"Grandma, pinch me. Pinch me right now! Or wait. Is this some kind of prank on my birthday? If it is a prank then it's not funny at all," grumbled Harry.
"It's not a prank at all. I'm giving you my inheritance. You'll be going to college soon. I know you got in through your merit at the Rising Sun College. But a little money won't hurt, will it?"
"You call this little? Holy cow! Grandmother, I always thought you had a pot of gold buried somewhere but I didn't know that the entire country is your pot of gold!"
Harry was still clutching the document and scanning the details over and over again. It seemed like every time she look at the document again she found new source of wealth.
" Little Harry, you are embarrassing me. Even your mother doesn't know about it. So, it's best if you keep it as a secret from your mother and your Ren family. If they ask you where you got your money. You know the drill."
"Yes, yes, grandma gave me a little red envelope. I know. But grandma, your little envelope this time is not LITTLE at all. Where did you get all this money from?"
Harry was now eying her with suspicion.
"Oh my, don't you look at me like I'm some criminal. Other grandchildren would be hugging their grandmother right now for this kind of gift. But you stand there and cross-examine me as if I robbed a bank or something. Hmmph!"
Harry couldn't help but feel helpless. She walked towards her grandmother and hugged her. She always liked the smell of her grandmother. It was the only comforting thing in the world. It smelt of roses, her grandmother's favourite flower.
"Oh grandma, if you didn't look old I would suspect that you are a little mischievous kid. But seriously grandma, even if you rob a bank it's not enough. You have to rob the entire nation's banks to have money like this. Honestly, grandma, are we in trouble? Are you hiding from the law? Are we escaping and leaving the country?'
Harry's voice was becoming more and more excited as she starts to imagine scene after scene in her mind.
"Silly child. Keep your imagination to yourself. I have always been rich. If I flaunted my wealth won't I have your mother and your entire family at my doorstep with excessively sweet grins saying grandmother this and that. No. I will not have sycophants near me."
"But grandma, aren't I a sycophant too? I also smile sweetly at you and ask for money now and then always?" she teased.
"Yes, yes, my little chicken. Now, I have made some credit cards for you to use while you are away in college. I know you're leaving this week. You must do this grandma proud. I know your mother doesn't know about your selection and she may also be against it. But if she continues to be stubborn, just leave that house. I have also given you a building in Sector 7 near your college. Just live there. No need to live that shit-hole."
"Aye-aye, grandma. And grandma, mind your language. I'm still a minor," Harry giggled.
After leaving her grandmother's house, she went back to her father's house. As she was now rich and as grandmother had even given her a house in Sector 7 she was ready to move out.
Her father was angry when she said that she was accepted into the Rising Sun College.
"And you expect me to pay for your college fees? Just because you are one of my children doesn't mean that you can do whatever you like. Just go to our local college like everyone else. Why do you need to go to an expensive college like that? Your sister and brother, at least, they are better in studies than you. They deserve to be in good colleges unlike you," said Ren Jing.
"Yes, dear, you are right. He does not need to go to such an expensive college. Listen, Harry, be obedient and listen to your father," her mother chimed in.
She was expecting this reaction from her parents. It was always like this. Anything that she wanted to do was always shot down like this by her parents. Her father treats her like this thinking that she was a son. If he finds out that she was not a son but a daughter instead, she won't even be getting a room to herself. And this she was sure of it.
"I'm on scholarship. And grandma said she'd help me too."
"Your grandmother cannot keep on supporting you. She's old and she cannot keep on indulging your wild aspirations," her mother interjected.
"Let him go if he wants to. He is already an embarrassment being at home. Let him go embarass himself elsewhere. Thank God our other son is not like him. Feng-er is far better than this walking trash of a son."
Harry cringed when her father said this. She should be already used to this but it still hurt. But at least, her father had agreed. Even though it was to get rid of her but all the same she was going to be free from this "shit-hole" like her grandma said.
After making arrangements for her departure, she was finally ready to leave this "shit-hole".