The Beta Wife Claimed by Competing Alphas - Chapter 18

“I’m hanging up now, Yanyan. I need to go buy groceries. I promised Jiajia I’d make thin pancakes for her today. Do you want to come over and eat?”

His brother’s lighthearted tone gave Mu Yan the illusion that the 150,000 yuan really wasn’t a big deal—that he would solve it, just like when they were kids and his brother, three years older and much taller, would pull him behind his back whenever someone bullied him.

“I… I’ll be over in a bit.”

His brother laughed and scolded, “Just waiting for me to cook for you? You’re lazy to the core.”

Mu Juanhua was not originally from A City; his brother had grown up with her in B Province, right next door. Thin pancakes were a specialty of B Province, known elsewhere as spring pancakes.

The pancakes themselves weren’t anything extraordinary—just thin sheets of dough used to wrap various fillings. However, a single meal required many different side dishes, making the preparation incredibly tedious.

Since Mu Yan lived with Lu Chong, and Lu Chong didn’t care for them, it was impossible for Mu Yan to prepare a whole table of dishes just for himself.

“Yeah, I’m lazy. Big brother is the best to me.”

Lin Yi noticed a hint of nasality in Mu Yan’s voice on the other end. “What’s wrong? Do you have a cold? If you’re sick, you aren’t allowed to come. Don’t go giving it to Jiajia.”

“I don’t have a cold.”

Lin Yi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “So you’re moved to tears? Why are you suddenly being so sentimental? It’s just pancakes. If you want to eat them, I can make them for you every week. What’s really going on? Why do you sound so aggrieved? Is Lu Chong treating you poorly?”

“You’ve always been the one with the strongest opinions, and I’ve never interfered in your business with him. But if you aren’t happy, then break up. Don’t overthink things. It doesn’t matter how many years you’ve been together or how much history you have; those are just empty things. If he’s bad to you now, do you really expect him to repent later? You aren’t married and you don’t have kids…”

“No.” After a long silence, Mu Yan softly interrupted his brother. “The two of us… are fine.”

After hanging up, Mu Yan did not get up immediately.

Griping his phone, he opened an online lending app, entered Lin Yi’s phone number, and tried several passwords.

His brother’s birthday; his brother’s initials plus birthday; Xiang Zhuo’s birthday; Jiajia’s birthday…

Password incorrect. He didn’t know if it was because an account hadn’t been registered or because he hadn’t guessed right.

Sitting on the cold hospital chair, Mu Yan used the hospital Wi-Fi to download almost every online lending app on the market, testing likely passwords one by one.

He shouldn’t have doubted his brother like this, but Lin Yi had known about the 150,000 yuan for a long time. If he had another way, why would he have accompanied a client to the Liuguang club?

Mu Yan and Xiang Zhuo might not have known exactly what kind of place Liuguang was, but Lin Yi worked in sales. Had his colleagues and clients never told him? Could he not tell from the amount on the receipts submitted to the company for reimbursement?

He knew his brother’s character best. Lin Yi was timid and cautious. Unless he was at the end of his rope, he would never engage in something so risky.

Logging in…

Mu Yan watched the screen nervously, praying for another “Incorrect Password” prompt.

Login Successful.

A tightly wound string in Mu Yan’s mind suddenly snapped.

Maybe it’s not what I think. Maybe a friend of Lin Yi’s was just trying to hit a referral quota, and he was softhearted enough to help by registering.

When he was in college, every time his brother called, he would drum it into his head: if you’re short on money, you must ask, but never, ever touch online loans.

Brother wouldn’t. He wouldn’t.

He knows what he’s doing.

Mu Yan took a sharp breath and clicked the interface with trembling fingertips.

“150,000 yuan. Loan application in progress. Interest rate…”

Mu Yan had never believed in karma, but now he felt utterly lost. He and his brother had never done a bad thing in their lives; they had never wronged anyone.

Why did this have to happen to him and his brother?

His blood felt like it was flowing backward. It was as if he were being shoved back into the bucket of red paint those four Alphas had brought, making it suddenly very difficult to breathe.

After a long time, he gathered the courage to click the loan details.

…Application in progress. It was only an application.

Mu Yan felt like he could finally catch his breath. Fortunately, there was a “Cancel Application” button.

Without hesitation, he clicked confirm.

The app sluggishly transitioned to the next screen. Applications like this had almost no regard for user experience; the front end was usually outsourced for a few thousand yuan and was as laggy as software written twenty years ago.

Please wait. Performing facial recognition.

Facial recognition failed.

Mu Yan saw a notice stating the approval would succeed within three days at the latest. He rushed to Lin Yi’s house in a desperate hurry.

“You’re here so fast?” Mu Yan knocked on the door, and Lin Yi opened it with a gentle smile, though his eyes couldn’t hide his exhaustion. “You’re too early for food. Go to the living room and watch cartoons with Jiajia.”

It felt like it had been a long time since he last saw his brother. Mu Yan set down the crate of sweet milk he had bought near the hospital, trying hard to remember if his brother had looked this tired the last time they met.

