Chapter 8: Collect Interest First by Giving Gifts
The next day, Bai Zhenzhen slept until nine o'clock. By the time she got up, Shen Huai'an had already left for work.
The room was quiet except for the noise of the air conditioner. Bai Zhenzhen picked up her phone to call Uncle Liu. After she finished getting ready, Uncle Liu drove up to the door.
Having a driver pick her up and drop her off is a perfectly normal thing for Bai Zhenzhen, but in the eyes of her neighbors in the family compound, it is an extremely high-profile act.
Especially since someone had already explained yesterday that the car Uncle Liu drove was an imported luxury car worth millions, something even the chief prosecutor's family might not be able to afford.
"Uncle Liu, let's go to Rongsheng Hotel." Bai Zhenzhen was used to being the center of attention and didn't care about other people's stares.
Uncle Liu noticed it, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with driving his young lady out. Having followed the Bai family for over ten years, Uncle Liu had seen his share of big events, and he didn't take this small matter to heart.
Bai Zhenzhen went to a restaurant for brunch. There happened to be a large shopping mall in the city center nearby. Remembering the grievances Shen Qing had suffered because of her, she turned and went inside.
The first floor was full of jewelry and high-end skincare shops. Since Shen Qing was still a high school student, it wouldn't be appropriate to give her jewelry. Bai Zhenzhen went into the skincare shop and asked the saleswoman to recommend a few sets of products suitable for a young girl.
The sales clerk was very friendly and did her best to recommend several products according to her requirements.
Bai Zhenzhen took out her credit card from her bag and bought everything.
Then she went to the second floor, entered the mobile phone store, and asked the salesperson to bring out the latest mobile phone model. She also paid extra to get a SIM card and register the phone there.
Buying a brand new Motorola flip phone isn't cheap these days. The phone itself costs nearly 10,000 yuan, and with network and other fees, it'll probably cost around 17,000 to 18,000 yuan.
The sales clerk quickly and efficiently issued the invoice for her, secretly calculating how much commission and delivery fee she could earn from this sale. As Bai Zhenzhen handed over her credit card, she added another unit to her order.
"Please wait a moment, sir. I'll reissue the invoice right away." The sales clerk's eyes lit up, and she turned to urge her colleague to get ready quickly.
Two cell phones. One was a gift for Shen Qing, and the other Bai Zhenzhen planned to give to Shen Huai'an so that she wouldn't always be unable to contact him.
As soon as Bai Zhenzhen stepped out of the mall after shopping, her phone rang. She took it out and her expression instantly turned cold.
Liu Lihua's voice on the other end of the phone was exceptionally gentle and kind, "Hey, Zhenzhen, your aunt made your favorite eight-treasure duck today. Your grandma hasn't seen you for several days and misses you. Are you free today? Come over for dinner."
Bai Zhenzhen grew up without her mother's company. In addition, Bai Chuxiong was busy with business when she was young, so she lived at her maternal grandmother's house for two years. She became close to her two uncles and aunts, as well as her third and fourth aunts. She always regarded her relatives here as people she trusted.
My two uncles and my third and fourth aunts all got jobs at Bai Chuxiong's company through his connections. Every year, in addition to their salaries, they also received private subsidies from Bai Chuxiong because of his daughter. As a result, my maternal grandmother's family lived a very comfortable life thanks to the Bai family.
Unfortunately, human greed knows no bounds. Who could have imagined that the family member who had always loved her like a mother would harbor such heinous and hateful thoughts?
Bai Zhenzhen gripped her phone tightly, her tone unconsciously turning cold. "Okay, it's been a long time since I've tasted Aunt's cooking, I really miss it. Aunt, please wait a moment, I'll be right there."
"Okay, then I'll cook a few more of my signature dishes and wait for you to come," Liu Lihua said happily, and like a loving elder, she gently reminded her, "Zhenzhen, drive carefully on the road, and be sure to be safe, okay?"
After hanging up the phone, Bai Zhenzhen took a deep breath, got into Uncle Liu's car with a blank expression, told him the destination, and then didn't say another word.
She had never been involved in the family business; she had only heard Bai Chuxiong praise his two uncles for being very capable. After he retired to recuperate, he entrusted some important projects of the company to the two of them.
Although Bai Chuxiong did not completely trust them, he could not deny that the two held high positions in the company, and it would inevitably cause some trouble if he rashly kicked them out of the company.
Bai Zhenzhen didn't want these people to cause any trouble and upset her father. Yesterday at the farm, besides saying that she wanted to live a good life with Shen Huai'an, she also promised her father that she would try her best to solve these problems and then slowly take over the company.
Bai Chuxiong immediately expressed his full support. His daughter had previously refused to take over the family company, only wanting to live a carefree life as a young lady, which he had indulged. Now that she had changed her mind, how could he not be happy? He quickly handed over the company and told her to do whatever she wanted.
In Bai Zhenzhen's mind, even if she lost the company, it would be better than letting these people get away with it. Of course, this was only the worst-case scenario. Under the current circumstances, it would be best if she could get rid of these people without incurring any losses.
Bai Zhenzhen agreed to have dinner at Liu Lihua's house to avoid alerting Li Zhenzhu. Moreover, if Bai Zhenzhen was not mistaken, Liu Lihua's call to her today was probably to clean up the mess for Li Zhenzhu.
She had no intention of forgiving Li Zhenzhu, but that didn't stop her from collecting interest first.
