Chapter 211: How much money do you have left?

Xi... Xi Xi? Xia Chenggang didn't expect the person answering the phone to be not Su Jinru; he flustered for a moment, "Where's your mom? Why didn't she answer the phone?"

Xia Xi turned on speakerphone, hating his behavior intensely, wanting to restrain herself so as not to scare away the hard‑reached Xia Chenggang, but she couldn't hold back; her tone was harsh: "How dare you mention my mother? Do you not realize how much misery you've caused her and the family? The factory had an accident, you fled, sold the hotel Grandma painstakingly ran for decades, and took all the family's money. What husband or father could act like you?"

After venting her resentment, Xia Xi felt little better, her face black enough to drip ink.

Su Jinru had been watching her as she spoke, now realizing the caller was Xia Chenggang, she snatched the phone from her hand and burst out in despair: "Xia Chenggang! Are you still human? What have I done to deserve this from you?"

Listening, Xia Xi wanted to laugh; her mother was still too kind—Xia Chenggang had done wrong, yet her first thought was that she herself was at fault.

She was just too good to him, which is why he acted without restraint.

"No, Jinru, hear me out." Xia Chenggang sniffed, voice pained: "I don't want this either; I was forced into it, it's all Yao Guangliang's fault. I called you just to explain."

Tears streamed from Su Jinru's already dry eye sockets; she was utterly disappointed in this husband, didn't want to hear any explanations, only wanted the hotel and money back.

But she knew this was a pipe dream.

Xia Chenggang didn't hear his usually gentle and virtuous wife's response, and burst into tears: "Yao Guangliang told me those machines were fine, I believed him and bought them, had technicians inspect them and they were indeed fine—who knew they'd fail. Jinru, I don't want to go to jail, I really don't want to go to jail, please understand me."

Su Jinru wiped her tears; this wasn't crying for him, but for herself: "Do I understand you? Have you ever understood me? When something happened, you refused to take responsibility, you fled—yet why did you trick us into selling the hotel and transferring the assets? How are we supposed to live? After decades of marital affection, is this how you repay me? Xia Chenggang, ask yourself—have I ever done anything even slightly wrong to you?"

Su Jinru beat her chest and stamped her feet, shouting into the phone until her voice went hoarse, like tearing cloth.

Xia Chenggang couldn't speak, only sobs remained.

Xia Xi's face was icy, her heart unmoved. Was he crying out of guilt? No. These were crocodile tears to win sympathy; he calculated well, hoping to sweet‑talk Su Jinru into forgiving him with a few words, then hide out for three to five years while the incident faded, so he could still have a roof over his head and a warm home.

He might as well be dreaming.

Xia Xi took back the phone, her only concern now: "How much money do you have left?"

Xia Chenggang still didn't speak.

Xia Xi's patience ran out, her anger flared, and she snapped: "Three injured workers are waiting for compensation, you took all the money, they can't get it and keep harassing the family, Grandma fell ill, Xuanxuan has a heart condition—do you have any conscience at all?"

She only prayed that the money hadn't been completely squandered by Xia Chenggang; if it could be recovered smoothly, she could compensate the injured workers, let the household calm down, avoid a cloud of worry, and perhaps even buy back the Peishan Grand Hotel from Wu Gengxin. Of course, that would be the perfect outcome.

After all, she was too idealistic; Xia Chenggang initially refused to tell the truth, but under Xia Xi's repeated questioning he finally blurted: "... Gone."

Xia Xi couldn't believe it: "So much money, how could it be gone?"

Xia Chenggang stammered: "Yao Guangliang just can't stand to see me do well; now I think he approached me with premeditation—I misjudged people and fell for his scheme. He took me to an underground entertainment venue to relax; I started winning, I really won a lot, but then I inexplicably began losing all the time. I thought if I got back my own stake I'd quit, but it was a bottomless pit—the more I put in, the more I owed. They came after me, I was driven to desperation, I feared you'd find out… I regret it, Xi Xi, give me one more chance—I won't go again."

The last faint hope in Xia Xi's heart was extinguished; she had nothing to say to him, she laughed bitterly, feeling the heavens were joking with her—how could she end up with such a father?

