Chapter 128 - 128 – The Spending Problem

"Good," Ren said, patting Fang's hair like a proud parent.

"I'll have the incorporation and other legal procedures and paperwork done for you," Pax said. "But I'd recommend that you sit with me when we are doing all this. It'll make it easier for you to learn and take things forward."

Fang's eyes glowed. "Yes, Pax," he said excitedly. He looked at Ren and asked hesitantly, "That's ok, isn't it? I can, right?"

Ren chuckled and caressed Fang's face with gentle fingers. "Yes, of course you can, my big darling," he said with a smile. "Learn from Pax – he's the best."

Fang nodded. "Thank you," he said softly.

Ren pinched Fang's cheeks playfully. "Don't thank me," he said. "I have my own selfish reasons."

Fang raised an eyebrow. "What selfish reasons?" he asked curiously.

Ren smirked. "Well…once your company is up and running, and with Pax taking care of Sirocco – I can retire and laze around at home with the babies!" he said.

Both Pax and Fang rolled their eyes.

"It is more likely that you will become a permanent installation at SIMS," Pax grumbled. "If it wasn't for the private island that you wanted to buy, would you have spared a single minute in the last few months on Sirocco?!" he complained.

Ren pouted. "Well, you guys said that we are short of money," he murmured. "And I'm not supposed to spend indiscriminately or Fang will be angry…"

"I don't think that Fang ever meant to stop you from buying things you need," Pax pointed out. "Or for you to torture yourself with cheap stuff that you are unable to use."

Ren flushed. "I didn't say that," he said hurriedly.

"No, you got yourself some random cheap things instead and nearly injured yourself trying to make it work!" Pax scolded.

Fang frowned. "What's this all about?" he demanded.

Ren panicked. "No, no, it's nothing," he said. "Ok, you guys have to work on the new company now, so I won't keep you from work!" Saying so, Ren fled as if there was a herd of wild animals chasing him – actually, if there had been a herd of wild animals, it was more likely that Ren would say, "Oh, how cute!" and dive into the herd headlong to pat the heads of the wild animals. Fang and Pax had seen this happening when they were in the Dragon Nation and Sand Country respectively. Animals seemed to love Ren and turn docile and cuddly in his presence no matter how ferocious they were in general! Sylvia had once told Fang that it was the same in their previous world, too. Animals of all sorts – domestic, wild, magical beasts, magical familiars – everyone loved Ren!

But that was a separate matter.

Right now, seeing Ren's fleeing back, Pax and Fang burst out laughing. Ren seemed to have completely forgotten that he had come to pick up Fang and take him home, and had run away instead!

"Sometimes I think Ren is really cute and adorable, even though you're the younger one in the relationship, Fang," Pax said when he finally stopped laughing.

"He is," Fang agreed immediately. "And age is just a number anyway. And we are only three years apart."

"Yes, yes, I'm not calling your precious fiancé old, kid," Pax said in a teasing voice. "There is no need to jump to Ren's defence right away."

Fang stuck out his tongue childishly.

"Now you choose to act your age," Pax complained.

Fang laughed again and helped Pax collect the papers from the table. "What was that about Ren being afraid to spend money and getting cheap things and injuring himself?" he asked, trying to sound casual – but the tremor in his voice had betrayed him to Pax already.

Pax sighed. "I shouldn't have brought it up," he murmured. "Ren clearly doesn't want you to know."

Fang stared at Pax. "But I need to know, don't I? Isn't it because of me that he is afraid to spend his own money?" he asked.

Pax sighed again, and then nodded. "He doesn't like it when you are upset, and you have to admit, you do react badly when it comes to Ren spending money. It's probably become a shadow on his psyche by now. But Ren being Ren – he's unable to short change other people – especially the ones he cares about, so he ends up bearing the brunt of it by himself instead," Pax murmured.

Fang glared at him. "Don't talk in circles, Pax," he said sternly. "Tell me exactly what happened."

Pax shrugged. "Ren doesn't want you to know," he said. "Are you sure that you want me to tell you?"

Fang narrowed his eyes. "But it's harming Ren, isn't it?" he asked.

Pax sighed and nodded.

"Then please tell me," Fang said, his voice taking on a pleading note.

Pax sighed yet again. "There are too many instances to list out, actually. But I'll give you an example. You know that Ren uses a particular brand of fountain pens, right?" he asked.

Fang nodded. "A super expensive one, if I'm not wrong," he murmured.

"His pen broke recently," Pax said. "It was actually an accident – in general these pens are not that easy to destroy. But Ren was so worried about spending money on himself that he picked up the cheapest ball point pen off a street vendor instead of buying himself another proper pen. Even I don't understand why he had to do that – he could have picked up one of the standard pens we stock in our meeting rooms instead. He kept trying to use that pen, but he's not used to ball point pens at all, let alone the ones of such cheap quality which actually require a considerable amount of strength to write with. The ink doesn't flow smoothly, you have to practically pierce the paper with the nib to get it going and all that – anyway, Ren ended up spraining his wrist instead. But he still wouldn't buy himself a proper pen because he has completely stopped spending money on himself."

Fang frowned. "But Ren is using a fountain pen now – of the same brand, too," he observed.

Pax nodded. "Yes, because I took pity on him and bought him one as an early birthday gift – I simply couldn't bear to see him struggling with that cheap pen any more! And I didn't want his sprained wrist to get serious, either!" he retorted.

Fang's frown deepened. "It can't be that Ren has only one fountain pen, right? Just at home, there's this huge collection," he said to Pax. "Why didn't he take one of his other pens?"

Pax sighed. "Because he promised you that he will keep the collection for Sylvia's inheritance, apparently – so he can't touch any of his pens now," he said crossly.

Fang blinked and remembered a vague conversation – which Fang had thought was a joke between the two of them! Fang had been teasing Ren about his super luxurious (and super expensive) pen collection – and then Fang had joked that the pen collection could actually be Sylvia's dowry or inheritance when she came of age, given it was further several hundred million. And Ren had given Fang a long list of reasons about dowry being a social evil and how none of his children would have any money involved as a condition to their marriage, and had said that he would make it Sylvia's eighteenth birthday present, instead.

Fang had really thought that Ren was joking – he could have never imagined that Ren would not touch those pens again because in his head they were now Sylvia's, and they were with Ren only to be maintained in prime condition for Sylvia to inherit when she was officially eighteen in her human form!

From Fang's expression, Pax understood that Fang hadn't taken Ren's word seriously – and Ren had probably taken Fang's casual words a little too seriously. Pax shook his head ruefully, thinking for probably the billionth time by now – what an idiotic couple!

"So Ren can't use his fancy pens because they are reserved for Sylvia, and he won't buy one when he needs it because he's afraid to spend money?" Fang asked, resisting the urge to facepalm.

"Yes, that's pretty much it," Pax said. "Of course, it is not just about the pens – this has permeated to anything and everything in Ren's life," he pointed out. "Think about it, Fang. Other than the private island, which is more a family thing than something for Ren himself – have you seen Ren buy anything at all for himself in the last few months? It's as if he is afraid to spend a single coin on anything for himself – for anything that is not 'essential' in his eyes. And you know Ren better than I do – the ones he cares about are all super essential in his eyes, while the one that comes last on his priority list is Ren himself. He won't even buy himself a bowl of noodles these days. It's getting out of hand – and you are the only one that can do something about it."

Fang stared at Pax in dismay.