"What? Are you really a friend of Zhang Liuqian?"
Chen Xingwen was greatly alarmed and subconsciously leaned closer to Chen Xiao. But upon seeing the mobile number Chen Xiao was dialing, he suddenly burst into laughter:
"Chen Xiao, Chen Xiao, you really are a stubborn donkey. Zhang Liuqian's mobile number clearly starts with 183, and you're dialing 139 to scare who?
As he spoke, he ostentatiously took out a business card of Zhang Liuqian from his pocket and handed it to Chen Qing.
And, as if by unfortunate coincidence, as his words fell, Chen Xiao's phone, which he had deliberately put on speakerphone, suddenly emitted a prompt:
"Hello, the number you have dialed is currently in use. Please try again later..."
"Pfft—"
Wang Xiaoxia immediately burst into laughter again:
"Chen Xiao, stop pretending. If you can just randomly dial a number on your phone and save it as Zhang Liuqian to fool yourself, then your second aunt would have the phone numbers of state leaders! This is hilarious. A mere brat in his early twenties claiming to be friends with the bank president of Caifu Bank, ha ha... ha ha ha..."
"Is it that funny? These days, many people have several mobile numbers, and it's common to encounter situations where the other party is on the phone, right?"
Although Chen Qing's heart was still in her throat, at this moment, she had no choice but to trust her son. After coldly retorting to Chen Xingwen and Wang Xiaoxia, she continued to feign composure and encourage Chen Xiao:
"Son, don't get discouraged. Try again. I don't believe your banker friend is always on the phone!"
"Pfft—"
Wang Xiaoxia burst into laughter again, saying sarcastically:
"Chen Qing, don't make things difficult for Chen Xiao anymore. He's your own son!"
Chen Xingwen sneered and added:
"Chen Xiao, don't blame me for not giving you a chance to turn things around. If you can really make a video call with Zhang Liuqian and prove you're friends, I'll pay you thirty thousand yuan as compensation, heh heh."
And as Chen Xingwen's words fell, Chen Xiao's phone suddenly received a video call. The caller ID clearly showed a mobile number starting with 139 and labeled as Zhang Liuqian.
Chen Xingwen, taking it for granted that the call was likely from Chen Xiao's friend, became even more excited:
"Zhang Lao is calling you back, hurry up and answer!"
Wang Xiaoxia also seemed particularly agitated, eagerly saying to Chen Qing:
"Don't hold out any hope for your son anymore. Get the money ready. If it's really Zhang Liuqian calling him, I'll eat my own excrement for you to see!"
"You..."
Chen Qing was furious, her face instantly turning as pale as paper. Although she was more inclined to believe her son, it was highly improbable that Chen Xiao could be friends with the bank president of Caifu Bank. After some thought, she gritted her teeth and said:
"Chen Xiao, go ahead and answer! It's just thirty thousand yuan, can our family not afford to lose it?"
As she spoke, she even hobbled up to get the money, scaring Daphne into quickly following to support her.
Chen Xiao looked at Chen Qing's forced bravado and felt immense heartache, while also hating Chen Xingwen and Wang Xiaoxia even more. After a slight hesitation, he hung up the phone and said:
"Mom, what's the point of gambling over a mere thirty thousand yuan? If I remember correctly, didn't second uncle borrow a hundred thousand yuan from our family years ago to buy a house, but he still hasn't paid it back? Since it's a sure win, why don't we bet bigger?"
"This..."
Chen Qing almost sprained her back. She inexplicably felt that Chen Xiao today was a bit unfamiliar. But since Chen Xiao had spoken, she couldn't say much in front of outsiders. After thinking for a moment, she provocatively said to Chen Xingwen and Wang Xiaoxia:
"Second brother, second sister-in-law, do you dare to bet a hundred thousand yuan..."
"No, no, no!"
Chen Xiao shook his head repeatedly and interrupted Chen Qing:
"Not a hundred thousand, but two hundred thousand!"
"..."
Chen Qing's face turned grim. With Daphne's support, she leaned close to Chen Xiao and said with a wry smile:
"Son, are you trying to kill your mother? Our family... where do we have two hundred thousand to lose?"
Chen Xiao, fearing that Chen Xingwen and Wang Xiaoxia wouldn't take the bait, deliberately spoke in a whisper loud enough for them to hear:
"Can't we use the property deed of Jishitang as collateral to borrow two hundred thousand yuan from the bank?"
"You..."
Chen Qing was speechless, and she felt even more that her son, whom she had raised with such care, was acting strangely. After all, in normal circumstances, it would be her, Chen Qing, who wanted to gamble, and Chen Xiao would strongly dissuade her.
Indeed, upon hearing Chen Xiao's words, Chen Xingwen and Wang Xiaoxia's eyes suddenly gleamed with avarice. Wang Xiaoxia, in particular, said impatiently:
"Bet, we'll bet!"
Chen Mingxi, having witnessed another side of Chen Xiao, always felt that Chen Xiao was digging a pit for her parents to fall into. She immediately became anxious and blurted out:
"Mom, we don't have two hundred thousand either..."
It wasn't that she was worried about her family losing money to Chen Xiao, but rather that she knew the family genuinely couldn't come up with two hundred thousand yuan. Of course, she was also worried about damaging the family harmony.
However, before she could finish speaking, Chen Xiao interrupted her with a half-smile:
"Mingxi, don't worry unnecessarily. Second uncle is only in his forties. If he works at the bank until retirement, his salary should be well over two hundred thousand yuan. I'll have Zhang Liuqian advance him two hundred thousand yuan for me then."
"..."
Chen Xingwen was so enraged that smoke seemed to come from his ears. He jumped up and down, roaring:
"Chen Qing, which bastard gave birth to this wild seed? I'm so unlucky to have such a stubborn nephew who's courting death! Chen Xiao, stop wasting time with your nonsense and make the call! I want to see how you're going to win for sure..."
"Chen Xingwen! What did you say? Chen Xiao is not a bastard!"
Chen Qing exploded on the spot, grabbed a chair beside her, and furiously smashed it at Chen Xingwen. Her whole body trembled with anger, as Chen Xingwen's words were like tearing open the scars in her heart.
Unfortunately, her injury had not yet healed, and lifting the chair was already very difficult, let alone injuring Chen Xingwen.
Chen Xingwen clearly hadn't expected Chen Qing to suddenly attack. He became even more enraged and roared:
"Did I say something wrong? If he's not a bastard, then tell me who his father is..."
"Clang—"
Before Chen Xingwen could finish speaking, Chen Xiao raised a chair and smashed it onto his forehead.
Blood instantly gushed from Chen Xingwen's forehead. He staggered and fell to the ground, his expression filled with undisguised terror, to the point where he was temporarily speechless, opening his mouth several times but unable to utter a sound.
"Ah! Chen Xiao, you ungrateful white-eyed wolf, how could you cruelly hit your own second uncle? I'll fight you!"
Wang Xiaoxia shrieked and lunged at Chen Xiao with flailing arms.
"Get lost! I'm making a call!"
Chen Xiao, in a fit of rage, didn't care that they were his uncle and aunt. With a slap, he sent Wang Xiaoxia spinning around and then redialed Zhang Liuqian's video call.