Lu Yi switched on his computer and began to work. For a long time, he sat still without doing anything. He then took out his bank card and spun it around his fingers. He shut his eyes, as though in thought.
He tapped his finger on the table gently. His expression softened, but the hint of loneliness lingered.
That was until his phone rung. He answered the call. Unexpectedly, it was Lei Qingyi, who went on complaining for a few hours.
“Listen to this, Lu Yi, that heartless lass of mine has left.”
“Left without so much as a word. I was going to take her out to eat good food! All her favorite dishes! It took me so much effort to book a table there. Little heartless lass! Not a single word in advance! My heart is in pieces.”
Lu Yi tossed his phone aside, but Leng Qingyi’s old-maid laments still bled from it. Lu Yi continued to stare at the screen, which lit his face and wistful eyes in blue light.
When he went back at night, he passed the card to Ye Shuyun.
“What’s this? Are you giving Mom some allowance? You are such a darling,” said Ye Shuyun happily with the card in her hand.
Even if it only had one cent on it, the gesture would make her gloat for days.
“Yes. It’s for you, Mom,” said Lu Yi. He was a filial son. He sat down to watch Divorced, a movie Yan Huan had starred in the year before. Recently, his mother had an urge to rewatch the movie. It was her second time watching it, but that didn’t stop her from weeping the whole time. His mother was rarely humored. A joke that would amuse others to no ends would only provoke a chuckle from her. On the other hand, she cried at the slightest of things, and almost any sad movies could make her cru enough to fill a jar.
“How much is in there?” Ye Shuyun hadn’t actually thought about it. It was probably just ten or twenty thousand. She wasn’t in need of money anyway. It could even be his salary card, but she didn’t really care much about that. If it was, she’ll pass it to her future daughter-in-law.
In the Lu Family, daughters-in-law are to be pampered, not bullied.
A pretty wife who isn’t afraid to spend money is a testimony to a man’s capabilities.
“A billion,” said Lu Yi flatly.
Oh, Ye Shuyun tossed the card onto the table, as though it was a thousand or a hundred in question. No biggie.
Thud! The remote fell from her hands to the ground. She grabbed the card from the table again.
“What did you just say, Lu Yi? There’s a thousand in here, right?”
“Around a billion,” repeated Lu Yi. A billion, yes, a billion. Actually, that was a lie. There were eight billion in the card, but he didn’t want to give Ye Shuyun too bad of a shock. He felt that it’s better to say it in the future.
“That much?” Ye Shuyun was a little surprised. It was not a small sum, but nothing huge to the Lu Family either.
“How did you get it?”
“An investment,” said Lu Yi, picking up a cup from the table. The pellucid water moistened his throat and added a little warmth to his lips.
Ye Shuyun remembered now. Indeed, Lu Yi had taken out a few million previously in the name of investment. It was his own money, he had the right to spend it. If he lost it all, then he better earn it all back. She wouldn’t have him badgering her for money even if he was starving.
Still, she never expected her son to profit instead of losing his money.
But how? A heist?
Even if it was a heist, he couldn’t just rob a billion from a bank.
“How did you earn this much, Lu Yi?” she asked, her lips twitching. Her son who never had a knack for business had profited madly from an investment.
“I invested in a movie, and the movie ended up making a bit of money. This is my cut,” Lu Yi turned around and gave his mother an earnest look. “Anything else you are unsure about, Mom?”
“Yes,” Ye Shuyun nodded stiffly. “Is the film The Uncle And The Flower?”
“Yes,” Lu Yi nodded. A movie investment made half a year ago that made him so much money; it could only have been The Uncle And The Flower.
“In that case…” Ye Shuyun moistened her lips with her tongue. “Have you taken any pictures with Yan Huan?”
She didn’t care as much about his son’s profits as she cared about her “daughter”.
“I have,” said Lu Yi, taking out his phone. On his screen were a picture of him and Yan Huan standing together, both reserved and formal.
They looked very much like normal friends, or even strangers.
Lu Yi never took any pictures with Yan Huan apart from this one. Electronic products are convenient, but they can be equally unreliable and dangerous. Therefore, he didn’t want anything that could potentially jeopardize Yan Huan, even if he carried his phone around all day.
Ye Shuyun snatched the phone off his hand.
“Is Yan Huan pretty? Do her looks differ from when she’s on the screen?” she asked eagerly with a tinge of excitement.
“Yes, she’s pretty,” replied Lu Yi, raising his cup to his lips for another sip. His lips curved upwards slightly, but the cup hid it from view.
“How’s her personality? Is she a good girl?”
“She’s excellent.”
“Does she look the same without makeup on?”
“Better without makeup.”
Yes, that was Lu Yi’s true thoughts. Yan Huan was born with fair skin and a face with close to none imperfections. Without makeup on, she was a pretty girl-next-door. With makeup on, she could perfect the character she had to play. She put makeup on not to pretty herself, but to become somebody else.
What a pretty child, thought Auntie Ye as she admired the photo. She couldn’t explain her affection towards Yan Huan. Even Mama Lei adored her. They always addressed her as their “daughter”, perhaps to make up for the fact that they were both daughterless. A daughter would have been so much more thoughtful and caring. Unfortunately, they didn’t give birth to one.
Lu Yi reclaimed his phone and returned to his room to rest, but not before sending the photo over to Ye Shuyun. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to get his phone back.
He returned to his room, showered, and changed into a new set of clothes. The phone lying aside never rung. He knew that Yan Huan was too busy to call. He wondered if she would lose weight again by the time she comes back.
