Sally went to make dinner with a happy chuckle.
Wendy turned to Jasper with a proud look.
Jasper chuckled. ‘This woman’s getting cuter by the second.’
…
Dinner consisted of chicken, a few vegetable dishes, and soup.
Jasper and his family sat around the dining table. The atmosphere had lightened greatly and Wendy was no longer as nervous as she was before. In fact, she began to actively lighten the mood.
Charlie spoke more now that Wendy was here, and he would ask her some questions from time to time.
The lady was smart, for she did not tell the whole story. Instead, she merely said that her family did business and she worked for Commercial Bank.
As far as ordinary families were concerned, a lady with such a family background was the most suitable for their son.
Not to mention that Wendy was a beautiful lady, and both Sally and Charlie were extremely pleased with her.
Jasper drank with Charlie and said, “Dad, these years… I’ve troubled the two of you too much.”
Charlie did not even raise his head. “What are you talking about? It’s part of our life as your parents.”
Jasper chuckled bitterly. “I’ve broken up with Penelope already.”
Wendy’s ears immediately perked up at the topic.
“That’s good, then.” Charlie was pleased. “This girl is way better than Penelope.”
“Wendy and I are still getting to know each other. We haven’t gotten together yet. But it’s only a matter of time before we do.”
“Come back with us tonight, Dad. I bought a new house, we can live together,” Jasper suggested.
“No.”
Charlie declined without much thought.
“I can’t be as free in the city as in the village,” Charlie explained.
Jasper insisted, saying, “I bought a few villas in the city a while ago. The two of you can live in one together. There’s even a garden by the side where you can plant vegetables and flowers. It’s all up to you.”
Charlie fell silent.
“I know that you and Mom have sacrificed a lot for me, Dad. I know that you’ve been keeping silent about how Penelope mistreated you just because I liked her. But it’s different now. I just want the two of you to be happy.”
Jasper was sincere.
“I’ll have your mom pack things up after dinner. Remember to pay the money back,” Charlie reminded.
“I won’t forget,” Jasper replied joyfully, “Not when the dignity of the Laine family is on the line.”
“Brat.” Charlie smiled and walked back into the house.
After dinner, Jasper brought Wendy along as he went to repay everyone his family owed money to.
Except for Bard’s family, most of his relatives pitied his family, so they were more grateful than resentful.
Jasper was clear when it came to these families. He would return 10,000 for every few thousand his family had borrowed, and 15,000 when they had borrowed 10,000.
It was not that Jasper did not want to give more, for the mere interest he earned a day with his wealth was more than the amount he repaid today.
It was just that people tended to take advantage of kindness.
He would only be planting seeds of hatred if he gave too much.
Having made his rounds, the entire village came to know that Charlie’s son had made it in the city. He was even so generous to repay the debts they owed. The entire village praised him.
Jasper returned home to find Charlie and his mom already packed and ready to go.
They only had a few clothes, so they were ready to leave at any time.
Locking the door, Jasper personally made a trip to the village chief’s house and asked him to watch over his plot of land. Jasper would not be so kind anymore if Bard’s family tried to take it from them again.
Jasper did not actually care about the plot of land, but he refused to let his aunt do as she wished. If she wanted it, then he would do everything to keep it from her.
Not to mention that this was something their ancestors had given to Charlie, so it could not be given away.
This was a matter of the Laine family’s dignity.
After taking care of everything, Jasper put his parents’ luggage into the trunk and left Laine Village, heading toward the city.
Sitting in the car, Sally touched here and there before she exclaimed, “This car is really comfortable. It must’ve cost a lot, didn’t it?”
Charlie held his words back, but his gaze was filled with admiration.
Jasper’s parents had never sat in a luxury car, so they did not know much about them, but whether cars of this caliber were comfortable or not could be felt the moment they sat inside.
Wendy smiled. “It’s not cheap, but it’s all your son’s hard-earned money.”
“It must’ve been difficult.” Sally’s heart ached for her son.
Wendy covered her mouth and smiled before turning to look at Jasper intently as the other drove. “Yeah, it wasn’t easy at all.”
It was so difficult, in fact, to sit behind a computer and move the mouse while typing on the keyboard. He made money in just a few minutes.
…
A few hours later, at the villa area of Mirage City, Jasper parked his car at the door of the villa he had chosen long ago and entered the house with his shocked parents in tow.
“Mom, Dad, you’ll live here from now on. I’ll have Wendy employ two housekeepers for you tomorrow as well to take care of you.”
Both Sally and Charlie shook their heads.
“What housekeepers? They’re just a waste of money. Why have someone take care of us when we can move around by ourselves? Don’t get a housekeeper.”
“Don’t waste money.” Charlie agreed.
Jasper shook his head but let the subject drop.
Jasper handed Sally a card, the keys to the villa, and a few bundles of cash. “I live right next door but I’m usually busy, so just take care of yourselves. I’ll be alright. Wendy and I will come over for dinner and accompany you when we’re free.”
“Keep the money, and the password to the card is my birthday. Don’t worry about spending money.”
Sally accepted the card and promised, but it seemed obvious that she was planning to keep the card and save the money, unwilling to spend it.
There was nothing Jasper could do, for his parents had gotten used to being frugal. It was almost impossible for his parents to start splurging now.
Yet that was a habit that could slowly be changed.
At least their living conditions were way better now.
Wendy accompanied the old couple, and they walked up and down the villa to familiarize themselves with their new home. Meanwhile, Jasper took a call and walked to the villa’s entrance.
“As per your instructions, Mr. Laine, we’ve uploaded the newly compressed program of less than 1MB this evening and the customer feedback has been great! Our registered users have exceeded seven million, and we’ve arrived at a peak number of three million online users!”
Hudson’s voice was filled with excitement.
“Good job.” Jasper smiled.
“But, Mr. Laine, I just received a notification from an old classmate who works at Sena, the largest portal website within the country. They’re coveting our number of users and secretly developing a new instant messaging software to attack us. We might be in trouble.”
