Translator: Lonelytree
When Gu Ziye and the others arrived at the hotel, they walked into the heated discussion people had about how Zhou Huaming had set his nephew up so he could keep the Yi Family Hotel to himself.
Gu Ziye and the others looked at each other.
They didn't understand what was going on.
The guests were all dining, but they were also talking about Zhou Huaming.
Gu Ziye was smart enough to know that this probably had to do with Xiao Lingyu.
He thought for a moment, then walked in and said with a smile, "CEO Zhou, it's an honor for us to serve you."
Zhou Huaming glared at Xiao Lingyu with an ashen face. He was furious. He was not expecting the set-up. He might not harbor ill intentions towards his nephew, but rumors were the scariest thing. Once it started to spread, the fake would become true.
He wanted to seal the lips of the people at the hotel, but he couldn't do that. Most guests at the hotel were respected members of society. The Zhou Family couldn't threaten all of them.
Therefore, the only thing Zhou Huaming could do to fix this was to make Xiao Lingyu take back her words and admit that she was lying. He finally knew what Xiao Lingyu was planning. She was never tempted by their money. She agreed with the invitation was to sow discord within the Zhou Family. She never intended to work with them. Since that was the case, he would not be polite to her anymore.
When he was about to strongarm Xiao Lingyu into making her confession, Gu Ziye walked over. He openly insulted him.
Gu Ziye looked at Zhou Huaming and pretended to be concerned, "CEO Zhou, you don't look so good. Are you not feeling well? Actually, let me tell you, our vegetables here are not only delicious but also good for the body. Many clients said they felt much better after eating here. So, CEO Zhuo, you should try some."
Everyone, "..." They sympathized with Zhou Huaming. And then, someone giggled. Zhuo Huaming came to his enemy's turf and was insulted.
The manager of the Gu Family Hotel was amazing too. He was young, but he had a sharp tongue. He didn't say a single bad word, but everything was a faceslap to Zhou Huaming.
Gu Ziye rambled on, not giving Zhou Huaming any time to react. Gu Ziye clapped his hands and uttered in mock surprise. "CEO Zhou, I heard that you had your cousin sent to jail so that he wouldn't steal the Yi Family Hotel from you. But I'm confused..."
Gu Ziye continued, "Haven't Old Master Zhou already made the announcement that all the assets of the Zhou Family will be given to your nephew? The Yi Family Hotel is part of that, right? Then, why is your nephew so anxious to fight you for it? Is it because you were not satisfied with the old man's decision and decided to share your hard-earned wealth with your two daughters instead?"
Xiao Lingyu's words were the firework base, and Gu Ziye was lighting it up. It made the rumors spread faster. The people there didn't know Xiao Lingyu, but they knew Gu Ziye. They knew about the history between the Gu Family and the Zhou Family.
They believed Gu Ziye's words because who would know you better than your enemy?
"Gu Ziye, shut up!" Zhou Huaming couldn't care about his image anymore. "Don't try to start a rumor. No one will believe you."
Gu Ziye smiled and apologized sincerely, "I'm sorry, CEO Zhou. I didn't know that was just a rumor. I merely repeated what I heard." Then, Gu Ziye added in pain. "Actually, CEO Zhou, I feel bad for you. We're already in modern society. No one should place so much importance on a boy over a girl anymore. Regardless of a child's gender, we should raise them equally.
"But why is it so different with the Zhou Family? Rumors say that misogyny is really serious in the Zhou Family. The latest Zhou Family generation has five children, but why only one can inherit the family assets? You have worked your whole life to accumulate all this wealth, but you can't even give them to your daughters but a nephew.
"Are your daughters that bad? Do you think they won't take care of you when you're old? But then, do you think your nephew will really take care of you and not throw you into a nursing home and pretend that you don't exist?"
Gu Ziye's words stabbed into Zhou Huaming's heart. This was something that worried him too.
If Zhou Hongwei were really willing to look after them in their old age, he would have no complaints giving everything he had to Zhou Hongwei. However, who could promise Zhou Hongwei would be filial to his uncles?
Regardless, he couldn't let his enemy know that. He would settle the rest after this matter was over.
Zhou Huaming sneered, "President Gu, mind your own business! This is the Zhou Family business! You don't need to worry about it." At this point, he turned his angry gaze back to Xiao Lingyu. He gritted his teeth and roared angrily, "Xiao Lingyu, I didn't expect you to be such a scheming woman. Do you think you can dismantle the Zhou Family with a few words? In your dreams!"
Xiao Lingyu chuckled. "CEO Zhou, when did I try to do that?" She refuted, "CEO Zhou, I don't even know the Zhou Family. In fact, I'm not even familiar with you. Why would I try to sow discord between the Zhou family members?"
