Chapter 470: Like a Bear Collecting Rice Stalks, Only Considering What Is before Its Eyes

"The position belongs to Zhixing now. He's sensible, and Liu Xiangwen is unfortunately not the case. Zhixing just can't control his wife and mother. With the company in his hands, it won't concern us anymore." Mo Yuxin sighed. "I just hope that the company won't ask us for help again if it ever encounters any problem, and Zhiyuan needs to clean up the mess and still be disliked."

"It's not my place to say this." Ruan Danchen thought about what she was about to say but could not hold it in. Chang Zhiyuan was kind to her, and she could not help but say what was in her heart. "Even if they came back to look for Uncle, Uncle would just refuse. My guess is that the relationship with Grandmother would be irreconcilable since yesterday. If that's the case, it's another reason to refuse them. It depends if Uncle is ruthless enough to make this decision. Even though you're from the same family, they don't treat you guys like one. You guys hadn't done anything to harm them, but you still shouldn't let them step on you like that."

"We can be ruthless if we need to." Chang Zhiyuan sipped this tea. "Grandmother can be so ruthless toward you. I'm merely not involved in the company's matters anymore. Whatever path the company takes is entirely their decision; they can't expect me to shoulder the end results. Changhe's fundamentals are intact, and even if Zhixing failed to manage, he won't lose Changhe. Besides, the Chang family fortune is enough for them to live comfortably their entire lives. I couldn't care less about their greedy hearts."

Seeing that both of them did not take the matter to heart, Ruan Danchen did not worry too much and did not bring up the matter further, until Chang Jingwan came in with her school bag and her Jixia Academy School uniform. She happily greeted her sister and brother-in-law and called the little one over. She liked to rub both her hands on his chubby face.

The little one's face was squeezed into a pig-like shape. Seeing that during her time in school, she already gave herself a good portion of this, so she held back.

As the dishes were served and the adults were chatting and eating, Chang Jingwan whispered to the little one, "I bought beef jerky along the way here just now. I'll bring it to your classroom tomorrow." The little one looked at his elder cousin with admiration. "Aunty, you're the best!"

The little one really thought highly of his uncle and aunt. One would secretly invite him to eat meat at a restaurant, and the other would secretly bring meat to him at school.

Chang Jingwan saw that the little one liked her so much, and she felt really happy. She tried to hold back a large grin, restraining it at the corner of her mouth, her eyes formed into crescent-shaped eye-smiles.

"It's Aunty's pleasure to treat you well!" Chang Jingwan blushed happily. "When I get my allowance next month, I'll buy you a good meal at the school cafeteria!"

There are two types of meals served at Jixia Academy's cafeteria. The first would be a set meal, where different types of dishes would be arranged in a large tray. For 20 Yuan, one could choose one meat dish and two vegetable dishes.

In order to control the little one's diet, Qi Chenglin strictly allowed him this 20 Yuan set meal. The monthly amount loaded into his meal card was the exact amount so the little one could not secretly order extra food.

Every day at noon, he would have to act coquettishly toward the cafeteria lady for extra meat; the cafeteria lady kept falling for this trick. The little one had also been honing his cuteness skills.

The second option would be ordering à la carte at the restaurant, Chinese stir-fried dishes, Western food, Japanese food, and even Southeast Asian cuisines—they had everything. This would also be the option that most students of Jixia Academy would choose. However, even if it was just a vegetable dish, one could not afford it with just a measly 20 Yuan. Although the little one yearned for this type of meal, he just could not afford it. This meal was what Chang Jingwan was referring to.

The little one gulped his saliva. "Aunty, I... I heard that the dishes at the restaurant are really delicious."

"That's right, pizza, pasta, steak, grilled prawns, ramen, eel rice, pepper fried crab, and many more." Chang Jingwan nodded. "It's a different dish each day!"

The little one could not take it anymore. "When would you get your allowance?"

"On the last day of the month. I'll buy you lunch on the first day of next month!" Chang Jingwan smiled as she patted the little one's head.

"Aunty, wait until the weekend. I'll ask Uncle Ruan, then we can hang out together! Let's...Let's go to a nice restaurant!" The little one swallowed another mouthful of saliva, shyly rocked his hips, blushingly looked up at Chang Jingwan and said, "I heard from Zhang Mingming that there's a restaurant with super delicious Spanish Seafood Risotto."

