Chapter 13 — A Debt of Filial Duty

The payment category on the receipt was explicitly marked as a house purchase deposit. Under the payer field, my father's name was written clearly. The amount was two hundred thousand yuan. As I stared at that slip of paper, a creeping coldness settled deep into my chest. It was not because I lacked an explanation. It was because, at long last, I understood the terrifying truth. This was not some sudden, opportunistic impulse of theirs. Ever since the very day I bought my first apartment, they had already embedded their hands into my life, quietly laying the groundwork for this moment.

Staring at that aged receipt, I was suddenly overwhelmed by the distinct olfactory memory of the real estate sales office from all those years ago. The walls had just been freshly painted, the air thick with the scent of cheap coffee, and the salesclerks endlessly repeating phrases about the final hours of a special promotion. I was twenty-seven years old back then. Having just received a significant project bonus, I had finally scraped together enough savings for the down payment on my first home. On the very day I was scheduled to sign the purchase registration documents, my company abruptly dispatched me on an out-of-province business trip. The sales office was pressing relentlessly for completion. With no other choice, I forwarded my documents back home and simultaneously transferred two hundred thousand yuan to my father, entrusting him to go and settle the deposit on my behalf. I remember it all with crystalline clarity. That very evening, my father had even called me. He told me it did not matter that the receipt bore his name; after all, we were a family. At the time, I was consumed by work and trusted him implicitly. I merely replied that as long as the formal contract bore my name later, it would be fine. Now, that very deposit receipt bearing his name had been turned into a blade, wielded and pressed coldly against my face. I picked up the copy of the receipt and cast another glance at it.

What on earth are my parents trying to prove here?

My mother looked as though she had finally seized upon my greatest vulnerability.

To prove that the first apartment was not purchased by you alone.

Your father contributed both his money and his labor.

And now, your transfer of the property to Yan is nothing less than an illegal dissipation of family assets.

I demanded, What does a two hundred thousand yuan deposit have to do with a fabricated debt of three million eight hundred thousand? My father’s expression darkened menacingly.

The two hundred thousand is only a fraction.

As for the subsequent cash amounts, you know full well what they represent.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

Cash?

Refusing to look at me, he maintained his stoic facade.

Our family had savings back then.

Buying a house placed an immense burden on you, so your parents helped you out.

And now you turn around and pretend you do not even know us.

The mediator tapped sharply on the desktop.

Both sides, please maintain your composure.

Attorney Tan, who had been sitting quietly beside me the entire time, finally spoke. He handed my phone to me, the screen displaying a bank transaction record he had just retrieved from my email archives. The date matched the exact day before the deposit was paid all those years ago. The transferred sum was precisely two hundred thousand yuan. The recipient was my father. The memo field contained four concise characters: House purchase deposit. I placed the phone gently onto the table.

Had Father completely forgotten about this?

My father’s expression instantly froze. My mother craned her neck to peer at the screen, and the smug triumph that had previously inhabited her features vanished entirely. I said, That two hundred thousand was transferred to you by me.

Father merely paid it on my behalf.

The receipt bore his name solely because he was the one handling the paperwork at the counter.

It was by no means because the money belonged to him.

The staff member picked up the phone to inspect the record, then requested that Attorney Tan submit a printed copy. Attorney Tan replied, We can officially extract the original bank statements.

Every single detail is recorded within the banking system.

The corners of my father’s mouth tightened into a rigid, stubborn line. My aunt shrank backward into her chair, as if terrified of being implicated by this paper trail. My second uncle muttered under his breath, So much time has passed, who could possibly remember such minute details? I fixed my gaze upon him.

Did Uncle not just recall a moment ago how frugal and thrifty my parents had always been?

A fiery red immediately rushed up his neck. My mother slammed her hand onto the table and surged to her feet.

Even if that two hundred thousand was transferred by you, what about the three million eight hundred thousand?

Do you dare to claim your father never lent you money?

I looked straight into her eyes.

He allegedly lent me three million eight hundred thousand.

May I ask where such a vast sum originated?

Her lips trembled slightly.

It was our family’s hard-earned savings.

I nodded slowly.

Very well.

I ask that my parents submit the historical bank withdrawal records from that specific year.

If it was indeed cash, please explain precisely where three million eight hundred thousand in cash was stored, when it was handed over to me, and who was present to witness it.

My father fell silent. My mother panicked.

We are your parents! How could you possibly imagine that after growing up you would try to wriggle out of your debts this way?

Does lending money to one's own daughter require keeping evidentiary documents?

I retorted, Have my parents not kept them now?

You have even gone so far as to keep a debt acknowledgment note that I never once wrote.

Silence descended upon the room once more. The mediator began rustling through the documents.

If mediation fails, the matter will inevitably proceed to formal litigation.

Regarding the authenticity of the promissory note, either party has the right to request a formal handwriting examination.

My mother immediately piped up, Let them examine it, then.

We have looked at her handwriting for over thirty years; could we possibly mistake it?

Attorney Tan’s voice cut through smoothly.

It is of no consequence whether the two of you recognize it.

What matters is the professional conclusion of the experts.

My father abruptly lifted his gaze to fixate on him.

You are an outsider, stop meddling in our family affairs.

Attorney Tan did not even deign to look at him.

I am Miss Meng’s legal representative.

Since the two of you have submitted a debt instrument suspected of being forged, it is naturally my duty to meddle.

The moment the words suspected of being forged left his lips, the color drained from my mother’s face, leaving her alternately pale and flushed. She looked as though she had been struck precisely where her greatest terror lay. Yet my father remained far more composed than she. He retrieved the debt note, slipped it back into his file folder, and lowered his voice to a chilling whisper.

Meng An He, do you truly believe you are guaranteed to win this?

I remained silent. He stared at me intently.

From childhood until now, do you remember every single document, every single piece of paper you have ever signed?

The things at home, the papers at your workplace, the forms at your school.

Are you certain every single sheet is still safely in your own hands?

My heart suddenly plummeted into an abyss. His words were not merely a threat. They were a chilling reminder that in their possession, there was far more than just a single piece of paper.