In this capitalist country, no one dislikes gold, especially adults.
They all know that gold is worth more than mere pounds.
Petunia and Vernon certainly knew this was a substantial compensation.
In this society, money isn't everything, but without it, you can do nothing.
Those who loudly claim they don't like money are mostly just showing off.
When truly destitute, everyone realizes the importance of money.
When Chen Yu placed a dozen gold bars on the table, Vernon and Petunia were like Dudley seeing magical world snacks, unable to tear their eyes away.
Learning that these gold bars were for apologizing to Harley, the two exchanged glances.
Petunia immediately narrowed her eyes, her lips curving upward, putting on a welcoming smile: "Since you're already here, why bring..."
As she spoke, Petunia's hand involuntarily reached for the box containing the gold bars.
Dudley truly was Petunia's biological son; Petunia's current behavior was identical to her son's when he first saw magical world snacks.
"Let me reiterate, while I am very sorry that your dear nephew was turned into a girl by my magic item, this is compensation for Harley!"
Chen Yu once again pulled out his wand from his backpack and tapped Petunia's hand, moving it away from the box.
Seeing the wand in Chen Yu's hand, she knew there was a big difference between a wizard holding a wand and one not, so she quickly retracted her hand.
Vernon was also a bit nervous, quickly grabbing Petunia's hand and checking it twice, sighing in relief after confirming there was no injury.
Although he hated wizards, believing them all to be madmen.
At least this Little Wizard in front of him wasn't that crazy, still within the realm of being able to communicate.
At least he admitted and was willing to compensate for the loss of turning Harry into Harley, unlike that rude wizard Hagrid.
After turning a pig's tail on Dudley's bottom, there was no compensation at all.
In the end, their family had to pay out of pocket for a small surgery for their son.
"But we are Harley's guardians, Harley is still young and lacks self-control. If we hadn't adopted Harley, she would have starved to death somewhere by now! This compensation should be kept by us."
Vernon retorted loudly.
He considered himself Harley's guardian and believed he had the right to distribute this sudden compensation.
But he wasn't completely blinded by the gold; he knew that the Little Wizard in front of him was the true controller of this house at the moment, which is why he tried hard to argue, attempting to persuade him.
Vernon Dursley was determined to get the gold in the box.
A tiny, insignificant portion of this gold would be enough to offset all the expenses of raising Harry.
Vernon had also thought of other uses for the remaining large portion of gold.
To give Dudley a better education, to buy Petunia new bags and cosmetics, and to take the family on international trips during holidays.
Although Dudley had entered Smeltings School, his own alma mater, Vernon believed Dudley deserved a better education.
If finances allowed, Vernon hoped his son could study at a private aristocratic school, where highly paid famous teachers could expose Dudley to higher circles and make him more outstanding.
He might even be able to pull some strings at work to advance his own managerial career.
"But I heard Harley was often abused by you, lived in a cramped storage room under the stairs, was frequently physically punished by you, wore old clothes, and didn't even get enough to eat..."
Vernon's brows furrowed, his eyes flickering, and he continued to retort loudly: "Slander, pure slander! All the neighbors know I treat Harley as my own; how could I abuse Harry? If you don't believe me, go upstairs and see, Harley lives in Dudley's second bedroom, not in the storage room under the stairs at all."
Vernon was somewhat glad he had agreed to Dudley's suggestion last night; if Chen Yu saw Harley still living in the storage room under the stairs, this Little Wizard, who seemed to have a good relationship with Harley, might get angry and turn a pig's tail on his bottom too.
"Is that true? Alright then, since you are Harley's guardians, it's not unreasonable for you to keep this gold. But if I find out you abuse Harley again, I won't just call the police; I'll take other measures. For example..."
Chen Yu snapped his fingers, and a Dimension Door made of sparks suddenly appeared behind him.
On the other side of the Dimension Door, mountains were green, waters clear, birds sang, and flowers bloomed; everything looked so beautiful, except for a colossal creature soundly sleeping in an open space.
A hideous head, a long body, covered with a thick layer of scales.
Its wide wings were spread open, like a giant fan, lying quietly beside it.
"—I'll let you feed my little darling; I believe your size is enough to satisfy its hunger!"
Chen Yu's lips curved wildly into a hideous smile, contrasting with his eyes, which held no mirth, only a calm as deep as an abyss.
Damn! Wizards really are lunatics!
