Chapter 43: 043: Grandma Hialun's 83rd Birthday (9)
The Yue family's elevated position was apparent even before Yue Xuexia arrived on the scene. They were wealthy once again. No, it is not really that simple. They had become the Xia Clan's wealthiest family. A tremendous amount wealthier than the Qu family, who stood out among the others before. The Qu family was not supported by any other members of the Xia family. They loathe Qu Susu's previous statements, and they also fear being associated with them because of Yue Xuexia's current wrath.
Yue Xuexia says, "Debts are meant to be paid, right? I will have someone look into your past spending and every penny you borrowed from my Yue family at that time. The interest would amount to something similar to the original interest rate of a bank. I will send my lawyer to visit your cherished mansion."
Mr. Qu decides not to support his wife in her current situation because he is currently too disappointed in her. The Qu Family as a whole grimaced and darkened their faces at Yue Xuexia's statements, but no one dared to refute her claims for fear that if she became furious, she would completely destroy the Qu Family.
Qu Yuru carefully asked, "Xuexia, I..."
"As for the issue with Cousin Yuru's job, well, let me think about it. At best I will take back the orders of your dismissal, but... Be prepared to be demoted and a certain term of suspension. I'm still irritated after all," Yue Xuexia said as she bent her head to continue looking at her phone.
"T-Thank you. Thank you, Xuexia!" said Qu Yuru.
She was happy that her cousin did not kick her and her husband out of the tower altogether and that she still had a chance to make things right. She did not care if she was suspended or demoted as long as she did not lose her job. Her position at the Lotte World Tower offers a competitive salary, even for a regular employee.
Yue Xuexia remarked, "Yangyang, you handle the rest. Eat anything you want. I'm going to go look for my family and grandma." But before entering the home to find the birthday celebration, she made sure to formally welcome her other aunts and uncles.
The Qu Family itself stayed in one section of the space because they were too ashamed to interact with the other family members, despite no one trying to purposefully segregate them. After Little Taiyang handled the rest and Yue Xuexia left, everyone felt awkward at first. After clearing up the mess and restarting the celebration, everyone felt better. After some time had passed, Papa Yue emerged and started another round of drinking sessions with the other gentlemen there. Su Surui and Mama Yue also appear to keep the festivities under control.
She had been in a stupor ever since Yue Xuexia had publicly confronted Qu Susu. She thought back to the days when her family was still having financial difficulties and her siblings, especially her youngest sister, would lend her money without expecting anything in return. Xing Suya was still alive at that time, and because of their similar ages, she, Qu Susu, and Yue Suli used to be the siblings with the closest relationships.
Because of Xing Suya, she and Yue Suli have always been connected. Whenever Xing Suya felt that she was going too far, she would stop her, keeping the two from fighting like kids. After Xing Suya died of cancer, everything changed. The Yue Family fell apart without warning, the epidemic broke out, and other things happened. She felt lucky and became arrogant because only her Qu Family survived that period. She never would have imagined that money could change her so profoundly. Yue Xuexia finally made her realize how ugly her heart was.
She covered her eyes with her hands and wept silently mumbling, "What have I done?"
Her husband's heart is softened by seeing her remorse in this way. After all, they had been wed for a very long time. Between couples, there would always be love and respect.
Mr. Qu said to his wife, "Su'er... Don't worry. At the very least I will accompany you to apologize if that's what you wanted to do."
"Um. I will apologize," whimpered Qu Susu.
"Okay. Stop crying now. Have you forgotten your age, old lady?" said Mr. Qu joking with his wife.
Qu Susu retorts, "Who is an old lady? You are an old lady. Your whole family is an old lady!"
"Excuse me. Have you forgotten you are my family, old lady?" rebuked Mr. Qu.
---
Meanwhile inside Grandma Hialun's room...
Yue Xuexia had been telling stories to her grandmother together with her sisters and her little niece, Su Rukia. They stayed trapped in the room till Yue Xuexia finally dozed off on her grandmother's bed.
Grandma Hialun said, "Aigo~ my darling has fallen asleep. I heard she was late because she had work today. She should have gone home and rested instead. Sigh~"
"That's impossible, grandma. Dajie had been excited about your birthday since last night. If not for the other party of her business meeting partner coming from another country, Dajie would have postponed her work," explained Yue Ruxia.
Yue Jixia said, "I heard from Ma that Jie woke up early today. She had always been a late sleeper. No wonder she fell asleep right away."
"Great Grandma, I will arrange your gifts for you. There are too many paper bags and gift wrappers scattered around the room," said Su Rukia.
Yue Ruxia said, "I will help too."
"Do it quietly. Don't wake up, Jie. If she wakes up we'll get hit," said Yue Jixia while mentioning their sister's bad waking habits.
The elderly woman grinned at the peaceful scene, happy to see her children getting along so well, but still worried about what happened between her granddaughter Yue Xuexia and the Qu family.
As if reading her grandmother's worries, Yue Jixia spoke, "Don't worry too much, Grandma. Jie is only scaring Aunt Qu about the debts. Sister Yuru can resume her job after a few months of rest. Jie wouldn't ruin the Qu family in the face of Grandma and Mama."
"Sigh~ I know. Your elder sister has always been soft towards this old lady and your mother," said Grandma Hialun while looking at the sleeping Yue Xuexia with a doting smile.
Yue Ruxia said, "That's right! Dajie loves us the most! PHffhm!"
