"No,"
Xu Yanxia couldn't help but laugh at her good friend Lu Jingxi's antics, then quickly composed herself and said to Lu Jingming, "You mentioned earlier about wanting me to work part-time as the Quality Director. Wouldn't taking on a part-time role be a bit too much?"
"Not at all, not at all,"
Third Brother Lu Jingyao chimed in eagerly. "Sister Xia, you're worth it! Besides, after the way Jiushan's people bullied you before, the fact that you're willing to put that aside and become their Quality Director will win them a wave of good PR in itself. If you can also improve their quality standards, won't they just make even more money?"
"Exactly!"
Her good friend Lu Jingxi also lectured her. "Most people worry about not having enough money, how come you're worried about having too much? This isn't too much at all."
As she spoke, she even started bargaining with her brother. "I think you should add at least thirty percent more for our Xiao Xia."
"No, no,"
Xu Yanxia hurriedly said to Lu Jingming again. "If you're truly considering this, I'm willing to give it a try. The salary isn't important; what matters is genuinely being able to help you."
"Good,"
Lu Jingming nodded with a smile. "Then I'll have them expedite the process as soon as we get back."
...
As the last of the coffee was finished, the lunch gathering came to an end.
Lu Jingming paid the bill and led the group out of the restaurant, heading back to the Lu family home.
While heading to the underground garage to get the car, Lu Jingxi walked ahead arm-in-arm with Xu Yanxia. Lu Jingyao deliberately hung back and asked his brother Lu Jingming in a low voice, "Brother, are you really serious about acquiring Jiushan, or are you doing it for my Sister Xia?"
Lu Jingming raised an eyebrow at him. "Do I seem that much like a lovesick fool to you?"
"It's really not for my Sister Xia?"
Lu Jingyao was somewhat surprised. "Our family has never been involved in the restaurant industry before. Aren't you afraid of losing money?"
Lu Jingming gave a dismissive smile. "How much could we possibly lose with that small amount? Besides, with Xiao Xia involved, there's a high probability we won't lose."
"That's true too."
Lu Jingyao nodded, still feeling a bit disappointed. "I thought you were buying it specifically to make my Sister Xia happy..."
Well, it couldn't exactly be said that it wasn't.
Lu Jingming looked at Xu Yanxia's figure ahead and said with utter seriousness, "She's a very capable person. At such a promising age, she really shouldn't be confined by a career as a family chef."
Lu Jingyao raised an eyebrow beside him. "Aren't you afraid that once my Sister Xia gets busy, you won't get to see her?"
Lu Jingming also raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't I just go see her then?"
...
Third Brother Lu Jingyao was still the driver for the return trip.
On the weekend afternoon, the streets were bustling with traffic.
The weather was nice today, and coupled with the weekend, there were quite a few private cars on the road.
But chatting in the car, they soon arrived at the Lu family mansion without even noticing the time.
As they got out of the car, Second Sister Lu Jingxi received another call from her agent.
After a brief conversation, she hung up and immediately said to Lu Jingming, "Brother, the video from my visit to Huazhong Agricultural University today is also trending. Some netizens noticed your new tech product. Should we have the company's PR department seize the moment and run an ad campaign?"
"Is that so?"
Lu Jingming immediately took out his phone to check.
Sure enough, on a major news platform, he saw the trending topic his sister mentioned.
Clicking into the comments, he saw that aside from expressing affection for his sister's participation in the animal welfare event, many people were also curious about that new automatic pet feeder.
"It is indeed a good opportunity."
He promptly emailed the company's PR department, instructing them to launch a promotional campaign immediately.
While typing, he heard his sister say to Xu Yanxia, "Xiao Xia, my agent just asked about you too. She said you have good potential and asked if you'd like to debut as a celebrity?"
"Me?"
Xu Yanxia was amused and quickly shook her head. "Please thank your agent for the compliment, but I'm too sensitive. I couldn't handle the entertainment industry."
She then reminded Lu Jingxi, "Your damp-heat condition hasn't completely cleared yet, and you had pan-fried steak for lunch. I'll go brew some honeysuckle tea for you."
"Great!"
Lu Jingxi happily pulled her towards the living room.
"I want some too!"
Third Brother Lu Jingyao also strode after them.
Meanwhile, Lu Jingming, who had lagged behind, finished sending the email and scrolled through the comments under the trending topic again.
