CHAPTER 405: CHAPTER 397: NOT INTERESTED IN WOMEN

In the living room, Father Xu looked at Zhou Yuhua with a smile and said, "Let’s not let the children’s tempers affect the harmony between our two families. We still have to interact in business in the future, and besides, we’ll need to entrust our Siyao into your family’s care."

Clearly, it was the Xu Family who were the victims, yet Father Xu had to butter up the Zhou Family. This scene made Xu Nianying feel extremely uncomfortable no matter how he looked at it.

But there was no other way around it. After all, the Zhou Family’s enterprise has been rooted deep for a hundred years.

Unlike their family, which had only risen in the last thirty-some years—fortunate only for their early alliance with the Bai Family’s influence, laundering money for them and transforming an empty shell company into today’s Haisong Group through his father’s determined efforts.

Though fundamentally inferior to the Zhou Family, when it comes to strength, the Xu Family has the Bai Family at its side, and with the progress over the years, they could just barely hold their own against the Zhou Family on an equal footing.

However, the Xu Family was not truly from an established wealthy background. When facing a genuine wealthy household, they inevitably lacked confidence, suppressed by the imposing air of Zhou Yuhua’s family.

So Father Xu, upon seeing Zhou Yuhua, subconsciously carried an ingratiating tone.

Zhou Yuhua had already delegated company authority to Zhou Jinyuan and didn’t intervene in such trivial matters, thinking the unpleasantness Father Xu mentioned might only be a minor friction.

Zhou Yuhua nodded slightly, "Hmm, that’s true..."

"True what true?!" Zhen Mei Qiu nudged Zhou Yuhua’s arm, shooting him a glare in the process. She turned her head toward Father Xu with a smile and said:

"How can it just be a temper tantrum? Your company has so many issues; you really should adjust the management immediately. Otherwise, if serious problems arise in the future, it could be too late to salvage anything. Our Jinyuan is being kind-hearted, considering Nianying a good brother, and thus stepped in to help your family out of the mess. If someone else were in his shoes, Jinyuan wouldn’t even bother and would let the other party collapse on itself, ruing the missed opportunity!"

Xu Nianying felt even more infuriated upon hearing this.

So the victims should feel grateful and in debt to Zhou Jinyuan, the chief culprit?

Father Xu was also grinding his teeth but dared not to tear off the mask, forcefully maintaining a strained smile, "That’s correct, I will definitely hold a meeting to reorganize the management.

Let’s not talk about this anymore. The main reason we came today is to bring Siyao over for a meal. Siyao is twenty-four this year, and it’s about time for her to start dating and marrying. Jinyuan is also single, and they are around the same age. It’s good for them to know each other; there’s no harm in that."

No sooner had Father Xu finished speaking than Xu Nianying looked towards Zhen Mei Qiu with a smile and politely said, "Auntie, this is my cousin, Tang Siyao, whom I mentioned to you before. She just came back from abroad. I planned to bring her over on Monday, but I got caught up with work, so we had to delay until today."

Tang Siyao withdrew her intense gaze from Zhou Jinyuan and looked at Zhou Yuhua and Zhen Mei Qiu. Her lips curved into a polite smile, "Hello, uncle and auntie. This is a little token of my regards, I hope you’ll like it."

Tang Siyao picked up a long box and a beautifully wrapped gift box from the coffee table and handed them to Zhou Yuhua and Zhen Mei Qiu, continuing softly:

"I heard uncle likes fishing. This rod was designed by a renowned designer overseas. Not only does it have good material for the rod body, but its craftsmanship is also exquisite. It even has ten gems inlaid in it, and normally you can’t buy something like this. However, I just happen to know the designer so he sold it to me.

Aunt Zhen, this is a new cosmetic technology set that has just been researched. It can effectively improve skin aging and is very useful. It’s not available on the market yet, but I managed to get it through some connections."

