An Guohua left.
An Lan was still sitting there in a daze until someone pushed the door open.
Huo Zhanting looked at An Lan with a cold eye and put on his suit jacket, "Let's go."
An Lan quickly stood up and followed with small steps, feeling somewhat puzzled. Where was he taking her?
But she didn't expect Huo Zhanting to walk into the elevator and press the button for the second basement level directly.
Could it be that he was taking her home with him?
Huo Zhanting, with her?
Unless he had lost his mind!
An Lan murmured to herself but didn't dare to ask. She could only follow Huo Zhanting closely.
The two returned to the villa together. As soon as they entered, they ran into Sun Lanfang, who had been waiting there all day like a cat on hot bricks.
"How dare you run away? This is outrageous!"
"First you talk back, and then you refuse to cook! Now look at you, disappearing for the entire day!"
"You little wretch! I bet in a couple of days you'll even dare to defecate on my head!"
Sun Lanfang had originally thought that An Lan would be lying half-dead in the basement after spending a night there, and had gleefully prepared to witness An Lan's misery in the morning, only to open the door and find no one inside!
Fuming and ready to accuse her, Sun Lanfang found that An Lan had gone missing for the whole day.
Unable to contain her fury, Sun Lanfang rushed forward, raising her hand to slap An Lan.
"I haven't taught you a lesson in manners yet, and now you're trying to scale the roof to remove the tiles!"
Unexpectedly, she found her hand caught by Huo Zhanting, who was standing nearby.
Huo Zhanting frowned and said, "It was I who let her out."
Sun Lanfang instantly fell silent, unsure whether to drop her raised hand or to retract it, leaving it hanging awkwardly in mid-air.
What did Huo Zhanting mean by this?
In the past, she treated An Lan the same way, and he had never reacted, but what had gotten into him these past few days?
Helping that wench openly, time and again!
"No, nothing's wrong," she said unsettly, lowering her hand. Sun Lanfang secretly seethed, considering that this little wretch had dodged a bullet today!
An Lan also looked at Huo Zhanting in surprise; she hadn't expected him to help her so directly.
"What are you looking at?"
Huo Zhanting said with a tone that did not conceal his anger, pulling An Lan toward the dining table, "Eat."
With that, Sun Lanfang, even if she had a hundred and eighty complaints, didn't dare say another word, just watching as Huo Zhanting pulled An Lan to sit next to the dining table.
Huo Jiajia broke the awkward silence, "Right, brother, in a few days, An Yuxian and Xiao Yihe will get engaged. The An Family asked An Yuxian to inquire whether you will attend."
An Lan trembled all over, while Huo Zhanting, seemingly unaware, simply said, "Busy, I have no time."
Huo Jiajia had an insinuating tone in her response, "I think so too. The An Family just wants to cling to our Huo Family. If you really went, who knows what the news would write!"
"The beam is not straight if the frame is crooked. The whole family is up to no good!"
An Lan raised her head and looked at Huo Jiajia, her eyes sharp and penetrating, making Huo Jiajia shiver all over.
She couldn't tell whether it was an illusion, but she always felt that An Lan, who used to be at everyone's mercy, had completely changed!
Turned over a new leaf, perhaps?
"Can't your mouth be stopped even when you're eating?"
Huo Zhanting said nonchalantly, and after Huo Jiajia fell silent, he then said to An Lan, "Buy some new clothes tomorrow before you go."
"Okay," An Lan smiled brightly, "If I can't use them all up, I'll return them to you."
"It's just a million. If you can't use it all up, don't come back."
Before An Lan could say anything, Huo Jiajia beside her exploded with irritation.
"A million? Brother! What kind of clothes cost that much? And look at her status, is she even worthy to wear something so expensive?!"
"Exactly! That's a million we're talking about!"
Sun Lanfang gnashed her teeth with hatred, feeling sour inside.
She didn't get much for monthly spending, and Huo Zhanting just gave An Lan so much in one go!
Huo Jiajia suggested, "Moreover, it's such a waste! I have lots of old clothes that would suffice to just give her one, there's no need for so many, there's no need to buy new ones!"
"How she uses her money is up to her," he concluded.
Huo Zhanting had no desire to continue talking with these women and left after dropping a sentence.
Seeing that Huo Zhanting had finally left, Sun Lanfang finally breathed a sigh of relief and reverted to her usual demeanor.
