The Little Spoiled Brat Divorces with a Child, Driving the Big Boss Crazy - Chapter 80
Chapter 80
Yan Xia and Han Xi put their heads together and whispered right in front of Lu Ying.
“Those two didn’t really get divorced, did they?”
“They did. I even saw the divorce certificate. Guaranteed genuine.”
“Then why does it still feel like they’re… hopelessly in love, exchanging flirtatious glances, and constantly trying to hook up with each other…”
Lu Ying smacked him.
Han Xi clutched his shoulder and wailed, “Are you rebelling?”
Lu Ying sneered. “Against you, yes. I’ll rip your tongue out!”
“…” Han Xi did not dare provoke her. “Prenatal education. What about prenatal education?”
The words “prenatal education” had now become a magic incantation used to restrain her. Lu Ying said impatiently, “Keep making me the topic of conversation, and I’ll beat both of you to death.”
The two of them fell silent.
Fine.
When Princess Lu asserted her authority, they were still afraid of her.
Yan Xia changed the subject. “Hey, did you hear? Jiao An went to the Jin Family to propose.”
Hu Chuang clapped his hands. “See? I knew word would spread.”
“You heard too?”
“Who hasn’t?”
“You have to admit,” Han Xi said with relish, “Young Master Jiao really is devoted to Jin Meimei.”
Jiao An had been Jin Meimei’s staunchest supporter since childhood, even though he knew that she loved Jin Beizhou and even though she had married Yi Xie and been pregnant with his child.
Now that Jin Beizhou had rebelled against the Jin Family, the old master’s plan to use the opportunity to match him with Jin Meimei had fallen apart. Jiao An’s proposal at this juncture was good news for both the Jin Family and Jin Meimei.
Jin Meimei’s reputation in their circle had plummeted. Young men from families of equal standing looked down on her, while she refused to spare a glance for anyone ordinary. Caught between standards too high and prospects too low, Jiao An was her best choice.
Both the Jin Family and Jin Meimei had agreed.
“She doesn’t necessarily have to marry anyone.” Setting aside their grudges and speaking from the perspective of someone who had experienced marriage, Lu Ying remarked casually, “Can’t she live perfectly well on her own?”
Hu Chuang shook his head. “It might not be what she wants.”
Yan Xia asked, “What do you mean?”
“The Jin Family adopted two children.” Hu Chuang glanced toward the neighboring house and lowered his voice. “Look at how Zhouzi ended up. They squeezed every last drop of value out of him, then tried to make him marry Jin Meimei. If he had actually married her, that would have been the same as selling himself to the Jin Family for good.”
That was exactly what Old Master Jin had planned. He knew what Jin Beizhou was capable of and feared that he would escape his control, so he wanted to bind Jin Beizhou to the Jin Family for life.
Now that this plan had failed, continuing to support Jin Meimei would only expose the Jin Family to ridicule.
The Jiao Family had suitable standing. Marrying Jin Meimei into their family was the last bit of value the Jin Family could extract from her.
“I don’t believe the old master has suddenly grown kindhearted.” Hu Chuang clicked his tongue. “Whether Jin Meimei wants this or not, she has to act like she does. At least she can still rely on the Jin Family. She’s probably seen from Zhouzi what happens when you fall out with them.”
And Jin Meimei did not possess Jin Beizhou’s abilities. She simply could not cope with the difficulties and discrimination that would descend upon her one after another.
Yan Xia curled her lip. “Isn’t she supposed to be good at scheming?”
Hu Chuang wagged his index finger. “No matter how intricate the scheme, it’s only a soap bubble in the face of absolute power.”
Lu Ying listened quietly, and an almost imperceptible chill crept over her.
It was as if the Jin Family were a bottomless cavern of ice. Anyone who entered had to feed the beast with their own flesh, and few could ever escape.
Night had fallen completely, leaving the courtyard lights to illuminate them.
The group was silent for a long moment.
“Wait, that doesn’t make sense.” Han Xi suddenly spotted the flaw. “If that’s true, then Jin… the Second Young Master is much more valuable than Jin Meimei. How did he leave the Jin Family so… easily?”
