Lingering On and On

Chapter 2：The Unforeseen Trouble

On this day, Tong Yuling was at work when she suddenly received a call from her mother saying that her father had lost money again in stock gambling and that the consequences were very serious this time. So, she took half a day off and rushed home as quickly as possible. Sure enough, she saw her father, with graying temples, sitting dejectedly on the sofa.

After closing the door, Tong Yuling walked slowly to the front of the sofa, stared at her father thoughtfully, and finally couldn't help but complain, "Dad, how many times have I told you that gambling on stocks is a losing game most of the time. Why won't you listen?!"

"Xiaoling, I'm... I'm sorry!" Tong Kaijian raised his head, his face full of vicissitudes and depression, unable to hide his sense of shame.

"What's the use of saying sorry? You always say it won't happen again, but the facts prove... Oh!" Tong Yuling didn't want to be so aggressive towards her father, but this recurring disaster had really made her lose her patience and confidence. Suddenly, she felt very sad, not just for herself, but more for her mother. What is love? What is family affection? Perhaps, in her father's eyes, nothing was more important than gambling?!

"To ease your burden, your daughter gave up the great opportunity to upgrade from a junior college student to an undergraduate and resolutely went to work. But look at you. The salary your daughter earns in a month isn't even enough to cover the money you lost in just a few days of stock trading." Tong's mother's eyes were red, but she couldn't bear to see her husband being criticized by their children, so she changed the topic to finding a solution. "Tell us honestly, how much public funds of the company did you embezzle?"

Tong Kaijian hesitated for a moment and then held up two fingers. "Two hundred thousand yuan. There's a client in the company who has always been in the habit of delaying payment. Last week, I went to collect the payment from him. Unexpectedly, I got it smoothly. On my way back to the company, I happened to meet Ah Ping. He said there was a stock that was sure to make a profit. I thought I might as well use this money first and return it to the company immediately after making a profit. Who would have thought that within two days, the stock started to plummet!"

After hearing this, Tong Yuling was almost driven crazy. "You believed what Uncle Ah Ping said? Sure to make a profit? If he was that good, would his wife have run away with another man?"

"Ajian, I've told you long ago that we already have a house. With your salary and Xiaoling's salary, plus the money I occasionally earn from doing housekeeping for others, we can live a frugal life. There was no need for you to take risks in stock trading at all!" Tong's mother continued to sigh, and her wrinkled face looked even gloomier. She had thought that the hard times were finally over, but she didn't expect to encounter such an unexpected disaster again. Was she doomed to suffer all her life?

Looking at his wife's sad and resentful appearance, Tong Kaijian was extremely remorseful. He quickly took her hand and explained remorsefully, "I thought that if we made money, we could pay off the remaining mortgage on the house in one go, and Xiaoling could save some money for her dowry in the future. And you wouldn't have to always cook for others and endure their bad tempers."

When Tong's mother heard this, she was even more in a dilemma. She didn't know whether to scold him or not, so she could only continue to sigh sadly.

Tong Yuling watched this and was also filled with mixed feelings. No matter how wrong the person in front of her was, he was still her father after all, and his starting point was also for the sake of the family. Her agitated mood began to calm down, and she started to think about how to solve the problem. "Dad, of the two hundred thousand yuan, how much is left now? Also, when is the latest time you have to return this money to the company?"

Tong Kaijian thought for a while and replied, "If we sell the stocks now, we can only get back eighty thousand yuan. Originally, since this client has a record of delaying payment, it would be okay to explain to the company a week or two later. But it never rains but it pours. He's planning to bring a friend to the bank to borrow money the day after tomorrow. The bank system hasn't registered his repayment record for the last period yet, and they will definitely cancel his guarantor rights for this reason. So I must quietly fill in this money before the day after tomorrow, or it will definitely be exposed."

"I still have two thousand yuan in my savings account. I'll get my salary in a few days. After deducting social security and medical insurance, I should be able to scrape together five thousand yuan in total..." Tong Yuling was calculating.

"After deducting the mortgage payment for next month, there won't be much left of your five thousand yuan. Where can we get the remaining one hundred and twenty thousand yuan! We just paid back the money we borrowed from relatives for buying the house not long ago. If we go to borrow from them again now, they will definitely ask the reason. We don't want to air our dirty linen in public. Are we going to tell them that we're borrowing money to fill in the deficit of the public funds your father embezzled?!" Tong's mother looked at her daughter while tightly holding her husband's hand.

"Dad, how about... reporting this directly to the company? You can plead with the manager and say that you'll deduct the money slowly from your salary in the future. I'll also try to find a way. A colleague happened to introduce me to a part-time job today. I'll help you pay it back together. If necessary, I can find another part-time job." After thinking it over and over again, Tong Yuling reluctantly came up with the last solution.

Tong Yuzhe, the younger brother who had been silent beside them and was currently in his sophomore year of college, spoke up for the first time and volunteered, "I can also do part-time jobs on weekends."

"Mrs. Li on the eighth floor asked me to buy groceries and cook for her the day before yesterday. I was supposed to give her an answer tomorrow. Well, I'll tell her now that I'll take this job." Tong's mother also chimed in.

Looking at his wife and children who were working together with one heart, Tong Kaijian was almost moved to tears, but he still couldn't help but mention the obstacle. "In the past, maybe it would be okay to plead. But now, I'm afraid it won't work. Since Long Chase, the son of the big boss, took over, the entire banking institution has undergone major reforms. Not only is he cold-hearted himself, but even the newly hired department managers are also unyielding."

"Tell the manager the truth. If the manager is afraid of getting into trouble, ask him to arrange for you to meet Long Chase directly. You once said that the previous big boss was a very nice person and a philanthropist. So his son shouldn't be that bad!"

"I'll talk to Long Chase directly? I... I..." Tong Kaijian's face suddenly changed, and a vague figure with an icy temperament flashed through his mind.

Seeing this, Tong Yuling couldn't help but ask, "Dad, why are you reacting like this? Is he going to eat you up or something? Well, then I'll go and talk to him!"

"You?" Tong Kaijian was shocked again.

"You're so scared even before you go. What if you really faint on the spot when you see him?" Tong Yuling couldn't help but make a bad joke. Then she took her mother's arm and comforted her, "Mom, don't worry. It'll be okay! Everyone, don't worry either. We'll cross the bridge when we come to it. As long as our family works together, there's no difficulty we can't overcome!"

Tong's mother was still full of worry. Well, it was impossible to say that she wasn't worried.

Finally, after Tong Yuling's repeated persuasion, everyone put away their worries for the time being and got busy with their own things...