Call Me Daddy

“Mom, Dad, I’m going out for a bit.”

Not long after lunch, Su Aobai went upstairs and changed into his going-out clothes.

There weren’t many customers in the shop between 2 and 5 in the afternoon, but the couple was still busy. They needed to clean the floors and tables outside with the help of the assistant and prepare the ingredients for the evening.

Seeing their son going out in the middle of the day for the first time, Miao Yinhua nervously asked where he was going.

“To buy a camera and a tripod. Didn’t we agree to make videos for you guys?”

Su Aobai waved his hand. The speed of online shopping was still a bit slow. Since it didn’t make much of a difference in cost, he decided to speed things up a bit. This way, they could start shooting, editing, and uploading videos by tomorrow.

“Ah, we’re really going to shoot videos?” Miao Yinhua blurted out subconsciously.

“No, no, no, I mean, the sun is so strong right now. Why don’t you go to the mall in the evening instead?”

She covered her mouth, wondering how she had let her true thoughts slip out.

“Mom, don’t try to fool me. My hearing is fine.” Su Aobai looked at his mother with a resentful expression.

“Dad, do you feel the same way?” Of course, his father, who was mopping the floor nearby, wasn’t spared either.

“Heh heh heh.” Su Quangen laughed awkwardly, though he really wanted to say it, didn’t he?

“You both really disappoint me.” Su Aobai was righteously indignant, as if he had suffered a great humiliation.

“So, you only support me on the surface, but deep down you don’t believe I can actually accomplish this. Do you think I’m a useless failure just like those outsiders do?” He questioned them with sorrow and anger.

“If those people don’t believe in me, fine. But even my dearest parents don’t believe I can succeed. What’s the point of living? I might as well give up. Let’s not shoot any videos. Just let me continue my previous life, eating and sleeping, waking up to play, getting tired from playing, eating again, and then sleeping; a monotonous life with no hope.”

As he spoke, Su Aobai started to walk upstairs.

“No, no, no, that’s not what we meant. How could we not support you? We have to support you. Look, we’ve given you money, and we’ll cooperate with you making videos.”

Miao Yinhua panicked and quickly grabbed her son.

Her words were too harsh. How could parents not want their children to succeed? At this moment, she wished she could show her sincerity to her son.

It was clear why Su Aobai had been spoiled. His parents were too indulgent. With a little pressure, they would unreasonably agree to any of his requests.

“We’re supporting you, right, old man?” As she spoke, she gave her husband a forceful slap on the back.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Su Quangen replied, grimacing in pain while nodding.

In truth, he still didn’t understand. Wasn’t that life of eating, sleeping, waking up to play, getting tired from playing, eating again, and then sleeping his son’s favorite? How did it become a hopeless and boring existence?

If his own father were still alive, he would have wanted to live that way too.

Thinking that, Su Quangen felt a bit wronged. Dad, why aren’t you here anymore?

But outwardly, he still had to appease his son. It was rare for him to truly want to do something, and as parents, how could they discourage him?

“You really will support me?” Su Aobai asked, still somewhat skeptical.

“We support you, absolutely.”

Miao Yinhua nodded vigorously and even pressed down on her husband’s head. “Your dad supports you too.”

Su Aobai’s expression seemed to soften a bit.

“Really, you’ll agree to everything I do from now on? Promise not to hold me back?”

He asked again.

“Whatever you need to film, your dad and I will cooperate with you. We promise not to hold you back.” Miao Yinhua almost raised her hand to swear to the heavens.

With this, Su Aobai was satisfied.

“Alright then. The first thing I need you to do is not give Tianyuan any money. I’m already burning through cash here. If I run out, what will I do? His matters aren’t as important as mine. If you don’t help me this time, my life will be ruined. I’ll never have the motivation to strive and work hard again.”

“Alright, alright.”

Both parents nodded repeatedly. Only then did Su Aobai leave, satisfied.

