"Xu Yao, what do you really think about your mother remarrying my father?"
The secluded corner of the café did little to dull Wen Yiyi's aura as a pampered heiress. A cream-colored, newly released designer handbag lay casually on the table, as if its extravagance were nothing worth mentioning.
Xu Yao sat opposite her. Wen Yiyi's gaze clung to Xu Yao's face—beautiful, undeniably so, and therefore all the more detestable.
Xu Yao did not return her stare. Her attention rested instead on the handbag.
At twenty-five, Xu Yao was no different from other women her age: she followed fashion, loved beautiful clothes, shoes, and bags. This particular piece struck precisely at her aesthetic sensibilities. In the past, she would have bought the same one as Wen Yiyi—no, not the same one. She would have bought it first, and Wen Yiyi would have followed suit.
They had been classmates since primary school. Two girls of similar backgrounds, constantly and unconsciously compared by those around them. Over time, Wen Yiyi's competitive streak was provoked; she had always been eager to eclipse Xu Yao. In earlier years, she had failed again and again. Now, however, she could effortlessly crush Xu Yao—because the year Xu Yao graduated from university, the Xu family went bankrupt.
The price of Wen Yiyi's new bag equaled Xu Yao's current annual salary. She could not afford it.
Having admired it briefly, Xu Yao lifted her head.
Their eyes met.
"I have no particular opinion," Xu Yao said calmly. "I respect my mother's decision to remarry Uncle Wen."
Three years earlier, the Xu family collapsed. Xu Qinghua, burdened by enormous debts, vanished in international waters. After two fruitless years of searching, the police declared him dead. The dead were gone; the living had to move on. Gradually emerging from her grief, Xu Yao's mother, Lin Meixian, found companionship with Wen Zhicheng, who had also lost his wife many years before.
A widow and a widower, each with an adult daughter, well acquainted with one another—by all accounts, it was a fitting second marriage.
There was only one problem: the Xu family was bankrupt. The Wen family was not.
If Lin Meixian married Wen Zhicheng, would he be expected to help repay the debts of Lin Meixian and Xu Yao?
Wen Yiyi sneered. "Xu Yao, don't play dumb. You know exactly what I mean. With my father's status, what kind of woman couldn't he marry? I don't know what kind of seductive tricks your mother used to bewitch him, but he's lost his head. I haven't. Your mother wants to marry into the Wen family while carrying the Xu family's massive debts? She's dreaming."
Xu Yao understood Wen Yiyi's fear perfectly.
Why should the Wen family be responsible for the Xu family's debts?
Lin Meixian and Wen Zhicheng were already discussing marriage. Xu Yao had spoken with her mother about the debts; Lin Meixian told her she was still young and needn't worry about it. But how could Xu Yao truly not care?
All assets under the Xu family name had long been seized and liquidated to repay creditors. Even so, the debt Xu Qinghua left behind remained immense. On Xu Yao's current salary, repaying it was little more than a drop in the ocean—but she had never once considered defaulting.
The bankruptcy was not entirely Xu Qinghua's fault.
He had simply made a disastrous business decision. Before that, he had given Xu Yao an exceptionally comfortable life.
She had enjoyed the money her father earned; naturally, she should shoulder the debt he left behind. Even if Wen Yiyi had not come today to force her stance, Xu Yao had long since made up her mind.
"Don't worry," Xu Yao said evenly. "I won't let Uncle Wen help us repay the debt."
Wen Yiyi did not believe her at all. Her face twisted with mockery. "And what are you using as a guarantee? Fine words cost nothing. Once your mother marries into the Wen family, she'll whisper into my father's ear again and again. Once, twice—countless times. Sooner or later, he'll soften."
What Wen Yiyi wanted was not an empty promise. She wanted Xu Yao to have enough shame to stop Lin Meixian from marrying into the Wen family.
She could not understand why her father, Wen Zhicheng, insisted on marrying a woman well past her prime.
She had argued with him. The man who had always doted on his daughter refused to change his mind.
Old grudges piled upon new ones. From childhood, Xu Yao had stolen the spotlight; now she was stealing her father too. Wen Yiyi vented her fury without restraint.
Xu Yao glanced down at her watch. The timing was right. As expected, her phone rang.
She answered it. "Uncle Wang, you've arrived? I've been waiting for you."
"Xu Yao!"
Wen Yiyi slammed her hand on the table. "I'm talking to you. Stop dodging reality!"
Xu Yao ended the call and looked at her seriously. "I'm not avoiding anything. I'm addressing your concern."
Wen Yiyi was bewildered. A middle-aged man entered the café, and Xu Yao stood up to greet him.
"Uncle Wang, thank you for coming all this way."
The man frowned. "Making the trip isn't the issue. But are you really going to sign a new IOU with me? You're only twenty-five. Your life has barely begun. What ability do you have to repay your father's debt?"
Wen Yiyi was stunned.
What did this mean? Was Xu Yao planning to repay the debt on her father's behalf?
She suspected a performance—but she recognized this Mr. Wang. He was indeed one of the Xu family's creditors.
Faced with his doubts, Xu Yao did not offer lofty guarantees. She spoke with stark practicality.
"Uncle Wang, I don't currently have the means to repay everything, but I'm willing to acknowledge the debt. You know all of the Xu family's assets have already been used to repay creditors. If I don't take responsibility for my father's debt, there's nothing you can do to me. Year after year, the money he owes you will become bad debt. Is that what you want?"
That a child repays a parent's debt is a moral expectation, not a legal obligation.
The Xu family's bankruptcy had been absolute. Xu Yao had not inherited a single cent, and the creditors had no legal means to force her to repay Xu Qinghua's debts. The same applied to Lin Meixian; her assets had also been fully executed.
Whether to accept Xu Yao's new IOU was entirely up to Mr. Wang.
In the end, he signed it.
He was the first. Soon came the second, the third… Xu Yao signed new IOUs with each creditor, offering the same reasoning.
She laid the stack of IOUs before Wen Yiyi.
"Is your concern resolved now? Every debt my father left will be repaid by me. Even if my mother marries Uncle Wen, the Wen family won't be asked to fill this hole. If you don't believe me, take out your phone and record what I'm saying. If I ever go back on my word, play it back and shame me publicly."
Wen Yiyi was utterly blindsided.
After a moment of silence, she sneered again, her superiority intact. "If the Wen family won't pay, are you planning to have the Shen family do it instead? Xu Yao, you really are something—latching onto Shen Yan so early."
The Shen family was one of the most prominent households in Nancheng, and Shen Yan was Xu Yao's fiancé.
If the Shen family were willing, they certainly had the means to settle the debt.
Three years after the Xu family's collapse, Shen Yan had never left Xu Yao. Clearly, he loved her deeply. Wen Yiyi's suspicion was not unfounded; perhaps even creditors like Mr. Wang thought the same. That might well be why they were willing to sign new IOUs—once Xu Yao married into the Shen family, repayment would be possible.
Xu Yao had no intention of wasting more time. Wen Yiyi, a sheltered heiress, did not need to work. Xu Yao had taken half a day off; if she stayed any longer, her pay would be docked.
"Whether I have 'methods' or not is none of your concern. Your worry has been resolved. You have no reason to oppose my mother's marriage to Uncle Wen anymore."
With that, she signaled the server for the bill.
The Xu family may have fallen, but Xu Yao's spine had not broken. She would not take advantage of Wen Yiyi in the slightest.
Watching Xu Yao's slender, graceful figure disappear, Wen Yiyi let out a cold laugh.
"Shen Yan may love you, but his parents aren't fools. I don't believe they'd ever agree to let him repay your debts."