When Xu Zifan entered the bar's private room, Qi Xiangheng had already drunk several drinks and was clearly in a bad mood.
Qi Xiangheng looked up at him and said, "Busy man, it's really not easy to see you."
Xu Zifan shrugged, sat down two seats away from him, poured himself a glass of wine, and said, "I was very busy when I first joined the company."
This perfunctory reply made Qi Xiangheng's face darken. He stared at Xu Zifan and said, "What's wrong with you? I've only been away from Yanjing for two months, how come you've become such a different person? I don't think I've offended you, your temper is just too inexplicable!"
Xu Zifan smelled the wine in his glass to make sure there were no drugs in it before taking a sip. "Xiang Heng, we've been brothers for so many years, you know how protective I am of my own. The reason I don't want to see you is because I don't want to hear you talk about my family, and I don't want to argue with you and hurt our feelings."
He looked up at Qi Xiangheng and said, "You dare say you didn't want to tell me about Wang Yalin? You've been so eager to see me lately, it must be because of her, right?"
Qi Xiangheng's expression changed slightly. "Don't misunderstand Ya Lin. She didn't ask me to do anything. I wanted to talk to you. It has nothing to do with her. As you can see, she has accepted her identity and has no intention of competing with Meng Yao. She's not the kind of girl who's jealous or even malicious."
Zifan, you've been blinded by this turn of events and have misunderstood Yalin too deeply. The three of us grew up together; if she weren't good to you, would you have treated her so well before? Think it through."
Xu Zifan spread his hands. "See, this is why I think it's unnecessary to meet. You have your thoughts, and I have mine. I live under the same roof as my two sisters; we see each other all the time. Do you think you know them better than I do? Next, are you going to say you met that maid? That maid said she took money from Mengyao to frame Yalin, and then Yalin sent the maid away and told you that was the end of it. Am I right?"
Xu Zifan knew this from Qi Xiangheng's expression, which is why he fired the maid directly without letting her confront Wang Yalin. Wang Yalin could bribe the maid or use both carrot and stick tactics to change her testimony; it wouldn't be difficult. But the Xu family didn't necessarily need concrete evidence. Right and wrong were clear to everyone. He blocked Wang Yalin's path of entanglement, and no one in the family would bring it up again. Only Qi Xiangheng could argue with him as a brother.
Xu Zifan took another sip of wine, a smile playing on his lips, and looked directly at Qi Xiangheng, asking, "You said we've been brothers for over ten years, and you want me to trust your judgment. So, Xiangheng, are you willing to trust my judgment? Wang Yalin is scheming. She's been bullying Yaoyao behind our backs, hinting to classmates to ostracize Yaoyao, and sowing discord in front of my mother, making my mother increasingly resentful of Yaoyao, even limiting Yaoyao's allowance to only two hundred yuan a week."
When Wang Yalin heard me tell my family to treat Yao Yao better and treat her like an adopted daughter, she deliberately fell down the stairs, making the maid say she was so heartbroken she was in a daze, trying to make my parents and grandmother feel sorry for her, and even making me feel guilty. After I exposed her, she started acting pitiful, stirring up trouble until my mother didn't even want to look at me and Yao Yao. Only when she realized my mother couldn't help her did she start to become cheerful, well-behaved, and stop causing trouble.
Xiang Heng, everything I've said is the truth. Wang Yalin was just pretending in front of you. Tell me, do you believe me or Wang Yalin?
Qi Xiangheng naturally believed Wang Yalin! In his eyes, Wang Yalin's image in his heart had never changed, but Xu Zifan was very different from before. His expression changed repeatedly, unsure how to answer.
Xu Zifan shook his head. "You don't need to answer me, I already know the answer. I'm talking to you calmly today because I want you to know that we are on different sides. I won't force you to hate Wang Yalin, and don't try to make me treat her like a younger sister. Don't say anything bad about Yaoyao in front of me, or we won't be friends anymore."
"From now on, if you see Wang Yalin, help her, or even marry her, I won't interfere. And you shouldn't interfere in my affairs either, and don't mention her in front of me. Then we can still drink together like before, okay?"
Qi Xiangheng couldn't accept his current state. The three of them used to have a very good relationship; Xu Zifan had even jokingly asked him to be his brother-in-law so they could stay together forever. How did it become like they were going their separate ways?
But Xu Zifan's gaze was unyielding, clearly not accepting the other possibility. He couldn't help but smile bitterly, "How did it turn out like this? Even if Yalin really did something wrong, she's only seventeen. It's understandable that she might be emotionally unbalanced after such a sudden change. Is it necessary to condemn her like this? As her older brother, you can teach her. Aren't you teaching Mengyao? Zifan, have you really thought this through?"
Xu Zifan gently swirled his wine glass, no longer looking at him. "If you want to teach, you can. To me, she's just the Wang family's daughter, someone who refuses to leave my house and affects my relationship with my mother. She's annoying, lacks self-awareness, and has no backbone to abandon her wealth. As your brother, I advise you to find someone else to like. She's not worth it. Your family won't allow you to marry an ordinary person, and the Xu family won't give her any shares."
Qi Xiangheng's face was already showing anger when he heard him belittle his beloved.
Xu Zifan chuckled, downed his drink in one gulp, and stood up, saying, "Maybe our brotherhood is over. If you don't believe me, you can hire a private investigator to keep an eye on her for a while. By the way, if she loses her wealth, she might have a one-night stand with you while drunk, making you feel guilty and responsible for her. Don't be foolish enough to go against your family for her sake. Be careful. It doesn't hurt to date for a while; sooner or later you'll see through her true colors. I'm leaving."
