Chapter 9, Younger Brother _1

On Monday, Meng Xiao didn't have any classes, so she went to the art studio to paint.

Yang Yi rarely sought her out during weekdays after he started working, so she took this opportunity to paint, leaving her weekends free.

Ye Siyu sent her a link to a social news story: "Man gives wife three thousand a month, but buys his mistress six houses, wife recoups half through legal means."

This situation somewhat mirrored her own, prompting Meng Xiao to click on the link. The end result was not ideal, but at least the woman had managed to recover a portion of her share.

"How much do you think you can get back?" Ye Siyu asked. With just this sentence, Meng Xiao realized that Ye Siyu knew something.

"That woman was his wife, so of course she could reclaim her share. I don't have that kind of standing," Meng Xiao replied, putting her phone away to continue painting. Considering their status as boyfriend and girlfriend, with no certainty of marriage, they certainly didn't have any shared assets.

Today, she happened to run into her professional course teacher. He introduced her to an art studio for high school students, suggesting that Meng Xiao take up a part-time teaching job there. Classes took place on Saturdays and Sundays for the entire day, and the pay was quite good. He suggested that Meng Xiao contact them.

Meng Xiao was initially hesitant, but then she thought about how busy Yang Yi had been lately, and how he wasn't always free on weekends. She didn't need to keep her weekends open just for him.

Reading the news intensified Meng Xiao's drive to find a part-time job.

She picked up her phone and dialed the number that her professor had left for her, arranging to visit the location during her free period on Wednesday.

The place was a professional art preparatory studio for students who were preparing for university entrance exams. The manager of the studio was named Xiao Yansheng, an alum of Art University and her senior.

Meng Xiao did a trial run in the afternoon. The job was within her field of study, she enjoyed painting, Xiao Yansheng was quite satisfied with her, and the income was a lot better than working at a convenience store.

"We have students training here every day. There are more of them on Saturdays and Sundays. I'll pay you by the hour," Xiao Yansheng, having been informed about Meng Xiao's situation beforehand, didn't beat around the bush. He knew the girl needed money.

Coming from a modest background, he had opened this studio right after graduating from university. Now that the student numbers were gradually increasing, he needed more hands. He had tried several professional teachers but none had fit the bill, so he asked one of his previous teachers to help him find a capable student.

Surprisingly, right after the weekend, the teacher introduced Meng Xiao to him.

"Alright, I understand. If it's okay, can I start next week?" Meng Xiao hadn't forgotten that she had planned to go car shopping with Yang Yi this week, so she made an arrangement with Xiao Yansheng to start the following week.

Xiao Yansheng had no objections, so they bid each other farewell.

When she returned, Meng Xiao told her roommates about her new part-time job at the art studio and planned to research recent university entrance exam trends during her free time over the next few days.

...

Just as she was about to fall asleep, Meng Xiao's phone rang. She saw that the call was from her hometown.

Meng Xiao answered the phone, "Hello."

"Sister." The voice on the other end of the line was familiar. It belonged to Meng Xiao's half-brother from a different mother, Meng Xun.

Meng Xiao instantly lost all sleepiness, and asked directly, "What's up?"

The boy's voice on the other end sounds somewhat hesitant as he cautiously asked, "Sister, can you come home this weekend?"

Home, Meng Xiao scoffed.

When she left home, she was just starting middle school. Her stepmother said that now she was growing up, she needed to be aware of differences between boys and girls, and wanted to separate Meng Xiao and Meng Xun. So she asked their father to place her with her grandmother.

During a New Year's visit home, she discovered that Meng Xun had moved into her room, all her belongings had been packed away, and she was even provided with disposable paper cups for drinking water. She never stepped foot in that house again.

Now, three years after their parents died, they wanted her to return home. What were they planning now?

"As I remember, when Dad died, I gave you fifty thousand for living expenses. Now that you're eighteen and legally an adult, I'm under no obligation to provide for you anymore," she said.

Three years ago, during their parents' accidental death, her father instructed from his hospital bed to leave the only house they had to Meng Xun, while leaving her a meagre amount of savings, which she ended up paying to the victims involved in the accident caused by her father.

