Chapter 44: Scamming Scumbag Dad into Crippling Himself

Tongtong rolled her eyes inwardly, but on her face, she put on a thoughtful little expression, then as if she had thought of something, her eyes lit up.

In a sweet, childish voice, she said, “Mom always used to say… um… whether a man loves you or not depends on whether he’s willing to spend money on you! Dad, you used to give all your money to eldest aunt, so of course Mom was sad!”

She blinked her pure, innocent big eyes and said with a smile, “Dad, if you really want to make up with Mom, give her money.”

“Last time you promised to give Mom the bankbook, but it wasn’t all the savings. Mom was sad for a long time after that. Now, give Mom all the money! When Mom sees the money, she’ll definitely know Dad’s intentions! Maybe she’ll even be willing to talk to Dad then?”

Hehe! Once she got Scumbag Dad to cough up the rest of his money, she’d help Mom get a divorce!

After all, Scumbag Dad had taken plenty of advantage of Grandfather’s family in the past.

His job had been arranged with Grandfather’s money.

She had to help Mom get it all back.

When Lin Zhiguo heard this, he felt a pang of pain, but he also thought it made some sense… weren’t women all about these things?

Seeing him hesitate, Tongtong secretly used a bit of powder that could disturb emotions, patted him with her chubby little hand, and slowly added fuel to the fire.

“Dad, you gave so much money to eldest aunt, but what did she give you in return? When Grandpa and Grandma were starving in the countryside, did eldest aunt ever send them a single bite to eat?”

“She took your money to buy new clothes and meat for her own children, never caring about Grandpa and Grandma. Maybe… she even used it to support someone else? Dad, you’re so silly. We’re the ones who are family!”

These words were like a needle, piercing straight into the most hidden corner of Lin Zhiguo’s heart!

His mind was in a jumble as he thought.

Yes! Over the years, Shen Wei had taken quite a lot of money and things from him!

Where had she spent it all? Did she really spend it all on the children?

Or did she use it to support her useless younger brother, or even to find a lover in the future? He didn’t dare think too deeply about it!

Especially last time when something happened back home, Shen Wei hemmed and hawed and refused to give any money.

Later, she said she had taken an advance on her salary.

But when he went to the hospital to ask later, Shen Wei hadn’t taken any advance at all.

She was even guarding against him!

In contrast, although Yu Wanqin had a soft personality, she was excellent at managing the household, stretching every penny as far as it could go. Most importantly, she was Tongtong’s biological mother!

If he gave her the money, even if the meat rotted, it would still be in the pot!

You can’t catch a wolf without sacrificing a child!

He didn’t know what was wrong today, but his mind was unusually unsettled. The more he thought about it, the more he felt this was the way to go.

Besides, Yu Wanqin knew Commander Liu. Getting a Promotion to Officer was just a matter of the leader saying the word, wasn’t it?

For the sake of his own future, he gritted his teeth and stomped his foot: “Alright! Tongtong is right! Dad will go get the money right now!”

Tongtong was overjoyed inside, but she kept a serious face: “What if Dad lies to me again? Eldest aunt won’t agree to Dad giving us money, will she?”

“No, she won’t!” Lin Zhiguo said anxiously. “If she doesn’t give it, I’ll give you the other half of my salary too!”

A glint flashed in Tongtong’s eyes as she extended her little finger: “Then Dad has to write a pledge! And press a fingerprint! Otherwise, Tongtong won’t believe it! And Commander Liu will stand up for Tongtong too!”

Lin Zhiguo’s head was hot with emotion, and without thinking, he said: “I’ll write it! Dad will write it right now!”

Lin Zhiguo had no choice but to find paper and pen and actually wrote out an agreement.

He promised to give Tongtong and her mother one thousand yuan, otherwise he would pay with half of his remaining salary, and even pressed a red thumbprint on it.

“Tongtong, look… when will you take Daddy to meet Uncle Commander Liu? Tell Daddy, how did you get to know him?” Lin Jianjun felt as if his heart were being clawed at by a cat, unable to resist forcing a smile as he asked.

But Tongtong avoided answering, grinning like a little fox: “Daddy, I have things to do, I’m leaving now!”

With that, she jumped off the small stool and dashed away in a flash.

Lin Zhiguo: “!!!”

A gust of wind blew over, gradually cooling his heated mind.

He shuddered suddenly.

What had he just agreed to? He was going to give away the rest of his salary!

And Tongtong hadn’t even promised to put in a good word for him in front of Commander Liu.

He had really been tricked!

Lin Zhiguo’s face darkened, and he immediately went after Tongtong.

But it was already too late.

The little one had already tucked away the written agreement and run off to find Gu Yanbin.

“Godfather, my dad said he hasn’t been doing the right thing before, and he wants to compensate me and Mom with half of his remaining salary, a total of one thousand yuan. Could you please go tell the finance auntie about it?”

Gu Yanbin was surprised to see the written agreement, and hearing the little girl panting as she urged him to handle it, he found it both amusing and heart-wrenching. He patted her head: “Don’t worry, Godfather will take care of it for you!”

Soon, the finance department began processing it according to procedure.

Lin Zhiguo felt as if the sky had fallen.

This meant he wouldn’t receive his salary for the next five months.

Was he supposed to live on air?

The most infuriating part was that after the money was secured, that wretched girl Tongtong disappeared without a trace.

Not only did she not introduce him to Commander Liu, she didn’t even meet with him.

It was like throwing meat buns to a dog—he was furious!

When Shen Wei heard about this, it was like a bolt from the blue.

She could no longer hold back and rushed to the military base to confront Lin Zhiguo.

At first, Lin Zhiguo tried to placate her out of guilt and lingering affection.

But Shen Wei cried and made a scene: “Lin Zhiguo! You have no conscience! You gave all the money away… how are me and the children supposed to live? You heartless man!”

She clawed and scratched at him like a shrew.

Lin Zhiguo grew increasingly agitated by her tantrum and couldn’t help but demand: “I’ve given you plenty of money and ration coupons over the years! Where did you spend it all? How can you say you can’t survive?”

Shen Wei immediately faltered, her eyes darting around as she put on an angry front: “What? Now you’re questioning me! All these years, haven’t you and the children needed food, drink, and expenses? Didn’t you just give away 600 yuan recently? There’s nothing left!”

“Huzi and Jiaojiao are still so young, how could they spend that much? Don’t try to fool me. I’ve been thinking it over carefully these past few days—there should be at least two thousand yuan left in the household!” Lin Zhiguo was also furious.

Shen Wei hemmed and hawed, unable to produce the money, and just kept crying.

For some reason, Lin Zhiguo remembered Tongtong’s words again and hardened his heart, determined to get to the bottom of it.

“Tell me! Where is the money? If you give me a thousand, I can send it to Yu Wanqin and the others, and then I won’t have to deduct half of my remaining salary!”

Shen Wei had originally planned to cry her way through it as she had done before.

But this time, Lin Zhiguo seemed resolute and unyielding, not so easy to fool.

He even suspected she was using the money to support another man.

Shen Wei could only grit her teeth and stomp her foot, deciding to throw caution to the wind as she said through clenched teeth, “I… my younger brother got married recently, so I lent him a bit.”

“Lent him a bit? How much?” Lin Zhiguo stared at her intently.

“Just… fifteen hundred yuan.”

Lin Zhiguo drew a sharp breath, his eyes reddening with anger.

“Fifteen hundred? Even for an ordinary family, spending one or two hundred yuan on a wedding is already the absolute limit. Did your brother marry a fairy?” Lin Zhiguo was utterly furious.