My Courtyard Shelter

Chapter 10: The College Acceptance Celebration

After Mrs. Xu had calmed the triplets down, she couldn’t sit still any longer. She packed two sets of clothes and told Xu Dong to hurry and take her back to the old house. “Wealth without returning home is like wearing fine clothes in the dark! Mrs. Xu was not one to hide her true feelings; she had long boasted to her eldest daughter-in-law and repeatedly hinted at her desire to move out. She had also embellished the story about Xu Dong planning to move into a bigger house—and even intending to bring the elderly couple over to live in luxury. The underlying implication was that she was accusing Xu Bin and his wife of being incompetent and unfilial. This, of course, angered Tan Aifang, so whenever she got the chance, she would take a dig at her mother-in-law: “It’s been a whole month already—when are you moving out?” “Oh my, haven’t you bought the bigger house yet? Are you short on money?” “You’re good for nothing—all talk…” Such “bitter and spiteful remarks” infuriated Mrs. Xu so much that she has been visiting the old house much less frequently lately. Now, at long last, the clouds have parted to reveal the moon—and it’s a full moon, no less. The first thing Mrs. Xu thought of was to rush back and share the good news with Mr. Xu—and then rub it in that certain someone’s face. Xu Dong, of course, wouldn’t say no—everyone has a bit of a twisted sense of humor—and just thinking about the look on the older couple’s faces when they were proven wrong made him secretly gleeful. They soon arrived at the old house. Xu Dong walked his mom to the front gate, then turned and left. Ever since he’d fallen out with his older brother, he hadn’t set foot back there—he wanted to avoid the pain of seeing the “house,” especially with housing prices skyrocketing by the minute. Xu’s mom unlocked the front door with her key, only to find the house completely empty—her hopes dashed. She casually pulled out her phone and expertly tapped her husband’s profile picture; Mr. Xu’s voice came through on the other end almost immediately. “Hello?” “Old man, where are you? Why aren’t you home?” Before Mr. Xu could answer, Mrs. Xu continued, “Never mind, I won’t ask. Just hurry home—I have something important to tell you.” Just as Mr. Xu was about to reply, Xu Ting snatched the phone and interjected, “Mom, Dad’s here with me. You should come over too—let’s have dinner together tonight.” “Why on earth would your dad be over at your place for no reason?” Mrs. Xu asked in surprise. Mr. Xu wasn’t the type to “run around” aimlessly, and besides, it wasn’t a holiday or anything—it was a bit out of the blue. “I brought Dad over… Xie Fei got into First High School, didn’t she? And yesterday, Jingyi also received her acceptance letter from Wanzhou University… I thought we might as well throw a combined celebration for their academic achievements, so I asked Dad to come over to discuss it,” Xu Ting explained. Xie Fei is Xu Ting’s eldest daughter; she also has a younger brother in elementary school. “All right, I’ll be right over,” Xu’s mother agreed. Both grandchildren were doing so well, and with the surprise from Xu Dong on top of that, it certainly called for a proper celebration. This really is a triple celebration! Her daughter’s house wasn’t too far from the old family home. Since her son-in-law was from out of town, they’d specifically chosen a nearby neighborhood when buying the house to make it easier to visit. In less than an hour, Mrs. Xu was sitting in her son-in-law’s living room. “Mom, is everything okay with Lina?” Xu Ting asked with concern. “She’s doing great. Your brother’s back from his business trip and happened to have some free time, so I thought I’d come by to see your dad.” Mr. Xu took the opportunity to ask, “You mentioned on the phone that you had something to tell me. What was it?” Xu Ting was curious too. Hearing this, Mrs. Xu’s lips curled into a smile, and she immediately lit up: “Haha, it’s good news. Dongzi bought a house in Yanjing. We’ll move there with him, and we’ll never have to put up with the eldest son’s nonsense again.” Xu Ting was taken aback; she knew her younger brother’s financial situation all too well. Back when they bought their house, Dongzi had even borrowed 100,000 yuan from her—so how did he suddenly have enough money to buy a place in Yanjing? Housing prices in the capital are so high—could he have won the lottery? “Mom, did Dongzi win the lottery?” Xu’s mother shook her head. “What lottery? Lotteries are just a scam. Your brother got a great deal on some jade.” Xu Ting felt that jade was even less reliable than the