"You got it," Chang Jingwan agreed with a smile.

.......

The next day, photographs of Chang Zhiyuan's family and Qi Chenglin's family dining together were exposed. Some were taken through the window of the private room, and some were of them leaving the restaurant.

The public had suddenly discovered that Chang Zhiyuan and Qi Chenglin's relationship had become this close.

From the photographs, one could see that they looked well acquainted. Chang Jingwan was holding Qi Youxuan's hand as they walked out. It was not known if the Qi family had early access to the information as Qi Youxuan's face was blurred out when these photographs were published.

As Chang Zhiyuan officially announced his resignation as President of Changhe in the morning then had dinner with Qi Chenglin's family that same evening, people could not help but speculate the reason for Chang Zhiyuan's departure from Changhe.

Liu Xiangwen put down her iPad, turned to face Grandmother Chang and said, "Mom, can't you see that Elder Brother's resignation was deliberate? Why did he approach Qi Chenglin right after his resignation? What did he say about separating work and private life? Now I feel that my elder brother is in cahoots with Qi Chenglin. Maybe Qi Chenglin will cancel all contracts with Changhe and give it all to Elder Brother."

Chang Jingqiu, who rarely voiced her opinion regarding this matter, also said seriously, "Grandmother, I feel something is wrong; Younger Aunt is right. Even though you were dissatisfied with Elder Uncle before, he never gave up on Changhe. Why now, and without notice? I don't think it's because of the relationship falling-out this time. Were there no fewer falling-outs before this? I think Uncle is using this as an excuse for his own purposes."

Grandmother Chang sipped her tea, her expression grim. "Jingqiu, you're clever. What do you think he's up to?

Chang Jingqiu thought about it for a while before her expression changed drastically, and it made Grandmother tense.

"Grandmother, based on the relationship between Elder Uncle and Qi Chenglin, he should be on Elder Uncle's side. Ruan Danchen clearly said that she only acknowledges Elder Uncle. Elder Uncle will definitely feel extremely wronged this time as we forced him out. He put it very nicely when speaking to the reporters, denying that there was infighting within the family, but nobody believed it. Everyone is saying that he was forced to resign. Now that he's close to Qi Chenglin, wouldn't this further solidify this speculation?"

"Going forward, if Qi Chenglin no longer collaborates with Changhe, but instead supports Elder Uncle's company, we'd be in trouble. Previously, Qi Chenglin was only rumored to have severed relationships with our family, and no one dared to approach us anymore. Now, it involves work matters. If Qi Chenglin is clearly opposing us, the company will be in trouble. People know that we're not on good terms with the Qi family and place importance on Elder Uncle. They'll rush to get on good terms with Elder Uncle, neglecting us. Whenever possible, they'd award the contracts to him, and Changhe will only get the leftovers."

"What can we do?" Grandmother Chang felt flustered and held on tightly to Chang Jingqiu's hand.

In the past, Chang Zhiyuan handled all matters. She never had to worry, but she liked to make her presence known. She would find opportunities to nitpick and criticize. Even if the criticisms were incorrect, she felt that she was in the right. Chang Zhiyuan was used to her temper and never corrected her. He would make decisions and manage behind the scenes.

Since everything went smoothly, Grandmother Chang had no reason to think her decisions were wrong.

Now when problems arose, without Chang Zhiyuan to hold firm and make the decisions, Grandmother Chang started to panic and could not make a single decision.

Chang Jingqiu held on to Grandmother's hand and reassured her, "Not to worry, the situation is easy to resolve. It seems like this will cause a lot of problems for our family. Nonetheless, no matter how smart Elder Uncle and Qi Chenglin are, they won't expect that there's an easy solution for the problem."

With much anticipation in Grandmother's eyes, Chang Jingqiu explained, "We just need to put out some gossip that Ruan Danchen is the long lost daughter of our family, your biological granddaughter. Then it won't be strange that Qi Chenglin and Elder Uncle's family had dinner together. Just relatives having a meal together; what's there to conspire about? Even then, once they find out that the Qi family and we are in-laws, they won't look down on Changhe anymore, and the big business deals will be rolling in."

Grandmother Chang happily stroked the back of Chang Jingqiu's head. "I knew you had promise. If you were to join Changhe, it'll surely be a big help to the company."