At this point, she turned to look at her surroundings and said, "You were the one who invited me here for a meal. I don't even know why you'd do that. After all, we're not that familiar."
Xiao Lingyu was certain that Zhou Huaming wouldn't dare to tell the truth. After all, his plan was to bribe her with money to release Zhou Hongwei.
Zhou Huaming was furious after being tricked by Xiao Lingyu. He pointed angrily at Xiao Lingyu and shouted, "Xiao Lingyu, just you wait!" Then, he turned to leave.
"Wait." Xiao Lingyu stopped him. "CEO Zhou, you invited me so you should pay the bill."
Zhou Huaming's face turned purple. He glared at Xiao Lingyu with his sharp eyes and scolded, "You country bumpkin, I hope you choke to death on the food!"
The waiter came over with the bill. He said politely, "Sir, the bill is 3930 RMB. President Gu said that since you're a regular here, we'll only charge you 3900 RMB."
The enemy became a regular!
Zhou Huaming slammed the money angrily and left in a huff.
"Haha..." Seeing this, Gu Ziye and his friends burst into laughter.
Gu Ziye waved his hand and announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm very happy today, so every table will get a 20 percent discount!" With the business at the restaurant, the 20 percent was actually very big.
A guest said. "President Gu, you just defeated your enemy. We deserve at least a 50 percent discount!"
"That's right!"
"50 Percent! 50 Percent!"
Gu Ziye laughed among the noise and said, "My dear clients, with 20 percent discount, I'm already running on no profit. If I give you a 50 percent discount, you'd have me lose even my underwear!"
"Haha..." Everyone laughed and said, "President Gu, we have children with us!"
Gu Ziye curled his lips and continued to smile, "I'm just telling the truth. So please forgive me."
After Gu Ziye joked with the guests, the four of them sat down at Xiao Lingyu's table. The dishes were almost all served.
Zheng Haiyang looked at the dishes on the table with a strange expression and asked, "Lingyu, did you order all these dishes?" They were all expensive dishes.
Ever since Xiao Lingyu worked with them, their restaurant became famous for vegetarian dishes. Almost no one ordered expensive ingredients like abalone and sea cucumber anymore.
Yuan Xuanhao smiled and said, "No wonder the bill is almost 4,000."
Qian Yifan gave Xiao Lingyu a thumbs up and said, "Amazing! You're really amazing!"
They knew that Xiao Lingyu and Zhou Huaming's connection was Zhou Hongwei. They heard that Xiao Lingyu's testimony was crucial to Zhou Hongwei's conviction. They were worried that Xiao Lingyu and Zhou Huaming might really come to some kind of agreement.
However, they were surprised by the show when they arrived.
Xiao Lingyu looked at the dishes on the table and said, "Come and join me! I can't finish them on my own!"
Gu Ziye glanced at the feast. "I don't think even with the four of us can finish them either."
There were five people but sixteen dishes.
Zheng Haiyang suggested, "Ling Yu, why don't you ask your brother and Yi 'Er to come to join us?"
Yuan Xuanhao said, "They are in school. They are not allowed to leave the school except on weekends." If they were, Ning Weiyi, Yang Baolin, and Kang Le would wander around town every day.
A guest smiled and said, "President Gu, we can help you finish the dishes!"
Gu Ziye shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I'm not the one who paid for this table."
Everyone's eyes turned to Xiao Lingyu. There were curiosity and doubt. No one knew who this woman was, but she managed to make Zhou Huaming blow up?with just a few words. Plus, she was very familiar with Gu Ziye and his friends. The woman was not a simple character!
Xiao Lingyu ignored the other clients and told Gu Ziye, "Don't worry, we can finish all these dishes."
"Ah?" Gu Ziye was a little surprised. He really didn't think they could finish the feast. Then, with everyone watching in shock, Xiao Lingyu swept through the dishes...
Gu Ziye searched his memory. He remembered that one time he had dinner with Xiao Lingyu and Jiang Tao. Xiao Lingyu only had a half bowl of rice. It was hard to imagine that it was the same woman who consumed the food like a vacuum.
The food was annihilated by the five. Most of them went into Xiao Lingyu's stomach, and the girl still looked hungry.
Gu Ziye asked in surprise, "How did your appetite become so big?" She ate a portion more than the four of them combined. Of course, she ate mostly vegetables.
Xiao Lingyu smiled and said, "I've been eating a lot recently!" She didn't tell them she was pregnant, and so she had a large appetite. To be honest, Xiao Lingyu was also confused. She didn't remember having such a large appetite when she was pregnant in her previous life.
Then again, in her previous life, she hated the child so much that she couldn't care about anything related to him. She wasn't paying attention if the pregnancy had affected her in her previous life.
After the meal, Gu Ziye invited Xiao Lingyu to join them in his private room. Gu Ziye admitted, "Lingyu, I was scared to death when I heard that you were dining with Zhou Huaming."
