Sister-in-law Nancy seed a bit troubled as she said, "I don't have much on hand right now either."
Luis's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he asked, "Then why didn't you tell ?"
Nancy carefully acted coquettish as she said, "I don't get a salary from the bar, and the dividends won't co until the end of the year."
"I noticed that Lily seed a little bothered by it, so I thought I should invest in doing sothing of my own and stop always spending your money…"
Damn it, why did she have to be so sensible?
He needed his old, vain, money-worshipping sister-in-law back. He needed her to be endlessly wasteful and extravagant. Why the hell did she have to follow her sister down that misguided path of being a virtuous wife and devoted mother?
How foolish, how utterly foolish!!
Luis was frustrated by her lack of ambition and imdiately asked with concern, "A business venture, huh? Speaking of which, you've been sneaking around with Deewa lately, and you even dragged Chloe into it. What exactly are you up to?"
"Oh, don't ask so many questions. I'll tell you once I've got it all set up."
"All I can say is that I've invested nearly my entire savings, over twenty thousand dollars, into it, and I haven't made my money back yet. So I don't have anything to spare right now…"
Luis imdiately encouraged her, saying, "Big sister, you're the woman I love. If you don't want to talk about it now, I won't push you."
"But you're not allowed to bear all the pressure alone. If you run into any trouble, you have to tell , understand?"
"I understand, you bad man~ I've really missed you too!!"
Her tone was rarely this sweet, this blissfully sweet enough to make a person's bones tingle with pleasure.
He hung up the phone and happened to arrive at the teahouse just as his mother-in-law had finished her big card ga. When she heard what Luis said, her eyes widened imdiately. "You weren't hallucinating, were you?"
"Ten thousand dollars? Your father is actually that generous now?"
"Paying for all the appliances in the villa? Even if he was willing, would that bitch Suzanne agree to it?"
Luis smiled and said, "Mom, when it cos down to it, Lily is still his own daughter. Dad cares about his reputation too."
"No matter how you look at it, his daughter is moving into a new ho. If he didn't give anything at all, everyone would laugh at him later. Besides, this is real money from him, so don't be so suspicious."
Since there were people at the counter right then, Luis behaved very properly, looking exactly like a filial son-in-law.
Ruth thought it over and then pursed her lips. "I suppose he's still human after all. But let's see how he explains this to that bitch Suzanne."
With that, she wore a gleefully malicious expression, as if she were imagining the scene of her father-in-law's harem catching fire and the younger wife's side of the family being thrown into utter chaos.
"Mom, I've got things to do, so I'll take off now."
Luis smiled wickedly. Taking advantage of the mont when the young waitress went to deliver cigarettes to a private room, he hugged Ruth and kissed her for a while before reluctantly leaving.
Ruth's face flushed red as she said, "Alright, you little rascal. Your aunt should be at her place. Be careful and don't scare her."
"And whatever you do, don't let your uncle catch you two in bed, understand?"
"Got it!"
With a wicked smile, Luis left the teahouse, hailed a taxi, and went straight to Fatty's auto repair shop.
In truth, repairing the broken front windshield, rearview mirror, and shattered side windows of the Benz C wasn't that difficult. If he was willing to spend the money, getting original parts was especially easy.
But it would be quite expensive at a dealership store, while getting it done here offered great value for money.
"The three-way catalytic converter has been cleaned, the engine oil has been flushed once, and you can rest assured about everything else. It's been a full, comprehensive maintenance service."
"This includes the windows, the onboard systems, and other areas. The leather seats have been replaced with the best quality. As for the air conditioning, it looked pretty good and didn't need any work, so I just cleaned out all the ducts completely."
Luis offered Fatty a cigarette and asked with a smile, "Boss, I've been looking for you lately but haven't seen you around. What's up?"
He was asking even though he already knew the answer. For the sake of saving face, Winslet hadn't revealed that Luis was the real mastermind behind the scenes. She had only ntioned that Luis was entangled in quite a few lawsuits on her end.
Fatty rolled his eyes and said worriedly, "Between and your aunt, we'll be lucky if we don't get a divorce."
"But what about you? How co I hear from your aunt that you've got a bunch of lawsuits going on?"
"No, not really. It's mostly just referring friends to her, and she's pinning all those cases on ."
