Girlfriend's face, just like this October's weather, changes in an instant.
One second it's a cloudless clear sky, the next second dark clouds press down on the city, a storm is brewing.
"Chen Cheng! Where is your money? Where is it!"
Chen Cheng looked at Zhang Qianqian's face, distorted with anger, the familiar her seemed like a stranger now.
During this period, he left the house in a suit and leather shoes as usual but didn't go to the company, instead, he started driving a rideshare.
He thought of toughing it out for a while, driving while looking for a new job.
But the impact of AI technology on quantitative trading is significant.
In terms of trading efficiency, risk control, trading strategies, and labor costs, it made the soon-to-be thirty-year-old's resumes sink like stones.
Moreover, with the creditors from his grandfather's life continuously approaching him for money, the endless calls and messages every day left him overwhelmed and tired of coping.
Until today, when Chen Cheng paid off the last external debt of seven thousand yuan.
"I paid off the debts for Grandpa." he said truthfully.
"What? You paid off his debts? What were you thinking?! He's dead now, he didn't leave you a single penny, why would you pay off his debts!"
Indeed, not a single penny was left.
But Grandpa Zhai Tiansheng left him Wanbao Hall, valued at more than two million yuan.
However, the property is now pledged to Zhai Tiansheng's good friend, Jin Baogen, but still in Chen Cheng's name.
Chen Cheng had always been aware of this, but Zhang Family's mother and daughter thought that the house had been sold.
He said, "Grandpa is gone, but I need to protect his reputation, right? I can't let people curse him at his grave."
"He's your grandpa, not mine! What does it have to do with me?" Zhang Qianqian shouted hysterically.
"Are you even speaking like a human? Didn't he give you a gold necklace when you first met him? Wasn't he also good to you, giving you red envelopes?"
Zhang Qianqian raised her neck, "I don't care! Go get the money back for me now, immediately, at once!"
Watching her unreasonable behavior, Chen Cheng really doubted whether the caring and gentle Zhang Qianqian he first met had been stolen by someone.
"Chen Cheng, if you really gave the money to someone else, I really wouldn't dare to let Qianqian marry you!"
The speaker was Zhang Qianqian's mother—Wang Qingxiu.
"If you don't care about my daughter now, how could you value her in the future?" she continued to say.
"Grandpa repeatedly instructed me before his death that I must pay back whatever I owe others. Although he's gone now, I must fulfill my filial duty."
As soon as Chen Cheng finished speaking, Wang Qingxiu, with her wide-open mouth, made a chilling statement worse than the depths of winter:
"Stop giving me these excuses! He's a dead man, what filial piety can you display? I'm your future mother! Go get the money back now, or call off the marriage!"
Zhang Qianqian nodded repeatedly, "Right! Take out your phone! Call them one by one, get the money back! Otherwise, we're not getting married!"
Chen Cheng looked at the mother and daughter in front of him, feeling increasingly estranged.
He even started to doubt whether he had truly understood their nature.
He also put a huge question mark on this unregistered marital life.
"Then let's not get married." Chen Cheng finally saw clearly.
"Chen Cheng, dare you say that again?"
Chen Cheng spoke slowly and clearly, "I said, I won't marry. Did you hear clearly?"
This was the first time Wang Qingxiu had heard Chen Cheng speak such rebellious words since their acquaintance, and she was infuriated, "Good! You heartless thing! I see you clearly now! You want to deny responsibility?"
"I'm heartless?"
Chen Cheng today truly saw the true colors of Zhang family people, he said:
"The wedding has to be at International Trade, I booked it. Wedding cars must be eight Audis, with a Rolls-Royce for the lead car, I booked those too."
"Now I'm using my own money to uphold Grandpa's last bit of dignity, without asking you for a penny. The words you say, the things you do, do you think you're still behaving like humans?"
"What's yours and mine? Aren't we getting married and the money would eventually be shared by us both?" Zhang Qianqian argued confidently.
"Ah, right!" Chen Cheng countered, "Well if you say the money is shared, shouldn't the debts be shared too? I've paid back 320,000 in total, let's split it in half!"
Zhang Qianqian stepped back, "Dream on!"
"Fine, you don't accept the debt. Now I'm unemployed, shouldn't you at least provide some financial support?" Chen Cheng questioned back.
With his words, Zhang family's mother and daughter instantly became defensive.
"Unemployed? You got fired?" Wang Qingxiu's face fell, very concerned about this issue.
Chen Cheng asked, "I have been unemployed for over two months, didn't you notice?"
"Then I definitely can't let Qianqian marry you!" Wang Qingxiu stood in front of Zhang Qianqian, "You little rascal, keeping such a big thing like unemployment from us, who knows what else you might hide in the future!"
"So this marriage really isn't happening!" Chen Cheng felt unprecedentedly exhilarated, "I'll go cancel the hotel and the car fleet right away! Luckily, I haven't sent out the wedding invitations yet!"
Zhang Qianqian shouted, "Who wants to marry you right now?! You have no money, no house, no job, do you really think you're so desirable?!"
She was already dragging Wang Qingxiu's arm, walking away, "Chen Cheng! Let me tell you, we're completely done! Don't you dare come to beg me!"
"Think you're plated with gold? I beg your pardon!" Chen Cheng saw the gold necklace on Zhang Qianqian's hand, yanked it off, held it in his hand, "You two get out of here right now!"
Watching their retreating figures, Chen Cheng's raised hand remained aloft for a long time.
Sorrow and relief intertwined in his already exhausted heart.
In that instant, Chen Cheng understood that the only thing that could enable him to hold his head high again and live the easy, comfortable life he dreamed of was hefty sums of money.
The fiery remnants of the sunset cast a golden layer on his lonely body.
Chen Cheng lowered his arm, looking at the gold necklace in his hand, he silently thought: "Money, I've paid off the debts, it's time for me to start my new life."
The next second, accompanied by the noise around, an exhilarating prompt sounded in his ears.
[Congratulations to the player for activating the Money Makes Money, Compound Interest game!]
[The game has started]
[Appreciation: The funds in all accounts under your name will receive daily interest at a rate of 5%, with settlements and distributions at 24:00 every day]
[Interest Increase: For every 1 million yuan spent, the daily interest rate increases by 0.01%, with no cap on accumulations]
[Current funds: 3,506]
[Current interest rate: 5%]
[Expenditure: 0/1,000,000]
[Tools: None]
Seeing the sudden panel appear in his mind, Chen Cheng knew that his time had truly arrived.