Chapter 6: An Unexpected Event

  "Ah-choo... Ah-choo..." The girl who snatched Peng Guang's phone suddenly let out several consecutive sneezes, rubbed her nose, furrowed her brow, and fiddled with the phone in her hand, lost in thought.

  "Jun Yun, are you ill?" asked a woman in her 30s with a lingering charm beside him.

  "Mom, I'm fine. My nose just suddenly itched a bit. People say that when someone is thinking of you or scolding you, you'll sneeze. Don't worry, Mom."

  "Well, I'm relieved then, Junyun. It's all Mom's fault for putting you through this."

  The girl known as Jun Yun is the same girl who snatched Peng Guang's mobile phone. The woman talking to her is her mother, Kong Yue Mei. Although she is in her thirties, she still has a youthful charm. In her younger years, she was one of the top performers at the Huang Cheng No. 1 Nightclub in the Dongcheng District. Now that she's older, although she still works at the nightclub, she can only accompany clients to sing and drink. Recently, she unfortunately became addicted to drugs. To raise money for her addiction, she worked day and night, but her meager income from singing was far from enough to cover her expenses. Under the persuasion of her supervisor, she started frequenting casinos to make quick money, but her luck was really bad - out of ten bets, she lost nine. This time was no exception; within less than ten minutes, she not only lost all the small change she had just received for this month's tips but also owed 2000 yuan. Two thousand yuan is neither a lot nor a little, but she simply couldn't come up with it. She had to hide everywhere, luckily the debt collectors hadn't found out where she lived yet, otherwise, she wouldn't even be able to hide at home.

  The girl's full name is Lin Junyun, and as for who her father is, Kong Yuemei herself doesn't know. When she was born, they randomly gave her the surname Lin. The two of them have been living together for over ten years. Just now in the park, one of the debt collectors recognized that she was Kong Yuemei's daughter, saw that she was pretty, and got a bad idea - wanting to use Lin Junyun as collateral to pay off the debt. Lin Junyun refused to give in, even unto death, and climbed up onto the wall to hide. Pang Guang happened to be walking by with his phone, saw her, and thought she was going to jump off the wall because she couldn't take it anymore, so he hurried over to persuade her. Lin Junyun saw a tall, muscular man walking towards her step by step, thinking he was one of the debt collectors, and immediately became extremely nervous, her foot slipped, and she accidentally fell off the wall, which is what happened earlier.

  "I'm fine." Lin Junyun smiled lightly: "Mom, if you feel uncomfortable in the future, smoke a little more, and don't use these cheap cosmetics anymore, they're very damaging to your skin."

  "Hmm..." Kong Yue Mei's heart was choking, she had a debt to pay, could she afford expensive cosmetics? If she didn't wear makeup, who would still look at her, this withered flower and decayed willow? Even if she accompanied someone singing, they would still find her disgusting.

  "How much do we owe them this time?" Lin Junyun sighed and asked calmly.

  "2,000 yuan, if it wasn't for that little scoundrel cheating, I..." Kong Yue Mei was choked with anger, but Lin Jun Yun didn't let her finish.

  "Isn't it just 2000 yuan? I'll think of a way to help you, Mom. You really can't gamble anymore. Every time something happens, I have to come and bail you out. Just now, I almost...” Lin Junyun looked at Kong Yue Mei and suddenly felt that she couldn't bear to tell her what had just happened. She knew that her mom loved her dearly but was also impulsive. If she found out, who knows, she might really go and fight it out with those people: "Forget it... I won't say anything."

  "I won't gamble anymore, I won't gamble anymore, Junyun, Mom is sorry to you."

  "Why are we mother and daughter talking about this? By the way, Mom, have you cooked dinner?"

  Kong Yue Mei didn't speak for half a day, then suddenly squeezed out a sentence from the corner of her mouth, looking at Lin Jun Yun with a timid expression: "Jun Yun, there's something else."

  "Huh?" Lin Junyun waited for her to continue.

  Kong Yue Mei's voice was a bit timid, and after holding back for half a day, she finally said: "Today I lost another 1000, borrowed from Hou Shu, originally thought that I could win it back to repay the money owed to Li Shu, but in the end still lost. However... you believe me, I really made up my mind to quit drugs this time, purely for repaying debts."

  "Ah?" Lin Junyun was taken aback, "Mom, I've told you many times, Hou Shu and Li Shu are in cahoots with each other, and then there's that Er Gou and Qiang Ye... never mind, it's a total of 3000, don't worry about it, I'll think of a way."

  "Where did you get so much money?" Kong Yue Mei looked at Lin Jun Yun's large bundle and whispered: "Jun Yun, if it's difficult, then forget it. I can lower the price a bit and try to take on more private lessons."

  "Come on, you think you're still 18 or 20 years old and can take private lessons? It's already good if someone asks you to sing along. Lin Junyun was both angry and amused: "If someone wants it, then don't do that safety measure thing, having a little brother come out to help me share the burden wouldn't be bad either. Being a tutor is getting harder and harder, more and more teachers are moonlighting as tutors, I haven't gotten any work in half a month...I really don't know how much longer I can hold on."

  Kong Yue Mei was in a great hurry, suddenly she slapped her forehead, "Ah, I forgot to cook the rice, wait a moment, it'll be ready soon."

  "Never mind, the kitchen is wet and slippery, can you stand steadily with those high heels on, mom? Just sit down, I'll go." Lin Junyun said with a wry smile as he looked at Kong Yuemei who was heavily made up.