Zhou Haitao is also a shrewd person. Although Hua Xiao admitted to his face that the two had contact in private, their statuses are vastly different, so how reliable could their relationship be?
Moreover, even if we take a step back and assume that their relationship is really good, would she need to ask others to borrow a mere 100,000 yuan?
Qiu Mang returned to his workstation and saw Shi Nan carrying a water cup, preparing to go to the break room, so he hurriedly followed her.
Hearing footsteps behind her, Shi Nan turned around and smiled when she saw Qiu Mang. "Ah Mang, I heard you landed a big order with He Guang Group. That's amazing!" Shi Nan was genuinely happy for her.
Qiu Mang smiled slightly, wondering how to ask her for money, when he heard Shi Nan sigh.
"Sigh, isn't this so unfair! We work ourselves to the bone for the boss, and he makes a fortune while we only earn a pittance. It's so frustrating!"
"I recently made some money, and when I checked my savings, I thought I could afford a down payment on a small apartment. But when I went to the sales office yesterday, they had already raised the prices again!" Shi Nan said indignantly.
Hearing this, Qiu Mang could only laugh awkwardly, swallowing back what he wanted to say and offering her some words of comfort.
Unable to borrow money from Zhou Haitao and Shi Nan, Qiu Mang suddenly thought of Lu Yanting again.
Yes, she's been in Guangcheng for a month and hasn't made many friends. The people she's most involved with are Shi Nan and Lu Yanting.
However, she already owed Lu Yanting so much money that she was too ashamed to ask him for a loan. She could imagine that if she actually asked him, he would definitely laugh at her.
Qiu Mang closed his eyes and thought again; there must be another way!
She opened the loan app on her phone again. She had already borrowed all the money she could last time, and now she really couldn't come up with a single penny. Helplessly, she tossed her phone aside.
After get off work, Qiu Mang walked aimlessly down the street. The afterglow of dusk gradually faded on the horizon, and she didn't know how long she had been walking or where she was.
Guangcheng is clearly a warm city, but at this moment she felt that the wind on the road carried a bit of chill, making her shiver.
Inside a black Maybach, Yan Kai was driving when his eyes suddenly fell on a girl walking by the roadside.
He glanced furtively at Lu Yanting in the back seat and said, "Mr. Lu, that looks like Miss Qiu!"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yanting looked up and indeed saw Qiu Mang walking by the roadside. The girl was looking down, her expression somewhat forlorn, her hands in her pockets, kicking a small pebble listlessly, looking like a student who had skipped school.
Lu Yanting knew that she lived in a resettlement house not far from Shuiyue Huating, which was clearly not the way home.
He frowned and said, "Follow her secretly and see what she's up to."
“Okay!” Yan Kai replied.
Qiu Mang walked for a long time, and then, as if possessed, arrived in front of a somewhat dilapidated office building. Only a few lights were on inside, indicating that hardly anyone was working there.
It was getting dark. Qiu Mang was tired from walking, so she went into a small shop, bought a bottle of water, and sat down on a bench next to it.
She unscrewed the bottle cap and took a sip of water. Suddenly, she saw a sign shining brightly deep inside the office building, which read "Old Friend Loans".
Qiu Mang suddenly perked up: a loan company!
Great, she was just looking for a way to borrow money and immediately found a way.
She was about to go inside when she suddenly stopped, a sense of unease creeping into her heart. She'd heard that lending money required checking credit or offering collateral; could someone like her, with nothing to her name, possibly get a loan?
As she was thinking, a girl suddenly came out. She looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old, with long hair, exquisite makeup, and a Hermes bag on her back. She was dressed in designer brands from head to toe and didn't seem to be short of money.
Qiu Mang was a little confused. Was she also there to borrow money?
The girl sensed her gaze and stopped as she passed by, her tone somewhat arrogant: "Is there something you need?"
Qiu Mang coughed twice and simply asked the question that was on her mind: "Hello, are you here to borrow money too?"
