Lu Jiaguang felt his chest tighten with resentment. When their third aunt had been alive, Lu Hongjun wouldn’t have blinked at spending hundreds of yuan on Jiaxin, yet now, when it came to settling-in money, he was haggling.
Lu Jiaxin had no intention of getting into a drawn-out back-and-forth with Lu Hongjun. She said loudly, “What can two thousand yuan even do? Settling-in money should be at least ten thousand.”
The figure not only shattered Lu Hongjun’s composure, it stunned even Lu Jiaguang and Liao Xiangmei. Ten thousand, this girl really had the nerve to ask for it.
Ding Jing nearly shrieked, but managed, just barely, to hold herself back at the last second. “Jiaxin, this household only has two thousand yuan in savings total.”
Lu Jiaxin sneered and said to Lu Hongjun, “The bed, wardrobe, sofa, color TV, refrigerator, washing machine, all of that was bought by my mother while she was alive. If you won’t give me the money, I’ll take all of it with me, and then I’ll write down everything about Zhao Siyi seducing Fan Yinuo and Ding Jing drugging my food to make me fail the exam, and send it to the newspapers and magazines. If things move quickly, you might see your own name in print within half a month.”
Lu Hongjun’s face turned green. “Lu Jiaxin, have you lost your mind?”
If she really did that, not only would he lose face completely, his work unit might well push him into retirement early.
Lu Jiaxin pointed at Ding Jing. “That’s right, I’ve lost my mind, driven mad by all of you. I used to be foolish, only knowing how to hide under my blanket and cry when I was wronged. From now on, whoever makes life hard for me won’t have an easy life either, if it comes to it, we’ll go down together.”
Lu Jiaguang had originally thought ten thousand yuan in settling-in money was excessive, but after hearing Lu Jiaxin’s words, he felt asking for more was actually the wiser move, better than letting that woman Ding benefit from it. “Third Uncle, Jiaxin is your only child, everything you own will be hers eventually anyway. Ten thousand yuan is a lot, but it’s not like you can’t afford it. Just agree to it.”
If she hadn’t still had some restraint left, Ding Jing would have lunged at Lu Jiaguang and clawed his face.
Lu Jiajie chimed in as well. “That’s right, Third Uncle, your fortune will go to Jiaxin eventually no matter what, giving it now or later makes no difference.”
At this Ding Jing could no longer hold back and said loudly, “It’s easy for you all to say. Ten thousand yuan, where would our family even get that much money?”
The Lu brothers ignored her completely, looking only at Lu Hongjun.
Lu Hongjun sighed. “I’ll give you five thousand now, and the rest next year.”
There was no way Lu Jiaxin would let him drag this out that long. “I may not manage the household finances, but I still have a rough idea of what savings we have. Give me six thousand now, another two thousand before the New Year, and the rest before next year’s Dragon Boat Festival.”
In fact, she held plenty of leverage over Ding Jing, but right now she didn’t yet have the means to fully act on it. Lu Hongjun had spent decades building his network in the capital, and she might need those connections someday, better not to burn the bridge completely unless necessary. Of course, if he refused to give even a cent, she wouldn’t hesitate to break things off entirely either. She had none of the original owner’s feelings for Lu Hongjun, so if things blew up, she could even win some sympathy from it, while Lu Hongjun and Ding Jing would come out of it utterly disgraced, Zhao Siyi might not even be able to keep her head up at school anymore.
Lu Hongjun fell silent for a moment before finally agreeing. “Xiaojing, go get two thousand. Jiaxin, this two thousand is for you to furnish your place, the rest, eight thousand, will be kept as your dowry savings.”
He did this to prevent Lu Jiaxin from spending the money recklessly, or having someone swindle it out of her.
Lu Jiaxin agreed.
Seeing Ding Jing not move, Lu Hongjun said, “Xiaojing, go get the money.”
Ding Jing said through tears, “Hongjun, I scrimped and saved for four years just to put aside these two thousand-odd yuan. Now you’re handing out ten thousand without a second thought, how are we supposed to live from here on?”
Lu Hongjun pulled her into the room, and after a while came back out, handing a stack of large bills to Lu Jiaxin. “Spend it carefully, you can’t keep throwing money around like water like you used to.”
