21: Chapter 21 The Little Nobody in a Pampered Novel 21

Li Yan looked up at the newcomer. Although he was fuming with rage inside, he remained calm on the surface. "Third Uncle, what do you mean by this?"

"Five years ago, for a mere quota, you forced the entire school to make things difficult for a young girl. Five years later, are you planning to use the person you like to snatch their family property?" Li Shaoheng sneered. "Li Yan, being liked by you is truly a stroke of bad luck."

Li Yan's hands hung at his sides, clenched into fists. He said with restraint, "Third Uncle, there's no need to speak like that. How do you know Xu Jiao isn't willing?"

"Whether she's willing to give the Xu Family to you has nothing to do with me. However, if you want to use the money from 'Zongheng' to invest in the Xu Corporation, then it has everything to do with me." Li Shaoheng opened a cigar case, took one out, and lit it.

As the smoke swirled, the expression on his face flickered in and out of view, making it hard to read.

"Third Uncle, are you trying to monopolize 'Zongheng'?" Li Yan asked indignantly.

Li Shaoheng laughed. "Isn't that common knowledge? Why does my eldest nephew look so shocked?"

"Third Uncle! 'Zongheng' is indeed in your hands right now, but it was built by Grandpa from the ground up. My father and second aunt also contributed to its success."

"Pfft..." Li Shaoheng didn't even give him a second glance. He stood up and said indifferently, "You aren't qualified to discuss 'Zongheng' with me. If you have an objection, have your father come see me personally. Also, the Xu Corporation is a bottomless pit right now; I don't see any value worth my investment. I won't be giving you any money. But eldest nephew, weren't you busy in Country M? Why don't you just have that technology company of yours invest in the Xu Corporation? Why bother coming to beg me?"

He was planning to take advantage for free! If 'Zongheng' wasn't in his hands, would it even still exist?

"We're all family, Shaoheng, how can you speak like that!" The old man's teeth itched with anger.

But Li Yan couldn't care about that anymore; his mind was filled with the realization that his third uncle knew! He knew that Li Yan had secretly founded a technology company abroad and that it was developing well. It was established using the savings his father gave him after he left China; in the past three years, it had indeed achieved some results. But this was his bargaining chip for the future struggle for the position of family head against Li Shaoheng. He didn't expect him to have known about it long ago.

Li Yan's expression grew even more somber. He became even more impatient to acquire the Xu Corporation, to make it his own and expand his power.

Since Li Shaoheng already knew about the existence of Aode Technology, there was no longer any need to hide it. He would directly invest in the Xu Corporation in the name of Aode Technology.

Li Yan was fast, but the Xu brothers were even faster.

The next day, the Xu brothers met with the head of the Miao Family—Miao Jie's father, the President of the Miao Corporation—in his office. They got straight to the point and stated their intentions.

Fortunately, Miao Weiyuan had already heard the whole story from his son last night. He knew the Xu Family had climbed onto a higher branch and now looked down on the Miao Family.

The Xu Family was truly something!

Selling one daughter to two families—very clever!

He hadn't liked the Xu Family's eldest daughter to begin with. He had long heard that many young masters in their circle were her 'brothers,' but he couldn't stop his son from liking her. He had one son and one daughter, and the Miao Corporation would eventually be passed to Miao Jie. Since his son insisted on her, he had figured he'd just treat it as a dowry and consider it poverty relief.

He hadn't expected the Li Family to swoop in halfway.

From a business perspective, Miao Weiyuan should be grateful to Li Yan for recovering their losses, as the Xu Corporation was already riddled with holes. But emotionally, seeing his son take a relationship seriously for the first time only to be played, he felt a pang of heartache.

In short, he had absolutely no good feelings toward either the Li Family or the Xu Family.

Just after finishing the business between the Miao and Xu families in the morning—with funds returned to their respective owners and all ties severed—Li Yan personally arrived at the Xu Corporation in the afternoon.

With a flourish of his pen, he invested in the Xu Corporation, taking a 25% stake. He instantly became the second-largest shareholder after Father Xu and supported Xu Jiao in taking an executive position. Although Li Yan signed with a flourish, the amount of capital was actually massive. It didn't just drain the liquid assets of Aode Technology; he also had to borrow quite a bit from his friends.

That was why he was so impatient to plant his own people in the Xu Corporation, so he could make use of it for himself.

As it stood, Father Xu held 30%, Li Yan 25%, Xu Congtao 10%, Xu Congxuan 5%, and Xu Jiao, as the most favored daughter of the Xu Family, also held 5%, with the rest held by scattered minority shareholders.

Father Xu and Mother Xu were still abroad, while Xu Jiao and Li Yan had already established a foothold in the Xu Corporation.

Xu Jiao was very satisfied with this arrangement. The Parents of the Xu Family had always hoped she would bring benefits to the family, but they never let her enter the company. Even when Miao Jie invested, there was no mention of her joining. Only Li Yan understood her; the first thing he did was arrange for her to enter the finance department.

The Xu brothers' faces turned ugly on the spot. They wanted Li Yan's investment, but only as an extra backup vault for the Xu Family, not to let him interfere in company affairs. To put it bluntly, the Xu Corporation should still belong to the two brothers; more accurately, each brother believed the company should be his alone in the future.

