The Second Madame glanced back at Shen Yan and sat on the couch, "Come in. Let"s talk."
Xia Yu had no choice but to close the door again. She stood at the doorstep and greeted her very respectfully, "Dear Second Madame!"
"Why so courteous? I heard everything my son said just now. He is chasing you and how can you be so ill-bred not to greet the seniors?" The Second Madame asked with her brows knitted.
"I won"t be a mistress," Xia Yu responded calmly.
"What do you mean?" The Second Madame"s face changed.
"You mean you are willing to give your consent to his marrying me?" Xia Yu"s eyes met the Second Madame"s without any intention of retreating.
"You haven"t even started yet. Isn"t it too early to talk about it?"
"Then you mean?" Xia Yu asked.
"Xia Yu, don"t you think too highly of yourself? Shen Family"s men are too good for you." The Second Madame was shocked by Xia Yu"s att.i.tude. For such a long time, she thought Xia Yu was seducing her son. She couldn"t believe that her son would be so humble if she didn"t see it with her own eyes.
"Second Madame, it wasn"t so serious as you thought it to be. As I have just said, I won"t be the other woman. Why do you come to give me a hard time since you"ve already had someone in mind for marriage?" Xia Yu had never thought about building herself up.
Xia Yu"s words silenced the Second Madame. She couldn"t find a good answer to this question since she had either talked openly about it or implied it several times. How could she deny it now?
However, her son wasn"t tuned in to what she thought, which was really troubling her.
"Xia Yu, it wasn"t as easy as you thought it to be."
"Then, whatever is the reason, please respect your choice and other people"s feelings, since you"ve already made the choice," Xia Yu had no interest in knowing their difficulties. Since fate couldn"t bring them together, they had better just go separate ways.
"Xia Yu, you don"t regret today"s decision?" the Second Madame stared at Xia Yu. She didn"t believe that there was anyone who didn"t love money. She didn"t need to work if she really wanted to be so unworldly.
What to regret for? For not being a mistress? Xia Yu sneered and turned around, opening the door without any hesitation.
"What is this att.i.tude?" the Second Madame hadn"t ever seen anyone so arrogant. Her cousin was better known than she was, and yet she still burst into tears when facing the First Madame. How could she be so...
So condescending! Yes, she looked down upon her. That was the right interpretation of her att.i.tude.
"Mom, what att.i.tude do you expect her to have towards you? Shen Yan threw the flowers into the dustbin.
The Second Madame gave a wry smile. Indeed! How could she expect any respect from her since she couldn"t promise her anything?
"My son, let"s just forget about it."
"Mom, how many times have I told you that I won"t marry Yang Ke"er?" Shen Yan restated his stand, trying to control his temper.
"Don"t be so stubborn! Haven"t you seen it clearly that however you try? The Old Madame won"t let you have Shen Group? If you go on like this, do you think you can still have a place in Shen Group?" the Second Madame was getting really anxious. Her son was very likely to end up being driven out of Shen Group if the att.i.tude he held irritated Yang Family.
"I will not marry Yang Ke"er even at the cost of being driven out." Shen Yan said resolutely.
"Don"t be silly, my son. You might lose all the girls revolving around you if you become n.o.body." the Second Madame said, trying to control her anger.
"I just want one wife. What"s the point of having so many people around me? Xia Yu alone is enough for me." Shen Yan said with a sneer. The Old Madame eventually went directly to the heart of the matter.
The so-called treating his grandsons equally was just a lie. The compet.i.tion was just to show that they were generous and give Shen Mo the opportunity to show how capable he was and how much support he gained from the others, while Shen Yan himself was so hopeless that he had no choice but to accept their generosity.
What a pity that their intention was exposed so early!
"Shen Yan, don"t forget that you are one of Shen Family!" The Second Madame shouted with a lowered voice.
"Mom, you"ve been brainwashed too thoroughly these years. But you are you and I am myself. You might accept your fate but I won"t." His mother"s warning didn"t have any influence on Shen Yan"s decision.
"No matter what, she is your grandma," the Second Madame toned down a bit, seeing that being harsh to him didn"t work out. "Even if we don"t fight with them and lose everything, is it what you should do for the sake of your deceased father?"
"It is not a matter of fighting or not. It is a matter of principle," Shen Yan looked at his mom and said. "Old Madame is too stubborn. Look at Aunt and Uncle and you"ll know it. What did she say at the very beginning? Uncle didn"t use a penny from Shen Family, yet still started from scratch. However, her bias caused them to separate for so many years."
When Old Sir and his sons died, Qi Guogang supported the whole family of his own accord as the son-in-law. However, Old Madame doubted that he had ulterior motives. She then first demanded his marrying into Shen Family.
Considering the situation of Shen Family at that time, Qi Guogang agreed. But just because of his quick response, the Old Madame doubted again and appointed her nephew to be the CEO.
Later, she even sent people to watch him. And there came the story of Wu Qing"s mother. The Old Madame made a big fuss about it and broke up such a good family.
All these years, the Second Madame was widowed, but Shen Yang"s situation was no better: having a husband or not made no difference to her. The Second Madame pitied her whenever she was talking about her.
