Chapter 63

Zhao Ciying didn’t bother sparing her feelings. She shot her a cold glare right then and there, then fixed her with an impatient stare. “Hurry up and ask. Once you’re done, give me an answer immediately.”

Her tone was so cold it felt like Xu Chun’s heart was being carved to pieces. Baby, how could a mouth that’s thirty-something degrees say something so ice-cold? Had all those feelings we once had, all that love, been fake? Xu Chun covered her chest in utter grief. So capitalist rich women’s love really did come down to cold reality after all.

Xu Chun kept stalling, with more drama on her face than money in her pocket. Zhao Ciying’s lips curved into a faint smile. “Need me to help you?”

“No need.” Xu Chun jolted, then hurriedly took her phone and walked off to the side to ask Qin Yao’s opinion. After a brief silence, Qin Yao gave her a clear answer: “You can try it.”

“However, when the time comes, it’d be best to leave this matter to your mother.”

Xu Chun caught Qin Yao’s implication... Even people from ten villages away knew her father was unreliable. Her cheeks twitched. After solemnly thanking Qin Yao, she quickly dialed her grandfather’s number. “Grandpa.” Her voice instantly turned obedient and sweet. “Grandpa, long time no see.”

Xu Jixian’s eyelid twitched at his granddaughter’s overly affected voice. He asked instinctively, “Did you get into trouble out there?”

Xu Chun: “?”

“No—can’t I just check in on you out of concern?” She made small talk with Xu Jixian for quite a while. Finally, with Zhao Ciying’s gaze repeatedly landing on her, she carefully explained the reason for her call. After she finished, a long silence stretched out on Xu Jixian’s end. “It’s not entirely out of the question.”

“Have you asked your parents what they think?”

“Not yet, but Dad already cut ties with that bunch of elementary school classmates yesterday.” As she spoke, Xu Chun couldn’t help pouring out her grievances to Xu Jixian again, thoroughly ratting out Yang Xingyan and the others. Sure enough, Xu Jixian immediately flew into a rage. “Those people have really gone too far!”

Seeing how furious Xu Jixian was, Xu Chun quickly put on a sensible air and comforted him. “It’s all right, Grandpa. They’re Dad’s old friends, and my elders besides. If they were just joking with me, it’s no big deal for me to swallow a little grievance.” Xu Chun lowered her eyelids slightly. “Besides, I’m used to it after all these years...”

“You just wait.” Xu Jixian’s temples throbbed violently as he listened. “I’ll go get justice for you right now!”

With that, he made call after call and tore into his son without mercy. Xu Chun’s father had drunk too much the night before and was so groggy he couldn’t even open his eyes. Tang Shiyu, annoyed by the ringing, couldn’t resist kicking him; only then did Xu Chun’s father finally force himself awake and answer the phone.

Before he could even speak, a torrent of curses poured out of the receiver. Xu Chun’s father flared up at once and wanted to force his eyes open and curse back—until his gaze shifted and he saw the two large, bolded characters on the screen: “Dad.” He immediately fell silent.

So it was Dad. Then everything was fine. Nothing to worry about. Who hadn’t been cursed out by their old man a few times?

He did his best to focus and humbly accept his father’s lecture. Only after he swore again and again that he would absolutely never associate with Yang Xingyan’s group again did the old man finally let him off. “You’d better mean what you say. Otherwise, if I find out you’ve gone back on your word, you just wait—come home and I’ll serve you bamboo shoots stir-fried with pork!”

Xu Chun’s father instinctively felt his backside ache and promised again and again. “I won’t, I won’t, absolutely not, Dad. Rest assured.”

It took no end of coaxing before the old man finally hung up. Having just been cursed out, he couldn’t fall back asleep either, so he had no choice but to endure his hangover headache and get up to pour a cup of hot water. His wife was tidying up nearby, so he sat down in a chair on the balcony and thought it over seriously for a long while. Half an hour later, he suddenly stood up. “Let’s join that ‘Tianyu’ project too.”

Tang Shiyu gave him a questioning look, and Xu Chun’s father explained, “Dad agreed to help us, and Zhao Ciying wants in too. Barring any surprises, Qin Yao and the Jiang family won’t pass up this opportunity either.”

