"You're only giving Zizai 5,000 yuan for living expenses?"
Qin Xiu stared at him in disbelief, as if he were an utterly wicked stepfather!
Yan Shao nodded, "Yes, this is the amount Ying'er calculated by splitting Zizai's actual expenses from last month into two parts. Originally, it was over 4500, but I thought 5000 was already quite stingy..."
Yan Shao himself was too embarrassed to say it out loud, but his little darling could be fed up with just two 5,000 yuan bills a month, he was really easy to take care of.
But since he was the one who made the promise, and considering Zhu Qianying's strong sense of pride, even if Young Master Yan was bold, he only dared to round up and transfer a few hundred yuan more.
After hearing this, Qin Xiu silently turned around. He felt that he needed to go home and discuss it with his dear wife, as the monthly expenses for raising their two little ones exceeded tens of thousands of yuan.
He is indeed a high-earning professional, earning nearly ten million yuan a year, but his billionaire boss only spends ten thousand yuan a month to support his mistress. So, is what he does really not count as excessive consumption?
...
Once is never enough. Ever since Yan Shao and Zhu Junwei made a private appointment to play golf, they have been in frequent contact, often meeting up to play golf and drink together.
L City is neither too big nor too small. Although Zhu Qianying doesn't mingle in high society, the news eventually reached her ears.
She's been very busy lately. Firstly, Cheng Ye has basically decided that Ying Jewelry will expand to include several more branches in L City. In other words, they will focus their development efforts on the domestic market in the next few years.
As the lead designer, Zhu Qianying naturally has to provide a large number of new designs for the domestic market. Moreover, she has recently been busy dealing with the wealthy people introduced by Yan Shao, so she is even busier than usual.
Fortunately, Zizai returned to Beijing with Yanbo and his wife a couple of days ago, which allowed her to completely calm down and focus on her creative work.
That evening, she received a call from Xing Bailun, who said he had invited Qi Xiao and a few others to get together and asked if she wanted to come.
During the time Zhu Qianying returned to L City, she only saw Xing Bailun twice: once when she first returned, and once when she had dinner with Qi Xiao and a few others.
"Sure, what time? Where?"
Xing Bailun told her the time and place, and Zhu Qianying agreed. When it was almost time, she changed her clothes, put on a thick coat, and went out.
With the Spring Festival approaching, the streets are adorned with festive neon lights. Even though the temperature has dropped to nearly zero, Zhu Qianying, who was standing by the roadside hailing a taxi, still felt unusually warm.
Indeed, she had spent five Spring Festivals in a foreign land, and she hadn't seen such a bustling and lively scene in five years.
She had always considered herself not to be someone who was particularly homesick, but for a moment, she inexplicably felt an urge to cry.
This feeling of melancholy and sorrow lingered even after we sat down at the agreed-upon bar.
Five people sat in a private room. At first, they talked mostly about things from the past few years. As they talked, the conversation naturally turned to recent events.
"Shadow, are you trying to reconcile with your third brother and the others?"
Qi Xiao's words left Zhu Qianying stunned for a long time.
Zhu Qianying swayed the wine in her glass, its color reflecting layers of light and shadow under the colorful lamplight.
"I've never been on good terms with them, so what's this talk of reconciliation?" Zhu Qianying said sarcastically.
After a moment, he asked again, "Qi Xiao, why do you think that?"
Qi Xiao hesitated for a moment, "A couple of days ago, I had arranged to play golf with a client, and coincidentally, I ran into Young Master Yan and your third brother playing golf together. Last night, I saw them at the bar, and people outside are spreading rumors that you've broken up with the Zhu family. Didn't you know about this?"
Zhu Qianying never explained the true state of her marriage to Xing Bailun and the others.
Even if Xing Bailun and the others could sense something was amiss, they didn't feel comfortable asking them questions.
"I don't know, it was probably business-related," was the only explanation Zhu Qianying could offer.
Seeing that Zhu Qianying didn't want to say more, everyone tactfully changed the subject.
After all, they've been good friends for many years, so they had plenty to talk about. Before long, they smoothly changed the subject, and the atmosphere warmed up again.
It was past 1 a.m. when they came out of the bar. Everyone had been driven there by their own drivers, except for Zhu Qianying, who took a taxi.
Xing Bailun naturally took on the responsibility of escorting Zhu Qianying home, said goodbye to everyone, and then they all left.
"Shadow, as far as I know, Yanhuang and Mingxuan do not have any business dealings at the moment."
It's clear that Xing Bolun had been holding back these words for most of the night.
From the perspective of a good friend, this is the right thing to say.
However, if we consider his relationship with Yan Shao as a rival in love, his words seem to have ulterior motives.
He himself knew that, in the eyes of others, his position was actually quite awkward, which is why he held back all night without mentioning it.
But besides those feelings that were already hopeless, he and Zhu Qianying still had an extremely deep sibling-like bond. Even if it caused misunderstandings, he couldn't bear to watch her get hurt.
"Okay, I understand..."
In the early hours of the morning, half of the streetlights were off, and most of the neon lights were also extinguished, making the light dim. The whistling north wind blew through the bare branches on both sides of the road, and the scene looked particularly desolate and bleak from the car.
"Shadow, if you need any help, just say the word!"
Xing Bailun had said the same thing to Zhu Qianying five years ago, but back then, his words seemed presumptuous.
But now, he speaks with confidence.
In recent years, the Xing family's businesses have been managed more and more successfully under his leadership. Two years ago, he raised the Xing family from third to second place on the rich list. This year, the Xing family's momentum has become comparable to that of the Yi family, which ranks first on the rich list, and is even stronger than that of the Yi family.
Therefore, as long as Young Master Yan is not on the side of the Zhu family, it would not be difficult for him to stand up for Zhu Qianying and fight against the Zhu family.
However, five years ago, Zhu Qianying did not want to implicate Xing Bailun in her personal matters, and the same is true five years later.
It's normal for friends to help each other, but if helping her results in someone else getting hurt, she'll feel bad about it.
"Aaron, thank you! However, let's see how things are going before making any decisions. I trust Young Master Yan!"
That's true.
Putting aside matters of the heart, Zhu Qianying had no doubt about Yan Shao's stance between her and the Zhu family.
People like Yan Shao, while not exactly indifferent to money, are extremely arrogant and haughty.
How could he possibly collude with the Zhu family for a little money or profit?
[I'll upload the remaining four chapters at 5 PM.]
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