Xu Jiaojiao walked over in surprise. She called out to Zhu Hexuan, "Reporter Zhu!"
Xu Jiaojiao had her face lowered the whole time and she hid behind the bar counter, as such Zhu Hexuan did not notice her earlier. Hearing her voice right now, Zhu Hexuan felt uneasy.
She turned around just in time to see Xu Jiaojiao sitting down across her, a position that captured her clearly in the video recording. "I thought you look familiar when I saw you just now. I finally remembered who you are after a while."
Dai Huimin had always thought that there was something fishy about Zhu Hexuan. The smile on Dai Huimin"s face faded away when she heard Xu Jiaojiao announced Zhu Hexuan"s ident.i.ty. She was not completely indifferent, but she no longer felt like giving the lady her attention.
Xu Jiaojiao tugged at Dai Huimin"s sleeve discreetly to pull her closer and said, "Mom, you should rest. Miss Zhu is a friend. We"re gonna catch up a bit."
Dai Huimin thought Xu Jiaojiao had returned to her previous self. Dai Huimin"s face tightened and her expression sank. She dragged Xu Jiaojiao to the side, close to the cas.h.i.+er and the kitchen so that Xu Dongguo could listen in clearly too.
"Has your old habit resurfaced? That Zhu Hexuan has been sneaking around and intentionally hiding her ident.i.ty. She isn"t here to eat either. All she"s trying to do is to entrap me. Her ill intentions are obvious. She"s a reporter and must have known our relations.h.i.+p with Lin Chu. What else would she want if it"s not to harm Lin Chu? Don"t forget, Lin Chu"s the one you"re indebted to. If it"s not because of her, no one knew what would have happened to you when you were drowning in your blood in the middle of the streets. And you might still be fooled by Cheng Ziming. You…" Dai Huimin might be angry, but she was still careful not to let Zhu Hexuan overheard her.
Reporters had a special ability to twist the truth into lies. No one knew what would happen if one offended them.
"Mom!" Xu Jiaojiao"s eyes turned red, unable to hide her anger and resentment. "I know I"ve made mistakes before. I know I made mistakes before, but can"t you believe me just once? I might be a gold digger but I"m not the kind of person who bites the hands that help me. Zhu Hexuan came to me once before, that was when you first found out about Lin Chu. At that time, I…I said stupid things, but I don"t know why she never published it in the newspaper. I"m afraid that she might want to publish that now. I know it"s easy for you to chase her away now, but if she has decided to get something out from us, then she"ll always come after us. If she fails this time, we don"t know what tricks she"ll try in the future. Instead of keeping our distance, why don"t we tell her everything that we want to say? This will be better than letting her fabricate lies."
Dai Huimin looked at her daughter"s br.i.m.m.i.n.g tears and felt a surge of regret. She said, "Jiaojiao, I…"
"You don"t have to say anything more. I know none of you can trust me completely. No matter what, just sit back and watch me," Xu Jiaojiao bit her lips and said through gritted teeth.
"Then… In the case that she refuses to publish what you say and take your words out of context, what would you do then?" Dai Huimin asked worriedly.
"I"ll talk to you about that later," Xu Jiaojiao peeked at Zhu Hexuan"s back.
It was fortunate that Zhu Hexuan was sitting facing the entrance. Probably afraid of alerting the two ladies, she did not dare to turn around either. Therefore, she could not see the expressions on the mother and daughter"s faces.
Xu Dongguo was afraid that Dai Huimin would reveal too much. He tapped her shoulder and gestured for her to relax.
Dai Huimin relented. She nodded and kept quiet, standing on the same spot. Xu Jiaojiao returned to her seat opposite Zhu Hexuan.
"Miss Zhu, you"re not here to eat today, aren"t you?" Xu Jiaojiao asked with a smile.
Perhaps Xu Jiaojiao was not capable to trick Cheng Ziming or people of that type, however, she had a pretty face as her a.s.set. Although the seemingly innocent face might incite hatred from people of the same gender, it would mislead people who thought highly of themselves like Zhu Hexuan into thinking that Xu Jiaojiao was an idiot.
