Chapter 226: Xia Zhengguang’s Ruthlessness
"Cry, cry, cry! All you do all day is cry! If you have the energy for that, why don’t you use it to figure out how to get that damn girl to come home?
And another thing, if that damn girl doesn’t come home, then Jiao Jiao... you’ll be the one in the marriage alliance!"
Xia Zhengguang had been irritable lately because of company matters. He was already annoyed after Yun Zijin hung up on him, so when Xia Jiajiao put on a face like she was about to cry, his temper instantly exploded.
Xia Jiajiao, however, was so frightened by Xia Zhengguang’s words that she started hiccupping. "Dad—hic... Dad—hic... I—hic... I don’t—hic... want to be in a marriage alliance—hic..."
"If you don’t want the marriage alliance, then figure out a way to get Yun Zijin home! I don’t care what method you use, I just want her back in this house!"
’He’d already picked out the company for the alliance. As long as Yun Zijin took the bait, they’d make sure the situation was irreversible. Even if she didn’t want to get married, she would be forced to!’
It had to be said, Xia Zhengguang was a truly ruthless man, willing to sacrifice his own daughter for the sake of his company.
Xia Zhiyun remained silent the entire time. As her older brother, he couldn’t bear to see this happen, but the Xia Group was the foundation of the Xia Family’s standing in Dijing. He couldn’t just watch the Xia Group fall into trouble.
’When the time comes, I’ll keep an eye on things and find her a decent family. That would be doing right by her, I suppose.’
"Mommy..."
Xia Jiajiao really didn’t want the marriage alliance, but she had been terrified by Xia Zhengguang’s vicious expression.
Her brother hadn’t said a word from beginning to end, which meant he tacitly approved of the plan. The only person she could turn to for help was her mother.
"It’s alright. Didn’t your father say? As long as Yun Zijin returns to the Xia family, we’ll make her go through with the marriage alliance. Mommy will help you."
Zhang Yiqin patted Xia Jiajiao’s back, soothing her as she spoke words of comfort.
＊
Xingyu Mansion, Villa No. 1.
Unaware of the Xia family’s sordid intentions, Yun Zijin was currently wrestling with a large lobster.
The kitchen had prepared a large steamed lobster today, and Yun Zijin’s eyes lit up when it was served.
But she couldn’t crack it open herself, so she asked one of the young maids for help.
By the time Yun Zijin finished eating, the sky outside had completely darkened.
Before Yun Zijin returned to her room, Wang Minli stepped forward.
"Miss, Mr. Lin Yan had someone deliver an invitation today. I’ve placed it on the desk in the study for you."
Hearing Lin Yan’s name, Yun Zijin raised an eyebrow.
"What invitation?"
"I think it was for some kind of conference. I didn’t look at it closely."
’A conference?’
"Alright, I understand."
Yun Zijin had originally planned to return to her room to wash up, but she changed course and headed for the study instead.
The invitation was simple in appearance: a purple velvet cover with golden, auspicious cloud patterns at the four corners.
Yun Zijin opened it.
National Scientific Research Summit
Surprisingly, the conference was scheduled for the day after tomorrow, the last day of the National Day holiday.
However, the conference was during the daytime, and the schedule looked rather packed.
’But for a scientific research conference, why would Lin Yan send an invitation to her?’
Yun Zijin checked the time. It was 8:30 PM, still early.
So she took out her phone and called Lin Yan.
The call connected not long after, and someone picked up.
"Hello?"
’Huh? It’s a woman’s voice?’
"Um... I’m looking for Mr. Lin Yan. Is this his phone?"
This was the first time Yun Zijin had taken the initiative to call Lin Yan, so hearing a woman’s voice made her think she’d dialed the wrong number.
"Ah, looking for my husband? He’s home. Please wait a moment."
The person on the other end must have moved the phone away from her mouth, as Yun Zijin then heard her call out, "Honey!"
Yun Zijin was speechless. ’To be subjected to a PDA just from making a phone call... unbelievable,’ she thought.
Lin Yan quickly came over and took the phone.
"Miss Yun!"
"Mr. Lin, good evening. I just saw the invitation you sent over, and I have a few questions."
When he heard Yun Zijin mention the invitation, Lin Yan guessed what she wanted to ask.
"Please, go ahead. I’ll answer whatever I can."
"About the scientific research summit... I’m a landlord in Dijing, at best. My status doesn’t quite seem appropriate for attending this kind of conference, does it?"
’If I don’t get this straight and just barge in there, there’s no telling how I might make a fool of myself.’
’It’s not that I personally care, but I’d rather not die of social embarrassment.’
"It’s not a problem. This is an internal conference. Aside from people from the major research academies, institutes, and some related departments, we also send out a few external invitations.
The people who receive these invitations are generally our trusted partners, or... parties we hope to partner with."
In other words, it was a roundabout way of securing sponsorships for their research projects.
"Well, if they can get me the permit to build my own private manor on that plot of land the Xia Group owns in the South Suburb, I’d be more than happy to invest.
I don’t have much, just a lot of money."
Yun Zijin might hesitate when talking about other things, but when it came to money, she had it in spades.
Lin Yan was speechless. ’There’s a certain four-letter word I’d like to say right now, but I’m not sure if it’s appropriate,’ he thought.
"Well, that will depend on your eye for opportunity, Miss Yun."
An internal conference was sure to have plenty of influential figures, but whether she could find the right one was up to her.
Lin Yan himself was just a small fry there and wouldn’t be able to help Yun Zijin much.
"Alright! In that case, thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Lin."
"If you really want to thank me, Miss Yun, perhaps you could bear to part with your beloved bodyguards and lend them to us again."
"You’ll have to ask them yourselves. I’m just their employer; I can’t make their decisions for them.
Anyway, it’s getting late, and I need to wash up. I won’t keep you, bye!"
With that, Yun Zijin hung up.
On the other end of the line, the woman who had first answered the phone had been listening to his conversation the entire time. She only spoke after he hung up.
"When I answered the phone, she sounded like a young girl. Where did you meet someone like that?"
She trusted Lin Yan, of course, but she was curious as to when he had gotten to know such a young girl. They sounded quite familiar with each other.
"We met by chance. But don’t get the wrong idea! My relationship with Miss Yun is purely professional. We rarely have any contact.
This call today was because I sent her an invitation to the summit."
"An invitation to the summit? Is she a promising investor you’ve got your eye on?"
The woman was a little surprised. From the sound of her voice, she was just a young girl, yet she was already an investor Lin Yan held in high regard.
"She is indeed wealthy, but I wouldn’t say she’s a businesswoman."
Ever since their department made contact with Yun Zijin’s bodyguards, her file had been sitting on their desks.
"Not a businesswoman?"
Lin Yan nodded. "She’s... a landlord."
The woman was speechless. "...Well, I stand corrected."
"She must be pretty rich, then. Wait a minute, she collects rent in Dijing?"
Collecting rent in Dijing was a completely different ball game from collecting rent in some second or third-tier city.
Lin Yan nodded. "Rumor has it, even the Lu Family pays her rent."
"Heh... Then you’re quite lucky to know her."
"Next time the department is short on funds, you can go play the victim in front of her. Who knows, you might get an investment of a million or two."
Lin Yan was speechless.
’He couldn’t comprehend his wife’s train of thought.’
Meanwhile, after returning to her room, Yun Zijin discovered a text message from an unknown number on her phone.