Zhu Yulan was very angry, yet her anger was also filled with a lot of grievances.
Over the years, the Zhu Family had always relied on heavy industry, but as the domestic economic structure changed, there were now many restrictions on heavy industry.
The Zhu Family still looked impressive, but heavy industry was too cash-intensive. Huge amounts of capital were invested, but the short-term returns were negligible. Now the Zhu Family was like a giant with a shell, strong on the outside but hollow on the inside.
So, the Zhu Family badly needed a large amount of capital or project investment.
Thus, an arranged marriage between families was a very good method. When two families became in-laws, many cooperative ventures could naturally develop smoothly.
Zhu Yulan was aware of her family's difficulties, but whenever she thought about certain things, she would feel stifled…
Why, why should they sacrifice their happiness for the so-called family interests? Why should they obey the family's arrangements, especially when she thought of her mother and eldest sister, who had already passed away…
"Drinking coffee is lame, I want to drink alcohol!"
All the emotions that Zhu Yulan had been suppressing seemed to have found an outlet at that moment.
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Xu Musen looked at her and shook his head slightly, "When you're in a bad mood, drinking only makes you more upset."
"I don't care, I want to drink…"
At this moment, Zhu Yulan seemed to forget her dignity as a young lady, showing a bit of a tantrum.
Seeing this, Xu Musen smiled helplessly and gestured to the waiter, "Please bring a bottle of cocktail."
The waiter brought over a bottle of cocktail and Zhu Yulan grabbed it and took a swig directly.
The sting of alcohol was quick; she coughed once, and a hint of red appeared in the corners of her eyes.
Xu Musen continued to drink his coffee, "Drowning your sorrows with alcohol isn't the way to do it. What do you plan to do next?"
"Right now, I just want to keep the company running and at least ensure the staff gets their wages on time…"
Zhu Yulan drank more, her mood becoming even more depressed.
"You really are a good boss."
Xu Musen said with a smile. Most bosses would simply run away when the cash flow broke. How many would think to sell off their assets to pay their employees?
"Of course, I'm not the type to scam people."
Zhu Yulan snorted, but her worries lingered, "But I don't have much money left. I don't know how long I can hold out."
"Don't you have any other assets? Like a house or something?"
Zhu Yulan shook her head, "A house… I never thought about buying a house or anything like that, my car is also under my family's name."
Xu Musen nodded silently, understanding that for a young lady like Zhu Yulan, things like houses, which were easily accessible, didn't hold the same obsession as they did for ordinary people.
It's why many wealthy people always say they prefer renting. It's because they can afford to buy at any moment, keeping their money frees them up to invest in better things.
Therefore, Zhu Yulan usually didn't worry about a crisis. After all, she had never spent all the money in her bank cards.
But once her cards were frozen, she could say she was cut off from all financial resources.
"Isn't your company doing quite well? It's not to the point where you can't pay your employees, is it?"
Xu Musen thought of Zhu Yulan's BOSS Zhipin now cooperating with his Kangaroo Takeaway, and many of the local big businesses in Huhai that she worked with. Their monthly earnings should still be quite impressive.
There seemed to be no need to sell personal belongings to pay wages.
"Heh, those local enterprises were only cooperating with me to give my family face. Now that my family wants me to go back and quietly be a vase, those companies have started to find excuses to stop cooperating once they got wind of it… It wouldn't have come to this otherwise…"
Zhu Yulan smiled bitterly, took another sip from the bottle.
Everything she had done was to prove to her family that without them, she could still live well.
But the harder she worked, the more she realized the intricate relationships within society, devoid of her family's influence.
She felt like she was nothing.
She knew her family was deliberately using this method to force her into submission, but the more they did, the more Zhu Yulan refused to bow down.
"Do you think it's really so hard to start from scratch on your own?"
Zhu Yulan had already drunk half the bottle in a few gulps. Her tolerance for alcohol was just average, and by now she was slightly tipsy.
"It's difficult unless you encounter an extraordinary opportunity. Otherwise, for the average person, it's almost impossible for their entire life."
Xu Musen felt deeply that society was becoming ever more rigid. Ordinary people could only achieve basic sustenance even with a lifetime of hard work unless they caught a huge lucky break.
"Aren't you one who made it slowly on your own?"
Zhu Yulan looked at him, and although she wasn't convinced, she respected the fact that Xu Musen was almost self-made.
"Not entirely," Xu Musen said with a laugh, shaking his head. In the early days of starting his business, whether it was Yao Mingyue and her daughter or the covert support from An Nuannuan's family, they all gave him significant help. Plus, with his perspective as someone reborn with an advantage, that's how he managed to succeed to this point.
"Is it your little girlfriend and childhood sweetheart? Living off a woman?" Zhu Yulan was tipsy and spoke even more freely.
Faced with the implication of living off a woman, Xu Musen laughed, "You could think of it that way, but I'm living off my future wife. It's not shameful, as long as I can repay her tenfold or a hundredfold in the future."