After the lorry driver’s death, it was not the first time his family had quarrelled over money.
At first, they had been cautious.
As time passed, the police had long since closed the case, and the Xie family appeared to have dropped the matter, so their courage gradually grew.
The driver’s wife reasoned thus: the household had already lost its main pillar, and if they scrimped even through the Spring Festival, would not relatives, friends, and neighbours look down on them even more?
Her husband had left behind a sum of money. Using just a little of it, truly only a little, would be enough for a very decent festival.
Once a person persuades themselves to loosen the purse strings, how can spending desires be restrained?
Originally, she had intended only to buy some New Year provisions. After that, she could not resist buying her son a games console and a mobile phone.
The console was to help him shift his attention and recover more quickly from the pain of losing his father. The phone was so he would not be looked down upon at school. After all, this was Shanghai, where many children had phones. Their own child had already lost his father. Surely she could indulge his vanity just a little?
With the console and phone, the boy indeed smiled again.
Once he had a phone, buying two new sets of clothes for the new school term was only natural.
Branded trainers that she had never dared dream of before could now be purchased with a bit of gritted teeth.
It was, after all, only a little money.
A little each time, spent several times over, soon added up to no longer a little.
The money the lorry driver had traded his life for must have been considerable. Mere elevated spending should not exhaust it so quickly.
The real issue was that such spending drew the attention of relatives.
First, the wife’s natal family came asking to borrow money. Unable to withstand their emotional appeals, she lent some. When the husband’s family heard rumours, they immediately arrived demanding she support the elders.
She claimed her husband had left no savings. How could they believe that, seeing how she spent?
The natal family played the card of affection; the in-laws played morality, accusing her of failing to care for her husband’s parents.
Cornered, she had no choice but to produce another sum to silence them.
“Foolish.”
Having heard the account, Xie Qian offered only those two words in judgement.
Inability to earn money was common enough. Inability even to feign poverty was truly stupid.
The driver paused, then said, “Most people in this world are ordinary.”
The suddenly rich poor rarely hold steady.
If everyone could endure, guarding a fortune without touching it, the world would be far more frightening.
Still, the lorry driver’s wife truly lacked wisdom.
With a large sum that could not see the light of day, she and the child could have enjoyed it quietly. Yet she dared lend it out.
Once given to her own family, the husband’s family had to receive their share too.
Far better to have denied everything from the start and refused all comers.
“This is merely the beginning. The natal family borrows, the in-laws demand support for elders. They still consider familial face.”
Considering face meant they would not take everything.
Beyond that, there were those who would show no such consideration.
The wife had already revealed wealth. Next, many would set their sights on her money. Direct borrowing would be only one approach. Others would devise schemes under various pretexts: investments, pyramid selling. There would always be a tailor-made plan to move her and empty her coffers.
Xie Qian did not intend to belittle her. This was simply reality.
For the suddenly rich poor, the greatest danger was not the urge to flaunt, but the lack of ability to protect wealth.
The driver fell silent, clearly agreeing with Xie Qian’s assessment.
When the money in the lorry driver’s wife’s hands ran out, she would surely seek the mastermind behind the accident.
…
“Zhao Dong has already left?”
“Yes.”
Receiving confirmation from Xie Qian, Wen Ying felt the very air on campus grow fresher.
With Zhao Dong gone and Zhao Qian withdrawn from Zhendan, Wen Ying would never again need to deal with the Zhao siblings.
She asked about the aftermath of the “Slann rights defence incident” and learned that the consumers with ruined faces had all received due compensation. The world seemed even more beautiful.
“They were terribly unlucky, yet also fortunate.”
Unlucky to have used Slann products, fortunate that the scandal broke quickly. They had not used them long enough to suffer graver harm. Moreover, Zhao Dong, fearing reprisals from Xie Jinghu, had been unusually generous with compensation, offering the victims some solace.
The “Slann rights defence incident” appeared resolved, yet it triggered a far larger chain reaction.
Even Wen Dongrong had telephoned Wen Ying specially. Influenced by the incident, Jinling City had tightened market oversight, targeting abuse of additives in particular.
A few sweeping crackdowns could not eradicate market chaos entirely, but action was better than inaction.
The leader Wen Dongrong followed had made little splash since taking office in Jinling. This move earned widespread praise.
Rich or poor, people must eat. No one wished harmful substances in food, nor poison in products applied to skin.
If Jinling acted, must Shanghai not act?
Of course it must.
Slann was registered in Shanghai. Such a mess reflected poorly on the city, and its market oversight response was even larger than Jinling’s.
Beyond these two cities, others followed suit.
Wen Ying recalled the infamous “toxic milk powder” scandal from her previous life.
Reports had reached the milk powder manufacturer as early as the beginning of 2008 that its products contained substances harmful to humans, yet the company paid no heed.
In her previous life, that bombshell would not detonate until September this year.
The trigger would be widespread cases of affected infants nationwide. Even if the company tried to ignore complaints, the state would not permit it.
Influenced by the Slann incident, recent public discourse had focused on additive abuse. When local regulators sampled the company’s products, the scandal broke early.
Media, starved for stories, descended like sharks scenting blood.
The company halted production months earlier than in her memory and began recalling problematic batches. Slann’s fate would be this milk powder company’s fate. That would not change. What changed was the explosion coming months sooner, sparing many infants.
Xie Qian had no idea what he had inadvertently influenced.
Thinking of the infants indirectly saved, Wen Ying felt even greater exhilaration than upon hearing of Zhao Dong’s bankruptcy.
“You had Brother Jiang block Zhao Qian’s ‘exposé’?”
Wen Ying asked suddenly. Xie Qian did not deny it. “She has already gone. Every media outlet nationwide is swamped with stories. No one will care whether you hold shares in a medical aesthetics company.”
With the Zhao siblings departed and Zhuo Chen also in the know, Xie Qian had suppressed Zhao Qian and felt equally confident of controlling Zhuo Chen in future.
Wen Ying smiled and shook her head. “I am not afraid of media exposure. In any case, I have already decided to divest.”