But with their father away, they didn't dare offend Li Yan. After all, they had just offended the Miao Family; if Li Yan also withdrew his capital, the Xu Corporation would truly be finished.

However, they had already hurried to contact their father to make arrangements early.

...

Compared to the messy schemes of those families, the interaction between Xu Zhao and Gu Yunjing was much warmer and simpler.

The two already had mutual feelings, and Gu Yunjing was so proactive, putting Xu Zhao first in everything, that it would be hard for them not to get along well.

Xu Zhao originally thought she wouldn't be used to having someone by her side, but after getting along for the past two days, she actually adapted to her role as a girlfriend very well.

Gu Yunjing was also incredibly satisfied with his newly minted status as a boyfriend. He chased Zhou Chi away and gave Cheng Yi a plane ticket, telling him to hurry back to school.

Finally, he had the chance to be alone with Zhao Zhao.

The entire Gu Family adored Xu Zhao even more. To think that their wish could actually come true one day—even the way they looked at the cold-faced Gu Yunjing became much softer.

Little Jing's greatest achievement in this life was probably tricking Zhao Zhao into coming home with him.

Grandpa Gu had been humming tunes lately when he went out. While practicing Tai Chi with his old buddies in the cadres' compound, they talked about their grandchildren's marriages. Some bragged about their grandson's wife coming from a prominent family, others about their younger daughter-in-law being a top graduate from a prestigious university. Grandpa Gu just nonchalantly dropped a bombshell—his grandson's wife was only 22, a graduate of Qing University, and also a PhD from the Imperial College in Country Y. Most importantly, the girl had the right values; after finishing her studies, despite the Country Y government's attempts to keep her, she resolutely brought her team back to China.

The old buddies were absolutely dumbfounded. Someone asked, "So what is she doing now?"

Grandpa Gu feigned a profound look and said, "She's just working at the National Defense Science and Weapons Research and Development Center. The specifics... are hard to say."

The old buddies looked at each other—everyone understood what that institution meant! Hard to say, indeed! This was no ordinary talent!

Did she have to be so impressive!

What kind of dumb luck did that hoodlum-like Gu Yunjing have to dig up such a treasure?

At the same time, they marveled at the extraordinary taste of the Gu men. Over twenty years ago, the Gu boy had chosen Lin Ling, who was born in the countryside. They had laughed at him then, but Lin Ling ended up being recruited into the Aerospace Research and Development Center by her own merit, becoming a female expert with the highest military rank. Over twenty years later, Little Jing's girl was even more incredible—only 22 years old, with limitless prospects.

The old buddies all wanted to ask where the Gu men picked up their wives; each one was more capable than the last.

Grandpa Gu was incredibly proud and began to preach. The young couple had a campus romance that went from school to life. Back then, the granddaughter-in-law had even given up her guaranteed admission to Qing University for his good-for-nothing grandson, tutoring Little Jing for a year to help him get into the National University of Defense Technology, and then she took the top spot in City A the following year to enter Qing University.

This piece of gossip was huge and exceptionally shocking.

To think there was such a good girl! Not only was she outstanding herself, but she was also devoted and loyal.

The Gu Family's ancestors must have been blessed to have such a 'silly' girl come their way.

No wonder, no wonder the Gu boy managed to get into university!

They had found it strange. Hadn't it always been said that Gu Yunjing's grades were atrociously bad? Because of that, every time Old Man Gu heard about their grandchildren's excellent grades, his face would turn grim as if someone owed him money. Then suddenly, it was said he got into the National Defense Technology Academy.

The Gu Family had kept it so well hidden!

If they had known earlier, they would have... they would have come to snatch her away long ago, okay!

Perhaps their intentions were too obvious, as Grandpa Gu felt a sense of crisis.

"Don't even think about it. That girl Zhao Zhao is deeply in love with our Little Jing. Which of your grandsons is better looking than my Little Jing? And as for fighting skills, they're even worse; almost every one of them has been beaten up by Little Jing." He felt immensely gratified, letting these old fellows who usually showed off in front of him have it.

When Gu Yunjing and Xu Zhao came out to call Grandpa Gu back for dinner, they witnessed this scene. Right now, the old gentlemen's faces didn't look too good, except for Grandpa Gu's. Walking out now would probably be quite provocative to them.

Gu Yunjing took Xu Zhao's hand and simply led her away.

After they had walked some distance, Xu Zhao realized what was happening. She looked down at their interlaced fingers; there was no gap at all. His palm was large and warm, giving her a great sense of security.

Joy rose from her fingertips and surged through her heart.

Xu Zhao walked side-by-side with him and asked in a lighthearted voice, "Why are we leaving? Aren't we going to call Grandpa Gu for dinner?"

Gu Yunjing stopped and turned to her, facing her. His other free hand also interlaced with hers before he said, "I'm afraid if we walk too slowly, they'll see you. The Gu Family's treasure must be hidden well." In this cadres' compound, there were quite a few of his single childhood friends and brothers.

Seeing his grandfather's bragging spree just now, he estimated that the other grandfathers were probably itching to see his little fairy.