“What’s going on? Say something!”

Han Jin had an ominous feeling, but without confirmation, she still clung to hope.

Chen Qing couldn’t even manage a bitter smile now. “I lost all the money.”

Lost it?

Han Jin could barely maintain her smile but still tried to comfort him:

“It’s okay, how much did you lose?”

Losing money was uncomfortable. As a business school student herself, Han Jin knew some finance – there were wins and losses, and one needed a stable mindset to achieve final victory.

“All of it. Your money, my money, the money I got from my family… everything I had!”

After Chen Qing spoke, Han Jin took a long time to react.

All the money?

That was 17,000 dollars!

Even though Han Jin was generous, she knew what an enormous sum this was.

Honestly, she had been surprised that Chen Qing’s family could gather 10,000 dollars – they were much wealthier than she’d imagined a farming family to be!

But to lose it all… Han Jin felt dizzy:

“How is that possible!”

Chen Qing couldn’t understand it either. Yes, how was it possible?

He hadn’t lost everything – he still held some stocks, but their prices had plummeted. These stocks were like waste paper now, worth almost nothing if sold.

“Let me write you an IOU. I’ll pay back your 5,000 dollars gradually.”

Chen Qing walked past Han Jin like a ghost, heading toward the dormitory.

Han Jin was furious.

Payback?

How could Chen Qing possibly pay it back?!

It had exceeded her expectations that the Chen family could gather 10,000 dollars. Such a huge hole couldn’t be filled by Chen Qing alone.

Losing money was one thing, but Chen Qing’s devastated demeanor made Han Jin even angrier. She tried to grab his sleeve, but he forcefully broke free. Han Jin stood there, her face alternating between pale and flushed, before chasing after him:

“Chen Qing, don’t be like this. Listen to me – this is just one loss. You can still make a comeback if we can get more capital!”

But where would the capital come from?

Han Jin’s mind raced frantically.

Ask Uncle Qin.

No.

If Uncle Qin knew, her family would know too.

Han Jin was quite proud. She had chosen Chen Qing herself and didn’t want her family to look down on him. If her family thought Chen Qing was incompetent, they would tell her to break up with him… That wouldn’t do.

Chen Qing’s family?

They probably couldn’t help even if they wanted to.

Han Jin was so anxious she felt feverish. If Li Yong and Xiang Li hadn’t ruined the reputation of international student gatherings, Han Jin would have considered using that avenue to make money.

Where could she get so much money?

Song Minglan?

Xia Xiaolan?

Neither of these women was easy to deal with.

Chen Qing kept walking with his head down while Han Jin persisted behind him:

“Are you, a man, more fragile than a woman? So what if we lost? Your family thinks that 10,000 dollars went to tuition, so we only really lost 7,000 dollars. It’s just 7,000 dollars – we can handle that—”

Chen Qing suddenly turned around, staring at her intently:

“You want me to forget about that 10,000 dollars?”

Han Jin immediately fell silent.

Chen Qing had wanted to trade stocks and acted on it, entering the market once he’d saved 2,000 dollars. He made some money at first and even bought gifts for Han Jin. When her boyfriend showed such capability and generosity, Han Jin naturally encouraged him. Chen Qing got overconfident, and Han Jin thought a bigger investment would mean bigger profits. Finally, Chen Qing set his sights on his family’s money.

He knew they wouldn’t give him money for “stock trading.”

Only the tuition excuse would work.

Chen Qing had told Han Jin that once they made money, he’d quickly return the 10,000 dollars. Then he’d tell his family he’d made money in America, and they would naturally forgive his lie.

Who could have imagined Chen Qing would lose everything?

Han Jin stammered: “Well, you didn’t mean to lose it. I’m just saying we should take some time—”

“It’s too late. My family knows.”

What?

Han Jin didn’t understand. “You told them?”

Chen Qing remained silent.

Han Jin suppressed her displeasure. “How could you tell them? They’ll be devastated when they hear the truth.”

Han Jin thought Chen Qing had lost his mind.

She stopped caring about him and stormed back to her dormitory.

Alone, she grew increasingly angry.

Something wasn’t right – when Chen Qing needed money, he hadn’t told the truth. Now that he’d lost it all, why tell his family?

He must be crazy.

Wait – he had avoided answering earlier, never actually explaining why he looked so disheveled…

…

In New York, Mrs. Wilson’s ball hadn’t started yet.

In China, Liu Fen had decided, after much consideration, to personally reject Liu Fang’s unreasonable demands.

She didn’t even know Liu Fang’s phone number, but she could find it out by asking around.

Liu Fen chose to call in the evening.

At that time, Liu Fang had just finished washing dishes.

Two years had passed, and Liu Fang and Liang Bing’an still hadn’t managed to get their own house, which meant the couple and their two children had to squeeze into one house with Liang’s parents.

Usually, with Liang Huan boarding at Anqing County No. 1 High School, they could barely manage living there.

But now that Liang Huan was home waiting for her college entrance exam results, the elder Liangs’ house felt cramped.

Liang Bing’an only cared about drinking and nothing else. Liu Fang worked as a store clerk at the department store and still had to cook and do housework after getting home… She used to be such a refined person. Women age quickly when they work too hard, and in these two years, Liu Fang had not only aged rapidly but her health had also deteriorated.

Just washing dishes made her back so stiff she could barely straighten up.

Liang Huan didn’t do housework. Liu Fang couldn’t bear to let her daughter’s hands become rough and wouldn’t even let her touch cold water.

Over time, Liang Huan took this for granted.

The whole family ordered Liu Fang around. The only one who would help her was Liang Yu, who was almost 14 this year.

This child was quite sensible, but Liu Fang seemed blind to it, only having eyes for her elder daughter Liang Huan.

Liang Huan’s failure to pass the college entrance exam couldn’t possibly be her fault – it must be because Anqing County No. 1 High School hadn’t taught well enough.

Yes, Anqing County No. 1 was better than Hedong County’s high school, but the school hadn’t paid enough attention to Liang Huan, which was why she couldn’t even reach the minimum score for a regular university.

Liang Huan herself wouldn’t accept her failure. When estimating her score, she’d expected over 460 points and filled her college application forms with Beijing universities. Though she didn’t dare apply to Tsinghua or Peking University, she dared to apply to places like Beijing Normal University.

The teachers at Anqing County No. 1 had urged her to be more cautious, as her mock exam scores had consistently been around 400 points.

Beijing universities were very competitive – filling out applications like this was too risky.

Liu Fang had gone with her to fill out the applications. The mother-daughter pair ignored the teachers’ advice, and Liu Fang even berated the teachers.

Though she had fallen from being a bureau chief’s wife to a common citizen and suffered from her in-laws’ temper at home, Liu Fang’s temper hadn’t changed in public. She scolded the teachers until they didn’t dare interfere… Who would dare change Liang Huan’s applications? If someone secretly changed them, Liang Huan’s mother would surely turn the school upside down.

Principal Sun wanted to throw this shrew out, but Liu Fang kept claiming that Xia Xiaolan was her niece and she was Xia Xiaolan’s aunt, which infuriated Principal Sun.

Principal Sun only tolerated it because of Xia Xiaolan.

After all, Xia Xiaolan had brought him and Anqing County No. 1 great honor. Whether it was two years or twenty years after graduation, she would always be Principal Sun’s most proud student.

“Let her fill what she wants, don’t change it. What if she performs better than usual in the actual exam?”

These things were unpredictable – being relatives, maybe she had inherited a bit of Xia Xiaolan’s academic talent. Just like Xia Ziyu, despite his poor character, he had legitimately passed the college entrance exam back then.