Sensing the provocation in Fan Yingjiao's words, Ya Se's group members' expressions turned grim, especially Yu Pan, who was red-faced with anger and clenched his fists at his sides.
In Fan Yingjiao's live stream, netizens have already started hurling insults.
This woman definitely has some kind of serious illness. Damn it, I can't watch this lousy show even once more.
[Please, director, come down to earth and listen to the people's voices! What have you done to this perfectly good program?]
[Don't be naive, upstairs. Even if the director saw this, he wouldn't do anything to Fan Youjiao. That's the power of capital.]
[Yes, it's so frustrating. The Jin family's background is too powerful, which is why she looks down on everyone else.]
Qiao An patted Yu Pan on the shoulder indifferently, signaling him to relax.
He walked up to Fan Yingjiao and stopped, a warm and friendly smile on his face, his clear gray-blue eyes showing no trace of anger.
"Mrs. Jin, are you sure you need me to help you try on shoes?"
Joanne glanced at the camera and reminded him,
"This is being broadcast live. If it gets out, people will probably question your character."
Fan Yingjiao's smile was extremely arrogant. "What? Can't President Qiao squat down?"
Even Jin Qihuai couldn't stand it anymore. He tugged at Fan Yingjiao's hand, signaling her to stop.
Fan Yingjiao flung Jin Qihuai away, her almond-shaped eyes, adorned with delicate peach blossom makeup, continuing to stare defiantly at Qiao An.
Qiao An smiled faintly, his handsome face showing no anger. He squatted down and took off Fan Yingjiao's high heels.
He then took the dark red velvet high heels from the store manager and put them on Fan Yingjiao's feet, as if this was just part of his normal work. His noble and elegant movements showed no sign of humiliation.
Having done all this quite naturally, Joanne stood up and carefully reminded him,
"Mrs. Jin, would you please take a few steps to see if it fits your feet?"
Joanne's entire service process was very standardized and did not involve any personal bias.
Fan Yingjiao, with a smug look on her face, stood up and paced back and forth in the store twice, a triumphant smirk on her face.
Joanne also professionally reminded us, "The color of your dress and shoes doesn't match today. Would you like me to help you with some other clothes and bags?"
Fan Yingjiao has always been very concerned about her image. Since Qiao An had already put up such a strong argument, and she wasn't short of money anyway, she certainly couldn't say no. So, she bought quite a few more clothes on Qiao An's recommendation.
After leaving Jinse, Fan Yingjiao's vanity was greatly satisfied, and she practically strutted around as she walked out of the mall.
Yu Pan was so angry that he clenched his fist and punched the sofa.
Qiao An glanced at him indifferently, "Why don't you go smash the wall? What's so impressive about smashing a sofa?"
"I'm just so angry." Yu Pan waved his fist in the direction Fan Yingjiao left. "If I don't beat her up next time I see her, I'm not a Yu."
Qiao An calmly looked in the direction Fan Yingjiao had left, her expression returning to its relaxed and languid state.
"Don't just look at the immediate gains and losses when doing things."
Upon hearing his words, Yu Pan immediately calmed down. On the surface, Qiao An had suffered a loss, but in reality, it was Fan Yingjiao who had suffered the greatest loss. Public opinion doesn't care whether you have capital or not; it can berate her until she cries and goes home to find her mother.
Opposite Jinse Yingge shop is a very stylish teahouse. The exterior wall of the teahouse is made of privacy mirror glass, so people outside cannot see inside, while people inside can see everything happening outside clearly.
Behind the glass, next to the corridor, sat Jin Jin, the chairman of Jinchan Group. Opposite him sat an old friend he hadn't seen in a long time. The friend had returned from the United States and, having heard that Jin Jin was working at the Yingge project site, had arranged to meet at this teahouse, which was nearby.
Originally, reuniting with old friends should have been a happy occasion, but Jin Jin couldn't feel happy at all. The scene just now felt like a slap in the face, and his heart felt as if it had been pounded by a sledgehammer.
The old friend tried to ease the awkwardness, saying, "Children and grandchildren have their own blessings. Young people haven't experienced hardship and have grown up in a pampered environment, so it's understandable that they might be a bit outgoing."
