Chapter 24: Debt Collector Why save so much money for retirement, is it necessary…

**Chapter 24: Leech**

Why stash away so much for retirement anyway? What’s the point…?

Three hours had passed, and Xu Miaoli was still sitting on the sofa, the echoes of the earlier phone call ringing incessantly in her ears.

What kind of person was Qin Zixian? Shameless and unscrupulous. Having failed to leech off Tang Tang, that cash cow, he had now turned his attention to her—just like her own younger brother, who only ever demanded things from her.

Men were all like this.

She had understood this truth since childhood. Her mother had even taught her, “Do you think your father and I have some deep emotional bond? Marriage is just a legally binding transaction. Without emotions, you won’t be controlled by your husband, and the benefits will stay in your hands.”

In just a few short hours, she had blocked and unblocked Qin Zixian’s contact repeatedly, agonizing over and over.

Was it affection she couldn’t let go of?

No. She had never had any affection to begin with.

But then why had the fire still come back to scorch her?

“What should I do…” Xu Miaoli stared at the last ¥400,000 in her account.

¥300,000 of it had been scraped together by her family for her study-abroad exchange program. The remaining ¥100,000 was the wardrobe allowance Brother Wen had transferred to her the night before after signing his contract.

Speak of the devil—

Right at that moment, a message from Brother Wen arrived.

Xu Miaoli, grabbing for a lifeline, immediately tried to open the chat, but her screen was unresponsive, refusing to react no matter how many times she tapped it, making her even more furious.

“Even my phone is bullying me now!”

After her outburst, she finally saw Brother Wen’s message—only for her heart to sink like a stone the very next second.

**Brother Wen:** Focus on fitness and skincare for now. Cherish the calm before your debut—no slip-ups. Zero tolerance.

Her lips twisted into a mirthless smirk as she thought of Qin Zixian’s threats. Overwhelmed, she raised her hand, ready to chuck her phone across the room.

But at the last moment, she pulled back.

The damn phone cost too much.

Instead, Xu Miaoli turned, grabbed an old pillow from the corner of the sofa, and hurled it at the floor. Still unsatisfied, she picked it up again, clawing at the stuffing, trying to tear it apart.

“Goddammit!”

After her outburst, her chest rose and fell rapidly. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm down.

It didn’t matter. She could still become a star, embrace a glittering future. A few hundred grand would be chump change to earn back soon, right?

She might as well buy herself some peace of mind.

That night, Qin Zixian sat at his desk, legs crossed, organizing the dirt in his hands.

In his view, a miser like Xu Miaoli would never fork over ¥700,000 in one go. Most likely, she’d give him ¥100,000 first, then trickle out the rest bit by bit.

He wasn’t worried about her backing out. She was the one with something to lose—unless she truly didn’t care about her career in the entertainment industry, she’d be stuck in his clutches forever.

The more Qin Zixian thought about it, the more absorbed he became. Once Xu Miaoli debuted, he’d call her out during drinks with his buddies. Let them all see—even a rising star wasn’t so untouchable. She’d still be under his thumb.

If she becomes a huge star, that would be even better. On one hand, it would give him bragging rights, and on the other, Xu Miaoli could help support his family’s factory—maybe even do an endorsement or something. Rising tide lifts all boats, right?

But if it came to marriage…

Qin Zixian shook his head. His family tree had professors three generations deep, and his great-granddad had been a scholar in the late Qing Dynasty. They were a family with scholarly roots—how could he marry an entertainer?

Casual flings were one thing, but he still needed to find a proper girl from a respectable family. Tang Tang seemed out of the question now, so he’d need to scout the next wave of exchange students for contenders.

He remembered there was a daughter of a Fujian tea merchant…

*Ding—*

The notification sound interrupted his fantasy.

Qin Zixian didn’t pay it much mind, assuming it was another spammy listing from a broker about some dump in the projects. He went back to his grind, pasting Xu Miaoli’s messages hounding him for money into his PowerPoint.

Ten minutes later, his phone buzzed again.

“Will this ever end?” he grumbled, unlocking the screen impatiently—only to freeze at the message displayed at the top. “…Seriously?”

He blinked hard, even pinched himself. Feeling the sting, he finally accepted the reality before him.

Xu Miaoli had transferred him a full 300,000 yuan.

Qin Zixian’s face lit up with joy. Even the contact name on his phone—*Miaoli Babe*—seemed endearing now. Exactly the kind of ride-or-die he’d picked.

*“Miaoli Babe: That’s all I have. We’re square now.”*

He checked his bank account multiple times, counting the zeros aloud, then even sent his roommate a 1-yuan cash gift just to confirm the balance was real.

When he refreshed and saw the string of nines at the end, Qin Zixian finally barked out a laugh, flopping around on his bed like a kid.

