Chapter 277 Even if you're born into a good family, you still need to be smart (bug fix): Daughters need to be taught.

Chen Jingjing couldn't believe it: "Sis, you're really not angry?"

"Who said that?" Wang Xiao was furious whenever he saw the general manager of the shopping center. "President Lu, I have only one question for you. If what was brought in today wasn't a flatbed cart, but a cart full of manure buckets, then our Wuzhou International Shopping Center would smell wonderful for miles around."

President Lu almost knelt down on the spot, saying, "Boss, it's all my fault for not arranging things properly."

His back was covered in cold sweat, and he asked anxiously, "Um, I'll try to suppress the rumors too."

Although the boss didn't even argue with the old woman, he believed that it didn't mean the boss didn't care; it just meant that the woman was too low-class and not worthy of the boss's attention.

He misunderstood. Wang Xiao raised his eyebrows: "Suppress? Why should we suppress it? They've worked so hard to raise our profile, of course we can't let them down."

The main reason is that there was no internet in this era, so gossip was spread by word of mouth, apart from television, newspapers, and radio.

During the Lunar New Year, everyone is eagerly waiting for gossip to spread, and the period before the Lantern Festival is the perfect time to share gossip.

"Spread the word, spread it wider, add a piece of information, say that the cart crashed into a crystal glass display case in the shopping mall, worth millions."

Mr. Lu was about to kneel down again. What kind of display case is this? Worth a million! They could have just robbed him of a million, why did they have to give him a cabinet instead?

Wang Xiao smiled broadly, very pleased with his reaction: "See, your focus is all on the million-dollar crystal display case. Everyone else is the same."

Mr. Lu then came to his senses and quickly understood his boss's intention: "I understand. After spreading the word for a while, just spread the story about how the 1 million yuan crystal glass cabinet was damaged."

Sexual scandals are always the easiest to spread and become a huge scandal, and the more you try to clarify, the more outrageous they become.

Therefore, it's important to add more eye-catching information to the news to divert people's attention.

Even more sensational than sex scandals are murder cases and huge sums of money.

A murder case is obviously out of the question; it's too unlucky and would damage the shopping center's image.

A crystal display case worth millions—wow, that instantly elevates the mall's image; it sounds incredibly expensive.

If President Lu hadn't known the reason, what would his first reaction have been upon hearing this gossip?

I absolutely have to make a trip to Wuzhou International Shopping Center to see the legendary million-dollar crystal glass case.

What if there's no crystal glass display case? Well, since we're already here, we might as well take a look around.

What do shopping malls look for? Foot traffic.

Even with increased foot traffic, those who browse without spending money will always be a minority.

Mr. Lu received the boss's instructions and immediately went to carry them out.

Chen Yanqiu listened from the side, her heart feeling like it was being stabbed.

Xiaoxiao suffered such a humiliating experience and had to clean up the mess; it was truly unfair.

When Wang Xiao turned around, he saw the distressed look in his mother's eyes and could only comfort her, "It's alright, Mom, I'm really fine."

Seeing that Chairman Chen was about to burst into tears, the daughter could only point to Ivanov and say, "Mom, you should learn from Ivanov. Look at him, he's fine."

Ivanov was very familiar with the kind of trope where a hero rushes out to save a damsel in distress and becomes a knight protecting the queen.

He can step forward at any time, without any rehearsal, and perform the whole show directly.

Then why has he been a wallflower all this time, doing nothing?

Because it's not worth it.

If he were to actually do that, it would be an insult to the Queen, deliberately embarrassing her.

Honestly, Ivanov, observing the whole scene, felt only absurdity—an absurdity of the world being completely torn apart into two ends.

He thought of a line from *The Moon and Sixpence*: Women do nothing but talk about love, so they take it so seriously, almost to the point of absurdity. They even try to convince us that love is the entirety of human life.

But is this what women truly think? No, it's just a common misconception about women.

It's as if all of a woman's words and actions must be driven by love.

She's fallen in love with a man, so what does she want?

She no longer loves a man, so what?

Such an absurd understanding was taken for granted. This truly made Ivanov understand a Chinese proverb (or idiom?): "You can't talk about ice with a summer insect."

Because he had so much to say but no one to say it, when Wang Xiao pointed him out to him, he shrugged, spread his hands, and blurted out with a laugh: "Sigh, what a pity, what she said wasn't true after all. I can't become Ximen Qing."

He also blinked his watery, peach-blossom eyes.

Wang Xiaosheng was speechless, wanting to facepalm: "Brother, can't you hope for your own good fortune? Whether it's 'Water Margin' or 'Jin Ping Mei,' Ximen Qing never had a good ending!"

