Chapter 26 Shang Qiyue's Business Card
When the call connected, Lu Zhi could hear the clattering of a mahjong machine and the sounds of laughter and chatter coming from her end.
"You don't want any of these? You're so lucky."
Lu Chong frowned, and moved the phone slightly away from his ear. After a few seconds, Lu Zhi's voice came from the other end of the line: "Wait a minute, I need to take this call... Hey, Xiao Chong, what made you think of calling me?"
Lu Chong was silent for a while, and finally spoke with some difficulty: "Sis, are you busy?"
Lu Zhi was somewhat flattered that her younger brother, whom she could hardly find on ordinary days, was suddenly so polite in greeting her and even asked if she was busy.
"I'm not busy, I'm playing mahjong. What's up? Is there something you need?"
Lu Chong knew, of course, that she was playing mahjong; he could hear the sounds of the "eight of bamboos" being ponged even on the other end of the phone.
He just wanted to ask Lu Zhi who she was playing mahjong with. He really disliked his future brother-in-law and his friends, and he didn't want them to know that he had been away from home for so long without achieving anything and was still involved in his sister secretly taking money.
Are you with... Sister Xinhe and the others?
"I'm with Jiayan and the others. Xiaohe went on vacation."
Fu Jiayan gave his two friends a wink. His future brother-in-law had been running away from home for a while now, and Lu Zhi's phone call wouldn't be over anytime soon.
Lu Zhi smiled apologetically at the three of them and walked over to the sofa to make a phone call.
Meng Simiao quickly put her hands off the card table, took out two cigars, and asked Shang Qiyue if he wanted one.
"No smoking today." Shang Qiyue shook his head.
"What the hell are you doing, secretly calculating the cards, huh?" Meng Simiao said in a low voice, clearly annoyed.
"Fine, fine." Shang Qiyue turned to the side, one hand casually resting on the back of the chair, just in time to face the sofa where Lu Zhi was. "I guess it's okay if I don't look."
Meng Simiao then went out to smoke a cigar, satisfied.
"Is it in a hurry?" Lu Zhi frowned. "I don't think that will work. Dad has been checking my accounts very closely lately, afraid that I'll secretly transfer money to you. He even knows how many bags I own now."
"Just 150,000, can you give it to me behind Dad's back?"
"How much?" Fu Jiayan tapped his fiancée's hand and asked. "Could I give it to him secretly?"
Lu Zhi held up a one, then a five.
"One and a half million?" Shang Qiyue asked using lip reading.
Lu Zhi shook her head.
"150,000?" Fu Jiayan asked in a low, breathy voice.
For these young masters and ladies, 150,000 is just a bonus for their assistants.
Lu Zhi nodded.
Fu Jiayan was clearly taken aback, while Shang Qiyue raised an eyebrow.
“The bag I bought you last week should be worth hundreds of thousands now, right?” Fu Jiayan said in a low voice. “Has your dad seen this bag? I remember you left it in my car and never brought it home.”
Lu Zhi remembered something.
“Hey Xiao Chong, I have a bag here that Dad hasn’t seen before. I think I could sell it. But I can’t guarantee Dad won’t find out. If you don’t mind, I’ll bring it to you.”
There seemed to be a long hesitation on the other end of the phone before Lu Zhi finally said "okay" and hung up.
"Is your uncle keeping such a close eye on you now, or are you saying this on purpose?" Fu Jiayan asked gently.
“I did it on purpose. He wouldn’t be willing to go home if I didn’t say that,” Lu Zhi sighed. “This time, my lover’s mother is sick and he urgently needs money. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have agreed.”
Fu Jiayan had heard Lu Zhi mention that Lu Chong was currently with his mistress, and casually said, "If Xiao Chong really likes her, you could talk to your uncle and bring her home, it wouldn't be a bad idea."
Bringing a lover from a humble background home with no connections would be unacceptable to most people, but the Lu family is different. Before marrying their father, Lu Chong and Lu Zhi's stepmother was merely his secretary.
Besides, if people are willing to follow Lu Chong even when he's penniless, regardless of whether it's for money or not, not everyone can endure this kind of hardship.
"Yes, that's what I think too. If you really like him, it's not a bad thing to bring him back. But I can't understand what he's thinking. That kid's family must be really struggling. His mother has been sick for a long time. If he really likes him, why is he only asking me for money now?"
Lu Zhi seemed to realize she had said too much, and smiled apologetically, "Sorry, sorry, I've spoiled everyone's fun. It's on me today, let's play together again next time."
Shang Qiyue considerately picked up his bag and stood up: "Sister Lu Zhi, is something wrong? Then let's call it a day. I won more today, so it's on me."
Meng Simiao had just returned from smoking a cigar and was clearly still enjoying the card game: "Hey! Are you done playing already? No, let's call Hetang over to play."
"Jiayan also needs to take Lu Zhi over, right? We'll need to call someone else, and Hetang might not be available either. Let's do it another day."
Fu Jiayan was very grateful for his friend's thoughtfulness and walked away with Lu Zhi in his arms.
"Sigh, that's how it is with guys who have fiancées, they won't even drink with us anymore," Meng Simiao sighed as she watched the two of them fly away together. "It's still early, where should we go? How about playing some ball?"
"I have things to do too," Shang Qiyue said calmly.