It was only then that Meng Xiao discovered that their father had transferred the ownership of the house to Meng Xun a long time ago. Before his death, he told her about it to prevent her from fighting with Meng Xun over the house.

Meng Xun's surname used to be Zhou, but their father had the house title transferred to him to justify his surname change to Meng.

In her lifetime, she had left her alone, and after death, all he left her with was Meng Xun, a burden. Meng Xun had changed his last name, his biological father didn't want him, and his relatives from the Zhou Family didn't care about him either. In the end, the responsibility as guardian fell on Meng Xiao.

She didn't want to see him. Around that time, Yang Yi was discharged from the hospital and found her, giving her fifty thousand yuan to thank her for the medical expenses she had covered.

She decided to pay all of it to Meng Xun at once and warned him not to appear in front of her anymore. Otherwise, she would sue for the division of the house, and after that, the two of them disconnected completely.

Later, when her grandmother passed away, Meng Xiao never returned to her old home.

Today, Meng Xun suddenly called her, and her intuition told her it was not good news.

"Sister..."

Meng Xiao interrupted, "I'm not your sister. I've paid all your maintenance money at once. I don't owe you a penny. Don't call me again. From now on, I have nothing to do with you, and I won't take your calls either."

"Stop calling!"

Without listening to anything else, Meng Xiao hung up.

Back then, the blow of her father's death and the issue of the house's ownership had killed her once, and she didn't want to bring it up a second time.

As for Meng Xun, he was her father's son and had nothing to do with her.

...

Just past midnight, Yang Yi was driven back by his driver to his flat near the company.

The small wall lamp emitted a faint yellow light. Today there was a business dinner, and Yang Yi was a bit tipsy, he slowly trudged upstairs.

This neighborhood was developed by his family's real estate company. It wasn't the old rented house but instead, a high-end modern housing complex called Yuqing Bookstore. When the construction was finished, he reserved a few units for himself, including a few luxury cars in the parking lot downstairs that he used regularly.

During the week, he usually didn't go to the old house. Meng Xiao valued her personal privacy and wouldn't voluntarily go to the old house, unless it was the weekend, and he invited her.

Apart from that, he lived here.

When he reached the bedroom, he didn't have the energy to wash up and lay in bed with his eyes closed.

He inexplicably wanted to drink some soup, but the soup his housekeeper made didn't taste right. Even though they used the same ingredients and the same cooking order, the soup made by his housekeeper always seemed to lack flavor.

As he drifted in and out of sleep, the image of Meng Xiao carrying a shopping bag appeared before his eyes.

Yang Yi suddenly snapped awake and got up to wash in the bathroom. When he came out clean, he remembered that Meng Xiao was not here, that there was no one to hand him his pajamas, so he went to his closet to get some clothes.

This flat was quite spacious. When he and Meng Xiao were together, they only lived in the university and never took care of this place. It wasn't until his sophomore year that he hired a designer to renovate it according to a plan for two residents.

The closet was large, and his clothes ranged from everyday items to limited-edition business wear - a wide range of styles and types. He had usually gotten off work first and changed into casual clothes here before going to see Meng Xiao.

He put the limited edition watch in his hand into the glass cabinet. There was a matching women's watch in a box next to it. Unlike the understated men's model, the women's version was more luxurious and fashionable. The dial was full of diamonds, making the watch too dazzling to look at.

Both in design and price, it met the highest standards of luxury goods in high society.

Yang Yi played with the women's watch in his hand; it was a birthday present he had brought back for her from France this year.

At the time, Yang You had her eye on a women's watch with a diamond-studded bracelet that made her skin look delicate and white. The first image that came to his mind was Meng Xiao's wrist, so he bought her this one from the same series, which cost a zero more than the one Yang You chose.

Meng Xiao, that silly girl, didn't understand any designer brands. As long as he lied to her and said it was a water diamond bought on the street, she would believe him.

But he never managed to present it to Meng Xiao. Since they got together, he deliberately restricted Meng Xiao's spending at his place.

Thinking of the expression Yang You had when she accused him of being stingy, Yang Yi smiled mockingly, closed the box, and walked to the concealed safe in his closet. In it were many pieces of girl's jewelry, each one at a jaw-dropping price.

Without a second thought, Yang Yi threw the watch into the safe and locked it.