Pshaw! During the New Year, people really dare to say anything.

Ivanov grinned and made a face at her, then turned to Chen Yanqiu and said sweetly, "Oh, dear mother, don't worry. It's nothing, please believe me, it's nothing."

Chen Yanqiu thought to himself: I believe you my ass, you shameless old Russian!

She held her breath and held it in, but couldn't hold it in any longer: "I'm talking about Secretary Fang, she's definitely going to be unhappy."

Wang Xiao nodded in agreement: "Indeed, this person is too stupid and angered Secretary Fang."

Looking at her daughter's serious face, Chen Yanqiu felt that the reason why Secretary Fang was angry was not the same as what she had told her.

She was furious but had nowhere to vent her anger, so she could only glare at her daughter resentfully: "You're such a grown woman, can't you be more mindful of yourself?"

Wang Xiao felt wronged. How could she be so careless? She was very attentive; she had been keeping an eye on the mastermind behind this whole thing.

As it turns out, Mr. Wang's dedication has been very effective.

That evening, Xiao Gao came to the villa to see the boss with the investigation report.

When he handed in the report, he barely dared to look up.

It's not that he's insecure about the quality and credibility of his investigation report; he's quite confident in that.

Instead, he knew that his boss would roll his eyes and get very angry after reading the report.

Because this farce is not the kind of high-class, sophisticated business battles with the Thirty-Six Stratagems as depicted in Hong Kong TV dramas, but rather a boring, third-rate soap opera.

The crystal chandelier in the living room cast a flood of light across the floor. In the center of the light and shadow, Wang Xiao bent his fingers and gently tapped the investigation report in his hand.

interesting.

Who instigated Granny Ruan to cause trouble? Zhao Xiuzhi.

Does this name sound unfamiliar?

Indeed, this was the first time Wang Xiao had ever heard of this person, and she had even met him for the first time today—the young female cadre who followed behind Secretary Fang and exclaimed, "How is this possible?" when she saw that the Wuzhou Shopping Center's sales had exceeded 2 million yuan in just one morning.

Since we've never even met before, why would she do something so disgusting?

Yes, she also has another identity: Wu Haoyu's childhood sweetheart.

Tsk, a young lady from a high-ranking official's family, and a childhood sweetheart at that—all the popular melodramatic elements are there.

Look at what this young lady has done! While investigating Wang Xiao's background, she learned about Ruan Rui's affairs, then went to find Old Madam Ruan and staged a farce.

You might call her stupid, but she's actually quite clever. She even considered that she shouldn't cause trouble during the ribbon-cutting ceremony, because that's when security is strongest, and the cart might not be able to get in.

Therefore, she deliberately chose the afternoon, after everyone had eaten, when they were at their most relaxed and leisurely, to have Grandma Ruan push Ruan Rui in on a cart and start making a ruckus.

But you could say she's clever; she approached Old Lady Ruan without any attempt to conceal her identity, as if she never intended to hide her tracks. Xiao Gao's investigation quickly uncovered the whole story.

That's true, one force can overcome ten techniques.

A deputy director of the Chenzhou Public Security Bureau, who is at most a division-level cadre, could easily bring down the infamous "Prince's Concubine".

As the daughter of a ministerial-level leader, Miss Zhao really has no need to hide.

Maybe she already felt she was being quite reserved, and she didn't make something out of nothing.

On the contrary, she was a messenger of justice; she exposed Wang Xiao's shameful past! This prevented the speculator from deceiving the public and spreading rumors to cheat and swindle.

Ivanov craned his neck beside him, looking quite serious, as if he could read Chinese characters.

After hearing the translation, he burst into laughter, seizing every opportunity to kick someone when they're down: "Wang, you really are a femme fatale, a male vixen. Tsk tsk tsk."

Wang Xiao glared at him, thinking, "You just want to stir up trouble, don't you?"

Chen Yanqiu was so angry she wanted to rush up to the person and slap them twice: "How could you do this? How could this person be so wicked?"

What worries her most now is not that Zhao Xiuzhi comes from a prominent family and her parents are ministerial-level officials, whom ordinary people cannot afford to offend; rather, since she and Wu Haoyu grew up together, she is naturally a child that Secretary Fang has watched grow up.

She did wrong, and Secretary Fang will definitely protect her.

Just like in "Journey to the West," demons who harm the people are either killed without any backing or have connections; those with connections can return to Heaven as spirit beasts or immortals.

Wang Xiao comforted his mother, "You don't need to worry about that. The fact that the investigation report has reached me means that Secretary Fang has the right to speak."

