Jasper replied calmly, “Sure, if that’s what you wish.”
Elated, Jasper’s aunt began to praise him. “Look at you, so forgiving, surely befitting of a man who has made it in the city. You’ve got to learn more from Jasper, Bard.”
“Yes, of course. I’ll definitely follow him so I can learn more.”
Bard smiled as he nodded and bowed.
Jasper frowned. “Follow me? What are you trying to say?”
His aunt quickly replied, “Bard is your cousin, Jasper. Now that you’ve established your own company, you need to have someone on your side to look after it, don’t you? I think Bard’s a perfect choice.”
Bard patted his chest. “Don’t worry, Jasper. I’ll make sure to keep a close eye on your company. I’ll make sure not even a burglar gets in.”
Jasper finally understood what this family’s intentions were and replied, “My company isn’t hiring, nor do I need you to go and watch over it.”
Bard was an idler, and there was nothing Bard had that he could be proud of—from his educational background to his abilities and his character. Jasper, who had never liked the idea of a family business to begin with, would be crazy to allow Bard into his company.
Hearing that, Jasper’s aunt’s expression shifted, but she forced her smile to stay on her face. “Haha, is that so? Then there’s no point in forcing anything.
“Think about it, Jasper. You’ve gotten rich now, haven’t you? You shouldn’t forget about your elders, then. I want to build a house, and it’s not easy financially. How about you give us several tens of thousands of dollars?”
Instead of ‘lend’, she had told Jasper to ‘give’. Not even Wendy could bear to see the utter shamelessness of this family, but she forced herself to remain silent.
“My money doesn’t come dropping from the sky either.”
Jasper replied indifferently, “Not to mention that I’ve already repaid the money we owe you with interest. I don’t have that much money.”
Jasper’s aunt was done being polite as Jasper did not seem willing to listen to anything. “I’m still your elder, Jasper. Be grateful that I’m even talking to you nicely.
“You think that because you’re earning money you can look down on your poor relatives? You’re going overboard here.”
“Of course, I wouldn’t look down on you. My family used to be even poorer,” Jasper refuted without restraint, “But the situation matters too. Just because I’ve made money, you’re shimmying up to me so that you can get a taste of it? What kind of relative are you? Who do you think you are?”
Jasper’s words had turned the atmosphere awkward.
Easily ashamed, Sally wanted to persuade Jasper but a glare from Charlie stopped her.
“Don’t placate him blindly. Jasper’s right.”
Charlie’s words killed the thought from Sally’s mind.
With a wretched expression, Jasper’s aunt yelled cruelly, “I’m still your aunt and your elder no matter how you look at it, Jasper. How can you talk to me like that? Do you think that just because you’re making money you’re better than us?
“You’re just making a fool of yourself. The village will talk behind your back! Is that what you want?”
Jasper replied in annoyance, “Let them say what they want, I don’t care. The truth of the situation is very obvious here, whether I’m the one being cruel or if you’re just asking for too much.
“Basically, I don’t have money to give you, and if you want a job, go look for one yourself. Go home, you’re delaying my family dinner. I’ve already given you what I owe, so stop bothering me.”
Bard and his mother paled in humiliation and anger before she suddenly wailed madly. It was as if she wanted the entire village to hear her.
“What an outstanding person you are now, huh, Jasper? You’re even scolding your own aunt now! Do you think that just because you’re making money now you don’t need to respect your elders?”
Jasper’s aunt was wailing louder by the second. Charlie got up and stared at the hoe behind the door intently.
“Keep wailing and I’ll kill you. You think I won’t?”
Bard and his mother’s expression changed. He immediately pulled his mom away. “Let’s go first, Mom. I’d like to see just how much longer they can be so full of themselves.”
Jasper was expressionless as he watched the family flee.
“Do you know how my dad managed to borrow that 10,000 from them at the beginning, Wendy?”
Naturally, Wendy shook her head in response.
“Haha.”
Jasper scoffed. “My dad used our cow as a mortgage and was even forced to cut 20% of our farm’s land. They call it lending, but they might as well have stolen it!
“My dad had never begged anyone before in his entire life, but he begged them for three days for my sake and got humiliated in those three days.”
Wendy turned to look at Charlie and Sally who were quiet before turning to Jasper and speaking sincerely, “You’ve got to repay your parents for all they’ve done, Jasp.”
…
At Jasper’s house.
The family was too poor to have actual furniture, so they could only let Wendy sit on the long bench with embarrassed looks on their faces.
It was a familiar sight when Jasper had brought Penelope back.
The only difference was that Penelope would have an expression of distaste and refused to even enter the house, opting to stand outside the door as if entering the house would infect her with diseases.
Wendy, however, was completely different.
For starters, she was way more beautiful than Penelope, and she was not deterred by the family’s poor condition at all. Instead, she kept talking to Jasper’s parents and addressed them closely as Sally and Charlie.
While comparing the two, Sally breathed a breath of relief.
This girl was pretty and understanding, a million times better than Penelope.
It would be a blessing to have such a daughter-in-law.
Sally relayed what had happened, as well as Wendy’s identity as Jasper’s ‘friend’ to Charlie.
The man’s eyes were glued to the Bentley outside when Wendy suddenly spoke to him.
“Everything I said just now is the truth, Uncle Charlie. Jasper really is making money now and it’s all thanks to his hard work. Please don’t misunderstand.”
Charlie, whose expression was usually one of solemnness, gave a rare and slightly embarrassed smile as he replied unnaturally, “Oh, that’s good. That’s good.”
He no longer showed a temper nor had the urge to hit people with a hoe, unlike back in the village chief’s house.
His reaction now stemmed from being nervous, just like how Sally acted before.
After replying to Wendy, Charlie then looked at Jasper.
He reverted back to the grim and strict father figure.
“It’s good that you’re making money now, and if you can, repay the debts our family owes. Excluding the 30,000 just now, we still owe a few other relatives 50,000.”
Jasper nodded. “I brought the money. I’ll pay them all back today.”
“Good.” Charlie nodded and fell silent.
He remained silent and did not ask Jasper how he was making money or what he was doing now.
The father-son duo did not know what to say.
“Let’s eat first. I’ll go kill a chicken,” Sally stood up and suggested.
“I’ll come with you, Sally,” Wendy suggested dotingly.
“No, no, you sit here. You don’t need to help out.” Pleased with Wendy, Sally quickly refused her.
