IETSTSMLARA | The Top Student is Flawless | 120
Lin Su opened the door and looked at the glamorous woman in front of him, smiling as he said, "Hello, Auntie. Is there something you need?"
Ye Huaitang's mother had never seen Lin Su before. She had initially assumed that the boy, described in the reports as someone with no interest in studies, would look disheveled and unkempt.
However, to her surprise, the young man before her appeared quite handsome and composed. At first glance, he even resembled a child raised by a prestigious family.
Ye Huaitang's mother smiled, "Hello, I'm Ye Huaitang's mother. Is he home?"
Just as Lin Su had said earlier, people with strong controlling tendencies do not easily lower their heads. Ye Huaitang's mother must have thoroughly investigated Ye Huaitang's schedule before coming, deliberately choosing a time when he would be out attending classes.
"He's out for class. Auntie, is there something you need?" Lin Su stood at the door, showing no intention of letting her inside. "If there's nothing else, I have something to do."
Ye Huaitang's mother's expression darkened slightly, but she smiled and said, "You're quite an impatient child. I have something to discuss with you. May we go inside to talk?"
Only then did Lin Su raise an eyebrow and step aside to let her in.
Ye Huaitang's mother sat down on the sofa. Lin Su poured her a glass of water and placed it in front of her before sitting down across from her. "Please tell me what you need," he said.
"You're a straightforward child, so I won't beat around the bush either," Ye Huaitang's mother replied, sitting with her legs crossed in a very proper manner, which made the two computers placed in the living room look somewhat out of place. "I hope you can persuade Huaitang to return home."
Lin Su clasped his hands together and looked at her. Even when facing this strong-willed businesswoman, he showed no sign of backing down in his demeanor or gaze. "What do you want me to do?"
"Don't let him live in your house." Ye Huaitang's mother opened her handbag, took out a check, and pushed it across the table towards Lin Su. "This is five hundred thousand yuan. I know you're the eldest son of the Lin family, but from what I've investigated, you're not on good terms with your father and sometimes your allowance is withheld. Five hundred thousand might be a small amount, but it should be enough to persuade you to ask a classmate to move out of your house, right?"
Lin Su leaned forward, picked up the check, glanced at the number, smiled, and then placed it back on the table, pushing it towards Ye Huaitang's mother. "Thank you for your generosity, Auntie, but you're underestimating the value of our friendship. If fifty thousand yuan were enough to make me give up on this friend, then I truly wouldn't be worthy of being his friend."
"So, the amount is too low." Ye Huaitang's mother couldn't believe there was anyone who wouldn't be swayed by money, especially a student who hadn't yet stepped into society. "Name your price, then."
"One hundred million, Auntie. If you give me one hundred million yuan, I'll throw Ye Huaitang out along with all his belongings, and I'll never have anything to do with him again," Lin Su said with a smile. "One hundred million to sever a friendship—that's the price it deserves."
"Are you out of your mind?" Ye Huaitang's mother sneered. "I'm not here to beg you. In fact, there are many ways to get Huaitang to come home, but this is just the most appropriate method."
"By using Illegal detention?" Lin Su replied with a smile. "Even though you're his mother, after the age of sixteen, as long as he earns his own living, he has full civil capacity and no longer needs a guardian's interference. Any attempt to restrict his personal freedom by force would constitute a crime."
Ye Huaitang's mother looked at Lin Su with increasing hostility. "Child, you can say whatever you want, but there's a limit. You shouldn't meddle in how we handle our own child. Since we can't reach an agreement, it's best we part ways."
She stood up and headed towards the door. Lin Su remained seated on the sofa and said, "If you're unwilling to spend a hundred million to bring your son home, how about this—I offer one hundred million, and you never come to bother him again. How does that sound?"
Ye Huaitang's mother stopped and turned around, her face showing a mocking expression. "You? How old are you, little boy? Watching too many TV dramas, I suppose. Alright then, if you can really come up with one hundred million, I promise I'll never interfere in my son's affairs again."
The Ye family's assets were worth billions, so one hundred million might not feel like much, but it was still a fortune beyond most people's wildest dreams.
"You said it," Lin Su replied, standing up and walking into his bedroom. He returned with a property deed and handed it to Ye Huaitang's mother. "Mobilizing one hundred million in cash is complicated. This is the deed to a villa in Jiangjing Bieyuan. Selling it would easily bring in more than one hundred million. Take this, and Huaitang stays with me. You won't be losing out."
This kind of thing can't be easily faked. In fact, Ye Huaitang's mother was initially interested, but after understanding the housing prices in that area, she hesitated. Frowning, she took the deed, her expression turning complex when she saw the name on it. "How do you have something like this?"
"You don't need to worry about how I got it. Just take what you want and leave," Lin Su replied with a smile. "Even if such a contract were signed, it wouldn't have any legal validity. We'll just have to hope you don't go back on your word out of moral obligation—otherwise, the consequences will be more than you can handle."
"Who do you think you are?" Ye Huaitang's mother asked, though her confidence had waned compared to earlier.
Anyone who could casually give away assets worth a hundred million must be capable of threatening the Ye family. Perhaps she had indeed crossed paths with someone she shouldn't have. But how could Huaitang have gotten involved with someone like this?