Zhen Mei Qiu and Zhou Yuhua both fixed their gaze on Tang Siyao, approving of her appearance, figure, and demeanor. She seemed quite pleasant to the eyes.

Zhen Mei Qiu said with affectionate laughter, "This child is really thoughtful."

After Zhen Mei Qiu finished speaking, she turned to glance at Zhou Jinyuan, who was sitting still, and softly called out, "Jinyuan, come over and greet Uncle Xu, Aunt Xu, and Siyao."

The Zhou Family was prestigious, and they needed to uphold proper etiquette, not to mention that it was unwise to bite the hand that smiles at you, considering the business interactions between their two families.

Zhou Jinyuan, however, remained focused on his phone, not moving.

On the screen was his chat interface with Chen Xixi, the last message stopping at the one he sent five minutes ago: "Why haven’t you arrived yet?"

The messages above were about him wanting to pick up Chen Xixi, which Chen Xixi declined on the pretext of avoiding paparazzi.

He could hear the conversation of Ms. Zhen and the others, but he was annoyed at the moment.

Uninvited, yet they just so happened to ruin his plans tonight, the Xu Family really knows how to pick their moments.

Tomorrow is the day to terminate the partnership with the Xu Family, he thought, he couldn’t wait another day.

Always lingering around him and Chen Xixi, could easily affect his progress on making things official.

Zhou Jinyuan looked up at the Xu family, just about to speak, when the nanny walked over to Zhen Mei Qiu and said, "Madam, Miss Chen has arrived."

Zhou Jinyuan immediately turned to look at the door, where Chen Xixi was standing.

Chen Xixi met Zhou Jinyuan’s gaze, wondering if she should go in and disrupt the mood.

Zhen Mei Qiu has been kind to her, she wanted to give Aunt Zhen face, but she didn’t want to humble herself to please the Xu Family.

So dinner tonight, if they were to eat together, would surely not be peaceful.

Upon hearing that Chen Xixi had arrived, Zhen Mei Qiu quickly looked up and waved at Chen Xixi, her smile brighter than before, "Come in, Xixi."

After calling Chen Xixi in, Zhen Mei Qiu turned to the Xu Family and said, "I’m so sorry, today really isn’t a good day for you to come. I had another appointment beforehand, so you see..."

The expressions of the Xu Family and Tang Si Yao suddenly froze, looking somewhat unpleasant.

Why is Chen Xixi here?!

How could they not understand the obvious intent to send them away, and with Zhou Jinyuan’s indifferent appearance, the faces of the few of them were no different from being rubbed on the ground.

Moreover, who is Chen Xixi? What kind of guest is she? Could she compare to the Xu Family?

And Zhen Mei Qiu actually wanted to kick them out in order to keep Chen Xixi?

It’s utterly ridiculous!

Seeing the silence of the Xu Family, Zhen Mei Qiu spoke again, "How about we make another appointment on a different day?"

Chen Xixi is someone she had made an appointment with last week, and as an elder, she could not fail to keep her word.

"I don’t mind having dinner together with this younger generation," Father Xu said with a chuckle.

Since they were already here, he would not allow the influence of the Zhou Family to slip into the hands of outsiders!

And that outsider was a potential threat to the Xu Family’s status, something he could not allow to happen!

Just as Father Xu finished speaking, two voices suddenly sounded at the same time: "I mind."

It was Zhou Jinyuan and Chen Xixi.

The atmosphere instantly became awkward, also infused with a tense feeling of conflict.

Zhen Mei Qiu suddenly clicked her tongue lightly and said to Father Xu, "Young people have their own ideas now, you see, let’s reschedule for another day."

Then Zhen Mei Qiu looked towards Tang Si Yao, stuffing the gift Tang Si Yao brought back into her hands with a worried expression, leaned close to Tang Si Yao and whispered, "Auntie really likes you, but my son isn’t interested in women. You’re a good kid, you shouldn’t be mistreated..."

Tang Si Yao: "!!!"