He Lives in Such Poverty

"Then if you didn’t give him money, and neither did Mom, Dad, Third Sister, nor I, where did his money come from?" Lin Qingwan retorted.

Lin Qingyan frowned.

Why was her eldest sister always defending Lin Xuan?

She never expected Lin Xuan to be so cunning—he’d even fooled their eldest sister.

No.

She had to show her sister Lin Xuan’s true colors.

"Yes, we didn’t give Lin Xuan money, but he must have asked the finance department for it."

"I’ll call the finance officer right now and have him come over."

Lin Qingyan picked up her phone and dialed the finance officer’s number.

The finance officer arrived quickly.

"Young Mistress, Second Young Mistress, how may I assist you?" he asked respectfully.

Lin Qingyan sat on the sofa, crossing her legs. "Tell me, how much money has Lin Xuan taken from our family while living here?"

"The young master receives a fixed monthly allowance of 400 yuan. He’s been back with the Lin family for about eight years, so he’s spent less than 40,000 yuan in total," the finance officer replied.

"How could it be so little?" Lin Qingyan frowned.

The Lin family’s children typically received tens of thousands per month, and after entering university, their allowances increased to over 150,000.

Whenever they went shopping, their parents would give them extra money too.

Suddenly recalling something, Lin Qingyan pressed further, "Are you sure nothing was missed? Besides the allowance, there must have been other expenses."

"There weren’t any," the finance officer shook his head. "Madam only instructed me to provide the allowance."

"What about tuition and meals? Didn’t you pay the school directly? If so, you shouldn’t just count the allowance—those expenses should be included too," Lin Qingyan argued.

If that were the case, an extra 400 yuan wasn’t insignificant—it was still better than what most ordinary families could afford.

Besides, Lin Xuan had grown up in an orphanage. Compared to that, this was already a much better life for him.

"Second Young Mistress, Madam never gave such instructions. I’ve never paid for the young master’s tuition or meals," the finance officer insisted.

"How is that possible?" Lin Qingyan refused to believe it.

"Second Young Mistress, I once asked Madam if I should pay the young master’s tuition, but she said no. She also told me not to report anything related to him in the future, so I stopped asking."

Lin Qingwan frowned.

She vaguely remembered that day—Little Li had ranked first in the monthly exams, and the whole family was celebrating his achievement.

Amid their joy, the finance officer’s interruption had irritated their mother, leading her to say those words in frustration.

Lin Qingwan closed her eyes in pain.

Xiao Xuan had suffered so much in this family…

They had never given him an ounce of affection. His life in the Lin household was no better than in the orphanage.

"No way. Someone like Lin Xuan would never endure such hardship willingly," Lin Qingyan muttered, shaking her head.

She still couldn’t believe Lin Xuan had truly lived a difficult life.

"I’ve got it, Eldest Sister. I know the reason now," Lin Qingyan said excitedly. "Lin Xuan wouldn’t have tolerated suffering forever. If he pretended at home, he couldn’t have kept up the act at school."

"Eldest Sister, let’s go to Lin Xuan’s high school and ask his teachers. Then we’ll know how he really lived there."

He must have lived well.

Lin Qingwan nodded. "Alright."

She also wanted to understand what Xiao Xuan’s high school life had been like.

Lin Qingyan and Lin Qingwan arrived at Haowen High School, an elite private institution with both junior and senior divisions.

After returning to the Lin family, Lin Xuan had been directly enrolled there.

"What brings you here today?" asked the homeroom teacher who had taught Lin Xuan for three years.

"Teacher Wang, right? Do you know Lin Xuan?" Lin Qingyan asked.

"Of course. He left quite an impression on me," Teacher Wang replied with a smile.

"Teacher Wang, I’d like to ask—did Lin Xuan live extravagantly at school?" Lin Qingyan cut straight to the point.

"Extravagantly?" Teacher Wang looked puzzled. "He was a scholarship student. Where would he get money to splurge?"

"A scholarship student?" Lin Qingyan’s eyes widened.

How was that possible?

No matter how you looked at it, Lin Xuan couldn’t have qualified as a scholarship student.

Teacher Wang explained, "Lin Xuan was famous at our school for his frugality. He wore the same few sets of clothes repeatedly and ate very simply—often just plain rice and vegetables from the cafeteria. Some of us teachers would secretly top up his meal card."

"Oh, and during his first year, he participated in a sports meet and won first place in a race. He pushed himself so hard that he collapsed after crossing the finish line."

"The prize was a pair of sports shoes worth several thousand yuan. His own shoes were worn out, but he didn’t take the men’s pair—he insisted on a size 36 women’s pair. He must have wanted to give them to someone very special."

Teacher Wang shook his head. "Thankfully, he had the school’s scholarship. Otherwise, I don’t know how he would have managed."

"Scholarship? With his grades, how did he qualify?" Lin Qingyan frowned.

"Lin Xuan’s grades were excellent—he always ranked first in his class," Teacher Wang said, his expression softening with fondness.

A diligent, well-behaved student like Lin Xuan was hard not to like.

"But how could his grades have been good? His college entrance exam scores were terrible!" Lin Qingyan protested.

"It was such a shame. He fell seriously ill during the exams—he could barely keep his eyes open. During the science section, he fainted and was hospitalized. I suggested he retake the exams, but he said his family wouldn’t allow it."

At this point, Teacher Wang couldn’t help but vent, "Later, I learned his family paid to get him into Qinghua University. That’s when I realized Lin Xuan wasn’t an orphan—his family had money after all."

"Those people were truly heartless, refusing to cover his tuition or living expenses."

"Fortunately, Lin Xuan was resilient. He became the national champion in a team computer science competition and even founded Skyline Group."

Wait.

Teacher Wang suddenly eyed Lin Qingwan and Lin Qingyan suspiciously.

"You’re both surnamed Lin… Could you be Lin Xuan’s… family?"

Before he could finish, Lin Qingyan hastily cut in, "Teacher Wang, we have other matters to attend to. We’ll take our leave now."

She pulled Lin Qingwan away.

The way Teacher Wang had looked at her made her face burn with shame.

His expression only confirmed his suspicions.

Teacher Wang sighed.

"Lin Xuan made the right choice cutting ties."

A family like that wasn’t worth keeping.

Back in the car, Lin Qingyan kept muttering, "How could this be? How?"

Lin Xuan had lived like this in the Lin household.

And for nine whole years!