He looked at Xia Liang with utter contempt. "With that pathetic look of yours, you want to be my brother-in-law? Dream on!"
"Yang Wei, you...!"
Watching Yang Wei, whom he had treated like his own little brother, Xia Liang felt a sharp pain in his heart, as if it had been pierced by a needle.
Xia Liang knew Yang Ying doted on her brother, so out of his love for her, he had always taken care of Yang Wei as well. Over the past three years, Yang Wei had coaxed and cheated no less than twenty thousand Yuan out of him. That money was a significant sum for Xia Liang, who came from an ordinary family and had scrimped and saved it from his part-time jobs. He had even used the first salary he received after obtaining the System to buy Yang Wei an iPhone 11. To be treated with such ingratitude left Xia Liang speechless with anger.
"Haha, Yang Wei is right. How can a pauper like you be worthy of my sister?"
Hearing the new voice, Xia Liang looked over. A man of about thirty had just jumped down from the helicopter. He was dressed from head to toe in designer brands and wore a Rolex on his wrist. Based on attire alone, he and Xia Liang were worlds apart. The middle-aged man walked over and skillfully pulled Yang Ying into his arms. Yang Ying completely ignored Xia Liang's presence, acting as if it were perfectly natural to be held in the man's embrace.
Yang Wei shot a provocative glare at Xia Liang. "You see that? *This* is the brother-in-law I acknowledge." He then walked to the middle-aged man's side and called out affectionately, "Brother-in-law."
The man laughed heartily and patted Yang Wei's head. "Good boy. It's your birthday today. Here's some spending money from your brother-in-law." As he spoke, he pulled out his wallet and handed Yang Wei the largest denomination bill inside. "Here."
Yang Wei's eyes lit up. "Thank you, brother-in-law! Thank you, brother-in-law!"
Their behavior undeniably made Xia Liang's chest tighten. He had never been in a relationship before, and being with Yang Ying had brought him a happiness he had never known. For things to turn out this way was truly difficult to accept.
"See that? My brother-in-law gives me a whole point, just like that! Unlike you. After all those years with my sister, you still made me wait so long for an iPhone 11." As he spoke, Yang Wei proudly waved the money the man had given him in front of Xia Liang.
In that moment, Xia Liang felt an unprecedented sense of the absurd.
Getting this excited over a single point?
He thought about the four Yuan in his own pocket and imagined their expressions if he threw the coins in their faces. The thought alone made his mood improve considerably.
"Kid, let me tell you, Ying is my girlfriend now," the middle-aged man said, looking at Xia Liang with disdain. "You must be Xia Liang, right? You can't even afford a house, you have to rent. See this helicopter? It's mine! You can't give Ying what she wants, but I can. Whatever kind of life she wants to live, I can provide it."
Not to be outdone, Yang Wei stepped forward. "That's right, you pauper! Stop pestering my sister. My brother-in-law is the HR manager of this airline. With his connections, I'll easily be able to achieve my dream of working in aviation."
After Yang Wei finished, Yang Ying finally spoke, her eyes filled with cold indifference as she looked at Xia Liang. "Xia Liang, now you should understand why. If you must blame someone, blame yourself for being too poor. You don't deserve me. As of now, we are officially broken up."
Her heartless words made Xia Liang's heart turn colder. His voice was dangerously low. "Yang Ying, Yang Wei. You two siblings are really something. After all this time together, I finally see that you're just a pair of ungrateful wolves. You will regret this!"
At his words, Yang Ying let out a laugh. "Regret? The only thing I would regret is staying with you!"
The middle-aged man holding her looked down on Xia Liang, speaking in a patronizing tone. "Young man, you should take a look at your own status. You're a gaming proxy. To think Ying would ever regret leaving you... what a delusion!" While speaking, the man pinched Yang Ying's cheek. "Now that Ying is with me, I'll be covering all the living expenses for both of them."
A cold smirk played on his lips, his eyes full of mockery as he looked at Xia Liang. "As Yang Wei just said, I'm the manager of this airline. Do you know what my annual salary is? One Yuan!" He smugly patted the helicopter beside him. "You know it's a helicopter, but you have no idea how much it costs, do you? Let me tell you! This is a Robinson R44. The down payment alone is one Yuan and twenty points. To buy it outright costs three Yuan! I hear you're a gaming proxy, right? You could do that for a lifetime and never earn this much. Tell me, what do you have to compete with me?"
The middle-aged man stared at Xia Liang smugly. This wasn't the first time he had done something like this, and he always felt an exceptional thrill watching his rival leave, filled with shame and resentment. Just as he expected Xia Liang to turn and leave, however, Xia Liang lowered his head and began to laugh.
"Ha... haha... HAHAHAHA!"
His laughter grew louder and louder, startling everyone. Yang Ying frowned as she watched him.
Is his mental fortitude really this weak? Did he snap?
Xia Liang found the whole situation utterly ridiculous. His girlfriend of one year was being kept by another man. The key part? The man keeping her had a "massive" annual salary of one Yuan!
I should just throw the four Yuan in my pocket at their faces and see their dumbfounded expressions.
Just as Xia Liang was about to do exactly that, a stern voice cut through the air.
"What are you all doing? Don't you know that a distinguished guest is arriving shortly? What's all this ruckus about!"
Everyone turned toward the voice. A woman in professional attire with black-framed glasses was walking toward them. Her hair was tied up in a neat bun, and her red high heels made sharp sounds on the ground. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. She exuded the powerful aura of a career woman.
Seeing her approach, Yang Wei was the first to show his annoyance. "Who are you? Mind your own—MMPH! MMPH!"
Before he could finish, the middle-aged man clamped a hand over his mouth. Ignoring Yang Wei's struggles, the man stared at the approaching woman in a panic. "Director... Director Qin, what brings you here?"
Seeing the man's reaction, like a mouse seeing a cat, Yang Ying grew curious about the woman's identity. Yang Wei, however, just looked at his supposed brother-in-law with contempt.
Pah! A moment ago he was bragging about being an HR manager, and now he can't even speak properly in front of some random woman.
If the middle-aged man knew what Yang Wei was thinking, he would probably have strangled him on the spot. The woman before them was Qin Shiya, the daughter of the chairman of the Qinhang Group. She was also the general manager of this very airline. Her status was far above that of a mere HR manager like him.