Liu Xiangwen's expression changed. She had just gotten rid of Chang Zhiyuan and put Changhe in the hands of Chang Zhixing. Then this Chang Jingqiu appeared. When would Grandmother Chang let her have peace of mind?

"Since you don't need to work at the newspaper office anymore, and staying at home with Grandmother all-day isn't practical either, why not go help out in Changhe? What do you think?" said Grandmother Chang while patting Chang Jingqiu's hand.

She liked this feeling of planning and manipulating. Grandmother Chang felt that she has reached the peak of her life.

"Grandmother, are you complaining that I am an annoyance to you at home?" Chang Jingqiu asked coyly.

"Silly child, what are you saying? I'm worried that you're held-back at home. Is there any meaning to not leaving the house and guarding this old lady?" Grandmother Chang then continued affectionately, "You can't be staying here avoiding people, you have to leave the house sooner or later." Chang Jingqiu lowered her head. "I... I'll have to think about it."

.....

The next day, news broke about Ruan Danchen being the daughter of the Chang family.

Some reporters immediately contacted the Chang family, including Chang Zhixing and Liu Xiangwen. Even Chang Jingqiu received a call from the reporters.

Obviously, they would not deny it. Chang Zhixing said, "We were also looking for an opportunity to announce it to the outside world."

After this news broke, Chang Zhiyuan could guess who was behind it.

"Oh, the methods of a woman, always so ungenerous. Like a bear collecting rice stalks, only considering what's before its eyes," Chang Zhiyuan said mockingly, tossing the iPad to the side.

Chang Jingqiu's solution might have settled the immediate problem, yet it did nothing in the long run.

He and Qi Chenglin have already anticipated Chang Jingqiu's move.

"That family really has no shame. They used to dislike Danchen, but when photographs of us and Danchen as a family were exposed, they rushed to acknowledge Danchen." Mo Yuxin mentioned that the entire family was disgusting and now does not care about Chang Zhiyuan's

feelings. Gauged by all the disgusting things they had done, Chang Zhiyuan was even more disconcerted than her.

"No matter, Qi Chenglin and I have expected this. Because of the relationship with Danchen, they can be smug, but the more arrogant they are now, the more embarrassed they'll be in a few day's time," said Chang Zhiyuan coldly.

.....

Changhe benefited a lot due to the exposed relationship with Ruan Danchen. The public believed that the Qi family's punishment on the Chang family should have been lifted. The Chang family were no longer shunned from events big or small.

Some of the collaborations were even initiated by the other parties. Chang Zhixing was very proud of these achievements.

Even with his average capabilities, it was sufficient to keep Changhe intact. Because of this relationship with the Qi family, business deals had been rolling in. Being the president of Changhe was a piece of cake.

When sitting down with Grandmother Chang and discussing the Company's recent achievements, Grandmother Chang was delighted. "You see, you're just as good—if not better—than your elder brother. The company's performance is even better than when your elder brother was here. Everyone here sees your capabilities."

Chang Zhixing was thrilled.

Grandmother Chang also brought up the matter of Chang Jingqiu joining the company again. In order to please Grandmother, Chang Zhixing happily agreed. Besides, he possessed the highest authority and did not fear of what Chang Jingqiu could do.

Moreover, Grandmother Chang is fatuous; it was unlikely that she would compare an outsider like Chang Jingqiu to her biological son.

Changhe was well off for quite a while, then came the invitations for Qi Youxuan's birthday.

Qi Chenglin specially catered a buffet from the Dynasty and invited Qi Youxuan's friends for a party.

In addition to the children, parents naturally accompanied them to attend. Other than these people, the Qi family and the Ruan family obviously had to celebrate the little one's birthday together. However, on the Chang family side, Qi Chenglin only invited Chang Zhiyuan's family.

The little one's party was not considered a grand fanfare.

However, due to Qi Chenglin's "unintentional" disclosure, everyone was made aware of it. Everyone was stunned for a moment. Why did the Qi family only invite Chang Zhiyuan's immediate family, when the whole extended Ruan family was in attendance?

One could not help but recall that day when Chang Zhiyuan resigned, it was also just them and the Qi Chenglin's family that was at the dinner together.

As far as hearsay goes, apart from the rich ladies' gossip, the gossip of the servants was also an important source of information. They knew more than employers.

