Everyone Loves the Villainous Scumbag [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 35

The Luo family spent a busy week handling the funeral arrangements for Father Luo.

Because it was not a natural death, and because Father Luo’s former friends had not reached out since the family’s downfall, the Luos did not bother trying to curry favor with those who gave them the cold shoulder. For the funeral, they simply notified a few relatives and Father Luo’s closest lifelong friends.

During the time he spent sending off his father, Luo Jianghe even neglected his live streaming. He did not go online for over a week, only posting a notice on his dashboard to request a leave of absence from his fans.

His streaming momentum had originally been quite strong, and he should have struck while the iron was hot. However, with the current family situation, he had to prioritize his household.

As his top fan, Gu Qiu naturally asked about his absence since Luo Jianghe had not been online for several days. Luo Jianghe did not reveal too much, only saying that there were matters at home that needed to be resolved and that he would resume updates after a while.

After all, his family’s current situation was dire, and the income from streaming was truly important to him.

The tens of thousands of dollars Father Luo had given Mother Luo before their divorce were entirely spent on the funeral. The condolence money they received barely covered the funeral expenses, not to mention the time and energy the entire family had invested.

Mother Luo’s family also attended the funeral. Seeing their daughter lose her husband at such a young age, they cried for her all day.

After sending off Father Luo, the three of them gathered to discuss whether they should sell their current villa for the sake of their future livelihood. The only assets the Luo family had left were the hundred thousand or so in Mother Luo’s hands, a car, and one villa.

Setting the car aside for now, the house was certainly intended for the two children to inherit. The villa they owned did not occupy a very large area. Although its location was quite good, selling it would only bring in about five or six million. If they used three million of that to purchase a new residence, only one or two million would remain. That one or two million would then be split equally between the two children as their inheritance.

Luo Xi’s future dowry and Luo Jianghe’s small family would certainly be covered. As for the new residence, whoever took on the primary responsibility of caring for Mother Luo in her old age would inherit it. Of course, Mother Luo assumed she would live with Luo Jianghe. Since the son was older and would enter society sooner, the pressure of providing for her would not be too great. With the two siblings supporting each other, they could still make a living.

This was the original plan: sell the house, buy a small three-bedroom apartment, and have Mother Luo use the surplus money for living expenses while she looked for online work to earn some extra cash.

However, after doing the math, they discovered that the house still had potential to appreciate in value. Furthermore, rather than selling the villa, it would be better to rent it out and rent a different house for themselves to live in.

Since Luo Jianghe was heading to university, he would naturally live in a dormitory. Luo Xi was starting high school, so Mother Luo planned to rent a place near the school. A two-bedroom apartment with decent conditions would only cost a few thousand a month. This way, by renting out the villa, the family could have an income of over ten thousand dollars every month.

After deducting the daily maintenance costs of the villa, it would be enough to cover Luo Jianghe and Luo Xi’s tuition and book fees. Combined with their previous savings, it would be sufficient for the children’s school expenses and the household’s maintenance.

Houses in good locations were never hard to sell, so Mother Luo shared her plan with the two children. Luo Jianghe and his sister agreed, though they requested that the two-bedroom rental be changed to a three-bedroom. Since they were renting out their home, their belongings needed to be moved out of the villa and required a place for storage. Also, if Luo Jianghe wanted to come home during winter or summer vacations, he needed a place to stay. He could not just sleep in the living room; he needed at least a room to settle in, even if it was just a room for storage.

Hearing that her son, who had always been obedient since childhood, would have to sleep in a storage room made Mother Luo’s eyes turn red just thinking about it. Mother Luo herself came from an ordinary family and was merely returning to a common life from wealth, but her children had been born with silver spoons in their mouths. This truly pained her.

But there was no other way. The Luo family was bankrupt, and their pillar of support had fallen.

Amidst the busy atmosphere, the mother and her two children did not have many complicated thoughts; their priority was always the immediate problems. Grief was something for later. It came when Mother Luo realized during dinner that Father Luo would never return to eat, or when Luo Xi stared blankly at the empty sofa where Father Luo often sat. That pain was dull, yet it was a form of self-protection for those who could not let go.

Only Luo Jianghe, the outsider, recovered very quickly.

Once everything at home was finally settled, Luo Jianghe pulled himself together to prepare for his live stream. He posted the streaming schedule on his dashboard a day in advance and also informed his top contributor, Gu Qiu, that he was about to restart his broadcasts. Gu Qiu simply replied with a “Good.” Luo Jianghe guessed this meant he would come to watch. If Gu Qiu were truly uninterested, he likely would not have bothered to reply.

The day before, he practiced his guitar pieces again. Although he was a bit rusty, he was used to playing them, so it was not difficult to get back into it. Auntie Wang had always done a great job at their home, but her price was non-negotiable. Mother Luo planned to employ her until Luo Jianghe and his sister went to school. After moving, Mother Luo would choose to do the housework herself and hire hourly workers when necessary. After all, a three-bedroom apartment was not a villa and would be much easier to manage.

S Province, D City.

Gu Qiu sat on the sofa watching his friend, who was taking notes, silently waiting for a response.

