Seeing that she didn't speak, Ni Jingxi made a decision: "After you finish eating, come to my house and I'll give you the money."
Finally, Tang Mi raised her head and said seriously, "Jingxi, you said five million, not five hundred yuan? You have to be careful with investments. Don't do this again, or you'll easily get scammed."
Tang Mi thought Ni Jingxi seemed like a smart person, but she turned out to be so silly and easily fooled.
“Yes, I know, but you deserve it,” Ni Jingxi said calmly.
Even though her tone was very natural and not sentimental, two of Tang Mi's tears, which had long since disappeared, fell into the bowl with a soft patter.
"You're just here to make me cry, aren't you?" Tang Mi said angrily, her voice trembling with tears.
Ni Jingxi gazed at her silently.
Although Ni Jingxi never said anything about Tang Mi's kindness to her, she always kept it in her heart. When her father first disappeared, Tang Mi not only accompanied her to the embassy every day after he found out, but also gave her 10,000 yuan when school started, saying it was for her tuition.
Although Ni Jingxi didn't accept them, she often received things from Tang Mi after starting university.
It was either beef jerky brought by one classmate from their hometown, or mangoes from another classmate's family. She knew Ni Jingxi had been working part-time and was afraid she wouldn't be willing to buy things for herself.
Sometimes she would even buy clothes and send them to her, insisting that she wanted to wear matching outfits with her.
Ni Jingxi isn't good at expressing gratitude; she knows some things in her heart and will keep them to herself.
Just as she herself said, Tang Mi deserved it.
*
After much deliberation, Xiao Yichen decided to tell Huo Shenyan about it. He knew that Ni Jingxi wouldn't tell Huo Shenyan on her own initiative, but he was afraid that if Su Yiheng continued to act this way, something might really happen.
He now realizes how terrifying it is for a woman to lose her mind.
In the past, Su Yiheng was a gentle, lovely, and generous person in his mind, but he never expected her to lose her composure to this extent.
Xiao Yichen felt quite sorry.
It was daytime on Huo Shenyan's end, so the call was answered quickly.
“Your business trip has been quite long,” Xiao Yichen said with a smile.
Huo Shenyan rubbed his temples. He had been working overtime these past few days in order to return to China as soon as possible, and his face showed signs of exhaustion. Therefore, he was not in the mood to pay attention to Xiao Yichen: "Just say what you need to say."
Xiao Yichen said with dissatisfaction, "You should be grateful to me after you hear what your buddy has to tell you."
Xiao Yichen wasn't one to waste words, so he quickly explained the situation.
However, after thinking for a moment, he still pleaded, "Don't do anything to Yiheng yet. I'll go and persuade her. I know she's really out of her mind, but we've been friends since childhood, so we should at least give each other some face."
"You gave me the same advice last time," Huo Shenyan said coldly.
Xiao Yichen was taken aback, then gave a helpless laugh.
Huo Shenyan nodded and said, "I'll handle it."
The next day, Huo Shenyan finished his work two days earlier than expected and returned to Shanghai. After an overnight flight, his plane landed on the airport tarmac at around 5 a.m.
Around 6 o'clock, he opened the front door of his house and went straight upstairs.
When he entered the bedroom, still shivering with cold, the room was pitch black, the curtains were drawn tightly, and there was a bulge on the bed.
Huo Shenyan took off his coat and placed it on the small sofa in the bedroom, then tiptoed to the bedside.
When he lay down, the person on the bed was still fast asleep.
So he slowly lifted the blanket and quietly lay down beside her.
But the temperature difference between his body and the temperature inside the blanket was too great. The person who was fast asleep was startled awake by the cold and asked in a daze, "Is it you?"
The familiar scent beside her was cool yet subtly fragrant—the scent she loved about him.
“It’s me,” he said softly.
Ni Jingxi leaned closer, still half asleep, and hugged his waist. He felt a little cold. So she said, "Jingxi, I feel cold."
"I know, I'll warm it up for you," she mumbled.
Suddenly, as if she had remembered something, she looked up and said, "Honey, I did something big while you were away."
Huo Shenyan listened attentively: "What important matter is it?"
“I invested five million in Tang Mi’s studio using the card you gave me.” When they first got married, Huo Shenyan gave Ni Jingxi a card with exactly five million in it, just so she could use it in case of an emergency.
Ni Jingxi has never used this card.
Huo Shenyan chuckled softly, reached out and pinched her earlobe, and said gently, "Not bad, you've learned to make money for our family."
Ni Jingxi was no longer sleepy, and when she heard his words, she smiled and nestled her cheek against his chest.
On a crisp winter morning, he returned home weary.
She nestled close to him.
Even when they weren't speaking, their hearts were overflowing with the sweetness that belonged to the two of them.
This moment is so beautiful that I wish I could freeze it forever.
Author's Note: Shenyan: My wife knows how to earn money for the family now.
Chapter 50
When Ni Jingxi came out of the Foreign Affairs Office, the words the other party had said to her were still echoing in her mind.
"Ms. Ni, your father has been missing for six years. According to normal procedures, our advice is to give up the search." The staff member's sympathetic yet helpless voice rang in her ears.
Ni Jingxi visits the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office every year. When her father went missing, the embassy published missing person advertisements in Israel for a month.
But there was no news.
Those who weren't found back then, after so many years, are left only with memories.
With the Spring Festival approaching, even the various departments at the newspaper are focusing on topics related to the holiday or year-end reviews. Even though the festive atmosphere may be fading, everyone still looks forward to this time of family reunion.
Ni Jingxi seemed to have lost all sense of disappointment.
Year after year of waiting, ever since I learned that my father had disappeared, I have been hoping for him day by day.
