Chapter 197

Chapter 197: What Kind of Strange Talk Is That?

The one speaking was Chairwoman Qiu, Ms. Qiu, who had hurried over with her son.

She said: “I was just in the back helping out with Ji Chen. When I heard you were coming, I planned to greet you myself, but something came up and delayed me a little…”

Du An Rao replied: “It is fine. You were busy. We were just walking around and looking, and we are about to go in too.”

Although the experience at the jewelry store that day had been pretty unpleasant, Du An Rao was not unreasonable. She knew the whole thing was not the fault of this mother and son. On top of that, they had actually prepared very well. They had announced her identity ahead of time so clearly that even a shop assistant in a franchise store knew about her. They had already done their best to cover every angle.

But when you have too many people working under you, there will always be one or two oddballs who insist on going against everyone. If you run into employees who drag you down like that, the boss is probably just as desperate.

Ms. Qiu heard that Du An Rao’s tone had not really changed from before and quietly let out a breath of relief. She smiled and said: “Miss Du, did you see anything you liked in the exhibition hall? In a bit I can bid on it and give it to you, as an apology from my son and me for what happened the other day at the franchise store.”

Du An Rao said: “There is no need. It was never your fault, so you do not have to give me a gift because of it. Besides, Mr. Qiu already gave me an invitation to get in, so as far as I am concerned, the matter is over. It is just…”

Ms. Qiu asked: “Just what?”

“Just that if I want to bid on something later and do not have enough money, could I borrow some from you?” As she spoke, Du An Rao playfully winked at Ms. Qiu.

Ms. Qiu froze for a moment, then finally relaxed completely and said with a smile: “If something can catch Miss Du’s interest, how could I possibly let you go home empty-handed?”

“Then it is settled!”

Du An Rao gave her an OK hand sign, and then the two of them could not help laughing.

The atmosphere between them was so harmonious that the guests passing by, who had planned to just watch for a while, started to stir for no clear reason.

“Is that President Qiu?”

“President Qiu? Which President Qiu?”

“President Qiu, the chairwoman of Yayu Jade House.”

“It is really her! Why does she look so close to that girl? Could it be because of… Ninth Master?”

“And behind her, that looks like President Yu of Yucheng Industries and his eldest Young Master. Yucheng Industries is the biggest construction company in City B. I heard most of their projects are in cooperation with the government. How would a boss like that know some little girl, and even treat her so well? It must also be because of Ninth Master.”

“You only recognize those two older ones. Did none of you notice the young man who has been with her the whole time?”

“That young man? Who is he supposed to be?”

“He is the Young Master of the Xi family from City A, the heir to Xi Group!”

“What? The Xi family? That Xi family?”

When they heard that surname, many people present could not help sucking in a sharp breath. Even though the Xi family’s base was not in City B, that did not stop seventy to eighty percent of the upper circle in City B from knowing who they were.

It was said to be a great family that had lasted for hundreds of years, with deep foundations. Their descendants were spread across all walks of life, each one an elite among elites. The wealth they had built up over generations was scary high. It was only because the Xi family kept a low profile and did not like to join any kind of rich list that the rankings of those tycoon lists had not already been reshuffled.

And yet a person like that was now standing beside a girl who was said to be some wild thing from the countryside, smiling gently and harmlessly, like a warm boy next door. It was really hard not to think too much.

From a distance, Du Tian Ci watched all those powerful family bosses gathered around Du An Rao, chatting away. He was so jealous that his eyes turned red.

“Second Grandfather is way too biased. We are clearly his closest blood relatives, but he gave all the good stuff to this wild girl who popped up from who knows where!”

His disdain for Du An Rao herself, plus all the guests’ guessing, made him completely sure that the only reason she had ties with these big shots was because Du De Sheng was pulling strings behind the scenes, not because of her own connections.

Du Wei Shuai’s face was also ugly. Clearly he was thinking the same thing as his son. He said: “Your Second Grandfather is old. The older he gets, the more muddled he becomes. It is easy for someone with bad intentions to fool him into making ridiculous decisions. As his closest blood relatives in this world, we have a duty to stop him when he is being foolish.”

The words out of Du Wei Shuai’s mouth sounded so grand and righteous that anyone who did not know better would think he was a truly filial junior who cared about his elder. Luckily, Du An Rao was far away and did not hear the father and son talking. Otherwise, she would have definitely given them four words: shameless to the extreme.

While she was chatting with Ms. Qiu and the others, time unknowingly reached eight o’clock. Using the excuse of going to the bathroom, Jiang Chang Bin shot a look at Yu Qing Ting, and the two of them slipped away for a bit before going in.

When they came back, the older cousin had already learned the gossip that Du An Rao had been curious about earlier.

It turned out that Yu Ya Qi had been caught in the middle of carrying out her plan. Just as Yu Chu Hui was about to drink the spiked drink, Yu Qing Ting appeared with Father Yu, throwing out the paternity test he had secretly ordered, right in front of the mother and daughter. The timing could not have been better.

After seeing that paternity test, Yu Ya Qi completely lost her composure. She fell to her knees in tears, clutching Father Yu’s leg and begging him not to throw her out of the house.

After all, she was the little daughter he had doted on for over twenty years. Father Yu almost softened. But Yu Qing Ting and his sister could not let him keep being fooled. They immediately exposed Yu Ya Qi’s true face and suggested having the spiked drink tested.

When Yu Ya Qi saw that things were over and she could not turn it around, she was unwilling to accept it. And her mother was the kind of person whose emotions ran away with her and dragged everyone down. The moment they realized their scheme had failed, the mother simply went all-out and attacked everyone.

Putting aside Du An Rao, even Jiang Chang Bin had been stunned when he heard Yu Qing Ting talk about it. He said: “This Madam Yu, oh no, I should say former Madam Yu, is really something. Not only did she throw herself at her husband’s face and pour out her deep love for her male lover right in front of him, she even blamed Qing Ting’s father for holding her back…”

“What kind of strange talk is that?” Du An Rao was stunned. “Isn’t Mr. Yu the victim here? She is the one who did wrong, yet she blames the victim for holding her back? Holding her back from what? From dumping everything and going off to be someone’s mistress?”

“Exactly. It makes no sense. I suspect she…” Jiang Chang Bin tapped his own head, showing that he thought Madam Yu might have some problem in the brain.

“Anyway, Uncle Yu was furious over this. He had someone draft the divorce papers on the spot and only let that woman leave after she signed them. Oh, right, Uncle Yu also moved Chu Hui’s household registration out and even changed her surname, making her take the same surname as her mother.”