What normal person would plan to feed a dragon to a student's family just because the student was abused by their parents?
Their thought process is completely different from ordinary people; even if the Little Wizard in front of him was somewhat rational, he was still a slightly rational madman.
"No! No! No! Of course not!"
Vernon and Petunia shook their heads wildly and backed away, wanting to distance themselves from Chen Yu, fearing he might really close the door and unleash the dragon.
Dudley strained his neck to get a clear look at the giant dragon sleeping behind Chen Yu, then quickly retracted his neck, his body involuntarily shrinking back, avoiding disturbing the dragon with his breathing.
Only Harley looked curiously at Norbert, who was soundly sleeping, and murmured softly: "Norbert has grown so big in such a short time?"
Harley's soft murmur was heard clearly by The Dursley Family; although they were surprised that Harley seemed to know this strange beast, they didn't dare to ask for details with Chen Yu present.
Seeing Vernon and Petunia both nod and promise not to abuse Harley again, Chen Yu also closed the Dimension Door with satisfaction.
Although Chen Yu didn't know if his approach of both carrot and stick would change The Dursley Family's attitude towards Harley.
But Chen Yu didn't want to be like Dumbledore, who knew Harley was being unfairly treated by The Dursley Family yet did nothing and allowed no one else to intervene.
"I hope you remember what you said today. If Harley doesn't arrive at Hogwarts next semester, or if Harley complains again about being wronged in your house, I will visit again."
Chen Yu pushed the gift box containing the gold forward, stood up, and prepared to leave.
Since his goal was achieved, it was time to leave.
Seeing Chen Yu place the gift box on the table and get up to leave, Vernon and Petunia's lips couldn't help but curve upwards.
Petunia even politely tried to keep him: "It's getting late, why not stay for lunch before you go?"
"No, I have other things to do, so I won't bother you."
He finished speaking and walked out of the house.
Petunia knew Chen Yu was really leaving, and with a joyful expression, she quickly asked Harley to see Chen Yu off.
Harley responded, stood up, and escorted Chen Yu to the door.
"Chen Yu... I... I don't know how to thank you..." Harley also realized that Chen Yu's visit was to improve The Dursley Family's attitude towards her, and she was very touched. "Next time I go to Gringotts, I will definitely repay you!"
Harley remembered the mountain of Galleons she had at Gringotts and decided to reimburse Chen Yu for his expenses when she saw him next semester.
"It's fine, whether you repay this small amount or not doesn't matter. We're friends, after all. I'll be leaving now, goodbye!"
Chen Yu opened the Dimension Door to the orphanage and walked in... Holder Orphanage, Little Whinging, Surrey.
"You little rascals of the orphanage, your Arch-Mage is back!"
Chen Yu changed back into his Hogwarts uniform and stepped into the orphanage with a stylish stride.
The exterior of this orphanage already looked very dilapidated; the paint on the outer walls had long peeled off, revealing grey-brown bricks.
The fence used to keep outsiders out was rusty and weathered; some bars crumbled at a touch, and there was even a large hole not far away.
He remembered it wasn't there a semester ago; it seemed a mischievous child had made the large hole recently.
However, the doors and windows inside the orphanage rooms were relatively intact; although there were traces of simple repairs, they were enough to shelter these orphans from wind and rain.
To return wealthy to one's hometown is like wearing fine clothes at night.
Although Chen Yu planned to continue developing in the game world, he still had a good impression of the spawn point given by his identity card.
Especially Old Director Lisa, who, according to the background story, had raised all the orphans in the orphanage, Chen Yu greatly admired her.
To raise a group of little rascals without blood ties or personal gain, allowing them to live in the orphanage, even if the food wasn't great, was still much better than letting those orphans wander the streets.
She was also a very kind old woman.
Hearing Chen Yu's shout, the children who were chasing and playing in the yard paused, wanting to see which child was so ignorant as to dare call the orphanage children "little rascals." A few hot-tempered older children, hearing Chen Yu's address, wanted to show him some color.
Seeing Chen Yu dressed as a wizard, they were stunned again.
They looked him over, confirmed it was a familiar East Asian face, then recalled the fear from when they had mocked Chen Yu only to be scared by an invisible "ghost," their expressions changed dramatically, and they ran in the opposite direction.
"The evil Little Wizard has entered Holder Orphanage!"
"Quick, quick, tell Fat Aunt, the Little Wizard who went to that Hog-what-what-warts school is back!"
