Shen Er stared at the 50,000 yuan transfer, feeling momentarily overwhelmed. His fingers hovered over the chat box, unable to click.
He had sent a message to Yan Sheng from the stairwell, only hoping that the young master could help alleviate Yu Lan’s concerns. He hadn’t mentioned anything about money.
[Yan: Just take it. You make four figures a day playing games, transferring every few days would annoy me.]
Shen Er sniffed lightly, his fingers finally tapping to accept the transfer.
[Owl: Thank you so much.]
[Yan: …?]
[Yan: Why are you being so formal?]
[Yan: Be normal, don’t be awkward.]
[Yan: Go spend time with your mom. My sister’s calling me.]
[Owl: Okay, happy New Year.]
[Yan: Same to you.]
Yu Lan noticed Shen Er’s attention fixed on the screen and tilted her head towards him, “Your phone keeps ringing. Is it your boss? Is there something urgent?”
“No,” Shen Er shook his head lightly. “Nothing urgent.”
“My boss, he gave me an advance on my salary.”
Yu Lan covered her mouth with her hand, “There’s such a good boss? Xiao Er, you must work hard and not let him down.”
Shen Er nodded. “I will.”
Yu Lan, not having much education, kept repeating how good the boss was.
Shen Er responded to her each time, then opened his aunt’s WeChat and transferred 20,000 yuan to her.
He then opened his notes app and paid off another 25,000 yuan in small batches.
His remaining external debt was now less than 50,000 yuan. Looking at the significantly reduced debt, Shen Er let out a long sigh of relief.
[Yu Mei: Received it, Xiao Er.]
[Yu Mei: This really helped, thank you.]
[Owl: I should be thanking you, Auntie, for being so patient with me.]
[Yu Mei: I’ll get back to work now. Spend more time with your mom.]
Shen Er agreed, put his phone on the cabinet, and spent time chatting with Yu Lan.
·
Yan Sheng slipped his phone back into his pocket and headed down to the garden.
The table in the garden was piled with all kinds of fireworks, and Yan Man was slowly swinging on the swing.
Yan Sheng walked up behind her, grabbed the swing’s ropes, and gave her a push, sending Yan Man flying.
Caught off guard, Yan Man instinctively clutched the ropes and shouted back at Yan Sheng, “Are you crazy?!”
Yan Sheng grinned mischievously at her while Fu Gui ran around joyfully on the grass.
Yan Lijun and Ge Ziyan peeked over from the other side of the garden, attracted by the noise.
After a while, the swing that had been pushed so high finally began to slow down. Yan Man let go and jumped lightly to the ground, then ran over to Yan Sheng and gave him a punch.
“Light the fireworks for me.” Yan Man pouted and handed the lighter back to Yan Sheng. “The flint on your lighter is so worn out that it hurts my fingers.”
Yan Sheng took the lighter and flicked it open, exasperated. “Yan Man, are you a princess or something?”
“Uh-huh.” Yan Man took the firework and moved beside him. As the fuse ignited, it exploded into a brilliant display.
The colorful fireworks, like the brightest stars in the night sky, cast a dazzling glow on Yan Man’s face.
Inappropriately, Yan Sheng thought of Shen Er’s mother.
In a plain hospital room, she wore a hat to cover the traces of chemotherapy. Despite the signs of illness, one could still see the shadow of her former beauty.
“Yan Man, do you have any friends whose families aren’t well off?” Yan Sheng suddenly asked.
“Why are you asking this out of nowhere?” Yan Man was taking selfies with the fireworks when she turned back to look at Yan Sheng. “Of course, there are people with poor family conditions. I don’t go to some elite university. There’s a classmate in my class whose family isn’t well off. She’s from a single-parent family, but her mother is an alcoholic and gambler. When she’s not in class, she works multiple part-time jobs. She’s having a really tough time.”
“Are you…” Yan Man looked at him suspiciously. “reading some CEO and Cinderella novel and wanting to experience it yourself?”
“…I should buy a pump to drain the water out of your brain before talking to you again.” Yan Sheng pushed her head away in exasperation. “I was just curious.”
“What is it? Did a Cinderella appear in your life, catching your special attention?” Yan Man tossed the spent firework into the trash and waved a new one in front of Yan Sheng. “Relax, our parents don’t care about each other’s family backgrounds.”
Yan Sheng twitched his mouth, unwillingly lighting the new firework for her. “That’s not it. My only goal in life is the championship trophy of the World Championship. I’m focused on my career, understand?”
“Career-focused? You’re just game-focused,” Yan Man retorted. “Your brain might not even be as good as Fu Gui’s.”
Yan Sheng felt intensely annoyed by his sister’s bluntness. If Yan Man were half as easygoing as Shen Er, he wouldn’t be so irritated.
“By the way, when does your next match start after the New Year?”
