December 28, 2021

Chapter 23: Nephew

Heling went to the kitchen to get ice cream and heard her mother on a call in the hallway.

“Zheng? What did he do?”

“Seriously? He’s causing me trouble again.”

“Why did you say it won’t work? It’ll be useful if I talk!”

“Don’t let him come yet, I’ll make arrangements first! What are you talking about, no matter how useful it is, you still have to make some arrangements, right? You can’t just simply talk about it!”

“Okay, I got it. I will do it as soon as possible. Just wait for my answer.”

Heling trotted over with two packs of ice cream, went upstairs, and knocked on Yansheng’s door.

Yansheng opened the door and asked, “What’s the matter?”

Heling raised her hand. “Sister, I took some ice cream, would you like to eat too?”

The little girl’s big eyes flickered. She looked so sweet and cute.

Yansheng was speechless but she bought it.

“Come in,” she said.

Heling jumped into her room. They both sat on the sofa and ate ice cream together. Yansheng turned on the laptop and put on a cartoon show.

“Sister, my cousin seems to be coming,” Heling said while eating.

“Oh?” Yansheng replied indifferently. After a while, she finally reacted, then she paused to think and asked, “Liang Zheng?”

“Sister, you know my cousin?” Heling had a look of surprise. Yingying had taken her children back to her parents’ house to celebrate the New Year, and Heling had only met this cousin twice.

Since they entered the Zhang family, Heling had only went to her maternal grandparent’s house twice. In fact, she was not very familiar with her maternal relatives and she was also not familiar with this cousin.

Yansheng didn’t answer. She twitched the corner of her lips and put on a sneer.

Yingying was a child born in old age and she had an older brother who was ten years older than her. Her brother made the family too accustomed to being worthless. When her mother suddenly became pregnant with her, she was actually born with the intention of abandoning her.

She was born as a daughter, so the old couple was a bit disappointed, but it was much better than nothing. They gave birth to her in the end so she could support them. They thought that she could support and take care of them at their old age. 

Her older brother was an idler and did nothing, but he looked pretty good, so he was good at picking up girls. He got someone pregnant early and got married. The child was Yingying’s nephew, who was only seven years younger than her.

The old couple got their grandson and couldn’t close their mouths with joy, as they coaxed and held him. This nephew finally got admitted to a prestigious university—junior college course. The old couple felt that he was the golden phoenix of their family and that they had done their best.

As for their daughter, she was arrogant and got married into a rich family, so it was now time to help her older brother and nephew.

Yingying bragged to her family on the call that her words were useful and told them to wait for her arrangements. But in fact, she didn’t mention a word to Huan.

She hadn’t gotten a Ferrari yet. She would wait for the sports car to get in her hands before she could talk about her nephew.

In the evening, Huan was served well and comfortable. The next day, she immediately pulled over her girlfriends to pick a car. Amidst the envy of a group of girlfriends, she chose one and called Huan.

“Okay, the account number was sent over and I will ask the finance to transfer money to them,” Huan said impatiently.

After the salesman told Yingying that the payment for the car had arrived, she showed off in front of her girlfriends. She waited for two more days until her family called her again, then she finally mentioned it to Huan, “My nephew just graduated from college and he wants to come to K City to work. I thought—why don’t you let him come to the company to work? Honey, can you arrange this for me~”

This was not a big deal. In business, especially the kind of private enterprise, related households were indispensable.

So Huan didn’t care. “Okay, let him come.”

When Yingying got his permission, she called home with a hint of smugness, “Let Zheng come here.”

Her parents praised her on the call. On that same day, the Ferrari’s salesman called her and said, “Once the car passed the customs, it can be picked up in a few days.” Yingying felt that her life was at its peak and that she was walking with the wind.

When she ran into Yansheng at home, looking at that cold face, she could still smile and would not provoke this ancestor.

For Huan, this summer vacation was really peaceful, serene, and beautiful.

That weekend, Yansheng came back from outside and the small living room was full of people. Except for her, all the members of their family were there.

“Yanyan is back. Come here! This is your Auntie Yingying’s nephew, Liang Zheng,” Huan greeted her and introduced the young man on the sofa. “This is my eldest daughter, Zhang Yansheng. Come and get to know each other.”

Heling also enthusiastically went over to pull Yansheng. “Sister, this is my cousin.”

Shuocheng sat on the sofa playing with his new game console. He was too engrossed to care about others.

Zheng had a clear-eyed face of the Liang family, but his eyes were not pleasing. They were drifting uncertainly, with many small thoughts flashing. He was not a down-to-earth and sincere person at first glance.

“Sister Yanyan, I am Liang Zheng. Oh, this girl is so big now. The last time I saw you, you were just a little girl.” Zheng pretended to be affectionate, with a deliberately sleek and sophisticated expression on his face. The ‘last time’ he said was when Yingying entered this house.

With two children, a middle-aged man like Huan had no sense of ceremony. He was not interested about weddings and the like. He didn’t hold a wedding ceremony for Yingying and only received a certificate, but the Liang family had been there for a few days.

Unfortunately, Yansheng was violent at that time. So Huan didn’t let his new parents-in-law and his brother-in-law’s family live in the house, and only arranged for them to stay in a hotel.

