Before the thug called Tiger Brother could get mad, Wang Yi's son, Wang Shoudi, was already losing it. "500 yuan? Are you sending me off with a beggar's share?" he shouted. "Hurry up and get the money! I know the house deed is with you, sell it!"
"What will you do if I sell the house? Who's going to leave it for you to get a wife?" Wang Yi responded calmly.
Wang Shoudi scoffed. "Sell it, just sell it! Who cares about your shabby house? There are new developments around, and they look pretty good. Sell the house, pay off Tiger Brother, and you'll still have some left over. Use that to pay the down payment for a 120-square-meter place."
Wang Yi looked troubled. "Son, loans are fine, but what about the monthly payments? You don't even have a proper job. You won't be able to pay them, and the bank will take the house back!"
Wang Shoudi wasn't concerned. "Don't worry about that! I heard there are brick movers and steelworkers at the construction site, and they earn 5-6,000 yuan a month. You're only 55 this year. You can pay 50,000 yuan a year, and in 10 years, you'll have enough to buy that big house. Hurry up, do as I say. Otherwise, I'll be a bachelor all my life with that crap house! Do you want to see grandchildren? That's just a dream!"
The people around them snickered. I had tried pulling Jiang Shiyu away at least three times, but this time, I couldn't stop her. She pushed me aside and angrily confronted Wang Shoudi. "What kind of son are you? Your father's already so old, and you want him to go work as a steelworker? Don't you know how exhausting that job is? Your father came all the way back with a broken leg to take care of you, and this is how you talk to him? Is this how a human behaves?"
Wang Shoudi looked her up and down, his eyes briefly flashing with something lewd. But under Jiang Shiyu's glare, that glance disappeared almost instantly.
"Enough, enough!" Wang Yi stepped in between us, trying to calm things down. "It's fine, it's fine. I can still work. My son's right, the house is falling apart anyway. It should be sold."
"You're crazy! What if you can't work anymore? Can he support you?" Jiang Shiyu shot back.
Wang Shoudi raised his hands dismissively. "I can't even support myself, how can I support him?" he sneered.
Wang Yi tried to defend him. "It's okay, as long as he's doing well. It's my fault, I didn't make enough money for him. If I gave him more, he wouldn't be in debt, and I wouldn't need him to take care of me."
"Old fool, is that even something a person would say?" his son muttered leisurely.
"You…" Jiang Shiyu's eyes were red with anger.
I grabbed her and tried to calm her down. "Don't get too worked up, there's no way to deal with this."
Wang Yi, desperate, said, "Apprentice, can you lend me some money? We've been together for so long, we don't need to say it out loud. Plus, I can see that this girl likes you. I won't introduce my son to her."
"Pah, I'd rather die than go with him," Jiang Shiyu retorted with disgust. However, seeing Wang Yi's pitiful state, the old man who could control ghosts and demons but was reduced to this, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
Jiang Shiyu reluctantly dug out a wad of money from her bag and tossed it at Wang Yi. "This is just because I pity you. I don't believe in spoiling children like this," she said. Then she pulled me away. "Zhang Dabao, let's go. I can't stand it anymore."
As we walked out of the hospital, I called out to Wang Yi, "If you need anything, just call me. You saved my life, and we have the master-apprentice bond. I'll help however I can."
Once we were outside and in the Jeep, Jiang Shiyu was still fuming, her chest rising and falling with frustration. "How can a person be like that? I've never seen such an awful son. His father is so old, and he still asks him to carry bricks! I'm just speechless!"
"Don't get too worked up. Everyone has their fate," I sighed.
Suddenly, Jiang Shiyu turned to me and locked eyes. "If everyone has their fate... then... do you like me?"