Chapter 238

Chapter 238: What Kind of Saint Are You?

The cousin-in-law stared at Du An Rao’s youthful, pretty face. When she thought that the girl in front of her was two years younger than her own son, yet had easily gotten the thing their family had dreamed of for years, her defenses completely collapsed.

“This is impossible. Absolutely impossible! The auction house has been around for more than eighteen years. How could someone who’s only eighteen be the real owner behind it? You’re lying to me. All of you are teaming up to lie to me!”

“Pardon me for being blunt.” Du An Rao gestured up and down at the hysterical woman. “What value do you have that would make it worth my time to lie to you? And who said I was the owner behind the scenes of the auction house?”

“You… didn’t you just say…”

“The current boss of the auction house is indeed me, but the former boss was from my parents’ generation.”

“You’re playing with me!”

Du An Rao: “…”

[As expected, brainless weirdos all share one common sickness. They love to shift the blame. In their minds, everything is always someone else’s fault, and they themselves can never be wrong. Du Tian Ci’s family before was like this, and now this woman is too. Oh right, and they all have a little persecution complex.]

Xi Jing Yue: “…” When he thought about it carefully, that really did seem to be the case.

“I don’t care whether you’re the boss or your parents’ generation is the boss. Today you have to give me an explanation.”

“What kind of explanation do you want?” Du An Rao asked lazily. Then she seemed to think of something and turned to look at Manager Wen.

She asked: “What’s the story with her husband? Does her family really have company shares?”

When Manager Wen heard her question, his heart couldn’t help sinking, but in the end he still answered honestly: “There were never any real shares. Besides you, the auction house’s shares are all scattered, and my dad only has a small part. In the past, because some relatives in the company worked hard, every year we took part of the dividends from that portion and divided it among them.”

“These payments were split into several shares according to the number of people, and we promised them that as long as they worked honestly at the auction house for twenty full years, we would transfer the corresponding shares to them so they’d have some support and security in the second half of their lives.”

In other words, these so-called shares had never had any written agreement or transfer since the very beginning. They were only a verbal promise, and that promise came with conditions.

The auction house had only been in business for twenty years. The woman’s husband had been arrested three years ago, so of course he hadn’t met the condition. Not to mention that he had been arrested for falsifying accounts and embezzling the auction house’s assets. It was already good that the auction house hadn’t turned around and demanded money from him. The Wen father and son had even continued giving their family money.

When the woman heard Manager Wen bring up the rules Old Master Wen had set back then, she also started to panic a little. “You’re talking nonsense. You’re just bullying us now that our family is a widow and orphan without a backbone. Whatever you say goes. Oh, my husband and my parents-in-law in heaven, open your eyes and look. Now that you’re no longer in this home, look at how they are bullying us widow and orphan. How are my child and I supposed to keep living?”

“…” Now she was calling herself a widow with a child again. Just now she had said that anyone calling them that was cursing her husband as dead. But now that she wanted money, she was using those words herself very smoothly.

Du An Rao hated this act of crying, making a scene, and threatening to hang herself more than anything in her life. Feeling annoyed, she rubbed her temples and looked at Manager Wen with a gaze that was full of sympathy and grievance.

She said: “What kind of saints are you and your dad? Have you never heard that giving someone one measure of rice is a favor, but ten measures of rice becomes hatred? Look at how big you’ve let her heart grow. She practically wants you to give her all the money in your house.”

Manager Wen gave a small bitter smile and said: “It’s not that my father and I are saints. It was really my second uncle, my cousin’s father. Back then my dad was set up in a business deal and failed. Our family ended up in heavy debt, and all the other relatives avoided us like the plague. Only my second uncle and second aunt lent us all the savings their family had.”

After hearing this, Du An Rao fell silent too.

[That’s why debts of gratitude are the hardest to repay. Giving help in a snowstorm really is a huge favor. No wonder they’re still helping raise his wife and child even after he’s been sent to prison.]

Xi Jing Yue: “…” Although the logic was indeed like that, somehow the way she said it still sounded a bit strange.

“Several years ago, my second uncle died of illness. Not long after, my second aunt took a fall at home and passed away soon after. This cousin of mine is their only son…”

No wonder. This favor hadn’t been repaid in the previous generation, so of course it naturally carried on to the next.

But understanding was one thing. When it came to the actual matter, it still had to be handled fairly.

She said: “Auntie, what are you trying to do by making such a fuss here? Do you think your husband is lonely in there and want to go in and keep him company?”

Manager Wen also cooperated by darkening his face and saying: “That’s right. This is not a place where you can make trouble. If you keep it up, I’ll have the security guards drag you straight out.”

When the woman saw that after all her yelling, neither Manager Wen nor Du An Rao had any intention of paying her off and now they even wanted to kick her out, she got anxious. She put her hands on her hips, looking like a rascal who was not afraid of boiling water being poured on a dead pig.

She shouted: “I’m telling you, don’t you dare mess around. I, Xiang Qiu Fu, am not easily scared. If you push me too hard, I’ll smash my head and die right in front of you. Since you’re trying to force my daughter and me to death anyway, if I can’t live well, then none of you will either!”

“You!” Now Manager Wen was truly angry. He shouted: “Security! Security, get in here. Throw this woman outside. If she dares to make trouble again, we’ll call the police and report her for disturbing public order.”

“Wen You En, you’ve really grown some nerve! You actually want to call the police and arrest your own sister-in-law! Oh, Father-in-law, if your spirit is watching from heaven, open your eyes and see what kind of ungrateful white-eyed wolf you saved back then. When you were still here, he didn’t dare treat us like this. Now that you’re gone, our whole family is going to be forced to death by him!”

“Wen You En, treating your closest relatives and your benefactors like this, you’ll get your retribution sooner or later! Oh, why is my life so bitter…”

This Wen family cousin-in-law was also a tough one. As soon as she saw Manager Wen call for security, she plopped down on the ground and started wailing. When the bodyguards came forward to grab her, she flailed her arms and legs wildly, attacking them with full firepower.

The bodyguards were frightened by her crazy, reckless behavior and, for the moment, really didn’t dare lay hands on her.

No matter how capable Manager Wen was, when facing such a shameless person, he couldn’t help feeling a bit helpless, especially since she wore the labels of relative and benefactor’s family. He felt so stifled and frustrated that his face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.

The few people in the chaos ahead did not notice that when Du An Rao heard the woman’s line “I, Xiang Qiu Fu, am not easily scared,” she froze for a moment and then showed a thoughtful, serious expression.

But Xi Jing Yue did notice. His intuition told him that this troublemaking woman was suspicious, so he frowned and asked: “What’s wrong?”

Du An Rao did not answer his question. Instead, she walked over to stand beside Manager Wen and, in a voice only the two of them could hear, asked tentatively: “Xiang Qiu Fu? Her name is Xiang Qiu Fu? The Qiu from autumn, and the Fu from lotus? Does she also have a brother named Xiang Si Da?”