Rebirth 1983: Building My Business Empire
Chapter 282 - Chapter 282 Chapter 271 Pretending to be Drunk

Chapter 282: Chapter 271: Pretending to be Drunk Chapter 282: Chapter 271: Pretending to be Drunk Because Lu Jiaxin’s throat was uncomfortable, she didn’t speak during the meal and just listened to Nie Zhan and Su Heming talking and drinking together.

Su Heming’s topics of conversation jumped around a lot. One moment he talked about his childhood dream of becoming an athlete to bring glory to his country, the next he complained about how tiring it was to do business and his desire to go back to the countryside to farm, and then he discussed how far behind domestic technology was compared to the West, wondering how many years it would take to catch up. No matter the subject, Nie Zhan could keep up with the conversation and prevent any awkward silences.

Seeing that the two men had already drunk two shots of Baijiu, with each shot being roughly one hundred milliliters, Lu Jiaxin estimated they would be drunk if they continued, “Alright, let’s eat. We still need to go back to the hotel after dinner.”

Su Heming noticed that Nie Zhan’s eyes were becoming a bit blurred and decided to give him a break, “Then let’s not drink anymore. Let’s eat.”

Since Nie Zhan was also staying at the hotel, and he had brought four bodyguards with him, Su Heming was not worried about Lu Jiaxin’s safety and went home for the night.

As soon as he left, Nie Zhan came over to Lu Jiaxin, “It’s still early. I’ll take you for a joyride.”

“You’re not drunk?”

Nie Zhan smiled and said, “People in our family are born to drink. This little bit of alcohol won’t affect me. It’s not often I come here, so let’s go out for a bit.”

Lu Jiaxin didn’t want to go out. Mainly because there really wasn’t much to see in Peng City at night, and she had no desire to go out just to be blown around by the wind. However, she wasn’t sleepy after sleeping for more than an hour in the afternoon, so she took a financial book out of her suitcase and consulted with Nie Zhan about the parts she didn’t understand. One thing led to another, and soon two hours had passed.

Seeing that he was looking tired, Lu Jiaxin stopped asking him to continue, “It’s not early anymore. You should go sleep earlier, you still have to go back to work tomorrow, right?”

“When will you go back?”

Seeing the hope in his eyes, Lu Jiaxin thought for a moment and replied, “I don’t have any pressing matters here, so I’ll go back with you tomorrow!”

Upon hearing this, Nie Zhan immediately said, “Didn’t you say that when you have time we could go to Ocean Park together? How about I take you there tomorrow?”

Lu Jiaxin laughed, “That’s a place children like to play at. It really doesn’t suit you. When you have time, we should play tennis together.”

Nie Zhan originally wanted to say tomorrow would be fine, but considering Lu Jiaxin’s strong career-focused nature, he thought she probably wouldn’t like him skipping work to accompany her. With this in mind, he promptly corrected himself, “I will book a court for tomorrow, and when work is about to finish, I will have the driver pick you up from the Guh Residence.”

Lu Jiaxin readily agreed.

The next day, the two of them got up early, had breakfast, and arrived at the port just in time to go through the formalities. As soon as they cleared customs, Nie Zhan’s driver was waiting outside.

Nie Zhan first dropped Lu Jiaxin off at the Guh Residence before heading to work.

Ah Mei was quite surprised to see her and asked, “Miss Cousin, didn’t you go back to the mainland to visit your family? How come you came back so soon?”

Lu Jiaxin smiled and said, “There was a little hitch, so I needed to come back and take care of it. Where’s Aunt? In the back garden?”

Ah Mei said, “Old Madam went to the hospital for a headache the day before yesterday and is going back for a check-up today.”

Lu Jiaxin was worried and after finding out it was Mary Hospital, she prepared to go there. However, just as she was pulling open the car door, she was grabbed by Aunt Hong who had hurried over, “Miss Cousin, how can you drive without a license?”

