Qiu Liyun was somewhat taken aback, and subconsciously replied, "That person's surname should be Rong... Back then in Shanghai, Zhou Zhujun, the eldest daughter of the Zhou family, was exceptionally beautiful and was the president of the Charity Socialite Association."
Qiu Liyun paused for a moment: "But she suddenly went against her family's arrangements and insisted on marrying an unknown boy from the Rong family who was raised in the countryside, which caused a sensation in Shanghai."
She and Wen Huifang, the second wife of the Ning family, were also members of the Charity Socialite Association, and they couldn't understand why the president would marry that wild boy.
Cha Meiling seemed to be deep in thought. Was it a coincidence that Ning Yuan's "cousin" from the countryside had the surname Rong?
Qiu Liyun didn't notice her daughter's hesitation, and only sighed: "Back then, that Rong family boy was not only good-looking, but also had a good physique. However, he was a distant relative. He was so poor in the small town that he couldn't survive, so he came to Shanghai to work as an apprentice. Everyone looked down on him, but who would have thought..."
Seeing Qiu Liyun's complicated expression, Cha Meiling couldn't help but ask again, "What didn't you think of?"
Qiu Liyun shook her head: "He later joined the army, fought in battles across the country, and rose through the ranks. After liberation, he became someone we had to be careful around."
Cha Meiling sighed with admiration, "Aunt Zhou really has a good eye; she picked a stock with great potential."
Qiu Liyun couldn't help but sneer: "If she had good judgment, why did she divorce him after he became successful, and why did her whole family move to a foreign country and never come back?"
After thinking for a moment, Cha Meiling said, "Aunt Zhou might be right not to come back; she was very farsighted."
Love stories that began in the Republican era were mostly tragic, and this is no joke.
Thinking about the situation in mainland China over the years, Qiu Liyun couldn't help but agree with her daughter's words.
But she couldn't help but sigh, "Poor Zhu Jun, even after marrying that man, she never enjoyed any happiness. Instead, he caused her parents heartache and a lot of trouble. If she had married someone of equal social standing, perhaps she wouldn't have had so much trouble."
Cha Meiling thought for a moment and asked, "Are many members of the Rong family still living on the mainland?"
Qiu Liyun didn't know why Cha Meiling was suddenly interested in the Rong family: "After the Qing Dynasty opened up the port, the Rong family was quite prosperous in Shanghai and Beijing. They had more branches and ties than the Ning family, so it's not surprising that they didn't know each other."
Cha Meiling then asked, "What's the current situation with Aunt Zhou's ex-husband?"
Qiu Liyun thought for a moment: "The mainland and the Hong Kong government had been separated for many years before, and I didn't know anything about it or pay any attention to it. I only knew that Zhu Jun was worried that she would not be able to protect her son after she passed away, so she ordered that the child be sent back to the mainland. I was very sad at the time."
It is certain that the Rong family has declined in mainland China.
As for whether Miss Zhou's ex-husband was still in office, news from the mainland was scarce, so she had no idea.
Cha Meiling was taken aback: "Even the Zhou family can't protect Aunt Zhou's child?"
Qiu Liyun sighed: "Back then, she insisted on marrying a junior apprentice, which already aroused the dissatisfaction of her family. Who knows what happened later? Every family has its own troubles."
Putting aside everything else, the fact that the Zhou family has been much less prominent and more low-key in the UK since Zhou Zhujun's death suggests that some unknown struggle must have taken place.
After saying this, Qiu Liyun grabbed Cha Meiling's hand, her heart filled with anguish—
“If your father only wants you to marry into the Ning family to gain their support, or even if he only hopes you will steal the Ning family's token, we can delay it. I won't be so desperate as to recall these trivial old stories.”
She paused, her voice filled with anxiety and distress: "But in order to prevent the Ning family from cooperating with the mainland, he blew up two of the Ning family's transshipment ports. My dear daughter, what are you going to do now?"
Meiling became the goddaughter of the second branch of the Ning family not long after she was born. When she turned eighteen, she was sent to the bed of the eldest son of the Ning family. Originally, it was thought that even if it was not true love, it would still be a good marriage.
Who knew... it would turn into a death trap.
Cha Meiling also fell silent.
The Ning family is now in a state of utter chaos. Just when all the transactions were about to be completed, this last large shipment has run into problems.
The "guests" from the mainland were furious and gave a firm order to replenish the stock—a large number of the parts were disassembled and transported back to the mainland for reassembly.
The explosion destroyed the dock and many containers. Without the missing parts, at least one-third of the goods that had already been delivered were scrapped.
To give a simple example, take an airplane. Even if the front part of the airplane is fully assembled, if two boxes of parts are blown up, the airplane is useless. Who would dare to fly it?
When Ning Zhengkun, the current head of the Ning family, received the news, he was so angry that he went to the hospital. But when he woke up, he made a decisive decision and ordered the entire Ning family to immediately use their own money to find a way to replenish the goods.
She also noticed that Ning Bingyu had lost a lot of weight, and his whole demeanor was sinister; even his refined appearance couldn't hide the murderous intent beneath.
Fortunately, neither the "guests" from the mainland nor the Ning family have time to pursue accountability; instead, they are busy trying to salvage the situation.
So much so that the Ning family, who had planned to go north to recognize their relatives, no longer dared to go, because such a big blunder had occurred and they couldn't explain it to their "guests".
It seems that Cha Shenlou made a ruthless move that killed two birds with one stone, severely damaging the Ning family's morale and undermining the trust of the Ning family among their "guests" on the mainland.
But once the Ning family and their "guests" on the mainland have made progress in restocking, they certainly won't let anyone who dares to provoke them get away with it!
Cha Meiling pressed her temples wearily: "...The main cargo was involved in the accident at the transshipment port in Malacca, not in the port government. The investigation and evidence collection will take a lot of time. I will try my best to clean up the mess for my father. As for the rest, I will think about how to survive."
That idiot father of mine knew absolutely nothing about the power of the mainland; how dare he try to stop a chariot with his bare hands?
Cha Meiling got up and paced around the room: "Since the incident, the Ning family... has been trying their best to restock, and the 'customers' on the mainland haven't been too blaming us."
She looked out the window at the waning moon: "I guess the Ning family will go to Shanghai by mid-May at the latest, firstly to reunite with their relatives, and secondly to apologize to the mainland guests for messing up their job... I will try to take this opportunity to contact the mainland 'guests'."
This is a huge matter. She needs to find out about the mainland "guests" first, and see if there's any way to calm their anger when things happen.
She must find an opportunity to leverage her resources and turn the tide to save herself and her mother's lives.
Fortunately, after the formal engagement, she now has the status of the Ning family's future eldest daughter-in-law and is qualified to accompany Ning Bingyu to meet "guests" from the mainland.
Cha Meiling was preoccupied with her thoughts. Suddenly, she thought of Ning Yuan and then of Rong Zhaonan, who had openly protected her at Taiping Pavilion that day.
She sighed softly. If Ning Yuan was the second daughter of the Ning family, then Rong Zhaonan... could it be a coincidence that he was the child of the Zhou family and the Rong family back then?
Cha Meiling thought about it and shook her head. There's no such coincidence in this world.
The Rong family has long since fallen into decline. There are so many people with the surname Rong. The son of Miss Zhou may not even be alive anymore. After all, with the status of the Zhou family, their descendants must have been greatly affected in recent years if they stayed in the mainland.
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