Wen Ying’s family wasn’t well-off, and her parents didn’t seem to dote on her much. “Shrimp King” had been running for a while, and from what Li Mengjiao knew, Wen Ying’s parents cared the least about the stall’s survival.
As for Wen Ying’s uncle, Deng Shangwei, he was still supplying “Shrimp King” for now, but who knew when he might divorce Wen Ying’s aunt?
It wasn’t that Li Mengjiao’s friendship with Wen Ying, barely a month old, outshone her bonds with Qin Jiao, Wang Shuang, or others. It was just that she saw Wen Ying as the least supported, the one who needed help most.
What Xie Qian could do for Wen Ying, she could too!
And it’s not like only guys could be loyal.
Li Mengjiao spoke with such conviction that her dad was stunned.
What elixir had his girl swallowed to suddenly get so sharp?
Sure, she was still naive, ready to lend 150,000 to a friend she’d just met, classic Mengjiao with no sense of money’s value. But what shocked Li Dad was that, slow as she was, she’d figured out why Xie Qian blocked Qin Yi from joining “Shrimp King.”
His girl was growing up, and as her dad, he was thrilled.
Now he was genuinely curious about Wen Ying.
Mengjiao’s change started when she met her.
For Wen Ying to inspire Mengjiao to offer a loan, she must have earned serious trust.
Deep down, Li Dad doubted Wen Ying would take the 150,000, but he didn’t discourage Mengjiao. Instead, he told his wife, “Make a couple of your best dishes tomorrow, we’re inviting Mengjiao’s new friend over for dinner.”
…
Wen Ying had no clue Li Mengjiao, the little rich girl, was planning to lend her money.
Xie Qian’s support today had already warmed her heart.
Xie Qian was just too kind!
A guy like him, she’d be his fan for two lifetimes, and if there was a next life, she’d still sign up to be his number-one supporter.
On the way home, Wen Ying kept her head down, giggling to herself. Xie Qian, taller, could only see the top of her head bobbing, her nickname “Hamster” fitting perfectly, not an exaggeration at all.
What was she so giddy about?
Her obvious delight made Xie Qian a touch awkward.
Wen Ying wishing him a long life wasn’t something he brushed off. It was already August, summer break was ending, and he’d head back to Beijing in less than a month. He couldn’t do much for her in that time.
Zhao Dong had approached Wen Ying once, spouting nonsense before vanishing. Xie Qian still felt uneasy.
What if Zhao Dong pulled something after he left Chengdu?
After some thought, he couldn’t help but advise her, “Don’t give up on Shrimp King lightly. Lots of big entrepreneurs start small. And don’t transfer your shares either.”
Truth was, even if Wen Ying wanted to offload her shares, no one suitable was around to take them.
“Shrimp King” hit a million in value because of Wen Ying’s moves, without her, it’d tank. At this early stage, her braised shrimp recipe wasn’t worth 400,000.
If she quit, Qin Jiao, Wang Shuang, and the others would lose interest, and the business would fizzle.
Xie Qian’s encouragement had another layer, with a shared venture, Wen Ying’s ties to Qin Jiao, Wang Shuang, and the rest would stay tight. If Zhao Dong tried anything shady, their families would likely step in if Wen Ying took a hit.
Qin Jiao, Wang Shuang, and newcomers Tang Yifeng and Geng Xiao, their families saw “Shrimp King” as a sandbox for their kids.
With them all fired up, their parents were all in.
As the core of “Shrimp King,” Wen Ying’s every move was watched by these four families. They might not trust her fully, but they wouldn’t let her crash and burn, not until she tanked the business, she’d have their protection.
A dragon can’t crush local snakes. The Qin, Wang, Tang, and Geng families were Chengdu natives, Zhao Dong, some foreign-returned hotshot, wouldn’t have an easy time moving against them here.
Wen Ying nodded like a bobblehead. Xie Qian, seeing her go at it, wasn’t sure she’d really taken it in, which worried him.
That night at home, he brought it up, but Lin Lin wasn’t convinced, “No way, Zhao Dong’s schemes got exposed, we’re not chasing him down, and he’d still mess with Wen Ying?”
Lin Lin couldn’t wrap her head around that logic.
Just because Wen Ying didn’t step aside for Zhao Qian, Zhao Dong held a grudge?
The whole mess had nothing to do with Wen Ying!
Even without her, Xie Qian still wouldn’t vibe with the Zhao siblings, Zhao Dong hating on Wen Ying made zero sense.
Lin Lin didn’t buy it, and Xie Qian had no proof to sway her, it was more a gut feeling.
Zhao Dong’s grudge stemmed from Wen Ying derailing his “plan,” especially since he’d confronted her and then gone quiet, like a shoe dangling midair, never dropping. If Zhao Dong acted, Xie Qian wouldn’t sweat it, just counter and move on.
“Alright, chill, even when you’re back in Beijing, I’ll look out for Wen Ying. She’s just a kid, mostly at school, what could Zhao Dong even do?” Lin Lin said.
Her words sparked something in Xie Qian.
Wen Ying rarely left school, so if Zhao Dong had someone stir trouble there, no one would suspect a thing.
“Thanks, cousin,” he said.
Lin Lin laughed, “Since when do we talk ‘trouble’ between us?”
She wanted to tease, ask what stake Xie Qian had in thanking her, but held back.
It was a pure friendship, adults joking around would just make things weird for them.
Swallowing her quip, Lin Lin switched gears, “So, when you heading back to Beijing? Stick around Chengdu a bit, leave when school starts.”
Grandma Guo Xia always said Xie Qian should transfer to Chengdu, but Lin Lin knew it was a jest.
Chengdu’s schools couldn’t match Beijing’s, Xie Qian’s high school path was set, even his college after graduation was planned by the Xie family.
People envied Xie Qian’s background, but Lin Lin sighed, life’s fair. A great family came at a cost, Xie Qian’s excellence wasn’t just born, it was talent plus grind, and that brilliance carried heavy pressure.
Xie Qian never griped about it.
In Chengdu, he could finally relax, and Lin Lin secretly hoped he’d linger.
Before he could reply, his phone rang. He answered, and whatever was said shifted his face, his cool tone turning rough, “Got it, I’m coming back now.”
