Wu Yichun had been somewhat apprehensive when she made this call.
Although her stepdaughter’s attitude had changed dramatically and she was no longer as cold towards her, to her knowledge, she had returned to the Lu family that day specifically to claim her dowry.
Having returned to the Lu family with a purpose, her attitude was naturally different.
However, her objective had not been achieved, so she was unsure if her attitude towards her would revert to its previous state.
But judging by the current situation, she had been judging a noble person with a petty mind. Even though her plan had not been realized, she hadn’t turned hostile. Her attitude was still polite and courteous, just as it had been when she returned to the Lu family.
This completely put Wu Yichun’s mind at ease, and her mood became even more relaxed and joyful. “If you’re eating with Aunt Wu, why would you need to pay?” she said with a smile, then added, “I really do have something to discuss with you. When can you get off work? I’ll drive to your school to pick you up, and we can go to the restaurant together.”
“That… would be… good.” Having a car pick her up would be much more convenient. “Then Aunt Wu, please pick me up near the Zhengxin Bookstore at 11 AM.”
Wu Yichun would surely be driving a luxury car, and around 11 AM, the school entrance would be bustling with teachers and students. Her persona at school was that of an ordinary child from an ordinary family who got into school through hard work, ordinary to the extreme. If anyone saw her getting into a luxury car, it would likely spread throughout the entire grade by afternoon and the entire school by the next day.
At school, Su Jiaobai wanted to keep a low profile and focus on her work, not wanting to attract attention.
What if the school leaders found out she was wealthy and asked her to donate money or items to the school?
She didn’t have that kind of money.
At that point, could she possibly reveal her tragic and melodramatic past?
She would become the center of gossip and attention, suffer social death, and would never have another peaceful day. It was likely that by then, she would be close to resigning voluntarily.
Su Jiaobai didn’t want to easily give up the stability she had finally obtained. Therefore, it was better to have one less problem than one more, and it was best to remain as low-key as possible.
After hanging up the phone, Su Jiaobai returned to the conference room.
In fact, today’s meeting wasn’t important. With the start of the school year approaching, each grade had to symbolically hold a pre-semester meeting.
During the meeting, while everyone seemed to be listening attentively, most people’s minds had drifted far away.
Many, like her, had their phones silenced under their books. They appeared to be reading, but in reality, they were looking at their phones.
Su Jiaobai, of course, hadn’t forgotten the conversation she had with Gu Xingmo midway. After sitting down, she quickly returned to the chat interface with Gu Xingmo.
The chat history was stuck at five minutes ago. She hadn’t replied to Gu Xingmo’s message, and Gu Xingmo hadn’t sent any more messages.
Her finger touched the phone screen. After hesitating for several seconds, Su Jiaobai finally replied: “Aunt Wu called me just now and invited me to lunch. I’ll ask Aunt Wu about the time later. If she’s free this afternoon, I’ll ask her to accompany me for a test drive. If she’s not free, then I’ll have to trouble you.”
A test drive would definitely require someone who could drive to accompany her. Her closest best friend, Yuanyuan, didn’t even have a driver’s license.
Therefore, either Gu Xingmo would find someone to accompany her for the test drive, or she would take this opportunity to ask Wu Yichun to accompany her.
Her hesitation just now was due to considering which of the two options to choose.
In the end, she chose to have Wu Yichun accompany her.
However, she was afraid that Wu Yichun might not be free in the afternoon, so she left a fallback option when speaking to Gu Xingmo.
Gu Xingmo had already changed his clothes and come downstairs. Zhou Yue was waiting for him outside with the car. He had a meeting at 10 AM.
As soon as he got into the car, his phone rang. Gu Xingmo glanced at it and quickly replied: “Okay.”
***
Su Jiaobai arrived at Zhengxin Bookstore five minutes early. She was a person with a strong sense of time; she would rather wait a few minutes for others than have others wait for her.
However, when she reached the bookstore entrance, Wu Yichun’s car was already parked by the roadside, waiting for her.
Wu Yichun had been looking in the direction of the school, so as soon as Su Jiaobai exited the school gate, she saw her.
When Su Jiaobai approached and saw that she didn’t get into the car directly but was still looking around, Wu Yichun suddenly remembered something and quickly rolled down the car window, waving at her, “Jiaobai, over here.”
Seeing her, Su Jiaobai quickly crouched down like a thief and got into the front passenger seat. Only after the car door closed did she exhale a sigh of relief.
As Wu Yichun turned the steering wheel to make a U-turn, she curiously asked, “What’s wrong? Is someone chasing you?”
Su Jiaobai shook her head to deny it, but she didn’t want to say too much about school matters to Wu Yichun.
She looked at the car’s interior and asked curiously, “Did you change cars? I remember you weren’t driving this one before.” Otherwise, she would have gotten into the car directly when she saw it and wouldn’t have been looking around.
“Your father bought it for me just the other day. How is it, not bad, right?” Wu Yichun undoubtedly liked this new car very much, otherwise, she wouldn’t have driven it to pick up her stepdaughter.
But suddenly thinking of something, Wu Yichun said sternly, “Jiaobai, your father is stubborn. He needs to be coaxed. If you were a little more proactive and coaxed him more, you could ask him for any amount of money, and he would definitely give it to you if he could.”
