All The Villain Wants Is Money - Chapter 17

Zheng Wen was simply dressed, with a bag by her side that seemed to contain something. As she stood up in her excitement, the bag tipped over, revealing what looked like a stack of documents inside.

Xie Gu walked into the reception room, pulled out a chair and sat down without hesitation. He gestured for Zheng Wen to sit as well. His demeanor wasn’t warm, but not cold either—just polite, keeping a certain distance.

“Auntie, what brings you to Gu Fei?” he asked.

Zheng Wen sat down as told. Hearing Xie Gu address her, she looked slightly embarrassed and said, “Ah Gu, I’m really sorry for everything we did before, so …”

Xie Gu raised a hand to cut her off. “Sorry? And from what position exactly are you apologizing?”

There was a faint smile in his eyes, but it carried an undeniable pressure. 

Zheng Wen had wanted to say “we,” but wilted under his gaze and ended up telling the truth. “Just me…”

She paused, then added, “And Xiao Jia.”

“Xiao Jia?” Xie Gu repeated the name, then suddenly laughed. “And what exactly did Xiao Jia do to disappoint me or the old man?”

The “Xiao Jia” she referred to was her adopted son, Zheng Jia.

Zheng Wen had gotten married in her twenties, but never got pregnant. Suspicious, her in-laws had her checked out and found she was born with a condition that made pregnancy extremely difficult. Though it was treatable, her husband’s family decided she was a “useless hen” and swiftly divorced her, moving on to find someone else.

Devastated by the experience, Zheng Wen gave up on men altogether and instead adopted a child from an orphanage, naming him Zheng Jia. She raised him on her own.

But Zheng Jia was only sixteen this year, still in high school. In the original course of events, he hardly appeared at all, let alone had any chance to do something that wronged the original Xie Gu.

Still, Xie Gu’s repetition of the name “Zheng Jia” carried its own meaning.

Zheng Wen had always been a somewhat weak-willed person—otherwise she wouldn’t have been so easily cast out by her in-laws. But when it came to Zheng Jia, she had a rare streak of strength.

For a divorced woman in her twenties with no particular skills, raising a child on her own wasn’t easy, even with financial support from Xie Wentang.

And in the original timeline, Zheng Wen had exploited the original villain to the fullest—though it was driven by her need to raise Zheng Jia.

That was why, the first time Zheng Wen showed up in front of Xie Gu, her behavior had immediately struck him as off.

Granted, Zheng Wen had always carried guilt toward Xie Wentang’s family. But out of sheer survival, it was impossible she’d just turn around and walk away from a conflict with Zheng Ting in tow.

So what had caused her change of heart?

Xie Gu’s first thought was that it must be something to do with Zheng Jia.

Repeating “Xiao Jia” had been a way to steer Zheng Wen into revealing more information.

And sure enough, hearing his question, Zheng Wen looked deeply remorseful.

“Xiao Jia… Xiao Jia was influenced by me and his uncle. It was me and Zheng Ting who let money blind us. That’s why we foolishly kept asking you and Brother-in-Law for money. But now Xiao Jia and I have both come to our senses. People should rely on themselves! I’ve already found a new job, and Xiao Jia is working hard at school and trying to earn a scholarship. I really came today because I wanted to apologize.”

She handed the bag she’d been carrying to Xie Gu, looking embarrassed. “But I still can’t scrape together the money to pay you back right now. I was wondering if you could give us a little more time? Once our lives are more stable, I promise I’ll start paying it back. These are the IOUs.”

Xie Gu didn’t hold back. He took the bag and flipped through it right in front of her. When he looked up again, his expression clearly showed surprise. “Auntie, you didn’t go through these IOUs yourself, did you?”

Zheng Wen looked a bit flustered.

“I—I don’t really understand these things. Xiao Jia helped me write all the IOUs. Is there something wrong with them?”

Xie Gu’s fingers skimmed the edge of the papers. He paused for a moment before saying, “No, nothing’s wrong. Xiao Jia is quite smart.”

Zheng Wen had lived a rather downtrodden life, and the only thing she’d ever been proud of was Zheng Jia. Hearing Xie Gu praise him now, she couldn’t help puffing up a little with pride.

“Thank you. But of course, he’s still not as impressive as you. You’re a well-known entrepreneur now.”

Xie Gu shook his head. “Everyone’s different. And Xiao Jia is showing a lot more promise compared to before.”

He smiled with a hint of deeper meaning, then added, “If you’re willing, I can sponsor Xiao Jia’s education all the way through university. But once he gets into university, he’ll need to start working part-time at Gu Fei. The money he earns will go directly toward paying off your debts, until they’re fully repaid. What do you think?”

