Evelyn still couldn’t react, her phone pressed against her ear.
It took her a long moment to grasp the full weight of the problem.
If her family went bankrupt, she’d be at risk of dropping out of school. She’d never become a great woman.
So she didn’t even go to class. She asked Emily to cover for her and rushed home.
How could bankruptcy just happen overnight?
Wasn’t her father a nouveau riche?
What did that mean?
It meant he was the kind of rich person who had nothing left but money.
How could he suddenly go broke?
Was it the financial crisis?
But hadn’t that been years ago?
On the way home, Evelyn imagined every possible chain reaction.
The worst outcome? Her whole family would end up on the street. Penniless. Begging with crutches and a broken bowl.
“Have pity on me!”
When she walked through the door, the atmosphere felt wrong.
Even her mother, who usually spent her days playing mahjong with friends, sat at home with a gloomy face.
If Evelyn didn’t know better, she’d think someone had died.
Well, that wasn’t right.
It was just that the family was broke.
“Mom, Dad, Victoria, I’m home!” Evelyn stepped inside, greeted them, and sat down in the empty seat next to her sister.
“Evelyn, how much money do you have in your card?” Victoria turned to ask.
“My campus card?” Evelyn blurted out.
“Who asked about your campus card? I mean your bank card!” Victoria felt a headache coming on.
She was supposed to be the smart one. How could she have such a clueless sister?
Sure, Evelyn was smart enough to get into a top university.
But sometimes, she was just a puzzle.
“Oh, I have eighty-seven dollars and twenty-five cents,” Evelyn answered honestly.
She had checked it just yesterday. She remembered clearly.
Because yesterday, her mother had called asking for money. Evelyn had gone to check her bank card and found that this month’s allowance hadn’t arrived yet.
“What! You spent all the money Mom and Dad gave you?” Victoria’s eyes burned with anger.
“No, what I had left is with Mom,” Evelyn quickly replied. Then she turned to look at her mother.
Her mother froze when she heard that. The next second, under everyone’s gaze, she reluctantly admitted, “I’ve been unlucky lately. I lost it all gambling.”
“It looks like we really are going to sleep on the streets,” Victoria groaned in frustration.
“Dad, what’s going on?” Evelyn finally looked at her silent father.
She still didn’t understand the situation.
“It’s your father’s fault for being too reckless. He listened to a friend and bought a set of overpriced, useless equipment at a high price,” Amelia snapped.
“The equipment arrived, but the capital chain broke.
There’s no money for raw materials. How can we make the finished products?
Now the delivery date is coming. If we can’t deliver the goods, they’ll take everything we have to pay off the debt!”
“Can’t we get a loan from the bank first?” Evelyn asked her mother.
“Now that the bank knows your father’s cash flow is bad, they wish they could take back the money they already lent us. How could they give us another loan?” Amelia said, exasperated. “That’s how the world works. They always add icing on the cake, but never offer help in a crisis.”
“Dad, is there any other way now?” Evelyn looked at her father again.