Like usual, Xin Mei reached on the sets and gave her best for her scene. That day after pack up, she was ready to return home when she heard talks of producer and his a.s.sistant.
She smiled when she heard that they were planning to increase her scenes in the movie. They wanted to add more scenes of her with the first and second male lead. They were planning to reduce extra or filter scenes of Zhou Mingyu.
She smiled in delight when she heard them. It would be a big success for Xin Mei if the screen time of Zhou Mingyu was to cut down and allotted to her. She only had to work a little harder and her screen time would be more.
With a delightful smile on her lips, Xin Mei returned home. When she entered her house, a sinking feeling bubbled in her heart.
Her house was very silent. She couldn"t hear the voice of chattering of her family as usual. Moreover, there was this dark, suffocating environment in the house.
Immediately, Xin Mei remembered the dream of her father"s death. Sweat formed on her forehead. Without caring for anything she rushed inside her house. She was about to climb the staircase when she saw her family sitting silently on the dining table.
Her eyes scanned her family members. She sighed in relief on finding nothing was wrong.
"What happened? Why are you all so silent today, unlike the other days?" Xin Mei asked and took a deep breath, to calm down her anxiety.
"Xin Mei, you are back," her father gave her a sad smile. "Come, sit here. Have your dinner. After dinner, I have something to talk to you."
"What happened father?" she asked and took her seat. "Why are you looking so dull? And what is it that you want to talk to me?"
"First have your dinner, Xiao Mei." Her mother served her a plate full of food. "We will talk once you have finished your dinner."
Xin Mei looked at her family and everyone had a glum expression on their faces. They were sharing a sad look.
"Mother, what is wrong? Please tell me now." She asked her mother. Her voice was full of anxiousness.
"First dinner Xiao Mei. Father will tell you everything later." He Lin patted on her head and continued with her food.
Xin Mei looked at her family and she knew no one was going to tell her a thing before she finished her food.
With a lot of difficulties, Xin Mei gulped down the food. She was feeling very anxious and nervous seeing the faces of her family. She knew their sad faces were somewhat related to the financial condition of her father and she was to play a huge part in something.
"Finish." Xin Mei announced and dropped her chopsticks in the bowl. "Now tell me, what is wrong? I can"t take in your gloomy faces. Father, what"s wrong?"
"Xin Mei," her father sighed. "Remember our talk a few nights ago, I had promised to discuss my problems with you."
"I remember it father," Xin Mei nodded her head. "What about it?"
"Xin Mei, your father is in a big problem and only you can save your father and family."
"What happened, father?" Xin Mei leaned toward her father and took a hold of his hand. "How can I help you?"
"Xin Mei, let me tell you everything from start." Xin Jin exchanged a look with his son before speaking up.
"Xin Mei, you know your gege had joined our business only two years back. Being ambitious, he had started a lot of construction projects - hotels, societies, school, colleges, and many other projects."
"I know about it father." Xin Mei nodded her head. She knew where this conversation was going to be.
"To construct those projects, we had taken money from a lot of small to big investing companies. But now, those small companies and some big companies had backed off from giving us fund. They have given us the compensation money but the loss is already done. We can"t continue with any project due to insufficient fund."
"This was going on for the last four to five months. I thought I could control the situation but I failed badly. Now our leftover investors are also asking for a refund. They don"t believe that we can complete our commitments. We are stuck in this situation Xin Mei, we need to find a way to run the company and if not then we have to call ourselves bankrupt."
"Father, are you short of funds? Can"t we complete even one project and pay investors with its return?" Xin Mei asked. She bit her lips in nervousness.
"We are short of funds, sister." Xin Yan sighed. "And no, every project is still under construction. We don"t have funds to complete them, forget about completing them; we don"t even have enough money to pay the labor union."
Xin Mei gasped and looked at her family with sad eyes. This situation was just like her dream. The only difference was, that time she didn"t support her family but supported Qian Fan whose family was also one of the investors.
"What about the Qian family?" Xin Mei asked with a heavy voice. She clutched her thighs and bitterness filled her mouth.
"He is the first one to back off," Xin Yan bitterly remarked and turned his face another side. He wanted to scold his sister for trusting that fool Qian Fan. If not for her, he wouldn"t have let him invest in his projects.
"Now what can I do father?" Xin Mei asked in a sad voice. "I know it was my mistake to trust Qian Fan. You gave his father the chance of investing in your projects only because of me. What should I do to compensate for my mistakes?"
"Xin Mei, I am not punis.h.i.+ng you for anything and you don"t need to compensate anything but….we have two proposals to save our business." Xin Jin said and looked at his wife for help.
"Xin Mei," He Lin sighed. "You know we love you. We never think wrong for you but we need your help this time. There are two families which are ready to give us the needed fund but they have asked for your hand in marriage."
Xin Mei took a deep breath and nodded her head. She could vaguely remember from her dream, that time also she received one marriage proposal but she declined it because of her love for Qian Fan but this time she was changed.
"First is Qian family, they will not withdraw their investment if we get you married to Qian Fan. They also want fifty perfect of our shares to be written on your name. They are ready to give us a double investment from before."
Xin Mei screamed when she heard her mother. "No way, I am not going to marry that jerk. I can"t marry that cheating man, not even on my dead body." She declared.
Xin Jin nodded his head. "I also declined his help. I will never give my daughter to his house. I can"t trust Qian Fan especially when he had cheated you for so many years."
"What about the second proposal?" she asked.
"Bai Yue, She was your grandmother"s childhood friend. She and your grandmother always dreamt to tie our family in marriage relations.h.i.+p but it was impossible because they both had boys but now that she has a grandson and me a daughter, she again wants to join our family by getting you both married."
Xin Jin and He Lin looked at their daughter, waiting for her reaction. They could see she wasn"t ready for marriage but still she was hearing them out.
"Aunt Bai has offered us her help. With her help, we can easily revive our company but she wants your hand in marriage. She can help us without any condition but she didn"t want to miss this chance to make our family one."
Xin Mei nodded her head before asking, "Can"t we get money from some other sources?"
Xin Jin shook his head. "The amount is very huge. No one is ready to invest such a huge amount with us. I could have asked He Jichen for his help but he has also invested in some movies. I can"t let him suffer loss because of me. Bank has also denied to give us loan."
"Xin Mei, we will not force you for this marriage. You can take your time before reaching a decision." He Lin sadly smiled to her.
Xin Mei looked at her family and she knew a heavy burden was left on her shoulders.
50th Rank = 2 chapters daily