After lunch.
The four of them split up. Jiang Meilin drove Xu Ye home, and Chen Hansong jumped in to take Chen Qingqing back to Red Leaf Estate.
On the way, Jiang Meilin raised the subject herself. “That company you invested in — I’ve looked into it a little. I hear the games they make are very popular with young people these days, which tells me it’s where things are heading. How did you get connected with them in the first place?”
Xu Ye gave her the broad outline of how he and Cai Haoyu had met. When he’d finished, she was visibly taken aback. “So the very first time you met him, you decided to put that kind of money into them?”
“Mm.”
“That’s gambling.”
Xu Ye smiled. “My luck’s always been good.”
“The fruit shop and the vending machines — business these last two or three months hasn’t been what it was at the start, has it?”
“It hasn’t, no,” Xu Ye admitted. “But I ran a campaign on Christmas Eve and made a hundred and fifty thousand across two days, which clawed a decent amount of it back.”
That reminded him of something else. He pulled the bank card she’d given him out of his wallet and handed it back. “Five million, paid off within two years — that works out to about two hundred and ten thousand a month. I’ve already put the first month into the card, and I’ll transfer money into it every month from here on. I was originally going to have Qingqing pass the card back to you, but you said you didn’t want her knowing about it, so I…”
Jiang Meilin took the card and smiled. “Two hundred thousand-odd a month. Isn’t that a lot of pressure for you?”
“Pressure’s what keeps a person moving. It’s fine, honestly. The market’s still climbing, and there’s still a couple of million sitting in my brokerage account. My guess is miHoYo will be paying me dividends by the end of this year.”
Jiang Meilin smiled and didn’t answer.
Inwardly, though, she was pleased. A first-year student already handling business in the millions — that by itself was remarkable.
Only when she pulled up at the entrance to his residential compound did Xu Ye take a jewelry box out of his bag, the words Chow Tai Fook printed across the lid, and hold it out to her. “Auntie, this is a present for you.”
“A present?”
“That’s right.”
“Out of nowhere? What are you buying me presents for?”
Xu Ye grinned. “I was out buying my mom a present, and I got to thinking about how I’ve always turned up at your house empty-handed. Qingqing was with me at the time, too, so I figured you have to keep the bowl level. So I just… anyway, it didn’t cost much. Take it, Auntie.” [TL: 一碗水端平, “carry the bowl of water level” — to treat two parties evenhandedly, tipping toward neither.]
Jiang Meilin took it. She had been thinking that if there turned out to be gold jewelry inside, she would have to put on a convincing show of liking it — and then she opened it and found a string of snow-white pearls.
She beamed immediately, lifted the necklace out, studied it for a good long while, and finally smiled. “Well, then. Auntie will accept it.”
“Mm-hm. I’ll head in, then.”
“Come round to the house when you’ve got time.”
“Definitely.”
Xu Ye got out, waved to her, and walked into the compound pulling his suitcase behind him.
The moment he was out of sight, Jiang Meilin flipped down the vanity mirror, fastened the pearls around her neck, and turned her head this way and that, examining herself for some time before driving off perfectly happy.
She had received a great many gifts in her life, but most of them from business associates. She knew this necklace probably hadn’t cost much — but the price of a gift was never the same thing as what the giver meant by it.
One line of his had gone straight to her heart.
That line was you have to keep the bowl level.
He had set out to buy a present for his own mother. And when he said the bowl had to be kept level, what Jiang Meilin heard was that somewhere underneath, without ever deciding to, Xu Ye had already come to think of her as… a mother.
…
Today was Saturday.
Neither Old Xu nor Old Zhang was home. The last two times he’d come back he’d woken them both in the middle of the night, so when he’d left the house last time, Xu Ye had taken a key with him.
He dug the key out of his bag and let himself in. Everything inside was exactly as it always was.
He wheeled the suitcase into his room, then messaged Old Zhang first to say he’d got home safely.
Zhang Hong sent a voice message back almost at once. “Son, what do you want for dinner?”
Xu Ye replied, “Steamed pork with rice flour, fish with pickled greens — and could you get Dad to bring back an order of Huangshanghuang chicken feet?” [TL: Huangshanghuang (煌上煌) is a mainland chain specializing in braised and marinated meats sold by weight — duck, chicken feet, offal — usually eaten cold as a snack or a side.]
Xu Ye knew that his standing in the household was at its highest in the first few days of a holiday. If he didn’t put his requests in now, there’d be no point trying later.
Sure enough, another voice message came back quickly. “Son, I’ve messaged your dad. He’ll be home by half past four.”
“Great.”
Once he’d replied, Xu Ye posted a message in his class group chat.
Xu Ye: @Everyone — anyone who’s made it home, remember to post “home safe” in the group. Happy New Year in advance, everybody.
Then he dropped a twenty-yuan red packet into the group.
Not much money — but the instant it appeared, every lurker in the chat surfaced.
Guo Caixia: Haha. Our class president’s generous.
Gao Bohai: Missed it again.
Qian Wenhua: Somehow I’m the Luckiest Draw? [TL: 手气王 — WeChat labels whoever gets the largest share of a randomly split red packet the “Luckiest Draw,” and announces it to the whole group.]
Jia Bing: How come they’re grabbing two or three yuan each and I got twenty cents?
“…”
…
When Jiang Meilin got home, Chen Hansong still hadn’t left.
She came into the living room with her handbag, in an excellent mood. Seeing him still there, she said nothing about it — just poured herself a cup of hot water and sat down on the sofa.
Chen Qingqing spotted the pearl necklace at her mother’s throat right away. Why did the dumb pig give that to Mom? she said to herself.
Chen Hansong didn’t notice at first. Not until Jiang Meilin took Chen Qingqing’s hand and asked her, “Qingqing, does this necklace look nice on your mom?”
Only then did he register the pearls around her neck.
Chen Qingqing gave a small nod. “It looks nice.”
“Doesn’t it? Your mom thinks so too.”
Chen Hansong finally managed to get a word in. “Where’s that from?”
“Someone gave it to me.”
Someone. Gave. It. To. Her.
She hadn’t bought it herself!
Chen Hansong tensed on the spot. Inside he was in complete disarray, but he kept his face carefully calm as he asked, “Who gave it to you?”
Jiang Meilin, deliberately: “None of your business.”
“I’m only asking. Don’t tell me, then — forget it.”
Chen Qingqing looked at her mother, then at her father, and said quietly, “Xu Ye didn’t even tell me. I thought he’d bought it for his own mom.”
Chen Hansong seized on the crucial information the instant he heard it.
Good news: the pearl necklace was from Xu Ye.
Bad news: Jiang Meilin appeared to have been wrapped around that little bastard’s finger as well.
He asked, offhand, “How much did that necklace cost?”
“Five thousand.”
“Jiang Meilin, you are unbelievable,” Chen Hansong said immediately. “Five thousand yuan for a necklace and you’re this delighted with it. You lent—”
Before he could finish, she cut him off. “None of your damn business.”
Chen Hansong said, “When we got married — that diamond ring I bought you. Do you have any idea what that cost?”
Jiang Meilin’s head came up sharply. “And after we got married?” she demanded.
“I—”
Chen Hansong couldn’t meet her eyes. He lowered his head in silence, with nothing at all to say.
(End of Chapter 181)