“Dad, I don’t want to believe it either, but the facts are right in front of me. Many things I couldn’t understand before can now be explained. It’s because Lu Yan likes Zhuang Yan that she helped him deal with the rumors online. It’s also because she is the boss of Yi’an that Zhou Quan doesn’t dare to touch her.” When Lu Yan was mentioned, besides coldness, there was also hatred, and that resentment overflowed from his eyes.

"Dad, do you know why Lu Yan hates the Lu family so much?"

Why does Lu Yan hate the Lu family? She grew up in the Lu family. She lost her mother at a young age and never had a good life. The Lu family treated her like they were free-range, not even as well as the family's cats and dogs.

Xia Qingshan remembered that when Lu Yan was a child, she was always dirty and skinny like a monkey, not at all as pretty as her mother.

Nobody liked her, especially Lu Yu, who would beat and verbally abuse her, and ganged up with others to ostracize her, spread rumors about her, saying she was the daughter of a mistress, and even tried to throw her away multiple times.

They pushed her into the water in the dead of winter, kicked her out of the house in the summer, didn't give her any living expenses, and didn't give her any new clothes for the New Year.

She was nothing like a rich family's daughter. Old Master Lu ignored her and even blamed her for her mother's death on several occasions, saying that she was useless and couldn't even keep an eye on her mother. He said that if it weren't for her, her mother wouldn't have committed suicide.

How could such a pitiful person, who can't even afford clothes and jewelry, have the money to start a company? And how could he become so powerful that he could threaten the existence of the Lu and Xia families?

Xia Qingshan couldn't explain these things over the phone, so he had to hang up.

If Xia Wan's words are true, then Lu Yan does have reason to retaliate against Lu Yu, and the Xia family is merely an afterthought.

But if she wants to bankrupt the Xia family, she's being far too delusional. Even if she's the boss of Yi'an Group, rich and powerful, the Xia family's foundation is still there. He's currently experiencing cash flow problems and is facing some difficulties, but as long as he sells Xicheng and finds new partners to do other things, he'll quickly make up for it.

Lu Yan's attempt to harm her is not so simple.

After figuring this out, Xia Qingshan breathed a barely perceptible sigh of relief and felt at ease.

Xia Qingshan took Xia Wan's words to heart, and the connection with Yi'an Group was completely severed. He then convened another meeting because of this matter.

The auction in Xicheng is scheduled for 11:00 AM tomorrow. To be fully prepared, Xia Qingshan left work early and went home, the only time in the past few days that he made it home before dinner.

There were three people at the table. Gu Qian was clearly taken aback when he saw Xia Qingshan, as if he hadn't expected him to come back so early.

Xia Qingshan saw him come out of the kitchen: "What were you doing in the kitchen?"

"I have nothing to do at home, so I help Aunt Wang and the others cook some meals."

"Have you been cooking these past few days?" Xia Qingshan asked casually. He had been under a lot of mental stress these past few days, and if you looked closely, you could see that Gu Qian looked a little nervous after hearing this.

Gu Qian said stiffly, "I'll just lend a hand and help keep an eye on things."

It's unclear whether Xia Qingshan listened or not, but after nodding, he went upstairs.

As Gu Qian, standing behind him, breathed a sigh of relief, a deep gloom lingered in his eyes.

These past two days, the property management of the villa area has been weeding and removing insects. You can smell the pesticide when you go outside. Looking at the dead insects hanging on the trees, he thought, "I wish Xia Qingshan could die this quickly, a sudden death."

His relationship with Xia Wan hasn't improved in the past few days. Xia Wan goes to work as usual and doesn't get home until 7 p.m. Compared to before when she took taxis and subways, now she has a private car to pick her up and drop her off. She carries different bags and changes into different clothes when she goes out.

Gu Qian stayed home and helped with the cooking, hoping to ease the tension between him and Xia Wan.

However, his cooking skills are poor, and he needs someone to guide him every time he cooks. Compared to before when he could only cook noodles and white porridge, he can now make soup. He makes all kinds of different soups every day, and he will set aside a portion for Xia Qingshan before drinking his own.

Xia Qingshan loses his appetite whenever he has something pressing on him, and he usually drinks soup.

When Xia Wan returned, Xia Qingshan immediately summoned her to his study and asked her to explain everything that had happened that day.

“Dad, Lu Yan wouldn’t say something like that if she wasn’t sure. She’s been lurking for so many years, and her goal is to…” Xia Wan subconsciously bit her lip, clearly uneasy.

"Then what do you think she can do?" Compared to Lu Yu, his private life is clean and he hasn't broken the law. Compared to Zhuang Zhongming, there are no issues with tax evasion in the company. How can Lu Yan deal with him? In terms of overall strength, Yi'an Group may not be able to suppress him.

Xia Qingshan has been proud for so many years, and it's not so easy for him to change his arrogance.

Xia Wan didn't understand these things and couldn't say anything. Although she didn't want to admit it, Lu Yan and Zhuang Yan were very capable.

Back when the Zhuang and Lu families were still around, who could have imagined that both families would go bankrupt one after the other overnight?

Skyscrapers rise and skyscrapers fall; who can be 100% certain that they will remain standing without any unforeseen circumstances?

Xia Qingshan did not underestimate Lu Yan; after the sale of Xicheng, a major battle was about to begin.

"Bang bang bang..." The knocking interrupted the father and daughter's conversation, and Gu Qian's voice came from outside.

"Wanwan, Uncle Xia is ready to eat."

Xia Wan replied, "Okay... Dad, let's have dinner first and get some rest early tonight."

Xia Qingshan stood up: "You and Gu Qian lately..."

“I will divorce him. When the time comes, I will go with him to get the divorce certificate. I've been going to work lately, and he wants to talk to me in the evenings... but I don't know what to say to him... Dad, I know what you're worried about. I'm really determined to divorce him. A lot of the reason I married him was because I felt guilty. I'm sorry to him... If it weren't for me..."

"What did you do to wrong him?" Xia Qingshan interrupted her coldly. "His tuition and living expenses were all paid for by the Xia family. Do you know how many people want to go abroad but can't? I paid for his millions of dollars to go abroad. After he came back, you helped him get into the entertainment industry and invested in him. You invested hundreds of millions of dollars in him. Although he made money for the company, did he ever think about thanking you or giving you anything in return? Besides saying he likes you, what else did he do?"

"Don't bring up your childhood feelings. Even without him by your side, you will live a good life because you are my daughter, Xia Qingshan. When you are sick, you have a private doctor, a butler to take care of you, and a professional chef to cook for you. You can have whatever you want to eat. When you go out, you don't need to do anything for people to come up to you and flatter you. This is all because you were born into the Xia family."

"Gu Qian is the least noticeable of your many friends. He is just the son of a driver. If his father hadn't had a car accident, your mother wouldn't have died."

"You think he's good, not because he's actually that good, but because he presents himself as good to you. It's brainwashing. When dating someone, it's not about how good they are to you, but how bad they are to you when you argue."

"During the days you ran away from home, did he do anything for you? Compare him to Zhuang Yan, and you'll see how different they are."

Xia Qingshan's words struck a chord with the people; it was rare for the father and daughter to speak so calmly and frankly.

Xia Wan recalled those days when she and Gu Qian lived in a cramped rented room. She went to work while he stayed at home, and she had no idea what he was doing all day.

He ordered takeout using her account, so she could see how much she spent in a day.

The cheapest meal cost 50 yuan, which adds up to more than 100 yuan a day. At that time, her monthly salary was only 6,000 yuan.