Jin Jin waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to comfort him.
After a long pause, Jin Jin sighed softly, "It's a misfortune for our family. You've made a fool of yourself in front of us."
My old friend just shook his head regretfully. He had heard a saying before that children are born into families because of past grievances; some come to repay kindness, while others come to collect debts.
In retrospect, there is some truth to that statement. Otherwise, given the education and character of Jin Jin and his wife, they wouldn't have raised a child with such a personality.
Jin Jin looked outside and saw that Qiao An had finished dealing with things at the store and was walking out of the mall one after the other with Yu Pan.
He looked at that young and upright figure, and two words came to mind: measured in his choices and neither arrogant nor humble.
Thinking about the deformed and cracked fruits I raised at home, I felt another pang of anxiety.
At this moment, the two debt collectors had already gotten into the car back to the villa, and Fan Yingjiao had a smug smile on her face.
“Honey, did you see how Qiao An squatted down in front of me just now? This is the benefit of money. She was so arrogant and scolding me during the day, but now she has to carry my shoes.”
Jin Qihuai drove the car, looking embarrassed.
Although Fan Yingjiao had gotten her revenge, he still felt that something was not quite right.
“Honey, isn’t this going too far? I heard that Qiao An is currently acquiring shares in Jinse, and he may become the person in charge of Jinse in the future. I’m afraid this matter will not end well.”
Fan Yingjiao let out a cold laugh.
"I've seen cats afraid of tigers, but I've never seen a tiger afraid of a cat. When has the Jin family ever needed to be afraid of the Qiao family? What a joke."
After hearing Fan Yingjiao's words, Jin Qihuai felt that he was worrying too much. Besides, it wasn't Fan Yingjiao who provoked him first. Qiao An had even scolded her that morning, and those people at Beibei Restaurant were indeed bullying her.
Yu Pan drove Qiao An to Chenxiang Apartment.
In the past, when she came home at night, she could see the warm yellow light shining from room 2007. But today, when she looked up, the room was pitch black, and Qiao An instantly lost all interest in going home.
He turned to Yu Pan and asked, "Would you like to come up for a drink?"
Yu Pan looked like he'd seen a ghost. "Who would want to stay with their boss after work? Get downstairs, I have a blind date to go on."
Joan sighed, and before getting out of the car, she kindly gave some advice.
"Be careful what you talk about when you're on a blind date. If you really can't keep up with the conversation, just listen quietly. If you spend the whole night talking about the history of clothing with that girl, don't come crying to me tomorrow."
"Okay, get off the bus now."
Qiao An looked outside; the apartment was still about a hundred meters away. "Aren't you going to walk me downstairs?"
Yu Pan pointed to a fork in the road ahead, "I'm going to turn around here. You walk a few steps."
Joan said, "...I beg you, when you take the girl home, please take her to the front door. Don't just think about saving on gas."
The thought of going back to face a cold and lonely room alone made Joann lose interest in going home. She bought a can of beer at a 24-hour convenience store and sat down on the stone pedestal of the lion sculpture at the entrance of the apartment.
Holding a beer in my hand, I remember Du Xiaoruo downing a whole glass of beer in one gulp; seeing the lights on in other people's houses, I remember her wet eyes wrapped in a bathrobe.
This longing made him feel a tightness in his chest, and the thought of that person not being at home made him lose all desire to go home.
Why don't you go find her?
Forget it, they're recording a show. I'm not some kind of leech that I'm constantly bothering them.
Joan picked up a beer can and tapped it against the lion's head. "Brother, you'll drink with me tonight."
After speaking, he tilted his head back and drank about half a bottle of beer.
"Mr. Qiao, hey, I couldn't find you anywhere. What are you doing here drinking with Lion?"
The speaker was the property manager, who had already left work. As he walked out of the apartment building, he saw a person sitting next to the sculpture and thought it was a homeless person. However, upon closer inspection, he realized it was Qiao An.
Joan leaned lazily against the stone lion's sturdy calves. "What do you want?"
"The water pipe in the apartment upstairs burst. We wanted to contact you to come and check if there was any leak in your apartment, but we couldn't get through on the phone."
Qiao An took out her phone and glanced at it; she didn't know when it had run out of battery.
