"Auntie, Daddy bought me a big car."
"A very, very big car....."
After dinner, the little foodie Xixi, while rubbing her round belly, boasted to her aunt.
"Really?"
"How big is it?"
Li Manni thought Xixi was talking about a toy car. She scanned the room but didn't see any trace of a car.
"This big..."
Xixi stretched out her arms as far as she could and said, "Daddy and I even put the Peppa Pig Family stickers on it."
"Uhh, a real car?"
Li Manni looked towards Yang Hao, who was clearing the table.
"Yeah, it's always inconvenient without a car. Later, I'll drive you back to school and take Xixi out for a spin..."
He couldn't hide the fact that he was wealthy again, and he had no intention of keeping it from Li Manni.
"Oh, okay."
Li Manni nodded gently, her eyes full of confusion. She knew about her brother-in-law's situation. The previous house was sold, with half of the money going to her sister and the other half used to pay off debts. It seemed that it still wasn't enough.
Actually, the brother-in-law could have used all the money from the house sale to pay off debts and then split the remainder evenly, but to gain custody of Xixi, he chose to compromise.
Because under the current circumstances, if the court were to decide, it was highly likely that they would grant custody to Li Manshu. The child was young, she was the mother, and she had a stable job—all these were advantageous factors.
Li Manni also knew that the house was sold for 2.9 million, 1.1 million was used to pay off the bank loan, leaving 1.8 million to be split evenly between them, giving each person 900,000. Yang Hao's share was used to pay off debts, while her sister's 900,000 seemed to be for buying a new home; she didn't know the details as they hadn't been in touch recently.
So, the custody of Xixi was essentially something that her brother-in-law had bought from her sister for hundreds of thousands of yuan, and her sister even added the condition of not paying child support, which Yang Hao also agreed to.
The things Li Manshu did can be summed up in four words: abandoning husband and daughter!
And because of this, Li Manni was utterly disappointed in her sister; she had never imagined her sister could be so cold and selfish.
"My financial situation has indeed improved, but the reasons are a bit complicated. I'll tell you slowly when there's time."
"In any case, from now on, you don't need to worry about me and Xixi making a living."
While Li Manni was washing dishes in the kitchen, Yang Hao approached her and volunteered an explanation.
"Mmm, that's good news."
Li Manni nodded and smiled, "Now you won't have to work so hard delivering food every day."
Actually, Li Manni was a bit worried about her brother-in-law's job as a food delivery worker; about half a month earlier, a Kangaroo delivery person had been hit by a car and killed while running a red light on an electric scooter to save time. The family sued Kangaroo Company for compensation, but Kangaroo said that the courier violated traffic regulations themselves, and was only willing to offer tens of thousands of yuan in condolence money.
At that time, she also went to interview the family of the victim. The Kangaroo courier who was killed was about the same age as Yang Hao, and his child was only seven years old.
Li Manni still couldn't forget the image of the small boy holding his father's portrait and weeping bitterly. That night, she even had a nightmare.
In the dream, her brother-in-law Yang Hao had become the victim, with Xixi holding her and crying non-stop, and her sister was trying to claim compensation from Kangaroo....
Now that the brother-in-law didn't need to deliver food, she could finally let go of the constant worry she had held.
"Manni, go and teach Xixi English."
"I'll take care of the kitchen."
Throughout university, Li Manni had studied very hard. In addition to the English she was already proficient in, she also took elective courses in Japanese and French, achieving fluency in both.
And it was time for Xixi to start learning English. Every time Li Manni came to the house, she would teach her some simple words and conversation.
"Okay."
Li Manni washed her hands and then took off the apron tied around her. She was wearing a black turtleneck sweater that was rather thin and form-fitting. Without the apron, her curvaceous figure was fully revealed.
Yang Hao's gaze lingered for a moment before he hurriedly looked back at the kitchen sink.
The impression of the little girl, truly, had grown up before he knew it...
"Brother-in-law, let me tie the apron for you."
Li Manni quickly tied the apron she had removed from herself around Yang Hao's waist, creating a rather delicate bow at the back.
The pink cartoon apron fit Li Manni just right, but on Yang Hao, it had a comical effect, as if a father had secretly worn his daughter's clothes.
Li Manni found the scene amusing and made a point of grabbing her cell phone to snap a photo before she stepped to the kitchen doorway.
Yang Hao wasn't too concerned about his appearance; instead, he was drawn to the faint lingering fragrance on the apron.
Strangely, Li Manni had been bustling about in the kitchen wearing that apron for quite a while, and it should have smelled of cooking fumes, but Yang Hao didn't catch a whiff of that. Instead, it was the faint, soothing fragrance that kept wafting into his nostrils.
This scent wasn't like perfume, often found on pretty girls—it would be an exaggeration to call it a body scent, but it was that kind of smell that felt very comfortable to smell.
So there's some truth to the saying that pretty girls always smell nice.
After tidying up the kitchen, Yang Hao returned to the living room.
In fact, in this one-room apartment, the living room and bedroom were combined.
The dining table from earlier had now been transformed into a study desk, with Li Manni teaching Xixi English.
However, having eaten too much just before, the little foodie was feeling rather sleepy, and Auntie Li Manni would occasionally flick her gently on the head to keep her awake.
Yang Hao didn't disturb the two and picked up his phone to discover that he had several unread WeChat messages.
Most of them were from Wei Facai. Earlier that morning, Yang Hao had repaid him fifty thousand yuan, and upon waking up and seeing this, Wei Facai had sent an inquiring message to Yang Hao. After reading it, Yang Hao had rushed to take Xixi to school and forgot to reply, and then he completely forgot about it.
Wei Facai was probably off work by now, and seeing no response from Yang Hao, he had sent several more messages.
Unable to go into details about the origin of the money, Yang Hao simply said that his family's old house was being relocated.
Indeed, there had always been talk of relocating the house where Yang Hao's parents lived, but it had never happened; given the current property market downturn, it was even less likely to happen, but it made a good excuse.
Sure enough, Wei Facai immediately sent a "Bullshit" emoji and rattled off some things about how Li Manshu must be regretting now; as a good brother, Wei Facai was quite indignant on Yang Hao's behalf.
Besides Wei Facai's messages, there were also a few from Zhang Guilin. She had sent her business card, saying that the person on it was her niece and suggested that since she was a girl, Yang Hao should take the initiative.
A little while later, she messaged again to ask if Yang Hao had added her...
Surely a tsundere leftover woman of a certain age!
Actually, Yang Hao had anticipated this when Zhang Guilin said she would recommend her niece to add him on WeChat.
To not disappoint Mrs. Zhang's kindness, Yang Hao took the initiative and added her recommended contact.
The person's nickname was in English: Alisa
In recent years, having an English name seemed trendy. However, the hairdressing industry, almost single-handedly, pushed down the tide of English naming—a contribution to cultural confidence.
Helplessly, you come up with an English name, Tony, after much thought,
Only to discover at the hair salon that you share the same name as your hairstylist!
Talk about awkward...
This Alisa quickly approved the friend request, then sent a message: "Are you Mr. Yang? Introduced by my second aunt?"
"Yes, Mrs. Zhang introduced me," Yang Hao replied.
Alisa: Then let's just go through the formalities.
Alisa: Do you have a house?
Yang Hao: No
Alisa: Do you have a car?
Yang Hao: Yes
Alisa: What brand?
Yang Hao: BYD
Alisa: I'll tell my second aunt that we're not suitable, hope you can cooperate.
Yang Hao: Okay.
The blind date concluded, crisp and clear.