The source of the employer's gossip was mainly from the servants anyway.

Especially recently, the main conversation topic when the servants are out shopping was that of the relationship between the Chang family and Ruan Danchen.

These days, Aunt Chen, Aunt Liu, and Aunt Zheng were the focus of attention.

Even when taking out the trash, Aunt Zheng would encounter the people living upstairs and in the alley several times.

Qi Chenglin lived at Unit 5, even those staying as far as Unit 25 would meet her below Unit 5.

"Oh, the Chang family! To be honest, our Madam only has a good relationship with the Chang family's elder son's family. Elder Mr. Chang's family are good people, and they treat our Madam well unlike the others. Not sure why they dislike our Madam so much. Grandmother Chang even went to the old manor and talked bad about our Madam, and was thrown out by our Old Madam. Therefore, our Sir and Madam never visits the Chang family house and is only in contact with Elder Mr. Chang."

Aunt Zheng had repeated this so many times that she could recite it backward.

As long as anyone hinted at the incident, Aunt Zheng would happily tell them.

Thus, everyone now knew that the relationship between the Qi family and the Chang family was still the same. Only the relationship with Chang Zhiyuan was amicable.

The people who originally had been on close terms with Changhe had become estranged one after another. Changhe lost a lot of business all of a sudden. Nonetheless, they were still very friendly toward Chang Zhiyuan.

This was of no loss to them, as in the event that Chang Zhiyuan returned to the Chang family, they have not offended him in any way. The others in the Chang family were of not much use anyway.

Chang Zhixing was still wondering why there was such a big difference.

It was only not long ago that the other parties were lining up with promises of contracts. They have not had the time to actually sign the contracts. They were all verbal agreements yet they had already sent representatives to discuss the details of the contracts and implementation procedures. They were just awaiting the legal documents for signing.

When the agreed date for the signing of the contracts arrived, the other parties pulled out one after another. Chang Zhixing had been constantly receiving reports from his assistants the past few days, stating which company would no longer go through with the signing. Some companies seemed to have difficulties and canceled the projects. Some would just have their secretary bluntly notify them that the deals were off.

Chang Zhixing had hit a dead end. His brows were twisted into a frown every day. He wondered what on earth was going on. He initially suspected that Chang Zhiyuan had a hand in it but later found out that Chang Zhiyuan was clean and only focused on running his own company. He had neither contacted former business partners nor used his influence to attract business.

"President Chang." His assistant walked in.

Chang Zhixing said depressingly, "Who is it that canceled the contract this time?"

"It's not that." The assistant shook his head, but his expression remained serious. "I heard that President Ch... Elder Mr. Chang's company had signed a bunch of contracts, many with the companies that canceled with us."

"So it WAS Big Brother that's behind this!" said Chang Zhixing as he angrily slammed his desk.

"No, Mr. Chang did not take the initiative to contact them. However, I don't know where they heard that Ruan Danchen wasn't on good terms with the Chang family and only had a good relationship with Mr. Chang. They initially wanted to sign the contracts with us was also because of Ruan Danchen, but when they heard this, they canceled our contracts and went to Mr. Chang. Normally, the source of this hearsay would be unreliable. I don't know where they got the source from; they were sure it's accurate. So they just canceled our contracts," said the assistant.

Chang Zhixing was startled. He nodded and said, "Alright, you may leave now."

....

On the day of his birthday, the little one was very excited.

As this was not a formal banquet but was something prepared for the children—and the main objective was for the children to be relaxed and happy—they were not so fussy.

Also, considering that the children had to go to bed early at night, the party was set at noon.

The little one held on to his father with his right hand, and his mother in his left, skipping happily into The Dynasty. Seeing that his friends had arrived, he felt elated.

The little one's friends were all boys. Qi Youxuan expressed that he had to keep himself as pure as Jade for little Muran, and therefore would not play with girls.

However, considering that Muran was the only girl invited, little Muran might be lonely and have no one to play with. So, if any of his friends had any sisters, and the age difference was not too big, he invited them all.

Therefore, there were quite a number of cutely dressed little girls.

"Brother, Youxuan's parents are really good looking," whispered Zhang Mingming's sister to Zhang Mingming.

The little one overheard this and puffed his little chest. "That's right. I'm so good looking, they take after me!"