Huo Mian casually tossed the tissue into the trash can, looking a little anxious. “He’s much harder to win over than he was when we were kids.”
“When I had to withdraw from that dance competition because I injured my foot, I was actually devastated. I’d spent so long preparing for it.”
“So, during the several days after I was taken to the Yu family’s home, I was in a terrible mood.”
“After my foot healed, he suddenly called me to the Yu family’s garden one evening. That was when I discovered that the garden had been arranged into an even more beautiful stage than the one at school.”
“All the Yu family’s elders, as well as the young masters and young ladies, were there.”
“He encouraged me to perform the dance I hadn’t been able to perform at the competition.”
“I went up and danced. To be honest, I didn’t dance very well... but every member of the Yu family applauded me, and everyone gave me a gift to congratulate me on my successful performance.”
“Apparently, he had been quietly keeping an eye on me ever since the incident at school. Once I recovered, he built me a stage and made my dream come true.”
“After experiencing something like that, it was practically impossible not to fall deeply in love with him.”
But now... why were his defenses and attacks so strong?
What had he been through all these years?
Qin Mei saw the confusion in her daughter’s eyes and calmly pointed out, “That just means you haven’t bullied him enough yet.”
After a pause, she smiled. “Planting nails in your dance shoes back then was truly a stroke of genius on my part.”
“Your father was merely Old Master Yu’s subordinate. He went overseas for him a few times to handle some errands.”
“It wasn’t some life-saving favor, nor was it an irreplaceable achievement.”
“If the things I planned hadn’t been so tragic, how could they possibly have thought a little girl like you was so pitiful that they would take you in, look after you, and support the two of us for all these years, allowing us to enjoy so many years of wealth and luxury?”
Huo Mian puffed out her cheeks and protested, “It wasn’t that I was scheming to get the Yu family’s wealth and luxury. I really do love A-Ning...”
“Besides, Mom, I don’t think planting nails in my shoes was your true stroke of genius. That would be what you did to Yu Xiaxing. You made the siblings carry a thorn in their hearts for all these years!”
Qin Mei studied her for a moment, then smiled without saying anything.
Her daughter had extremely strong emotional needs, while she herself had extremely strong material needs.
But as long as they chose the right target, being love-struck and being materialistic were not at all incompatible.
For a love-struck young heir like Yu Zhining, it was far better than falling in love with some ordinary man who had no money.
After her husband had fallen seriously ill, the family business had nearly collapsed. Qin Mei had immediately begun planning for the future of herself and her daughter: they had to attach themselves to the Yu family.
She had persuaded her husband to ask for a marriage alliance.
She would never allow herself or her own child to live even half a day in poverty.
So she did not interfere with her daughter’s infatuation with Yu Zhining. She merely said, “It’s fine. It’s actually better that the Yu family sent you away and you came here, because Yu Zhining still spends most of his time here. You’ll have more opportunities to interact with each other than you did at the Yu residence.”
Huo Mian nodded.
Things were clearly beginning to work.
Yu Zhining had already started showing her the same compassion he had shown her when they were children.
As for whether playing the victim to win someone’s love was moral...
Morality wasn’t important. Getting what she wanted was.
The room fell silent for a while.
Huo Mian asked again, “Mom, when are you going to bed?”
“You go ahead and sleep.” Qin Mei picked up the glasses on the table and put them on unhurriedly. “I haven’t posted today’s video yet.”
Huo Mian nodded as she listened to her mother talk about pain, control, and other such things.
She found it rather amusing.
Because they were not an East Asian mother and daughter who tormented each other at all.
They were allies who had cooperated for years and shared the benefits.
The people who were truly suffering were those who did not even have the strength to call for help.
—
The next morning.
At school.
Lu Yanzhao had been feeling guilty for several hours.
Yu Xiaxing had never contacted him after work hours before, and she had never required anyone to be on call at all times. As a result, he usually went to bed quite early.
But when he checked that morning, he discovered that she had actually stayed up until the early hours of the morning investigating the organization that was exploiting students and their parents!
What kind of boss was this?
Whenever an employee worked overtime, she would ask whether they had gone insane from working too hard and firmly forbid them from staying late.
Yet she herself had worked until the early hours of the morning!
She had finally assigned him a temporary task, only to tell him not to rush and not to work overtime on it.
Anyone with even a shred of conscience could not possibly fail to take it seriously, nor could they treat her kindness as something they were simply entitled to.
So, as soon as Lu Yanzhao arrived at school that morning, he immediately handled the matter she had assigned him.
He organized the persuasive language used by Po Jian’s accounts into a clear outline of their commercial fraud tactics.
But even after finishing that, he still felt it wasn’t enough.
He was earning such a high salary and was constantly being kept in her thoughts. He couldn’t possibly do only this much.
He went straight to the legal department and shared the materials with them.
“Director Yu worked alone until the early hours of the morning last night. She noticed several accounts that were inciting students and their parents to hand over money... Please contact the platforms and gather evidence. Follow the flow of funds, IP addresses, recipients, affiliated companies...”
“There are already children at Shengde who trust these accounts and are making a scene about cutting ties with their parents. Investigate everything we possibly can.”
The head of the legal team immediately perked up.
He had just returned from a period of compensatory leave and was currently filled with an overwhelming love for his boss. He promptly promised solemnly, “Understood. We’ll get on it right away.”
After Lu Yanzhao left, the legal department’s office erupted in discussion.
“Director Yu was still working overtime until the early hours of the morning? No wonder she managed to build Shengde into what it is!”
“I’ve come across those accounts too. Their rhetoric is so sinister, portraying all parents as extreme... Sure enough, there’s a business behind it all!”
“Xiao Liu, you still have another compensatory day off from that report you filed against the external arts-exam training agency, don’t you? Once you’ve finished this case, take a long holiday.”
“Don’t worry. For Boss Yu, we absolutely have to do this beautifully!”
“They actually dared to scam Shengde’s students? We’ll crush them!”
Here, the employees did not even need to fight for their own interests. Boss Yu took the initiative to give them everything.
Everyone knew that if they left Boss Yu to work somewhere else, they would never encounter another employer as good as her.
So, for the sake of keeping their jobs for as long as possible, they absolutely had to stand with Boss Yu!
Wherever she pointed, they would strike!
—
Lu Yanzhao was now handling the second matter: informing Jiang Tinglan and her mother about the withdrawal from school.
He first went to the office for the second-year teachers.
It was currently break time, so most of the teachers were there.
He directly told Jiang Tinglan’s homeroom teacher, “Please let Jiang Tinglan know that she can go to the school board director after four this afternoon to discuss withdrawing from school.”
The homeroom teacher looked troubled. “Jiang won’t be coming to class today. I called her mother, but she’s probably in a meeting and didn’t answer. I called her father, but he said there was nothing he could do and told us to find her mother.”
Another subject teacher beside them couldn’t help chiming in. “Sigh, I suppose she really is going to withdraw, then.”
The chemistry teacher sighed. “Her overall grades aren’t at the very top, but she’s exceptionally talented in chemistry. I was actually planning to recommend her for an upcoming chemistry research competition...”
Of all the teachers, the chemistry teacher was the most reluctant to see her go.
Lu Yanzhao could tell that things had become rather difficult.
Could Boss really be about to suffer his first setback in the inheritance contest this time…?
