Chapter Forty-Six: Confronting the Second Aunt with Fury

When Aunt Yang spoke, nearly everyone present perked up their ears, waiting for Yang Xiaofan to answer. After all, everyone wanted to know how he had gone from being a poor boy to suddenly becoming so wealthy.

Yang Xiaofan smiled calmly.
“It’s nothing much. I opened an auction house out there, helping people sell their things.”
“An auction house? Can you really make that much money? How big is your auction house?”
“It’s not that big. The registered capital is a few hundred million.”
“Gasp! A... a few hundred million? Are you joking with us?”

The villager who said this was in for disappointment, because Yang Xiaofan didn’t even need to respond; the crowd had already begun to rebuke him.
“What do you know? Xiaofan drives a Ferrari! Of course his company is worth hundreds of millions—that’s perfectly normal.”
“Look at your narrow view. Xiaofan’s hundreds of millions are just like a few tens of thousands to us. He’s practically the God of Wealth descended to earth.”

Even his own wife gave him a hard slap on the back of his head.
“If you can’t speak properly, just stay quiet. Do you think you can talk nonsense about Xiaofan?”

After hitting him, his wife turned to Yang Xiaofan with a flattering smile,
“Xiaofan, don’t be angry. He doesn’t know how to read the room, doesn’t understand how capable you are.”

Yang Xiaofan shrugged with a smile, paying it no mind.

Aunt Yang continued,
“Xiaofan, now that you’re running such a big company, you must need people around you, right? We’re all real family. Your father and your uncle came from the same womb. You’re so capable—why not arrange a position for your uncle?”
‘Brothers in arms hunt tigers together, fathers and sons go to battle together. If anyone tries to trouble you in the future, with your uncle by your side, you’ll have a helping hand, won’t you?’

Yang Xiaofan had long anticipated this. Aunt Yang’s skin was thicker than most. Moreover, whether he wanted to or not, if he uttered even a syllable of consent, these villagers would swarm like starving leeches, desperately seeking positions and draining his resources.

Who was he?
Yang Xiaofan!
He wasn’t that foolish.

That was clearly impossible.

So Yang Xiaofan smiled again and said,
“Aunt, you’re right; family should be looked after. But let me ask, what’s my uncle’s educational background?”
“What? Educational background? You should know your uncle as well as I do—he graduated after second grade in primary school. But don’t worry, your uncle is sharp-minded. Who in the village doesn’t know how clever he is? He’s called ‘Little Zhuge’ for a reason!”

Yang Xiaofan couldn’t help but feel amused. He certainly knew how shrewd his uncle was. Back when their grandparents were young and capable, he had schemed to take so much money from them, so that his own family grew fat and prosperous. Then, when the grandparents aged and could no longer earn, he found every way to shift them to Yang Xiaofan’s home. Not only did he not provide any living expenses, he refused to pay for medicine when they fell ill. Most absurd of all, at the grandparents’ funeral banquet, he didn’t contribute a single cent; as soon as they were buried, he borrowed money from Yang Xiaofan’s father and still hadn’t repaid it. When it came to taking advantage, he was second to none in the entire village.

“Didn’t finish second grade? That’s a bit tricky. My auction house requires at least a university degree; otherwise, how would he operate a computer?”
“Then let him be security captain. Your company’s so big—you must have a security team. Make him captain, no need for much, just pay him eight or ten thousand a month.”

Yang Xiaofan’s face twitched hard. He’d seen Aunt Yang’s shamelessness many times, but faced with it directly, he realized there was always a thicker skin than before. A monthly salary of ten thousand—even many fresh college graduates wouldn’t get that, but she immediately demanded ten thousand.

Never mind the peaceful times, but his uncle was so old—could he even handle criminals as security captain? Was he going to protect the auction house, or was the auction house supposed to protect him?

“Our company is in the best financial building in northern Jiangsu. The property management already has its own security team—I don’t need to hire another.”
“Well, you should at least let your uncle earn a living.”
“Isn’t he doing well working on the construction site?”
“That was before, when you hadn’t made it. He had no choice but to work on the site. Now that you’re rich, can you forget your uncle?”
“Oh, so what Aunt means is, I should find a way to pay my uncle, right?”

“What pay or no pay, we’re family. You eat meat, let him drink some soup. Isn’t that just a matter of you lifting a finger?”
“But back when my family had no money, I never saw my uncle give us any soup.”

Yang Xiaofan retorted bluntly,
“All these years, you squeezed so much money from Grandpa and Grandma, and when they couldn’t earn, you left them to us. Didn’t they need money for food and medicine? Uncle never gave us any soup. My grandparents’ funeral expenses were all paid by us, and Uncle took all the leftover funds and still hasn’t returned them. You’ve sucked the marrow out of our bones, and now you want to boil my bones for soup? Isn’t that a bit heartless?”

His words set the whole village pointing fingers at Aunt Yang.
“That’s right, your family has been so stingy for years—how could you treat Xiaofan’s family like that? Now you see Xiaofan is rich, and you have the nerve to claim kinship? Have some shame!”
“Aunt Yang, go home. Don’t embarrass yourself here.”

Aunt Yang’s face flushed red; she wished she could find a hole to crawl into. She glared fiercely at Yang Xiaofan, stamped her foot,
“Fine! Fine! Fine! So you’re schooling me now that you’re successful, huh? It’s just a bit of money—who cares? From now on, our families are no longer relatives!”

With that, she turned and left, carrying the wine and yogurt she’d brought. The whole village burst into laughter, while Yang Jiachen blushed and apologized to Yang Xiaofan,
“Cousin, I’m sorry. My mother has gone too far these years.”
Yang Xiaofan waved it off; he always focused on the issue, not the person.
“It’s not your fault. Go study hard. If you’re ever successful, you’re welcome to visit me in northern Jiangsu anytime.”
“Thank you, cousin.”

Yang Jiachen bowed to Yang Xiaofan, then hurried off after his mother.

With Aunt Yang handled, the other villagers, knowing they had no chance of being favored, offered a few polite words and went their own ways. The Yang family gradually returned to peace.

But just as the villagers left, another figure hurriedly strode into the house.