Xiu Xun was noticed by the school leadership after topping the primary school graduation exam, and coincidentally, that school leader was Zhao Li’s maternal relative.
Even more coincidentally, later on, Xiu Xun, in order to marry Wa Yiting, to elevate her status, acknowledged Zhao Li as his godmother. At that time, the Lu Family had also risen to wealth, having tied their fortunes to power, and so they were even richer than the Ruan Family.
Zhao Li herself was someone who liked girls, and she always treated Wa Yiting very well. Wa Yiting knew how to charm people, and later on, Zhao Li and she were almost indistinguishable from a real mother and daughter.
In the original book, Zhao Li was depicted as Wa Yiting’s powerful maternal backing, which is why there was more written about her—giving Jiaojiao a rather deep impression of her.
Now, looking at this woman watching her with such affection, pulling her into her embrace and cherishing her, Jiaojiao felt a complex mix of emotions and lowered her eyes.
Even if she didn’t like the original character, who perhaps was very troublesome, she still couldn’t bring herself to like the cause of the Ruanlin Family’s downfall and ruin.
Even if the original personage was at fault in thousands of ways, the members of the Ruan Family were not to blame.
"Jiaojiao, call out to people, why aren’t you calling out?" Seeing Jiaojiao with her head lowered, not addressing anyone with her usual sweet words, the Ruanlin matriarch reminded her with some confusion.
"It’s alright, it’s alright, the child must be shy!" Zhao Li didn’t mind at all, her smile was incredibly warm as she looked at Jiaojiao in her arms, "Jiaojiao, I am your Brother Lu Xian’s mother, you can call me Auntie Li."
As she spoke, she handed a peach to Jiaojiao, "Here, do you want to eat a peach?"
Jiaojiao shook her head and silently wriggled out of her embrace, and to avoid appearing too unusual, she didn’t even call out to Lu Zhiwei.
"The child must be tired from running back and forth, don’t mind her, eat some fruit, eat some fruit," the Ruanlin matriarch said with a smile, though surprised herself, she didn’t scold Jiaojiao and explained to the Lu Family instead.
"It’s nothing." Zhao Li truly didn’t mind, but she couldn’t quite take her eyes off Jiaojiao, thinking that it was normal for such a pretty young girl to have some temper.
After leaving Zhao Li’s embrace, Jiaojiao returned to her room, with Xiu Xi following behind her.
Lu Xian watched and wanted to follow but felt a bit shy; he just pinched the chocolate in his pocket that he had brought specially, planning to find a chance to give it to Jiaojiao later, and then he was dragged off to Ruan Jie’s room by the latter.
Once the children had left, Lu Zhiwei finally spoke of serious matters—still about partnering in business. The only person he trusted now was Ruan Jianguo, who wasn’t uninterested, but he had his own concerns.
After all, going south to buy stock wouldn’t be a matter of one or two days, especially with electronics, a high-consumption item; it would definitely take more time to compare prices among different suppliers.
This trip would likely require at least half a year, and he wasn’t willing to be away for such a long time.
Shu Jiao was due back within these months, and he didn’t want to miss her.
Furthermore, even if this issue was resolved, there was another major problem—he didn’t have any capital at the moment. When Lu Zhiwei approached him about the partnership, he certainly couldn’t just contribute labor. If they were to do it, he wanted to do it big and do it well. He hadn’t liquidated the assets Ruanlin had given him and needed to find an opportunity for that.
With all these concerns, it was a complicated situation.
Thinking this, Ruan Jianguo voiced the first reason, wanting to wait for Shu Jiao’s return before considering it.
After hearing Ruan Jianguo’s response, Lu Zhiwei pondered for a few seconds, then asked him, "When is your team getting electricity?"