At first, some people pitied Gao Jian’s bad luck, wondering if he had been wronged, but when they saw he didn’t even bother to explain and simply fled in panic, they were all stunned.
"He, he’s actually a gold-digger?"
"He looks quite decent, though."
Everyone expressed their shock, originally thinking that some of Gao Jian’s actions were already despicable, only to realize that he could stoop even lower.
"It’s precisely because he looks decent, appears honest and naive, that he’s able to swindle people and get money from young girls."
"Otherwise, how could he deceive people? Sometimes, men appear naive and honest, but it doesn’t mean they are good. You need to analyze carefully and observe repeatedly."
"Men these days can be so fickle."
Are there many men like Gao Jian? You can’t say there are a lot, but there certainly aren’t a few either, "To deal with such people, you have to be strong-hearted."
"Otherwise, once they stick to you like a plaster, it’s really impossible to shake them off unless you’re of no further use to them."
Shen Jie made her remarks and left. If it weren’t for the fact that some people actually sympathized with the likes of Gao Jian, she really wouldn’t have wanted to say so much.
Some college students, especially those who go to university right after high school, really lack experience. If only they had experienced more, they wouldn’t have been so easily deceived.
Of course, those who are blinded by love are exceptions. Who knows whether Shen Yuan, now that she has seen Gao Jian’s true face, will be able to learn from her lessons and not make the same mistakes again.
If not, someone truly has a penchant for attracting trash. I’m really curious how Shen Yuan will handle getting hold of so much money this time.
Anyway, as long as she doesn’t get involved in romance or the other party is not calculating, Shen Yuan should not fare too badly.
If she happens to find someone particularly calculating, all one can do is offer blessings and wish her well.
At this moment, Shen Yuan was sitting on a train knowing that the effects of the sleeping pills wouldn’t last long. Perhaps Gao Jian would wake up today and likely seek trouble with Shen Jie.
Of course, there’s also the possibility that he could call the police. Whichever option Gao Jian chose, she wasn’t afraid.
What she needed to do now was to hurry up, withdraw all the money, and then rush to Yangcheng to buy shops and houses.
After that, she would have to figure out how to get across. She had often thought, once she had the money, she definitely wanted to go see what life was like on the other side.
If possible, she certainly wanted to buy a house and live there.
But now, with hardly any money in hand, buying a house was as hard as reaching the heavens; yet staying on the Mainland, what could she do?
Continue doing business? As a woman in business, she would be bullied. And then, as for working, how much could she earn?
Or, she could take the money and find a way to get across, and then buy a house or shop there.
Staying in the Mainland and buying property would sooner or later draw Gao Jian’s attention. What to do then if he caused trouble? Better to go straight there.
As for how to get there, Shen Yuan already had an idea. She met someone previously who had opened a snack bar there, doing good business, but labor was expensive there. They planned to recruit people from the Mainland.
Previously, she looked down on it – the wages weren’t high, and the work was tiring. But now, wanting to get there, it seemed like the best method.
After getting off the train, Shen Yuan rushed to withdraw all her money. She remembered that the currency used there was different.
And carrying a big bag of money would only draw more attention. After some thought, Shen Yuan decided to convert all her cash into gold bars.
It was convenient to carry and wouldn’t attract unwanted attention. Gold was hard currency.
She also couldn’t leave herself penniless on the Mainland. Why not buy a shop? Even if she couldn’t make it in Harbor City, at least she could come back here and run a small business, right?
Once she decided, Shen Yuan efficiently converted her money into gold and, after searching for a few days, found a small shop – actually a residential conversion.
Shen Yuan wasn’t truly satisfied with such a property; it didn’t feel like a proper shop, but due to the time crunch, she had no choice but to go through with the payment and transfer, sign a three-year tenancy contract with the tenant, and then follow someone to work in Harbor City.
On the day she left, Gao Jian also got off the train, but not in a glorious manner. He had endured a rough journey by hitching rides on trains and finally made his way south.
It was a tough ordeal, and he cursed the Shen sisters plenty. If not for them, would he have ended up so wretched?
Upon returning to his home base and about to inquire if Shen Yuan had returned, someone saw him looking surprised and asked if he had fallen out with Shen Yuan.
Without asking, he found out lots from others, such as Shen Jie going to Harbor City to work.
He also learned that the group had disbanded after completing the Capital City contract. The reason being Gao Jian had a mistress and plotted to take Shen Jie’s share.
Gao Jian was dumbfounded. He had thought Shen Jie would be hiding, but instead, she openly talked about disbanding and even disclosed how much money she had left for him.
He had contemplated conning people into giving him credit to turn things around, but now everyone knew he was broke. Even if he wanted to deceive someone, it wouldn’t be easy.
At this moment, Gao Jian really wanted to harm Shen Yuan.
"Me, sigh." Gao Jian expressed helplessly, "I have no idea what got into her. How many casual men do we have around here?"
"If everyone acted like her, how could things go on?" Gao Jian refused to admit his faults, "Anyway, if she doesn’t want to partner with me, let’s split."
"I’ll just start over."
"After all, she’s just a woman." Gao Jian swore in his heart that if he ever encountered Shen Yuan again, he would never let her off.
The other person listened to Gao Jian’s words and chuckled. As people in business, who didn’t know that Gao Jian was selfish?
After agreeing with him, they extended an invitation, "Seeing as you don’t have the capacity to rebuild your business right now, why not work with me?"
"After working for a year or so, when you have some money, you can become a boss again or whatever you want. What do you say?"
Although Gao Jian had various faults, one had to admit that he was capable when it came to business.
Apparently waiting for him here, they wanted him to work. Since he couldn’t get credit, working was his only immediate source of income. But working for anyone was not an option, let alone for the person in front of him.
Known for being stingy, even the wages of his own relatives were frequently docked. He would fare even worse as an outsider. Gao Jian certainly wouldn’t be happy.
But it wouldn’t do to burn bridges, "I’ll consider it."
"My mind’s in a mess right now." He said he needed to rest, grateful that when he rented his house, he paid a year’s rent in advance. Otherwise, he would have been truly out of options now.
Although disappointed, the other person knew better than to press and could only watch as Gao Jian went back.