“Our first match after the New Year is on the thirteenth of the first month. Why?”
“Do you have tickets? Get me two front-row seats.” Yan Man held out her hand. “My roommate and I want to watch. Don’t worry, I won’t mock you if you lose.”
Yan Sheng took a deep breath.
“Song Ming will come in a few days. Ask him for them.”
With that, Yan Sheng turned to leave.
“Hey, where are you going? Who’s going to light the fireworks for me if you leave?”
Yan Sheng stopped, pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and handed it to Yan Man. “Light it yourself.”
Just then, Ge Ziyan approached and saw Yan Sheng handing Yan Man the cigarette.
“Yan Sheng!!” Ge Ziyan’s face paled as she saw Yan Man taking the cigarette. “Are you crazy, giving your sister a cigarette? It’s bad enough that you smoke those lousy things, but you’re giving one to Man Man?!”
She rushed over and smacked Yan Sheng on the head. He felt a buzzing in his skull.
He turned to look at Yan Man, who blinked innocently at him.
“Why are you hitting me?” Yan Sheng’s voice turned aggrieved. “Yan Man wanted to light fireworks, but she didn’t want to use my lighter. She kept pestering me, so I gave her a cigarette to light it herself!”
“I really can’t believe this—”
“Oh?” Ge Ziyan raised her hand to cover her mouth. “Did I wrong you? Well, I’ve already hit you, so just take it as punishment for smoking.”
Yan Sheng looked at Yan Lijun in despair. “… Dad, can you do something about these two women?”
Yan Lijun shook his head decisively. “No way, can’t control them at all.”
Yan Sheng sighed deeply, grabbed Fu Gui by the neck, and dragged the dog back to the living room.
“Yan Sheng!!” Ge Ziyan shouted after him. “Wipe the dog’s paws!!”
“Got it—” Yan Sheng resignedly took out some pet wipes from the coffee table and squatted down to clean Fu Gui’s paws.
Fu Gui, uncomfortable with his leg being held, pulled it back forcefully and started running around the house.
Yan Sheng looked at the dog paw prints on the floor.
He really wanted to escape.
But he couldn’t.
“Fu Gui’s gone mad! Whoever owns this dog, deal with it!!” He yelled out into the garden, dropped the wipes, went upstairs, locked the door, and turned on his computer.
Games were still the best; nothing could compare to them.
Yan Sheng logged into League of Legends and started queuing for ranked games.
Four hours later, Yan Sheng’s expression had turned somewhat bleak.
Seriously, how come all these trolls come out during the holidays?!
Yan Sheng looked at his seven consecutive losses and felt on the verge of collapse.
[Y: I don’t want to live anymore—]
Shen Er was startled when he received the message. The young master seemed to be in a panic, making him worry that something serious had happened. He quickly replied.
[Owl: What’s wrong?]
Yan Sheng “threw” a screenshot of his match history with a loud “slam.”
Seven consecutive losses, five games as the best player on the losing team, all hard-fought.
[Yan: Is this the kind of record a human should have?]
[Yan: Am I not playing in a Master or Challenger game? Do these people even know how to play League of Legends?]
[Yan: The mid laner playing Orianna with lethal tempo, every auto-attack feels like it’s hitting my brainstem.]
[Yan: And a Neeko transforming into a blue buff to gank, as if she wants everyone to see her, right?]
[Yan: I can’t take it anymore, I’ve been tormented by my sister and my mom, and now I’m being tormented by these people in the game.]
He typed rapidly, spilling his complaints like beans. Before Shen Er could reply, Yan Sheng had already sent a bunch of messages.
[Owl: How about I go to an internet cafe and play with you for a while?]
[Owl: Though, in this small town, there might not be any cafes with private rooms.]
[Yan: No need, just stay with your mom.]
[Yan: I’m just venting because I’m frustrated with the game.]
[Yan: I’m done playing for now. I lost over a hundred points tonight.]
[Owl: My mom’s asleep now.]
[Owl: Be good, don’t be mad. If you’re feeling down, let me chat with you for a while..]
Shen Er’s tone really sounded like he was coaxing a child.
But, to be honest, Yan Sheng really responded well to it.
Whether playing games or just chatting, Shen Er always made him feel relaxed.
Yan Sheng pouted and logged out of League of Legends.
[Yan: Don’t worry, you go to sleep. You’ve been with your mom without leaving her side for days.]
[Yan: When you go back, you’ll have to make up for all the time to me.]
[Yan: I want to take back everything I lost.]
[Yan: Bunny Flexing Muscles.JPG]
Shen Er: …?
Author’s Message:
Yan Man: I told you my brother doesn’t have normal stickers.
Thank you for reading! 
Hope you enjoy the rest of your day 🍀
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![Flying Dust [Fei Chen]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/9k.png "Flying Dust [Fei Chen]")