Therefore, Zhe Hexuan maintained her composure, smiled and answered, "I"m sorry, I did have an interview in mind when I walked in but I was afraid of receiving hostility if I revealed my ident.i.ty as a reporter. I didn"t expect to b.u.mp into you here. How are you?"
She was inquiring about the previous news.
Xu Jiaojiao heaved a sigh and said, "The media blew things out of proportion. I a.s.sume that I won"t be able to find a job for a year or so. That"s why I"m helping out in my family restaurant."
Zhe Hexuan recalled her last interview with Xu Jiaojiao. It sparked an idea in her head. She said, "Speaking of which, Lin Chu crossed a line in this incident. No matter what the reason was, she shouldn"t criticize you in public like that and let everyone record the whole incident. If it wasn"t because of this incident, you"d have avoided being called out. I think eighty or ninety percent of the attack was targeted at Lin Chu; you"re just collateral damage."
Dai Huimin"s face stiffened in anger. She knew Zhu Hexuan had bad intentions.
If Zhu Hexuan was talking to the immature Xu Jiaojiao in the past, Xu Jiaojiao would have gone along and continued the conversation.
However, Xu Jiaojiao understood what Zhu Hexuan was trying to imply and she knew whom to trust.
Xu Jiaojiao returned a smile and said in feigned innocence, "Miss Zhu, I think you"ve misunderstood me. My elder sister, Lin Chu, is a nice person. It was my family who has wronged her."
She glanced at Dai Huimin questioningly, awaiting her approval to speak of what happened in the past.
For Lin Chu"s sake, Dai Huimin did not mind being embarra.s.sed. She did the deed anyway. She nodded at Xu Jiaojiao.
Xu Jiaojiao continued, "Back then when my mom was seventeen years old and young, she was tricked by a man and got pregnant with my elder sister. However, because she was young and dare not take up the responsibility, she abandoned Lin Chu at the front gates of an orphanage. Not long ago, my mom saw her in the news and found out about her background. Only then, she admitted that she was related to Lin Chu in spite of her embarra.s.sment. Miss Zhu, let"s be realistic. If your mother abandoned you when you were young and suddenly appeared claiming to be related to you when your life has significantly improved by marrying an excellent husband and into a good family, wouldn"t you think that she was trying to take advantage of you?"
Zhu Hexuan noticed something amiss and stayed silent. She stood up from her seat, wanting to excuse herself, but Xu Jiaojiao did not give her the chance to do so and grabbed Zhu Hexuan"s wrist.
Xu Jiaojiao learned this from Lin Chu. When they were at the cafe, Xu Jiaojiao was extremely angry at Cheng Ziming"s words and she wanted to stomp out. Lin Chu did not let her and held her hand like what Xu Jiaojiao was doing now and intercepted her departure.
Of course, Xu Jiaojiao was mostly shocked by Lin Chu"s glare.
Xu Jiaojiao obviously could not intimidate Zhu Hexuan into submission and therefore she could only hold onto her hand with all her might, stopping her from leaving.
Feeling the grip on her wrist, Zhu Hexuan cringed.
Xu Jiaojiao maintained the innocent look on her face as she continued to grip her wrist tightly. This disgusted Zhu Hexuan more than anything else.
Xu Jiaojiao sniffed and said, "I, too, am a materialistic person. I sought out Lin Chu mostly to ask for her help in the aspect of work, boyfriend… I asked her to introduce me to a rich man. But she didn"t like how materialistic I was and refused me. At that time, I was blinded by riches. I thought I was being smart, so I started dating Cheng Ziming."
"Although Lin Chu denied it verbally, she still treats me like a younger sister. I hid my relations.h.i.+p with Cheng Ziming from her and everyone in my family. The first time we b.u.mped into her by accident, she came and gave me advice. She knew Cheng Ziming wasn"t a good person and she couldn"t bear to see me ruining someone else"s family either. Yet, I was so conceited back then. I thought Cheng Ziming was sincere to me. It was I who was an obnoxious idiot. I disregarded his wife and wanted to destroy his family, thinking that he"d marry me instead."