A pillow flew in the direction of Yue Xuexia and struck Yue Ruxia in the face. They turned to see her groaning and frowning as she held the pillow to her face.
"Noisy. Sleepy. ZZZzzz~" Then she once again fell asleep.
Yue Jixia sighed and whispered, "I warned you to be quiet."
Yue Ruxia: (QAQ)
---
At the banquet area of the party, little Taiyang was gorging himself like a locust at a rice field, clutching a plate of an almost infinite mountain of food; and the people watching found it comical that he was eating like he was in some kind of gourmet competition, especially since they knew that he was a wealthy foodie who enjoyed eating and was also Yue Xuexia's secretary and assistant.
The system complained in his head, [Stop eating like that. Are you a pig?!]
'Calling me a pig means calling yourself one.'
[Snort* I don't eat this much!]
'As if! I'm your fragment. My personality is a part of you as well!'
[Shut up! No one would treat you mute, even if you don't speak!]
'Don't bother me! I'm eating!'
Thank goodness Su Surui hired three chefs for the occasion today, because Little Taiyang was thinking a lot about food today. He had his first taste of a rural meal, and while he was initially confused by it, he quickly became a voracious eater who devoured everything. When Papa Yue invited Little Taiyang to join them in drinking, he stopped eating.
Even Mr. Qu, who joined the drinking party late, was drunk by the time night fell; only Little Taiyang was awake because alcohol had no effect on him because he was not a human, so only he was still taking a sip of red wine among the corpses of drunk men. The men seated around this table were obviously drunk and intended to keep drinking; at last, they even brought Taiyang along for a drink.
Before the Qu family left the party, Qu Susu apologized to Yue Suli in front of her other siblings, and bowed her head politely, and Mama Yue reluctantly agreed to accept her apology. Only a few juniors were available to help the wives of the men get their intoxicated husbands home. Those who had sons were carried away, while the rest were dragged over to their cars with Little Taiyang's help.
Because she knew Yue Suli would not accept her apology, Qu Susu said nothing more and made her way back to the car with her kids. The Yue Family decided to spend some more time in Su Surui's home because of Papa Yue's inebriation from alcohol and Yue Xuexia's extended sleep.
On the other side, Little Taiyang bid them farewell. Actually, he just kept the sports car hidden from his host's inventory while he changed back to his avatar form and returned to his host's side.
The guys in the Su family were especially jealous and stared dreamily at the car. It was the kind of car that only politicians had at home. The whole Su family sent the Yue family to the gates of their residence, and they were all shocked to see an armored Cullinan emerge before their very eyes.
"God! An Armored Cullinan! It looked modified as well!"
The tipsy Papa Yue proudly said, "Hehe~ look at this old man's car. My daughter bought it for this old man. I choose it myself. Hehehe~"
"Pa, don't laugh too much. You'll puke again!" warned Yue Ruxia.
Burp!
Papa Yue remarked, "Don't worry, Papa's stomach isn't that weak," as he attempted to unlock his car door but realized he hadn't yet pressed the car key remote and hit his face on the tightly locked door.
BANG! Owww!!!
Mama Yue scolded her husband, "Be careful. You haven't even brought out your car key yet!"
"I forgot," said Papa Yue while rubbing his smashed nose in embarrassment.
After Papa Yue entered the car, Mama Yue didn't dare let him drive. It was Yue Xuexia who took the car key from her dad and said,
"I've slept enough. Let me drive home, Ma."
"Sure, honey. Wait, let me say goodbye to your aunt and grandma first," said Mama Yue.
Yue Jixia informed her mother, "Ma, Granny is already asleep. Don't wake her up and let her rest more."
"You're right. Where's your younger sister?" asked Mama Yue.
Yue Jixia answered, "Ruru? She is saying goodbye to Rukia. She wanted to drag her home but Rukia still has work so I don't know what those two planned to do. Yawns~"
Su Surui brought over a cup of iced coffee from the refrigerator. Yue Xuexia had fallen asleep as soon as she walked into her grandmother's room, and Su Surui had remembered that she hadn't drunk it yet.
"Jixia, please give this to Xuexia. She forgot to drink it just now. Tell her to be careful when driving," said Su Surui.
Yue Jixia said, "I will, Eldest Aunt."
Mama Yue talked for a while with her older sister, and then Yue Ruxia came back, grinning widely, so apparently her plans with Xia Rukia worked. Eventually, just Su Surui and Su Rukia were left at the gates after the Yue family had left.
Su Surui asked, "What did your little aunt say?"
"She said that I must ask for a long vacation in December. They plan to go visit Korea and Japan during the winter break. They want me to come too. Also, if I want to change jobs, Ruru told me Sister Xue will get a position in one of her companies if I want to change jobs," said Su Rukia.
Su Surui was overjoyed to see how closely her granddaughter is tied to the Yue family. Even though the Xia Family was related to the Yue Clan, they were reluctant to ask Yue Xuexia for help when they were looking for a job. When the Yue Clan was going through hard times, they did not really help much, and they stayed out of the way. Only Su Rukia treated the Yue Family equally, no matter what, so now that Yue Xuexia has made the Yue Family wealthy, Su Rukia has been blessed because of her closeness to those Yue sisters.
Su Surui spoke, "That's good. You better complete your resignation early. Your aunt Xue will give you a better job. Most of her companies, according to your Grandma Yue, were all top companies in each industry. It's a high-paying job and would be a great place for your career."
"I understand, Grandma," said Su Rukia.