“In other words, during the time you were watching the live streams, your sleep did indeed improve. But when he was not streaming, you gradually began to feel anxious again, right? Since the other party is resuming their broadcasts, you should continue watching the streams for treatment. I will not prescribe any sleeping pills this time, as the issue does not seem that significant. I wish you luck in winning him over soon.”

While speaking, the friend began packing his paper and pens on the sofa.

It was his day off, so Gu Qiu was wearing a striped shirt. He rubbed his hand against the back of the sofa. “His family has had some issues recently, so he stopped broadcasting for a long time. His mood must be terrible right now. What do you think eighteen or nineteen-year-old boys like?”

“You want to give him a gift? Sneakers? Or take him to see a football match?” The friend’s eyebrows knitted together, appearing somewhat troubled by the question.

“He does not seem like the type of person who would like those things,” Gu Qiu said directly.

Having watched Luo Jianghe’s streams for a long time, he could sense that although Luo Jianghe was only nineteen, his thoughts were very mature. He rarely showed his joys or sorrows on his face. He did not like the things ordinary boys liked, nor did he care about the things ordinary boys focused on. Gu Qiu often forgot his youthful age.

When he first realized his feelings for Luo Jianghe, even Gu Qiu himself was surprised. He was already twenty-eight years old; how could he be interested in a nineteen-year-old youth? Of course, it was inevitable to be fond of a young person’s vitality. It was normal for people to feel an instinctive urge to care for a fledgling that had not yet spread its wings.

But the feeling Luo Jianghe gave him was not like that, or rather, it was more than that. When spending time with Luo Jianghe, besides feeling relaxed, Gu Qiu felt more like he was with a peer. Even though he had a preference for Luo Jianghe and doted on him, it did not stop Luo Jianghe from being an equal in his mind.

“Then take him to eat something delicious, see something beautiful, or play something fun.” The friend was not very interested in Gu Qiu’s love life. He was not even interested in Luo Jianghe as a person. Just as Gu Qiu found it strange, his friend was also surprised that he would like a young boy. He felt that Gu Qiu had been forced to act like a robot by his old man for so long that his views on love had not matured.

Young people nowadays have views and likes that are as fickle as each other. They like one thing today and something else tomorrow. He was not optimistic about the relationship between Gu Qiu and that boy named Luo Jianghe. He believed Gu Qiu and Luo Jianghe were just playing around; it was just that Gu Qiu might not have noticed it himself. As Gu Qiu’s friend and doctor, his concern was only Gu Qiu’s physical state. Now that Luo Jianghe was helpful to Gu Qiu’s sleep, it did not matter what Gu Qiu felt for him.

Before leaving, the friend still offered some well-meaning advice to Gu Qiu: “I will give you a friendly reminder. Watching streams is fine, and falling in love is fine. But young boys have their pride too. Do not hurt his feelings and end up making things look bad. Also, since you want to pursue someone, change that attitude of looking at everyone as if they were ants. Learn how to smile more. When it comes to relationships, you still have a long way to go.”

After saying that, the friend left his house decisively.

Watching his friend leave, Gu Qiu raised his eyebrows. “Smile?”

He indeed did not seem very good at that. Since his father passed away and he was taken to live with his grandfather, the number of times he had truly smiled could be counted on one hand. But it was not that he was entirely incapable of pretending; when facing people with whom he had business interests, he would also smile. However, truly laughing out loud seemed rare.

After being reminded by his friend, a hint of apology appeared in Gu Qiu’s eyes. He remembered when Luo Jianghe first met him; his movements were very stiff, and he could never relax. If he could have been gentler back then, would Luo Jianghe have had a better time?

Just as he was thinking this, Gu Qiu’s phone alarm rang beside him, bringing his thoughts back.

When Luo Jianghe started his live stream again, he had already anticipated a decrease in the number of fans. Since it was the weekend, only about twenty people entered his stream at first. However, his following had already reached over a thousand, so the comparison to the number of viewers was quite stark.

As soon as Gu Qiu came online, he immediately sent Luo Jianghe several Starry Skies, and the popularity suddenly soared. Swish, swish, swish, another group of people entered, bringing the number of online viewers to nearly a hundred. Before he stopped broadcasting, Luo Jianghe’s performance on Little Rabbit had been quite good. Some people clicked in specifically to see him after seeing the gifts Gu Qiu sent, so it was easier to attract an audience than when he first started streaming.

“Ahhh, Jianghe, you are finally back!”

“What happened at home? Why have you been away from streaming for so long?”

“Such a handsome face! It has been a long time. I missed you so much!”

Probably because they really had not seen him for a long time, many fans were sending gifts as soon as he went online.

Luo Jianghe said with an apologetic expression, “I am sorry. There was an emergency at home, so I have not been online lately. Thank you for waiting.”

“Jianghe, you made us so worried. Were you sick?”

Luo Jianghe thanked them for a wave of gifts and then picked a few key questions from the comments to answer: “No, I was not sick. Someone in my family passed away.”

“It is good as long as it was not you who had an accident.”

“Alright, everyone, let us stop talking about this.”

The people who came in to send gifts were basically long-term fans who were consciously helping him keep the comment section clean.

“Yes. Everyone, please stop sending gifts for a moment. I am going to start a PK. Wait for me to connect with someone before you send more.” This was something he had recently learned from experienced people in a group. He heard this could increase the speed at which fans joined. He had never started a PK before, so he wanted to try it out.

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