"Oh my god, they won't turn us into ghosts, will they!"
The surrounding children scattered instantly.
It seemed the "ghost" prank he left behind when he left the orphanage had, with his departure, caused his reputation to become increasingly exaggerated.
Fat Aunt, who was hanging bedsheets, heard the children's shouts from the yard and immediately came to check the situation.
Seeing Chen Yu return in a wizard's robe, she was happy but also a bit complainy: "Little Chen Yu, is Hogwarts on holiday? Yesterday I went to the station to pick you up, but I waited for a long time and didn't see you. I thought you weren't coming back to the orphanage."
Hearing Fat Aunt say she went to King's Cross Station to pick him up yesterday, it was Chen Yu's turn to be stunned.
He hadn't noticed Fat Aunt's presence at King's Cross Station yesterday, or by the time Fat Aunt came to pick him up, he had already followed Harley and left the station.
Hearing Fat Aunt's complaints, Chen Yu scratched the back of his head and said apologetically: "After getting off the train yesterday, I went directly to a classmate's house to stay. I didn't expect you to specifically come to the station to pick me up, I'm really sorry. Fat Aunt, it's been a year, and you look even sturdier."
"It's nothing, just consider it a half-day off. Serving so many little rascals, anyone with a weaker constitution couldn't handle it."
Fat Aunt was an open-minded person; facing a group of children all day, without an open mind, one simply couldn't adapt to life as a caregiver in an orphanage.
Fat Aunt slapped her head and continued: "Oh, my memory! The Director told me yesterday that if you came back, remember to go see her; she seems to have something to talk to you about. Anyway, you're familiar with the Director's office, so just go yourself!"
"I still have to go wash bedsheets; a few little mischievous ones wet the bed last night, and one had diarrhea. I don't know when I'll be done."
Watching Fat Aunt go back to her work, Chen Yu headed straight for the Director's office.
Arriving at the Director's office door, he saw it was ajar. He knocked twice, but the white-haired Old Director was busy frowning at a white paper in her hand, seemingly checking something, and didn't notice Chen Yu's knocking.
"Orphanage expenses and income..."
Chen Yu came to Old Director Lisa's side and looked at the orphanage's income and expenditure statement in her hand. Chen Yu said with some surprise: "House repairs... food procurement... equipment wear and tear... this is simply not making ends meet."
Although he knew this orphanage was run by Old Director Lisa using her life savings, he didn't expect such a large disparity between income and expenditure.
Chen Yu's soft reading finally caught the Old Director's attention. Suddenly seeing someone next to her, Old Director Lisa was startled.
Seeing it was Chen Yu, she immediately became joyful: "Chen Yu, you're back? Six months ago, Hogwarts School sent an owl asking me if you had found an American relative during the Halloween holiday. Is this true?"
"Yes, that's right. Director, I heard Fat Aunt say you had something to talk to me about. What is it?"
Old Director Lisa gave a bitter smile: "It's embarrassing to say. Not just you, I've also sought out other capable people who've left the orphanage, because..."
"Are you planning to borrow money to repair the house? When I came, I saw that the outer walls of some rooms in the yard seemed to be cracked."
"Yes, it snowed heavily last Christmas. Although it didn't collapse the houses, it caused cracks in the walls of several rooms, which scared the children. It was really cold then, so I had those children squeeze into the room where you originally recuperated..."
"Although the weather is warm now and the children can manage, it definitely won't work in winter. We must find a way to repair those cracked houses before the children can live in them with peace of mind."
"But house repairs are a large sum of money, and this year the government has reduced its budget, so the subsidy for the orphanage is expected to be much less..."
"Currently, some kind-hearted people have donated, but not much funding has been raised."
"I saw in the letter that your relative in America seems to be wealthy, so could you persuade him to donate a little, or at least lend some if that's not possible."
"I want to find someone to repair the remaining houses quickly before winter sets in, so it's not like last year. If a few more houses crack, I don't know where to put those children..."
Chen Yu didn't continue listening to the Director's complaints; instead, he again pulled out a dozen gold bars and placed them in front of Old Director Lisa.
"Is this enough?"
Then he pulled out another dozen gold bars.
"If it's not enough, there's more."
Looking at the glittering gold bars on the table, Old Director Lisa felt like she was dreaming.
The problem that had been bothering her for half a year was solved so easily?