Chapter 572: Blocking the Way
Chapter 572: Chapter 572: Blocking the Way
Brother Liu stared at his subordinate in disbelief, wondering if something was wrong with his ears today.
The subordinate quickly repeated himself. "Boss, I specifically double-checked with my contacts in Xiangcheng. That’s the real number. At least ten million, and that’s in Xiang Coins."
Brother Liu sucked in a sharp breath.
Ten million!
He had ten million. He’d made a good bit of money from his businesses over the years. But to think of throwing away ten million for a woman... he just couldn’t stomach it. Ten million was no small sum, and it wasn’t like he had many multiples of that lying around.
’Are the Feng Shui Masters in Xiangcheng all this greedy? Good lord, ten million. Why don’t they just rob people instead?’
But that woman, Su Qing, had cut off his income stream. If he didn’t get his revenge, he wouldn’t even be able to sleep soundly.
Taking a deep breath, Brother Liu narrowed his eyes and grunted, "Are you sure ten million can get us the best Feng Shui Master?"
"Not sure." The subordinate quickly bowed his head. "Boss, ten million is just the base price for the wealthy in Xiangcheng to hire a master. If there are other requests, the fee will go up. I heard that for the late Master Wen, the starting fee was thirty million. And even at that price, it still depended on his mood. If he wasn’t willing, you couldn’t hire him even for thirty million."
"Thirty million!" Brother Liu slammed his palm on the table. "A damn bunch of greedy bastards."
’They use their special skills as an excuse to charge exorbitant prices, and the worst part is, there are fools out there driving up the cost!’
After a moment’s thought, Brother Liu said to his subordinate, "Have our people in Xiangcheng try to contact some Feng Shui Masters. Explain our request, get their quotes, and see what price we can negotiate it down to."
"Yes, sir." The subordinate quickly agreed, then paused to ask, "Boss, should we look for Master Sun or Master Ning?"
"Go for Master Ning," Brother Liu said. "Didn’t you say that Master Sun has his own principles and won’t do jobs that involve harming people?"
"Yes, sir."
After the subordinate left, Brother Liu narrowed his eyes, staring in the direction of Beijing University. He gritted his teeth and muttered, "Su Qing, you owe me. I’ll make you pay it all back, with interest."
Su Qing had no idea that there was still one person who had gotten away from the Xu Xianhui affair. And that this person was now obsessively plotting revenge against her. At that moment, she was standing by a large tree in the courtyard, looking with surprise at the boy in front of her. "Who are you? Do you need something from me? I don’t think we know each other."
It was the weekend. Li Huan had gone on a date with Cheng Beize, so Su Qing had returned to the compound alone. She hadn’t expected that as soon as she entered, this boy would run up to her, say "hello," and then just stand there, face beet-red, neither speaking nor leaving.
’Who is this kid? Blocking my way on a weekend.’
Ever since Su Qing had been officially recognized by the Li family, Mr. and Mrs. Li had taken her to meet many of the elders in the compound. But her introductions had been limited to those elders. She could recognize all of them, but that didn’t mean she knew all of the younger generation in the compound.
Besides, from last year to this year, she was either at school or traveling around the country. She rarely returned to the compound. Even when she did, she went straight to the Li family home and had almost no contact with the other young people. Naturally, she wasn’t familiar with them.
"You... Hi, my name is Zheng Lin." The boy looked nervously at Su Qing, his face turning an even deeper shade of red. "I... I’d like to get to know you. Is that okay?"
’His last name is Zheng?’
Su Qing immediately thought of the Zheng family that Li Yuan had married into. The Zheng family also lived in the compound, and they were the only family with that surname. This meant Zheng Lin must be one of them.
’Is this Li Yuan’s son?’
Su Qing wasn’t sure, but that didn’t stop her expression from turning cold. "I don’t want to know you. Move."
"Su Qing, I... I like you." Seeing Su Qing’s hostile expression, Zheng Lin understood it was likely because of his former second aunt. After all, even the Zheng Family members themselves were ashamed of what she had done. He quickly tried to explain, "I know you don’t like the Zheng family, and I know what my former second aunt did hurt you and your mother deeply. For that, both I and the rest of the Zheng family are extremely sorry. We’ve also been actively trying to make amends, hoping to compensate for some of the harm done."
"Su Qing, I understand how you feel, but I still have to tell you: I really like you. I hope I can have a chance to build a relationship with you and walk through the rest of our lives together," Zheng Lin said hurriedly.
Su Qing remembered how the Zheng family’s matriarch and her daughter-in-law had come to the Li family home during the New Year to discuss a potential marriage. Her grandma had rejected them outright. Su Qing had thought that was the end of it, but now, here was Zheng Lin, confessing his feelings directly to her face.
Su Qing looked at Zheng Lin with indifference. "Sorry, but who you like is your business. It has nothing to do with me. I can tell you this clearly: I don’t like you, and I especially don’t like your Zheng family. I hope you people can take a hint and stop getting in my face. While the rest of the Zheng family didn’t participate in what Li Yuan did, two of your family’s grandsons are her biological sons. That’s a fact. I won’t take my anger out on your whole family, but I also don’t want to have any connection with you whatsoever."
Su Qing’s words made Zheng Lin’s face turn pale. In his entire life, this was the first time he had ever liked a girl so much, yet she loathed his family. Su Qing’s gaze made it clear to him that there was truly no chance for them.
But Zheng Lin wasn’t ready to give up. This was the first girl he had ever truly and sincerely liked.
"Su Qing, the younger generation can’t control what the elders have done. Can’t you let go of your prejudice against our family..."
"No," Su Qing said adamantly. "Just give up on that idea. And let me give you a piece of advice: don’t waste your time on someone who’s impossible for you. The fact that I’m not seeking revenge on the Zheng family for what happened is already me being generous."
After saying that, Su Qing didn’t give Zheng Lin another glance and turned to leave. She left him standing there alone, staring blankly at her retreating back, his eyes filled with desolation.
Zheng Lin stood there for a long while before letting out a deep sigh and turning to head home. On the way, however, he ran into his cousin, Zheng Jiang. Zheng Jiang’s eyes were red, and based on the direction he was coming from, he was returning from outside the compound. Zheng Jiang didn’t see him and kept rubbing his eyes with his hand, as if he were in distress.
"Xiao Jiang," Zheng Lin called out.
"Cousin." Hearing Zheng Lin’s voice, Zheng Jiang jumped and quickly wiped the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand.
Seeing Zheng Jiang’s state, Zheng Lin couldn’t help but frown. "Xiao Jiang, were you crying? What happened?"