The Sudden Phone Call

After waiting in the milk tea shop for about half an hour, he still hadn't seen Qiu Qi.

Instead, he received a phone call.

"Xu Chi? Why was this kid suddenly calling me?"

Xu Chi was from his mother's side of the family. He and Zhuang Xin had gotten along well as children, but later, when Zhuang Xin had fallen seriously ill, his mother had returned to her family to borrow money. Zhuang Xin's grandmother had given her fifty thousand yuan, sparking endless gossip among the relatives.

In the end, they had even said things like "spendthrift daughter" and "still asking her natal family for money after getting married" right in front of his mother, nearly causing her to completely fall out with her family.

If not for his grandmother and grandfather trying to stop them, they would have long since cut ties with his eldest aunt for good.

Besides, it wasn't as if they had borrowed the money without repaying it. A year and a half later, after saving enough, his mother had brought sixty thousand yuan back to her family. The extra ten thousand was for his grandmother's living expenses, and she regularly sent some money back every month.

Unfortunately, after that incident, apart from returning to visit his grandmother and grandfather, they rarely interacted with those relatives.

"Brother Xin, hurry back and take a look. The family's in an uproar."

Xu Chi sounded anxious, and the noise of people arguing could be heard in the room behind him.

"What happened?" Zhuang Xin was puzzled. His parents had brought so many gifts back with them; things should have been harmonious.

"Sigh, you know Eldest Aunt has never gotten along with your mother. This time, your parents brought back quite a few good things. They even gave your eldest aunt a pair of jade bracelets. Everyone was friendly when they first came back, but the next day, Eldest Aunt's son, Cheng Huai, stole your father's set of White Jade Chess. He even stole the bank card your parents had just gotten."

"How is that possible? Has Cheng Huai gone crazy?" Zhuang Xin was stunned too. He had never expected Cheng Huai, who had seemed rather shy as a child, to do something like this.

"Hey, you don't know. Cheng Huai has been messing around outside these past two years. Who knows what he's been doing? He claimed he was doing business, but he ended up owing more than five hundred thousand yuan. He never dared come home, and only returned these past couple of days. Who would've thought..."

"Enough. I'll head back and take a look right away."

Zhuang Xin hung up, his expression darkening.

Ever since his mother's family had lent money for his treatment, his family and his eldest aunt's side had fallen out. This time, they had actually been so bold as to steal not only the White Jade Chess, but even the bank card.

He just didn't know whether that guy knew the card's password. Hopefully, his parents hadn't foolishly told him.

That bank card should have been given by the Zhuang family. There definitely wouldn't be little money in it.

He opened his messaging app and sent Qiu Qi a message, telling her to wait at the plaza.

He then notified Xiao Han and asked her to handle the paperwork for Qiu Qi.

Zhuang Xin returned to the parking lot, drove his Koenigsegg away from New World Plaza, and headed toward Green Bud County Town outside Juncheng.

At the entrance of New World Plaza.

Qiu Qi arrived at the parking lot with several of her friends in a business van worth just over a hundred thousand yuan.

Just then, they saw a Koenigsegg roar past.

Chu Nuan happened to turn around and spot the car. She couldn't help exclaiming in surprise, "A Koenigsegg... Damn, I saw one at an auto show two years ago. Why is it here? Could someone have bought it?"

"Koenigsegg? You mean that one worth forty-seven million?" Bai Xinxin rolled down the window as well and leaned out to look.

When Chu Nuan had returned back then, she had talked about it for ages.

"Stop looking. Taking care of business is more important. Hurry up and get out; don't keep Zhuang Xin waiting too long." Qiu Qi opened the car door and picked up her bag. Thinking of the time she had confessed to Zhuang Xin as a child, her pretty face flushed red.

It had been so long since she last saw him. She wondered how much he had changed.

"Ohoho, you're not even married yet, and you're already thinking about him?"

Several of her friends couldn't help teasing her, though they still tactfully got out of the vehicle.

Qiu Qi looked at her phone a few times, but there was no signal in the underground parking lot, so she couldn't receive any messages.

"Why is it you again?"

Just as Qiu Qi and the others were about to lock the car, they saw a plump woman in her forties step out of a Mercedes-Benz. A pretty boy around twenty stood beside her, his face heavily groomed and his hair slicked back as he followed behind her.

Upon seeing the plump woman, Qiu Qi merely frowned and pulled her friends along faster.

The plump woman sneered. "Don't waste your energy. The head of New World's security department is my cousin, and I know plenty of people inside. You think negotiating early means you can secure it? With the little capital you have, you think you're worthy of competing with me?"

The plump woman's real name was Zhang Cui. When she was younger, she had relied on her body to rise through the ranks and start a small company. Along with having some looks, she had received help from many wealthy bosses and managed to make it flourish.

Unfortunately, once her looks faded and she could no longer win over rich men, she began doing business properly and kept several pretty boys. She was usually unbearably arrogant and was also Qiu Qi and her friends' sworn enemy.

"Qiu Qi, don't pay attention to her. Let's go take a look first."

"Yeah, maybe your friend really does have connections."

Several of her friends began comforting Qiu Qi.

However, Qiu Qi's expression grew noticeably dimmer.

Over the past few years, she had also asked around about Zhuang Xin and learned that he was only an ordinary person.

She had come this time saying that she wanted Zhuang Xin's help, but in truth, she simply wanted to see him.

As for the New World storefront, whether they secured it or not, she had already come to terms with it.

Yet Zhang Cui's words had made her feel quite uncomfortable.

"Alright, let's go in." Qiu Qi sighed.

Her friends' moods worsened as well. But after leaving the parking lot, their phones regained signal, and Qiu Qi received Zhuang Xin's message.

"What's wrong? Is it a message from Zhuang Xin?"

"What did he say?"

Qiu Qi opened her mouth, unsure how to explain it.

After a long while, she handed her phone to her friends.

The girls looked at it and immediately gave bitter smiles.

"Was it because he couldn't handle it and didn't dare meet us? He told us to meet the New World staff here?"

"We've come here who knows how many times. If it were useful, we wouldn't have needed to come again."

"Seriously... this Zhuang Xin is so unreliable. Fine if he couldn't make it happen, but the main thing is that he came and left without even telling us."

Naturally, the girls could tell that Qiu Qi mostly wanted to see Zhuang Xin.

They were also curious about what Zhuang Xin looked like, that he could make Qiu Qi so devoted to him. Over all these years, they had never seen Qiu Qi agree to anyone's pursuit, much less show any intention of discussing marriage.

Only when Zhuang Xin was mentioned would she reveal a trace of shyness.

"Alright, let's go up and take a look."

They stepped forward, took Qiu Qi by the hand, and went upstairs together.

Since they were already here, whether they could succeed or not, they had to give it a try.