"Talking big, aren't you? Opening your mouth and asking for a million? How shameless can you get!"
"Exactly! Isn't it enough that you An Family have been leeching off our Huo Family for all these years?"
"If I were you, I'd die of shame! How do you even have the face to spend that money?"
Sun Lanfang and Huo Jiajia made sarcastic comments, one after the other, as if An Lan taking the money would be utterly shameful!
But that was An Lan's money to begin with!
With a smile that didn't reach her eyes, An Lan said, "Mom, that million isn't what I asked for, it's what Zhan Ting gave me!"
"As for the An Family leeching off the Huo Family, this is Huo Zhanting's house, right? He hasn't even said a word! Mom, if outsiders hear you talking like this, they'll think Huo Zhanting is petty and small-minded!"
"And little aunt, your old clothes are too loose and too big, how could I possibly fit in them? It's not like I'm going to perform in an opera!"
"You!"
Huo Jiajia was so angry she could only roll her eyes; she hated it when anyone mentioned her weight!
That wretched An Lan was doing this on purpose!
"Either way, you have to give money!" Huo Jiajia clung stubbornly to An Lan, "Or else, I'll teach you a lesson!"
"One hundred thousand."
An Lan also had no desire to keep arguing with this mother-daughter duo, "I'll only give one hundred thousand, take it or leave it."
She had just gotten a job and really didn't want to waste her time wrestling endlessly with them.
"One hundred thousand? Do you think you're giving alms to a beggar!?"
Enraged and shrill, Sun Lanfang said, "Even if it's Huo Zhanting who agreed to the An Family taking advantage, what about all those years you stayed for free in the Huo Family, shouldn't you pay for that?"
"Exactly! The cost of food alone for all these years would be at least three hundred thousand! No! Five hundred thousand!"
"Alright then, if we're settling accounts, how about you pay me for all the cooking and laundry I've done in this house every day?" An Lan stood her ground, "Regarding the standard wages for our domestic workers, I see you might even end up owing me money!"
"It's laughable! If you hadn't drugged Zhan Ting, could you have even walked through the Huo Family's door? And you want money? Dream on!"
Sun Lanfang coldly said, "If you don't pay today, then get out and sleep in the basement!"
Huo Jiajia sneered, "You don't really think my brother likes you, do you? He was just curious for a while, you think too highly of yourself!"
"I'll say it one last time, only one hundred thousand. Take it and let go of me, or I'll tell Huo Zhanting this whole thing, and then you won't get a single penny!"
An Lan stared coldly at Sun Lanfang and her daughter, her gaze icy.
If this had been said in the past, Sun Lanfang and Huo Jiajia would have laughed their heads off, but times had changed.
This despicable woman must have fed Huo Zhanting some kind of mind-bending drug because he's started to protect her now!
If Huo Zhanting got involved, it was uncertain whether they could get the money, and their allowances might even get docked!
But that was a million!
Her own monthly pocket money was only half a million!
After thinking for a moment, Sun Lanfang's eyes shifted, and reluctantly, she countered, "No way! Two hundred thousand!"
"Forget it then."
Having said her piece, An Lan shook off Huo Jiajia's hand and turned to leave.
Seeing this, Sun Lanfang hastily chased after her, "Hey, hey, hey! Don't go, ah! One hundred thousand it is! I'll take it!"
Sun Lanfang rushed over in such a hurry she nearly knocked over a vase, "Give me the money now!"
She seemed afraid An Lan might change her mind.
An Lan sneered, "I'll give it to you after I've cashed the check tomorrow."
After that, she left without looking back.
A hundred thousand, if it bought some peace and quiet, was worth it.
Back in her room, An Lan quickly picked out a couple of outfits, then grabbed a coffee and went to find Huo Zhanting.
The man wore a pair of rimless glasses, intently reading some documents with an iPad in front of him, a desk lamp to his left casting a shadow over his profile.
No matter how many times she saw him, even when Huo Zhanting was silent, she still found him unpredictable and somewhat frightening.
Taking a deep breath, An Lan knocked on the door.
Huo Zhanting looked up and said, "Come in."
An Lan, carrying the coffee, entered the room and gently placed it beside Huo Zhanting. Noticing he was video calling someone, she tactfully decided to leave, then overheard teasing from inside.
"Does Mr. Huo's household always have such distinctive maids?"