Chapter 322: The So-Called Investment
Cao Qianli seemed like he had expected this all along and explained to Xu Yuyou, “Don’t be fooled by how sweetly he talks. In reality, their family is extremely overbearing. In Hualien, there’s nothing they can’t settle.”
Liu Yishou casually added, “Miss Xu looks like a cultured and reasonable person. Don’t make it sound like she’s going to Hualien to start a fight.”
Xu Yuyou lightly shook her head and said, “I’m just going to take a look. It’s not as exaggerated as you make it sound.”
The others chuckled at her words.
There weren’t many people at today’s welcome banquet, but everyone present was either a friend of Lu Jingyao or a family member.
Among them was a young woman in a custom dress, wearing a diamond necklace around her neck, who kept staring at the scene where everyone was crowding around Xu Yuyou like she was a star.
She held back and held back, but eventually couldn’t resist and tugged at her boyfriend’s sleeve, whispering, “You’re all bending over backwards to please her, but Lu Jingyao can’t even see it. Even if he could, so what? We’re running our own business. Why flatter them?”
Her boyfriend gave her a strange look and said, “You’re speaking strangely.”
The young woman became even more upset. She had always been the one making her boyfriend happy, but he had never smiled at her the way he smiled at Xu Yuyou, so naturally, she felt everyone was going too far.
“You’re the strange one. Xu Yuyou is just Lu Jingyao’s fiancée, not officially his wife. Even if she becomes Mrs. Lu, it doesn’t mean she’ll have the final say.”
Her boyfriend tried to make sense of her words and then asked, “Didn’t you tell me your father is in the real estate business in Europe, and that you often help him out?”
Hearing this, the young woman lifted her chin slightly and said, “Why are you asking all of a sudden? It’s true. I’m not some woman who relies on her boyfriend. My dad’s business depends on me.”
Upon hearing this, her boyfriend subtly pulled his arm back. “Even if your dad came to an event like this, he’d still have to flatter Miss Xu along with the rest of us. You’re talking big. I’m seriously starting to doubt whether you’ve ever done real business.”
With that, he even began doubting the persona she had built.
The young woman, who had worked so hard to craft the image of a rich, well-educated socialite to win over this wealthy boyfriend, was startled and protested, “What nonsense are you saying? I studied in Europe too! Why would I need to flatter you?”
He had previously trusted her completely, but now he shook his head and said, “Sure, you have a degree, but something’s just off. Now I finally realize it.”
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t seem like the daughter of a business family at all, let alone someone who’s run a business herself.”
The pretty girl widened her eyes. They were about to get married, had already met each other’s parents, and his parents adored her, even gifting her a luxury car. She never imagined things would suddenly fall apart.
Her boyfriend, still looking at Xu Yuyou, said, “In terms of wealth, Miss Xu might not match Lu Jingyao, but at today’s banquet, even though my parents couldn’t attend, they repeatedly reminded me to make sure Miss Xu is happy and not upset.”
“You probably can’t stand a bunch of grown men fawning over a young girl, or maybe you’ve just never experienced anything like this before, which is why you tried to stop me.”
The young woman’s face alternated between pale and red. She had come from a socialite training class, learning how to land a man, but she really had no experience in these kinds of elite circles. She had worked hard to win this man, so she naturally wasn’t used to seeing another young woman effortlessly become the center of attention.
She hadn’t expected that a slight slip would make her boyfriend turn against her so quickly. She felt a pang of regret over all the effort she had put into perfecting her rich-girl act, even mastering a flawless British accent.
Her gaze turned resentful as she looked toward Xu Yuyou in the crowd. Impulsively, she wanted to storm over, but her boyfriend quickly stopped her.
“If you leave now, I won’t take back the things I gave you. Don’t do anything that’ll only hurt yourself,” he warned softly.
Her expression shifted between different emotions, but in the end, she endured it. Lifting her dress, she cast one last deep look at Xu Yuyou, who still shone dazzlingly in the crowd, and forced herself to suppress her anger.
Later, as the banquet was winding down, someone suddenly asked, “Hey, Li Laowu, where’s your girlfriend? She just disappeared.”
Li Wu laughed lightly and said, “She had something urgent and left early.”
Hearing that, no one thought much of it and just said, “You’re lucky. Your girlfriend comes from a prestigious family and has such a sweet, gentle personality. After you get married, if she has any sisters, introduce one to my brother.”
Li Wu didn’t explain, but he couldn’t help thinking to himself — he had been blind. A true heiress would never lower herself to curry favor with him or his parents.
Looking across at Xu Yuyou in the crowd, Li Wu realized that although he could never be as lucky as Lu Jingyao, who had a fiancée with billions in assets, at least he had narrowly avoided being trapped by a fake heiress today.
Xu Yuyou, however, had no idea about the little calculations going on beneath the surface. Surrounded by people trying to please her, her heart remained clear — she knew very few of them were sincere. Most were only doing it because of Lu Jingyao and the money.
Sure enough, after the banquet, back at the hotel, one of Lu Jingyao’s supposed close friends, named Cheng Yu, insisted on tagging along. His words were full of investment and project talk.
Xu Yuyou realized Cheng Yu just wanted her money, but didn’t refuse him outright. She just kept playing dumb, saying, “I don’t usually handle business matters. If you really think it’s a good project, you can send the proposal to my company’s email.”
“Miss Xu, your investment company’s email must get hundreds, if not thousands, of proposals every day. I’m worried that if I send mine, the people reviewing them will be overwhelmed and miss it.”
Xu Yuyou calmly replied, “Don’t worry. Good wine needs no bush. If your project is really good, people will fight to invest in it. It won’t go unnoticed.”
Cheng Yu had no choice but to reluctantly leave a copy of the project materials with Xu Yuyou.
Xu Yuyou didn’t pay much attention to it and casually handed it over to Xu Fang.
Xu Fang, being thorough, actually spent the whole night reading through the proposal. The next morning, she reported to Xu Yuyou, “It’s total nonsense. Good thing you didn’t bother with it.”
Seeing the dark circles under Xu Fang’s eyes, Xu Yuyou felt a little guilty and said, “I was planning to have you just throw it in the trash. Why’d you spend the whole night studying it?”
Xu Fang gave an embarrassed smile and said, “I thought you were testing me.”
Xu Fang had followed Xu Yuyou for a long time and had seen how her seemingly random investments often turned into gold mines. She had hoped she might be able to help out. But now, she was even more certain — a real boss is a real boss, and ordinary people like her just couldn’t learn that instinct.
