Why Are the Psychos Obsessed with a Mere NPC?
Chapter 30: They Were All Ugly, Couldn’t Afford Me, I Wasn’t Interested

Chapter 30: Chapter 30: They Were All Ugly, Couldn’t Afford Me, I Wasn’t Interested

Xi Yu shot him a cold glance.

Pei Yin zipped his lips.

The director was lost in her own memories, unaffected.

The loving look in her eyes didn’t seem fake.

"I’m not some saint, but whenever I looked into her eyes, my heart would inexplicably soften. I fed her, dressed her up in pretty clothes. She was so frail, always ending up in the hospital. And yet, I couldn’t even bring myself to blame her for it."

"She asked me for books, to go to school, and for a virtual gaming console. I hardened my heart and refused her every time. But then I’d see that crestfallen look in her eyes, and I couldn’t stop myself from giving her everything she wanted."

"I spent a lot of money on her, more than on anyone else. I had actually given up on ever getting it back. I thought it wouldn’t be so bad to raise her as a sort of daughter."

"But when she grew up, she became so successful. I found her a lot of jobs, and my hands grew tired from taking the lion’s share of the profits."

"You have no idea. People were always willing to pay several times the original price for the dresses and shoes she had worn. The bracelets and anklets she wore would be sold out the moment they were listed."

Noticing Xi Yu’s grim expression, the director reined in her proud tone.

She cleared her throat. "Because of her, the orphanage was renovated, and my own daughter received timely medical treatment."

The director glanced around, but when she didn’t see Jian Yu, her eyes fell again.

"Yu is very filial. The hundreds of thousands of Star Coins that Weis Lan Academy awarded her, plus everything the Alliance gave her—she gave it all to me. I was able to buy the medicine to cure my genetic disease. Yu gave me a second chance at life."

Her orphanage had produced a student who got into Weis Lan Noble Academy, and she was quickly noticed by the higher-ups.

The banquet she was attending today was held specially for her by a high-ranking official.

"They allocated funds to the orphanage and even brought in many kind-hearted, wealthy people to donate."

Xi Yu snorted. "Your illness is cured and the orphanage has received funding. Why are you still taking her money?"

The director wasn’t the least bit intimidated.

"For eighteen whole years, she had to drink bitter medicine since she was a child. The hospitals couldn’t find what was wrong with her, so I threw piles of money at the problem, buying medicine every single day. Now I’m taking a little back. That’s reasonable, isn’t it?"

She said defiantly, "I’m her mother. What’s wrong with a daughter being filial to her parent? I’m saving the money. If she gets sick again, wouldn’t I have to be the one to pay for her treatment anyway? Why should I have to refuse every cent? Do I owe her something?!"

Xi Yu still wasn’t happy about it.

But seeing that Jian Yu didn’t object, there was nothing he could do.

The director was very perceptive. Noticing his gaze, she understood immediately.

She touched the tassel earring by her ear. "I never had the heart to let her do any hard labor. You can tell just by looking at her hands."

Her expression was proud, yet tinged with a pained reluctance. "Growing up, she had it the best out of everyone. I never even let her get a single callus on her hands. I was so afraid she’d start bleeding and it wouldn’t stop, and she’d come crying and calling for me."

The director lowered the hand that had been fiddling with her earring.

"Every time she cried out in pain, it drove me crazy. One cry, and my bank balance would drop by three digits."

"You ask her. How have I wronged her? I truly raised her as my own daughter. It’s not like I don’t love her."

"All she does is stare at me with those innocent eyes. The cost of raising her was just too high. Is it so wrong for me to take a little back?"

Jian Yu nodded. "It is a bit much."

Sheng Yue tilted his head, watching her quietly.

Xi Yu’s eyes were filled with adoration. "My baby is so cute."

Pei Yin had never seen anything like it and felt his vision go dark.

Ling Yanzhi smiled and looked down, gently squeezing Jian Yu’s fingers.

They were slender, pale, and delicate. Her palms were soft, with only the faint calluses of someone who writes a lot on her fingertips. It was hard to say these hands had ever done hard labor.

He rubbed her nails. They were round and had a somewhat childish look to them. ’She really is cute from head to toe.’

’Why are they all making that face?’ Jian Yu didn’t want to explain. She was an adult with her own judgment.

The director had been good to her. Very good.

She didn’t understand why the director was putting herself down, acting as if she had treated her horribly, but she was willing to play along.

She just needed to confirm this person was the director. Nothing else mattered.

The director was acting. She could tell.

Ling Yanzhi looked up and stated a fact. "At seventeen, you were already setting her up on blind dates."

Xi Yu’s gaze turned vicious.

The director’s expression changed slightly.

Jian Yu very helpfully explained, "They were ugly and poor. They couldn’t afford to support me, so I didn’t date them."

Ling Yanzhi chuckled and gently ruffled her hair.

Sheng Yue’s expression was complicated.

Pei Yin turned his head away, giving her a strange look.

Xi Yu’s expression cleared, his clingy gaze fixing back on Jian Yu. "Good girl."

The director swallowed nervously.

"I did introduce her to a few rich men, but I swear I never forced her."

"Besides, she was the one who requested it! Her standards were ridiculously high. Said she wanted someone rich, like out of a novel, so that he could support her."

Jian Yu nodded, her voice soft, "Mhm."

Hearing her "mhm," the director got a little angry.

"Don’t let her cute looks fool you. When she opens that little mouth of hers, she doesn’t know how to talk nicely. She’s blunt and harsh."

She clapped her hands and began counting on her fingers.

"The first one, she told him to his face he was too short. The second, she told him he wasn’t rich enough to support her. She told the third one he was bald, and the fourth that he had an ’old man smell’."

"They were only in their thirties, mature and stable. What ’old man smell’? See how awful she was? She scared off several of them."

"In truth, I only introduced her to those few. They had bad tempers, and every one of them called my daughter a gold digger. That made me mad, too. Only my daughter has the right to reject them. What right do they have to reject my daughter?"

Jian Yu bit the inside of her lower lip.

She looked up uneasily, gauging their reactions.

’It’s not wrong to love money, and it’s not wrong for those men to call me a gold digger, but I don’t think I’m the one with the problem.’

’If they can’t support me, why should they even try to date me? I don’t just need someone rich, I need someone as good-looking as I am.’

Xi Yu scoffed. "How can you support my baby without money?"

"Mhm!" Jian Yu’s eyes lit up, and she nodded more vigorously.

’I really do like Xi Yu the best. Not only does he like to be forceful with me, but he also understands me so well.’

"Mhm, my foot," the director rolled her eyes when she heard her.

She continued to spill the beans.

"She told me to find her a partner who earned his money through his own abilities. Of course they’re going to be in their thirties! Someone in their twenties who’s already rich and powerful? Forget about finding one on Digital Star 666. Even if one existed, would she have a chance with him?"

The director came back to her senses and shifted uneasily under the cold stares of Xi Yu and the others.

She added meekly, "It’s my fault. Mama doesn’t have the connections to meet such important people."

"This is getting way off-topic." Pei Yin clicked his tongue. "In these eighteen years, has anyone ever come to see her?"

"You’re asking if anyone who might have been her parents ever showed up, right?"

The director thought hard, then shook her head. "No. I’m very sure about that."

Her voice hitched. "However... when I found her, there was a necklace around her neck."

"That’s it?"

"That’s it."

The call ended.

Ling Yanzhi’s fingers lifted the necklace as he narrowed his eyes.

"Don’t pull me." The necklace tugged Jian Yu closer to his chest.

Xi Yu frowned. "Why does that look a little familiar?"