He didn't give Qi Xiangheng a chance to say more. The original owner and Qi Xiangheng were true brothers, and both of them were relatively simple-minded at heart, so...
He was completely fooled by Wang Yalin. However, Qi Xiangheng was even more deeply involved than the original owner, having secretly loved Wang Yalin for many years. Unlike the original owner, whose relationship awkwardly transitioned from sibling affection to love, and who saw through Wang Yalin's true colors as soon as things went wrong, Qi Xiangheng's personality was more inclined towards self-deception. He would probably only believe the truth after hitting a wall.
People with different paths cannot work together. The original owner could be brothers with Qi Xiangheng, but he could not. Their personalities were completely opposite, so there was no need to waste time causing each other more trouble.
Feng Xiangjun, Wang Yalin, Qi Xiangheng... Xu Zifan decisively shook off all those who would cause him trouble, thus having much more time to devote to his work and his sister.
Every day after school, the driver would take Xu Mengyao to the Xu family's business. Now, everyone in the Xu family knew the eldest daughter of the chairman's family, and they were all very polite to her. Xu Mengyao became more and more comfortable around them, and gradually she could even smile and chat politely for a few minutes.
While Xu Zifan worked, she would learn from him, and he would explain any questions she didn't understand after he finished working. There was a rest room to relax in when she was tired, and she had plenty of food and drink. She was much more comfortable at Xu's company than at the Xu family home.
After Xu Mengyao finishes her studies, Xu Zifan will work with her to plan how to reveal her identity.
He reached an agreement with Xu's purchasing department to sell the jade he had prepared to Xu at 70% of its market value.
The presence of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of beautiful jade and the gimmick of the Xu family heir personally gambling on the stones has garnered significant attention, making it a perfect opportunity to host a large banquet to showcase them. Introducing Xu Zifan and Xu Mengyao at the banquet would be neither abrupt nor awkward. It would also allow for the display of jewelry design drafts, advertising a new jewelry series created from these jade stones, giving the long-dormant Xu family a moment of glory, and incidentally announcing that the Xu family heir has "reformed."
In one fell swoop, Xu Zifan taught Xu Mengyao how to write a business plan, and after she finished writing it, he took her to report to Xu Zhenhua.
Xu Mengyao was very nervous doing this for the first time, and her report was stammering. Fortunately, there were no outsiders in the office, and although Xu Zhenhua frowned, he did not interrupt her.
Since realizing he didn't understand his son at all, he'd become a little more patient with his children. He noticed Xu Zifan was teaching Xu Mengyao about work, and didn't think Xu Mengyao, coming from the countryside, could learn these things, but still asked a few questions after Xu Mengyao finished her report.
Xu Mengyao answered some questions well, some she couldn't answer, and some she seemed confused about. After she finished speaking, Xu Zhenhua looked at Xu Zifan and gestured for him to add something. Xu Zifan shrugged and said, "Yaoyao didn't understand some things. You should send her plan back to her so she can figure it out before reporting back."
Xu Zhenhua, barely containing his anger, said, "Do you think this is child's play?"
"Teaching your sister is much more important than playing house, isn't it? Don't worry, Dad, I'll take care of it if anything goes wrong." Xu Zifan patted Xu Mengyao's ashamed face, stood up and said, "Come on, I'll teach you anything you don't understand."
Xu Mengyao looked at Xu Zhenhua, who waved his hand and said, "Go away, stop making me angry."
Xu Mengyao, clutching the folder, walked back to Xu Zifan's office with her head down and asked in a low voice, "Brother, am I stupid? Dad seems very disappointed."
Xu Zifan chuckled and leaned closer to her, whispering, "Everyone's like this when they first start learning. Dad's the slow learner. I used to see him get scolded by Grandpa all the time when I was little. If you study hard, you'll definitely be better than him in the future. Then he'll want to take you to every banquet to show you off."
Xu Mengyao chuckled, "Really? Brother, then teach me!"
Xu Mengyao has a good memory; she remembered all the questions Xu Zhenhua had asked. After consulting Xu Zifan, she felt a sudden sense of clarity. She also discovered that something that seemed simple in the company might actually involve many aspects, and sometimes what one thinks they understand is only the surface.
Junior employees might only need a superficial understanding of the situation to keep up with their work, but senior personnel like them must have a thorough understanding of things to control the overall picture, handle all emergencies, and make adjustments and changes at any time.
Xu Mengyao worked very hard, and went to report to Xu Zhenhua again the next day. Xu Zhenhua deliberately made things difficult for her, asking her some tricky questions, and she failed again. Then on the third day, the fourth day, and by the fifth day, she was no longer nervous at all. She presented the contents of the plan to Xu Zhenhua in a clear and organized manner, and answered all of Xu Zhenhua's questions fluently.
Xu Zhenhua flipped through the plan in surprise, finally signed it and nodded with satisfaction, "You've made great progress. Keep up the good work, but don't let it interfere with your studies."
"Okay, Dad!" Xu Mengyao smiled happily. "Dad, my brother and I want to go eat hot pot. Dad, would you like to come with us?"
Xu Zhenhua was about to refuse, but when he looked up and saw her cheerful smile and Xu Zifan's relaxed and smiling face, a warm feeling washed over him, and he smiled and said, "Okay, you can make the arrangements."