Is it leaking?
Qiao An suddenly stood up, looking quite excited, and put her arm around the property manager's shoulder.
"Let's go, let's hurry, let's go up and take a look. It's definitely leaking. How could a burst pipe not leak? Don't you think so?"
The property manager was almost a head shorter than Qiao An, and he practically had to be carried into the building by Qiao An, who kept comforting him as they went.
"It shouldn't be a serious leak, don't worry."
Once inside the room, the property manager and Qiao An inspected the entire place together. Luckily, they didn't find any obvious leaks downstairs.
Joan was unwilling to give up, so she searched again carefully.
Finally, a leak was found on the ceiling of the guest bathroom. The leaking water had soaked a small area of the ceiling, about the size of a fingernail. The property manager stood on a stool and looked at it for a long time before confirming that it was indeed a leak.
"It doesn't have any impact."
The property manager comforted them.
"The water upstairs has been cleaned up; this little bit of seepage will just dry naturally."
"How could this have no impact?"
Joanne was talking nonsense with a straight face.
“Water stains will cause dampness, and dampness will produce mold. Mold has a great impact on the human respiratory tract. I don’t think this house is safe to live in.”
The property manager looked at the small water stain on the fingernail, then at the serious-looking Qiao An, and couldn't understand it. The world of the rich was truly incomprehensible.
"Should I report this to the repair department and have them come and handle it as soon as possible?"
"No need to rush. This kind of leak can only be repaired after it has completely dried. Don't rush, repair it slowly, the slower the better."
After seeing the bewildered property manager off, Qiao An, like a busy and happy little bee, dragged her small sheepskin suitcase out of the walk-in closet and began stuffing her daily necessities and loungewear into it.
I plugged my phone in and sent a message to Secretary Kim.
"Send me the suit you need to wear tomorrow to the staff dormitory at Beibei Restaurant."
An hour and a half later, Joan arrived at the staff dormitory of Bebe Restaurant, rang the doorbell, and adjusted his facial expression to make himself look as unhappy as possible.
Mu Hua was playing Dou Dizhu (a card game) with the children in the living room, her face covered in strips of torn tissue paper, as if she had talismans stuck to it.
As soon as the door opened, Qiao An was startled by Mu Hua's eerie appearance and jumped back a big step.
When Mu Hua saw that it was Qiao An, he didn't even ask what was wrong. He just said, "You're here?" and then turned and went into the living room.
Qiao An carried her suitcase into the entryway, and Xia Qing came downstairs, greeting her quite naturally.
"Qiao An is here."
Ni An was cooking a late-night snack in the kitchen when she poked her head out and asked, "Mr. Ha, would you like some noodle soup?"
"Just a little less, thank you."
Qiao An changed into the slippers he had brought, walked into the living room, and sat on the sofa watching the children play Dou Dizhu (a card game) for a while. Surprisingly, no one asked him what he was doing there, which was quite strange. What Qiao An didn't know was that even the live stream viewers thought his arrival was perfectly normal, and the netizens were already used to it.
"Lele, where's your mother?" Qiao An started to strike up a conversation.
Lele was engrossed in playing cards at the moment and casually replied, "Taking a bath."
Then there was no further news, and Joan awkwardly touched the tip of her nose.
Another ten minutes or so later, Ni An finished cooking the noodles and called everyone over to eat. Du Xiaoruo, with her damp black hair, hopped downstairs from upstairs.
Du Xiaoruo walked to the dining table and sat down. She wasn't too surprised to see Qiao An, but she still asked a question.
"Why are you here?"
Joan breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, a normal person asked a normal question. Otherwise, he would have thought he had seen a ghost tonight.
“The house is leaking,” Qiao An replied, then added, as if to cover up her mistake, “The water pipe upstairs burst, and the leak is so bad that it’s impossible to live here.”
Du Xiaoruo nodded, slurped a mouthful of noodles, and asked, "So, are you staying here?"
Mu Hua, with an expression that said he had seen through it all, smiled and continued, "Even if the house didn't leak, he would still live here. The leak is just an excuse."
Qiao An was so angry that she kicked Mu Hua under the table. If she didn't say anything, no one would think she was mute.