On the very day of the shopping center's grand opening, this disgusting incident of a toad crawling on someone's foot occurred. She was eager to investigate the mastermind behind it all. Shouldn't Secretary Fang also investigate?

Of course not, Secretary Fang will only get more anxious.

Moreover, given the keen insight of a high-ranking female official who governs a province, she would definitely suspect that the target was not Wang Xiao, but rather Secretary Fang herself.

As the top leader of Jiangdong, if Secretary Fang wanted to investigate, she would have an easier time than Wang Xiao and would find out sooner that the mastermind was her son Wu Haoyu's childhood sweetheart.

Furthermore, given her status and influence in Jiangdong, it would be easy for her to cover up this matter if she wanted to.

By allowing the investigation report to be handed to Wang Xiao, she was clearly indicating her stance—she would not protect Zhao Xiuzhi.

After Wang Xiao explained it this way, the elders in the family suddenly realized what was going on, and a huge weight was lifted off their shoulders.

Chen Jingjing beamed with joy, grabbing her sister's hand and about to jump up: "That's great, sister! Secretary Fang won't protect her or shield her."

Looking at her younger cousin's still-childish face, Wang Xiao felt a little worried, thinking she could take this opportunity to teach the child a lesson: "Then tell me, why didn't Secretary Fang protect her?"

Without hesitation, Chen Jingjing said, "She's wicked, sis! She's slandering you! She's throwing mud at you!"

Wang Xiao shook his head with a smile, pointing to the color TV that was playing in the background: "Did Guanyin Bodhisattva not know that her carp, Linggan King, ate young boys and girls? Did Tathagata not know that his uncle, Dapeng, swallowed a country? And what punishment did Dapeng and the carp receive? The carp continued to be Guanyin's pet. Dapeng even enjoyed the privilege of 'offering food to your mouth first,' receiving the offerings first. Note that Zhu Bajie, who went to the Western Paradise to obtain the scriptures, was the Cleansing Altar Messenger, responsible for eating leftovers. These two are the saviors of suffering, Tathagata Buddha and the compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva!"

Chen Jingjing got stuck.

In the 1990s, information dissemination channels were limited, and there was no online reinterpretation of "Journey to the West".

Besides, she only read "Journey to the West" when she was in elementary school, and what impressed her most was that Pigsy drank the water of the Women's Kingdom and cried out that he wanted to have a baby.

She just thought it was fun and exciting, and didn't think about anything else.

On the electric ceramic stove, the cast iron kettle, its lid pressing against the surface, emitted plumes of steam from the spout, carrying the sweet aroma of red dates and goji berries that wafted into one's nose.

Wang Xiao casually peeled a chestnut with its shell open, and said softly, "If Miss Zhao had done this in a different setting, it wouldn't have been a big deal. Her mistake was that she didn't know her place and chose to cause trouble when the shopping mall was opening."

"Her goal is to embarrass me, to embarrass me in public. That way, my reputation will be ruined, and she will get what she wants."

"First of all, there's a problem with this logic. Her level of understanding is too low; she doesn't know what the family she wants to marry into actually values."

“Jingjing, if you don’t understand, let me give you two examples. Wu Zetian was originally Li Shimin’s concubine, that is, her later husband Li Zhi’s stepmother. There is also Liu E, who became empress after being sold by her husband.”

Chen Jingjing's eyes widened.

The Liu Xiaoqing version of "Wu Zetian" has not been filmed yet. As a high school student, she is not familiar with Wu Zetian's life experiences, only knowing that she was an empress.

As for Liu E, she had never even heard of her.

But the life experiences of these two people were completely beyond her comprehension.

In a feudal dynasty, could a second marriage really make someone an empress?

Wang Xiao smiled and handed the peeled roasted chestnuts to Ivanov.

She can't exercise now and sits in a wheelchair all day, so it's too easy for her to gain weight.

Foods like roasted chestnuts, which are high in sugar and calories, are a waste of food if you don't eat them after peeling them; you might as well feed them to Ivanov.

She clapped her hands, took a warm towel and slowly wiped the remaining sugar off her hands, then continued to teach her little cousin who was already dumbfounded.

"Feudal dynasties weren't as feudal as you think; they were also pragmatic. Let's skip this section and continue talking about shopping malls."

"The shopping center is a major project that the provincial government values ​​highly. It is a benchmark project that Jiangdong Province is making every effort to ensure delivery after the country has reduced infrastructure investment. It can be said that its success or failure is directly related to the future of the remaining infrastructure projects under construction and yet to be built in Jiangdong Province, the economic development of the entire province, whether tens of thousands of construction workers can get their wages and support their families, and the future of the entire construction-related industry."

