Guo Guo remembered the way, so he quickly climbed to the sixth floor and knocked on An Xiaoyan’s door. When An Xiaoyan opened the door and saw Guo Guo, he didn’t know if he should let the kid in or not. Gu Jun stood about a meter away.
“Uncle, we’re here to visit you. Where’s Fifth Dumpling?”
Being called “Uncle” melted An Xiaoyan’s heart. He forgot prior sentiments and let Guo Guo in. However, he was still cold to Gu Jun.
The door closed. Gu Jun didn’t try going in and rested against the door. He’d bring Guo Guo home after he finished playing. Gu Jun’s contacts in his phone were empty. He only remembered An Xiaoyan’s number. If someone had 20 million, they would invest it. It wasn’t likely for him to be able to borrow it.
Logging into his chat app, he looked through his closer friends. They were all logged on, so Gu Jun sent them messages.
Bro, I’m a bit broke these days. Lend me some money.
The other replied quickly. Gu Jun, your old man is really strict. If he finds out, I’m dead!
What did he say?
He said anyone who lends you money is going against the Gu family. Your family is so powerful. No one would dare to offend them.
He also chatted with some closer business acquaintances, but the results were all the same. Gu Jun sighed. He was being pushed into a corner now that he was vulnerable. If he wanted to borrow money before, it would have been no problem. However, the old man would have had other solutions. It was just a contract and would definitely have loopholes. Otherwise, how could he be forced to be the chairman?
Gu Jun stopped thinking about this. He decided to ask bit by bit. If this didn’t work, he would think of another plan.
After Guo Guo entered the room, he hung onto An Xiaoyan without even taking off his shoes. “How come you don’t let Daddy in? He came in last time.”
“He doesn’t want to come in.”
“Uncle, are you fighting with Daddy? I’ve seen it on TV. If two people fight, one will go outside and the other stays inside.”
“Kid, what do you know?” An Xiaoyan took a bottle of milk from the fridge. “Guo Guo, if Uncle isn’t here anymore, live well with your dad. Act like I never existed.”
“What do you mean? Are you leaving us?”
An Xiaoyan couldn’t explain it. He would still be here for now and leave when he saw a better opportunity. Staying here forever wouldn’t work. The warmth he treasured before no longer existed.
“Uncle, I’m hungry. Let’s eat.”
An Xiaoyan went to prepare the food. Guo Guo played with Fifth Dumpling on the sofa. Fifth Dumpling was very big now. It was basically the size of First Dumpling when he had first got it. The grayish color made people want to squeeze it.
After An Xiaoyan finished cooking, he saw Guo Guo kiss Fifth Dumpling’s forehead. He was a bit envious. Guo Guo had so many pets accompanying him since childhood.
“Uncle, why did you take Fifth Dumpling away?”
“I love them all, but I could only take one away at that time. Plus, it’s better if your dad takes care of those cats and the dog. They won’t have such a great life with me.”
Guo Guo seemed to understand, but also couldn’t understand.
After eating, Guo Guo said that he’d go home with his dad. When they opened the door, Gu Jun was sitting on the ground. He leaned against the wall and the casual pose was a depressing sight. An Xiaoyan saw the sadness in a single glance.
“Wake your dad up. I’ll give you some things to take back.”
An Xiaoyan walked in and wrapped up the leftovers. He filled another bowl with rice and put it in the bag for Gu Jun to take home. He didn’t know if Gu Jun would mind this, but he didn’t want to feel guilty.
Gu Jun got up and dusted himself off. His eyes weren’t fully open as he wasn’t fully awake yet. An Xiaoyan shoved the food into his hands for him to take away.
Guo Guo was the one who had wanted to come. Gu Jun knew that An Xiaoyan hated him now, so he didn’t say anything else.
The father and son walked downstairs hand in hand. An Xiaoyan leaned over the balcony and watched their figures fade under the lit road, disappearing under the starry sky.
After Gu Jun returned home and helped Guo Guo get settled, he put the leftovers into a bowl to eat. In the living room, Chen Chen was tapping away on his keyboard, calculating something. After Gu Jun finished eating, he took out two bottles of beer. He gave Chen Chen one and they started chatting.
“I went to see An Xiaoyan today. Guo Guo insisted on going. I waited for two or three hours in the hallway without daring to go in. He didn’t tell me to go in either.”
“Then the food?”
“He told me to take it back. I guess he felt bad because Guo Guo ate but I didn’t.” Gu Jun gulped down some beer. The beer made his heart feel cold. It was uncomfortable.
“Earlier, I calculated the value of your property. How come the Honda in the garage isn’t included?”
“I bought it for An Xiaoyan. It’s his, even though he only used it once or twice.”
“Then what about the remaining 20 million?”
“I don’t know. There are still a few days before September 15th. We’ll see then.”
After Chen Chen calculated everything, he went to sleep. Gu Jun was satisfied with this assistant. He’d hired Chen Chen after he returned from America to start his company. Chen Chen had just graduated then. He’d been in his early twenties and was young and vibrant. His grades weren’t that great, but he caught Gu Jun’s eye. Gu Jun thought he was very capable. Six or seven years had passed and Chen Chen really hadn’t disappointed him. He was Gu Jun’s right hand man now. He’d supported Gu Jun all these years, whether in his career or his relationships.
After this is all over, Chen Chen would probably want his own life instead of continuing to labor for him.
