"What do you want to do?"
"I want to stay there all day tomorrow until she wakes up!" Xu Aiqin's eyes shimmered with determination. "We should convince her to sell some of her shares and alleviate the crisis. She's an old woman, and holding onto so many shares is pointless!"
"We have shares too. It wouldn't be fair if we don't sell ours but ask Mom to sell hers," replied Lu Zhenhai, showing some conscience.
"Who said we haven't sold any?" Xu Aiqin retorted. "We have already sold many shops and properties. If we sell shares too, the company will fall into the hands of outsiders! Do you want strangers to take over our company? Or do you expect Mom, with her health condition, to manage the company?"
Lu Zhenhai fell silent.
"We need to hold the shares to continue managing the company as major shareholders. Firstly, to spare Mom from working at her age. Secondly, to earn more money to take care of her. Thirdly, to prevent the company from falling into the hands of other shareholders. Fourthly, it can alleviate our current difficulties. It's a win-win situation," Xu Aiqin explained. Seeing Lu Zhenhai's silence, she knew he was wavering and seized the opportunity. "If we had a way to solve our current difficulties ourselves, as the younger generation, why would we take things from Mom? It's only because we have no other options."
As Xu Aiqin spoke, she pretended to shed a few tears. "Besides, we only have Yao Yao as our precious one. Mom's things will ultimately be yours, won't they? Your things will ultimately be Yao Yao's. Instead of waiting until later, why not give them now? At least it can provide some immediate relief."
Lu Zhenhai was swayed by her words, but his conscience still troubled him a bit.
Xu Aiqin continued, "If we wait too long and the company goes bankrupt, those shares will be worthless. Holding onto them won't do Mom any good!"
"That makes sense." Lu Zhenhai was finally convinced. "Let's find a time to visit Mom and see what she says."
"No time like the present, let's go tomorrow!" Xu Aiqin said, exchanging a secret glance with Lu Muyao.
Lu Muyao immediately understood. "Dad, I also want to visit Grandma tomorrow!"
"Alright."
Receiving affirmation, Lu Muyao exchanged another look with Xu Aiqin, as if saying, "Mom, don't worry! Leave the rest to me."
...
Qing Yan returned home and as soon as she opened the bedroom door, she discovered over a dozen gifts neatly arranged inside.
They varied in size and were beautifully wrapped.
She was a little puzzled. What day was it today? Why were there so many gifts? It wasn't her birthday, nor any holiday...
"Miss Qing Yan, you're back?" Lan Yi saw her and approached with a gentle smile. "These gifts were all prepared by the young master for you. He initially wanted to give them to you in person, but you weren't home, and his schedule is quite regular. Before going to bed, he asked me to deliver the gifts to your room."
"These are all from my elder brother?" Qing Yan was somewhat surprised. Why would he send her so many things, all nicely wrapped?
"The young master said that he has missed seventeen years of your life, so these are seventeen birthday gifts. Although gifts can make up for it, the missing companionship can only be multiplied in the future," Lan Yi explained.
Qing Yan understood and felt warmth in her heart.
"The young master truly considers you his sister," Lan Yi continued, glancing around and whispering, "Because of this, Miss Yusha became extremely jealous. Although she didn't show it in front of the young master, her face was unpleasant all night, and she nitpicked at the servants, as if she had become a different person."
"My own brother is giving me birthday gifts, and she, who has no blood relation, gets jealous?" Qing Yan found it amusing. Was it her turn to be jealous? Hasn't she benefited enough over these past years?
"You're right, Miss Qing Yan, but some people just can't understand their own position and can't properly assess themselves," Lan Yi sighed. "For over a decade, everyone in the family treated her as the only precious one. The deep affection they have for her might not be so easily diminished..."
"I don't intend to diminish it. If her presence brings happiness to the family, I don't mind. But if she repeatedly hurts the hearts of our family members, I believe someone will naturally remove her without me having to say a word."
So, Qing Yan never paid any attention to her from the beginning to the end.
Li Yusha was nothing more than a clown jumping around. Although she occasionally showed up and caused a commotion, it wasn't to the point where Qing Yan had to deal with her personally.
"Miss Qing Yan, your magnanimity and broad-mindedness are admirable," Lan Yi praised.
"You don't have to stand up for me. When I find something intolerable, I will handle it myself," Qing Yan knew that Lan Yi had been receiving a lot of bad treatment from Madam Zhang recently, just because she didn't stand on Li Yusha's side. Qing Yan was grateful for her loyalty.
Though Qing Yan said so, she would never stand idly by if the other party went too far. She wouldn't let anyone speak ill of Miss Qing Yan!
"I'll thank my brother again tomorrow."
"Alright, then I won't disturb Miss Qing Yan's rest!" Aunt Lan stepped back, and Qing Yan's slender fingers caressed the gift. It felt nice to be loved by family, unexpectedly.
The next morning, bright and early, Lu Zhenhai was awakened by an urgent phone call.
"What did you say? Another processing partner wants to terminate the contract with us? What's the situation this time? Just like that? Just because Yan Yan's company gained more fame after the competition and presented more enticing conditions, they are determined to terminate the contract?"
After a few more inquiries, Lu Zhenhai reluctantly hung up the phone. Xu Aiqin had been disturbed by their conversation and sat up anxiously, asking, "What's going on?"
"Those processing partners, they all want to terminate the contract with us and give the orders to Yan Yan's company..."
The so-called processing partners were clothing companies that needed assistance from other companies after producing their own clothes. Some required additional steps because their own capabilities were lacking, while others needed labels attached, quality inspections, or increased production volume.
Lu Zhenhai's company had already seen several major partners leave, and they could barely stay afloat by relying on these processing partners for orders. Now that even the processing partners were leaving, their company was truly in dire straits.
"Yan Yan's side offered concessions, saying they can reduce the processing fees by ten percent..."
That ten percent profit reduction was quite substantial...
Upon hearing Lu Zhenhai's words, Xu Aiqin immediately suggested, "Then we can also reduce the processing fees by ten percent!"
Lu Zhenhai shook his head. "If we reduce it by another ten percent, it's like doing work for others for free! Right now, we rely on this main source of income because we can't sell the clothes we produce ourselves!"