She longed for the day her father would knock on the door of the old house, and when she opened it, he would raise his eyebrows and smile, saying, "Xingxing, Daddy's back."
At the end of the year, in addition to annual leave, there is also a year-end bonus, so everyone has even more to look forward to.
Unlike ordinary employees like them who only look forward to holidays, Huo Shenyan, as the CEO of Hengya Group, was overwhelmed with events and social engagements at the end of the year.
The annual meeting at the Shanghai headquarters is the main event, along with some award ceremonies, some of which are organized by the government.
Huo Shenyan would participate in some awards that he couldn't refuse, such as the Annual Economic Figure Award and Outstanding Entrepreneur Award.
Although he keeps a low profile, there are occasional videos and photos of him online, all taken when he attends these events. However, this year is different from previous years. Before, everyone thought he was a wealthy bachelor, and whenever he appeared in a video, young girls would scream with excitement.
The screams were still plentiful this year, but everyone also had a newfound curiosity, speculating whether he would appear in front of the media with Ni Jingxi. After all, since announcing their marriage, apart from the initial photo, there have only been occasional candid photos taken by passersby when they spotted them.
The two had never appeared in public before.
It's not uncommon for entrepreneurs to attend events with their wives, so everyone is looking forward to it.
Huo Shenyan was dubbed the most handsome heir by the media because of his good looks. Although his wife Ni Jingxi is not a public figure, when she first became popular because of her published articles, many people were amazed by her talent and also by her appearance.
This couple is full of eye-catching elements: the beautiful love story of a wealthy heir and a Cinderella, a perfect couple with handsome men and beautiful women.
No matter how low-key the two tried to be, it couldn't stop netizens from being curious about them.
However, Huo Shenyan didn't let these things bother Ni Jingxi. He knew that she was low-key and, although she was in the news industry, she didn't have any desire to stand out or become famous.
Huo Shenyan has been attending several banquets non-stop these past few days.
Tonight is an awards ceremony hosted by a top domestic financial magazine. Because this magazine has government backing, Huo Shenyan accepted the invitation without hesitation. Although there were senior figures with greater experience and seniority than Huo Shenyan present, he remained the focus of attention throughout the event.
The banquet was held at a five-star hotel, where the magnificent hall was filled with elegantly dressed people. As Huo Shenyan exchanged pleasantries with others, Tang Mian followed behind him, holding Huo Shenyan's phone in his hand.
The phone kept vibrating. Tang Mian glanced at it, then put it back in his hand, neither answering nor hanging up.
Although Huo Shenyan did not laugh heartily like others throughout the entire process, he had a slight smile on his lips and chatted with people in a friendly manner. He was not overly enthusiastic but was still polite.
He put down the wine glass he was holding, apologized, and left for the lounge.
Tang Mian followed him all the way to the outside of the banquet hall before speaking, "Miss Su called six times, and Mr. Su also called."
He paused for a moment before continuing, "Your father informed me through his secretary that you must return to the mansion tonight."
Huo Shenyan knew why they were in such a hurry to see him today; it was simply because the board of directors of the Su Group had failed to approve the proposal to nominate his son as an executive director.
Su Yiheng's older brother, Su Jingxuan, is a well-known spoiled brat in the industry. Now, his father wants to support his own son to take over the company.
Logically speaking, the Su Group belongs to the Su family. It's not a big deal that the young master wants to join the company as an executive director.
But the problem is that this time, the one who disagreed was Huo Shenyan.
It's no exaggeration to say that the Huo and Su families have a long-standing friendship. The Su family patriarch and the Huo family patriarch were partners who built their business together. Later, when the Su Group encountered difficulties and desperately needed investment, the Huo family patriarch, remembering their past relationship, invested in the Su Group, thus pulling it back from the brink of bankruptcy.
Since then, the Huo family has always held shares in the Su Group.
Old Master Su had always been hesitant to repurchase the shares, given the close relationship between the two families. The Huo family had never interfered in the internal operations of the Su family business. Therefore, the Su family had long considered the Huo family as part of their own camp.
Su Jingxuan had caused several incidents in the media before, and the other shareholders were actually unwilling to let him join the company.
Although the Su family was fully aware of the situation, they relied on their control over the Su Corporation and completely disregarded any opposition from others. However, they never expected that Huo Shenyan would actually step in to stop them at this crucial moment.
The elders of the Su family were also completely baffled, thinking that Su Jingxuan had offended Huo Shenyan at some point. However, Su Jingxuan and Huo Shenyan were not in the same circle at all, and even though the two families were old friends, Huo Shenyan looked down on Su Jingxuan's behavior.
Su Jingxuan was scolded mercilessly by his elders, not even knowing when he had offended Huo Shenyan.
However, after Su Yiheng learned about this, she started calling him like crazy.
When they arrived at the lounge, Huo Shenyan's phone didn't ring, but Tang Mian's phone did. He glanced at the number; although it was an unfamiliar number, he guessed it was Su Yiheng who had contacted him.
"Take it," Huo Shenyan said calmly.
Tang Mian nodded and pressed the speakerphone button to answer the call. At this moment, Su Yiheng's angry voice came through: "Tang Mian, where is Brother Shenyan? Where is he?"
Su Yiheng rarely lost her composure like this, but this time she was truly panicked.
Huo Shenyan reached out and took the phone. Standing at the window, he saw the vibrant colors of the night sky. The hotel was near the Bund, and from here, he could see the dazzling Oriental Pearl Tower lighthouse. The colorful lights reflecting in from outside shone on his face, yet despite the lively light, his expression remained as cold and aloof as winter snow.
A bone-chilling cold.
“It’s me,” Huo Shenyan said.