“With so many families and companies all wanting to stick their hands in and grab a piece of the pie, this project must be seriously profitable. Since that’s the case, let’s use Dad’s connections to get in and fight for a spot too. Who knows, maybe our bicycle will turn into a motorcycle.”

After saying that, he seemed to sense something and added, “I don’t care much about myself. At my age, I’ve enjoyed just about everything there is to enjoy. But Xu Chun is still young; she has a long life ahead of her.”

After that bastard Jiang Zhaolie broke off the engagement, her reputation had already taken a hit, and she wasn’t exactly popular with those wealthy madams. If he didn’t earn more of a dowry for his daughter, those people would look down on her even more after marriage, and who knew how they’d bully her. He wouldn’t allow his child to marry into a family like that, but what if his daughter went blind and insisted on marrying in anyway?

After all, no one could stop someone with a lovesick brain.

And Xu Wei was growing up too; in a few years she’d be marrying as well. Xu Wei was immature and needed even more worrying over. The more he thought, the more his head ached. His current assets really couldn’t withstand two daughters’ expenses; he had to hurry and earn more money to secure the family’s livelihood.

Tang Shiyu had wanted in from the start, but Xu Chun’s father had been dead set on running around with Yang Xingyan’s crowd, even ready to hand over a major project in his hands to someone else. That had truly infuriated Tang Shiyu, and she’d wanted to wash her hands of her husband entirely. Who would’ve thought that today he’d finally come to his senses?

Her daughter really was clever. If she’d known earlier, Tang Shiyu would’ve called both daughters back to cry in front of their father in turns; their family might have shaken off those bloodsuckers long ago, gotten rich, and reached the pinnacle of life.

But it wasn’t too late for her husband to mend his ways now. Tang Shiyu was deeply moved. “Fine.” Still, she wasn’t entirely at ease, so she warned him, “But if you dare go back on your word in the future, I’ll strike out on my own and start my own company.”

In all their years of marriage, Xu Chun’s father had never heard his wife say anything so harsh. He immediately understood that this was the last chance she was giving him, and he hurried to make amends and curry favor. “Yes, yes, yes, whatever you say, dear. I’ll listen to you in everything.”

He held up two fingers. “From now on, if you tell me to go east, I absolutely won’t go west. If you tell me to drink congee, I absolutely won’t dare eat meat. Everything will be decided by you, dear.”

Tang Shiyu rolled her eyes impatiently. “Hurry up and get ready. We’re going out.”

Xu Chun’s father asked instinctively, “Where to?”

“Where else?” Tang Shiyu glanced at him. “To withdraw our investments from Yang Xingyan and the others’ companies, of course. They’re going to spit everything they’ve ever gotten out of me back out.”

“Right!” Xu Chun’s father suddenly declared his loyalty with heroic vigor: “That was all your pocket money for bags, clothes, and shoes, dear!”

With him being so smooth-tongued, Tang Shiyu was helpless against him. “The next few months are going to be busy.” She frowned. “We have the wrangling with Yang Xingyan and the others, the ‘Tianyu’ matter, and the cooperation project with the Jiang family in your hands. Each one will take up a huge amount of our time.”

“Isn’t Little Chun working hard too?” Xu Chun’s father stood up. “After she finished filming that last variety show, she jumped straight into the crew without even a break.”

“I heard the conditions on that crew are especially tough, and she’s suffered quite a lot.”

Tang Shiyu knew that, of course. She let out a soft sigh. “That child is the type who, once she sets her mind to something, won’t care about anything else and won’t listen to anyone. All we can do is avoid becoming a burden to her.”

Hearing this, Xu Chun’s father’s resolve to earn more money instantly hardened.

After Xu Chun finished her call with her grandfather, she talked with Tang Shiyu for a few more minutes. After hearing Tang Shiyu’s explanation, her heart finally settled. As long as her parents held tightly to Zhao Ciying’s and Qin Yao’s golden thighs, the odds of their family going bankrupt should be next to none, right?

Still, before everything was completely set in stone, Xu Chun couldn’t help feeling a little uneasy. But there was no rushing it now; she could only be patient and report back to Zhao Ciying: “My parents and grandpa all agreed.”

“Good.” Having achieved her goal for this trip, Zhao Ciying’s expression brightened considerably. “Focus on filming. I’ll be going now.”