"If you don't believe me, you're welcome to test it," Lin Su said with a smile. "Feel free to see if I have this kind of power. Goodbye, I won't see you out."
In the end, Ye Huaitang's mother didn't take the property deed. The bright red certificate lay on the table, and Lin Su casually picked it up with a chuckle.
In the balance between one hundred million yuan and her son, Ye Huaitang ultimately won.
Parents who love their children will always think deeply about their future, but too much love and too high expectations can become a burden that is difficult to bear.
In the original timeline, after Ye Huaitang died, his parents were left without any children, consumed by regret. The details of what happened afterward were not clearly recorded, but when Ning Qiu and Ji Heng attended the memorial for their classmate, they saw those parents, filled with remorse.
But once a life is lost, it's gone forever. It's the one mistake that no amount of effort can ever make right.
【 Host, your conversation just now has one hundred percent offended your mother-in-law】, System 06 analyzed the data.
Even if a child has a distant relationship with their parents, the familial bond is difficult to sever. In fact, aside from the previous pressure and arguments, the Ye family couple had not deprived Ye Huaitang of anything materially. Therefore, the relationship was merely cold, not completely hostile. Given time, it might even mend to the point where they could save face.
【 She'll come to like me,】 Lin Su said with a smile.
If the goals that the son couldn't achieve were accomplished by the son-in-law, it would be just as good.
If Ye Huaitang had been interested in finance, he might have led the Ye family back to prominence someday. However, his ambitions did not lie in the business world.
Lin Su still informed Ye Huaitang about his mother's visit because he believed that Ye Huaitang had the right to know the truth and make his own decisions.
However, after hearing the entire story, including how Lin Su had reduced the demand from one hundred million to five million, Ye Huaitang stared at Lin Su for a long moment before saying, "Since she offered it to you, why didn’t you take it? We could have used it to ease our financial situation."
"That's your mother," Lin Su replied. "You want to extort her like that?"
"Precisely because she's my mother, I don’t have to hold back," Ye Huaitang said with a smile. "If it were someone else, I'd have to think it over."
"Maybe next time," Lin Su suggested.
"There won't be a next time," Ye Huaitang said, stretching lazily on the sofa. "I'll make it clear to her that I'm not going back. Freedom is really great."
As he walked out from there, Ye Huaitang realized that breaking free from his constraints wasn't as difficult as he had thought. Even though he was still a novice in investment and occasionally made mistakes, he felt he was finally on the path he desired.
This path brought him joy, filled him with anticipation for the future, and gave him an endless sense of hope and expectation for the road ahead. On that road, he knew he needed someone to accompany him.
"That’s really too bad," Lin Su shrugged.
"With your abilities, you’ll earn that five million sooner or later," Ye Huaitang said with a smile. "Instead of dwelling on that, why don’t you tell me what the plan for tomorrow is?"
"It’s not exactly a secret…" Lin Su smiled.
He had thought it might be necessary, but the state of the person in front of him suggested it might not be needed after all.
Sunday morning was cool and perfect for an outing. Ye Huaitang followed Lin Su until they arrived at the tallest bungee jumping platform in the countryside. With a rope securely fastened around his waist and the wind whistling past his ears, Ye Huaitang turned to look at Lin Su, who was standing behind him. "So this is where you wanted to take me?"
Screams from the nearby roller coaster and drop tower filled the air. Ye Huaitang had never experienced such thrilling activities before, and bungee jumping had always seemed completely out of reach for him.
"If it weren’t for the time constraints, I’d actually want to take you skydiving," Lin Su said, standing a little distance behind him. "A man like you, the class monitor, shouldn’t be afraid of a little thing like this, right?"
Ye Huaitang glanced down, swallowing hard as a wave of dizziness hit him, making him feel like he could fall at any moment.
Without the rope around his waist, jumping would be no different from suicide.
Suicide... There were nights when the pressure was so overwhelming that Ye Huaitang imagined what it would be like to jump from a high place and leave everything behind. But those thoughts were fleeting.
Now, standing here, it felt like he was about to sever ties with his past for good.
Ye Huaitang glanced at Lin Su, "If I jump, will you jump too?"
"Of course," Lin Su smiled. "Can't back down now."
The staff member checked the ropes and, overhearing their conversation, said, "We have tandem jumps too, as long as the two of you together don't exceed 160 kilograms."
Ye Huaitang seemed to consider this, and Lin Su noticed his eagerness.
"That's for couples," Lin Su explained.
When jumping together, the two people must hold each other tightly. If they separated, it could lead to a dangerous collision mid-air, potentially causing injury. It was typically seen as an activity for couples, often inspired by a certain scene from a famous movie involving a big ship. The ship might not be real, but the platform certainly was.
A strange feeling stirred within Ye Huaitang. The thought of jumping together, holding this person close... No, no, they were just friends. "There's no rule saying two friends can't jump together. This could be a true test of friendship."
"I think that phrase is usually used to describe married couples," the staff member, who was accustomed to hearing sweet nothings from couples, remarked.
Ye Huaitang's face visibly reddened.
1 Comments
Thanks for the update
ReplyDeletePost a Comment