[Hahaha, it has to be you, Mu Hua. Everyone saw through it long ago, but you didn't give our CEO any face at all.]
[Our boss, Mr. Ha, is like a wounded puppy today, wanting his wife to pat his head. What's wrong?]
[Are you referring to the scene where he tried on the shoes? To be honest, I didn't feel that Mr. Ha was hurt at all. On the contrary, I thought he had very strong moral principles, didn't let his personal emotions affect his work, and was very composed.]
Yes, I used to only think that Ha Zong was handsome and down-to-earth, but after seeing this scene today, my impression of him has completely changed. From now on, I'm a die-hard fan of Ya Se.
[I also want to be a die-hard fan of Ya Se, but I heard that Ya Se is about to merge with Jin Se, so it might be something I can't afford in the future.]
Even if I can't afford it, I still hope that Ha can reach the top; he deserves it.
Lele slept in the big bed downstairs, while Qiao An stayed in the attic and slept on a makeshift bed with Xiao Ruo on the floor. There wasn't even a mattress, but he still slept soundly.
The next morning, as soon as I got up and went downstairs, I smelled a rich aroma of food.
Ni An simmered chicken soup all night and made fresh hand-pulled noodles early this morning.
Yingge is a newly developed area, and there are still some farmland around it that have not been requisitioned. Mu Hua bought some organic vegetables from a farm at the entrance of the community when she took a walk early in the morning.
Although it's just a simple bowl of chicken noodle soup, you can smell its delicious aroma from afar.
Qiao An didn't stand on ceremony and sat down at the dining table after greeting everyone.
After everyone had eaten for a while, the sound of high heels came from upstairs. Fan Yingjiao, wearing a backless dress with thin straps, came down the stairs.
Xia Qing rolled her eyes without any hesitation; it was really uncomfortable to have something in her eyes first thing in the morning.
"Mrs. Jin, I'm sorry, we also ate carbohydrates today." Xia Qing retorted in a neutral tone.
Fan Yingjiao's face stiffened. She hadn't eaten dumplings for lunch yesterday, and by evening she was so hungry she was almost fainting. If she said she wouldn't eat now, she would go hungry again.
"Mom, the noodles smell so good!" Jin Xingming shook his mother's hand, looking longingly at the dining table.
Fan Yingjiao immediately found a way out, "Children are growing, so even if it's just carbohydrates, they have to eat their fill, right?"
In the live stream room,
[Fan Yingjiao, I have no problem with the child eating it, but you'd better not eat it.]
[Ni An's chicken noodle soup looks so delicious! It's such a waste to give it to Fan Yingjiao.]
All I can say is that the guests this season are all quite kind. If this were last season, no one would have tolerated Fan Yingjiao's bad habits.
To be honest, Fan Yingjiao is like someone who forgot her brain in the womb when she was born. She should be more low-key when everyone dislikes her, but she doesn't. When she sees Qiao An sitting across from her, she starts to provoke her again.
After Fan Yingjiao sat down, she rhythmically kicked her feet, which were clad in red velvet high heels, a few times on the table leg.
"Oh, Mr. Qiao is here too? Mr. Qiao must be very busy. He helped me change my shoes yesterday, and this morning he still had to come over for a free meal?"
Qiao An put down her cutlery, took a tissue and dabbed it at her lips, then crumpled it into a ball in her hand and tossed it lightly onto the table in front of Fan Yingjiao. She leaned back in her chair, her tone languid.
"Are you a fighting rooster? Yesterday you were in my shop, and I was being professional. Today I can talk you out of your mind, you believe me?"
Recalling Qiao An's fighting spirit on the phone yesterday, Fan Yingjiao still felt intimidated. She lowered her eyes and muttered something under her breath.
"Just kidding, that's such a narrow-minded view."
Qiao An picked up her coat, stood up, and casually remarked, "You have such a big heart, but I've never seen you call everyone 'Dad'?"
"You..." Fan Yingjiao was so angry that she wanted to punch Qiao An a couple of times, but if she really did, then this matter would never end. Fan Yingjiao was a bully who picked on the weak and feared the strong. Now that her husband was not around, this paper tiger of hers would be easily exposed.
"Can you still say no?" Joan's face was full of impatience. "If you don't say it, I'm going to work."
