CH 9.1

Contrary to Shen Yan’s beliefs, Luo Shuyan didn’t go crazy at night. She slept till the sun was blazing through the windows.

Luo Tianyuan didn’t need to work on weekends. So, in the morning, he went out to buy breakfast for his daughter. Ning City had a small population and most residents of the neighborhood knew each other. They had seen him driving a car yesterday, so once he reached the ground floor of his apartment complex, Grandma Luo’s best friend, Grandma Wang, approached him to talk to him.

Grandma Wang was a chatterbox. She rushed back from her son’s place in the morning as soon as she heard that Luo Tianyuan had bought a car. She didn’t even go for her Tai chi session.

Her voice was extremely loud, a deafening voice she gained through being a teacher for decades. Thus, despite her good intentions, she seemed like she was questioning him. In addition to that, she was quite old and her hearing was nowhere as good as when she was younger…

Thus, the people in the neighborhood who were chatting with friends or doing their laundry immediately turned towards their direction when they heard Grandma Wan’s ‘roaring’ voice —

“Tianyuan, you’ve bought a car? I heard that it costs tens of thousands. Where did your money come from?!!”

The neighborhood was tight knit. One person told ten, and then ten told another hundred. By the end of the day, everyone would’ve found out that Luo Tianyuan had purchased a car.

A few residents muttered among themselves, “Did he hit a jackpot?”

Luo Tianyuan figured that he could make use of this opportunity to clear things up with the community.

He had a thermos in hand, which was for him to bring some soymilk home. He nodded and said, “Yes, I bought a car, but it’s a second-hand car.”

As soon as he said that, a few other middle-aged women came forward to ask him what was happening and to find out more.

Left with no choice, Luo Tianyuan briefly answered, “I spent 140,000 Yuan on it. I borrowed a little money, and my company was also willing to give me a travel allowance.” He paused before continuing, “I’ve also sold the apartment next door to Shen Yan’s mother.”

The women were shocked. ‘Unless you’re in a very difficult situation, you should never sell your house. And he just so happened to buy a car right after? That sounds a little suspicious.’

Instantly, the way they looked at Luo Tianyuan changed in a negative way.

Grandma Wang couldn’t believe her ears. “You sold your house to buy a car?!”

Great. Thanks to Grandma Wang’s loud voice, the entire neighborhood should now know that Luo Tianyuan had sold an apartment to buy a car.

Grandma Luo was there throughout Luo Tianyuan’s life, she’d seen him grow into the man he was today. Back then, he frequented her house for dinner, so she treated him like her own nephew. After the death of her best friend, she decided to look out for him. She’d often give a portion of good food that she’d made to Luo Tianyuan.

The moment she found out what Luo Tianyuan had done, her hands trembled and she was about to faint.

Actually, if Grandma Luo were still alive, she would’ve also been exasperated over his decision if she didn’t know the actual amount of money Luo Tianyuan had.

Luo Tianyuan was a quick-witted man and he hurriedly went to help Grandma Wang up. He repeated whatever he’d told his daughter the day before to Grandma Wang.

Right after, the way the neighbors looked at him changed again. They went from looking at him as a huge failure to a successful child from someone else’s family.

It made sense! Since he had so many ways of making money from the purchase, even though it seemed foolish in the short-run, it was a great investment in the long-run! How could little Luo be so smart?

Luo Tianyuan realized that Grandma Wang was no longer angry. He laughingly said, “Aunty, just let me know if your family needs a ride. As long as I’m free, I’ll definitely be your driver.”

“Tianyuan, what about me? What about my family?”

“Exactly, whose family doesn’t need a ride? Tianyuan, don’t forget aunty over here!”

Grandma Wang was unhappy when she heard their comments. She placed her hands on her hips and stood between Luo Tianyuan and the rest. “What do you mean? Do you think it’s free to drive a car? Tianyuan already spent 140,000 Yuan on it. Let me remind you, it is a car, not a tricycle or an oxcart. What’s more, usually, we would give someone some meat in return when borrowing that person’s tricycle.”

As soon as she mentioned money, the other women stopped nagging. However, they turned to mutter among themselves, “We’re all neighbors, how could you ask us for money? This is just a small favor.”

Luo Tianyuan smiled helplessly. A man shouldn’t be calculative about such things, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes.

Grandma Wang had a firm stance. “Sure, why don’t you lend me your TV for a few days, we are neighbors after all… I think your bicycle looks pretty nice too, let me borrow it for 2 days.”

……

Luo Tianyuan finally left the crowd and headed towards the stall across the street to pack some bao and Chinese crullers. He also bought a huge bottle of fragrant soymilk from the soymilk stand next door.

Luo Tianyuan was also friends with Grandma Wang’s son. Her son wasn’t particularly capable and after being laid off from the factory, he wasn’t able to find a job. Luo Tianyuan knew that he was an honest and simple-minded guy, so he referred him to his company’s logistics department.

His wages were decent and Luo Tianyuan was currently getting him to learn about the finance department and the back-end workings of the company. This would allow him to transfer internally to the finance department.