Chapter 57

Yan Ye gazed at the figure of Shan Lingtong, who he hadn’t seen in a long time, with a sense of longing, but it was too late.

When he snapped back to reality, Shang Qiwen was questioning him, “What does he mean?”

Yan Ye smiled wryly and said, “My older brother invested in this drama.”

Shang Qiwen was taken aback and asked, “Where does your brother have money to invest? Is it you again? You fool, did you give your brother a large sum of money again?”

Shang Qiwen was so angry that she was on the verge of tears. Yan Ye glanced at her with a gaze reminiscent of how one might look at a fool.

As a result, Shang Qiwen became even more displeased and questioned him, “What’s with that look in your eyes?”

Yan Ye said, “My older brother doesn’t want me to lend him money. He has his own business outside.”

Shang Qiwen remained skeptical, “Isn’t he still relying on the family? Without the Yuyao Group, who would give him face?”

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

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She had conflicts with the Shang family, fell out with the Xiang family, and now she was following the Yan family, trying to take advantage of their resources to earn some money.

“Deep Palace” was the ladder to her glorious path!

How could he? How could he take it away from her, even give it to that woman?

Unforgivable! Unforgivable!

---

Meanwhile, downstairs in the kitchen, Yan Wei was plating the dishes and arranging the tableware after setting the food on the table. He looked up and saw that Zhou Qiaoqiao was still upstairs, rummaging around for something.

Yan Wei sighed and called out to her, “Qiaoqiao, come down and eat.”

“No, I need to find that card of yours,” Zhou Qiaoqiao shouted from upstairs. Where did she put Yan Wei’s card under the bed?

Yan Wei sighed again and said, “No rush, it’s not going anywhere.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao leaned over the railing, sticking her head out pitifully, and looked at Yan Wei, saying, “Why is there no rush? This is a major issue, there’s so much money at stake!”

Yan Wei disagreed, “A major issue? You mean eating? Hurry up and come down for dinner!”

Yan Wei turned and brought a pitcher of lemon water from the kitchen, saying, “Besides, even if the card is lost, I can always get a new one. It’s not a big deal, and it’s not like it holds a lot of money. Most of my funds are invested elsewhere, and I have quite a bit of real estate.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao thought to herself, “…I don’t even want to know how much ‘not a lot of money’ is.”

In the end, Zhou Qiaoqiao did find the card. At the time, she was worried that Yan Wei might need it, so she had moved it to a different spot and ended up forgetting about it.

After the meal, Zhou Qiaoqiao sat at the table and placed the card in front of Yan Wei, asking him with a serious expression, “Tell me, how much money is in here?” How dare you try to deceive me?

Yan Wei smirked and glanced at her, saying, “At least several hundred million, I’d say!”

Zhou Qiaoqiao’s expression cracked, and she trembled as she picked up the bank card again. The card was luxurious, with a subdued black color. Zhou Qiaoqiao lightly touched the card and asked, “Does this definitely buy a house?”

So, Zhou Qiaoqiao successfully made Yan Wei laugh again. He nodded and said, “Yes, it can buy you a house.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao then shyly turned her head and said, “No need! I have savings, I’ll buy one for myself in the future.”

After roughly understanding that her husband was a wealthy man with billions of assets, Zhou Qiaoqiao’s mood was great for the entire afternoon. She happily took a nap with Yan Wei.

In the evening, when she woke up, Yan Wei was already dressed. He told Zhou Qiaoqiao, “I borrowed a car from Guoan, we’ll go to pick up our wedding photos tomorrow.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao blinked and vigorously nodded in agreement.

With a cute squirrel expression, Yan Wei playfully kissed her head and said, “Get up and change clothes quickly, we’re eating out tonight.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao changed her clothes as Yan Wei led her out, and they went out for dinner.

The next day, Zhou Qiaoqiao woke up in a good mood, and Yan Wei was lying beside her, playing with his phone.