"My child, I understand every word you said. Yet no matter how wrong she is, she"s doing everything for the good of the family. Since she insists your elder brother to be the CEO, let us not fight with him, will you?" the Second Madame didn"t want her son to get hurt, which was all she was protecting him for.
"Mom, is it I who want to fight them?" Shen Yan gave a wry smile. He had never had this intention. He only wanted to a.s.sist his elder brother. But what did he do?
Was the crisis of the European branch the result of the mismanagement of managers? No, it was because someone stole from the company. They left the company and opened a fake account to short-sell the company. Shen Yan didn"t report it after he learned it. Instead, he tried every means to save the company.
After the company was back on track, Shen Mo was not grateful at all. Seeing Shen Yan gained more and more support and reputation which might threaten his place, he even set him up by despicable means.
With every evidence before him, how could Shen Yan believe he could live a peaceful life here?
Things just didn"t go as he wished.
"But my son, if you don"t marry Yang Ke"er and offend Yang Family by doing so, how can you gain a foothold?" Mothers always put the son"s future in mind. If Shen Yan insisted to fight with Shen Mo, the Second Madame would surely support him, in doing it wisely.
Shen Yan shook his head, "Mom, marrying Yang Ke"er would exactly put Yang Family in a dilemma. Believe me, Yang Weiye and Yang Weiming won"t approve of this marriage."
"Why?" The Second Madame was stunned but she still found that her son"s words made some sense. Although Yang Ke"er showed in a high-profile way that she liked Shen Yan, there wasn"t any indication from Yang Family.
In the beginning, Second Madame thought Yang Family had a secret discussion with the Old Madame. However, it seemed not the case as time pa.s.sed by.
Shen Yan shook his head, "I have no idea for now. We don"t know that much about the Old Madame, so please don"t have your hand in it, otherwise, you might be the scapegoat."
"Will it be so serious?" Second Madame looked at her son with suspicion. How much did he know?
"It would only be much more serious. I think Shen Mo knew the secrets of Old Madame. That"s why she had to compromise with him on some matters." Shen Mo had to share more with his mom to dispel her doubts.
"But what about Ke"er?" that girl"s eyes were swollen from crying. Even if Shen Yan didn"t date her, they were relatives.
"You don"t have to worry about this. Yang family will persuade her." Shen Yan was not worried about her.
"Well then, I"d trust you for the time being." the Old Madame"s actions were so suspicious that the Second Madame was unable to figure out. For example, she liked Xia Yu very much and even encouraged Shen Yan to date her, blaming the Second Madame for being too stubborn. However, she then changed her mind in a second and indicated the advantages of marriages between families.
So it was with the company. One day she told her Xia Yu was a talent. She would be so rea.s.sured to have her with Liu Sijie to help Shen Yan. The next day she made Xia Yu transfer to the headquarters and even resign.
So it was with so many other incidents, such as matters involving Liu Sijie. So it could possibly be true that Shen Mo held something against the Old Madame.
When she left, the Second Madame took a look at Xia Yu"s office. She was kind of sorry for what she said just now. Xia Yu spared no pains to help them, and yet what she got in return was her insults.
Shortly after the Second Madame left, Liu Sijie entered Shen Yan"s office. Seeing the beautiful bunch of flowers lying in the dustbin, he shook his head, "Young Master Yan, what a waste!"
"Well, then if you don"t want to waste it, you send it to someone." Shen Yan rolled his eyes with anger.
"I want to but am not able to." Liu Sijie had some self-knowledge. What Young Master Yan, who was so sophisticated and popular among girls, couldn"t accomplish was certainly beyond him.
But he was kind of happy because finally there was someone who could control him.
"See how unable you are! You should learn more from Xiao Qiang. If he was here, all of this wouldn"t even happen," Shen Yan let out a sigh and said with a cigarette between his lips.
Liu Sijie came quickly to light the cigarette for Shen Yan, and then for himself. The two started smoking in the office.
"Solving this kind of problem requires gifts. It is not something I can learn. He"s gone for almost a month. I heard that he would soon return for an interns.h.i.+p. I think it"s better for him to come here, isn"t it?"
"Good!" Shen Yan blew a smoke ring and saw it slowly dispersing.
"But if Xia Yu insists to leave, who is the one to take over her job?" Liu Sijie took a glance at the flowers in the dustbin. It must have challenged her principle, as a result of which she just threw away the flowers.
How could Liu Sijie not know her after working with her for such a long time? She was sometimes stubborn as a mule.
"Only you can take over her job. What do you think?" Shen Yan was greatly troubled as well. If he knew it early that she took offense, he would surely stop Yang Ke"er yesterday.
"OK. Then who"s gonna take my job?" Liu Sijiie looked at Shen Yan, waiting for his decision.
"Xia Yu. You guys go ahead with the handover," Shen Yan needn"t even think about it.
Then both of them laughed.
"Now let"s drop the joke. You must try to figure out a solution. Young Master Mo talked to Xia Yu yesterday that she could leave at any time without worrying about any censure," Shen Mo was determined to drive Xia Yu out. a.s.sisted by the Second Madame, the situation was getting worse.
It was not long before Xia Yu went out and Shen Yan followed her. Shen Yan found him quite suspicious at that time and now it proved him right.
"I do want to figure it out, but I need help." Shen Yan was disturbed.