Ji Youcheng continued grinning foolishly, not saying a word.
"What an idiot!" Zhu Xiuxiu muttered as she sat down at the table. She poured herself a cup of tea, took a sip, and then asked Ji Youcheng, "What did you need from my sister-in-law?"
Ji Youcheng sat opposite her, took the teacup from her hand, and drained it in one gulp before finally speaking. "I wanted to ask sister-in-law if my stars are in conflict this year. Or did I inadvertently offend so Immortal or mischievous spirit recently? I’ve been ridiculously unlucky these past few days!"
But after he finished speaking, he noticed Zhu Xiuxiu staring blankly at him. To be precise, she was staring at the teacup she now held. That’s when he realized... the teacup...
"Uh... I’m sorry. I... I drank your tea!"
Zhu Xiuxiu’s face flushed bright red. She opened her mouth as if to say sothing, but in the end, she didn’t ntion that she had already been drinking from it... She turned her head away, and it took her a long mont to catch her breath.
"It’s... It’s okay!"
Ji Youcheng hadn’t heard her voice for a long mont and thought she wouldn’t say anything more, but then she unexpectedly responded. Since his mother had orchestrated this opportunity, he decided he might as well clear the air with her sooner rather than later. However, before he could speak, Zhu Xiuxiu asked him, "How have you been unlucky?"
Ji Youcheng was montarily confused by her question.
"You just said you wanted sister-in-law to do a fortune reading because you’ve been unlucky lately. I’m asking, how have you been unlucky?"
Ji Youcheng sighed resignedly and then explained everything that had happened over the past few days.
Zhu Xiuxiu listened, dumbfounded.
"Two boxes of gold! That’s at least a hundred thousand taels!"
Ji Youcheng shook his head. "There’s more. I later asked Jin Ge, and he said there were also promissory notes worth two hundred thousand taels of silver inside. That was all my working capital for the end of the year. It’s too late to raise more funds now. The bank just opened, and I’ve invested over three million taels in it! If the year-end redemption fails, I’ll lose all credibility. No one will want to work with after that..."
Hearing this, Zhu Xiuxiu instinctively swallowed and asked uncertainly, "The Zhu Family assets that my father asked you to manage before he disappeared... did you invest all of them into your bank?"
Ji Youcheng fell silent... He desperately wanted to say no, but the truth was...
"You invested it all?" Her voice cracked as she shot to her feet, gasping for breath.
Ji Youcheng quickly poured her a cup of water. "Don’t panic. Here, drink so water first."
Zhu Xiuxiu was so upset her chest ached. Without thinking, she gulped down the water.
After drinking, her breath hitched. This teacup...
"Ji Youcheng..." She was so angry she wanted to curse him, but instead, she unconsciously licked her lips!
Seeing her lick her lips, Ji Youcheng, as if possessed, pulled her into an embrace and kissed her!
Zhu Xiuxiu’s mind went blank. She montarily forgot to breathe, her eyes widening...
Outside, Old Lady Ji craned her neck, peering at Zhu Xiuxiu’s door. When she saw the two figures reflected in the window, tightly embracing, a smile spread across her face.
"It worked! It worked! Oh my! That boy of mine, he’s got more tricks up his sleeve than there are thorns on a cactus. To say Xiuxiu’s father forced him into this marriage? I wouldn’t believe it if you beat to death!"
Nanny Zhang gave Old Lady Ji a thumbs-up. "When it cos to clever sches, you’re truly unparalleled, Old Madam! The Third Master ca from your own womb; how could he possibly outsmart you?"
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