Chapter 53. I want money, I want lots and lots of money...
The Shen family villa is located in Ya Hai Tan Yuan, a wealthy villa area similar to Jingjia Junzhou Huafu. It is situated in the middle ring of Changning District and features a luxurious and elegant style.
Upon arriving at the Shen family residence, the main hall of the villa was brightly lit. Shen Jinghai was in the hall, looking at reports and drinking tea, seemingly waiting for someone who was expected to return.
Stepmother Yang Yuan was holding little Shen Yunyang in her arms, trying to lull him to sleep. She saw Shen Zhoudu's car in the distance, glanced at Shen Jinghai silently, and went to the door first to whisper to him, "Your dad is in a bad mood today, don't upset him."
Shen Zhoudu nodded, changed his shoes, and went to Shen Jinghai, asking, "Did you need something from me?"
Shen Jinghai, wearing glasses, stared at his laptop without looking up, the lenses slightly reflecting the cold light from the screen. "Where did you come from? You're so busy you don't even answer the phone."
"There was an impromptu interview with the crew, but my phone was on silent and I didn't hear it."
He gave a nonchalant hum, and only a second later did he seem to reluctantly raise his eyes to glance at him, his tone ambiguous, "Isn't it Junzhou Huafu?"
A slight, sarcastic smile crept onto Shen Zhoudu's lips. "Since you already know, why ask me?"
Shen Jinghai met his gaze directly, neither side willing to back down. After a moment, he sighed and looked away, still saying calmly, "Your Grandma Jing is recovering quite well?"
"Hmm," Chen Zhoudu replied indifferently.
"Are your Uncle Jing and Aunt Lin alright?"
"good."
"Zixi?"
"Good."
"And what about her?" Shen Jinghai suddenly asked with a half-smile, "She went today too, didn't she? Did you see her?"
He didn't say it explicitly, but they both knew perfectly well who "she" was.
Shen Zhoudu had long guessed that this might be his purpose today, and pursed his lips without answering.
"You knew she was in Yuhui Tianze all along, didn't you?" Shen Jinghai chuckled again, his tone ambiguous.
"Do you have anything else to attend to?" Chen Zhoudu took a slow breath and looked at him indifferently, saying, "If not, I'll be leaving now."
He took his hands out of his pockets and turned to leave. But suddenly a loud bang came from behind him.
Shen Jinghai suddenly flew into a rage and slammed his hand heavily on the coffee table.
The shock caused Shen Yunyang, who was in Yang Yuan's arms, to burst into tears.
Yang Yuan was shocked and quickly patted the baby's back. Afraid of angering him, she handed him to the nanny and took him upstairs to comfort him. Shen Jinghai coldly addressed his retreating figure, saying sternly, "I knew you hadn't given up on this idea all these years!"
Chen Zhoudu clenched his fists tightly, then turned around to face him directly.
Shen Jinghai: "Back then, you insisted on debuting as a singer. Was it her who encouraged you? You said you had cut off contact with her, but did you never actually cut off contact? Have you been in contact all these years?"
"Was her entry into Asia Ocean all arranged by you? Right under my nose... Shen Zhoudu, you've grown too big for your britches, haven't you? You're getting more and more capable!"
Chen Zhoudu's gaze grew increasingly cold, but he suddenly gave a mocking laugh and said, "Wasn't it your doing that we cut off contact back then? What did you say to her back then?"
Shen Jinghai frowned slightly in surprise.
"I don't have the ability to send anyone to Asia Ocean. Besides, do you think we all care about Asia Ocean? Now what do you want? Do you want to fire her? Using your high and mighty position as chairman to fire an ordinary employee who just saved someone in your group?"
Shen Jinghai frowned, his eyes wide with shock.
Xia Chan saved someone in the store that day, which was witnessed by everyone. Even without any commendation, the news has probably spread throughout all the stores under the Ya Hai Group.
Xia Chan should be considered a popular figure among the lower-level employees of Ya Hai now. If he really dares to do this, it will probably hurt the feelings of the lower-level employees.
As Chen Zhoudu stared at his expression, he felt a strange, almost tearing pleasure. He then curled his lips and said, "Also, wasn't my debut your wish later? Didn't you realize that my fame would maximize your profits, which is why you agreed?"
When Shen Zhoudu debuted, Shen Jinghai initially strongly opposed it and even put pressure on his management company.