Zhu Hexuan"s lips twitched. She started to interrupt, "Please calm down, Miss Xu. Today, I…"
Xu Jiaojiao tightened her grip forcefully. The sheer pain cut off Zhu Hexuan"s voice. "I went over to Lin Chu"s company to blame her for b.u.t.ting in. Unfortunately, I crashed into someone else as I rushed out of the company and fell to the ground. I miscarried. No one was willing to help me except Lin Chu, who sent me to the hospital and saved me despite getting unfairly scolded by me. That day at the cafe, I found out about Cheng Ziming"s real character. I heard him with my ears, he admitted that he had been playing with my feelings and had no intention to take responsibility for what he did to me. He looked down at me for being materialistic and therefore, he wouldn"t ever be sincere to me. I was extremely angry at that time. I was h.e.l.lbent on questioning and las.h.i.+ng out at him which led Lin Chu to say those words to me."
"Honestly, if it wasn"t her who told me off as she did, I wouldn"t have started working in my family restaurant like I am now. I"ve also decided that I would be an honest person and depend on myself to work for a better life. I won"t have my head in the clouds again. I"m also thankful that I have an elder sister who"s always by my side, reminding me and guiding me. Don"t you agree, Miss Zhu?"
Zhu Hexuan chuckled awkwardly and kept quiet.
Xu Jiaojiao sighed and said, "I still don"t get why there would always be people who are jealous of others" achievements. They keep throwing accusations at my elder sister. If I don"t clarify everything today, there"s no telling when there would be news saying how cruel my sister is to disown her parents. But it"s us who wronged her! We"ve never lived together so there isn"t any kind of bond between us. Yet, despite all that, she disregards everything that we"ve done to her and helps us selflessly. Think about it, if the same happens to someone else, would they be able to be as selfless as she is?"
Zhu Hexuan chuckled again, "Hehe…"
The only thing on Zhu Hexuan"s mind right now was for Xu Jiaojiao to let go of her wrist.
"While her mouth spits hurtful words, her heart is as gentle as tofu. That"s how Lin Chu is as a person. She told me that if I live an honest life, she"ll be my elder sister forever. But if I choose to take the dark path again, she"ll disown me. Say, isn"t that something that an elder sibling would say when teaching the younger sibling a lesson?" Xu Jiaojiao smiled happily.
Zhu Hexuan finally lost her patience and started struggling to free her wrist.
Xu Jiaojiao looked as though she just realized what she was doing and hurriedly let go. She apologized, "Reporter Zhu, I"m sorry. I"ve said too much. I didn"t notice that I…"
Zhu Hexuan looked down at her wrist, it was bruised from Xu Jiaojiao"s grip.
Despite looking cute and adorable, Xu Jiaojiao had such strength!
With an apologetic expression, Xu Jiaojiao grabbed Zhu Hexuan"s wrist again, pressing on the bruises. Zhu Hexuan frowned and inhaled sharply from the pain. She no longer cared to appear polite, pulling her wrist away immediately with a dark expression.
Xu Jiaojiao pretended to look on helplessly and apologized, "I"m sorry, Reporter Zhu. I"m so sorry. I was so nervous just now. I didn"t hurt you, did I? We… We have medicine in the restaurant! We readied them in case of boils, sprains, or bruises. I"ll get them for you!"
She reached out for Zhu Hexuan"s wrist again as she spoke.
Zhu Hexuan had a phobia now from being grabbed by Xu Jiaojiao and quickly moved her hand to her back, as though afraid that Xu Jiaojiao would want to make her bruises worse. Zhu Hexuan grabbed her bag and stood up and out of her seat immediately and said, "I"m fine. I"m sorry for disturbing you. I"ll be taking my leave. I"ll come over for a meal another day."
Straining to keep a smile on her face, Zhu Hexuan was completely clueless as to how ugly or how forced her smile was.
Xu Dongguo and Dai Huimin also acted along and sent Zhu Hexuan away politely. Immediately after she left, Xu Dongguo retrieved the cellphone he hid behind the wine rack and pa.s.sed it over to Xu Jiaojiao.
