The Road to a Divine Harem Starting with a Stepmom Companion

Chapter 18: Auntie, Let’s Add Each Other on WeChat

Cao Shaoyang didn’t overreact. He waited patiently until the mature auntie finished wiping away the small traces of her tears from his foot. Then, he sat up, grabbed two tissues from the table beside the sofa, and handed them to her.

He briefly wondered why the private room was stocked with tissues—several packs were scattered across the sofa, bedside table, window sill, and bathroom. He decided not to overthink it and just used them.

After wiping her tears, Yu Na gave him a slightly awkward smile. “I’m sorry for losing control of my emotions and ruining your mood. To make it up to you, let me add an extra hour to your session. How about that?”

Cao Shaoyang didn’t mind the extra money, but he appreciated her gesture of apology. He nodded in agreement. Besides, he wasn’t planning to stay for the entire package anyway, so the additional time didn’t matter.

“Auntie, whatever you think is best.”

“Alright. I’ll let the head attendant know when I step out later. I’ll add another hour for you,” Yu Na replied.

Cao Shaoyang shifted the conversation. “That’s fine, but Auntie, tell me more about that debt of yours. If it wasn’t yours to begin with, why are you working so hard to pay it off? Maybe I can help.”

As the conversation unfolded, Cao Shaoyang couldn’t shake the feeling that he had stumbled upon a familiar narrative: a gambling-addicted father, a frail mother, a young sibling, and a broken woman struggling to hold everything together.

The template was all too common. Every troubled woman seemed to share some variation of this backstory. However, Yu Na’s version appeared to have its own twists. He couldn’t help but guess it might be tragic, though whether it was true or not, he wasn’t sure. Still, with his wealth and his system backing him, any money spent on women was an investment that would yield even greater returns.

Yu Na seemed to have regained her composure. Her voice was steady now, though still tinged with sadness. “The debt was actually from my son. He borrowed money from an online loan platform, planning to use it to tide over our family business. The idea was to repay it quickly once things picked up. But right after he invested the loan money, he was in a car accident and passed away.”

She paused for a moment, her eyes clouded with sorrow. “With him gone, the business’s cash flow collapsed. We lost everything we had saved, and even the 300,000-yuan loan disappeared into thin air.”

Cao Shaoyang frowned. “But Auntie, the debt wasn’t yours. Since your son was the borrower and he’s no longer here, shouldn’t that debt be written off as bad?”

Yu Na sighed deeply and explained, “You’re right in theory, but reality doesn’t work like that. It was just bad luck. The loan company my son borrowed from is a local one.”

“They came straight to our house, demanding repayment. They harassed us constantly, making our lives unbearable. It’s just me, my daughter-in-law, and her little one. We couldn’t afford to provoke them. What else could we do but start repaying bit by bit?”

She continued, “Luckily, they didn’t want to escalate things. They agreed to let us settle the debt in installments—as long as we pay every month, they’ll leave us alone. With interest, the total repayment is now 350,000 yuan.”

“My daughter-in-law works tirelessly, day and night, to make ends meet. I couldn’t just watch her struggle alone, so I decided to find a job and revive the skills I had when I was younger.”

Hearing her story, Cao Shaoyang felt a deep pang of sympathy. He couldn’t offer much comfort but said empathetically, “Auntie, that’s just… really bad luck.”

Yu Na gave a melancholic smile. “Who could disagree?”

“So, Auntie, how much of the debt have you repaid so far? And how much is left?”

“We’ve paid off over 100,000 yuan so far, and there’s about 200,000 left to go,” Yu Na explained. “My daughter-in-law earns a little over 10,000 yuan a month. After covering the mortgage, she uses the remaining money for household expenses and the child’s needs. I make around 10,000 yuan a month too, and on good months, I can earn as much as 20,000. If we keep pushing ourselves, we should be able to clear the debt in just over a year.”

Cao Shaoyang felt deeply moved. What an inspiring story!

He thought to himself: If this is a fake sob story meant to scam me, I wouldn’t mind losing a little money—it’d be like paying tuition for a life lesson. But if it’s true, this could be the perfect opportunity for me to step in at just the right time.

With that thought, he decided to act. “Auntie, you’re amazing! To fill such a big hole just with your own hard work—it’s incredible.”

“But it must be exhausting, right?” he added, looking at her with a mix of admiration and sympathy.

Yu Na continued her massage as she spoke, “There’s nothing amazing about it. Of course, it’s tiring, but when you owe someone money, you’ve got to pay it back. No one’s money grows on trees. If I have the ability to repay it, it’s better to get it done and have peace of mind.”

Cao Shaoyang gave her a big thumbs-up. “Auntie, you’re on another level. Truly admirable!”

Yu Na chuckled softly. “Oh, stop it! You’re making fun of me now, aren’t you?”

He quickly replied with a serious expression, “Not at all! I mean it. I genuinely admire you.”

“Since we’ve met, it feels like fate. Auntie, how about we add each other on WeChat?”

Yu Na hesitated, thinking it over. “My phone is outside—I didn’t bring it in here.”

Cao Shaoyang’s eyes lit up. There’s a chance!