"Yes! My parents don't give me enough pocket money, so I came to borrow some from them to tide me over!" The girl said nonchalantly.
Qiu Mang thought for a moment and then asked, "I don't have anything to offer as collateral, can I still borrow it?"
The girl simply sat down next to her, looking like she knew everything: "What's the big deal? Many of my classmates don't have this. Girls can just take a few photos! It's very simple."
"Take photos?" Qiu Mang looked puzzled.
"Yes, but they're nude photos!" the girl said casually, not thinking there was anything wrong with them.
Qiu Mang shrank back slightly, his face showing vigilance.
Seeing her expression, the girl chuckled and said, "Look how scared you are! It's no big deal. Just pay back the money! Once you pay back the money, the photos will be destroyed!"
Qiu Mang's heart tightened, and she quickly shook her head, saying, "What if the other party doesn't destroy it?"
"Miss, I think you're overthinking it. They've already gotten the money, why would they need your two photos?"
The girl shrugged, got up and left with an indifferent expression.
Qiu Mang sat on the bench, watching the girl's retreating figure, her heart growing even heavier. She hugged her knees and sat there blankly for a long time.
Looking at the lonely figure on the bench, Yan Kai couldn't help but ask, "President Lu, should I go and take a look?"
Lu Yanting's face was stern as he said softly, "Wait a little longer."
He watched her from afar, puzzled. Why was she so short of money? Hadn't she already found a job? Was she still short of money?
Lu Yanting frowned. Why didn't she come to him if she needed money? He had offered such generous terms; any woman with a brain would know how to choose.
Is she still holding on to her beloved? She's even reached the point of having to borrow money from loan sharks, why doesn't that heartless man help her? That man doesn't seem to care about her much either, Lu Yanting thought to himself with a silent sneer.
At that moment, Qiu Mang suddenly stood up, screwed the bottle cap back on, and put it in her bag. A sudden sense of panic welled up in Lu Yanting's heart. What was she going to do? Was she going to borrow money from loan sharks?
Qiu Mang slung her bag over her shoulder and walked towards the road. Lu Yanting quickly leaned back, afraid of being recognized by her.
However, he was overthinking it. Qiu Mang didn't notice the car in the shadows at all. He just waited at the bus stop for a while before boarding a bus.
Seeing that the bus route led home, Lu Yanting finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However, Lu Yanting still felt a little uneasy. After thinking for a moment, he made a phone call to Hua Xiao.
"Yan Ting." Hua Xiao must have been at a dinner party, finding a quiet place to answer the phone.
"Zhou Haitao wants to cooperate with your company, right? You should agree to it!" Lu Yanting said succinctly.
"What?" Hua Xiao thought he had misheard.
"Something's not right with you! When did you start caring about our company's affairs?"
"Don't worry about it. Just give him any business you can get, but don't go directly to him. Talk to Qiu Mang instead!"
Hua Xiao found it intriguing and teased, "No, brother, if you want to give someone money, you can just do it directly. Why go through all this trouble, going through me and Zhou Haitao, and letting a middleman make a profit? This is such a wasteful and troublesome approach, it's not like you at all!"
"If you don't want to, then forget it!" Lu Yanting said coldly.
He was getting a little annoyed. Did he not want to give it to her directly? Did he want to go through all this trouble? That woman was being rude!
Hua Xiao wasn't angry at being rebuffed. He laughed and said, "No way! It was just a small favor, of course I should help. I was just curious and asked casually, why are you angry?"
"Don't worry about it, just do as I say!" Lu Yanting said.
"Okay, okay! I'll take care of it tomorrow, alright?" Hua Xiao pretended to be helpless, but he could no longer suppress the smile on his lips.
When they got home that evening, Zhao Xiaoya and Li Peng had already finished get off work and were cooking dinner in the kitchen.
"The teacher said my son did well at school today, and he got first place in math!" Zhao Xiaoya said while chopping vegetables, her face beaming with pride.
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