Later, Shen Zhoudu's manager, Jiang Cheng, had no choice but to sign an agreement with him, stating that if Shen Zhoudu's debut album did not reach 200,000 subscriptions, he would terminate the contract without compensation and send him home.
Unexpectedly, Shenzhoudu became a huge hit, with its debut single "Crossing Summer" achieving a perfect ending with 300,000 subscriptions.
Shen Jinghai had no choice but to fulfill the agreement.
And gradually, he also discovered the commercial value of Chenzhoudu to Asia Ocean after his debut.
Some people in the industry know that he is the only son of Asia Ocean Group, and his consistently clean and positive image has brought considerable value to Asia Ocean's shares.
Some of his business partners' children idolized him, and Shen Jinghai would even ask him to accompany them to events to help secure contracts and maintain relationships.
All the "impossible" and "cannot" can be turned into "can" and "supported" when there is a value to be gained.
His so-called son, grades, and future prospects... were nothing more than stepping stones on his path to self-interest.
Shen Zhoudu stared at Shen Jinghai for a long time, his eyes filled with shock, then turned and left indifferently.
A week later, Shen Zhoudu flew to the mountain city with the crew of "The Boundary Line" for the final filming. Before leaving, he sent a message to Xia Chan to let her know.
"Fly to Shancheng on June 18, Liancheng on June 23, and return to Shenyang on the 30th."
Xia Chan's response remained concise, consisting of only a simple emoji: "[Lotus - Safe Journey]"
At the time, Shen Zhoudu was in a campervan on his way to the airport. When he saw the emoji, he couldn't help but laugh and replied, "I thought I accidentally clicked on my grandma's chat box."
Afraid of upsetting her, he quickly deleted the message a few seconds later. After thinking for a long time, he sent her a message anyway: "Rarely seen Guan Bohan."
Xia Chan had actually already seen it, but she curled her lips and pretended not to see it. After thinking for a moment, she still sent him a screenshot, which was the same schedule that Guan Bohan had sent her earlier this morning.
His film crew moved to Hengdian last night and will be filming there for the next month.
Upon seeing this, Chen Zhoudu breathed a sigh of relief and sent her a picture: "[A puppy clapping happily]".
Xia Chan was unaware of the argument between Shen Zhoudu and Shen Jinghai that day, and had long forgotten about her encounter with Shen Jinghai at her birthday banquet.
In her view, Guan Bohan and Shen Zhoudu's business trips gave her a long-lost sense of peace, and life seemed to have returned to the uneventful yet peaceful days before she met them.
On June 29th, Xia Chan had just switched shifts with Du Na in the evening when Du Na mysteriously claimed that a guest wanted to see her and had been waiting for her for a long time.
"See me?" Xia Chan was somewhat surprised.
"Yes! Manager Xia, it must be because your story of saving someone spread so widely that now everyone wants to poach you! I'm so envious of you, Manager Xia... Even if you don't work in the hotel industry in the future, you have so many career paths to choose from. Ah, I also want to become a sophisticated urban woman..."
When Xia Chan heard her say that, she had a strange premonition, but when she saw Xie Xun with her own eyes, she was still deeply stunned.
In a coffee shop not far from the hotel, the two found a relatively secluded and quiet corner and sat facing each other in silence for a long time.
After a long, long time, Xie Xun gazed at her before finally speaking with a bitter smile, "Chanchan, do you... still recognize me?"
"I might recognize her." Xia Chan pursed her lips and paused for a moment before raising her eyes to smile at her, but her gaze was distant, as if she were facing a stranger she had only met a few times. She politely said, "Ms. Xie Mei."
Xie Xuan froze.
Her eyes were slightly hurt, as if she had a thousand words to say but couldn't say them. After a long while, she finally sighed softly, her eyes a little red.
“You’ve grown so much… That’s wonderful. When I left, you were only fifteen or sixteen, pale and thin. Now you’re so beautiful… That’s wonderful.”
Xia Chan's fingers slowly clenched under the table, but her face showed no emotion. She smiled indifferently at her, "Did you call me here for something?"
Xie Xun gazed at her for a long time and couldn't help but ask, "Chanchan, how come you... are in Shanghai?"
"Work to earn money." Xia Chan stared at her, a slight redness in her eyes. "What? In this city of Shanghai, is there a distinction between who can come and who can't? You can come, but I can't?"
"That's not what I meant..." Xie Xun immediately felt embarrassed, her gaze becoming somewhat unsure of what to do. She said, "What I meant was... Chanchan, if you have any difficulties, you can tell Mommy, Mommy can..."