The next morning, Gu Jun looked at Chen Chen’s accounts. It listed all his property. He read it carefully and didn’t see this house or his private belongings. He didn’t know if this was good or bad. He calculated the value of his personal belongings and house. It was around 18 million. He was still missing a couple million.
This 18 million also meant that he would have nothing. He would have to rent an apartment and find a new job. Taking care of Guo Guo would be a problem too.
After Chen Chen woke up, Gu Jun told him all this. Chen Chen was shocked after hearing it.
“If you don’t have all this, you’ll start over again. It’ll be so hard. And what will happen to Guo Guo? You can’t give him the life of a normal kid.”
“I’ve thought of all this, but I’ve decided to risk it. I can’t get married. This is my bottom line. If An Xiaoyan agrees to be with me, that’ll be ideal. If he doesn’t, I can still be an average man.”
“I can help pay for the remaining two million. We aren’t boss and worker now. We’re friends. I know you’ve taken care of me all these years and given me a high salary. I have my own house. I don’t need all this money.”
“Thank you. The last thing is that you can go where you want and do what you want after all this. Take these properties back. After paying them, mail back the contract I signed when becoming the chairman. For the address, put An Xiaoyan’s home. I’ll probably move away after selling this house. I don’t know where I’ll go, but I’ll try to be as close to An Xiaoyan as possible.”
This years-old partnership suddenly ended. It was quite hard to handle. Gu Jun gave some of his more expensive suits, watches, and cufflinks to Chen Chen to sell in the second-hand market of A City. Even if he couldn’t sell the stuff for a high price, it would still add up.
The house was sold quickly. The new owner told Gu Jun to move out in two days. Looking around the house that he’d just started living in, he began to start packing.
There wasn’t much. He’d sold the house with the furniture, so he’d made some money compared to when he bought it. People always said that if you had a house, you’d have a home. Now that he was in this situation, he really felt it. Without his house, he would wander aimlessly as if floating in the ocean.
He’d found a new place to stay. It was on the third floor of a small building. There were two bedrooms and one living room. The rent was 1500 dollars per month.
Gu Jun only had around 10,000 dollars now. He didn’t keep any of his cards. He paid three months rent right away.
He didn’t hire a moving company for the move. He began moving the stuff up by himself. The cats and the dog were the most troublesome. They’d all grown up and also needed boxes of food. Thankfully, he’d bought pet equipment in bulk before. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to afford it now.
Guo Guo wasn’t used to the cramped new home. Gu Jun took him to the balcony and pointed at the sea in the distance. “Do you see that? We’re facing the sea. This is a seaside house. Other places don’t have this.”
“Daddy, then this place isn’t any worse than before!”
“Of course!” Gu Jun said, pretending to be proud. It was good that Guo Guo didn’t understand. He wouldn’t feel that his life had been turned upside down.
The new bedrooms were very small and only fit one bed inside. Only the main bedroom had air conditioning. It was already nearing autumn, but it was still hot sometimes. Gu Jun and Guo Guo slept in one bed. The pets slept at their feet, filling up the room. If he wanted to open the door, he had to move Yippy away first.
Gu Jun didn’t know how to cook, so he had to buy food at a restaurant even though he knew it wasn’t very sanitary. The most important thing now was that he had to find a job.
He applied to many companies online. It wasn’t that hard to find a job at his age. The main problem was the salary. After applying, he looked at his empty wardrobe. He asked the landlord where the wholesale market was and took Guo Guo there.
The wholesale market was at the edge of the city. Gu Jun took Guo Guo on many different buses to get there.
When he entered, he saw the stray dogs eating stuff between the two rows of stalls. People came to and fro. There were many aunties in vibrant clothes picking and choosing.
Gu Jun looked in disgust but still bore the smell and went in.
The clothes were cheap and of low quality. Gu Jun chose some. Guo Guo’s clothes were still all there and could last until the end of this year. He could buy more next year. He could wear low quality clothes, but his son couldn’t.
He went back as soon as he bought some shirts. One of them was black. Gu Jun prepared to wash it, but the dye spilled into the water immediately. Thankfully, he’d only bought one black shirt. He knew the quality was bad, but he didn’t expect it would be this bad.
His applications quickly had results. A pretty big company saw Gu Jun’s experience and was willing to hire him. However, the trial period was a month. The salary was 5000 dollars for the trial period. Afterward, his salary would be at least 10,000. If he wanted to become an official employee, he had to have client resources and keep the clients.
Ten thousand dollars could only buy insignificant things before. Now, it was quite a high amount. With this money, he could keep him and his son alive.
Twenty-five-year-old Gu Jun would never be willing to do these things. Now, it wasn’t as scary as he’d thought. As he’d grown up, his mindset had changed a lot. An Xiaoyan had often been penniless. Now, he was in the same state and could understand An Xiaoyan.
Gu Jun had kept some suits. They were old styles, but this small city probably couldn’t tell. He put on a random one and prepared for the interview.
Guo Guo could only stay home. Gu Jun told him to stay home and wait for Daddy to come back. Gu Jun specifically locked the door from the outside. Leaving Guo Guo home alone was something he didn’t like.
The interview was very successful. The other told Gu Jun to come to work on Monday. On his way home, he saw a restaurant selling food. He went and bought some duck.
He’d eaten duck in high-class restaurants many times, but he’d never eaten from a roadside restaurant. This was slightly comforting. He could treat this as a new experience.