Before he left, his mother handed him a sun umbrella, reminding him not to wait for the bus and to take a taxi instead, as it was hot outside. His father gave him a bottle of ice-cold mineral water, telling him to drink more and stay hydrated. They saw him off as if they were sending off a deity.

The two elderly parents in their sixties coddled their 40-something-year-old son, who acted like a baby, whining as they pampered him. The scene was indeed comical.

The helper woman watched it and was left speechless. No wonder the neighbors said both father and son in the Su family were spoiled. With such indulgent parents, how could they not become useless?

If it were her child talking back, she would first give them a beating. A few times of that, and they’d behave.

Smack–

The helper’s wife lightly slapped her own mouth.

Why was she worrying about a family earning tens of thousands in rent each month when she only made a few thousand? She should worry about herself first.

*****

Su Tianyuan regretted leaving the house. He hadn’t managed to get money from his grandparents yet. When he went home earlier, he had assured the boss that he could get money for his own investment. Now, returning empty-handed was embarrassing.

But the thought of going back to beg his father made Su Tianyuan feel indignant.

Wandering aimlessly on the street, he felt the heat and randomly chose a milk tea shop. He went in, ordered a fruit tea, and started thinking about his next move.

He definitely wasn’t going to beg. If his father blocked him from getting money from his grandparents, he would just have to find another way.

He opened his Alipay app and saw that his balance was over 10,000 yuan. Besides that, he had a few bank cards with small amounts of money scattered across them, totaling around 20,000 yuan.

Since he used to ask his grandparents for money whenever he was short, Su Tianyuan never applied for a credit card or overdraft services. However, some of his classmates had done so. Based on his previous spending habits, he could probably get a credit limit of around 100,000 yuan.

But that was still far from enough. Su Tianyuan thought of his close friends.

Most of these friends were people he met in gaming groups and fan groups of internet celebrities. They often hung out together. Some were older men in their thirties or forties who had already entered the workforce and didn’t play with him much. But many were like him, still relying on their parents for living expenses.

Compared to them, Su Tianyuan, who received a fixed monthly allowance of 5,000 yuan and often managed to get more money from his grandparents, spending 8 to 10,000 yuan a month, was already considered a little rich kid.

Usually, when the group went to karaoke, ordered fruit platters, and a few boxes of beer, Su Tianyuan would foot the bill. They all praised him for being generous and called him their best buddy.

Su Tianyuan thought, given their close relationship, borrowing a little money should be fine. Besides, he intended to pay them back.

Knowing his friends didn’t have much money, with their monthly allowances of 2 to 3,000 yuan mostly spent on games and tipping streamers, he decided not to borrow much. Asking each of them for 1,000 yuan would be enough.

After all, they still had their yearly red envelope money from Chinese New Year, which was a significant income.

So, Su Tianyuan confidently opened his app and sent a group message asking to borrow money.

10 minutes passed without a single reply. By this time, the fruit tea he ordered was ready. Since there were no other customers at noon, the two employees started chatting after finishing his order.

“These days, lending money makes you a big deal. A friend of mine borrowed 300 yuan from me and disappeared. And it’s such a small amount that I feel embarrassed to ask for it back,” one of them said.

“Who isn’t in the same boat? I lent my childhood friend 2,000 yuan almost 2 years ago. When I asked for the money back, he kept making excuses. Eventually, he stopped making excuses altogether and even questioned me, saying it’s just 2,000 yuan, and why couldn’t I give him some time since he was strapped for cash. Apparently, our friendship wasn’t worth 2,000 yuan. Fine, I decided not to ask for it back, but I also couldn’t continue being friends with him. So, in this day and age, you really can’t lend money casually.”

Su Tianyuan pricked up his ears, listening to the two employees’ conversation, and sneered inwardly.

What kind of shallow friendship was that? Me and his brothers would never be like that.

However, to reassure his friends, Su Tianyuan sent another group message.

