“Why do you suddenly want to sell the house? What happened?”
Zhou Lihua sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. His brows were tightly furrowed. Apart from his initial shock, his tone was fairly calm.
Wang Yumei did not know how to begin, but she had to discuss the matter of selling the house with Old Zhou. After hesitating for a long time, she finally confessed, “Jiayue took out a high interest loan and owes more than two million yuan…”
“A high interest loan?” Zhou Lihua froze. “How could Jiayue have taken out a high interest loan?”
Wang Yumei shook her head. She had spent the entire day thinking about how to repay the money and had actually forgotten to ask her daughter why she had borrowed such a large sum in the first place.
“Did Jiayue personally tell you that she took out a high interest loan?”
“No… I figured it out myself. At noon today, Jiayue suddenly asked how much money we had at home and whether she could take it out to use. I asked her if she had taken out a high interest loan. At first, she admitted it and said she owed more than two million yuan, but later she denied it…”
“Old Zhou, I am afraid our child might do something foolish…”
Seeing that Wang Yumei herself was still unclear about what had actually happened, Zhou Lihua frowned and comforted her. “Do not worry yourself over it yet. Tomorrow morning, I will take a day off and have a proper talk with Jiayue.
If she really did take out a high interest loan and owes more than two million yuan, then we will sell the house. Even if I have to put aside my pride and borrow money from everyone I know, we cannot let Jiayue go down the wrong path.
If she did not, then we will find out properly why she suddenly needs so much money.”
“Alright, but when you talk to Jiayue, please do not get anxious. Do not put any more psychological pressure on her.”
“Hmm, I know. Keep this to yourself for now and do not tell anyone else. Leave it to me.
Jiayue told you about this at noon, so you have been carrying all of this alone for half the day. You must be exhausted. Get some rest first. We can talk about everything else tomorrow.”
After telling him everything, Wang Yumei felt much less burdened.
Although her mood was still heavy, at least she now had someone to share the burden with, which made everything feel much less unbearable.
After coaxing Wang Yumei to sleep, Zhou Lihua himself stood on the balcony of the living room and smoked for the entire night.
Zhou Lihua was not addicted to cigarettes. The cigarettes he usually carried in his pocket were mostly for entertaining leaders or business clients. Yet by the time the sky began to brighten, the cigarette butts at his feet had piled up into a small mound.
Around four or five in the morning, Zhou Lihua sighed, cleaned up the cigarette butts and ash on the balcony, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and then slipped back into the bedroom, pretending to sleep.
How could he possibly fall asleep with something this serious weighing on his mind?
But he was the pillar of the family. He could not afford to show too much weakness. Otherwise, what would happen to his wife and children?
The room was dim and dark, and Zhou Lihua did not notice that Wang Yumei had opened her eyes when he returned.
Just like Zhou Lihua, Wang Yumei had also been unable to put her worries aside.
She could smell the lingering scent of smoke on Zhou Lihua’s clothes, but the two of them tacitly chose not to expose each other. Instead, she pretended to be asleep, moved closer, and hugged him, offering him comfort and encouragement.
The two of them had supported each other through more than twenty years of ups and downs. They had long since understood each other’s hearts without needing words.
Therefore, when Wang Yumei moved closer, Zhou Lihua immediately understood what she meant. He smiled and hugged her tightly in return.
“Do not worry. Everything will be fine.”
After breakfast, Zhou Jiajun went to class, while Zhou Lihua called out to Zhou Jiayue, who was also preparing to leave.
“Jiayue, Dad wants to talk to you.”
Zhou Jiayue glanced back at the expressions on her parents’ faces and immediately understood what Old Zhou wanted to discuss with her.
She put down her shoulder bag and nodded.
“Okay.”
The father and daughter spoke privately in Zhou Lihua and Wang Yumei’s bedroom.
“Dad, I know what you want to ask.” Zhou Jiayue was the first to begin.
She looked at Zhou Lihua with a serious expression. “Dad, I did not take out a high interest loan. I lied to Mom earlier because I really did need money, but later I did not want to make her worry, so I changed my story.”
Zhou Lihua instinctively took out a cigarette. He glanced at Zhou Jiayue before putting it back into his pocket.
His tone remained gentle. “Jiayue, are you planning to do something? Why do you suddenly need so much money?”
The entire family would have to move away in a month, and Zhou Jiayue needed their cooperation. After thinking for a few seconds, she decided to reveal part of the truth to her father.
“Dad, I need money to buy supplies.”
Zhou Lihua had not expected that answer. After staring at her in surprise for quite some time, he finally asked, “What kind of supplies would cost more than two million yuan?”
Zhou Jiayue took a sip of water and slowly guided him toward the answer.
“Dad, do you not think the weather has been strange lately? It is already October, yet we are still getting red high temperature warnings every day.
The weather is far too abnormal.”
“That is true, but temperatures have been getting higher every year…”
“Dad.” Zhou Jiayue took a deep breath and interrupted him. Her gaze became deep and solemn as she spoke with a hint of pain in her voice. “I have been having a dream these past few days…”
“A dream… about the apocalypse!”
Zhou Lihua froze.
It took him a long time to react. He almost wanted to laugh, but when he saw the seriousness on his daughter’s face and the faint pain she was suppressing, he suddenly felt as though she had truly experienced the apocalypse she was talking about.
Zhou Lihua shook his head. He felt that he was overthinking things.
His child had merely had a dream. Why was he taking it seriously too?
“Jiayue, it was only a dream.”
“No, Dad. I did not take it seriously at first either, but the things that have happened over the past few days correspond exactly with the scenes in my dream. Dad, perhaps it was a warning!”
Zhou Jiayue’s gaze seemed almost penetrating.
“Dad, the current high temperatures will continue until early November. After that, the temperature will drop rapidly, followed by an entire month of torrential rain. Under the impact of those torrential rains, sixty percent of the cities across the country will be submerged.
Xing County is situated on low lying ground. When that happens, the entire county could be flooded!”
Zhou Lihua was shaken by the seriousness in Zhou Jiayue’s eyes and the danger conveyed by her words. But after recovering from the shock, he was still unwilling to believe her. It sounded far too alarming.
Zhou Jiayue naturally knew that her father’s doubts could not be overcome by her words alone, so she raised the stakes.
“Dad, next week, the provincial leader who was originally supposed to come to Xing County for an inspection will not be able to come.”
“What did you say?!”
Zhou Lihua stared at his daughter in astonishment.
He basically never discussed workplace matters at home. The notice about the provincial leader coming to the county for an inspection had only arrived recently.
The workplace had required everyone to keep the matter confidential. Since Wang Yumei’s workplace was not included in the inspection, she did not know that the provincial leader was coming to inspect the county.
He swore that he had never mentioned this matter at home. How could his daughter possibly know about it?
And she had even predicted that the provincial leader would not come for the inspection!
Zhou Jiayue naturally knew that the provincial leader who was supposed to visit Xing County would be arrested for corruption the day after tomorrow, making it impossible for him to come to Xing County.
In her previous life, this had been major news throughout the province at the time. She had seen the reports and remembered the incident quite clearly.
“Dad, if this proves that what I said is true, can you believe me just this once?”
Zhou Lihua frowned and remained silent for a long time.
He really did not want to believe her, but Zhou Jiayue’s expression was far too serious, especially after she had made such a specific prediction.
After a long while, Zhou Lihua finally sighed.
“Jiayue, it is not that Dad does not believe you. After next week has passed, if your prediction comes true, Dad will talk to you again.”
“Okay!”