“I should run into your parents this afternoon. I’ll have a good chat with them then,” Zhao Ciying said meaningfully. For some reason, hearing her speak with such an ambiguous tone gave Xu Chun the sense that something flirtatious lingered in it.

She pretended not to notice, her face full of reluctance as she waved at Zhao Ciying. “Then take care, President Zhao. See you another day.”

Zhao Ciying gave her a deep look. “Mm.”

Zhao Ciying came quickly and left quickly. Watching her get into the car and drive away, Xu Chun couldn’t help letting out a long breath of relief. Then she called over a crew member like they were old buddies and fished for information: “Brother, about how long do we have to stay here?”

“About twenty days or so.”

Xu Chun’s vision went black. She felt dizzy and reeling. Was it actually going to be that long? By the time that whatever conference ended, Qin Yao and Zhao Ciying would all have left, and she still wouldn’t be gone. Thinking of the possibility of running into the other party from time to time going forward, Xu Chun nearly couldn’t catch her breath.

In a daze, she drifted into the makeup room with her script. Maybe... she should just fake her death and escape first?

Of course, that was just wishful thinking. Fortunately, they were all quite busy during the conference period too, so their visits to the crew were few enough to count on one hand. After a few days, Xu Chun gradually let down her guard and focused on filming.

But the calm didn’t last long. The crew’s peace was shattered by a new wave of arrivals. Yang Xingyan stormed into the crew’s area, his sinister eyes sweeping the place before locking dead onto Xu Chun.

The moment Yang Xingyan fixed his eyes on her, Xu Chun sensed it and turned around, meeting his gaze. Seeing his furious expression and his eagerness to eliminate her, how could Xu Chun not know what had happened to him? Tang Shiyu had definitely settled scores with him, old grudges and new, all at once.

Xu Chun guessed right. These past few days had been the most miserable stretch of Yang Xingyan’s life since he’d met Xu Chun’s father.

That night while drinking, Yang Xingyan had thought Xu Chun’s father was just momentarily angry and had only said a few words out of pique. Who would’ve known that the very next morning, just as he’d finished playing around with a girl and was about to lie down to sleep, his company’s pretty little secretary called in a panic: “President Yang, bad news! Lawyers from President Xu’s company are here at our company!”

Yang Xingyan was tired and sleepy by then—he’d been busy all night and had no energy or stamina left. Hearing this, he frowned hard. “So?”

He snapped irritably at the secretary, “Don’t tell me it’s just some lawyer. Even if the sky were falling, it’d have to wait until I wake up.”

“That won’t do, President Yang! President Xu’s secretary said President Xu is going to withdraw his investment from our company, and he also said our company has been concealing data, so he brought lawyers over to talk with us.” As the secretary spoke, a burst of extremely loud noise suddenly rose in the background. Yang Xingyan’s head was splitting, and he flew into a rage. “What did you say?!”

How dare that bastard surnamed Xu? All these years, if not for the help of the rest of them, could he have gotten as far as he had?

Yang Xingyan was so furious now that he couldn’t sleep either. He lay stiffly in bed. “Get security to throw that lawyer out of the company! After that, no matter who comes from the Xu family, don’t receive them!”

Just as he was raging, the little secretary’s tearful voice came through again. “Bad news, President Yang. People from the tax bureau seem to be here...”

Yang Xingyan’s heart lurched, and he instinctively sat up straight in bed. “What are they here for?”

“I don’t know, President Yang. Maybe you should hurry back to the company first.”

Yang Xingyan was beside himself with rage. He had no choice but to endure his splitting headache, grab his car keys, and hurry back to the company. Little did he know, he’d barely been driving a short while before a traffic cop pulled him over and took him to the station for drunk driving, where he was held for several days. Only yesterday did he finally get out after spending a fortune to smooth over connections.

This scene played out at the other men’s companies as well. After the men met up and compared notes, they instantly realized it was all that bastard surnamed Xu’s doing.

Yang Xingyan had been hit the hardest and harbored the most resentment. He spat viciously twice. “Spineless coward! He must’ve had his head turned by Tang Shiyu’s pillow talk!” Tang Shiyu had long been unable to stand Xu’s dealings with them; now that she’d finally caught an opportunity these past two days, of course she’d spare no effort to drive a wedge between Xu and the rest of them.

