Lu Xiaoyu was calling him, so it was probably nothing serious.

Most likely, she just wants to ask why I haven't gone to see her in such a long time!

Thinking this, Liu Ergou answered the call.

As soon as the call connected, Lu Xiaoyu started sobbing into the phone, "Sob... Er Gou, where are you right now?"

"Can you come over? Something's happened... sob..."

At this point, Lu Xiaoyu was crying too hard to get a full sentence out.

Hearing her cries, Liu Ergou frowned. "Are you at home?"

Lu Xiaoyu nodded. "Mhm, I'm home, with Xue Lan!"

After hearing this, Liu Ergou said he understood and hung up. He then bid farewell to Zhang Xiuming and hurriedly left.

Just a few minutes after Liu Ergou departed, Zhang Man, who had been waiting for him in an upstairs bedroom, grew impatient. She came downstairs, intending to find him directly. But when she reached the ground floor, she found only her father was left in the living room.

This puzzled her. "Dad, where's Er Gou?"

Zhang Xiuming, who was examining a prescription, didn't look up as he spoke. "He just received a phone call and left. It must have been something urgent."

Hearing her father's words, Zhang Man was stunned.

I didn't even get to see him?!

This... this...

At that moment, Zhang Man felt incredibly distressed. She sighed deeply, slumping dispiritedly onto the sofa in utter unhappiness.

Liu Ergou, oblivious to what had transpired at the villa, had already hailed a taxi and was rushing toward Lu Xiaoyu's home.

「Half an hour later.」

Liu Ergou arrived at Lu Xiaoyu's house.

The moment Lu Xiaoyu and Zhao Xuelan saw him, they could no longer restrain themselves. They flung themselves into his arms and began to weep loudly, their cries wretched and heart-wrenching.

The suddenness of it caught Liu Ergou somewhat off guard.

Holding the two crying women, Liu Ergou didn't ask what had happened. Instead, he gently patted their backs, soothing their emotions.

They cried their hearts out for a good half hour before they finally managed to stop.

Seeing they had ceased crying, Liu Ergou finally asked, "What's wrong with you two? Why are you crying like this? What on earth happened?"

Hearing Liu Ergou's questions, Lu Xiaoyu and Zhao Xuelan, who had just managed to compose themselves, looked stunned for a moment before their eyes filled with tears again. Judging by their expressions, they were on the verge of another breakdown.

Seeing this, Liu Ergou quickly interrupted them. "Stop, stop, stop! Don't start crying again!"

"Crying won't solve anything. Hurry up and tell me what happened that made you two cry like this."

Hearing his words, Lu Xiaoyu and Zhao Xuelan exchanged a glance.

Then Lu Xiaoyu began, sobbing, "It's like this, Er Gou... Xue Lan and I... we were each swindled out of 20 million!"

Hearing this, Liu Ergou was completely dumbfounded.

These two were scammed? And for 20 million each? What the hell is going on?

Looking at them, Liu Ergou scratched his head in confusion. "You were swindled out of 20 million? What's this all about? Don't tell me you two have been keeping toy boys behind my back?"

"Aside from that, I can't think of any other reason you'd be scammed out of that much money—let alone 20 million each!"

When Lu Xiaoyu heard him accuse her of finding a toy boy, she couldn't help but lightly punch his chest.

"What are you talking about, toy boys?" she explained. "How many of them could possibly be as amazing as you? Ever since I've been with you, I haven't even thought about other men!"

"Xue Lan feels the same way! We were scammed on an investment!"

As she said this, she looked like she was about to cry again.

Zhao Xuelan took over the story. "We made an investment, and we got cheated."

"The investment consultant told us the project was a guaranteed profit. We didn't believe him at first, but after doing our own research, it really did seem like a sure thing, just as he'd said."

"So, Lu Xiaoyu and I discussed it and we each invested 20 million. But then..."

Hearing this, Liu Ergou nodded. But a question quickly popped into his mind.

"Hey, why wasn't Sha Sha scammed?" he asked, still puzzled.

Zhao Xuelan replied, "Sha Sha had something else to do that day, so she wasn't."

Hearing this, Liu Ergou couldn't help but marvel at Leng Shasha's incredible luck.

As he was thinking, Lu Xiaoyu pleaded, "Er Gou, what should we do?"

"This 20 million is everything I've managed to save from working so hard for so long! It's my entire nest egg!"

Zhao Xuelan added, "Yes, it's my entire nest egg, too. If this money's gone, I don't know what I'll do."

Hearing this, Liu Ergou didn't speak right away, pondering for a few minutes.

Then he asked, "Alright, don't panic yet. Let me ask you, did the investment consultant run off with the money, or was there a problem with the investment itself?"

Lu Xiaoyu and Zhao Xuelan replied in unison, "There was a problem with the investment. It lost money!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Ergou slapped his forehead. "Ah, the investment lost money... This... What am I supposed to do about that?"

"You both know investing is inherently risky. There are gains and there are losses. You can't just go after the advisor every time you lose money. If everyone did that, things would be a mess, right?"

Hearing him say this, Lu Xiaoyu immediately explained. "No, it's not like that! We found out through other channels that our investment didn't lose money at all. In fact, it made a good profit! But that consultant insists that we've lost everything."

"He said if we have a problem, we should take it up with his boss!"

Without a second thought, Liu Ergou blurted out, "Then go talk to their boss. What's the big deal?"

He added, "Don't tell me you two are too scared to do it."

As soon as he said this, Lu Xiaoyu and Zhao Xuelan suddenly fell silent, not uttering another word.

This left Liu Ergou very puzzled. "What's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything? Did their boss threaten you? Is he going to put you in a sack and throw you in the river?"

Hearing this, Lu Xiaoyu shook her head. "No, it's not like that! This is a society governed by law. How could they do something like that?"