Chapter 1073: Perplexed and Smitten (113)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“No. 8, why are you so nice to me?” said Mo Li, who felt extremely touched.

Why didn’t he make any plans for himself at all?

“What’s wrong with that? You’re my woman, of course I’d have to treat you well.”

Mo Li finally smiled and stood up to kiss him. “I’m really glad.”

“About what?”

“I’m really glad that you’re still around.”

An Xiaoning arrived at about noontime.

She took out a bank account card and handed it to Mo Li. “There you go.”

“What’s this? Those two people who came by this morning had already transferred the money over to our account,” Mo Li said in puzzlement.

“That’s a separate issue. This money comes from Qian Mou, the owner of a private investigation agency. His relative is Nicole’s servant, and he was paid much more than Xiao Wu. He received a total of seven million dollars, two of which he had already spent. I got the remaining five million dollars for you guys. I’ve also written the PIN code behind the card.”

Greatly taken aback, Mo Li did not accept the money and instead said, “Xiaoning, keep the money for yourself. If it weren’t for your help, No. 8 wouldn’t have made it back alive. He’s safe now all thanks to you.”

An Xiaoning stuffed the card into her hands and said, “This is what No. 8 deserves. How can I take it?”

Feeling too embarra.s.sed and shy to accept the money, Mo Li placed the card back inside An Xiaoning’s hand and said, “Xiaoning, seriously speaking, we already have five million dollars. I know you don’t need the money, but it’s a token from us.”

An Xiaoning handed the money back to her and insisted, “Okay, Mo Li, just keep the money. You and No. 8 have a long way to go. Don’t keep pus.h.i.+ng the money back to me. You can never have too much cash. It’s hard on you and on No. 8 too.”

“Stop issuing No. 8 his monthly wages, then. Otherwise, we’ll feel really bad. Alright?”

Seeing how insistent she was, An Xiaoning had no choice but to concede. “Let me know whenever you’re cash-strapped in the future.”

Mo Li answered with a nod, “All that money is enough to last us for a very long time.”

No. 8 said feebly, “We were planning to wait ’til we’ve both earned enough to move into a bigger house. Seems like we don’t have to wait that long anymore.”

“Good idea. The value of houses in our estate is increasing. You should move into a new place when necessary. It’s better to live in a more s.p.a.cious house anyway. You’ll feel too oppressed in a cramped s.p.a.ce. I support your decision to move.”

Upon gaining An Xiaoning’s approval, No. 8 said to Mo Li, “Lili, when you’re free, go find out if there are any other available units in our estate. There should be some. If there are, let’s buy one immediately.”

“Alright,” Mo Li agreed.

“It’d be best if you can buy an apartment that’s situated on any floor below the seventh and above the second. Although there’s better lighting on the higher floors, the water supply to the units above the seventh floor would all be from secondary water supply systems. Bacteria is very prevalent in water tanks that don’t meet the hygiene standards.”

“Alright, got it.” Reminded of Jin Qingyan, Mo Li asked, “Xiaoning, I haven’t seen Brother Qingyan in a long time. Is he very busy?”

“He’s really busy.”

“…”

—

After Lin Mingxi went to the fitness center to inspect the operations, she returned to the Gu family mansion where she was greeted with the sight of a familiar-looking car.

She alighted from the car, after which the butler quickly reported, “Young Madam, your sister is here.”

She glanced at the car and said, “What is she here for?”

“She asked to see you, and I told her that you weren’t home, but she insisted on waiting for you to come home.”

Lin Mingxi had no idea what Lin Mingyuan wanted. I’ll find out once I go in to take a look.

It had been a long while since she and Lin Mingxi saw each other. Lin Mingyuan had shockingly become extremely haggard and seemed to have suffered a huge blow.

Lin Mingxi sat opposite Lin Mingyuan, whose hair was unkempt. “What’s wrong with your hair?” Lin Mingxi asked in astonishment.

Lin Mingyuan looked at her and called, “Sister…”

Lin Mingxi instantly got gooseb.u.mps on her skin.

“No, no, please don’t address me that way. Call me by my full name instead. I’m more used to hearing that.”

Lin Mingyuan said in a hoa.r.s.e voice, “Mingxi, I did you wrong in the past. I perceived you as my enemy and vied with you for everything. I couldn’t stand the sight of you and I wished you would just drop dead. I’ve never treated you like my kin before. I know all of my misdeeds have caused you great trauma…”

Lin Mingxi interrupted, “Stop, just tell me straight whatever it is that you have on your mind. Don’t beat around the bush. Just what did you come here for?”

“Your brother-in-law has absconded with all the money.”

“What do you mean?” Lin Mingxi asked in astonishment.

“He has a kept woman who’s a teenager. She gave birth to his son. He was afraid of having to split the a.s.sets with me during the divorce so he absconded with everything.”

Lin Mingxi gasped in shock. Although she could not see eye to eye with Lin Mingyuan and would often get into an argument with her, she could not bring herself to sneer at Lin Mingyuan and mock her for being foolish.

“What right does he have to do that!?! The money and company belong to our parents! He had nothing to his name when you married him. Half of the a.s.sets is more than enough for him. How dare he steal all the money? Why aren’t you suing him? Why didn’t you seek legal a.s.sistance from a lawyer?”

“Mingxi, I can’t sue him…”

“Why can’t you?” Lin Mingyuan questioned, boiling with exasperation.

Hanging her head low, Lin Mingyuan answered, “I broke the law in the past while managing the company and he has evidence of that. If I sue him, he’s going to hand the evidence over to the court. Mingxi, I’m sure you understand that I can’t afford to be shamed like that…”

She teared up and continued, “I used to think that he was my closest kin. He was so kind to me and doted on me. I even had the cheek to say that Father and Mother treated me unfairly and that they were biased toward you, as if I were an adopted child. I realize only now that they had treated both of us equally. You guys are my kin, not him. He’s just someone who’ll leave me at any time…”

Lin Mingxi was extremely disgruntled to hear her words. She had never gotten along with her biological sister ever since they were children. “Wouldn’t you be letting him off easy if you don’t sue him?”

“I don’t know, I wish I could rip him into shreds. However, there’s nothing I can do. We’ve been married for so many years and he knows me inside out. He has a hold on me. The money he had run away with is all the money the company has. He’s milked the company dry. Father and Mother gave us half of the a.s.sets each, yet I’ve lost everything I had…”

“Don’t you have any other requests?”

“Yes…”

“What?”

“I’ll get someone to bring something here later. You’ll understand once you see it.” She stood up and made eye contact with Lin Mingxi before continuing, “Mingxi, I ill-treated you in the past but let’s bury the hatchet. I know I don’t have the right to say this, but I’m really regretting my decision. I even tried to stop you from marrying Gu Beicheng. However, I now think that you made the right decision to marry him. You two are very compatible in terms of background and status.”