“Three hundred thousand! That’s enough for the apartment. In a couple days, I’ll use two hundred grand to lock down that place in Manhattan, then keep a hundred K for a few fire suits. No way I’m showing up to my internship looking like a scrub…”

He was riding the high from this sudden cash grab.

He hadn’t pegged Miaoli as such a pushover—he’d expected days of back-and-forth.

But…

We’re square now? Yeah, right!

He barked out another laugh, unsure whether he was celebrating his newfound meal ticket or mocking Xu Miaoli’s naivety.

*Ding—*

Another notification.

This time, Qin Zixian didn’t hesitate. He scrambled across the mattress to grab his phone off the desk.

He was half-hoping it was Miaoli sending another stack.

Unfortunately, it was an email.

“What’s the school sending now?”

He didn’t take it seriously, mindlessly tapping the link, figuring it was just another alert about a class moving online because of a power outage or snow.

“!?”

He quickly scanned the message and sat bolt upright in bed.

The sender was the Academic Misconduct Investigation Committee, and the subject line read that one of his course papers from last semester had been confirmed as not his original work. The conclusion was clear: his grade for that course would be canceled.

Qin Zixian’s previously excited heart sank like a stone.

If his grade was canceled, he’d have to retake the course. But it was a prerequisite for advanced subjects in the next semester, which meant it would bar him from taking those classes, ultimately pushing back his graduation.

More than the retake record on his transcript, Qin Zixian was far more worried about when he’d actually graduate.

His hands trembled, his face twisted with anxiety, and he kept muttering, “I’ll have to stay another year to graduate… What about tuition? What about living expenses?”

No! He needed to make a call—right away.

In a panic, Qin Zixian opened his call log and scrolled through recent contacts for what felt like forever before finally finding his mother’s number.

He didn’t even think about the time difference—he hit call without hesitation.

“Ring… ring…”

The endless ringing only made him more anxious. He spotted a glass candleholder beside him, grabbed it, and smashed it onto the wooden floor without thinking.

With a loud *crack*, the call connected.

“What!” His voice was seething with anger.

On the other end, it was just 9 a.m. in Beijing. His mother was wrapping up work on the assembly line at the factory.

“…Son? It’s been so long since you called your mom. Why so angry? Still haven’t found an internship?”

His mother spoke with a thick country accent. She was the first person from her village to go to college, though her Mandarin wasn’t great. Luckily, she lived during a golden era—driven by sheer courage, she left the factory behind in the early 2000s and started her own business, catching the right wave at the right time and working her way up from nothing.

Even after losing a major client recently, she stayed optimistic.

At worst, they could sell everything and walk away. After all, her son only had one year left, and the tuition was already covered. Whatever was left over would be enough for her retirement. Once her son came home and married a good girl whose family could support him, life would surely get better and better.

“How much money is left at home for my studies?” Qin Zixian cut straight to the point, skipping any small talk.

His mother paused, then answered honestly, “Just under a million. Definitely enough for your final year’s tuition and fees. Why are you asking this all of a sudden? Did something happen?”

Qin Zixian’s heart dropped.

A million wouldn’t be enough if he had to repeat a year.

Ignoring her question, he barreled ahead. “You mentioned earlier that the furniture factory was going to expand. Can you take on some smaller orders now? How much can the factory still make in a year?”

His mother was totally lost.

But maybe, she thought, her son was suddenly concerned about the family business—or worried they couldn’t help him get started after graduation?

Frowning in confusion, she replied, “Don’t worry, your tuition for next year has already been set aside. Grandma also put aside 200k as startup funds to help you after graduation. Besides, the factory started winding down at the beginning of the year. Running the assembly lines was too stressful. Your dad and I are pretty much ready to retire. It’s just up to you—”

She hadn’t finished when Qin Zixian snapped.

“A million? A million isn’t enough!”

Spittle hit the mic, creating a sharp static screech that made her jump.

His mother was shaken.

She was deeply worried, unable to fathom what her usually well-behaved, filial and obedient son had gone through.

Qin Zixian seemed unsatisfied and continued his tirade, hurling one insult after another as if venting his own frustrations.

"How can you be so useless? If you lost the client, just go win them back! So what if you're building your own factory? Lower the prices! I refuse to believe no one would take it if it's cheap enough. At worst, you’ll just have to work harder and earn less—something's better than nothing!"

"I’ve told you before, everyone has their own fate. How could you two pin your future on me? How do you expect me to take care of you? Do you even know how complicated the economic situation is now? What do I amount to?"

"And how come Grandma only has 200,000 left? Oh, her granddaughter gets married, and she can fork out five or six hundred thousand, but when it’s her grandson graduating, there’s only 200,000 left? What’s the point of hoarding so much money for retirement? She’s been stingy her whole life—is that really necessary?"

Qin Zixian wasn’t done yet.

But the call had already been cut off by his mother, leaving only a few "beep-beep" busy signals, like hammering at the back of his skull.