The apartment building was bustling as always, but this morning, Annie found the noise coming from downstairs a little strange.
As she went through a list of things Layla texted her, she was a bit distracted. After some minutes, she decided to go down and have a look.
“Ah, this is a bit unfortunate. I just paid for Little Chen’s tuition fees not long ago.”
“The installment of the new devices is good, but we don’t even need them.”
“Mrs. Lin, you are the most pitiful. Your daughter is getting married soon, how can you afford such money?”
“What is going on, Ma?” Annie approached her Mum who was looking a bit devasted.
“Have you not heard?” Mrs. Tan answered her question instead. “This apartment building now has a new owner. And apart from promising to refurbish our apartments, he also tripled our rents.”
“My husband has long retired and I’m only managing. Isn’t the new owner a bit cruel?”
“I heard he wants to make this place the most beautiful apartment in the city. But how can we afford that much rent?”
“People say he just relocated here from the capital city. He wants to operate things here the way they do over there.”
“If we’re not careful, we might get evicted soon. Our new owner seems to be a strict person.”
“Annie, how can we be so unlucky? I think our misfortune has not ended, otherwise, why would this happen just a few days to your wedding?”
Mrs. Lin shook her head and sighed heavily. The woman seemed to have aged a few more decades since the news striked her. “Why can’t we have happiness even if it’s a little? Did we offend anyone and we don’t know?”
“Stop lamenting, Ma. It’s just a rise in the rent,” Annie said softly, rubbing the woman’s shoulders.
“But your mother has the right to lament.” Mrs. Tan chipped him. “She has to pay rent for the store too apart from the apartment you live in. Hmmm, this is so unfortunate.”
What worried Mrs. Lin the most was not even the rise in the rent. She wondered if this was another bad sign. Why did misfortune always strike this family whenever a happy occasion came up?
Her devastation increased and she kept shaking her head. “I can give up the store, Annie, because paying for the apartment alone will consume all we have left. But if I give up the store, what other business do I have to earn money from?”
“Hmmm, Mrs. Lin, please take it easy.”
“Bad luck always comes before good luck. Let’s hope for the best.”
The women slowly dispersed in low spirits, and Annie helped her mother into the store. “Calm down, Ma. You know we can afford the rent together.”
“How can I let you keep paying for the rent? In the past, it was 14,000. But now, the rent is 42,000. Won’t that consume a lot of your money?”
“It’s no problem, Ma.”
“How can you say that?” Her mother looked at her in disbelief. “Unless you’ll have to cancel your wedding, I know you can’t afford it. Let’s stop deceiving ourselves, Annie. The misfortunes of this family just won’t end.”
“Ma, we have faced similar misfortunes in the past and we did overcome them with Big Sister’s help. Why are you losing faith in her all of a sudden?” Dylan came out from behind the counter and said.
“What do you know? Your sister has her own needs, must she always take this family’s load on her shoulders? Isn’t she just a girl?”
Something almost similar had happened three years ago. Mrs. Lin did not want to remember that event, but she couldn’t stop thinking about it at the moment.
She didn’t even know what happened to the girl at that time. And she deeply regretted that she had made the poor girl suffer.
“Ah, Old Lin. This is not what you promised me! You said we would have a happy family, why is it that everything you said turned out the opposite!”
Mrs. Lin’s loud voice could be heard even from outside. Anger was evident in her voice even as she looked hopeless.
Annie didn’t know how to calm her mother anymore. She could only exchange a helpless look with her brother.
“Ma.” Dylan walked forward and said, “Stop making a big deal out of this. Things are not the same way they were three years ago. I am now stronger and Big Sis has a stable job. We can take great care of you and you don’t need to lift a finger.”
“Your sister will have her own family soon. Do you expect her to take care of us forever?” The woman was now irritated. “Listen to yourself, Dylan. What else do you bring into this family apart from trouble?”
Dylan’s expression fell and he scratched his head. “Don’t underestimate me, Ma. I– I can also take care of this family, you know,” he said in an offended tone.
Mrs. Lin ignored him and resumed lamenting and Annie brought her a bottle of water.
“Big Sis, I’m serious. I can pay for the rent.” Dylan pulled her aside and said, “Don’t worry about paying a penny. Just focus on your wedding preparation.”
“You?” Annie raised a brow. “Where can you get such an amount of money, Dylan? Did you win a lottery?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Dylan shrugged. “Just don’t fret over it.”
Out of nowhere, the guy had started acting like a man and Annie found it funny. He couldn’t even afford his own tuition, how could he afford that much money for the rent?
“Hey.” She gave him a playful nudge. “It’s not like I’m complaining. If I don’t take care of this family, where do you expect my money to go.”
“But, Big Sis, we are not your responsibility.” Dylan pursed his lips. “I’m supposed to be the one to do that.”
“You can do whatever you want when you grow up.” Annie chuckled. “Just don’t pressure yourself. Focus on your studies, Dylan.”
Every resident in the X District Apartment building was down that morning. But as the evening approached, the place was bustling again as if everyone had already gotten used to the new turn of events.
Annie was at the store when Layla arrived. They didn’t waste time and entered the same taxi which took them to the biggest mall in the heart of the City.