When Lin Weiwei saw the missed call from Uncle Xiao after school, she frowned. Could something bad have happened?
Good heavens... he's still sleeping! A kick to Xiao Se's thigh finally pulled him out of his slumber.
"Who attacked me? Oh, school's out!"
"At least you know to come home after school. Come with me."
Where are we going? Oh right, Old Xiao texted me this morning. She must be seeing him. She's out of living expenses for the month, so going with him is a good way to ask for some more. I didn't sleep well last night, feeding mosquitoes all night. I finally managed to catch up on sleep in the classroom this morning, but my classmates woke me up. I can only take a nap during my nighttime rest.
When she arrived at the Xiao Group again, the first floor had returned to its usual vitality. A new batch of receptionists were leading her in, and the receptionist from last time was now in high spirits and had a great service attitude. She was all made up, wearing a suit and skirt, and even took the initiative to greet Lin Weiwei when she saw her again.
The atmosphere throughout the company was great. The lights in the lobby were especially bright, there were red carpets at the elevator entrances, and doormen were there to press elevator buttons and help with luggage.
"Holy crap... they've changed owners?"
Xiao Se sighed and said that Old Man Xiao didn't pay attention to service details at all. As a businessman, he only cared about results. He didn't care about his subordinates as long as there were achievements.
When Lin Weiwei arrived on the tenth floor, she saw a new batch of maids the moment she opened the door. Each one was more beautiful than the last, and they brought slippers for the two of them to change into.
"Lin Weiwei, hmm, what a talent... I withdrew all my other investments as you suggested and poured them into industry. Stockholders are all curious and will invest a little to test the waters, little do they know that this small amount has attracted many people, with old investors pushing new ones. I've now made back all the losses I had before, and as promised, I'll give you 500,000, ten times the amount."
When she received the money, she was incredulous. Five hundred trades could yield such a huge profit; this was her first time investing in stocks. "Thanks," she said, "but that enormous bill... I..."
The amount involved is too high, nearly 100 million, she can't afford to pay it. She will return all the money she owes Li Yao.
"Don't worry about it, I paid it off for him. It's just that he's dropped to sixth place on the rich list."
What huge bill? Xiao Se looked at the repayment certificate on the table. The recipient's name was that of the richest man in Xihong City.
They might as well rob someone of 100 million. What kind of dilapidated building or museum is worth 100 million? It's pure extortion.
“I don’t need you to pay for it. Where were you when Father got into trouble? Let me tell you, Li Yao confessed everything to me. He killed both Grandpa and Mom!”
Xiao Se saw his stepmother as if he were seeing a murderer standing right in front of him, holding the dagger that Lin Weiwei had tucked into her waistband, pointing it at the woman in front of him.
"Alright, stop arguing. I just want to invite Weiwei over for dinner and get back her share of the profits. Xiao Se, your mother has been a great help to me with cash flow this time."
"She is not my mother! I only have one mother, the one who gave me life and raised me."
The turntable was filled with delicious dishes, and the red tablecloth was covered with colorless drinks such as Sprite and soda water, as well as fruit salad and desserts such as cakes. It was a lavish meal for just four people, like a royal banquet.
What's the use of a lavish meal if he can't eat it when he sees his stepmother's face?
He grabbed the tablecloth and pulled it towards the ground. Seeing the delicious food fall to the ground, he didn't feel any heartache at all and walked away.
Looking at Xiao Se's retreating figure, Lin Weiwei wondered what he had gone through that made him so unable to accept Li Shi, his stepmother.
A perfectly good family dinner was ruined. Everyone lost their mood, and the stepmother tearfully put on her mink coat, got off the elevator, and said she would eat out alone.
"I'm sorry you had to see this. It's all because I spoiled you. Here, let me show you something."
While Xiao Aotian was instructing the kitchen to remake the meal, he took Lin Weiwei to the private cinema on the twelfth floor and showed her a documentary.
The scene depicts the birth of a baby, with an elderly man with a pale face and white hair holding a little boy and using a bolang drum to soothe the child.
When Xiao Aotian appeared, he was followed by a woman, who was his stepmother, Li.
It turns out that Li Shi knew Xiao Se's father before Xiao Se was even born, but why did Uncle Xiao cry when he saw Xiao Se being born?
“Li is my ex-wife. She married me when I was penniless, but she was diagnosed with infertility and divorced me. The day Xiao Se was born was the last time I saw Li in this surveillance video.”
Xiao Aotian wiped away his tears. After so many years, why did Xiao Se still think that Li was a third party? Clearly, his birth mother was Li's best friend, and the two were like sisters. He handed the yellowed photo of the two girls together to Lin Weiwei and sniffed.
“Xiao Se’s birth mother was in poor health after giving birth to him. Li Shi was like a sister to her, and she went abroad to do business and searched for doctors for her everywhere, but in the end she could not make it.”
At this point, Xiao Aotian picked up a tissue, blew on his nose, and choked up, unable to speak.
It turns out that Xiao Se has such a background. He is actually very happy. Although his stepmother, Li, is not his biological mother, she loves him just as much as his mother.
Even without Uncle Xiao explaining further, she knew why the old couple remarried—it was to give Xiao Se a complete family. But this guy was never satisfied and always found fault with everything.
Lin Weiwei didn't understand why Xiao Aotian had told her this background. She handed him a few tissues, not knowing how to comfort him or what to say, and knew that silence was the best response.
“I can tell that my son likes you very much, and you still have feelings for him. I don’t approve of Li’s actions sometimes. Could you please forgive her for the sake of this old man?”
“I think you’ve misunderstood. I have absolutely no prejudice against Ms. Li, and I can understand her actions. I don’t know what love is, but I can feel this mother’s love for her son.”
If it's a topic to discuss, she has absolutely no prejudice; she neither likes nor dislikes it.
"You're really outstanding, so will you forgive Xiao Se? I do know a little about what happened between you two."
...
Without love, there is no hate; for her, there was only repayment. Paying back debts is a matter of course.
Because he always did foolish things for her without any regard for the consequences, and then made her clean up his messes without ever having a moment's peace, she was arrested by the richest man in Xihong City. At first, she was moved by his efforts to get her classmates to accept her, but after they had a relationship, she had no choice but to acknowledge the existence of this relationship. She knew nothing about him, but she could not forget that the child had actually existed.
"No, we're fine as we are. If there's nothing else, I'll be going now!"
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