Xu Jiaojiao replayed the video recording and explained to Dai Huimin simultaneously, "Everything that I"ve said just now has been recorded. If that person with the surname Zhu doesn"t talk c.r.a.p, we won"t require this video recording. But if she tries to alter any truth, we"ll use this video recording to expose her."
Dai Huimin heaved a sigh of relief and nodded in agreement.
Lin Chu was right. It would be good if Xu Jiaojiao used her intelligence positively.
After brooding about it for a while, Xu Jiaojiao decided that it was better if she informed Lin Chu about this. After all, Lin Chu had a wider network of friends than she did. If there was a need to release this video recording, letting someone on Lin Chu"s side do it would validate her stance more. Moreover, more people would have access to the video too.
Xu Jiaojiao called Lin Chu.
Lin Chu was rather surprised to receive a call from Xu Jiaojiao. She answered the call and listened as Xu Jiaojiao told Lin Chu what happened at the small restaurant.
"I"m afraid that once I chased her out today without letting her get what she wanted, she"d play some shady tricks. So, I might as well give her a thorough explanation today. At the same time, I was afraid that she might alter what I said so I got everything down in a video recording. I"ll send the video over to you soon. If she spreads nonsense, we"d expose her with this video recording," Xu Jiaojiao explained.
This was the first time Xu Jiaojiao connected with Lin Chu after the fallout with Cheng Ziming when Lin Chu sent Dai Huimin and herself home. Xu Jiaojiao was suddenly overwhelmed by unexplainable anxiety.
Her heart palpitated. The words spilled from her mouth ever so quicker in her anxiety too.
Lin Chu noticed Xu Jiaojiao"s nervousness through her voice. As she replied Xu Jiaojiao, Lin Chu slowed down in her speech, easing Xu Jiaojiao into a relaxed state.
"I"ll send the video recording over to you later. You can decide how to use it best," Xu Jiaojiao said.
"Alright," Lin Chu replied. Hearing how well Xu Jiaojiao had thought out the whole thing as though she became mature overnight, Lin Chu felt a sense of achievement like she managed to educate her child well.
She continued to ask Xu Jiaojiao concernedly, "I heard that you plan to continue working at the restaurant?"
"Uh-huh, that"s right. I know this small restaurant isn"t very eye-catching. But I"m sure if I build it up like a business, it"ll become more like a small company even though there are only three of us employed here. I"m pretty confident to improve this business that has been running in the family. My mom sent some food over to you this afternoon. Have you tried my dad"s cooking?"
"Yes, it was good." Lin Chu said with a nod.
She did not eat much as she felt the dishes were oily and Lin Chu a.s.sumed it was just her problem. She would have liked the food under normal circ.u.mstances and wondered what happened to her taste buds today.
Moreover, Zheng Yuntong liked it so much, she pa.s.sed the food over to Xu Moyan. She was still praising it when she returned.
Lin Chu told Xu Jiaojiao about the praise, "Yuntong said that the Squirrel Mandarin Fish is on par with Su Garden"s."
"I know right! I think so too," Xu Jiaojiao replied. "That"s why I think the restaurant can reach greater heights with my dad"s skills. I"m thinking of expanding the restaurant in two years and hire some apprentices for my dad to pa.s.s down his expertise. He can be the chief cook; he"ll still cook the key dishes, but he would delegate and manage more so that he won"t get tired."
Lin Chu nodded in agreement and said, "You can turn it into a family business."
Xu Jiaojiao was slightly taken aback. "Don"t get any funny ideas. What family business? I"ll be satisfied as long if I can sound cool going around telling people that my family owns a famous restaurant."
After pausing briefly, Xu Jiaojiao asked, "Do you think I"ve made the right choice?"
Xu Jiaojiao"s parents had no opinion on her decision because they did not expect too much from her. They only wished that she could live her life practically and sensibly, no matter what she decided. As long as she did not feel like her education would be wasted working in a restaurant, then they would support her decision.
However, what Xu Jiaojiao wanted the most was to gain Lin Chu"s approval in the long run.
"I think it"s a good choice," Lin Chu a.s.serted with a smile. Her steady voice established Xu Jiaojiao"s confidence too. Lin Chu continued, "Starting your own business is a good choice. And you"re lucky because your parents paved the way for you."