The more he thought, the angrier he got. He slammed the table hard. “He’s not even willing to face a woman. He’s really not a man!”

The others were nursing their own fury too, and at this they chimed in, cursing those two soundly and dragging Xu Chun into it as well. The words coming out of their mouths were as vile and crude as could be. Only once they’d vented most of the pent-up fire in their hearts did the group quiet down. “So what do we do now?”

“He’s got hard connections. If he’s dead set on making things impossible for us, we have no power or influence. We can’t beat him at all.”

“So what if his connections are hard? We’re not vegetarians either.” Yang Xingyan sneered. “You think the few of us together can’t take down one measly man?”

Seeing the others stay silent, Yang Xingyan added, “Don’t forget, every one of us is a big boss worth tens of millions or even hundreds of millions. United, can we really not beat one bastard surnamed Xu?”

The others thought about it and found it made some sense. “Then let’s kick him out and do it ourselves, just the few of us.”

“That’s right. With that bastard surnamed Xu out of our way, our business will surely flourish even more.” Yang Xingyan sneered. “He’ll regret it then.”

Unfortunately, less than an hour after he’d finished envisioning the future, big bosses from all the companies they had partnerships with called one after another, firmly terminating their contracts. Yang Xingyan wasn’t the only one affected. The others couldn’t escape it either. In just one short hour, their companies went from thriving to broken capital chains and the verge of bankruptcy.

Only then did the group finally panic.

The quicker-witted ones immediately found an excuse to take their leave, then called Tang Shiyu to apologize and admit their faults, trying to get her to let them off. They weren’t stupid; they knew only Tang Shiyu would do something like this. As for their old classmate... he’d long since been sweet-talked by them until he couldn’t tell north from south.

However, when the call connected, Tang Shiyu merely said lightly, “I’m not very clear on this matter either. You’d better go ask Old Xu.”

“Sister-in-law, don’t joke with me at a time like this. I know the family and company matters are all decided by you...” But before he could finish, she cut him off. “I really am not clear on this matter.”

She said it one word at a time, her tone heavy. The caller couldn’t help but freeze. Could it really have been Old Xu who did this?

That didn’t make sense. Old Xu would’ve stabbed himself in both ribs for them; there was no way he’d do something like this.

Half-believing, half-doubting, they got through to Old Xu’s phone, only to receive a torrent of curses in return. And then, within a single day, every funding chain in their companies broke completely, forcing them to sell their houses and cars to salvage things.

Perhaps Tang Shiyu had put out the word among the people around them. Not a single person among their acquaintances was willing to lend them money to tide them over. Their companies weren’t small in scale; even after selling houses and cars, they still couldn’t fill such a massive deficit for the time being. Worse, problems were found in their companies’ accounts, and all of them, as the people in charge, were summoned for questioning and investigation.

For a moment, the men’s vision went black, and they nearly couldn’t stand steady.

Old Xu really was ruthless! He’d disregarded even their many years of friendship as classmates!

They’d only had a bit too much to drink and said a few unkind things about his daughter—was that really worth this?

Whether they understood it or not, after Xu Chun’s father cut ties completely with his old classmates, he discovered just how comfortable his life could be without those so-called deep-bonded old friends.

He no longer had to exhaust himself running around to clean up their messes or cut them a slice of the pie for the sake of saving face. Instead of taking a loss himself to spare them a grievance, he was now landing several major projects worth over a hundred million each in just a few short days. The net profit from even one of them was equal to the company’s entire earnings from the past year.

At this very moment, Xu Chun’s father had a great awakening and couldn’t help but slap his own head in regret. He really had been a damn fool before.

Still burning with indignation and remembering how those men had disrespected his daughter without restraint, he immediately launched a severe retaliation against them. He would turn every old and new grudge into his daughter’s dowry.

It was under this intense suppression from Xu Chun’s father that Yang Xingyan’s mindset finally collapsed. With nowhere left to turn, he sought out Xu Chun’s crew.

He stared fixedly at Xu Chun, his whole mind consumed by one thought. Even if he died, he’d drag someone down with him. If that bastard surnamed Xu wouldn’t let him live well, then he’d let him taste what it was like to bury a child.