Zhou Qiaoqiao peeked over and saw that it was a document. She exclaimed, “So when you look at your phone, you’re always looking at documents?”

Yan Wei chuckled and patted her head, saying, “Not always, of course. Sometimes it’s just boredom, passing the time. Other times, I discuss company matters with Guoan, connect with people in the United States, and make decisions. And, of course, I also have to review documents and check market trends.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao was half-believing, but anyway, it sounded quite impressive. She patted her head and smiled, saying, “You work hard.”

Yan Wei shook his head, looking at the two strands of hair sticking up on her head, and said, “It’s not hard. I make money to take care of you.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao immediately sat up properly and assured him, “I’m easy to take care of! I don’t spend much money.”

Yan Wei laughed, set aside his phone, and pushed Zhou Qiaoqiao onto the bed, saying, “How can you talk like that? Hmmm~?”

Zhou Qiaoqiao giggled, pushed Yan Wei back, and sat down next to him, asking, “So, what kind of games do you usually play?”

Yan Wei casually replied, “Snake.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao: “…”

Breakfast was simple; they had bread and milk that they bought yesterday when they went out for dinner.

Then, the two of them went directly to the underground garage by elevator. Zhen Guo’an had brought a red car, a brand Zhou Qiaoqiao recognized—Audi, which she often saw on the road.

The car looked beautiful, and Zhou Qiaoqiao thought, this must not be cheap either.

Zhou Qiaoqiao got into the car and started feeling around, then suddenly asked in a puzzled manner, “This car isn’t cheap either, right? What about your car? The Maybach?”

Yan Wei started the car and said, “I returned it to Yan Ye.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao then asked, “Why?”

As the car pulled out of the garage, the red rays of the setting sun bathed the surroundings. Yan Wei replied calmly, “Whatever is owed to him was returned.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao looked at Yan Wei somewhat incredulously, and then, under Yan Wei’s puzzled gaze, she struggled to say, “You’re taking advantage too much! You’ve been driving that car for at least a year or two, right? They gave it to you brand new, and you’re giving it back as a used car? And you say it’s returning? Tsk tsk!”

Yan Wei: “…” Was it all about balancing things between them based on value? Just from this, looking at what Qiaoqiao said, I’m feeling embarrassed now.

Should I… buy another car and give it back to him?

---

There is no parking available in central street, and Yan Wei had given Mao Liang a long vacation. Therefore, Yan Wei had to drive the car to another street’s parking lot, and then he and Zhou Qiaoqiao walked over.

When they arrived at the shop, there were still several couples picking photos and choosing new clothes.

As the end of the year approached, there were many weddings, and the shop’s business was booming.

Seeing Zhou Qiaoqiao and Yan Wei, Fang Jing recognized them at a glance and greeted them, “Mr. Yan, Miss Zhou, you’ve come. Are you here to pick up your photos?”

Zhou Qiaoqiao nodded. She felt much more relaxed now that her whole life had improved. She had her family, a home, and money. This money was enough for their retirement, and they didn’t have to worry about the future anymore.

The previous tarnished incident had also been resolved satisfactorily, and if there was anything imperfect…

…It seemed like there was nothing left.

In a good mood and with a good complexion, Zhou Qiaoqiao happily nodded in response to Fang Jing’s question, “Yes, yes, our photos have been stored here for a while. Sorry about that!”

“It’s alright. Mr. Yan already called and explained the situation earlier,” Fang Jing politely replied with a smile. Then she turned to the person next to her and said, “Xiao Chen, please find the order from Mr. Yan and Miss Zhou from last month.”

The person named Xiao Chen nodded, and Fang Jing led the two of them to a separate guest area. Zhou Qiaoqiao had been here before, where they selected photo frames and arrangements. The computer on this table was where they chose their photos at that time.

