If one wanted to see a person change their color like a chameleon, Wu Xueping would make for a great example. Wu Xueping, who was ridiculing me a moment ago, now turned into a chummy aunt next door.
“Oh, of course, you can leave anytime. But why not sit here a bit longer? Oh, look at me. We have been talking for such a long time that the tea has already turned cold. Secretary Wang…, Forget it, I will make you tea myself.” With that, Wu Xueping stood up with a bright smile on her face. She walked to the water dispenser, poured a cup of water and made hot tea. Once she had boiled the tea enough, she handed it to me, personally.
I felt pity in my heart. My Xia Jing was such a pure girl. How could she have such a woman for her mother!
“Thank you, Aunt Wu.” I took the tea and said without any appreciation. I put greater emphasis on the words ‘Aunt Wu,’ making it sound particularly harsh.
“Oh, what Aunt Wu? Ah, Little Liu, you are still calling me like that? You are already living with my daughter, yet you aren’t addressing me as Mother-In-Law.” Wu Xueping’s said, putting some emphasis on the words ‘mother-in-law.’ Her eyes looked so bright that they made me wonder if the cold eyes I saw before were really her’s.
“Hais, forget it. I wouldn’t dare push my luck too high. Ah, how could a poor man like me compare to Chairman Wu? My family can’t compare to yours after all.” I said with a smile. Though my expression was very natural, Wu Xueping didn’t think so. In her view, I was ridiculing her with that smile.
Wu Xueping felt very distressed and ashamed in her heart. She had never failed in her judgment about other people. But today, this boy played her thoroughly. Everything about him was so deeply hidden. To the world, he was just a rich brat squandering his parent’s money. But in reality, the brat was even wealthier than her and Lei Xiaolong. Neither of them could compare to him.
“How could that be? If you are poor, then mother-in-law will be even poorer. Compared to you, I am just a part-time employee, hehe.” Wu Xueping said in jest.
As I looked towards Wu Xueping’s acting, I felt displeased. But she was, after all, Xia Jing’s mother, so I couldn’t show too much displeasure. I will just keep a safe distance from her in the future. That way, Xia Jing won’t have to get hurt over her mother and husband fighting. So, I said in a humble manner, “Hehe, I will be obedient and do as you say, mother-in-law. Thank you for thinking highly of me.”
Although I called her mother-in-law, anyone could hear the dissatisfaction in my tone. But Wu Xueping acted as if she had heard nothing, and said cheerfully, “Ah, right! Little Liu, was that 100 million USD really the bride price that you gave to the bride’s family? You won’t be reversing the transaction?”
As I listened to these words from Wu Xueping, I felt that I was going to faint. Holding myself together, I said helplessly, “Mother-in-law, is there even a need to ask! I said that it is the bride price, so it is obviously yours. How could I take it back?”
“Ah? You said that it is now my money?” Wu Xueping probed. Though she had seen a lot of money; a hundred million USD was really too much even for her.
“Naturally!” I nodded. If I knew that this woman, Wu Xueping was so easy to handle, I wouldn’t have wasted so much time talking to her. Yeah, it is all that girl, Xia Jing’s fault. If she had told me that her mother was like this, I wouldn’t have thought that I was going to a damned battlefield when I left to meet Wu Xueping. Grandmother! The entire matter was solved in a few words. The conclusion I reached was simple; give cash, take a bride.
“Good, good! Now, my company can be saved finally…” Wu Xueping loudly said what she was thinking.
“Company can be saved? Why? What happened to the company?” I felt bewildered, and so, asked.
“Ah, nothing…” Wu Xueping said while wiping her moist eyes, “Actually, the company I am leading right now might appear to be heaven when looked from the outside, but on the inside, the company is only an empty shell! Before I took the chairman’s seat, the board had changed chairmen a lot of times and the company wasn’t being managed by any of them. The company saw no improvement, instead, it only went downhill. Those people brought the Soaring Dragon Group to the brink of destruction. Not just that, the company is also drowning in debt!”
“What? Is that what actually happened?” I was surprised listening to her words and also felt a little pity.
As she nodded, Wu Xueping’s eyes looked a bit dim, “I came to the company five years ago. Though the company saw some improvement, we were still unable to make ends meet. The hole that was dug before me was too big to fill. I can’t understand what the former chairmen were thinking when they ran the company. Not only were there no improvements, the company also owed a lot to foreign organizations. Even when the company was going downhill, those fools still wasted money on a luxurious car and a grand office. Though I sold the car, the office and building material weren’t profitable even if sold. See this office, the degree of its luxuriousness is no less than those big international organizations.”
“Isn’t the company improving now? Though it is a bit slow, it is still an improvement.” I said as I wanted to somehow comfort Wu Xueping.
“Slowly? We have been putting off those loans for a long time now. If Soaring Dragon Group continued like this, it will certainly go bankrupt very soon.” Wu Xueping said as she shook her head, “This was also one of the reasons I wanted Xia Jing to marry Lei Xiaolong. I personally hope that my daughter marries a rich man. I don’t want her to work hard like me in the future. But the main reason was that they Lei Family promised that their Lei Group will purchase Soaring Dragon Group. In the recent years, as I helped the company improve a bit, I saw the hopeful and enthusiastic faces of the employees. Looking at them, I felt that it was my responsibility to bring the company out of its predicament and bring it to the right track.”
I am a person who was reborn. Naturally, I know about the fate of most of the state-owned enterprises in the next few years. If the company was purchased then the livelihood of its employees would be saved, but if the company went bankrupt, a majority of its employees will not be able to live their lives well… I couldn’t help but remember what happened to my father in my past life. Just because his company went bankrupt, my father’s entire life went downhill and he passed away soon after. If that manager Zhang had a bit of sense of responsibility like Wu Xueping, I can guarantee that Songjiang Electrical Factory wouldn’t have been finished so quickly.
At that moment, I realized that Wu Xueping wasn’t such a loathful woman. I even thought that she was a great person, she at least thought about the people working under her. In this material world that ran after money, a person like her was very commendable!
It was just that I couldn’t accept the fact that she used the future happiness of her daughter as a bargaining chip. I remembered Chen Wei’er, Su Yingzi, and Liu Yue; all of them were also used as bargaining chips by their families for profit.
Thinking all this, I felt my heart grip. I even thought about what would I do if someday I went bankrupt! Would I also use my children’s happiness as a price to seek some benefits? I shook my head fiercely. I definitely won’t do something like that. However, it seems that not everyone can have that choice in this world.
“Mother-in-law, though I can’t agree with the methods that you employ, I still admire your spirit and the consideration you have for your company!” I sincerely said while nodding.