He gripped the knife and lunged—only to be easily subdued by the bodyguards beside Xu Chun before he could even get close. Xu Chun stared at his twisted face, her eyelid twitching hard. Sure enough, she was bound to suffer bad luck whenever she came into contact with men.

She stared at Yang Xingyan, then with a backhanded motion called the police and had him sent straight to the station.

He Qingli, still shaken, frowned and watched her for a while before saying, “Why don’t we have Sister Yang arrange a few more bodyguards for you?” She said seriously, “I’m scared.”

Xu Chun laughed. “I’m not even scared, so what are you scared of?”

“This time we were lucky. Everyone was by your side to protect you and help subdue those bad people. But if one day none of us are there...” she said worriedly. “What will you do then, Sister Xu Chun?”

Hearing this, Xu Chun instinctively thought of how she’d been stabbed to death by another Yu Sui’an in her past life. She couldn’t help shivering, then dialed her agent’s number and said seriously, “Sister Yang, could you please hire me a Muay Thai teacher today, right now? I want to learn a few more moves to defend myself... oh no, besides Muay Thai, please find me a teacher for every type of self-defense technique available on the market.”

Agent: “?” What’s gotten into you this time?

She couldn’t figure it out, so she just asked. Upon learning that Xu Chun had actually been targeted for revenge by a rival from her family’s company, she immediately took it seriously. “Leave this to me.”

And so, before the day was even over, Xu Chun received a care package from her agent: four additional bodyguards and a row of martial arts instructors of various styles, male and female.

The sight of that dark row of valiant, dashing women and powerful, muscular men was simply too visually striking. Xu Chun couldn’t help wondering why she was paying money to suffer.

Hadn’t she suffered enough on this crew these past days? Wasn’t her life comfortable enough already?

Just as she was seriously and solemnly reflecting, the bodyguards, after brief self-introductions, immediately disguised themselves as crew members and took up vaguely protective positions around Xu Chun. The instructors, meanwhile, warily eyed one another and earnestly introduced the martial arts they specialized in and their ranks.

The agent had put in great effort. At least, the words coming out of these people’s mouths all sounded extremely impressive.

Among them were even some who’d fought in underground boxing abroad and won consecutive championships.

Xu Chun couldn’t help but think: “...” This is a bit too much, Sister. She knew exactly how much she was worth.

Just as Xu Chun was considering which one to start learning from first, Zheng Yanran’s voice suddenly cut in, brimming with interest: “Oho? Sister Xu Chun, are you picking concubines here today?”

Xu Chun instinctively looked up and immediately spotted an unfamiliar face beside her. She stared at the person without blinking, and the other party, a little embarrassed at being stared at, introduced herself first: “Hello, I’m a reporter from Tudou News.”

Tudou News? Wasn’t that the utterly vicious, unscrupulous media outlet?

The slightest rustle could get blown up into the world exploding and the earth being destroyed... no, wait. Xu Chun’s eyes suddenly went wide, and she instinctively looked toward Zheng Yanran.

Why did you bring someone from Tudou News?!

Then wouldn’t my concubine-picking just now spread across the whole country tonight?!

She still remembered the last time at Qin Group. This was the same unscrupulous outlet that had reported she and Jiang Zhaolie were about to rekindle their old flame. Right, it was the day Jiang Zhaolie’s background was exposed. The outlet falsely accused her of “eating her own grass” again, and then Qin Yao had mysteriously dealt with it ruthlessly.

Xu Chun could almost imagine what kind of storm she’d face if this got out today through this unscrupulous reporter and unscrupulous outlet.

In a flash, Xu Chun decided to get on the other party’s good side. She put on a radiant smile and walked warmly toward the female reporter. “Hello, hello, so you’re the young lady from Tudou News. Very pleased to meet you.”

The female reporter’s eyes flickered. She amiably shook the hand Xu Chun extended, then immediately took out a pen and a small notebook and jotted down a line, “Shocking! A popular female star openly seduces an innocent and righteous female reporter. Behind all this, is it the distortion of human nature or the decay of morals?”

After writing it, she didn’t forget to note at the end the several rumored romantic partners Xu Chun currently had, a faint excitement stirring in her heart.