City A, VIP room of a certain bank.
Yu Shu looked at the numbers on the deposit slip in front of her, and her nose suddenly turned sour. Her eyes were also unbearably painful. Her whole body trembled slightly because of the emotions that were about to burst out. There was no sign of the calmness and composure when she was just talking about interest rates with the two deputy presidents.
"Can you leave me alone for a while?" The words she uttered were also trembling. Various emotions like excitement, agitation, heartache and anxiety all reached their peak and intertwined, making her tone of voice sound strange.
However, no one in the room laughed at her.
"Of course, Ms. Yu please go ahead." The two deputy presidents led everyone out of the room. Before leaving, a certain manager changed her cold tea and poured her a cup of hot tea.
Yu Shu held the teacup and took small sips. After finishing one cup, her hands finally stopped shaking. She took out her phone and sent a WeChat message to her mother.
【Mom, what are you doing?】
【Pout.jpg】
Mom: 【Image】
Mom: 【I'm watching the stand. Business is pretty good today.】
Yu Shu: 【Transfer $30,000】
Yu Shu: 【It's so cold. Don't watch the stand anymore! Go home and make a nice meal!】
Mom: 【Shocked.jpg】
Seeing the sticker, Yu Shu's tears fell instantly.
She won 320 million yuan in the lottery. After deducting taxes, she got 256 million yuan left. She donated 16 million yuan to the lottery center and had 240 million yuan left. She deposited 200 million yuan in a 2-year fixed term account and left 40 million yuan in her checking account.
Before the transfer went through successfully, she had been floating and unable to stand firmly. No matter how big the amount was, it was just a number. But now, she finally confirmed that it was her money. She had a lot of money now, enough that she would never have to worry about money again for the rest of her life, enough to give her parents a comfortable retirement, enough that she would never have to work hard jobs again...
At this moment, she finally stopped suppressing herself and burst into loud sobs.
On the other side, her mother Ye Ping did not receive the money yet and was still asking where the money came from.
Yu Shu cried until she hiccuped. With eyes blurred by tears, she typed: 【It's a bonus from my boss for doing a good job on a project】
Not telling anyone about winning the lottery was something Yu Shu had decided early on. She didn't want to test human nature, even if it was her own birth mother.
Only then did Ye Ping click to receive the money and sent several happy sticker packages in a row.
【Very good, such a good benefit, need to continue working hard】
【Keep working hard】
【Go for it.jpg】
Yu Shu: 【Go for it.jpg】
Yu Shu: 【Mom, please send a voice message】
Mom: 【Didn't you work today?】
Yu Shu: 【No, I'm off today】
Ye Ping didn't know how to type. She could only handwrite. Afraid of disturbing her work, she would only chat with text messages during work hours. After hearing her say this, long voice messages were sent over one by one.
Yu Shu listened to them very patiently one by one, listening to Ye Ping praising her for being sensible, which made her feel warm inside; listening to her mother planning how to use this money, wanting to make her sausages and cured pork, vacuum pack them after making them and send them to her. Her dad's legs had been hurting lately and ointment didn't help. She would take him to see a traditional Chinese medicine doctor in a couple of days and just use the money she gave to pay for it. This was the filial piety she should fulfill. The rest should be saved for her. Listening to her mother say she had been selling hotpot ingredients lately and business was pretty good; listening to her mother complain that she shouldn't have transferred via WeChat because withdrawing to a bank card would charge fees of several yuan...
Yu Shu: 【Next time I'll transfer to your bank card】
Yu Shu: 【It's too cold today. Go home early now】
Mom: Oh my, there's a next time! Ah, my daughter is so awesome!
Mom: The students will get off school soon. I'll go home after I sell this batch.
Yu Shu persuaded her for a long time, but Ye Ping insisted on watching the food stand to wait for the students to get off school. She stopped replying to her messages after a while. Yu Shu looked at the time, it was about time for middle school to end.
Yu Shu made plans in her heart to transfer money to her every other day, using money to corrode her great mother's iron will.
She couldn't help but open the voice messages one by one to listen again, Ye Ping's laughter and words full of laughter made her feel warm and secure inside.
Ever since her dad's car accident, she hadn't heard her mother laugh so happily.
Yu Shu's family was not well-off to begin with, but relying on her dad Yu Feng working hard in the big city to make money, their family was at least clothed and fed. In Yu Shu's senior year of high school, her dad got into a car accident. All their money was spent and they even borrowed a lot just to save his life. His left leg was left disabled since then and he needed a cane to walk.
Yu Shu was in 12th grade, her brother Yu Yang in 6th grade. The burden of life fell onto Ye Ping's shoulders all at once.
Ye Ping had always been weak and sickly, recuperating at home without a job. After her husband's accident, she used her frail shoulders to take care of the whole family. She got a small cart and set up a snack stand, earning money bit by bit. She supported Yu Shu and her brother through school.
Yu Shu's nose started to sour again, and she couldn't stop wanting to cry. She missed her mother. It had been two years since she last saw her mother. After graduating last year, she went straight to City A, thinking she could make her own way in the world and give her parents a good life. But life after graduation made her feel like every day was a year, as she was beaten down again and again - battered by society.
After Yu Shu graduated, she rented a place in City A as her foothold. Not wanting to ask her mother for money, she borrowed from online lending platforms.
Perhaps it was because the money came too easily, once her desires were unleashed, she became unstoppable.
A phone over $500, paying it off in 24 installments, just over $100 a month. Her current phone had been used for 4 years. Now that she was working, it was natural to get a better phone, so she bought one.
She didn't have work clothes, so she had to buy a few sets, spending $180, paying it off in 12 months...
She should buy a nicer handbag, had to make it presentable. This brand was on sale, original price $270, now only $90, interest-free installments in 12 months, just $50 a month...
Running out of cash, borrow another $1500, pay it off in 12 months, just over $1000 a month...
...
Yu Shu thought that since she was working now and would have income in the future, she could pay it off then. But when she found out her monthly salary was not enough to cover the payments and rent, she suddenly realized she already owed tens of thousands! When her salary was not enough to make the payments, she could only borrow more to pay off previous loans, owing more and more. A year and a half after graduating, she owed $12,000 already. Adding her college loans, she had over $20,000 in debt.
Last Chinese New Year, Yu Shu didn't have money to go home, making excuses about not being able to buy tickets to brush off her parents. She borrowed $300 from a lending platform to give to Ye Ping for new year goods.
This year, Yu Shu couldn't fall asleep every night. She knew her own mental state was not normal, but there was nothing she could do. She worked side jobs every weekend, trying to make money any way she could, but it was still not enough to fill the hole.
She was anxious and sleepless owing so much money, borrowing more to pay off previous loans and owing more and more...
She didn't need to go to the hospital to know she had severe anxiety disorder. She couldn't help wanting to jump down from tall buildings and overpasses every day, dying would make everything go away.
But thinking of her mother, she didn't dare.
Yu Shu opened the apps one by one and started making payments: student loan, principal plus interest $5,067; pay off credit card bill in full $3,568, close the account; pay off borrow account in full, principal plus interest $880, close account; JD Baitiao, pay off in full $1,239, close account; JD Jinbao, pay off $1,800 in full, close account; a certain installment platform, pay off $5,500 in full, cancel account, uninstall app...
She would stop using credit cards after paying them off too. She didn't need buy now pay later or installments anymore.
After making all the payments, Yu Shu heaved a long sigh of relief. Through her banking app, she looked at the balance of the account with 40 million yuan - $5,870,024