Xia Chenggang said: "The payphone's almost out of money, I'll hang up; if I get another chance I'll contact you again." After a pause he added, "If the police ask you anything, don't blab."

The cold smile on Xia Xi's lips faded, and she finally asked: "Where exactly are you now?"

The phone was forced to cut off, and there was no sound left.

Xia Xi lifted her gaze; her mother's face was ashen, her nails digging into her fingertips until they bled. She set the phone down, took her mother's hand, wiped the blood from her fingertips with a tissue, and stuck a band‑aid on the wound.

"Let's call the police." Su Jinru stared blankly at her, eyes unfocused: "He must have used a public phone at some supermarket or roadside newsstand—maybe we can trace the address."

Xia Xi did as she was told, dialed the emergency number, and gave the investigating police a lead.

Three days later, Xia Xi had to return to school; before leaving home she begged Xia Yue to call her promptly if anything came up, and not to worry about bothering her.

Xia Yue, being a few years older and steady‑handed, patted her head: "Don't worry, I'll stay at home to look after them during this time. You take care too, don't overthink— as long as our family is fine, there's no obstacle we can't get past."

Xia Xi felt a sting in her nose and leaned in to hug her.

These past few days Xia Yue had been running back and forth, consoling the families of the injured workers, looking for lawyers, raising funds, and had lost a noticeable amount of weight. Xia Xi buried her face in her shoulder, tears rolling into her clothes, and murmured in a muffled voice: "I'm leaving."

Xia Xi boarded the high‑speed train to Nancheng, feeling a heavy stone weighing on her heart.

To distract herself, she clicked through social media one after another, but none of the dazzling news sank in—she skimmed through it perfunctorily, and finally opened WeChat.

Xu Yanfeng sent her a message, but she somehow missed it again.

These past few days she's been in a fog, missing many unread messages.

Xu Yanfeng said he'd be back in the country this afternoon and asked if they could have dinner together tonight.

Xia Xi took a deep breath, tapped the screen, and typed two characters back: "Sure." She tried to make herself light as before, but those two words still felt heavy.

After waiting a long time with no reply from Xu Yanfeng, she realized he must be on a plane, so she put her phone away and closed her eyes to rest.

Back at school, Xia Xi's roommate asked what had happened at home, but she kept silent, buried herself in catching up on assignments, shouldered her bag and went to class—only to discover she'd brought the wrong textbook.

After class, she returned to the dorm and sat in a daze for a while; Xia Xi checked the time, changed clothes, sat at her desk to do her makeup, and in the mirror saw a slightly tired face. She carefully applied concealer to cover the dark circles, then a proper layer of foundation, and finally a highlighter that made her cheeks look plump and swollen—her state was completely different from before.

Zhao Lei stared at her makeup routine, shook her head and clicked her tongue: "What on earth are you doing to that beautiful face of yours?"

Xia Xi gave a faint smile. Back when she used to do her makeup, they used to tease her like that.

Zhao Lei lay on the bed, propping her head on her arm, tilted her head and asked: "Are you going on a date with Xu Yanfeng?"

Xia Xi: "Mm."

Zhao Lei frowned slightly, thinking that after Xia Xi went home and came back she'd become strange and quiet, but she didn't voice it—maybe Xia Xi had some unspeakable difficulty.

She also felt a little worried about Xia Xi, so she gently asked: "Xi Xi, are you not feeling well emotionally?"

Xia Xi finished applying lipstick, turned her head to look at her, and said: "Maybe I didn't rest well, I'm a bit fatigued."

Zhao Lei nodded, rolled over, and lifted her phone to watch a variety show.

Xia Xi lifted her bag and headed out; as she went down the stairs her steps grew slower and slower, Zhao Lei's words reminding her that she looked upset and she couldn't let that show.

She lifted the corner of her mouth and gave a faint smile into the air.

Without checking a mirror, she didn't know if the smile looked natural.

She underestimated Xu Yanfeng's perceptiveness; within less than a minute of meeting him he noticed something was off.