Seeing that Fan Yingjiao had lost her earlier arrogance, Qiao An didn't feel the need to force her to berate her. Although those two sentences were less than one percent of his power, Qiao An still considered himself a gentleman. He picked up the crumpled paper he had just thrown and put it in the trash can. After saying goodbye to the others, he left first.
The viewers in the live stream were laughing hysterically.
[Look at Fan Yingjiao, she was perfectly fine but had to grow a mouth, and now she's been ruined!]
[This is so satisfying! Listening to Boss Ha swear is pure enjoyment.]
[You're annoying and arrogant, why don't you go get a rabies vaccine?]
[I'm dying of laughter! After yelling at someone, Ha Zong still remembered to clean up the trash! Hahaha, how can he be so adorable?]
At this moment, the atmosphere at the dining table inside the Jin family's old house was also very heavy.
Jin Jin slammed a stack of documents in front of Jin Qihuai. The documents contained online comments about the shoe-changing incident last night, which were printed out by his secretary that morning. The dozens of pages were filled with netizens' insults against Fan Yingjiao, and they also dragged Jin Chan and Xiyou into it.
Jin Qihuai picked up the papers, glanced at them, his expression changed, and he quickly explained.
“Dad, you may not have seen the live broadcast. It was Qiao An who started cursing Jiao Jiao. She even called her on speakerphone and cursed at her. It was a very bad thing.”
“I think the scolding was well done,” Jin Jin said in a deep voice.
Jin Jin is usually a refined and gentle person; even when he's angry, his voice just gets a little rougher.
“I always teach you to be humble and modest, and to be virtuous and upright. Look at Fan Yingjiao’s arrogant words, do they seem reasonable? She’s afraid others won’t know how shallow she is. I think Qiao An is right, she’s just full of water in her head. She can just play with her brain when she’s bored, so that she won’t involve others.”
"Dad, I understand. I'll talk to Jiaojiao about it later and ask her to change. This is her first time participating in a program, and she's trying to bring honor to the family. Her intentions are good."
Jin Jin was so angry that his high blood pressure was about to flare up. At a time like this, Jin Qihuai was still trying to defend Fan Yingjiao. They were hopeless. These two were truly beyond saving.
He waved his hand in disappointment, "Fine, you'll report to the sales department today. Also, I'm suspending your card. From today onwards, you'll train yourself from the bottom up, climbing up step by step. I think you won't mature until you've endured some hardship."
"Dad, Dad, what did I do wrong? Dad, it was Fan Yingjiao's mistake." Jin Qihuai panicked immediately upon hearing that he would be implicated.
"Go down."
Jin Jin waved his hand again, his tone even sterner than before.
"You don't have many chances left. As your father, I want to see you grow up. Qi Huai, you are also a father now. It's time for you to grow up."
Jin Qihuai knew his father's temper; he rarely acted, but when he did, it meant he had already made up his mind. He dared not say anything more and stormed out.
Jin Jin's wife, Zhang Yanshu, ate her breakfast silently the whole time, seemingly unaffected by the father and son's argument. Only after Jin Qihuai left did she look up and casually remark,
"You can't talk to a frog in a well about the ocean; it's useless to tell him these things."
Jin Jin looked at his wife's face, his anger subsided, and he smiled indulgently, "You, he's your son, aren't you worried?"
Zhang Yanshu put down the bowl of soy milk, his expression still indifferent.
"I often ask myself, how did I give birth to such an idiot and marry another idiot? And yet, the negatives don't make a positive. It makes me so angry."
Jin Jin looked at Zhang Yanshu's plain face. She wasn't particularly beautiful; her features weren't outstanding even among ordinary people, and she appeared even more ordinary among wealthy women.
But Zhang Yanshu lived a rare life of open-mindedness and clarity, and her personality was also one of being able to take things in stride. Although she was the wife of the richest man, she never relied on her husband's fame. People around her would unconsciously respect her, and even Jin Jin was once a big fan of Zhang Yanshu when he was young.
For some reason, seeing Zhang Yanshu reminded Jin Jin of the fleeting glimpse she had of Qiao An yesterday, and she inexplicably felt that they had something in common.
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