lottery, so she asked skeptically, “Is that true? Don’t let anyone scam him.” Xu’s father stood nearby, his face full of concern. “It’s true. I looked at the contract for the jade sale—it doesn’t look fake. Plus, Dongzi even brought back the property deed, and his name is definitely on it.” Only then did Xu Ting feel slightly reassured, while Xu’s father went straight to asking about the details of the house. “It’s a Siheyuan with a garden, covering 370 square meters, right next to the Third Ring Road—it’s worth 100 million!” Xu’s mom boasted. “What… 100 million?” Xu Ting was completely stunned. She’d originally thought her younger brother had just gotten lucky and made a million or so at most—she never expected it to be this much. Xu’s father’s face flushed red, and he couldn’t help but shudder. His voice trembling, he asked, “You’re not mistaken, are you?” “I saw it with my own eyes—how could it be a lie? Lina was right there too. If you don’t believe me, call her and ask.” “Dongzi has really struck it rich!” Xu Ting found it hard to believe—she never imagined her younger brother would become a billionaire in the blink of an eye. Xu’s mom glanced at her daughter and reminded her, “Now that your brother has struck it rich, you’ll all benefit too. If you ever run into trouble in the future, at least there’ll be someone who can help out.” “Your mom’s right. Siblings should help each other—we shouldn’t act like enemies.” Xu’s father said pointedly. Xu Ting fell silent. She, of course, understood the implication behind her father’s words—it was nothing more than the messy business between her older and younger brothers. This was a matter she couldn’t—and didn’t want to—get involved in, lest she end up pleasing neither side. In the end, both Xu’s mom and dad stayed for dinner at their daughter’s place. Before leaving, they discussed plans for the graduation banquet that weekend and ultimately agreed to hold it at the nearby Tongqinglou. Before they knew it, the weekend arrived. Xu Dong, in a rare move, took the whole family out to attend his niece and grandniece’s graduation banquet. Oh, and they’d also be celebrating their own housewarming. But this way, every family would receive a red envelope, so no one would come out on the losing end. He remembered that in his previous life, the graduation celebration had also been held here. Unfortunately, Xu Dong hadn’t been able to bring himself to attend at the time, so he’d ultimately just asked his mother to deliver two red envelopes on his behalf. In this life, happy occasions lift one’s spirits, so there was naturally no reason for Xu Dong not to attend. Besides, he’d come to terms with it—conflicts between elders shouldn’t be passed down to the children. Stepping into the private dining room, he found the table nearly full. Besides the Xu family, Xu Jingyi’s uncle and aunt were also present. Her aunt had made a special trip all the way from Ezhou, while her uncle lived nearby in Yicheng City within the same prefecture. As for Xu Ting, since her husband was from Yunnan Province and all her relatives lived there—and given that it was merely a high school graduation—she decided not to invite any of them. The atmosphere at the banquet was somewhat subdued. Although Xu Ting and her husband kept trying to liven things up, Xu Dong and the eldest son didn’t exchange a single word from start to finish. Xu Bin had his own pride. Although his family had only one daughter, she had made him proud by getting into the best university in Wanzhou. He had no need to bow down or fawn over some nouveau riche—after all, hadn’t they just “stumbled upon” a Siheyuan? For all he knew, their savings might not even match his own. As for Xu Dong, being the one “in the right,” he was certainly not about to make the first move to back down. During the banquet, Xu Dong announced the moving date—August 22—and invited everyone to visit him in Yanjing whenever they had the chance. Xu Ting said she would definitely visit during the Spring Festival; Xu Bin and his wife made no comment, but Xu Jingyi mentioned she would visit her grandparents during winter break. At the end of the banquet, Xu Dong gave his niece and niece-in-law each a red envelope containing 18,888 yuan; the envelopes were bulging with cash. His own family also received four red envelopes: his older sister and eldest son gave 1,800 yuan each, while Jingyi’s uncle and aunt gave 800 yuan each—it seemed they had all coordinated their amounts in advance. Xu Dong wasn’t the type to take advantage of small favors, so that very evening he asked his mother to send a return gift worth over 1,000 yuan each to Jingyi’s uncle and aunt.