"Mom?" Xia Chan interrupted her. "Who's Mom?"
Xie Jun was stunned.
"Oh." She smiled, seeing the momentary pause in her eyes, her expression bright but a thorn slowly being driven into her heart. She returned that thorn in kind, using words to pierce back into her.
“Biologically and legally speaking, you may indeed be considered my mother; but psychologically speaking… my mother’s name is Xie Jun. Ms. Xie Mei, you look very much like her, do you know her?”
"..." Xie Jun's eyes became even more complicated, with tears welling up and threatening to fall. After a long while, she said, "I'm sorry..."
Her voice was hoarse, "Chanchan, I know my choice back then was very wrong to you, but... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... Chanchan..."
Xia Chan lightly toyed with the coffee cup on the table, a faint smile playing on her lips, but her fingertips beneath the table were already taut and pale. She said, "Then give me a few hundred thousand first!"
"...What?" Xie Jun was even more stunned.
"Didn't you say that if I have any difficulties, I can tell you and you can help me solve them?" Xia Chan smiled brightly at her again, but her eyes were calm and cold, with a faint glimmer of water.
"Then I want money, I want lots and lots of money. Since Mom sits high and mighty in her wealthy family, giving her daughter hundreds of thousands isn't too much to ask, is it? This... will you give it to me?"
“…Okay.” Xie Xun’s face was pale but she still agreed, her voice hoarse, “How much exactly do you need? I don’t have a lot of cash on hand right now, but I can give you some first…”
"The more the better, can you give me three or five hundred thousand first?" Xia Chan's gaze lingered on the designer clothes and bags she was wearing.
“I don’t own a house or a car, and my place isn’t even as nice as a toilet at the Asia Ocean Hotel. I need to improve my living conditions first, right? Then… I’ll buy some LV or Parade clothes so I can show off to my colleagues who wear designer brands all the time! Ideally, you could introduce me to a rich boyfriend. Oh, and he has to be rich and handsome! Otherwise, I’ll feel like he’s not good enough for me.”
"I heard Guan Bohan call you 'Mom' that day, so you must know quite a few handsome young men like Guan Bohan and Chen Zhoudu, right? I think that kind of guy is pretty good. This shouldn't be difficult for you, right?"
Xie Xun's gaze towards her grew increasingly startled and unfamiliar. After a long, long pause, she stammered, as if incredulous, "Chanchan..."
"How...did you become like this? You..."
"What about me? Haven't I always been like this?" Xia Chan just kept smiling, the tears in her eyes growing brighter and colder. "You just said I'm pretty. Isn't being pretty a resource for a girl? Besides, since you say you're my mother, like mother, like daughter. You... didn't you stay in Shanghai like this?"
These words made Xie Jun's face turn pale.
Looking at her suddenly pale and stiff expression, she felt as if that thorn had completely pierced and taken root in her heart, completely sealing off her heart. Her originally heavy heartbeat gradually became dead and stopped beating.
Her smiling eyes gradually turned calm, and with slightly reddened eyes, she said without any emotion, "Ms. Xie Mei, I really... didn't expect to meet you again, and I was quite surprised to see you again. Originally, since you treated me like I didn't know you that day, I decided to treat you as a stranger as well. After all... whether you exist or not is no longer important to me. In my heart, my mother is already dead, when I was fifteen years old."
Xie Xun's brow furrowed in surprise. Xia Chan continued, "But you've come again, sitting here and spouting platitudes and meaningless platitudes."
"After all, if you really wanted to make it up to me, you had countless opportunities over the past ten years, but you never showed up once. Instead, you appeared in front of me unexpectedly. Who knows if you really wanted to make it up to me or if you were just hiding something?"
"Since you've said that, I have no choice but to ask for what I want. What I lack most is money, and what I lack most are resources. After all, in today's society, money makes the world go round, and without money, you can't move an inch, right? So if you really want to maintain some kind of mother-daughter relationship with me, just give me money! Everything else is just fluff and has no use for me."
Xie Xun's gaze grew increasingly dazed and pained, eventually becoming more and more unfamiliar and cold. Xia Chan remained silently staring back at her, unmoved.
Her expression quickly revealed deep disappointment and unfamiliarity, as if an invisible distance had been created between them. Gone was the initial tenderness, and she murmured to herself, "Xie Chan."
"How...did you become like this?"
"How...did you become like this...?"
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