Her mind burdened with a myriad of thoughts, Zhao Youlin returned home to find that it was already past lunchtime. Joy had long since finished eating and went for a nap.
Duan Yarong was currently preparing something in the living. When she saw Zhao Youlin return, she quickly got up to order the cook in the kitchen to heat up the food left for Zhao Youlin so that she could serve it.
“Youlin, you’re back. You didn’t eat outside, right? I had Aunt Liu reserve some food for you, and you can eat it after she heats it up.”
“I ate outside. You don’t have to trouble yourself.” Warmth filled Zhao Youlin’s heart. Once she returned home, she no longer had to face an empty house. Instead, she had a family who was considerate of her wellbeing. This feeling was really amazing.
Duan Yarong did not approve of it and grabbed her hand to pat it a little as she said, “I know how you are. The food outside can’t possibly compare with our house’s. You’re picky, so you must have only eaten a little. Eat a little more, otherwise, you’ll go hungry while you have to work in the afternoon.”
Since Duan Yarong insisted on it, Zhao Youlin had no other choice. She could only smile and agree to it.
She sat beside Duan Yarong when the woman pointed at the chair beside her. Zhao Youlin’s gaze was then attracted by the stuff on the table. She asked in puzzlement, “Mom, what are these? Why have I never seen them before?”
“It’ll be your grandmother’s death anniversary in a few days. These are the things we’ll be needing.”
“Grandma’s death anniversary?” Zhao Youlin removed her gaze from those things and looked at Duan Yarong in surprise.
“Yes, don’t you remember?” Duan Yarong cast Zhao Youlin a glance. Then, as if she remembered something, she comforted her, “But that makes sense. Ever since you married into the Mu family, you seldom came back. It has been a long time, so it’s only par for the course that you don’t remember it.”
What Duan Yarong did not know was that the Zhao Youlin in front of her was not the original Zhao Youlin. The past Zhao Youlin never remembered this either, so how could the current one possibly know?
“…Yeah, it has been a long time, and I don’t quite remember it.” When Zhao Youlin saw that Duan Yarong did not seem to be suspecting anything, she sighed in relief, nodded, and asked for information from Duan Yarong, “Then, Grandma’s death anniversary is on the…?”
“It’s three days later.”
“Oh… three days later, huh? Do we need to prepare anything, like joss paper money or praying candles?”
When Duan Yarong heard Zhao Youlin’s words, she was stunned. Then, as if she remembered something, she chuckled, “Silly girl, we’re going to a public cemetery to sweep her grave. We’re not going to some remote valley in the mountains to worship her. There’s no need for us to prepare any joss paper money and the likes.”
Zhao Youlin smiled awkwardly and did not know what to say. In truth, her adoptive mother was buried in the commonly seen mountains in villages.
Every year, during Tomb-sweeping Day, she would go with Mu Chen’s mother to sweep her grave, and burning joss-sticks and paper money were among the necessary steps.
Who would know where rich people like them were buried and what sort of things they needed to prepare when they went to sweep graves?
While Zhao Youlin was wondering how she should remove herself from this topic that could easily make others suspect her, Zhao Shunrong appeared, and he attracted Duan Yarong’s attention. It also caused Zhao Youlin to sigh slightly in relief.
“You’re back today? Don’t you usually eat lunch outside? I’ll have Aunt Liu prepare some lunch for you. You can eat later with Youlin.” When Duan Yarong saw Zhao Shunrong in the house, she was a little surprised, but she soon recovered from it and smiled while she went to the kitchen to order Aunt Liu to prepare more food.
Zhao Shunrong nodded and watched his wife enter the kitchen before he faced Zhao Youlin and asked, “Have you gotten used to the company?”
“It’s pretty good. The seniors in the company take care of me, and Uncle Xiao is doing his best to help me.”
“That’s good.” Zhao Shunrong cast Zhao Youlin a glance. Once he was certain that she was not overworking herself, his worries went away a little.
Zhao Shunrong had always been a reticent man. Meanwhile, Zhao Youlin was still thinking about what Duan Yarong said, so they did not say anything for a time being and just sat across from each other.
Then, Zhao Shunrong remembered the deal Zhao Youlin was in charge of and took the initiative to say, “Has the deal been going on smoothly? Did Uncle Xiao think up of any plans for you and guide you?”
Zhao Youlin was stunned, and she remembered the things she talked about with Xiao Jingyao not long ago.
The reason why Zhao Shunrong gave up on the other more complete plan and decided on Ye Yan’s land was simple. Zhao Youlin just needed to think about it a little, and she would figure out that this was definitely related to her.
Mu Tingfeng had just gotten divorced from her not long ago, and now, all the people in the upper-class society knew that the Mu family and Zhao family were like oil and water.
Mu Tingfeng might not cause trouble to her because of the things that happened in the past, but based on the grudges they had in the past, even if Mu Tingfeng did not cause any trouble, he would not be so kind as to help her and the Zhao Enterprise.
Choosing this plan might bring greater profit, but the possibility of it coming to fruition was much lower. Besides, Zhao Youlin was now Zhao Shunrong and Duan Yarong’s daughter. From a personal viewpoint, with what happened before as a precedent, the husband and wife would not want Mu Tingfeng to have any other business ties with the Zhao family so that he would have another chance to hurt Zhao Youlin.
Once Zhao Youlin figured things out, she naturally understood everything that transpired, but it was precisely because she understood it that she felt touched by the two adults being considerate of her, and she felt even more guilty for making Zhao Shunrong settle for second best.
And now, there was even a high chance that she could not get Ye Yan’s cooperation. Should she try…?
As Zhao Youlin was thinking of things, she did not notice Zhao Shunrong frowning because of her silence. And then…
“Did you run into any obstacles during the deal?” Zhao Shunrong’s question dragged Zhao Youlin out of her reverie, and she said in alarm, “It’s fine. The deal is going smoothly. Uncle Xiao has been working for years with you, and he’s really outstanding when it comes to his experience and everything else. I learned many things from him. We’re still negotiating the deal, and we should be able to get results in a few days.”
Zhao Shunrong cast Zhao Youlin a profound look and sighed a little before she said, “That’s good. But if you really ran into some problems, you can tell me. After all, you’ve just gotten in contact with this field, and it’s normal for you to be unfamiliar with it. If you don’t understand anything, you can ask Uncle Xiao.”
“Okay.” Zhao Youlin forced a smile, and at that moment, she made up her mind.
After eating together with Zhao Shunrong, Zhao Youlin hurriedly went back to the company. The moment she saw Xiao Jingyao waiting for her in the office, she sucked in a deep breath and said with great determination, “Help me contact the president of Mu Feng Group. I will talk to him about the land in the suburbs.”
Xiao Jingyao looked up, and slight surprise shone in his eyes, but he did not say anything about it and just agreed to it. “Alright, General Manager.”
