At nine o'clock on the morning of the fourth day, Ning Yuan came out of her room. Her hair was wet and dripping water, her face was as pale as a sheet of paper, and her lips were bloodless.
She was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a beige coat, making her look exceptionally thin.
Inside the restaurant, Madam Ning, Chu Hongyu, and Aheng were sitting around the table, chatting idly in a somber atmosphere. They were all taken aback when Ning Yuan appeared.
Madam Ning quickly got up and walked briskly to Ning Yuan's side, tenderly stroking her cheek: "Yuanyuan, you've finally come out! These past few days you've locked yourself in your room, and your mother was so worried!"
Ning Yuan forced a smile and gently patted Madam Ning's hand to reassure her.
Her gaze fell on Ning Bingyu, who was sitting at the dining table, holding a document in his hand.
“Big brother,” Ning Yuan’s voice was hoarse but unusually calm, “this document is a revised version of the original Maritime Building land parcel document. Please sign it.”
Ning Bingyu looked up, a hint of surprise flashing behind his glasses. He took the document, flipping through it casually, a playful smile playing on his lips.
"Where did you find such a top-notch lawyer to draft such tricky and harsh terms in the documents? Are you afraid I'll harm you?"
Ning Yuan smiled faintly, with a hint of self-deprecation: "There's no other way. We're siblings, so we need to be clear about things. Let's be firm first, then polite, to avoid any unforeseen complications."
She paused, then added, "That dockland is nothing to you, brother, but it's very important to me."
"Should we take another look at the terms?" Ning Yuan raised an eyebrow, her tone tinged with a hint of probing.
Ning Bingyu chuckled, picked up his pen, quickly signed the document, and tossed it back to Ning Yuan. "No need to look at it."
He spoke with a faint smile: "This is the true nature of my Ning family's daughter, a businesswoman. She never dwells on sunk costs."
He paused, his eyes sharply fixed on Ning Yuan: "I look forward to your future performance."
Ning Yuan took the document, a slight smile playing on her lips, but said nothing.
Seeing the tense atmosphere between the two, Madam Ning felt a little worried. She gently advised—
"My dear girl, you've only just recovered a little, so let's not talk about business. Rest well and take good care of your health."
"Mom, I'm fine." Ning Yuan gently patted the back of Madam Ning's hand to comfort her. "There are some things I need to take care of as soon as possible. I'm sorry to have worried you."
Seeing her pull herself together, Madam Ning almost burst into tears, but smiled through her tears and said, "Good, good."
She turned to look at Chu Hongyu and Aheng, her eyes filled with apology: "Hongyu, Aheng, thank you for your hard work these past few days."
Chu Hongyu raised a delicate, pretty eyebrow: "What nonsense are you talking about! We're best friends, what's a little thing like this!"
Ah Heng grabbed her shoulder impatiently and said, "Why are you being so polite with me? You know I have feelings for you. If I were a man, you'd be my wife right now! Don't talk like that!"
Ning Yuan: "..."
Ning Bingyu: "..."
Chu Hongyu: "..."
What about Wei Heng?
Madam Ning: "Ha..."
This kid is really something else; his way of comforting people is absolutely brilliant.
Ning Yuan smiled, a warm feeling welling up inside her. She knew that no matter what happened, she was not alone.
This must be the true definition of family and friends.
Like a ship's anchor—they exist, anchoring you where you are, preventing your heart from wandering.
No matter where you are, you'll know that there are people in the world who... love you.
In the following days, Ning Yuan seemed to become a different person.
Instead, she adopted an almost ruthless decisiveness. She no longer locked herself in her room and wept, but instead, like a finely tuned machine, began to deal with the urgent matters at hand.
She went to the piers near the Marine Building and wandered around Hong Kong Island, observing the flow of goods and studying market conditions.
After thinking about it for half a month, Ning Yuan took Aheng to her fourth uncle's shop.
She decided to return to the business that made her fortune—antiques!
After all, he didn't want to rely entirely on the Ning family, otherwise he would end up like Ning Bingyu and Ning Man'an, seemingly powerful and successful business elites, but actually controlled by the elders of their families.
Everything must be done according to the family's wishes.
In late January, she took Ah Heng to her fourth uncle's antique shop at the dock.
Uncle Si was sitting behind the counter, twirling two walnuts in his hands, squinting as he sized up the two people who walked in.
"Fourth Uncle, thank you for helping me search for my friend before." Ning Yuan said calmly.
Fourth Uncle's cloudy gaze fell on Ning Yuan, scrutinizing her from head to toe. His withered lips curled into a contemptuous smile—
"Friend? If he's not your man, you'd be in such a hurry, letting go of him now and refusing to acknowledge him as your man? Tsk tsk—you rich people are so heartless!"
Ning Yuan's heart skipped a beat, but her expression remained unchanged: "Fourth Uncle is joking."
Ah Heng couldn't hold back her anger. She grabbed her fourth uncle by the collar and yelled through gritted teeth, "Can't you talk properly! Can't you talk properly!"
Several burly men immediately surrounded Fourth Uncle, and it looked like they were about to make a move.
Uncle Si sneered, flicked his finger, and a walnut hit Ah Heng squarely on the forehead.
Ah Heng covered his forehead, wincing in pain.
"That's how I talk. Is it harsh? If the truth is hard to hear, get out!" Uncle Si glanced at Aheng disdainfully.
He stared sharply at Ning Yuan, his tone icy: "Don't think that just because I got the fishermen and pheasants at the dock to help you find someone last time because of the check, you can take advantage of me."
"Let me tell you, I don't know any Ning family. I helped you because I owed you a favor for recognizing antiques, and now that favor is paid! Don't even think about messing with me."
The old man unleashed a torrent of words!
"Fourth Uncle is joking. I've come to discuss cooperation with you," Ning Yuan said casually, as if she were discussing the weather.
"Cooperation?" Fourth Uncle raised an eyebrow, his tone laced with sarcasm. "What could an old man like me, with one foot in the grave, possibly cooperate with Miss Ning on?"
Ning Yuan smiled slightly: "Fourth Uncle is too modest. Although I don't know much about business, I do know a little about antiques, and you've seen my skills."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over the various antiques on the shop's display shelves: "I've heard that Fourth Uncle's shop has a lot of good stuff, and I'd like to learn some skills from him."
Fourth Uncle rolled his eyes: "Who knows if you were just lucky last time!"
With that, he snorted and casually picked up a bronze incense burner: "Then tell me, what is this thing?"
Ning Yuan carefully examined the incense burner and slowly said, "This is an early Western Zhou Dynasty bronze incense burner with kui dragon patterns. Its shape is simple and elegant, and its decorations are exquisite and intricate. The kui dragon patterns are depicted so vividly that it is clearly the work of a master craftsman. Moreover..."
She pointed to an inconspicuous mark on the bottom of the incense burner: "This mark should be the character '工' (gong), which represents the mark of the royal craftsmen at that time, and is also proof that this incense burner is priceless."
Fourth Uncle's expression changed. He hadn't expected Ning Yuan to actually be quite knowledgeable about antiques, which surprised him, but also fueled his competitive spirit.
He took out several more antiques, intending to make things difficult for Ning Yuan, but Ning Yuan handled them all with ease, even revealing details that he himself was unaware of.
Ah Heng watched Ning Yuan speak eloquently, his feelings were somewhat complicated. Had Xiao Ning really recovered? It seemed like she had changed, yet it also seemed like she hadn't changed at all, only become more resilient.
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