Without her realizing it, a smile spread across Xu Jiaojiao"s face. She felt more rea.s.sured now.
"Thank you for what you did today," Lin Chu thanked as she stared at the screen a little blankly.
She never expected Xu Jiaojiao to help her.
Initially, Lin Chu helped Xu Jiaojiao because she knew Dai Huimin and Xu Dongguo were both good people. It was not much of a ha.s.sle to help Xu Jiaojiao as she could not bear seeing Xu Jiaojiao walking down a dark path. However, she also knew that once the world knew about her relations.h.i.+p with Dai Huimin, any negativity from their part would affect Yan Beicheng too.
Therefore, helping Xu Jiaojiao was a must, no matter what.
Moreover, Lin Chu had always lived by the dictum, "helping others is helping yourself." What goes around, comes back around. One reaps whatever one sows. Karma would hit like a b*tch.
Doing good deeds for oneself; to acc.u.mulate merits for one"s family. This was not something to belittle.
Lin Chu had always believed in karma. Whenever one helped someone, one would receive help in ways one could not predict as well. Vice versa, if one kept taking advantage, there would come a time when one had to pay the debt differently.
On the other side of the phone, Xu Jiaojiao blushed. She said meekly, "It"s nothing. I should wish you a happy birthday too."
"Thank you," said Lin Chu with a small smile.
"Then… I should stop holding you back from work. I"ll send the video recording to your email in a while," said Xu Jiaojiao.
"I"ll send you my email address," said Lin Chu. After hanging up the phone, Lin Chu texted her email address over to Xu Jiaojiao.
Xu Jiaojiao emailed the video recording with her head bowed. When she raised her head, she saw Xu Dongguo and Dai Huimin staring at her emotionally, their eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with tears.
"..." Xu Jiaojiao looked at them, speechless.
"You two… What"s going on with you two? I"m going to continue calculating the revenue we made this morning." Xu Jiaojiao s.n.a.t.c.hed the calculator over self-consciously and fiddled with it for a while. Her face burned a bright red as she was clueless as to what she should do as well. She just wanted to keep her hands busy. She tapped in a few numbers and then deleted them; randomly clicking with the mouse on the computer screen.
Xu Dongguo saw his daughter"s discomfort and smiled. "I still have something to do at the back and am going to settle it. Hey, Jiaojiao"s mom, come along and help me too."
He tugged Dai Huimin. The realization hit Dai Huimin. She nodded and hurriedly followed Xu Dongguo to the back.
Not long after Lin Chu texted her email address, a notification popped up on her computer screen, telling her that she received an email.
Lin Chu clicked on the email link and downloaded another copy of the video recording to be stored in her w.a.n.gpan 1 as a backup. Then, she opened up her w.a.n.gpan application with her phone and downloaded another copy to her phone.
She put on her earphones and watched the whole recording in the bathroom.
She was surprised. She never expected Xu Jiaojiao to say everything that she said. Xu Jiaojiao did all that for Lin Chu. A surge of warmth flooded the c.o.c.kles of her heart. She felt like she finally had support from her family too.
Zhu Hexuan was still unaware that Xu Jiaojiao paved her failsafe. Once she returned to her office, she switched on her pen recorder and started to organize her materials. She tried her best to pick out some parts of their conversation that were questionable or could cause misunderstanding and distorted a few lines to make them into materials she could use.
Although Lu Zhenghang never acknowledged her ident.i.ty as his girlfriend, he had brought her to attend several dinners before. In the office, Zhu Hexuan sometimes let slip about her relations.h.i.+p with Lu Zhenghang. Moreover, she obtained firsthand information on Lu Zhenghang from an interview. Stringing all these together, they made it seem like she had a thing with Lu Zhenghang.
With their skills as the media, her management leader also knew that Zhu Hexuan accompanied Lu Zhenghang to attend a dinner. Zhu Hexuan then did some tricks to let everyone in the office know that she had moved in with Lu Zhenghang. Baidu w.a.n.gpan is a Cloud service provided by Baidu, offering cloud storage service, client software, file management, resources sharing, and Third-Party Integration.