She remembered how at that time, Zhou Qiaoqiao was reluctant to let go of one photo and didn’t want to give up another. In the end, Yan Wei had been more decisive, so they ended up choosing faster than others.

People who were choosing around the same time as them reportedly spent two hours and still couldn’t make a decision. In the end, they paid an extra 2000 yuan to have their photos added to the album. Zhou Qiaoqiao felt a bit sorry for the extra money they spent back then, and she felt even more pleased with Yan Wei’s decisiveness.

Thinking back on Yan Wei’s multimillionaire wealth, Zhou Qiaoqiao sighed. If only they had taken everything. Without printing, each negative costs 15 yuan, retouching a negative is 20 yuan, and placing a photo in an album is 30 yuan. Can you believe it?

If you need to add more photos to the album later, it’s no cheaper than a complete set of wedding photos. Photo studios are set up to take advantage of customers from start to finish. Why do photographers take so many photos?

Couples only get married once in a lifetime, so when they see nice photos, they can’t bear to let them go and end up adding more money.

Even though we are wealthy now, we can’t be so wasteful!

Zhou Qiaoqiao thought this way, and then she saw the person named Xiao Chen pushing a cart full of albums out, followed by two boys helping to carry the frames.

Zhou Qiaoqiao: “…”

Fang Jing smiled and said to Yan Wei, “Mr. Yan, according to your request, we’ve reorganized all the remaining negatives into albums. The extra five albums here were added separately. Please take a look and see if you’re satisfied.”

Yan Wei casually pulled out one. Each album had six sets of outfits for Qiaoqiao. They looked so good!

Qiaoqiao looked good in anything!

Yan Wei nodded in satisfaction, “Yes, it’s good. Find someone to help us take them to the parking lot.”

“Of course, Mr. Yan, rest assured. I’ll have my colleague go with you. Please sign here, Mr. Yan!” Fang Jing’s attitude was so good, it was truly heartwarming!

Zhou Qiaoqiao looked at the dozens of albums, a pile of frames, and the many more than two display tables. She chuckled.

No wonder he was so decisive. When she went to the bathroom, most of it was already settled. It seemed like he had no reservations at all. If he liked it, he just took it all!

Sigh, being wealthy is really nice.

Zhou Qiaoqiao sighed, feeling a little bit like she was also wealthy.

When Fang Jing saw the two of them off, her service was impeccable. You have to know, they had thought they were dealing with a bronze-level person, but it turned out they were dealing with a king!

The commission Fang Jing earned from these two customers was far greater than from other customers, even though they hadn’t chosen the most expensive package originally.

The two of them returned home, with Yan Wei handling the large items while Zhou Qiaoqiao managed the smaller ones. After three trips up and down, they had moved everything in. Fortunately, Yan Wei had chosen a good location with an elevator, so they didn’t have to carry things up the stairs, which would have been exhausting.

Once everything was moved in, Zhou Qiaoqiao flopped down at the entrance and said with a smile, “No wonder you didn’t let me pick up the photos when you were abroad. It’s really too much for one person to handle!”

Yan Wei walked past her, careful not to step on her.

As he flipped through the frames, he said, “I was afraid you’d get tired.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao rolled over and saw that Yan Wei had already placed a frame on the table in the living room. He had a serious expression, as if dealing with the most important contract, constantly adjusting the position of the frame, determined to find the perfect feeling.

A satisfied smile slowly appeared on Zhou Qiaoqiao’s face. Seeing that Yan Wei had finally set it up, she got up to help him nail the large frame to the wall.

Yan Wei shook his head and said, “Not now, you should rest first.”

“Then I’ll go cook some noodles. I’m making spaghetti today.” Zhou Qiaoqiao turned to head to the kitchen. Yan Wei glanced at her and saw her taking out a package of spaghetti from the cabinet, saying, “This is the Italian black pepper sauce I bought last time. It came with three packs of spaghetti and two sets of cutlery.”

