In Qu Tantan’s memory, she had never seen her Uncle before. In fact, until her second year of high school, she had no idea she even had one.
Although her parents had endured many hardships, they still provided Qu Tantan with a happy home, never letting her lack anything. She hadn’t even known that her family had once gone bankrupt or that her Dad had been swindled into crippling debt and nearly sent to prison. She also had no idea why her Grandma had gone mad.
It wasn’t until her second year of high school, when her Grandma fell seriously ill and relatives from the village came to visit, that she overheard someone asking her Dad, “That bastard is really never coming back? After what he did to her, he won’t even come for a look?”
The villagers cursed angrily, calling him a beast. It was only then that Qu Tantan learned her Dad had a younger brother, one who had long since run away and was never spoken of again.
She was naturally shocked but remained silent. After the relatives left, she saw her usually quiet Dad standing in the hallway, smoking one cigarette after another. When he noticed her, he hastily apologized for smoking at that moment. He was lost in thought for a long time before vaguely telling her about that Uncle.
That was when she learned the truth: she had a heartless, ungrateful Uncle who had once conspired with others to scam her Dad out of his money. Her Grandma’s madness was also connected to that Uncle.
Knowing it was a painful subject for her Dad, Qu Tantan didn’t press for more details, but she kept the story in her heart. Until the day before her Grandma’s death, the old woman, who had always been erratic and incoherent in her memory, suddenly became lucid.
She gave Qu Tantan’s Dad instructions for her funeral, then secretly told Qu Tantan the full story of what had happened back then.
Father Qu had once run a tobacco and alcohol business. After renting a storefront and making some money, he thought about taking out a loan to expand into a trading company. But then, his younger brother and mother came to him.
His mother threw a fit, adamantly opposing the idea of him taking a bank loan. She claimed he knew nothing about business and would surely lose everything. Instead, she urged him to wait and go into business with his more clever younger brother.
At the time, Father Qu knew little about business and was also somewhat blindly filial. Persuaded by their words, he reluctantly agreed. Later, an acquaintance from the village introduced him to a supposed business partner, saying they could collaborate in the tobacco and alcohol trade. The partner claimed to own a factory and could produce their own products.
Trusting his relatives, Father Qu visited the factory. The equipment looked complete, so he invested all his savings into the venture.
But within six months, the so-called partner vanished with the money. The factory land had only been leased, and Father Qu, who had personally negotiated deals with clients, now had no goods to deliver. He had to compensate them instead.
While he was scrambling to find money, his mother and younger brother showed up again. His brother berated him for being incompetent in business but generously offered advice, telling him that the village was about to undergo a redevelopment project. When the time came, he could use the compensation money from the land acquisition to repay his debts. His brother even loaned him some money, supposedly to help him through the crisis.
Their mother, perhaps out of favoritism for her younger son, didn’t make him contribute financially. Instead, she hesitated for a long time before revealing that she still had some savings. She then took out a large sum of compensation money she had received years ago and gave it to Father Qu to clear his debts.
That money had been a lifelong wound for her, and her husband had always tried to avoid using it. But now, there was no choice. She only wanted to help her eldest son through this crisis.
What she never expected was that her younger son, upon discovering she had such a large sum of money, would set off a chain of events that led to disaster.
At the time, Father Qu, completely unaware of the truth, was deeply moved by his mother and younger brother’s generosity. From then on, he no longer dared to dream of expanding his business and instead settled for running a simple orchard.
When the redevelopment compensation finally came, Father Qu returned the money to his mother.
Soon after, Father Qu’s younger brother convinced their mother to leave with him, claiming he would take her to live comfortably in another city.
For years, Father Qu assumed his mother was enjoying a happy life, as he occasionally heard from villagers that his brother had become a wealthy businessman.
But a few years later, his brother suddenly returned with their mother, now completely mad. With a helpless expression, he told Father Qu that she had suffered mental distress from not adapting to life in a new place. The doctor said she needed long-term care from family, but he was too busy with his business to look after her. He pleaded pitifully for Father Qu to take her in, even promising to send money every year for her treatment.
Not knowing much about mental illness, Father Qu believed his brother’s lies. It wasn’t until much later that he learned the shocking truth from his mother’s own lips.
The so-called business partner and the contacts who had scammed him? They had all been orchestrated by his younger brother. It was a setup from the start, his brother’s way of swindling his money, including half of the future redevelopment compensation.
Originally, once he had secured all the compensation money, his younger brother had planned to take his wife and children and disappear. But when he accidentally discovered that their mother still had a substantial sum of compensation savings, he changed his plans.
With sweet words and false promises, he convinced their mother to follow him, taking her and all her money away. He then made a fortune in real estate.
Once he had drained her funds completely, the once ‘devoted’ youngest son revealed his true colors. He treated his mother like a servant, subjected her to verbal and physical abuse, and even threw her out into the freezing cold just to make her submit.
