He had investigated Meng Wanqing's family background. Previously, the Meng Family ran a tailor shop in Guangzhou for a living. When the civil war started, the Meng Family moved to Hong Kong and continued to make clothes by tailoring. Although they were not extremely wealthy, they were worlds apart from Song Tianyao's own humble background. Otherwise, they would not have raised a Meng Wanqing the pipa. Unfortunately, the influx of wealthy people from Shanghai into Hong Kong sparked a gold rush, causing many banks and money shops to go bankrupt and close down. The bank where the Meng Family had deposited their money was among them. Their savings of many years were lost. Their only son also became addicted to opium and borrowed money from loan sharks everywhere. This forced a perfectly good middle-class family to rely on their daughter, who was raised in her boudoir, to work in seafood restaurants, using her beauty and talent to earn a living.
Meng Wanqing turned her head and looked at Song Tianyao who spoke with her dark and clear eyes. Although she did not speak, the joy in her eyes could not be hidden. She had seen Song Tianyao speak a word and many Jianghu people and even Yan Xiong's policemen would rush to help him. She had also seen him casually reward him with his heroic and generous hospitality, but she Deep down, I hate the people in the world and the pleasure seekers on the boats. At this moment, I heard that this man did not show off his wealth and power in a big way, nor did he promise to give me any amount of money or jewelry to express his pampering. Instead, his tone was serious, just like a warm exchange between husband and wife, persuading his father to continue his tailoring business.
At this moment, Song Tianyao was more trustworthy to Meng Wanqing than the Song Tianyao who had made Yan Hung kill someone in one night to save her and go see him.
She watched with delight as Song Tianyao seemed to pause, deep in thought about important matters, and felt that she hadn't entrusted herself to the wrong person. But then Song Tianyao's hand began to wriggle inside her bodice again. By the time Meng Wanqing came to her senses, the silver chain on her bodice, which she had just tied, had already been untied by Song Tianyao.
Song Tianyao rolled over again, pinning the woman down. "I just did the math; the hotel restaurant doesn't close until 10 PM. This rest period seems too long. How about we do it again?"
Meng Wanqing blushed and propped herself up against Song Tianyao's chest, staring intently at Song Tianyao. She shook her head firmly. Song Tianyao looked at the woman beneath him and asked, "Why are you being so cold again?"
Meng Wanqing bit her lip, squeezing out a single word from between her delicate red lips. "It hurts."
Her voice was cool yet alluring, her face as beautiful as a fairy's.
Chapter 195 A New Beginning
After washing up, Chu Yaozong, dressed in loose pajamas, went into his bedroom in the back building. His wife, Peng Xiulian, was leaning against the headboard, reading the "Stage Star Daily," a newspaper filled with quirky and interesting stories about actors, by the light of the bedside lamp. Seeing Chu Yaozong return to the room, Peng Xiulian folded the newspaper and placed it on the bedside table. She then sat up, picked up a bowl of perfectly warm bird's nest soup from the bedside table, and handed it to Chu Yaozong. Chu Yaozong took it and slowly drank it. Peng Xiulian then took out a handkerchief and personally wiped the corners of Chu Yaozong's mouth clean. Only then did the couple lie down on the bed together to go to sleep.
"Ah Sin's secretary... is she really not planning to work at Likang anymore? I heard Ah Sin say at dinner that Secretary Song rented a floor of a tenement building on High Street in Sai Ying Pun today." Peng Xiulian didn't rush to turn off the lamp tonight, but hesitated for a moment before asking Chu Yaozong.
She possessed an innate, unassuming nature, lacking the airs of a wealthy family's matriarch. As a second wife, she never acted like the mistress of the house to the Chu Family. She spent her days embroidering, listening to music, and teaching Chu Xiaozhi, never interfering in the Chu Family business. If she had any concerns, they were only her two sons. Chu Xiaozhi was still young and was being raised by her side for education. Currently, her only concern was Chu Xiaoxin. She knew her son's capabilities; Likang had swallowed up the Zhang Family's business like a snake devouring an elephant in a short time, and Chu Xiaoxin had become Justice of the Peace —all orchestrated by that young secretary, Song Tianyao. She worried that Chu Xiaoxin's current high position would attract attention, while Song Tianyao, who had truly worked hard to secure everything for Chu Xiaoxin, would retire after achieving his goals. With her son's personality, if Song Tianyao were no longer there to help and guide him, he might fall hard.
"Even if you pressure him, he'll stay and continue working for the Chu Family. A-Zhong even asked me why I didn't keep Song Tianyao. Actually, whether A-Yao works for the Chu Family now or not, outsiders still consider him a member of the Chu Family. There's no need to force him to stay at Ah Sin's Likang. Speaking of which, I really admire A-Yao. It's a pity he doesn't have a daughter. Otherwise, we could arrange an engagement first, and then he could marry into the family. That would be a perfect match." Chu Yaozong squinted and teased with a smile, "If I really had a daughter who married Song Tianyao, perhaps even Gold King Chow Chi-yuen's self-proclaimed son-in-law wouldn't be as good as A-Yao."
Peng Xiulian gently patted Chu Yaozong's arm, interrupting her husband's joke, "Don't joke. Ah Sin is afraid he'll revert to his old ways after leaving Secretary Song. Did Secretary Song leave because the salary was too low?"
"He helped Ah Sin because of his influence, not for money. You wouldn't understand. But don't worry about Ah Sin. Ah Sin won't be like before, because I'm planning to arrange for my fourth brother's son, Shu Heng, to go to Likang to help Ah Sin manage his business. He won't be idle. And Song Tianyao might be standing with Ah Sin again in a year or two, only his status might not be what it is now." Chu Yaozong said to his wife, "Ah Sin is very lucky. I think instead of worrying about Ah Sin 'Ah Sin business, you should worry about his marriage. He's not young anymore; it's time for him to get married and settle down."
Upon hearing that Chu Yaozong had arranged for Chu Shuheng to help his son manage Likang's business, Peng Xiulian breathed a sigh of relief. This meant that her husband was beginning to truly value Chu Xiaoxin. Chu Shuheng had previously been managing the Chu Family's textile business and was considered a core figure in the Chu Family's business. Compared to Chu Shuheng, someone like Uncle Fu, Chu Xiaozhong's uncle who had been sent to Likang to help Chu Xiaoxin, was like heaven and earth.
Having received assurances, Peng Xiulian reached out and turned off the lamp, quickly falling asleep. Chu Yaozong, however, hesitated to go to sleep, thinking about the topic his wife had brought up. Song Tianyao was impeccable in his work; even though he was preparing to withdraw from the Chu Family business, he left Chu Xiaoxin with the impression of a wealthy man selling his horse's bones. The secondary distribution company was registered under his name, but the profit distribution plan had already been drafted. After dinner, Chu Xiaozhong showed Chu Yaozong the profit distribution list. Likang needed to cultivate connections and relationships in the pharmaceutical business, whether Foreign Devil or Chinese, and everyone should receive a share of the profits from each transaction. The benefits were distributed in a very detailed manner, so much so that even his son, Chu Xiaoxin, could calculate the expenses for bribing connections without needing an accountant, simply by looking at this list. Song Tianyao himself received only eight thousand dollars in profit from Crown Asia Company each month. Even though Chu Yaozong knew that Song Tianyao had seized the property of several Collaborator, Fuyixing, by using Chu Xiaoxin's name, with the deeds and properties totaling three to five hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars, the eight thousand dollars he received from Crown Asia each month was still pitifully small compared to the empire he had built for Likang.