Rebirth: CEO's Sweetheart Reaches the Life Pinnacle!-Chapter 72 - 69: Demanding Retirement Money

"Just hearing it makes me angry!" Li Si thought about the scene and felt a surge of anger. It was the same old routine as that time with Wu Dachuan and his mother.

"What can I say? This thing with Kong Dan is definitely not the first, and it won’t be the last. People always have a bit of this mindset: I can only be better than you. If we’re in the same social circle and on equal footing, everything’s fine. You’re good, I’m good, everyone’s good. But the moment a friend from the same level climbs up, gets rich? Just watch — jealousy, resentment, bitterness come flooding in. They won’t think about how much sweat and tears others have poured in while they were out enjoying life; they’ll only dwell on their own misfortunes, how their luck is bad, how nothing they do works."

She patted Li Si on the shoulder. "So, Li Si, there’s no need for you to get this upset. Most of the time, female friends want you to live well, just not *better* than they do! This kind of mentality isn’t uncommon!"

"Listening to you talk is such a relief! Why didn’t I realize before that you’re so good at giving advice?" The dusky evening sunlight streaming in from outside cast a reddish glow on her fair face. Li Si carefully studied Jiang Fan’s features — her bold, arched eyebrows, sharp and calm eyes, slightly pursed lips, always with a hint of seriousness.

"It’s not too late to realize that now! Actually, Li Si, I noticed you last semester! It’s just that you were always with Bai Shasha from the media department, practically inseparable. Since we’re not in the same department, I didn’t really have a chance to talk to you!"

"Alright, then! Let’s reintroduce ourselves. I’m Li Si! Nice to meet you." Li Si smiled warmly and extended her right hand.

Jiang Fan’s lips curled into a light smile. "Hi, I’m Jiang Fan! It’s nice to meet you, too!"

The two exchanged smiles, letting their expressions say what words couldn’t.

At this moment, the second uncle’s house was bustling with members of the Li family gathering for a family meeting. Aside from Li Guozhi, who was at work, and Li Fei, still at school, everyone who should be there was in attendance. Present were Grandma Li, Li Guofu, Zhang Meihua, and Wu Dachuan.

After hearing Zhang Meihua’s angry account, Li Si’s second uncle felt there was a need for the whole family to sit down and discuss it. After all, two heads are better than one, and three, even better, like the saying goes.

Grandma Li had been brought over from the countryside by her son. Just learning about what they were saying left her deeply shocked! Who would have thought that the eldest son’s daughter could achieve so much now, even hitching herself to a wealthy man?

"Second Brother, we’ll all listen to you this time. In our family, besides Mom, you’re the one who holds the most authority. You decide how to handle this situation," Wu Dachuan said as he scratched the back of his head. Before coming, Mrs. Wu had reminded him to let the second uncle’s family take the lead in everything, while he played it safe and stayed in the background.

"Dachuan, did Little Li Si really say what you said she did that day?" Li Guofu questioned skeptically. If what was said was true, then the child likely wouldn’t dare face the matter head-on.

"Of course! She had both my mom and me terrified. Imagine — so young, yet full of schemes!"

"I think she might have been bluffing to scare you. If the shop really belonged to her, who there would dare to confront her?"

Zhang Meihua offered a differing opinion. Her discontent with Li Si had reached its peak. After the New Year, Hu Ling had gone to an interview only to be rejected by someone named Cui. Every time she thought back on it, it irritated her to no end.

Especially since that incident had caused her younger brother’s original plan to marry after the New Year to be postponed. While her brother wasn’t of advanced age, and delaying the wedding a few years was feasible, the old lady (Grandma Li) was anxious for him to get married and have grandchildren as soon as possible.

The two of them were always glued to each other. What if they accidentally got pregnant? It was clearly just a matter of one word from her (Li Si) to help, yet she wouldn’t lift a finger, nor show any regard. Honestly, Zhang Meihua had secretly made up her mind: if the day ever came when Little Li Si needed her help, she wouldn’t help her for sure!

"Hey, your second sister-in-law makes a good point. These things are uncertain! Alright then, let’s just assume that the shop belongs to Li Si. Let’s discuss together how much money she should contribute. You all know full well that the old lady’s getting older year by year. What if she has some illness one day? Who’s going to pay for that? What if she needs care? Who’s going to pay then?

So, the purpose of today’s family meeting is to determine how to get Li Si to contribute money, and how much. That’s to say, the reason for the money and the amount," the second uncle concluded, feeling his throat go dry as he gulped down a sip of tea.

"Wow, Second Brother, you really live up to being someone with a business. You’re different from us lowly workers. Look at what you’re saying — so articulate and well thought out.

Our family’s situation, as you all know, is bad. My child didn’t score well this time and is going to have to pay his own way to high school in the fall. Once he begins high school, costs will add up rapidly. It’s only because Li Guozhi has a job now that we’re barely scraping by. So, while we can put in the manpower to help Grandma in the future, we absolutely can’t contribute money. Since Li Si’s so wealthy, shouldn’t she help support her poorer relatives?"

Wu Dachuan quickly glanced at everyone’s reactions, paused, then added, "My family’s house is in the area marked for demolition and redevelopment this time. If we want an upgrade in space when we get compensated, it’ll cost several tens of thousands of yuan. Where are we going to get that kind of money?"

"What Dachuan says is true. We all know your family’s situation. Every family has their struggles. Look, even Second Brother over here, who seems well off, is just keeping up appearances! His two cars are getting old; they often break down halfway.

I’ve been wanting to sell the cars and replace them with new ones, but we simply don’t have the money. So, Mom, it’s still up to you. Treat it as setting aside money for your own retirement. Let’s use this excuse to ask for more money — not only to help Mom but to make things easier for the two of us, too!"

The second uncle had already calculated it all. If they went directly to Li Si to ask for money, lacking any proper justification, they might end up faring no better than Wu Dachuan did.

But Grandma Li was different. In the end, she was Li Si’s grandmother. Refusing her would make Li Si unfilial, and one word — filial duty — would be enough to guilt-trip her!

As Grandma Li listened to her children’s complaints, her heart ached with sorrow. Li Si was just a granddaughter; how could she compare to her sons and daughters? After all, there was also her daughter’s family to think about.

Every household was struggling. She hadn’t realized it before, but now that everyone had said their piece, she felt she’d wronged her children. It was her fault as a mother for not being capable enough. If she had money in her hands, wouldn’t giving a bit to each household solve their basic problems?

Initially, she was somewhat resistant to asking Li Si for money. But now, she was starting to have second thoughts. Ah, what’s face compared to her children’s well-being?

"Alright, I’ll set my pride aside and make the trip. But you all need to settle on an amount. I can’t just spout off random numbers, can I? What if I ask for too little? She might not give us more next time," Grandma Li voiced her thoughts. She started to mentally prepare herself: since her eldest son was gone, and Li Si had this money only because of her wealthy partner, asking her for it was entirely reasonable.

"Mom’s absolutely right. If we’re going to upgrade to a bigger car, we’ll need at least... 200,000 yuan!"

Li Guofu paused after being pinched on the side by Zhang Meihua, who was sitting next to him. The two had discussed at home that asking Li Si for 150,000 yuan would suffice. But after hearing Grandma Li’s suggestion to make this a one-time ask, they decided it was better to request a larger sum! Zhang Meihua smiled in satisfaction at this.