Chapter 2: A Call from Abroad

“Aaaaaaah!”

After leaving the hotel, Xu Shaochen felt an overwhelming mix of grievances and anger surge through him. He screamed hysterically.

“Is he crazy? What’s gotten into him?”

“Stay away from him; he might have mental issues.”

The passersby nearby were startled and quickly avoided Xu Shaochen.

“Crazy? Yeah, I’m crazy! Hahahaha! Money, money, it’s all because of money! Would I have suffered such humiliation today if I had money? Would I?!”

Xu Shaochen shouted with a heart-wrenching intensity. His laughter turned sickly, his face became twisted, and tears began to flow.

To treat his mother’s illness, he allowed others to trample over his dignity again and again, enduring endless humiliation.

He tolerated it all, but in the end, the Jiang Family didn’t give him a single cent, despite their promises. Instead, they verbally insulted him and even cursed his gravely ill mother.

If he weren’t worried about his sick mother having no one to care for her, he would have taken a gas tank and blown them all up together.

The passersby could sense that Xu Shaochen had suffered some kind of shock, so they didn’t argue with him and instead shook their heads compassionately before walking away.

After venting, Xu Shaochen’s face turned pale. He wandered aimlessly on the streets. What could he do? Life had to go on.

“Vroom… Splash—”

A car sped past him, splashing the puddle on the road, drenching Xu Shaochen. He looked utterly miserable.

“Damn it! Even you are bullying me!” Xu Shaochen wiped the water off his face and cursed at the car that had sped away.

When it rains, it pours.

“Ring ring ring…”

At that moment, his phone rang from his pocket. He pulled it out and saw it was a foreign number. He frowned before hanging up.

“Ring ring ring…”

The phone rang again. It was the same number. Annoyed, Xu Shaochen finally answered.

“Hello, am I speaking with Mr. Xu Shaochen?”

A pleasant female voice came from the phone. However, her Chinese was a bit awkward, suggesting she might be a foreigner.

“Yes, this is Xu Shaochen. What is it?” Xu Shaochen was puzzled. Why would someone from abroad be calling him?

“Hello, Mr. Xu Shaochen. I’m Jenny, a professional manager. Before passing away, Mr. Xu Qiang assigned all his assets to me for management. Under the supervision of a lawyer, according to the contractual agreement, I will transfer 30 million yuan to your account each month as your personal allowance until you graduate from university. After your graduation, you will officially inherit all of Mr. Xu Qiang’s assets. I am calling to inform you that the first payment will be made this month.”

“Heh, is this some kind of joke?” Xu Shaochen initially wanted to lash out but realized he didn’t even have the energy for that anymore.

If this was a scam, wouldn’t they be asking for a processing fee next? An international scam at that.

Xu Qiang? His grandfather’s name was indeed Xu Qiang. Wait, isn’t that the same name as the recently deceased world’s richest Chinese man?

“Alright, if you need anything, feel free to call this number. I will do my best to fulfill all reasonable requests. Have a nice day.”

The call ended abruptly, leaving Xu Shaochen in a daze. Why didn’t they ask for a processing fee?

Could this be a tactic to make him drop his guard? “Ding—”

Suddenly, his phone chimed. He opened it to see a text message: Your card ending in 9294 received 30,000,000 yuan on April 15th at 11:53 from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Balance: 30,000,200 yuan.【ICBC】

“This… could this be real?”

Staring at the string of numbers, Xu Shaochen felt dizzy.

How tall would 30 million stacked bills be? Xu Shaochen couldn’t even imagine it. If he had 30 million, would today’s humiliations have happened? Thinking back to the earlier call, maybe it wasn’t a scam? Xu Shaochen’s heart began to race uncontrollably.

If it’s real.

His mother’s illness could be treated.

All the humiliation he had suffered today could be avenged.

Xu Shaochen started breathing heavily. Without thinking twice, he hailed a taxi and headed to the nearest bank.

Whether it’s real or not, he would know once he tried to withdraw it.

Ten minutes later, he arrived at the nearest bank. He hurried out of the cab after paying.

“ATM’s broken? No wonder the counter is so crowded.”

Xu Shaochen was speechless but resigned himself to standing in line.

The wait was agonizing. His mouth was dry with anticipation. He dreaded that this huge surprise might be a lie. With this money, he could treat his mother’s illness and provide her a better life. He could finally take revenge on the Jiang Family. He wouldn’t need to grovel before anyone anymore or suffer any more humiliation.

He could also take care of the people who genuinely cared about him. Money—it’s something everyone needs in this world. Although it’s materialistic, Xu Shaochen just wanted to be a materialistic person.

That’s why he was afraid. Afraid this was just an illusion, that everything he thought he could have would vanish into thin air.

His turn finally came, as he waited nervously.

“Xu Shaochen, what are you doing here?”

Just as Xu Shaochen took out his card, he heard a somewhat surprised voice next to his ear.

Turning his head, Xu Shaochen saw a young man in a black shirt walking in with a tall woman in his arms. The one who spoke was the woman.

As soon as he saw the woman, Xu Shaochen’s expression turned cold: “What I’m doing here has nothing to do with you.”

The woman’s name was Wang Ying, his high school classmate and ex-girlfriend.

Once, he naively thought he would stay with Wang Ying forever. He treated her wholeheartedly, even working part-time as a hotel receptionist during the holidays just to buy her the latest iPhone.

But during his part-time job, he found Wang Ying checking into a room with another man. How ironic was that?

“Xiao Ying, who is this guy? You know him?” The young man in the black shirt looked at Xu Shaochen with disdain and asked Wang Ying, who was in his arms.

Wang Ying glanced at Xu Shaochen with undisguised contempt and said sarcastically, “Him? He’s my ex, just a useless bookworm. Darling, you’re not going to get jealous of a loser, are you?”

“Heh, so he’s an ex? Xiao Ying, how did you ever fall for a guy like this?” The young man in the black shirt sneered disdainfully, casting a critical eye over Xu Shaochen.

“I must have been blind.” Wang Ying casually remarked, then turned to Xu Shaochen with a frown of disgust. “Look at yourself now. You haven’t improved at all after two or three years. Breaking up with you was the smartest decision I ever made. If I had stuck with you, I’d probably be eating street food right now, like a pauper!”

The white shirt Xu Shaochen was wearing had been soaked by the water splashed earlier, making him look a bit disheveled. Wang Ying felt a surge of superiority.

Thank goodness I had the foresight to break up with this loser. Otherwise, how else could I have the chance to frequent high-end hotels and dine on Western cuisine with wine?