Years of suffering had broken the old woman’s spirit, and her mind eventually collapsed. By then, her son had no use for her anymore. Instead of providing treatment, he dumped her back at Father Qu’s doorstep with a sob story, then disappeared for good, never once sending the promised money.
At that time, the person couldn’t be found anymore, so Father Qu took the old lady home to care for her while tending to their family orchard. Over time, he gradually transitioned from running a farmhouse restaurant to establishing a chain of restaurants. During those difficult years of entrepreneurship, the entire family was under immense pressure. Only the young Qu Tantan, who was too young to understand, tried her best to be the family’s source of joy, always keeping the eccentric old lady company with her chatter.
It wasn’t until after the old lady passed away that Qu Tantan finally realized how much her Dad had borne all along, while she had been carefreely sheltered and doted on as she grew up.
Even now, whenever Qu Tantan thinks about it, she feels disgusted, wishing she could slap that bastard in the face. Just as she was contemplating how to expose her Uncle’s true colors, she arrived home and was immediately greeted by a familiar voice scolding her father.
“…That money is off-limits! The moment you have a little cash in hand, you start thinking about buying houses and shops instead of planning for the future. Do you really think you can take out loans and start a company? Do you think running a business is that easy?! If you lose money, have you considered what will happen to your wife and child? You don’t understand anything, yet you dare to follow others into business? If it fails, are you planning to go back to farming?”
Immediately after, an unfamiliar male voice chimed in hypocritically, “Brother, don’t blame Mom for being harsh, she’s just worried about you. After all, you don’t have any experience, and business is a serious matter. If it doesn’t work out, things could get really messy.
“You just made a little money, and now you want to buy new commercial property and even a house. To convince us, you said you had a plan, and now you’re saying you actually want to start a business in the future? It’s no wonder Mom is anxious, even I feel like you’re biting off more than you can chew.”
The man’s voice was gentle yet hesitant, filled with apparent concern. “Brother, have you really thought this through? If you lose money, of course, I’ll help however I can, but I’m worried about your daughter, she’s still so young. Can she handle the blow of bankruptcy and going back to farm work?”
As the two of them continued their onslaught, Father Qu grew increasingly flustered. “I—”
“Don’t try to stop him, let him do it!”
Seeing her eldest son standing there silently like a fool and her younger son fanning the flames, the old lady’s temper flared even more. She pointed at Father Qu’s nose and cursed, “I’m telling you, if you don’t listen to your younger brother now, don’t come crawling back for help if it doesn’t work out! I won’t give you a single cent!”
Father Qu never expected that a simple attempt to share his plans about buying property would lead to his younger brother prying out his future aspirations and using them against him. Nor did he expect such intense opposition. Initially, it was just a passing thought, but now, under the weight of his mother’s anger, he couldn’t help but feel uncertain.
Was he really that incapable? It was true that he wasn’t as smart as his younger brother. If he truly wanted to expand his business and ended up losing everything, wouldn’t that mean dragging his daughter down with him?
The more Father Qu thought about it, the more afraid he became. Just as he was about to waver, a crisp, cheerful voice rang out—
“Dad, I’m home! Did you miss your little Tan Bao’er?”
From the moment Qu Tantan started listening to their conversation, she had been sneering internally. So her Dad’s business hadn’t even taken off yet, and these people had already decided it was doomed to fail? No wonder, after his business actually collapsed a few years later, he kept thinking he was too stupid, it turned out someone had been beating him down from the start.
Feeling her Mom’s grip on her arm tightening, Qu Tantan finally couldn’t hold back. She broke free from her Mom’s hold, pushed the door open, and ran inside.
Looking at the arrogant younger version of her Grandma, she couldn’t help but think, Oh wow, so this is what she was like before she lost her mind? Damn, this is straight out of a novel, one of those classic, unreasonable, biased elders.
Hearing the lively voice of a child, the old lady instinctively turned to look. She had only one functional eye. The right side of her face was covered in a massive scar, making her appearance extremely frightening. She had been the nightmare of many children, her fierce expression more terrifying than the big bad wolf in fairy tales.
Seeing his daughter rush in, Father Qu panicked, afraid she’d be scared to tears by his mother’s appearance, which might set the old lady off. But to his surprise, Qu Tantan only paused for a moment, showing no trace of fear. Instead, she ran up to the old lady, tilting her head curiously as she studied her.
The old lady, well aware of how terrifying her face was, instinctively reached up to cover it. She didn’t like girls, but this was still her granddaughter. If she scared the child into having nightmares, that wouldn’t be good. She had long been used to people avoiding her in fear. In fact, she had planned to leave before the little girl came home, but she had stayed because she couldn’t ignore her eldest son’s ridiculous fantasies.
Yet, what she never expected was that this little girl who, in her eyes, symbolized the end of her eldest son’s bloodline, not only didn’t cry or hide but even did something completely outrageous.
The little girl smiled sweetly at her.
“Huifang!”
The crisp voice of a little girl echoed through the room.
For a moment, the entire house fell into stunned silence.