[Don’t worry, I’ll definitely pay you back as soon as possible. Don’t we even have this level of trust between brothers? I’m only asking because I need to handle something crucial for my future. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be asking. At most, it will take 2 or 3 months. Once it’s done, I’ll pay you back double and treat you all to drinks!]

He took a few sips of the ice-cold fruit tea, shifted positions, and waited for his friends to transfer the money.

Another 10 minutes passed. During this time, Su Tianyuan felt restless, changing positions several times, almost deciding to call them.

Just then, he finally received the first reply.

[Yuan Zi, what’s going on? Why do you suddenly need so much money and send borrowing messages to everyone?]

This was from one of Su Tianyuan’s friends. He straightened up, puzzled. Didn’t I send the message individually to each person? Were they talking about it among themselves? How did they all know he was asking everyone for money?

Su Tianyuan felt extremely uncomfortable. All his close friends knew his family was wealthy, owning two buildings in the city and earning over 10,000 yuan in monthly rent. His grandparents also ran a small shop that brought in a good income, and being an only child, everything would eventually be his.

In his circle, his family’s financial situation was considered quite good. If everyone knew he had sent out a mass message asking for money, it would be so embarrassing.

Before he could figure out how to respond, his friend sent a few screenshots.

It turned out that some of the friends who received his borrowing message had shared screenshots in a large chat group he wasn’t a part of. A bunch of his supposed friends were mocking him, questioning how someone who claimed to be a local rich kid was now borrowing 1,000 yuan from so many people. They joked that his previous generosity might have been funded by borrowing from others to pay for his expenses.

After reading these screenshots, Su Tianyuan’s face burned with shame.

***

He had never felt so humiliated in his life. What made him even angrier was that these so-called friends were talking about him behind his back.

Staring at each profile picture, Su Tianyuan suddenly remembered that some of them still owed him money.

His hands trembled with rage as he quickly searched through his past transaction records.

Su Tianyuan had always been generous, often buying shoes and clothes when shopping with his friends. If they were short on money, he would cover their expenses. He couldn’t remember if they ever paid him back.

Since older transaction records were hard to verify, he looked at the past month’s records. Sure enough, he found a few transfers.

He sent these transaction screenshots to those so-called good friends, demanding they pay him back.

Not wanting to burn bridges and not wanting the friend who sent him the screenshots to feel awkward, he didn’t mention that he knew they had been mocking him behind his back.

[I’m a bit short on cash right now; I’ll pay you back later.]

[Sorry, I didn’t see my phone just now. Why do you suddenly need to borrow money? I would definitely give it to you, but I just bought some game gear, so I’m broke. Next month, when I get my allowance, I’ll pay you back, along with what I owe you.]

These were the replies from those who were stalling and unwilling to repay him.

[Oh my, wasn’t that a gift from you to me? Now you want me to pay it back? Seriously? Can’t a local rich kid like you afford to give away things? You can call gifts loans now? Haha, I see through you now.]

[Bro, I really don’t have money. Is this small amount really a big deal to you? If you act like this, we won’t have a brotherhood anymore.]

These were the defiant replies trying to wriggle out of their debts.

Su Tianyuan felt a sharp pang of anger as he read these responses, as if he had been slapped in the face multiple times, his cheeks burning hot.

Just earlier, he had mocked those two shop clerks for having fake friends, but now it seemed like he was surrounded by fake pearls ready to string into a necklace.

Fuming with indignation, Su Tianyuan decided he didn’t need friends like these.

His hands trembling, he composed a long string of words severing their friendships and sent it to those shameless friends.

[!]

A bright red exclamation mark appeared in the chat box.

[*** has enabled friend verification. You are not friends with this user. Please send a friend request first, and once accepted, you can start chatting.]

…

…

They were all bullying me! The whole world seemed to be against me!

Su Tianyuan felt like he was about to cry from anger.