"That's good. For a second there, I thought you'd actually made sothing of yourself and were spending all your ti in court."
After chatting briefly with the master, Luis drove off first. The nearly one thousand dollars in repair costs were basically just the base price.
Aside from the damaged parts, the interior of the Benz C had been completely redone. Using high-quality materials, this older model car now looked like it had regained the aura of a luxury vehicle.
In the evening, Luis arrived at the small town and made his way straight to his aunt's house with practiced ease.
He parked the Benz at the entrance of the alley, its presence feeling particularly impressive, and walked in carrying fruit and imported liquor.
Logan was distractedly watching television. When he heard footsteps, he turned around and said happily, "You little rascal, why are you bringing things when you co to your aunt and uncle's place? That's so formal."
Even as he said this, he stood up with obvious pleasure and took the gifts from Luis's hands.
For soone like him, who was disliked by just about everyone, he not only rarely had anyone to drink with, but even his relatives didn't visit much. Almost no one ever brought him any gifts.
He had all the flaws of those impoverished, pedantic intellectuals: he loved to lecture others, loved to play the teacher, and loved to argue about everything.
When other people talked about rising prices, he would start going on about national affairs with fancy literary phrases. Soone like that, if they actually fit in with anyone, there would be sothing seriously wrong.
This wasn't low emotional intelligence. It was a complete and total lack of emotional intelligence.
"Uncle, since you rarely have so free ti to drink a little, it's only right that I show you so respect."
Hearing this, Logan beca even more delighted. He was even less popular among the younger generation, so in his eyes, Luis might as well have been an angel.
Logan put down the gifts, then picked up his scooter keys and said, "Alright, alright. Your aunt is cooking dinner right now. You wait here at ho. I'll go get you that spicy ginger fried chicken tonight, and I promise it will be absolutely perfect."
Luis turned his head and saw a curvaceous figure in the kitchen. Wearing a strappy nightgown with her back to him, it was naturally his beautiful, alluring aunt, Eloise.
She secretly glanced back as well, then shyly turned away again. Her hair was casually tied up, full of the charm of a respectable homaker, the kind of sight that made anyone's mouth water.
"Uncle, what's that?"
"Oh, you just wait and eat. Let tell you, your uncle isn't going to shortchange you."
It had to be said, Logan was a stubborn guy. In real life, he had no relatives or friends he could really connect with, but oddly enough, he had a good relationship with one particular restaurant.
It was the sa as last ti with the lotus leaf wrapped chicken. He had to have it freshly killed and freshly made to be satisfied. In his eyes, that was what showed respectability.
And with this spicy ginger fried chicken, it was the sa story. He talked it up like it was the most amazing thing ever. In any case, he had to go to the scene himself to watch them slaughter a fresh, tender chicken and cook it on the spot before he would feel at ease.
He figured this trip would take at least half an hour, going there and coming back.
As Luis saw him to the door, his aunt Eloise suddenly leaned in close and said, "Hey, Old Xie, this front door is pretty old. Sotis it won't lock right, and it also makes noise. While you're at it, have Xiao Bin help fix it."
Logan didn't say much else and just laughed. "Alright, alright. He's our own relative. Coming over for a al and doing a little manual labor, no problem. Go ahead and fix it."
"Don't worry. I'll pick the tenderest, atiest chicken there is. I won't let down the husband of your sister's daughter."
With that, he drove off on his scooter. Eloise's breathing grew rapid, and her face turned completely red. Silently, she closed the front door of the house.
The old house used a double-paneled door, with two doors representing the female side and a single door representing the male side. In the old countryside, the concept of "matching doors and households" was still reflected in this type of architectural form.
For those who were a bit more particular, there were also dragon and tiger doors, with inner gutters and outer protrusions. The door at Logan and Eloise's place was one of those really old types. Just turning its pivot chanism would make a creaking, grinding sound.
As soon as the door was slightly closed, Luis hugged his aunt Eloise from behind.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
Eloise trembled, her breathing grew rapid, and her mind went completely blank as she asked.
"Aunt, half an hour… I just want to know how many tis I can do it."
Luis licked her ear, trembling with excitent, and said, "Before your husband gets back, get ready to go to the realm of ultimate bliss."
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