Chapter 4
Edward Quan ·
The message had been sent exactly one day before Xiaoyu made her demand.
Lei went pale.
“So you planned this behind my back.”
I looked at him.
“Do you think I’m a machine that only pays bills?”
At last, he raised his head, weary-eyed.
“I didn’t think it would become such a scene.”
“You didn’t fail to foresee it. You thought I would agree in the end.”
Xiaoyu caught her mother’s arm.
“Mom! Lei! Say something!”
No one spoke.
The fan made the bills rustle.
I drew back the top statement and held it beneath my palm.
“We aren’t done. If the Zhou family promised eight thousand, the Zhou family can fulfill that promise.”
No one answered.
My mother-in-law looked at Lei, then at me, and finally spoke.
“Men say comforting things to reassure their sisters. You can’t seize on one sentence and refuse to let go.”
“Then tell me whether his promise counts.”
“Of course it does,” Xiaoyu interrupted. “He agreed.”
I looked at Lei.
“Did you hear? The promise you made for me has become a contract to her.”
His lips moved. No words came.
My daughter put her voice recorder on the table.
“Dad, you said you and Mom would prepare eight thousand a month. Did Mom agree?”
He went white.
“This is an adult matter, Ningning.”
“I only want to know why other people always get to decide what happens to Mom’s money.”
He could only turn away.
I went into the study, opened my computer, and first disabled automatic transfers from our joint account.
Then I unlinked Xiaoyu’s spending card from the family payment system.
My mother-in-law rushed in.
“What are you doing? Cutting off her means of survival?”
“Stopping spending I never approved.”
“She’s your husband’s sister!”
“She’s an adult.”
Xiaoyu grabbed the calculator and flung it to the floor.
“All this talk means you don’t want to support me anymore! Why bring me here in the first place?”
“Why make me think this was my home?”
I crouched and picked up the battery.
“Because you were a minor and needed care. Now you’ve been admitted to university. It’s time to take responsibility for yourself.”
“You only resent my spending!”
“I resent your treating other people’s generosity as an unlimited fund you can draw from all your life.”
Crying, she pulled Lei’s hand.
“Will you stop caring for me, too?”
He stared at the bills on the floor for a long time.
“She’s supported you for five years, Xiaoyu.”
“You’re taking her side?”
He opened his mouth.
“I don’t know what to say.”
My mother-in-law slammed the table.
“She’s deceived both of you! She only wants to keep the Zhou family’s money for her daughter!”
“The Zhou family’s money?”
I stood.
“My salary, the tuition I paid, the bills I kept. When did that become money you could distribute for me?”
The relatives exchanged looks. No one spoke.
I gave my final decision.
“First, not one cent of that eight thousand.”
“Second, Xiaoyu may stay until the thirtieth. After that, arrange a dormitory or return to her mother’s home.”
“Third, the five-year accounts and today’s conversations are here. If anyone thinks I owe her money, we can meet in court.”
I pushed the document toward Xiaoyu.
“Sign to acknowledge it.”
She didn’t take it. She snatched it and tore it in half.
“You’ll regret this!”
Watching the pieces fall, I spoke softly.
“I regret leaving my door open for five years without ever installing a lock.”
That evening, my mother-in-law took Xiaoyu away.
Lei stood motionless at the door.
“Are you going, too?” I asked.
He lowered his head, like a man suddenly unable to find an excuse.
“I’ll try to persuade Mom.”
“Go.”
Once the door closed, my daughter helped collect the paper.
She didn’t ask whether I would divorce her father.
“On the thirtieth, I’ll help you see her out.”
The house stayed quiet for two days after Xiaoyu left.
On the third evening, my mother-in-law called.
“You drove her out. Now she’s staying in a classmate’s dormitory without even a blanket. Happy?”
“She has an acceptance letter and a dormitory application.”
“More excuses! She lived with you for five years. You paid for her food and clothes.”
“Now you stop just like that? At least return the two hundred thousand!”
I froze.
“Return it to whom?”