Age of Legends

Chapter 320 Stumbling Blocks
Night had fallen, and the car drove into the residential area. As soon as I entered the house, the hustle and bustle outside seemed to have subsided, and the house became quiet again.

Shen Mingbo took off his suit jacket and casually hung it on a hanger. His shoulders slumped slightly, as if his nonchalant demeanor in the outer room was just an empty shell.

Ning Wenjing saw this but said nothing. Instead, she went to the water dispenser and filled a kettle with hot water.

Shen Nuoyi went straight into her room and closed the door.

Shen Mingbo glanced towards his daughter's room. He knew that Shen Nuoyi would also bear the pressure because of the changes in the family, but she hadn't asked them a single question. She didn't ask, but Shen Mingbo knew very well that she saw everything, yet she didn't seem to be affected.

If it were affected, Shen Mingbo would definitely have a detailed talk with her. But right now, what could a father and daughter possibly have to talk about?

Shen Mingbo is not a devoted father figure. He's busy with business and various other matters, and he's rarely home. He also doesn't have any regular father-daughter interactions with Shen Nuoyi. He perfectly embodies the saying "a grown daughter avoids her father."

Even Shen Mingbo couldn't put on airs as a father in front of her, so what airs could he possibly have? Facing a daughter who was a promising candidate for Tsinghua or Peking University, and who was inherently intelligent and resourceful, he sometimes felt a sense of distance, and even a little cautious, because if he upset her, she would simply ignore him.

You can't do anything about it. You can't just scold her because you're angry. She's been disobedient since she was little. In the end, she always gives in and submits when she says "Dad".

Shen Nuo's door suddenly opened again.

Shen Mingbo's facial expression faltered for a moment, but he managed to compose himself as she approached, looking up with a fawning smile. The smile froze for a second, however, when he saw she was holding a tin biscuit tin.

That cookie tin looked familiar. It was a high-end cookie tin that she had bought for Shen Nuoyi when she was in fourth grade. At that time, her business was just starting to pick up, and seeing other people's children living like princesses, Shen Mingbo specially bought imported cookies for Shen Nuoyi. She kept this cookie tin after it was finished. She used to store small things, girls' trinkets, toys, makeup boxes, and the like.

But now she placed the box on the coffee table and said softly, "Dad, these... are all for you."

"What did you just give me?" Shen Mingbo asked, puzzled. He reached out and opened the tin box with both hands with a clang, revealing stacks of neatly arranged red envelopes inside, some new and some faded in color.

That was all the New Year's money she had received since she was a child. It had always been kept in this box.

Shen Mingbo used to joke like this, asking how much New Year's money she received, how the sofa at home was getting old and suggesting she contribute money to replace it, and how the TV was getting old and whether she even watched it, suggesting she contribute some of her New Year's money.

Every time this happened, Shen Nuoyi would roll her eyes at her, and she would clutch the red and white things to her chest, unwilling to spend a single penny.

Shen Nuoyi remained calm and said in a cool tone, "I've saved up tens of thousands of yuan since I was a child. I have no use for it now. Dad, if you need it, you can take it."

Shen Mingbo was silent for a long time. After a while, he reached out and closed the box, pushing it in front of her. "Silly girl, take this money back. When you go to college, what do you want to buy? I don't need to worry about the money here. Actually, money is the easiest thing to solve. There are other things that are more complicated. In short, you don't need to worry."

That evening, a phone call still came in.

On the other end of the phone was Ning Junshan, Shen Nuoyi's uncle and the patriarch of the family. His tone was calm: "Wenjing, Mingbo. I won't say anything at the dinner table today. But I can talk to you about it later. I have 120,000 yuan left. If you want it, take it and use it first. Once the business is running smoothly, everything will be fine."

“Wenjing’s father passed away early, so I’m now your patriarch. It’s not appropriate for me to say anything during the meal. After all, if I express my opinion, I’ll be putting others in a difficult position. But this old man has saved up for retirement for so many years. When I was a leader, I didn’t care about money, and I didn’t accept any gifts that I shouldn’t have taken. Now that I think about it, I haven’t left you with much legacy… This money may not be of much use, but it’s a token of my appreciation. If you don’t accept it in this situation, I’ll be angry…” Shen Mingbo and Ning Wenjing were both stunned. Ning Wenjing’s eyes reddened slightly, but Shen Mingbo managed to calm her down. “…Second Uncle, it’s really not about the money right now. Okay, okay, I promise you, I’ll see how things go in a few days, and if I need it, I’ll come to your place to get it. Please don’t send it to me!”

First came Ning Junshan's call, and starting the next day, more calls came in.

One of them was Ning Wenjing's cousin, who said he had some savings and was willing to help out.

The other person was a cousin who said he had savings in the bank for buying a house, but couldn't come up with a large sum of money; he could only raise a few hundred thousand.

Even Qin Tangxi's father subtly implied that, no matter what, they were all family and couldn't just stand by and watch their current predicament.

However, Shen Mingbo ultimately declined all of these offers.

During dinner at home that evening, Shen Mingbo reiterated his stance: "Between relatives, debts of gratitude are harder to repay than bank debts. I'd rather borrow from a bank than from relatives. Once that door is opened, things can change. They've always felt that you're not happy with me, that you're not as well off as Wenhua, and that you married well. So, I absolutely cannot accept this money."

"The current difficulty isn't about how much money we have. As long as there's hope, even if we're in debt, we can eventually pay it back. The worst thing is having our lifeline controlled by someone else and not finding any other way out; then we'll truly be trapped here. So, we need to find ways to revitalize more business. I simply refuse to bow down to Taixun!"

Ning Wenjing said, "I know that, and I support you."

Shen Mingbo then looked at Shen Nuoyi, "As for you, Nuoyi, you don't need to worry about the adults' affairs. You just need to study hard and get into your ideal university, and then all the difficulties our family faces will be insignificant and we can get through them!"

Shen Nuo nodded slightly: "Mm."

……

When Zhang Chen heard about Shen Nuoyi's situation, he realized that he was rather slow to catch on, having only found out about it much later.

He suddenly remembered some obscured truths from the past—could it be that the reason he and Shen Nuoyi suddenly lost contact and their relationship cooled down was because something happened in her family?

Instead of the random, trivial matters I had imagined.

In her previous life, she had lived a muddled life, especially during her senior year of high school, which was basically made up of skipping classes and rebellious days. She was indifferent to school affairs and spent all her time playing games in internet cafes with Wang Shuowei. She had lost her memory of many things and was unaware of the changes in Shen Nuo's family.

But thinking back, her later departure abroad and disappearance from public view, and her seemingly disheartening life, were closely related to this incident.

In this life, they are more connected, and many things have changed.

So, will the setbacks that happened to her in her previous life repeat themselves?
(End of this chapter)