Xiao Lingyu asked with a smile, "Why? Are you afraid that your supplier will be snatched away by them again?"
Gu Ziye smiled and admitted, "That has crossed my mind."
After all, he knew how despicable the Zhou Family was. He was afraid that they might threaten Xiao Lingyu.
"However, when I heard that you were dining here, I was confused." Gu Ziye said. If Xiao Lingyu really wanted to cooperate with the Yi Family Hotel, they wouldn't be discussing the terms at the Gu Family Hotel. Plus, with their understanding of Xiao Lingyu, she wouldn't work with someone who threatened her and her family.
However, they were still curious that Zhou Haoming agreed to come to meet her at the Gu Family Hotel.
"Lingyu, how exactly did you get Zhou Huaming to agree to have a meal here?" Zheng Haiyang asked.
Xiao Lingyu curled her lips and said, "It's not that hard. They have need of me now. For Zhou Hongwei, they will agree to everything I ask."
Then, the men said worriedly. "Lingyu, aren't you afraid of their revenge? The Zhou Family is extremely petty. Now that you've offended them, they will definitely find a chance to take revenge in the future. They aren't that powerful in Xing Yin County, but they can still harm you."
Xiao Lingyu shook her head and said, "I don't know either. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
To the Zhou family, she was just a nobody. In fact, they only needed to lift a finger to deal with her. However, they couldn't do anything to her yet because of Zhou Hongwei. But once that was over, the Zhou Family would seek revenge.
Gu Ziye would help Xiao Lingyu because she was her friend and business partner. However, while he could fend them off on the surface, the Zhou Family liked to resort to dirty tricks.
It was easy to dodge an open spear but difficult to guard against an arrow from the dark!
Even if Gu Ziye and the others wanted to help, there was only so much they could do.
Gu Ziye said, "Lingyu, be careful. If there's anything that you need my help with, just let me know. I'll definitely do my best."
"Yes, and we will help too!" The other three also said.
Xiao Lingyu smiled and said, "Then I'll thank you in advance."
"You're welcome. We're friends, aren't we?" The four said with a smile.
...
"Dad, I knew there must be something behind Wei'er's arrest. It turns out that someone in the family is working with outsiders to set up our Wei 'Er!" Zhou Huaying was complaining to Zhou Guojian about his big brother. "Everyone is talking about it. Wei 'Er was arrested because he wanted to seize the Yi Family Hotel. Big brother didn't want to surrender his asset, so he joined with outsiders to send Wei 'Er to prison."
A long time ago, Zhou Guojian had already announced that everything in the Zhou Family would go to Zhou Hongwei. Among them was the Yi Family Hotel and all the assets owned by Zhou Huaming and Zhou Tanxiong. As Zhou Hongwei's father, these things would belong to Zhou Huaying too. Therefore, he felt it was natural for him to make use of his eldest and third brother. He was only drawing advance on his future money.
But, when he heard his son was sent to jail by Zhou Huaming, it meant that Zhou Huaming was trying to snatch the family property away from him. He couldn't allow that!
Everything in the Zhou Family belonged to him. His eldest brother and third brother would get nothing. So, when he heard the news, he immediately came to complain to Zhou Guojian.
After Zhuo Guojian heard his second son's complaint, he frowned. He called Zhou Huaming to return home immediately.
Once Zhou Huaming returned, he was interrogated by Zhou Huaying. "Big Brother, how can you ally with an outsider to send Wei 'Er to jail because of one Yi Family Hotel? Zhou Huaming, I'm telling you, if anything happens to my Wei 'Er... I'll never forgive you."
When Zhou Huaming heard this accusation, he was incensed. But he suppressed his anger and asked, "Second brother, where did you hear that I was the one who set up Wei 'Er and sent him to prison?"
"It was from a friend of mine!" Zhou Huaying shot back without thinking. "Is it not true? My friend told me that you aren't satisfied with the arrangement to hand the Yi Family Hotel to Wei 'Er and wanted to leave them for your daughters instead."
Zhou Huaming could no longer hold back his anger and asked, "Second brother, which friend did you hear this from? Can't you tell that they are merely trying to turn us against each other?"
Zhou Huaming had done so much for Zhou Hongwei. Was his loyalty not clear enough for his family to see? He assumed these words would never affect his family. But he forgot that he had an idiotic second brother.
Zhou Huaying sharply questioned, "I don't care. I'm just going to ask this question. Why haven't you handed over the position of the general manager of the Yi Family Hotel to Wei 'Er?" He harrumphed and sneered. "It's because you can't bear to part with it, right?"
Zhou Huaming suddenly felt a little sad, helpless, and bitter. He had done everything he could for the sake of Zhou Hongwei, but in the end, he was still questioned by his family.
This turned his heart sour.