Chapter 100: Song Xiaoxiao’s Choice

As the space opened, Yan Yueqing felt her body lighten. A flash of white light enveloped her, and she found herself in a vast library.

The shelves were neatly lined with at least a thousand books, and in the center was a curved study area. The sofa, made of an unknown material, felt incredibly soft as she sat down. On the heavy wooden desk stood two high-performance computers.

The system explained, “Welcome, host, to the skill learning point. The books here are arranged according to your needs. You can select them yourself or use voice control. The computers contain simulation questions and corresponding operation guides. We hope you’ll work hard to break through your limits soon.”

Yan Yueqing looked at the rows of neatly arranged new books, her fighting spirit ignited: “Great!”

…

Meanwhile, at the Song family home.

After being comforted by Mr. and Mrs. Du, Du Mansheng composed herself and returned to the Song house with a calm demeanor.

As she entered, she saw Song Qinglong coming out of the kitchen carrying dishes.

“Mansheng, you’re back?” he smiled gently.

Du Mansheng didn’t want to look at him but turned to see Xiaoxiao sitting at the dining table.

“Mom’s home?” Song Xiaoxiao smiled, “Happy birthday, Mom!”

“Birthday?” Du Mansheng suddenly froze.

Song Qinglong took off his apron and warmly approached her: “Look how busy you’ve been, forgetting your own birthday! Thankfully Xiaoxiao remembered and reminded me early this morning, otherwise… we would have wasted the child’s good intentions again!”

Du Mansheng paused for two seconds, as if just noticing the cake on the table, and said absently: “Oh… right… today is my birthday, I forgot…”

Song Qinglong lovingly complained: “Didn’t you go back to the Du family this afternoon? I thought Mother-in-law had specifically asked you to go back for birthday gifts…”

Du Mansheng lowered her eyelashes, saying nothing.

Her mother loved her the most and always prepared many gifts for her birthday. But this year, because of Xiaoyu’s incident, everyone was in tears; how could they have the mood to mention birthdays?

Song Qinglong said: “Don’t just stand there, come try my cooking. It’s been years since I cooked, I don’t know if it’s any good?”

He guided her to sit down.

Eight dishes and a soup, two gifts, and a cake – simple yet warm.

Normally, Du Mansheng would have been moved to tears by the thoughtfulness of father and daughter, but now looking at these things, she was unable to show any happiness at all.

Not wanting to give herself away, she forced a smile at Xiaoxiao’s hopeful gaze.

Song Qinglong said: “Try it quickly!”

Du Mansheng took a bite and politely replied: “It’s delicious, just like it used to be.”

When Song Qinglong was with her, he had put in a lot of effort. Like a model boyfriend, he not only remembered all her preferences but also showed great attentiveness in daily life.

Especially his cooking skills, which made friends and confidantes praise: She had struck gold!

After marriage, the Du family provided some funds for Song Qinglong to restructure the Song family business. He became busy with work and social engagements, gradually coming home less…

Du Mansheng wasn’t fussy about it. She accompanied him in expanding their social network for two or three years. It wasn’t until Xiaoxiao was three years old and the Song family business stabilized that she had time to return to her beloved charity projects.

Come to think of it, the last time the whole family sat down to eat together was already a year ago…

It felt rather ironic.

She ate very slowly, constantly feeling something stuck in her chest, nauseous to the point of wanting to vomit.

But Du Mansheng acted perfectly; her expression revealed no change at all.

During the meal, Song Qinglong was very pleased: “Mansheng, your and Xiaoxiaoi’s birthdays are only a week apart. Now that we’ve celebrated yours, next week I want to go to M country first to close that deal, and I should be able to come back by the weekend to take you and Xiaoxiao out together!”

Deal?

So he couldn’t resist asking her for money after all?

Du Mansheng calmly replied: “Mm.”

One word, without mentioning anything else.

Song Qinglong sensed her low mood and didn’t want to say these things in front of Xiaoxiao, but unable to resist the financial pressure, he casually asked: “About last time… Dad’s money…”

“Oh, you mean that?” Du Mansheng seemed to suddenly remember, wiping her mouth with a napkin, “I asked today, Dad said he had some issues with a shipment of goods and had to use that money for an emergency. It should be sorted out in about half a month.”

“Half a month?” Song Qinglong’s face changed, “Then what about my trip to M country next week?”

Du Mansheng feigned confusion: “Can’t our company borrow eight million from the bank?”

Song Qinglong muttered: “I told you, the bank interest is high.”

“How much could the interest on eight million be?” Du Mansheng laughed lightly, “It’s a bank, not a loan shark. At worst, I’ll help you pay that part of the interest.”

“Mansheng—”

“Qinglong, it’s not that Dad doesn’t want to help you. You know his jade business, it’s a gamble with every cut. If the family business wasn’t big enough, with the market being so poor these years, it probably wouldn’t have held up! Now that batch of raw stones has some issues, eight million is just a small leak. If not handled well, Dad might even need to borrow money from us.”

Song Qinglong opened his mouth, seemingly unable to find a reason to refute.

Du Mansheng looked at him for a moment, then comforted: “By the way, during this visit, Mom and Dad had a good talk with me about your proposal from last time.”

Song Qinglong, not very interested, casually replied: “What proposal?”

“The proposal to transfer all of the Song family’s assets to Xiaoxiao.”

Song Xiaoxiao, who was eating cake, suddenly heard her name mentioned and frowned: “I don’t want to inherit the Song family’s assets.”

Song Qinglong immediately rebuked: “Xiaoxiao, what nonsense are you saying! You’re our only child, if the Song family’s things aren’t left to you, who should they be left to?!”

Now that Du Mansheng seemed to have come around, Song Qinglong wouldn’t let his daughter mess things up at this point.

Song Xiaoxiao raised her face, looking somewhat anxious: “Dad!”

Song Qinglong suppressed his temper: “Xiaoxiao, your mom and I are talking, don’t interrupt!”

Song Xiaoxiao’s face paled.

Du Mansheng secretly clenched her fist under the table.

Song Qinglong took a deep breath and turned to his wife: “What did Father-in-law and Mother-in-law say?”

Du Mansheng slowly said: “They think handing over the Song family’s assets to Xiaoxiao is a good decision.”

Song Qinglong: !!

Du Mansheng continued: “However, since we got married, the flow of funds has been a bit messy. For example, my charity projects are in my name but use the Song family’s accounts. And some of your assets are under Xiaoxiao’s account. Dad told me that if we want to transfer all of this to Xiaoxiao, we’d need to go through the financial records of recent years.”

Song Qinglong said happily: “That’s no problem, I’ll have the finance department handle it.”

He had long since cleaned up some complex financial matters; Du Mansheng wouldn’t be able to see any issues from those records!

At the dinner table, Song Xiaoxiao’s expression gradually sank.