Su Jiaobai didn’t feel jealous of Wu Yichun at all. Wu Yichun was his wife, and it was only natural for her husband to spend a lot of money on his wife.
When she vied for Lu Ting’s favor, she was always competing for Lu Leyao’s favor.
But since awakening, she couldn’t even be bothered to compete for Lu Leyao’s favor.
As for whether to show goodwill to Lu Ting and to what extent, it depended on her mood.
“Aunt Wu, you said you had something to discuss with me. What is it?” Su Jiaobai changed the subject.
What Wu Yichun wanted to discuss was the estrangement between her and her father. After some thought, Wu Yichun was quite frank and said directly, “You went back to the Lu family that day, specifically to get your dowry, right?” As she spoke, she took the opportunity to glance at her stepdaughter’s expression and said earnestly, “Actually, you suffered a lot after being swapped at birth. After returning home, you got married soon after. The family should have prepared a very generous dowry for you.”
“But you, child, are too stubborn. When you were discussing marriage with Xingmo before, you said in a fit of pique that you didn’t want anything. I advised you not to act on impulse and to think carefully before making decisions, but you didn’t listen. Now you’ve thought it through and want a dowry, but the timing is no longer right. Moreover, you brought it up under those circumstances that day, which makes it seem even less sincere.”
“Your father is good in every way, except that he’s very petty. He’s a typical example of someone who responds to softness but not hardness. Do you know why Leyao is favored by him? It’s because Leyao always follows his arrangements, obeys him completely, and never defies him.”
This was easy to say, but difficult to do.
Even though she knew she was an NPC in that book and should completely break away from her original persona and plotline after awakening, it seemed difficult to repeatedly cross the line.
For example, she couldn’t bring herself to grovel like a sycophant, kneeling at Lu Ting’s feet and begging him tearfully to bestow some money upon her.
She loved millions, but she seemed to love her dignity even more.
“I won’t go,” she firmly refused with integrity.
Wu Yichun was not surprised. She understood the personalities of both father and daughter; one was more stubborn than the other. Completely eliminating this estrangement was not a simple matter.
“Your father actually dotes on you, but sometimes he’s too proud to show it. I’ve spent the most time with him, so I understand him. Don’t look at how he gave you a cold shoulder that day; he actually regretted it after you left. For the past few days, you haven’t come back or contacted the family, and he’s been moping around every day. Although he pretends not to care, I’m his pillow talk; no one understands him better than I do.” She saw him secretly looking at his phone, and when she asked if he was waiting for Jiaobai’s message, he still refused to admit it.
Su Jiaobai felt the car was a bit stuffy, so she rolled down the window to get some air.
But she seemed to have forgotten the weather. The breeze coming in from outside was not cool but hot air mixed with sultriness.
Unable to withstand the onslaught of this heatwave, Su Jiaobai quickly rolled up the car window again.
Undoubtedly, her heart was complicated at this moment. Many things cannot be easily let go of just because one wants to.
She needed to think more carefully and make up her mind.
Wu Yichun stopped at the point where she had made her case, not wanting to nag endlessly. So, after making her point, she immediately changed the subject and said, “Shall we go eat French food?” It could be seen that she was genuinely thinking about this matter, so let her take her time to think.
“Anything is fine,” Su Jiaobai replied absentmindedly.
“There’s a good French restaurant on Jianwen Road,” the topic suddenly shifted from father-daughter relationships to dining. “It’s in the CBD central district, and white-collar workers from the surrounding high-rise buildings often go there.”
It took about twenty minutes to drive from Zhengxin Bookstore to Wu Yichun’s chosen restaurant. By the time Wu Yichun parked the car and they entered the restaurant together, it was almost 11:40 AM.
After choosing a good window seat, Su Jiaobai asked, “After lunch, Aunt Wu, do you have time?”
Wu Yichun was a complete wealthy socialite, receiving only pocket money each month and not involved in the affairs of Lu’s Group.
Therefore, she didn’t have any particularly important matters.
Occasionally, she would invite a few acquaintances for tea, mahjong, or beauty treatments, but if something else came up unexpectedly, she could make a phone call to cancel.
As for Wu Yichun, resolving the father-daughter conflict between her husband and stepdaughter was the immediate priority. Seeing that her stepdaughter seemed to have plans, she naturally nodded and said, “Yes, I have time.”
Hearing her say she had time, Su Jiaobai then said, “Then after lunch, Aunt Wu, could you accompany me to the 4S store for a test drive?”
Wu Yichun’s eyes lit up. “Test drive? Is Xingmo buying you a car?”
Su Jiaobai did not hide this from her. “Yes.”
Wu Yichun, being tactful, didn’t ask specifically what kind of car it was or how much it cost. Instead, she affirmed the action: “You do need your own car. Xingmo should spend this money.”
It was almost noon, the lunch break for the white-collar workers in the nearby high-rise buildings. Suddenly, the number of people entering and leaving the restaurant increased.
Su Jiaobai’s seat was directly facing the restaurant entrance. Among the crowd, she immediately spotted Lu Leyao, who stood out from the rest.
It truly was a case of enemies meeting on a narrow road. Even at a casual meal, she could run into her.