"Dean Fang is so busy with work. She still insisted on coming to the ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning, and after the meeting she wanted to have a Hong Kong-style fast food meal and receive services from a Taiwanese beauty consultant. This shows that she values ​​this project very much."

"This is also the first large-scale building that Jiangdong has delivered since she took over the leadership last year."

"It can be said that whether Wuzhou Shopping Center can open smoothly is directly related to Secretary Fang's political achievements."

"But even with such an important task, some people still sabotage it because of their own stupid and ridiculous selfishness."

"It's like you're taking a final exam, and you've finished half of the paper. Someone tries to frame others by splashing water on your paper. Wouldn't you be angry?"

High school student Chen Jingjing immediately empathized.

She was furious! How could she not be furious? She wanted nothing more than to kill the other person!

Damn it! You idiot, if you want to fight, go outside and fight! Why are you touching my test paper?

Having empathized with her, Chen Jingjing was still baffled: "Then why would Miss Zhao do something so stupid?"

She's a high school student, oblivious to everything else, focused solely on her studies. It's not surprising that she doesn't understand these principles.

But Miss Zhao is different. She comes from a wealthy family and is an adult, even a cadre. How come she doesn't understand the basic principles of society?

The coffee table by the fireplace is full of spring, with a huge flower ball placed in a crystal vase. The protea easily dominates the entire space, forcing the baby's breath and babes to take a backseat.

The reflection of the giant flower ball and its solid form create a double crown, like an emperor in a mirror examining his empire.

Due to the freezing weather, the supply of cut flowers in the market is tight. It is only because she has access to air freight of fresh flowers from South Africa that she can freely pick out flowers and hold them in her hands to play with.

Hearing her cousin's indignant question, the older cousin laughed: "Because principles need to be taught. It's not like everyone can easily become enlightened just by being exposed to them."

"Zhao Xiuzhi has three older brothers, and she is the youngest child in the family. In such a family structure, some daughters are easily spoiled, well, to put it nicely, they are called naive; to put it bluntly, they are called brainless."

"Because her parents never thought about raising her properly. They probably thought that a daughter should be pampered by her parents and brothers at home. Once she gets married and goes to her husband's family, they will be a good match, someone they know well, and her husband will pamper her. She will be pampered her whole life, without having to think, and will be very happy."

"But this logic itself is wrong. The most basic point is that this country has no nobles. The whole city is covered in golden armor, but by now, the high positions have been replaced or even died several times over."

"So what if you're in a high position? Aren't there plenty of high-ranking officials leaving every year? It's common for a new generation to be replaced every few years or even a decade or two."

"Being born into a good family and being born on a high platform is a blessing. But if you want to stay on that platform, it's not enough to just be lucky; you need to use your brain."

"Even if you want to be a parasitic plant, you still need to use your brain. Because it's not the god-like opponents you should fear, but the pig-like teammates. Nobody likes to be dragged down by a pig teammate."

"Even if you have no ill intentions and no bad thoughts towards me, it won't work. Because you are brainless, lack the ability to distinguish right from wrong, and are easily manipulated, becoming a knife to be stabbed in the back."

"I will stay away from such dangerous factors as much as possible."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jingjing suddenly realized: "So that means, because she's stupid, she can't marry Secretary Fang's son?"

Wang Xiao: Okay, girl, you know how to grasp the key points.

"It's not just stupidity, but also arrogance and selfishness—arrogance towards Secretary Fang and selfishness that disregards him."

"When she told Old Lady Ruan to yell at Secretary Fang about how the righteous official had made the decision, she didn't take into account the pressure on Secretary Fang, who was being put on the spot."

"There were so many people in the mall at the time. If even one person had taken the lead in shouting, everyone else would have forced Secretary Fang to act as Bao Zheng (a famous judge in Chinese history known for his incorruptibility). How embarrassing would that have been for Secretary Fang, putting him in such a difficult position?"

The bubbling of the cast-iron kettle gradually subsided, and the aroma of dates mixed with caramel wafted over the leather sofa. Ivanov solicitously picked up the teapot, poured the tea into porcelain cups, and offered them to the ladies present.

Wang Xiao stroked the thin-walled porcelain cup from Jingdezhen, the slightly hot tea creating an amber halo around the cup.

Her gaze pierced through the rising steam and landed on her cousin's taut jawline—where the baby fat typical of adolescence still lingered.

She's still a young girl.

But she still spoke up: "I'm telling you all this now because I hope you'll study more and think more in the future. Don't think of yourself as just an ordinary high school student anymore."