If they had two thousand yuan in cash just sitting at home, there was no way the total savings were only five thousand. Lu Jiaxin felt she’d actually undersold herself asking for only ten thousand, it seemed she’d need to find more ways to squeeze money out of Lu Hongjun in the future.
Taking the money, Lu Jiaxin looked at Ding Jing and said, “A closet full of clothes, over twenty pairs of shoes, and two sets of skincare products, I won’t ask for the items back, just count it as three thousand yuan. Give it to me within three days, or I’ll go report Ding Wen to the police for theft.”
Ding Jing’s composure cracked, and she snapped, “Lu Jiaxin, have you gone completely mad over money?”
Lu Jiaxin scoffed. “The moment I left the capital, you couldn’t wait to take my bankbook and everything valuable from my room, and you even gave my clothes and shoes to Ding Wen to erase every trace of me. On top of that, you had your lackeys spreading rumors around the housing complex that I’d been sold off by traffickers to some filthy place. Ding Jing, I’m only asking for compensation, you were trying to put me in my grave so Zhao Siyi could inherit my father’s estate and connections.”
Ding Jing realized that Lu Jiaxin’s tongue had become sharper than a blade.
A dark glint flashed in Lu Jiaguang’s eyes as he said coldly, “Don’t worry, Jiaxin. If the Ding family won’t pay up, I’ll go to the water bureau and get it for you.”
The deputy head of the water bureau was his old comrade’s brother-in-law. With that connection in play, the Ding family wouldn’t dare refuse payment.
Ding Jing knew about this connection, and suppressing her anger, said, “Three thousand is too much, those clothes and shoes aren’t worth that much, a thousand at most.”
Lu Jiaxin said impatiently, “Enough talk. Three thousand, not a cent less.”
Lu Jiajie’s eyes lit up with an idea. “The Ding family doesn’t even need to pay in cash, they could just buy Jiaxin brand new clothes and shoes to replace what she lost, identical to the originals.”
Ding Jing fell silent at that. Lu Jiaxin’s clothes and shoes had all been brand-name goods, with several winter coats and pairs of shoes brought back from Hong Kong, just those few items alone would cost well over a thousand. Replacing everything exactly would cost far more than three thousand.
Seeing her back down, Lu Jiaguang said to Lu Jiaxin, “Just take the valuable items with you for now. I’ll have Jiajie deliver the rest to you later.”
He’d arrange for a small truck to come by tomorrow, there was no way everything would fit today.
“All right.”
With the settling-in money and compensation settled, Lu Jiaxin had one more matter to resolve. She looked at Liao Xiangmei, who had been treating herself as invisible this whole time, and said, “Auntie Liao, since Yinuo and Zhao Siyi have already been together for over half a year, I don’t want to be the villain here. With my father, Big Brother, and Fifth Brother all present, let’s just call off the engagement now.”
She’d invited Liao Xiangmei over for two reasons: to serve as a witness, and to seize the chance to break off the engagement.
The moment Liao Xiangmei had gotten Lu Jiaxin’s call, she’d known this couldn’t be hidden any longer, and the engagement couldn’t continue. She said sorrowfully, “Xinxin, it’s my fault for not raising Yinuo properly, I’ve wronged you.”
Lu Jiaxin took a silver lock pendant out of her pocket and handed it to Liao Xiangmei. “This is the token you gave when our two families arranged the engagement, I’m returning it now.”
Liao Xiangmei pressed Lu Jiaxin’s hand back. “Xinxin, tomorrow I’ll go to your mother’s grave to apologize to her. Keep the silver lock, think of it as a gift from your auntie. The jade pendant your mother gave me, I didn’t bring it with me today, I’ll bring it to you tomorrow.”
Lu Jiaxin pressed the silver lock into Liao Xiangmei’s hand. “Auntie Liao, this is the peace lock Fan Yinuo wore as a child, there’s no way I can keep it. If you won’t take it back, I’ll just throw it away.”
Liao Xiangmei sighed, took the silver lock, and held onto Lu Jiaxin’s hand. “Xinxin, it’s Yinuo’s fault for not knowing how to cherish what he had. Don’t let this affect the bond between the two of us.”
Lu Jiaxin refused outright. “Auntie Liao, Brother Yinuo and I were engaged. If we keep in frequent contact, he and Zhao Siyi will think I still haven’t let go.”