In her rush, she had forgotten that she didn’t have a driving license. Sigh, in Hong Kong just like in the mainland, you can’t get a license until you’re eighteen. Otherwise, she would have gotten it over the summer break. Well, as soon as she turned eighteen next year, she would go for it.

Lu Jiaxin asked, “Who else at home can drive? Have them take me to the hospital.”

Aunt Hong comforted her, “Miss Cousin, I know you are worried about the Old Madam. However, this time her headache is caused by overthinking, according to the doctor. We have been reassuring her for the past two days, and she’s much better now. Just to be safe, we let Aunt Mei take her for a follow-up check-up.”

“Is she really okay?”

“She really isn’t having any serious problem, and if you don’t believe it, you can ask the Old Lady and Sister Mei when they return.”

Believing what she said, since such a lie could be easily exposed and was not that stupid, Jiaxin didn’t go upstairs but went to the back garden with the basket in hand.

After cutting a basket full of flowers and arranging them nicely in vases, she then took them to the second floor.

Having finished this task, she returned to her room. Once the door was closed, she called Su Heyuan, “I’m back, do you have time tomorrow? Let’s talk about the shares.”

Su Heyuan said he wouldn’t have time tomorrow, “My grandfather accidentally twisted his ankle while bathing, and he’s in the hospital now. Tonight it’s my turn to keep watch.”

Keeping watch at night meant he would definitely have to catch up on sleep the next morning, and in the afternoon he would go to the company. The issue of shares was not urgent; a delay of two days wouldn’t matter.

Lu Jiaxin couldn’t prevent him from showing his filial duty. Of course, Su Heyuan’s feelings for Old Master Su were not so pure. However, this was the Su family’s business and had nothing to do with her, so she didn’t ask any further.

Su Heyuan continued, “Yesterday, Feng Lihua called me, said she needed to see you. I didn’t give her your Mainland phone number but told her you would call her back in the next two days. Heming and I got into another argument yesterday–it upset me so much I forgot.”

Jiaxin didn’t ask what their argument was about, “Okay, we can meet when you are less busy.”

“My villa is all set, and I’ve decided to move on the twenty-sixth. You have to come!”

Jiaxin dared not promise, she planned to sort out all these matters and then go on vacation, “If I’m in Hong Kong, I’ll definitely come, but if I’m not, the gift will arrive.”

After that, Jiaxin called Feng Lihua. She had dismissed Feng Lihua the day before returning to the Mainland, and thinking that she had it tough, had paid her an extra half-year’s salary.

Feng Lihua knew her issue well and expressed to Jiaxin that she wouldn’t work in that line anymore. Knowing her current situation, she also cautioned her to be extra careful in the coming period.

As soon as the call connected, Lu Jiaxin asked with a smile, “Sister Feng, it’s me. Big Brother Su said you were looking for me, what’s the matter?”

Feng Lihua said, “A friend of mine has a brother in the Flying Tigers Squad, whose daughter was diagnosed with leukemia last month. The couple, along with two children and the brother’s wife, were not a match for bone marrow donation. Ironically, it was her uncle who turned out to be a compatible donor.”

Leukemia, also known as blood cancer, had very low survival rates at this time, and the young girl was fortunate to find a matching donor among her relatives.

Feng Lihua continued, “My friend’s uncle is demanding one million; otherwise, he won’t donate his bone marrow. My friend and her brother are desperate, trying to raise the money everywhere.”

One million in cash was indeed a substantial amount for ordinary salaried workers. After all, a decent-sized apartment in a good location like the Fuan Residential Area would only cost six or seven hundred thousand. And with the girl’s hospitalization and surgery, these also cost money.

Lu Jiaxin said, “Isn’t this extortion during a time of crisis?”

Feng Lihua acknowledged that it was indeed extortion in time of crisis, but they had no choice, as not donating would mean the child could suffer immensely or even die, “After continuous persuasion by friends and relatives, the uncle finally backed down and lowered the amount to fifty thousand.”