“This time, don’t even think about beating around the bush. Give me a straight answer!” Jiang Linzhi threatened. “Otherwise, I’ll tell Dad and Mom about the company.”
“…”
Ahem. In fact, only the Young Miss knew about her dream-probing ability, just as only the Fourth Young Master knew about the company.
“Hmm, you could say it’s a shortcut.” Qiuyun thought for a moment before answering him.
Jiang Linzhi was puzzled. “A shortcut?”
“Take Uncle Zhang, who drives Madam around, for example,” Qiuyun explained. “Uncle Zhang earns thirteen thousand yuan a month. In a city like Beijing, that’s only an average income. If he went to drive a freight truck, he’d definitely make more. But would he have this much free time? Would he have such a good working environment? Would his son be able to attend an international school? Would his wife be able to find a job nearby? Would they be able to eat expensive fruit and premium seafood whenever they wanted? There are so many hidden benefits here that you can’t even imagine.”
Jiang Linzhi slowly furrowed his brows.
Honestly, he had never heard of any of this.
Qiuyun sighed. “The Fourth Young Master lives above the clouds, so of course you don’t know that, for ordinary people like us, whatever leaks through Master and Madam’s fingers is enough to feed an entire family. And it’s not just the people working at the estate. Even among ordinary middle-class families, if someone owns a small factory, an auntie who works in their household for several decades can lift three generations of her family out of poverty.”
For some reason, Jiang Linzhi was unaccustomed to hearing her speak in such a self-deprecating tone.
He coughed awkwardly. “It’s not quite as exaggerated as you make it sound.”
Qiuyun smiled. “Of course it’s not exaggerated. After all, where else could you find a job that pays three million yuan in three days?”
???
Jiang Linzhi’s face was full of question marks. Three million in three days?
Even he might not be able to earn that much, okay?
“Oh, right. When Master wanted to recruit me, he even gave me a house worth around twenty million yuan at market price.”
“…”
“There’s also—”
“That’s enough.” Jiang Linzhi cut her off. “I know what your goal is.”
Plain and simple: making money.
Once he understood her objective, everything she did made sense.
Little Seven was nothing more than a stepping stone for her.
The small interlude did nothing to dampen Qiuyun’s good mood. “Is the Fourth Young Master finished? If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”
“Goodbye, Fourth Young Master.”
Qiuyun still had the company on her mind. She vaguely remembered Pei Cizhou mentioning that the company could hold out at most until the beginning of next spring.
She mentally calculated her recent income.
She had initially saved up nine hundred thousand yuan. Adding the three million in rewards from Master, four million in bracelet dividends, and a little over one hundred thousand in wages from the past two or three months, she had roughly eight million yuan in savings.
A property worth twenty million could probably secure a mortgage of fifteen to seventeen million. Combined with her savings, she could come up with around twenty-four million yuan.
That should… keep the company going a little longer, right?
Actually, everything else was manageable. The biggest problem was paying the employees every month. The wages for more than a hundred people came to nearly three million yuan a month, not to mention rent, utilities, taxes, equipment maintenance, and other expenses. The monthly outlay was substantial.
“Xiaoqiu!” Sister Zhang, the gardener, called to her outside Brightmoon House. “Come over here. I need to talk to you!”
Seeing the anxiety on Sister Zhang’s face, Qiuyun glanced at the Fourth Young Master in the pavilion, then went around through the side entrance. “What’s wrong, Sister Zhang?”
Sister Zhang had also noticed the Fourth Young Master. She hurriedly pulled Qiuyun aside and lowered her voice. “Your parents came looking for you! Luckily, Old Liao saw the two of them acting suspiciously around the security booth when he was getting off work and stopped them to ask what they were doing. Otherwise, things could have gotten ugly!”
The employee handbook clearly stated that unrelated outsiders were not allowed to linger on the estate. If visitors were found to be connected to an employee’s private affairs, the employee would either be fined or fired.
Qiuyun’s brows drew together. “Is Uncle Liao here right now?”
“He’s at the entrance keeping that couple under control.” Sister Zhang tried to reassure her. “They said the moment they arrived that you were an unfilial daughter and had to give them money for their old age. Xiaoqiu, you mustn’t do anything foolish. Uncle Liao said those two looked like complete freeloaders. They’re probably a bottomless pit!”
“Thank you, Sister Zhang. I’ll go over right away.”
Qiuyun secretly sighed. Maintaining good relationships with her coworkers had indeed been very important. If those two really caused a scene, she probably wouldn’t be fired, but she would still have to endure the embarrassment and everyone’s laughter.
Before leaving, Qiuyun hesitated and looked back. “Sister Zhang, about this matter…”
“Don’t worry. How could I spread your personal business around? People like us are the best at keeping our mouths shut.” Sister Zhang urged her to hurry.
Qiuyun took the staff shuttle to the banquet hall, then walked along Wutong Avenue to the main gate and onward to the security booth at the intersection in front of the estate. Sure enough, she saw Uncle Liao standing beneath the shade of a tree with a middle-aged couple.
“Thank you, Uncle Liao. I’m so sorry for delaying you for half an hour after you’ve already finished work.” Qiuyun hurried over to thank him, not sparing the couple a glance.
Uncle Liao waved his hand. “It’s nothing. I happened to run into them.”
He suffered from gout and arthritis in his knees. After learning about it, Qiuyun had given him a prescription and made it into a medicinal plaster. It had indeed brought him considerable relief.
Qiuyun quickly said, “I can take it from here. I won’t keep you from getting off work.”
“You can handle them yourself?” Uncle Liao frowned. The couple clearly had no good intentions. Just now, they had been indirectly trying to find out how much Qiuyun earned.
“I promise I can. Don’t worry.” Qiuyun smiled. “They’re my biological parents, after all. Even if we break every bone, the sinews are still attached.”
“All right. You know your own situation best.” It was indeed getting late, so Uncle Liao drove away.
Only after he had left did Qiuyun turn around, her expression cold and emotionless. “How did you find me?”
Ever since their daughter appeared, Qiu Fuyang and Fang Fang had been looking her over.
Her appearance hadn’t changed, but she looked more energetic and composed than before!
Clearly, she had become rich!
Qiu Fuyang snorted. “You unfilial brat! Your mother and I called you so many times, and you didn’t even answer!”
Qiuyun snorted right back. “Why should I answer? So you could come here and let everyone see how poor and pathetic our family is!?”
“Why, you little—your wings have grown, haven’t they? Do you believe I’ll—”
“Don’t cause a scene here!” Qiuyun impatiently cut him off. “You came here for money, didn’t you? If you make a scene and the young master hears about it, he’ll throw me out, and none of us will benefit!”
For more than a decade, the couple had dreamed of having their daughter cling to a rich patron. Now that their dream had apparently come true, they had no time to care about their daughter’s attitude. They hurriedly softened their tone.
“All right, all right. We won’t cause a scene!”
“Come on.” The car Qiuyun had called had arrived. “Let’s find somewhere to talk.”
Qiu Fuyang figured that since they had already found her workplace, she couldn’t run away forever. There was no need to worry about her going back on her word.
On the other hand, if they were spotted by her rich patron, that would truly cut off their source of income for the rest of their lives!
So the couple cooperated unusually well and followed Qiuyun into the car.
After asking the Young Miss for leave, Qiuyun took the couple to an upscale restaurant.
The restaurant was expensive, with a minimum charge of 8,800 yuan for a private room. Without even blinking, Qiuyun ordered Australian lobster, black gold abalone, and spotted garoupa in rapid succession. Once she finished ordering, she sent the waiter out.