Listening to her chattering again, Yan Wei’s expression softened even more as he turned back to continue nailing.

Cooking spaghetti doesn’t really require much skill. You just boil the pasta, add some salt to the water. Meanwhile, you can cut the pork, onion, and other vegetables. Heat the pan, add butter, throw in the vegetables, a dash of black pepper.

After a simple stir-fry, the spaghetti is drained and plated, with the sauce poured over. Dinner is ready.

Zhou Qiaoqiao brought two servings of spaghetti to the table, then turned around and saw that a silver frame with a photo of the two of them had already been hung up at the staircase landing. On the lush and translucent green lawn, Zhou Qiaoqiao was dressed in that breathtakingly beautiful long trailing wedding gown. She sat on a European outdoor chair, supporting her chin with one hand, proudly ignoring the man kneeling on the ground beside her, holding a brick-like ring.

Truly beautiful.

Zhou Qiaoqiao couldn’t help but sigh too, but compared to being beautiful, this photo radiated a stronger sense of happiness. With the photos, this apartment felt different, as if… something had been filled.

Perhaps, this thing is called happiness!

Because the decoration of the house was more modern, and the wooden frame with the ancient-style dress photo didn’t match the decoration of the house. Yan Wei furrowed his thick brows as he looked at the wooden frame in front of him, lost in thought. Zhou Qiaoqiao called him, “Yan Wei, let’s eat!”

Yan Wei turned to look at her and saw Zhou Qiaoqiao taking off her apron. Suddenly, the feeling of home became even stronger. Yan Wei nodded and decided not to worry about it for now, heading towards the kitchen.

Zhou Qiaoqiao hung up the apron and suddenly felt Yan Wei approaching from behind. Before she could react, Yan Wei hugged her from behind.

Yan Wei said, “You’ve worked hard, my wife.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao’s face turned red in an instant, and she whispered, “Wasn’t it always just Qiaoqiao?”

“The room is filled with our photos, and this place feels more like a home now. I think ‘wife’ is more appropriate!” Yan Wei chuckled softly, his intoxicating voice sounding in Zhou Qiaoqiao’s ear.

Zhou Qiaoqiao responded with a faint “Mhm,” feeling a bit dizzy, and softly asked, “Husband?”

Suddenly, Yan Wei felt a tickling sensation in his heart. He suppressed it and playfully teased Zhou Qiaoqiao for a while. By the time they started eating, the spaghetti had cooled down, but the overwhelming sense of happiness made them feel that the spaghetti was still delicious.

Cooking spaghetti wasn’t that difficult, and for Yan Wei, anything he could share with Zhou Qiaoqiao was delicious.

Yan Wei brought up the issue of the troublesome wooden frame, “I have another house in Yiwu City. The interior decoration there has a natural style, with a lot of wooden decorations. We can hang the ancient-style dress wedding photo there.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao could take it or leave it. She hadn’t chosen to enlarge the ancient-style dress photo in the first place; she had chosen two smaller frames instead. After all, when selecting the photos, she had considered that the current decoration here wouldn’t suit the photo.

While Zhou Qiaoqiao wasn’t concerned about Yan Wei moving the large frame with the ancient-style dress photo, she was more curious about another matter, “Do you have houses in other places?”

Yan Wei’s hand holding the stainless steel fork paused for a moment, recalling his past declaration that he didn’t own any houses. He then said quietly, “It’s not a big house. When I decided to establish a branch company in Yiwu City, GuoAn helped acquire it.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao believed him and asked with excitement, “So, what do the houses look like?”

Yan Wei pondered for a moment and said, “One is a villa in the mountains, and the other is a duplex in the Royal Garden.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao widened her eyes in amazement. Never mind the mountain villa, the price per square meter in the Royal Garden is nearly 250,000 RMB! It’s not land they’re selling, it’s gold!

Zhou Qiaoqiao had always thought that the people living in the Royal Garden were like a group of sacrificial pigs.

