Seeing the visitors, Li Mingfang’s eyes were filled with displeasure, and her tone was much more imposing than before. “Who are these two people?”
The servant respectfully replied, “This old lady said she’ here to look for Second Young Mistress Huo for an urgent matter.”
“…”
‘She let the old lady in just like this. It’s no wonder that she can only gossip with these wives of rich men. I was wondering how powerful the matriarch of the Fu family was.’
‘Just look at the maids she has trained, they’re so mediocre.’
“Second Young Mistress Huo’s acquaintance?”
Yang Guifang was waiting for Yan Jinyi to admit that she was her grandmother, and was just about to exchange a few pleasantries with Yan Jinyi when she suddenly saw Leng Jing who was sitting next to Li Mingfang.
Upon seeing Leng Jing’s appearance, Yang Guifang suddenly froze, her gaze slightly evasive. “Oh, it’s nothing much. I rarely come to the city, and I’m just here to see Jinyi this time. Since Jinyi is busy, I shall not disturb.”
As she spoke, she was ready to leave with Liu Chen.
Liu Chen suddenly broke free of Yang Guifang who was pulling him by the wrist. He said to Yan Jinyi, “I was scouted by an artiste company but I need a sum of money to go abroad for training. Give me some. When I become a big star like you one day, I can become your co-star!”
‘Even a dimwit like Liu Chen got discovered by a talent scout?’
‘He needs a sum of money for training? Does he think that I’ve been working in the entertainment industry in vain all these years?’
Training for trainees signed to decent and proper artiste companies is free. When a trainee can no longer persist and continue with the training, they’d either have to pay a large amount of liquidated damages when they insist on terminating the contract or repay the money after their debut.
“Are you sure you’ve been discovered by a talent scout?”
Hearing Yan Jinyi’s answer, everyone was surprised to realize that Liu Chen and Yang Guifang were Yan Jinyi’s relatives. They were shocked that the young man actually called Yan Jinyi his cousin.
Liu Chen patted his chest with pride and said, “Of course, I grew up as the most good-looking kid in my class plus I can sing and dance well. It’s only a matter of time before I’m discovered by a talent scout.”
Yan Jinyi seemed to be despising him greatly.
Even Chen Yu, who was beside him, couldn’t help but laugh. “Did you meet a liar?”
“Impossible, like I said, Yan Jinyi is my cousin. If they’re a swindler, the other people would have long been scared away.” With the previous experience, Liu Chen was afraid that Yan Jinyi wouldn’t pay so he said, “This time, Grandma and I went to their company together. Their office is near the commercial street and the decoration is absolutely beautiful. We also saw a lot of trainees in training, how can it be fake!?!”
Yang Guifang nodded along and said, “Yes, yes, Jinyi, you also know the situation that we’re in. We really can’t afford to send Liu Chen abroad for training.”
Yan Jinyi still did not say anything.
“It’s not much, just 200,000 yuan. 200,000 yuan should be considered peanuts to you, Jinyi. Just treat it as a New Year’s gift to your cousin in advance, okay?”
‘Ahh, my hot temper is acting up again!’
After taking a deep breath, Yan Jinyi tried to curb her urge to curse out loud.
The people here were all wives of wealthy men who lived idly. They were very chatty and gossipy. What if this nonsense gets out and affects the business at the Black Cloud Fortress?
After giving it some thought, Yan Jinyi pretended to be surprised and she asked, “Grandma, don’t you know?”
Yang Guifang was surprised. “What is it that I should know?”
“Mr. Huo is the one in charge of the finances at the Black Cloud Fortress. I may be the boss on the surface but in fact, all the revenue goes into Mr. Huo’s account! Grandpa came home recently and began to advocate frugality within the family because he saw how wasteful we were. He has reduced the weekly allowance fr each of us to only 10,000 yuan a week!”
After saying that, Yan Jinyi nudged Huo Qingyuan, for fear that they wouldn’t believe her. “Right, Huo Qingyuan?”
Huo Qingyuan reacted quickly and nodded in agreement, “Yes, it’d be pretty good if Second sister-in-law can have a few hundred dollars left at the end of each week after deducting the expenses of her own consumption. Surely you don’t want Second Sister-in-law to steal and rob, do you!?!”