Uncle Liu drove quickly into another upscale residential area in Pengcheng. This area was also built by Bai Family Real Estate Company. Not long after it was built, Bai Chuxiong gave away several units to his maternal grandmother's relatives out of consideration for them.
With housing prices soaring, several houses combined are worth nearly a million. After getting out of the car, Bai Zhenzhen glanced around with an ambiguous look in her eyes, but in the end, she decided to suppress her thoughts and wait until later to make them spit out what they had swallowed over the years.
Liu Lihua hung up the phone after Bai Zhenzhen personally agreed to come to her house for dinner. She then turned around and told her daughter that she must apologize to Bai Zhenzhen properly later and not to upset her again.
Li Zhenzhu still looked aggrieved, "I didn't provoke her at all. It's just Bai Zhenzhen throwing a tantrum again. It's just a diamond bracelet worth a few thousand yuan. She's given me much more expensive gifts before. Who knew she would care so much this time?"
"Have you made enough of a scene?" Liu Lihua slapped her on the back impatiently. "How many times have I told your dad to coax her and not make her angry? Why won't you listen?"
"I really didn't mean to provoke her..." Li Zhenzhu felt extremely wronged. She still didn't realize what she had done wrong and was still blaming Bai Zhenzhen for being petty.
Liu Lihua didn't want to listen to her explanation anymore. She kept telling her to control her temper and lower her stance when Bai Zhenzhen arrived. With her and her grandmother there to help persuade her, the two should make up as soon as possible.
"Your dad is looking for an opportunity to get your brother into the company's project department. You absolutely cannot ruin your brother's plans at this time. Otherwise, if it affects your brother, your dad and I will not forgive you." Liu Lihua warned her, afraid that she would cause trouble again.
"Mom, I remember everything. Please don't tell Dad." Li Zhenzhu shrank back slightly when she mentioned her father, but finally agreed to go and coax Bai Zhenzhen.
Although she verbally agreed, Li Zhenzhu harbored even more resentment towards Bai Zhenzhen. She was already planning to ask Bai Zhenzhen for more and more expensive gifts after she had appeased her.
Bai Zhenzhen arrived empty-handed, but Liu Lihua and her grandmother still greeted her with smiles, coaxing her with "Zhenzhen this" and "Zhenzhen that."
Grandma Zhao Xiuying held her hand and pulled her to sit down on the sofa to talk. Liu Lihua winked at Li Zhenzhu, signaling her to go to the kitchen and bring out the fruit platter that had been prepared earlier.
“Zhenzhen, I heard everything from Zhenzhu when she came back that day. I also talked to her about it in private. She was indeed wrong to do that. But you cousins used to be as close as sisters. You can’t let this little thing cause a conflict,” Liu Lihua said with a smile, playing the role of a good aunt. “If you’re still angry, I’ll have her apologize to you, okay?”
Li Zhenzhu lowered her head and handed the cut fruit to Bai Zhenzhen. "Cousin, I shouldn't have taken your bracelet that day. I'm sorry, please forgive me."
“Aunt, I didn’t really care much about that bracelet. I’ve given her so many things that are more valuable than that bracelet. It’s just that it was so embarrassing for my cousin to steal my things.” Bai Zhenzhen pouted and gave Li Zhenzhu a disgusted look before continuing to talk about what Shen Qing had witnessed at home that day.
Her expression was one of disgust, but her tone was almost coquettish, as if she genuinely felt ashamed of Li Zhenzhu's behavior and didn't actually have any issues with her.
Liu Lihua breathed a sigh of relief and continued to persuade, "Yes, you sisters have a good relationship, and Pearl didn't really want to take your things. Zhenzhen, please forgive her this once for your aunt's sake, okay?"
"Is that so?" Bai Zhenzhen's expression softened. Just when Li Zhenzhu thought the matter was over, she suddenly launched another attack. "Then what's with the necklace my cousin is wearing? It looks so much like the one I lost before?"
Upon hearing this, Li Zhenzhu instinctively covered her neck. Liu Lihua's eyelids twitched, and she glared at her fiercely before turning back to gently coax Bai Zhenzhen, "Perhaps she bought the same one as you to wear, Zhenzhen, don't..."
"Aunt, you and Grandma are definitely biased towards her. I had Aunt Wang tally it up yesterday, and the things I've lost over the years are worth at least tens of thousands of yuan. Who knows if she took them all? And you just let her give a perfunctory apology and that's it?" Bai Zhenzhen wasn't buying it and got up angrily to leave.
Liu Lihua was afraid that she would go to Bai Chuxiong to complain if she left, so she quickly grabbed her. "Zhenzhen, Zhenzhen, don't be angry. Your aunt apologizes to you on her behalf, okay? I still have a set of pearl jewelry that your uncle brought back from Hong Kong. Don't you like pearls the most? Your aunt will use this to apologize to you, okay?"
The pearl jewelry set was originally intended by Li Tiejun as a gift for the company's business partners. He had spent a lot of money to have it brought back from an auction house in Hong Kong. At this moment, Liu Lihua couldn't care less about anything else and just wanted to appease Bai Zhenzhen. She gritted her teeth and quickly took it out.
The pearl jewelry is indeed extraordinary, each pearl being made from a uniformly sized, round, and full Australian white pearl, with an estimated value of at least two to three hundred thousand.
Bai Zhenzhen was barely satisfied. Her aunt always boasted that she treated her better than her own daughter, and Li Zhenzhu also liked to bring this up to make her feel guilty and generously give her many things.
This time it's their turn to bleed properly.
A note from the author:
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Here it comes~ [dog head carrying a rose][dog head carrying a rose]
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