Qingcheng International

"A small matter?"

Zhuang Xin said with a half-smile.

If these weren't his relatives, he would have sent Cheng Huai to the police station for tea long ago.

However...

Zhuang Xin smiled faintly, "It's not impossible for me not to pursue this matter further."

He seemed to be relenting, but he was actually preparing for what was to come.

"Oh? You're really not going to pursue it?" Xu Pei's eyes lit up, and she smiled, "As expected of my good nephew."

"I haven't finished speaking." Zhuang Xin glanced at Cheng Huai and continued, "I can drop this matter, but from now on, I will no longer allow Cheng Huai to enter my businesses."

The reason he said this was to prevent his mother, who was easily swayed, from being influenced by others later and arranging for Cheng Huai to work there.

"Why?" Xu Pei was stunned.

"I don't trust this person. If he dares to steal today, who knows if he'll embezzle company funds in the future?"

"But as for Xu Chi..." Zhuang Xin glanced at his cousin, "Coincidentally, I've contracted a stretch of sea and plan to build a resort. Come to the city tomorrow and find me, I'll arrange something for you to do."

"Really? Cousin, that's great."

Xu Chi didn't expect such a sudden surprise. Zhuang Xin was clearly planning to help him.

"Zhuang Xin... How can you be so biased?" Xu Pei was anxious. Anyone with eyes could see that the Zhuang family father and son had become successful. Someone who could easily buy a ten-million-yuan white jade chess set and had tens of millions in their bank account casually lying around, how could their achievements be low?

Even a little guidance to their relatives could help them soar to new heights.

But Zhuang Xin was cutting off their path.

He'd rather help Xu Chi than his own son, why?

"I'm biased? If Xu Chi hadn't told me, I would still be in the dark about this. Who knows if you would gossip behind my back, and then my parents would soften their hearts and let it go? I will never forget what your family did back then." Zhuang Xin's smile grew colder.

He even looked at Xu Pei with disgust.

"You... Xu Chi, you were the one who snitched? I was wondering why this kid came back so quickly. I remember how much I doted on you as a child and bought you clothes."

"Bought me clothes?" Xu Chi was also angered, "You did buy me clothes, but it was a set of cheap stuff from the street, and you brought it up once a year! For seven years, for a whole seven years, because of this, you always came to my house to take advantage of us. My parents didn't say anything out of politeness, but I won't give you that face."

"Fine! You bunch of ungrateful brats, no respect!"

"Alright, stop wasting your breath talking to him." Zhuang Xin stood up and walked to his grandparents. "Grandma, I came in a hurry this time and didn't bring any gifts. I'll make it up to you next time."

Unlike how he treated Xu Pei, Zhuang Xin considered his grandparents among his closest relatives at heart.

If it weren't for his grandparents' strong opposition back then, Zhuang Xin would have run out of money for treatment and suffered lasting health problems.

"It's good that you're back. Gifts and such, we're old, we don't lack anything." Grandma affectionately patted Zhuang Xin's head. The two elders hadn't said anything just now, wanting Zhuang Xin to handle this matter himself.

This Xu Pei was becoming more and more excessive.

Even this child, Cheng Huai, had become like this.

Cheng Huai was quite well-behaved when he was young, but he gradually became meaner later on.

"Hehe, it doesn't mean I can't buy anything just because you don't lack it. I'll definitely prepare some unexpected surprises for you next time. But I have something to do and need to go back. You stay home. If you lack anything or need money, you can tell me." After speaking, Zhuang Xin stood up and patted Xu Chi's shoulder. "Remember to report tomorrow. You know where my place is, right?"

"Of course!" Xu Chi nodded.

Zhuang Xin then said goodbye to his parents and left without even looking at Xu Pei, Cheng Yuan, or Cheng Huai.

The three were furious and too ashamed to stay any longer. After bidding farewell to the elders, they left directly.

Once outside, Xu Pei couldn't contain her anger and shouted, "No, we can't let this go. Now that they have money, they want to kick us aside. Our Cheng Huai just swiped a little of their money. This million or so is nothing to them, not even enough to scratch an itch."

"Then what can we do... It's not our family's money, can we just snatch it?" Cheng Yuan sighed.

It was Cheng Huai who thought of a solution. "I've got it. I heard that rich people value their reputation the most. I knew a delinquent girl before whose brother has considerable influence in the county. We'll slander them in the county and the city and extort some money. At least, at least we should get a million!"

"A million? How is that enough? I think we should ask them for two million!" Xu Pei's eyes widened, and she clenched her fists. Two million, if they got their hands on it, they could live comfortably for the rest of their lives.

"Okay! We'll do as Mom says." Cheng Huai licked his lips, took out his phone, and contacted the delinquent girl he knew.

Meanwhile, Zhuang Xin drove away from the county town and sent a message to Qiu Qi.

"How's the shop matter going?"

Qiu Qi, who was busy in the warehouse, heard her phone ring. She picked it up and saw it was from Zhuang Xin. She immediately stopped what she was doing and replied with a voice message, her face blushing, "It's all settled, and we even got a discount. Thank you, Zhuang Xin."

Voice message?

Zhuang Xin listened to the sweet voice coming from his phone and a nostalgic look appeared on his face.

Compared to middle school, this little girl's voice was even more captivating.

"It's good that the contract is signed. I had something temporary to attend to at noon, so I couldn't accompany you inside. You're not mad at me, are you?"

"How could I be? If it weren't for you, we wouldn't even be able to see a manager, let alone get a shop. By the way, I said I'd treat you to a meal. When... when are you free?" This was the first time Qiu Qi had actively invited a boy to dinner, and her voice sounded as soft as a mosquito's.

Zhuang Xin couldn't help but chuckle, "How about tomorrow night? I'm a bit tired from running around today."

"Okay, then. Tomorrow night, I'll choose a place and send you a message."

"Alright!"

After closing his social media app, Zhuang Xin quickly drove back to Juncheng.

He randomly picked a place to eat something, but then he suddenly remembered that it seemed like he hadn't seen his fiancée since he woke up.

It was said that this 'Nie Han'er' was not only a famous business prodigy in Juncheng but was also ranked as the foremost of Juncheng's three great beauties by the Juncheng Evening News.

Casually sending Qu Hongyun a text message to find out the location of Nie Han'er's company, Zhuang Xin arrived at 'Qingcheng International.' It was said that Nie Han'er started her business with cosmetics and later expanded into all brand industries related to women.

Qingcheng International now was no longer just selling cosmetics; it had become a behemoth.

It included clothing, jewelry, and bags, and was particularly famous in Juncheng.

After parking the car and getting out, Zhuang Xin looked up at the towering building before him, as well as the large stone sculpture of 'Qingcheng International' at the entrance. He couldn't help but marvel at how grand his fiancée's establishment truly was.