Indeed, he saw many netizens praising Xu Yanxia—
【Did no one notice Queen Xixi's friend? She gives off such a beautiful, scholarly vibe, and her stage presence during the speech was so steady!!!】
【Yes, yes! I noticed her too! It's true that outstanding people always surround themselves with other outstanding people!!!】
【One minute, I need all the information on this beauty!!!】
...
Below, there were actually students from Huazhong Agricultural University introducing Xu Yanxia—
【This young lady is a top student from our university's Food Science department! She just graduated with her bachelor's this year!!!】
【I know of her! She's been a top student since she was young. During college entrance exams, many prestigious universities offered her spots, but she firmly chose our university's flagship Food Science program! She got the top scholarship every year and passed the graduate school entrance exam with high scores!!! It's just unclear why she didn't go.】
Someone below speculated, 【Could it be that she's getting married? This type of high-achieving beauty with both looks and brains is the ideal wife candidate for the wealthy.】
"???"
Lu Jingming frowned.
Scrolling further down, someone actually replied—
【This seems to be Queen Xixi's future sister-in-law. A couple of days ago, there were photos online of Queen Xixi's CEO older brother shopping and on a date with her...】
Followed by a string of curious comments—
【So it's the sister-in-law!!!】
【Want to see the photos, please!!!】
Lu Jingming, "..."
He had to admit, netizens these days really could dig up anything.
Seeing that if this continued, even his photos would be made public, he quickly exited the page and sent another message to the PR department manager—
【Communicate with the platforms. For now, no unrelated photos of me should appear.】
After sending it, he also reached the living room entrance.
There, he saw Xu Yanxia holding a teapot ask him, "President Lu, would you like some honeysuckle tea?"
"Yes."
He smiled and walked towards her.
...
As the French lunch had been quite filling, in the evening, the two Lu brothers joined Lu Jingxi in having a healthy meal.
To thank her fans, Queen Xixi Lu Jingxi, who had been trending all day, was livestreaming from her room. After serving the two brothers, Xu Yanxia brought Lu Jingxi's portion into her room.
Coming out after delivering the food, she received a message on her phone from Luo Jiajia.
【Xiao Xia, are you free now? If so, give me a video call. I'm with your brother.】
—Ever since Luo Jiajia accompanied her brother and aunt to send that scoundrel uncle-in-law, Yuan Jincai, back to his hometown on Thursday, the two hadn't returned. They probably had something to discuss with her.
So, she went back to her room and video-called Luo Jiajia.
After connecting, Luo Jiajia happily told her, "Xiao Xia, I have good news. Today, Auntie and that Yuan Jincai submitted their divorce application. The house and Xiaoyue are both going to Auntie."
"That's wonderful,"
Xu Yanxia quickly asked. "Was the process smooth? Did Yuan Jincai make any trouble?"
Her brother Xu Zhanpeng said, "He squandered hundreds of thousands, how does he still have the face to make a fuss? We only let him off because he gave the house to Auntie. Otherwise, we would have definitely made sure he went to jail."
Xu Yanxia sighed, "This is already the best outcome."
Then she asked her brother, "When will the account be unfrozen?"
Unexpectedly, her brother said, "It's already been unfrozen. The bank just transferred the money back to us."
"So quickly?"
Xu Yanxia was a bit surprised.
She had checked the regulations before; in such cases, after a case is withdrawn, it usually takes the relevant authorities at least three to five working days to unfreeze the locked account.
Adding the bank transfer time, she thought the earliest they could get the money would be next week.
But then Xu Zhanpeng continued, "I actually wanted to discuss with you about paying the house payment tomorrow. Auntie gave me some money, so we can still pay in full now. The deed will still be under Grandpa and Grandma's names."
Xu Yanxia nodded, "Then let's pay it. That way, Grandpa and Grandma can move into their own house as soon as possible. Make a receipt for Auntie, and we'll pay her back later."
"I know that."
Her brother added, "We'll still buy that four-bedroom unit on the first floor with a yard we liked last time. It's now 100,000 less, so we need to act fast."
Xu Yanxia was somewhat astonished, "Has the property price dropped this sharply? Another 100,000 in less than three months?"
Huh?
Luo Jiajia on the other end of the video call sounded puzzled, "Didn't President Lu tell you?"