How could Zheng Wen possibly refuse? Gu Fei was thriving now. If Zheng Jia could get a job there, it wouldn’t just give him a bright future—it would also help ease the guilt they felt. And on top of that, his education would be covered. It was like a gift from the heavens.

She immediately nodded. “Of course I’m willing! I’ll talk to Xiao Jia when I get home—I’m sure he’ll agree!”

Xie Gu gave a quiet “Mm” in response. “If Xiao Jia agrees, I’ll have Secretary Qin arrange for his school transfer next week. The education resources in the capital are always better.”

That was a huge surprise for Zheng Wen. Over the years, with Xie Wentang’s help, the Zheng family’s living conditions had improved significantly—they had even moved out of that poor neighborhood and settled in Hanyun. But it still wasn’t the capital, and the quality of education was on a completely different level. If Zheng Jia could study in the capital, his chances of getting into a good university would increase dramatically.

She thanked Xie Gu profusely before leaving, full of gratitude. She also made up her mind to persuade Zheng Ting more, and if that didn’t work, she would at least make sure to cut ties with those people.

After she left, Xie Gu looked over the IOUs again with a thoughtful smile, then asked the system, “Hey System, what do you make of these IOUs?”

The system stayed silent for a moment before asking slowly, “Host, why are you willing to sponsor Zheng Jia’s education?”

After all, while Xie Gu wasn’t stingy to the point of being a miser, he was still far more skilled at getting money out of others than spending his own. Sponsoring Zheng Jia to attend the best schools? That kind of extra expense definitely didn’t fit into his usual plans.

Xie Gu replied, “Zheng Jia’s got talent.”

He weighed the stack of IOUs in his hand and added, “Still nothing to say about these, System?”

The system replied, “What would the host like me to say?”

Xie Gu chuckled approvingly. “Nice. You’ve improved—you know how to deflect blame now.”

Then he stopped pressing the system and mused aloud, “Zheng Jia really is a talented kid—he even managed to wring IOUs out of the rest of the Xie and Zheng families. How could I not reward that kind of initiative?”

That was right—these IOUs that Zheng Wen claimed Zheng Jia had helped write weren’t just for her debts. Hidden among them were records of nearly all the loans that the Xie and Zheng relatives had ever taken from Xie Wentang or Xie Gu. And Zheng Jia had gathered that information simply by coaxing those relatives into talking about it during casual conversations.

Originally, Xie Gu didn’t have much hard evidence to prove those people had borrowed money, but now, with these records, winning a lawsuit would be much, much easier.

In other words, the relatives from the Zheng and Xie families could no longer pose any threat to Gu Fei.

Half a month later, Zheng Jia’s school transfer was complete, and Xie Gu personally escorted him to the new school—doing his part to show some big-brotherly flair.

Zheng Jia was tall and lanky. He wasn’t exactly good-looking, and his overall vibe leaned toward gloomy. When he saw Xie Gu, he looked incredibly nervous—stammering, unsure what to do with his hands and feet, while his eyes kept sneaking glances at Xie Gu.

The head of student affairs led them on a tour of the campus, introducing the facilities as they walked. But Zheng Jia wasn’t really listening—he spent most of the time secretly studying Xie Gu.

“Zheng Jia’s really curious about you,” the system said.

“Obviously,” Xie Gu replied lazily. “Maybe it’s that thing where you dumb people look up to smart people?”

“I have AI-level intelligence!” the system insisted indignantly.

Xie Gu ignored it and turned to Zheng Jia instead. “What are you looking at? I know I’m rich, but staring won’t make you richer than me.”

Zheng Jia froze, then quickly turned his head away, fuming with anger. “I wasn’t looking!”

The head of student affairs awkwardly wiped away some sweat. He felt that something was off between these ‘brothers.’

That strange, slightly tense atmosphere carried through to lunchtime. Xie Gu brought Zheng Jia out to eat, planning to wrap things up and head back to the office in the afternoon. Zheng Jia had spent the entire morning stubbornly ignoring and avoiding eye contact with Xie Gu. But now, for the first time, he cracked—he tapped Xie Gu on the shoulder with a stiff expression and, without saying a word, handed over his phone.

Xie Gu didn’t ask why—he simply glanced at the screen.

Displayed was a clickbait article from a gossip account: “Shocking! Former Close Friend Exposes Xie Gu’s Two-Faced Persona!”

The thumbnail was a group photo from RC’s old promo shoot.

Xie Gu stared at it for a long moment without saying anything.

Finally, Zheng Jia couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Aren’t you going to say something?”

“Oh, I do have something to say,” Xie Gu replied grimly. “That photo is painfully ugly.”

Seriously,just looking at that picture, soaked in broke-boy energy, nearly triggered a full-blown allergy attack in CEO Xie.