Meng Simiao revealed an angry expression as if she had been betrayed: "If you don't want to play ball with me, then don't play ball with me. What else do you have to do? What could you possibly have to do? You're sending money to your brother too? Where did you get a brother? You weren't bothered when we were winning money."
Shang Qiyue patted his shoulder reassuringly: "Alright, alright, I'll treat you to a game in a few days and give you a spare pole."
He glanced down at his watch. It would take Lu Zhi and Fu Jiayan time to deliver the bag, and it would also take time to sell it. If he went now, he could definitely make it in time.
150,000.
That is, the money for a set of golf clubs that he casually gave to a friend.
......
Mu Yan held his phone; he had just hung up a call with his last colleague with whom he had a good relationship.
“150,000,” my colleague said with difficulty. “Xiao Mu, I’m also from out of town. I just made the down payment and I still have a mortgage to pay every month.”
Mu Yan kept saying things like "It's okay" and "Thank you for your help," her voice getting softer and softer until the call ended completely.
That colleague doesn't actually have a mortgage. Mu Yan heard him mention it last week when they were chatting in the break room. He said he married a local beta girl from City A, and his in-laws bought him a house and a car. All he had to do was keep his wife happy.
But it's only natural to be unwilling to lend money to someone like him.
He had even sent a message to He Fan, whom he hadn't contacted in a long time. The moment he sent it, he regretted it.
But then he comforted himself, thinking that it didn't matter who he borrowed money from. He was already in this predicament, so why should he care about saving face or having any sense of shame?
Moreover, He Fan did not reply.
Xiao Fan's last comment about being able to contact him if she had any difficulties was probably just polite talk. His lack of response is the most dignified way to refuse her.
Mu Yan suddenly felt ashamed. He was two years older than He Fan, yet he had accomplished nothing, was terrible at interpersonal relationships, and was living a miserable life.
Director Zhang is right. Dialysis is a bottomless pit that will only make patients and their families more and more exhausted until they are completely unable to afford it.
In fact, Mu Yan understood Director Zhang's implication: not paying the dialysis fee would not affect normal registration and medical treatment. If the problem couldn't be covered, they should simply let his mother switch to conservative treatment.
Families like theirs shouldn't have chosen dialysis in the first place.
Director Zhang shouldn't have said those things to him. If someone with ulterior motives had recorded them, it would have been enough to remove him from his position as director.
He told Mu Yan this entirely out of kindness, and Mu Yan knew this and was very grateful.
However, his mother had never had a single good day with him.
He also wanted to buy his mother many hot steamed buns, take her to the botanical garden in City A to see the tulips many times, take her to see the sea, and take her to the capital.
When he was younger, he promised his mother that he would buy her a big villa.
His mother stroked his head and said, "Mom doesn't want you to buy me a big villa. Big villas cost a lot of money, and you'll be very tired. As long as you and your brother are happy, Mom is happy. If you can come back to visit me often, I'll be even happier."
But he was really terrible; just keeping his mother alive was almost an impossible task for him.
This is all he can do for his mother. He can't take her to the capital, and he can't take her to the seaside.
He can't... even give up his mother's life.
He can get 150,000.
With an additional 150,000 yuan, my mother can continue dialysis.
Business card... Mu Yan suddenly remembered something; he still had that business card.
Shang Qiyue's business card.
[Author's Note]
The next chapter will be available for purchase! There will be a 10,000-word update after the purchase period, and there will be red envelopes (cash gifts) in the last three chapters after purchase! We're also holding a giveaway: 50 lucky readers with 100% subscription rate will each receive 100 Jinjiang coins!
Here's a pre-order for "The Loyal Dog Who Was Abandoned After Being Seduced Ends Up with Someone Else," featuring a gentle and obsessive crown prince as the top and a slow-witted but loyal bodyguard as the bottom.
In Chang'an, everyone knew that Lu Song'an was a good dog kept by Prince Pei Yunhe of Chu.
The young masters and ladies of noble families laughed at him for being born into the Lu family of Fanyang, yet serving as a servant in the Pei family. His former colleagues looked down on him, saying that although he was originally a member of the Crown Prince's household, he served two masters.
The people in the Chu Prince's mansion even believed that he was a seductive vixen who had bewitched the prince and princess, causing them to remain childless to this day.
When he was sixteen, he was spotted by the King of Chu and cried and begged to leave the Eastern Palace to become a guard in the King of Chu's palace. From then on, he followed the King of Chu and risked his life for him.
When the King of Chu was in danger, Lu Song'an suffered two fatal wounds while protecting his lord. The King of Chu, tired of the common women of the capital, beckoned to Lu Song'an, who knelt before him like a puppy. When the King of Chu was wounded and unconscious on the battlefield, Lu Song'an refused any rewards and stayed in the royal palace to care for him for three whole years.
Even when the King of Chu pushed him out to take the blame, he was only stunned for a moment before bowing his head and admitting his guilt.
He was flogged fifty times and exiled to Lingnan. Lu Song'an bowed to his master, whom he had served for seven years, as a way of expressing gratitude for his mentorship and life-saving kindness.
Even though he was a veteran of countless battles, Lu Song'an was in so much pain during the torture that he almost fainted. Perhaps he was hallucinating from the pain, but he vaguely sensed that someone was lifting him up, and the person's aura was clear and cold.
That's sandalwood that only His Highness the Crown Prince can use.
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