Taming The Tiger

28. He Knew It?!

70.000!

Additional 70.000 yuan of debt! Without the interest!

Yu Hua crumpled the paper with his father's signature and shook the sleeping man harshly.

"What?" his father snorted groggily, still feeling hungover.

70.000?! How can you do this?!" he threw the paper on his father's mattress angrily and Yu Lan woke up as well.

Mr. Yu rubbed his eyes and flattened the paper nonchalantly. Yu Lan also leaned forward to see the content of the paper.

"It is not like 700.000, why are you acting like this?"

Yu Hua could only gape, was he serious?

Hitting his chest repeatedly, he cried out "are you kidding me? I am working my ass to death to clear your debt!!! How can you be like this?! Do you hate me this much?!"

Mr. Yu jumped on his feet, "is it how you thank me to raise you two up?! I could throw you out but no! I raised you!"

"I wished you threw us out!" Yu Hua yelled back with angry tears in his eyes and that shushed his father. Collecting himself a bit, he turned his face to Yu Lan, "after your class, you will come home immediately and you two will look for another part time job for father."

Yu Lan jumped on his feet, "I can't, I will meet-"

"NO YOU WON'T!" Yu Hua snapped at him, "either you will find a part time job and give half of the money you earn to me or you will help father to find one."

"Don't you have any shame?" Mr. Yu shook his head with disgust, "do you want this old man to die by overwork?"

"No, I don't," Yu Hua replied coldly, "I don't even have time to sleep because of your debt, but you have no pity for me. I won't give you a single yuan for this 70.000 of debt!"

Mr. Yu left the house while Yu Lan yelled, "it is father's fault! Why do I have to be punished?!"

"Then what is my fault?" Yu Hua challenged him, "do I have to suffer this much alone? Can't you help me a bit?"

"He is your father!"

"What does it mean?" Yu Hua asked, confused, "he is also your father."

"No he is not! Stop lying!"

Yu Hua froze on his spot, "how do you know?" he asked with his crazily beating heart. For eighteen years, he thought they did a good job to hide it from Yu Lan, but now...

Yu Lan gave him a bittersweet smile, "father talks a lot when he is drunk," he shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal, "at first I didn't believe him, but then I pulled out some further information from him, and I found mother."

"Don't call her mother, she left us," Yu Hua almost begged his brother, "Yu Lan, look-"

"It is okay," Yu Lan cut him off, raking his long bangs, "I know you hid it to protect me, but now I feel my life could be better with my mother."

"She left us, Lan Lan."

"But she says she regrets doing so!" the younger man grabbed his brother's arms, "she says we can go to Germany to live with her. She has a good life-"

"No way!" Yu Hua reversed the grip. Now, he was holding his brother's arms, "she will only make you sad. She doesn't love us, she left us years ago!"

"Maybe we should take the risk to learn."

"Lan Lan, plase. Do you really want to leave me?"

"You are nice, but we will never have a good life here, ge, so let's go together."

Yu Hua shook his head, "I will never see that woman."

"I see," Yu Lan nodded, "let's talk about it later, I am getting late to class."

When Yu Lan finished dressing up and left, Yu Hua was still standing on his spot with a doleful expression. He felt like all his struggle, all his effort was in vain... as if he couldn't achieve anything in life and the world never claimed him...

He couldn't understand how, but he managed to show up on the set on time and he did a hell of a good job as his scene was sitting on a bar stool and crying his heart out. Easy-peasy as he was used to doing it for free. Even the hostile director cried with him and thought he could win an Oscar with that heart-shattering performance.

When Yu Hua returned to the dressing room, he saw there were two messages in his phone. Yu Lan, with his remaining conscience, wrote to him that he would go with father to look for another job. He replied with an okay emoji, that was easy. However, the other message came from the CEO.

[Meet me at 7 in front of the company.] -HJY

Although he had no enthusiasm to see the CEO, he couldn't say no for the third time. Hu Jing Yao even came to his workplace and asked him when his shift was over so that he could take him home. Of course Yu Hua declined the offer, but it was a kind and sincere offer nonetheless.

[As you wish, Mr. Hu.] -YH

The actor typed, hoping it was something trivial, not... you know, and decided to go home for a quick shower and change of clothes. With great timing, when Yu Hua was ready to leave the set, Ming Lei gave him a call, saying he was at the cafe near the set. With great luck, the smaller man gave him his house key so that he could take a hot shower, yet he couldn't accompany him to the house. With great coincidence, Jing Yong entered the cafe with the couple scarf, just like Ming Lei wearing his.

"Have a good date," Yu Hua wished them and left the cafe with a tiny smile on his lips.