Han Luoli narrowed her eyes, waiting for Wei Feng to continue replying.
"Once the Lin Corporation collapsed, how could Lu Tianze fare any better? I heard he's been trying to drum up business everywhere lately. But with Shenghan leading the pack, who would dare to work with him?"
Finally, Han Luoli nodded.
"Find a few reliable people to protect Xiao Er in the future." He could not let Xiao Er fall into danger again. If he couldn't arrive in time, he didn't dare to imagine what could happen.
"Yes," Wei Feng agreed without hesitation, and checking the time, he reminded, "Boss, the video conference is about to start."
"Let's go."
In a dilapidated, not very prosperous neighborhood, a family that had just moved in was always restless, irritating the neighbors with their constant noise. Several warnings had been given, but after a brief quiet, the racket would start up again.
In the little garden below, Aunt A said, "You know, that family is at it again. I don't know what they're always fighting about—if they can't get along, just get a divorce!"
Aunt B replied, "I heard it; it's the same every day. We've really sinned to end up with neighbors like them."
"Eh, I saw them when they first moved in, a family of three with a daughter in her twenties. Tsk tsk, that girl, why does she look so familiar to me?"
Once someone mentioned this, several gossip-driven aunties immediately perked up, analyzing the situation as if they were experts.
"Doesn't she look like that infamous girl from the internet a few days ago?"
"Right, right, right, I saw that headline too." Nowadays, even aunties are trendy, surfing the internet and reading gossip with ease. "Her name is Lin Kexin, isn't it? Tsk tsk, the headlines said she's getting cozy with an idiot!"
"Such behavior clearly shows lack of upbringing—clinging to anyone. If I had a daughter-in-law like that, I'd be disgusted to death!"
...
Inside the cramped and shabby two-bedroom home, Lin Shuhua threw old furniture around without a care for her image, cursing loudly, "Gu Zhengjin, what else are you capable of? You've made your daughter and me suffer like this!"
"You ruined my company and let our daughter get into such a mess; do you have the face to sit here? Ah! What kind of godforsaken place is this, why should I have to live here?"
Her unkempt face showed all signs of aging, and in just a few days, her hair seemed to have turned even whiter.
Gu Zhengjin sat in a corner of the sofa, silently smoking, his expression grave. His hair had turned grayer as if he had aged a decade all at once.
He didn't understand what exactly had gone wrong.
No, what he didn't understand was why things kept going awry lately. Was it all just a coincidence, or was someone manipulating everything behind the scenes?
"Smoke, smoke, smoke, you might as well smoke yourself to death! Gu Zhengjin, look at what we've become, and then look at Gu Xiaoer. Why do we have to live in a place like this while Gu Xiaoer can take up such a nice spot all by herself?"
Actually, it wasn't that Gu Xiaoer's little place was that good; it was that where they were living now was just too shabby. It was almost a condemned old house with water leak marks and cobwebs everywhere in the room.
Mention of Gu Xiaoer suddenly made Lin Kexin, who had been sulking in her room, burst out, looking disheveled—a stark contrast to her previously bright and beautiful appearance.
Her eyes wide, she too yelled at Gu Zhengjin, "Dad, this is all Gu Xiaoer's doing! It must be her! She ruined my life; it was her doing!"
"Clang!" With a sudden motion, Gu Zhengjin slammed a cup down onto the coffee table. The loud and sharp sound made the raging mother and daughter abruptly fall silent.
"Enough from both of you! What has Xiao Er ever done to you, to blame her for everything?"
"Dad!" Lin Kexin rushed over to Gu Zhengjin, as if she had an epiphany, "I know! I know, it must be that she's hooked up with someone from Shenghan, that's why we've ended up in this mess!"