If the old master truly possessed absolute power, hadn’t he done anything to Jin Beizhou?
Had he really allowed him to leave so easily?
“…”
Hu Chuang appeared stumped by the question.
All three of them looked at Lu Ying.
“Why are you looking at me?” Lu Ying asked blankly. “I don’t know.”
Han Xi said, “And if the old master knows that Lu Ying is the only person he can use to control Second Young Master Jin, how did she manage to get a divorce so smoothly?”
Lu Ying’s lashes fluttered. “Oh.”
Aside from Jin Beizhou trying to stall, the divorce really had gone quite smoothly.
The Jin Family had not placed a single obstacle in her path.
“You have a point,” Hu Chuang muttered. “If I were the old master, the first person I’d target would be Xiao Yingying. With her in my hands, I’d have no trouble controlling Zhouzi…”
Hu Chuang abruptly fell silent.
Lu Ying’s clear eyes rested on him.
She had never thought too deeply about her marriage to Jin Beizhou. She had always believed it concerned only the two of them.
They had married without difficulty and divorced without difficulty.
Trapped within the situation and unable to see the full picture, she might have overlooked many things.
Or perhaps Jin Beizhou had created a relatively simple, untainted world for her, shielding her from everything complicated and dark.
He had allowed her to make every decision according to her own wishes.
“Maybe I’m overthinking it.” Hu Chuang shook his head. “If the old master were really that ruthless, Zhouzi couldn’t have left so smoothly either, could he?”
“Brother,” Lu Ying asked, “is your company doing well?”
This was the first time she had asked about Jiamu.
“We’re doing incredibly well!” Hu Chuang immediately brightened. “You know how Zhouzi and I went to negotiate that Suzhou Bank deal? Your husband made a do-or-die pledge that he’d close it. I broke out in a cold sweat. That maniac is far too reckless, but somehow he really pulled it off. Still, little sister, you have to talk some sense into him…”
His voice gradually faded. “I keep forgetting you two are divorced.”
It was not his fault.
Who could have imagined that those two menaces would ever divorce? They had always been joined at the hip. No matter how fiercely they fought or how vicious the things they said, they would make up again within a couple of days.
Hu Chuang and the others had long grown used to it.
Lu Ying did not mind. “Brother, did you use the Hu Family’s connections?”
“…” Hu Chuang paused. “For the company? No. We never even reached the point where we needed anyone to pull strings.”
Lu Ying fell silent.
The hardest part for a startup was breaking into the market. It had to snatch business and territory from others. Half the battle centered on the company’s own competitors, while the other half depended on personal connections.
Every industry had its own social circle. Companies within it might compete and tear at one another, but they would become exceptionally united when confronting an outsider. After all, every newcomer meant a smaller piece of the pie for them.
Once the truth of Jin Beizhou’s birth came out, countless people had wanted to laugh at him and kick him while he was down.
Yet Jiamu had established itself smoothly.
They had not even needed the Hu Family’s influence.
Combined with the questions raised earlier, this felt strange. Old Master Jin wielded near-absolute power in Beicheng, yet he had not placed a single obstacle in Jin Beizhou’s path?
“Stop thinking about it.” Hu Chuang waved a hand carelessly. “Little sister, can you talk to him and make him change his profile picture?”
“…What?”
Hu Chuang took out his phone to lodge his complaint. “Look. He nearly scared me to death!”
It was Jin Beizhou’s profile picture on WeChat.
Against a murky yellow background, the blurry outline of a tiny baby could just barely be made out.
It was Lu Jiuyue’s 4D ultrasound image.
“Who uses a baby’s 4D ultrasound as their profile picture?” Hu Chuang protested. “Little sister, can’t you do something about him?”
Yan Xia asked, “What did he use before?”
“Xiao Yingying.”
“…” Yan Xia fell silent for a moment, then offered sincere advice. “Maybe you should just put up with it. Using his own daughter as a profile picture is still better than using his ex-wife’s photo and getting hunted down by her for it, isn’t it?”
Everyone fell silent.
