would meet the representative from the Anxi Association, her mind was filled with thoughts of what her father was like. In the past life and in this life, she had never met her father. To make it worse, her mother had no recollection of him and just remembered being saved by the master of the Fang family while she was pregnant.
There were so many possibilities that she had since as child taken the matter off her mind. But after hearing his story, a part of her wondered if perhaps, her father had anything to do with her mother’s illness.
????
“Pervert! What are you doing in a woman’s bathroom” a young lady chided Rong Yue as she stepped out of the women rest room completely transformed. By the time she finished changing out of her uniform and changing into the just bought male clothes, not even her mother could argue that she wasn’t a boy. She had changed all her aura to appear like some laid back young master, however, she hadn’t calculated coming out of the restroom as a boy would raise brows. Thankfully, the woman she had met was unwilling to cause trouble and just scolded her.
She used her other phone that was being protected by the firewall that the little Lori had created to let the man know that she was already in the restaurant that he had picked. She strolled casually into the restaurant and the aroma of the food being carried around and being served made Rong Yue, who was already a food grubber feel hungry immediately.
Just as she was about to give up and ditch courtesy by ordering a meal before their arrival, her phone with her signature message alert.
“I’m here, where are you seated?”
Rong Yue looked around and then using her intuition, waved her hand gently at the man that seemed to have just entered the restaurant. She was right as the man nodded and headed towards her. Dressed in a brown suit that was different from the everyday black suit she was used to, coupled with the aura the young man gave off despite his basic physical appearance, she could already tell that his ranking in the company wasn’t low.
This two things indirectly told her how much value they placed on her and the work she had submitted as her last task.
“Mr Su” the young man greeted politely before sitting opposite her.
“I’m Lu Bo, the head of the technology department, Qin Corporation. To not make you confused, I’m also a member of the Anxi Association and would be talking to you on behalf of both parties. Is that okay?” He asked carefully.
Rong Yue nodded to signify that he could go on. However, before, he could say a word, she raised her index and middle fingers up to signify that she wanted him to wait.
“I’m famished and would like to get something to eat before we continue.” She said simply like it was the normal proceedings that should have been followed.
From the moment he had arrived here up until this, he had already realised that all the personality deductions he had about the young man he was coming to meet was slightly off mark. Yet, he was also someone that was an expert in dealing with situations,
“Forgive my ill manners, that should truly be expected as it’s half day already” his response was smooth and took all the blame to him making Rong Yue nod subtly in approval.