Chapter 513 - 412: Premium Rice

Chapter 513: Chapter 412: Premium Rice

"Can you please stop causing trouble for our family!?"

Li Xiaoyan was stunned by the truth her daughter revealed.

"How could that be? It’s impossible! I was wearing a coat, and there were no lights over there at night. There’s no way the security cameras could have caught me!"

Yang Yixue shouted furiously, "Do you have any idea who Jiang Liu is? With his connections, he had them check the surveillance footage from the entire street, you know?"

"You were on camera from start to finish, did you know that!?"

"That little bastard..."

Li Xiaoyan said guiltily, "I didn’t know he was so capable. If I’d known, I would have covered my face with a cloth..."

After venting for a bit, Yang Yixue felt much better.

She then said,

"Mom, don’t feel too bad. He did report you, but then I went and threatened Jiang Liu’s wife. That’s probably why he had someone release the video."

"The video came out just a few minutes after I threatened her..."

"When did you threaten her?"

"Just today..."

Yang Yixue told Li Xiaoyan everything about her conversation with Jiang Liu that day.

She filtered out some of the details, of course.

A silence fell over the mother and daughter.

Yang Yixue’s mind was a mess.

Li Xiaoyan was simply afraid.

She had never imagined Jiang Liu had become so powerful.

With just a few words, he could back them into a corner with nowhere to run.

Her daughter made a threat.

The video was released right after.

And it became a trending topic in just half an hour.

She wouldn’t believe for a second there wasn’t some under-the-table manipulation behind it.

In reality,

this was because Jun Xinghe, after receiving a report from Ren Qingqing, had a word with a shareholder at Zijie Tiaodong.

With an insider pulling strings and giving the video some local traffic, even a pig could be made to fly.

Of course, the two women had no idea about the real story.

Li Xiaoyan was in no mood to curse anymore.

She understood.

Cursing Jiang Liu wouldn’t kill him; it was useless. He was now a big shot she couldn’t afford to offend.

The kind of big shot who could make her flee in disgrace with a single word.

’If I can’t afford to offend him, can’t I at least hide from him?’

Yang Yixue’s heart was filled with a mix of emotions.

When she saw Jiang Liu’s messages, each one protecting Jun Qingmeng,

she knew she had lost, completely and utterly. She was jealous, and it would be a lie to say she had no regrets.

’If we hadn’t divorced, I might still be living a good life right now.’

’When I came home, Jiang Liu would take care of me. When I was sick, Jiang Liu would take care of me.’

’Even if business was bad, Jiang Liu would be by my side, helping me strategize.’

’Such an excellent man, and I just tossed him aside like a piece of trash...’

Looking at the texts she had exchanged with Jiang Liu today, hot tears welled up in Yang Yixue’s eyes.

She wished so badly that Jiang Liu could be by her side, even if they had no money.

Without Jiang Liu, she felt deeply unsettled, as if she had no one to rely on.

’Yang Yixue, you are not allowed to cry! You have to be strong!’

Yang Yixue took a deep breath and wiped her tears with a tissue.

Was there any use in regret?

None!

"Daughter, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you talking?"

"It’s nothing."

Yang Yixue said softly, "Mom, I’m going to deal with the shop renovations. Then I’ll contact an agent to sell the stores. We’ll get back whatever capital we can, take the money, and get out of here."

She didn’t want to stay in this place any longer.

The man who loved her wasn’t coming back, her house was gone, and her business was in shambles.

The entire city was painted with the color of her pain.

"Okay," Li Xiaoyan agreed. "Will it be too much for you to handle alone? Do you want me to help you look after a few of the shops?"

"No, Mom. It’s not that I don’t trust you," Yang Yixue said with a sigh.

"You need to go back home now and pack our things. It probably won’t be long before people show up to collect debts. We need to rent a hidden place to lay low for a bit. Once everything here is settled, we’ll go back to our hometown."

Li Xiaoyan suggested, "Renting a place is too much trouble. If it’s not for long, why don’t we just stay in a hotel?"

Yang Yixue replied, "A hotel is out of the question. It’s too inconvenient. Where would we put all our stuff? We’d just be a nuisance and embarrass ourselves. It’s easier to rent a place. We can ship the things we don’t immediately need back home."

"Okay, I’ll listen to you."

Li Xiaoyan hurried home.

As she reached her front door, she saw several fashionably dressed women holding contracts, waiting for her.

Their eyes lit up when they saw Li Xiaoyan.

They rushed over and grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing grabbing me?! I’ll call the police!" Li Xiaoyan was startled, her legs trembling.

The heavyset woman in the lead said, "Hello, we mean no harm. I’m a food blogger your daughter, Yang Yixue, hired. The contract we signed..."

She explained the whole story.

In short, it was all about one thing: compensation.

The others also chimed in, talking over each other about how much they were owed.

"I’ve already calculated it. Your daughter needs to compensate me 200,000. The contract I signed with her was very clear: if she breaks the agreement, she has to pay me seven times my hiring fee."

"I’ve also done the math for you. You owe me 400,000!"...

Li Xiaoyan was terrified by the huge sums of money being thrown around.

She quickly struggled free.

"Just wait! It’s not like we won’t pay you. My daughter is worth tens of millions, she just has a cash flow problem right now. When she has the money, she’ll definitely pay you!"

"My house is right here. We can run, but the house can’t, right?"

Li Xiaoyan quickly said a few more placating words, opened the door, and locked herself inside.

Trembling, she took out her phone and called Yang Yixue.

"Hello, daughter! There are people at our door demanding money!"

"They’re already there?"

Yang Yixue frowned and quickly said, "Don’t panic, Mom. Don’t be afraid. Just tell them I’ll get the money soon and I’ll definitely compensate them!"

It would be hard to get out of paying this money. They had signed contracts, and as the saying goes, it’s easier to avoid the king of hell than his demons.

If she didn’t pay, this group would definitely hound her every day.

Li Xiaoyan was still shaken. "Okay, okay. As long as it can be resolved. Mom’s not afraid at all. I’ll make it clear to them."

After hanging up,

Yang Yixue contacted an agent and listed all her stores for sale online.

She had also found a buyer for her last remaining beauty salon; they would be coming over later to negotiate the price.

Yang Yixue lay down on the soft sofa in the salon.

This shop meant so much to her. It was where she and Jiang Liu had their beginning.

「*」

「Yangzhai Street.」

The street was as noisy and bustling as a New Year’s market.

The afternoon sun was hot. Uncles and aunties had set up huge sun umbrellas to play cards, surrounded by a circle of onlookers.

Anyone who didn’t know the situation would question their own sanity if they saw this.

A group of bosses worth billions, or even tens of billions, all gathered to watch some old men play cards?

Jiang Liu took a stroll through the seafood market, planning to make some boiled fish.

After some consideration,

Jiang Liu decided to unlock the purchasing rights for the ingredient: rice.

Previously, unlocking the Gourmet Album had given him three chances to unlock a random ingredient.

Jiang Liu thought for a long time and decided to unlock one of the most common ingredients: rice.