“I am an only child, and so are you. You are my only sister. There will be many people watching me, and they will be watching you.”

"I'm sorry, but this is unavoidable. Just like Miss Zhao, her family background determined that she was naturally a ladder for others to climb and a gun to be used by others."

"To avoid being exploited in your job, you must be mentally strong and stable, and not be led by the nose."

"I'm sorry, my dear girl, your teenage years have to end early." She handed the protea to Chen Jingjing. "From now on, I will hold you to the standards of a senior executive. So, please make sure you think things through three times before you do anything or say anything."

The enormous flower ball is made up of hundreds of waxy petals spirally stacked, much like the golden crown worn by the Egyptian emperor in "Daughter of the Nile".

For a moment, Chen Jingjing almost forgot how to breathe, and she was completely stunned.

It was her mother, Qian Xuemei, who reacted quickly and patted her on the back: "Why don't you listen to your sister properly and hurry up?"

She's no good, and neither is her man, Chen Yidong.

If it weren't for their niece Xiaoxiao explaining things in detail, they would never have realized that such a farce could involve so many twists and turns; and that an investigation report could represent the attitude of a provincial party secretary.

It's absolutely impossible for the two of them to raise Jingjing into someone as capable as Xiaoxiao.

Actually, it was her sister-in-law and brother-in-law. She secretly glanced at Wang Tiejun and Chen Yanqiu, and seriously suspected that they couldn't see through the cryptic expressions of those high-ranking officials either.

Chen Jingjing accepted the flowers with a flattered expression, her whole body turning red.

She even had an urge to transform into Tu Xingsun and burrow underground.

Can she do it? Can she be a senior executive?

Her sister's executives are all very capable. Like Sister Ruan, she manages to have so many people under her, including foreigners and men, who are all obedient to her and dare not cause trouble. That's really difficult.

Wang Xiao patted her on the shoulder to comfort her: "Don't be afraid. Focus on your studies first and build a solid foundation. You can try out small projects when you go to university."

Chen Jingjing's face instantly burned hotter than the stove fire. The aroma of red dates and goji berries filling the air was like a hallucinogen, making her feel like she was floating.

Good heavens! Is this winter? It's clearly her New Year!

Ivanov simply smiled slightly from the side.

It's just training, just training senior executives. Whether the training will yield results is another matter.

Realistic businessmen always prioritize their own interests.

It's such a worthwhile thing to use a hanging pancake to make people wary and dare not cause trouble.

He picked up his teacup, using black tea instead of wine, and clinked it against Chen Jingjing's glass from a distance, offering his blessing in English: "Good luck, future executive lady."

Chen Jingjing chuckled, finished her tea, and then squirmed shyly on the sofa.

After fidgeting for a while, she finally remembered the important point: "Sister, how are you going to punish her? We can't just let it go like this."

Wang Xiao picked up another pistachio and slowly peeled it: "The investigation report is what I accepted. The next step is to see how the other party reacts."

She had barely finished speaking when the phone rang.

Wang Tiejun, who had been lost in thought and hadn't spoken, answered the phone. It was the steel plant's director.

On the other end of the line, the factory manager first exchanged a few auspicious New Year's greetings with him, and then casually mentioned, "Old Wang, someone wanted me to act as a middleman and invite you to dinner. I thought to myself, it's the New Year, it's so much more comfortable to eat with family, who wants to go out and eat with outsiders, so I turned it down. Haha, don't say I turned down the dinner invitation for you. Your daughter rarely comes home, I know you definitely don't care."

Wang Tiejun smiled and thanked the factory director: "Yes, yes, if we're going to eat, we'll eat together."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Jingjing rolled her eyes at the ceiling without any attempt to hide it, then turned to her sister and complained, "Sis, she's so stupid. She relies on her family, and she thinks she can win you over by treating Uncle to a meal. How ridiculous! You don't rely on Uncle. Hahaha, so funny!"

The room was filled with the sweet aroma of jujube tea and the white steam from the tea stove, and her laughter echoed in the air.

Haha, little friend, please consider the feelings of the elders present.

Why are you speaking such obvious truths!

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In the past, many families of government officials believed that spoiling their daughters was enough, and finding them a good husband would guarantee their lifelong happiness. I've seen this in every workplace I've worked for. Were any truly lucky? One. The rest, especially those whose husbands were doing well, were divorced in middle age after their parents retired. It didn't matter if they initially married someone of equal social standing or someone with great potential; it was all the same. But they were lucky; at least they still had jobs, so even if they were just coasting along, they could manage.