Chapter 54

Chapter 54: I Can’t Even Look

Du Yu Xi’s pupils shrank. She never would have thought she would run into the Li family before the banquet even started.

After a brief daze, she still gave the same answer with a light smile: “Maybe I just have a common face.”

Madam Li could not help laughing: “You look like a movie star. How could that be a common face? From your accent, you do not sound local.”

“Right, we are from City S.”

“Oh, so you are from City S, no wonder you do not sound like locals. Is this your first time in City J? Do you need our help with anything?”

Du Yu Xi opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Du An Rao was already grinning.

[Hahahaha, I can hear the little scheme in this from City S. Even if this auntie isn’t from the Li family, she must be someone related to my Fourth Sister’s mom.]

Because she was so nervous, Du Yu Xi’s fingers curled slightly, and even her knuckles turned a little white.

“Would it be too much trouble for you?”

“Not at all. We came out to shop anyway. It is more fun to walk together.”

Maybe afraid the two girls would overthink it, Madam Li sighed with a wistful look and said: “My daughter is about the same age as you two. She used to go shopping with me all the time. Sadly, she went abroad to study two years ago. Now she can barely come back once a year. So when I see young girls like you, as a mom I cannot help paying more attention.”

“Oh, right, my surname is Li, the Li in ‘?????, ?????.’ If you don’t mind, you can call me Auntie Li.”

“Li?” Du Yu Xi repeated the rather uncommon surname under her breath, looking thoughtful.

From that surname, Du An Rao completely confirmed the woman’s identity.

[So it really is Madam Li! Madam Li’s real name is Li Zhan Yan. She was born into the Li family, a wealthy house in City A with a hundred-year history. The Su family where my Fourth Sister’s birth mom, Su Ying Rong, comes from is just one street away. So the two of them knew each other from childhood, and later, by a twist of fate, they even became sisters-in-law. Their relationship only got closer.]

[And the “daughter” she mentioned must be Li Yue Sheng, right? Mr. Xi said before that Li Yue Sheng is still overseas and cannot come back to ask my second brother for an autograph in person, so she asked him to help. Tsk tsk, it all lines up.]

Hearing Du An Rao mention her birth mother again, complicated feelings rose in Du Yu Xi’s heart, and for a moment she forgot to react.

Luckily, Madam Li did not notice. To keep the two girls from suspecting anything, she even took the initiative to bring up a new topic.

“I saw you tried on quite a lot of clothes just now but did not seem satisfied. Do you not like this store’s style?”

Du Yu Xi took a deep breath to calm down, glanced at the clothes she had almost gone through one by one, and sighed: “The clothes in this store are very pretty, but they do not really suit me and my sister. For a banquet, they are a bit… too flashy.”

Madam Li and Madam Xi looked at each other and could not help smiling.

The target customers of this store were women between twenty-five and thirty-five. The materials and cuts were fine, but the colors were bold and bright. For two young girls, the clothes were indeed a bit too mature.

“I remember that if you go two or three stores to the left, there is a women’s clothing shop with a fresher, more youthful style. It suits girls your age. They also have dresses designed especially for banquets, so you should be able to find something you like that fits the occasion,” Madam Xi said.

As the main landlady of this mall, Madam Xi quickly thought of a shop that fit their needs.

Du An Rao and Du Yu Xi looked at each other and felt that sounded good.

“Then we will go take a look. Auntie Li, are you…”

Before Du Yu Xi could finish, Madam Li casually grabbed a piece of clothing from the rack beside her and said: “We already finished shopping. We can go with you and have a look. That way you won’t go to the wrong place and waste time.”

“…” Du Yu Xi fell silent.

Standing behind Du Yu Xi like a background prop, Du An Rao could not help poking her head out like a curious cat when she heard that.

[Wow, if I am not seeing things, that is a low-cut backless dress. Who would have thought Auntie is this spicy in private!]

Madam Xi also saw what her sister had grabbed: “…” She really could not bear to look.

Du An Rao and the others checked out as fast as they could and left the clothing store. But before they reached the shop Madam Xi had mentioned, they ran into someone they knew.

“Madam Li, Madam Xi.”

Seeing the newcomer, Madam Li and Madam Xi both looked surprised: “President Qiu? What brings you here?”

The woman they called President Qiu looked a little over forty. She wore a neat white shirt with black pants and had chin-length short hair. Even though she was wearing makeup, the fine lines at the corners of her eyes still revealed her true age.

“There was a small problem with this branch, so I came to take a look.” President Qiu raised her hand and pointed at the jewelry store not far away.

Du An Rao looked up and saw the big characters over the shop entrance in one glance.

[Yayu Jade House? Why does this name sound so familiar? Oh, I remember now, the set of jewelry my second brother gave me seems to be from here, and I think he is even their spokesperson. But I also feel like I have heard this name somewhere else before, and heard of this President Qiu too…]

Since she still could not remember where she had read about this woman, Du An Rao could only quietly stand aside and pretend to be a passerby.

It was not their place to ask about another person’s business problems, so Madam Li changed the subject.

“Didn’t Ji Chen come with you? I heard he helped the company land several big deals lately. He is doing very well. This child has really grown up, and he is so capable. You have finally gotten through the hard years. You should be able to relax a little from now on.”

Hearing Madam Li mention her son, President Qiu’s expression clearly softened.

“He went west a couple of days ago to check on the rough stones. He won’t be back for a few days.”

“I see.”

Madam Li had only asked casually. As soon as she heard that Qiu Ji Chen was not in the country, she dropped the topic.

But the quiet Du An Rao on the side finally remembered where she had seen this brand and this President Qiu when she heard them talking.

[No wonder when I first glanced at her I saw her Palace of Offspring looking so dim. So her son is that unlucky young heir of Yayu Jade House who got played by an online scammer and ended up dying overseas.]

Died overseas?!

Du Yu Xi’s eyes narrowed, and she subconsciously turned to look at the woman still chatting with Madam Li.

This President Qiu was also a rare kind of strong woman. She and her husband had started from nothing and built the “Yayu Jade House” brand together. They suffered a lot when they were young.

Later, when she was older, she finally had her son, Qiu Ji Chen. But before her boy even turned three, her husband died in an accident, leaving behind a widowed mother and her orphaned child.

Although she and her husband had founded the company together, after having her son, President Qiu had shifted her focus to her family.

Her husband’s sudden death was a huge blow to both her and the company.

On top of that, she had been away from the company for three or four years. Many shareholders had their own little schemes and wanted to use this chance to snatch the company away from the widow and her child.

At that time, President Qiu was almost completely isolated and faced difficulties at every step, but she still gritted her teeth, held on, broke up and reorganized the company, and that was how today’s Yayu Jade House was born.