WBSGVS Chapter 139 V2

He angrily kicked the couch. BANG! And then—

“Ahhh—!” He let out a scream. He wasn’t wearing shoes and had stubbed his toe!

Watching his father finish the phone call with Xia Qingli, Xia Zhihou anxiously grabbed his sleeve. Since the phone wasn’t on speaker, he didn’t know what was said, but seeing his father so furious, he asked urgently, “Dad, how did it go? Did Sis send money?”

“She did!” Xia Yong said with a scowl.

“How much? How much?!” Xia Zhihou’s eyes lit up.

Xia Yong gritted his teeth. “Two thousand! Only two thousand per month!”

Xia Zhihou’s excitement vanished. He let go of his father’s arm and snapped, “What can we do with just two thousand? Tell her it’s not enough! Or ask her where her company is—we can go there and demand more!”

Xia Yong frowned at his son. He didn’t understand why he was acting like this. That look made Xia Zhihou hesitate—this wasn’t the same life as before. They hadn’t yet gotten used to extorting Xia Qingli.

Seeing that his son had stopped complaining, Xia Yong felt a little relieved and grumbled, “And just how are we supposed to find her? She’s overseas! If you don’t study hard, you might never see your sister again, let alone get money from her!”

Xia Zhihou: “???”

Overseas?

How did she end up overseas?!

Even though he had seen his sister become successful in this life, he still couldn’t wrap his head around it. In the past, she was just a dull, meek girl—how did she become this impressive?

But the reality was right in front of him. Things had changed.

Now that he was reborn, life had become twice as hard without his sister’s financial support!

When Yang Qing came home from work, bringing food for dinner, she was shocked to hear the news about Xia Qingli.

But after the shock, all she felt was helplessness.

Their daughter was too far away—there was no way to cause a scene and pressure her anymore.

The family ate dinner in silence. Afterward, Xia Yong and Yang Qing checked their savings. With rising prices, even 1,000 yuan barely covered food, let alone water, electricity, and gas bills.

The 2,000 yuan from Qingli could help for now, but it wasn’t enough to make a real difference.

After much hesitation, they made a decision for the sake of their son’s education. They still believed he was smart.

“No more street dance. From now on, you’ll go to tutoring. Once your grades improve, you can start dancing again.”

At least they didn’t say never again.

Xia Zhihou sighed in relief. He clenched his fists, telling himself he had to return to his former level. After all, he was reborn.

But when he started studying, it felt impossible. What seemed like a simple 1 + 1 = 2 for others felt like it had 99 extra steps when he tried to solve it. His head spun from the complexity.

In the end, he only managed to stabilize his grades—they didn’t drop further, but he didn’t improve either.

Teachers who had once praised him as a child shook their heads, thinking he was a wasted talent.

But wasted how?

No one knew.

Perplexed, people could only blame video games. As a result, families who knew the Xia family started restricting their kids from gaming.

Xia Yong also tried to ban Xia Zhihou from playing, but his son had a terrible temper. If he wasn’t allowed to play, he’d throw tantrums. At fourteen or fifteen, he was already stronger than his father. He could even snatch his phone back if necessary.

As for cutting his allowance?

Xia Yong couldn’t bring himself to do it. He could be strict with his daughter, but his son was his precious treasure. He couldn’t bear to see him go hungry.

So, nothing changed—in fact, things got worse. If they let their guard down, his grades would slip again.

And once they dropped, there was no climbing back up.

Even tutoring didn’t help.

Slowly, Xia Zhihou’s grades sank from average to barely passing.

When it came time for high school, he only got into a mediocre one—not the prestigious schools his parents had once dreamed of.

With such a school, getting into a top university became nearly impossible.

At this point, even Xia Yong, who adored his son, started to regret.

One day, after throwing out his back while tending to his fish and shrimp, Xia Yong lay on a treatment bed, getting acupuncture from an old Chinese doctor. Sweat poured down his face as he gritted his teeth and muttered, “If only… If only we hadn’t burned that bridge. If we had been nicer to Qingli, maybe even tricked her into staying… Now she’s gone whenever she wants, and Zhihou… he’s a damn idiot…”

His son was useless, and his daughter—who had potential—had been driven away. His health was failing, and every day felt like torture.

Saying he didn’t regret it would be a lie.

But what could he do?

Yang Qing silently massaged his waist. She didn’t say anything, but her tired expression showed all her exhaustion and disillusionment.

Just then, a phone call came in.

Xia Yong answered, “Hello? Do you need shrimp? How many pounds? I’ll go catch them right away!”

“Ten pounds? How about more? My shrimp are big and fresh,” Xia Yong forced a smile and tried to upsell. “Fish too? Great choice, absolutely delicious!”

“Alright! I’ll deliver them before 4 PM today!”

After hanging up, he slumped onto the bed, his heart pounding. The mere thought of going outside filled him with dread.

His waist hurt.

But Yang Qing wasn’t having it. She stopped massaging him and reminded him, “Hurry up. I’ll come with you to help.”

“Alright, alright,” Xia Yong muttered as he slowly got up, his face twisted in pain. Even when he finally stood, his mouth was still contorted in agony.

They had to pay for their son’s next tutoring session.

He had no choice but to get moving.