Chapter 101: 101 What Were You Doing Earlier?

Fang Qingyi rents a small two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment, about sixty square meters.

Upon entering, Tushan Jiu saw various flowers growing on the balcony.

Those flowers grew vigorously, bright and striking, full of life.

The interior was spotless, and the warm-toned decor made it feel very cozy.

Fang Qingyi gave her a pair of slippers, saying, "These are new; wear these."

She had several pairs of new slippers at home, all redeemed with supermarket points.

Her grandmother usually liked to keep spare items around.

At that time her grandmother was napping, and she brought Tushan Jiu to her room.

The two bedrooms faced each other, with the bathroom in between.

Before entering, Tushan Jiu glanced at her grandmother's room door.

She gave a soft snort.

Only after death does she know regret?

What were you doing earlier?

She withdrew her gaze, and Tushan Jiu entered Fang Qingyi's room.

At this moment Fang Qingyi had already found a white sweater.

Tushan Jiu glanced at the clothes in her wardrobe, then at the outfit prepared for her on the bed.

Obviously the outfit she had picked out for her was one of the few better pieces in her closet.

Seeing her inspecting her clothes, Fang Qingyi blushed slightly, saying, "Miss Tushan, make do with this; I've only worn it twice, it's quite new."

Tushan Jiu lifted her eyes, tilted her head in thought, and said, "Come, learn from me."

Fang Qingyi asked, puzzled, "Learn what?"

Tushan Jiu put her hands on her hips, saying, "Now I'm helping you; wear it or not, if not, forget it."

Fang Qingyi froze, then reacted, laughing, "I'll turn around; hurry up and change, it's freezing today—don't catch a chill."

Tushan Jiu also smiled, nodded, and quickly changed into the clothes in the corner.

While changing, she asked Fang Qingyi, "Have you and the third younger brother always been classmates?"

On the way back, Tushan Jiu told Fang Qingyi that she was Xie Jingting's sister-in-law.

Fang Qingyi answered truthfully: "We were just high school classmates; in our first year we shared a desk for a year, then we were split into different classes. We had originally planned to attend the same university, but I......"

She lowered her eyes, her voice hard to hide disappointment, and continued: "I failed the college entrance exam, didn't get into Southern University, and just attended a second-tier university in Nan Cheng."

Tushan Jiu looked at her and pursed her lips.

She knew what she hadn't said was that the reason for her college entrance exam failure was those creditors who had set their sights on her.

Because of their interference and daily debt collection, her mindset broke, leading to her exam failure.

Originally Fang Qingyi had a very happy family; her parents loved her deeply, so her personality was lively, open, and positive.

But when she was ten, her family moved to Nan Cheng, after which everything changed.

Her former hometown was a small county in Shu City, with average family conditions.

Her father was bold and daring.

He borrowed money to open a hot pot restaurant.

Thanks to that hot pot restaurant, their family's life gradually began to improve.

Afterwards came a second branch, then a third.

Relying on these three stores, they not only paid off their debts but also lived a prosperous life.

But her father had a flaw: he loved to show off.

Not understanding the principle of keeping wealth discreet, he boasted to everyone that he had made several million in recent years.

The Fang family had few relatives, but Fang Qingyi's maternal side had many relatives.

Later his uncles persuaded her father to open several chain stores in Nan Cheng as well.

Nan Cheng is a first-tier city; opening a store here isn't as simple as just deciding to do so.

Reliable shops and location are both very important.

Her uncles said, "As long as he comes, we'll have everything arranged for him here."

Upon hearing there was a ready-made opportunity, her father, also very bold, wanted to gamble for wealth and status; if he could establish a foothold in a first-tier city, he could later gradually develop chain stores and become a big boss in the catering industry.

Fang Qingyi's mother was indecisive and unable to endure hardship; she would go along with anything, and the household decisions were all made by her father.

Thus the family moved to Nan Cheng and even bought a house there.

At that time Fang Qingyi's grandmother was still in the hometown and had not come over; only the three of them were there.

Opening stores everywhere required money; soon the family's several million in savings were nearly exhausted, but the stores' profitability was not good.

With expenses exceeding income, the money earned by the stores in the hometown just covered the monthly losses of the Nan Cheng outlets.

At this point her several uncles popped up again, saying there was a good business they wanted to bring her father into.

Back and forth, the family's several stores all ended up losing money.

Meanwhile her several uncles suffered no loss and even made a lot of money— they just didn't tell the family.

Afterwards, Fang Qingyi's father became like a different person, drinking to excess every day, wearing a miserable, dejected expression; his attitude toward her changed greatly, and he would either beat or scold her at the slightest displeasure.

However, these were not the main cause of her family's breakdown.

The main reason was that, when Fang Qingyi was fourteen, her father was deceived by those uncles into going to an underground gambling den.

They told him to make one final gamble; if his luck was good, he could turn things around and make a comeback.

Her father was tempted and acted on it.

Half a year later, the Fang family's nightmare officially began.

The huge gambling debt directly crushed this family that was already suffering added misfortune.

The debt collectors came to the door every day demanding payment, often beating her father; unable to bear such pressure, he jumped from the building and died.

Her mother never had much opinion to begin with, and after her father's death she became completely flustered.

At that time, Fang Qingyi was young, but she clearly told her mother to first sell the family home and the house in Nan Cheng, then liquidate the current shop in Nan Cheng, repaying as much as possible.

In the end, over six hundred thousand remained unpaid.

The boss of the underground gambling den never expected to drive someone to death; now that they are orphaned and widowed, he can't press them further, or else no one would repay the debt.

Thus he granted them a three-year reprieve.

However, interest accrued every day during those three years.

A debt of six hundred thousand would grow to seven hundred thousand after three years.

Fang Qingyi's mother and grandmother managed for three years, but in the end still owed two hundred thousand.

And when Fang Qingyi was in the second half of her senior year of high school, her mother left a note and departed.

In the note, her mother said she no longer wanted to live like this, and asked Fang Qingyi to forgive her selfishness.

She had someone who loved her, she wanted to live her own life, and if she were able, she would send monthly support payments.

She also wrote in the note that she was about to come of age, had grown up, had fulfilled her duties, and hoped Fang Qingyi would no longer contact her.