Jiajia was thrilled to see him and abandoned the TV. The little girl hopped off the sofa, excitedly wanting to show Mu Yan her castle of building blocks.

She didn’t know what kind of upheaval the family was facing, nor did she know that in a few years, she might have to leave her parents to go to her grandparents’ house in the countryside for school.

With his mind weighed down, Mu Yan found himself lacking his usual patience with Jiajia. He humored her briefly before heading into the kitchen, where both Lin Yi and Xiang Zhuo were.

“Brother,” he got straight to the point, dropping the phone with the loan app open in front of Lin Yi. “What is this?”

Lin Yi’s body stiffened, and his eyes shifted downward unnaturally.

The last time Mu Yan had spoken to him in that tone was when he had dropped out of school to work.

Mu Yan had been mature and decisive since childhood. When he spoke with that authority, Lin Yi was actually a little afraid of him.

“When you said you had a way, was this the ‘way’ you meant?”

“I…” It took a long time for Lin Yi to squeeze a sound from his throat. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hide it from you. Xiang Zhuo and I discussed it and felt you definitely wouldn’t agree, so we didn’t tell you…”

“If you felt I wouldn’t agree, why did you do it?”

Mu Yan opened the facial recognition screen for the cancellation and shoved the phone into Lin Yi’s hand. “Cancel it for me.”

Lin Yi turned his body slightly, avoiding him.

“Yanyan,” he said softly, “Money can be earned and paid back slowly. It’s no big deal. As long as people are alive, nothing else matters.”

That was the nature of an Omega; when they looked at someone with that soft gaze, even if the other person hadn’t done anything wrong, they couldn’t help but reflect on whether they were the problem.

But Mu Yan was the exception.

“Do it,” Mu Yan said, unmoved. “You’re married and have a child; this isn’t just about you. If you go into debt, what happens to Jiajia? She starts elementary school next year. If your credit is ruined, which school in A City will take her?”

Lin Yi kept his head down, his expression hidden from Mu Yan. He seemed to have been struck in his most conflicted spot and remained speechless for a long time.

The only sound in the kitchen was the chopping of vegetables, punctuated by occasional laughter from the cartoon pig outside the door.

The eggs in the pan absorbed the oil, gradually releasing their aroma. But the three people in the kitchen were in no mood to notice.

“If we’re in debt, we’ll work more jobs and save money. If Jiajia has no place to go to school, she’ll go back to the countryside. If a child is meant to study, they’ll study anywhere. Didn’t you get into A University from the countryside? How many city people can get into A University? Whether she succeeds depends on her. Worst case, she starts working early, learns hairdressing or nails—I see people making good money doing that.”

“Yanyan, I think… your brother is right.” Xiang Zhuo had been silent until now. Mu Yan had originally thought he was on his side, but the moment he spoke, Mu Yan felt even more isolated.

“The password was guessed by Lin Guojun; that really is our responsibility. And it’s not like we’re using this money for something bad. In the face of life and death, everything else is minor. As long as we have a clear conscience.”

Mu Yan bit his lower lip, momentarily speechless.

Outside of life and death, there is truly nothing that prevents one from living. A City looked glamorous with its skyscrapers everywhere, but out of the twenty million people in this city, how many actually lived a truly dignified life?

But Mu Yan knew Lin Yi and Xiang Zhuo. He knew Xiang Zhuo was the kind of person who would pick a melon from his garden to return to a neighbor just for using a bit of soy sauce. He knew how much Lin Yi had hated Lin Guojun’s creditors since childhood and how much he longed for a relaxed, stable life.

“Brother, please cancel this first, okay?” Mu Yan’s voice was dry and choked, shifting from forceful to pleading. “There are other ways.”

“There are no other ways,” Xiang Zhuo said in a low voice. “My dad fell while helping move heavy objects last year. Surgery and follow-up treatment cost tens of thousands. We only just finished paying back the relatives in our hometown.”

Lin Yi scooped the eggs out of the pan, slicing them into strips to be wrapped in the pancakes. He called out to the living room, telling Jiajia to turn off the cartoons and come eat.

“In a minute—” Jiajia drawled, acting spoiled. “Let me finish this episode.”

“There is a way,” Mu Yan whispered. “I’ll go borrow some from Lu Chong. He’ll have a way…”

“Absolutely not.” Lin Yi’s voice instinctively rose. “You aren’t married yet. If you borrow money from him now, people will look down on you. Besides, didn’t you say his family is already…”

“I’m here to eat!”

Just as the three were locked in their dispute, Jiajia pushed the door open happily. Seeing the pancakes and dishes on the table, she excitedly reached for one.

“Did you wash your hands?” Lin Yi lightly tapped her small hand. “Go wash them.”

Jiajia looked at him with a pained expression, as if she had really been treated harshly. Xiang Zhuo picked her up and took her to wash her hands.

Only Mu Yan and Lin Yi were left in the room.

“Brother,” Mu Yan called him softly. “If I’m going to marry him in the future, he counts as family, right?”

“And if I don’t marry him, then borrowing money from him is no big deal, right?”

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