The Liang family, who came from a small place, saw that their son-in-law was generous and allowed them to stay in a luxurious hotel. He also arranged for a driver and a car to take them around and they could buy things at will. The smiles on their faces were from ear to ear. Although the Liang family didn’t care, Yingying felt ashamed in her heart and held a grudge against Yansheng.

Facing Zheng, Yansheng supported her chin and responded lightly, “Hello.”

In the days after Yansheng was reborn, Huan had an impression of a ‘grown up’ and ‘sensible’ her in his heart, and her words and existence were more important than before. He explained to her, “Zheng just graduated from college. I arranged for him to do an internship in the company and work there first.”

Old foxes never talked about death. They could make arrangements for their relatives, but they would all ‘do it first’ and talk about it later.

Yansheng nodded and asked Zheng, “Which university?”

Zheng raised his chest and replied proudly, “H University!”

Most people would give a praise when they heard this. After all, it was a famous university. Who would ask you more like if you are a college undergraduate or what?

Zheng had always introduced himself in this way to the outside world. He would only say the university or his major at most, but not about undergraduate courses.

So the beautiful girl from the Zhang family asked him directly, “Undergraduate or junior college course?”1Junior College Course 专科 Diploma of a (2-year or 3-year) junior college course, other terms is specialized subject or specialized training.

Undergraduate course 本科 – Diploma or Graduation Certificate of a (4-year or 5-year) undergraduate course.

Zheng was dumbfounded.

This girl, why can’t she speak well? Well, although he was indeed only a junior college course graduate, how could anyone just ask people if he was a graduate of an undergraduate or junior college course?

But Huan also looked at him with a smile while holding a cigarette. Zheng had also been to other companies for interviews before and knew that he had to submit a resume that included information about education and work experience. He also need to provide a copy of diploma or transcript of records as proof, so this information couldn’t be hidden. He had to bite the bullet and replied, “Junior college course.”

Yansheng gave a long ‘Oh~’ which was meaningful.

It was extremely ear-piercing to Yingying and Zheng.

But in their hearts, they felt that Yansheng, a newly middle school graduate, was more concerned about the high school entrance examination at this time, and her mind was not yet at the stage of the college entrance examination. They felt that they were too concerned again.

Yingying thought, this dead girl is not taunting deliberately, right? Besides, how can she still know in advance that Zheng is a junior college course graduate?

She just really can’t speak well!

An idiot!

“Ahem, it’s all the same,” Yingying said hurriedly. “You may not know that H University is famous and one of the top universities in the country.” Her parents were typical citizens, her brother was an idler like a hooligan, and her sister-in-law was too lazy. Only her nephew was the good one from this family, he was a college graduate anyway. And no matter if she was at odds with them, when facing outsiders, she would protect her shortcomings better than anyone else.

Zheng then changed the subject. “Is Sister Yanyan in high school now?”

Yingying thought that her nephew was really good as he asked that caring question. She immediately smiled and said, “She will be when the next school year starts. She’ll go to No. 1 High School. You don’t know but it’s the best high school in K City and it costs a lot of money to enter.”

This time, Zheng also said ‘Oh~’ in high level tone.

Yansheng looked at Huan. Although he was still holding a cigarette and his smile remained unchanged, his gaze cooled down.

He also wanted to save face.

Yansheng was not the only one to lose temper after being exposed in front of the newly arrived relative.

She smiled and said, “I guess I’m a failure, huh? I can’t get in by myself so my dad paid for me to be sent in. But now, I’m cramming to absorb enough knowledge so I can get into a good class.”

Huan was very pleased after hearing that.

If a child was determined to study hard and enter the good environment of No. 1 High School, then he was not be afraid of studying poorly. When Yansheng was a child, she had a very good academic record. It was only because of the influence of her mother’s death that it fell.

Anyway, in Huan’s heart, he wouldn’t think that Yansheng’s grades deteriorated later because he married a troublemaker and brought two illegitimate children into the house.

It would never be his own fault.

He flicked his cigarette and asked Yingying with a smile, “Where will Zheng live in the future?”

Yingying replied, “He just came to K City and he is not familiar with the life here. I want him to live here at home—”

“Okay, let him stay for a few days, it’s fine.” Huan waved his hand. “Just find a house as soon as possible. Young people have to experience more and when they leave home, they have to taste the ups and downs.”

Zheng was stunned.

It was clear that his aunt was full of words on the call before, saying that he would stay at their home. The last time he came to K City, he was very impressed with the big mansion of the Zhang family. Before coming this time, he had already told his friends that he would live in a mansion in K City, so many people were waiting to envy him.

He was very dissatisfied and winked at Yingying frequently.

Yingying also choked up.

She also mentioned to Huan about her nephew living at home. But Huan’s mind was exhausted at that time and said ‘okay’ casually. She thought that this matter was settled. Unexpectedly, Huan suddenly changed his mind.

She gave Zheng a soothing look and said, “Zheng is still young, so I think—”

“He’s not young anymore. He graduated from college already,” Huan said with a smile. “After I graduated from high school, my father gave me a company to let me practice. As a parent, you have to learn how to let go. Don’t always think about taking care of him comprehensively, especially for boys, they have to experience things and suffer a bit.” This old fox blocked Yingying’s words directly.

So Yingying was dumbfounded.

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    Junior College Course 专科 Diploma of a (2-year or 3-year) junior college course, other terms is specialized subject or specialized training.

    Undergraduate course 本科 – Diploma or Graduation Certificate of a (4-year or 5-year) undergraduate course.