When she received the compensation from Yan Ye earlier this year, she had checked housing prices everywhere and realized how poor she still was. But now things were different! She and Yan Wei were officially upgraded to sacrificial pigs, oh, I mean they’ve already become part of the privileged elite.

Thinking about it, Zhou Qiaoqiao chuckled and rubbed her head. Could it be that Yan Ye’s hit didn’t just change her luck but also made her incredibly lucky afterward? Hehe… It’s probably that even the heavens couldn’t stand how unlucky I used to be, and now they’re compensating me, right?

“Oh, by the way, I’m going to the supermarket later. Do you want to come?” Yan Wei asked Zhou Qiaoqiao.

He had been away for a few days, and Zhou Qiaoqiao had just gone through the ordeal of being wrongly accused. Their home was only stocked with instant noodles. Yan Wei had bought some groceries the day before, and they had nearly finished eating those today.

Shaking her head, Zhou Qiaoqiao said wearily, “I’m tired.”

Yan Wei nodded and then asked, “Is there anything you need to bring?”

Zhou Qiaoqiao thought for a moment and said, “We’re almost out of sanitary pads at home… huh?”

Seeing Zhou Qiaoqiao’s shocked expression, Yan Wei wondered what was going on with this adorable woman.

Zhou Qiaoqiao looked very puzzled as she asked herself, “Wait, when was my last period?”

Yan Wei was taken aback, and a look of disbelief crossed his face.

This woman… can it be?

Zhou Qiaoqiao lowered her head and counted on her fingers, then said, “It seems like the end of October was the last time.”

Yan Wei took a deep breath and said, “Zhou Qiaoqiao, did you only notice this after two months?”

It was already mid-December today, and you’ve just realized that your period hasn’t come?

Zhou Qiaoqiao laughed and said, “Don’t worry, I checked in late November!” Zhou Qiaoqiao proudly held up one finger and said, “One point.”

Yan Wei finally felt relieved and said, “That’s good, just to be safe, let me take you to get a blood test tomorrow!”

Zhou Qiaoqiao shrugged, feeling indifferent…

---

Then, the next day, the couple heard the doctor across the hall say, “Early pregnancy, let’s get the file ready!”

Zhou Qiaoqiao: “…”

Yan Wei: “…”

Yan Wei was at a loss for words to describe his complex feelings upon hearing the news that he’s going to be a father. However, this complex mix of emotions was quickly shattered by Zhou Qiaoqiao’s following words.

As Zhou Qiaoqiao accompanied Yan Wei to sort out the paperwork, she expressed her worry, “Wei Wei, you mentioned that we were planning to have our wedding by the end of the year, right? I think the timing is getting close, and if we wait any longer, what are we going to do when my belly gets big?”

Yan Wei: “…” I have no idea how to respond to your concerns.

But speaking of the wedding, Yan Wei was also thinking about it, “Well, let’s start by picking out wedding dresses.”

“Wedding dresses?” Zhou Qiaoqiao was greatly surprised, “Didn’t we already buy one?”

Yan Wei: “…” Well, then how about we start by picking out wedding invitations?”

Zhou Qiaoqiao also agreed with a nod and thought for a moment, “I also need to invite my classmates. I wonder if Ren Qing will come back this year. Will Bebe’s mother-in-law allow her to come?”

Yan Wei suggested, “No worries, you can tell them that we’ll reimburse their travel expenses and cover their hotel stay. I’ll also invite the CEOs of Linhua, Shopping Paradise, and Royal Garden. We’ll need to invite quite a few people on my side, and there might be a group coming from the U.S. too. The plan is to directly book a hotel through Guoan. We’re already in talks about that.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao: “…” In an instant, she felt a huge gap between their standards. She was thinking about having guests stay in Yan Wei’s other houses.

Since it was morning, there were a lot of people, and many people were getting their files done for various check-ups.

Zhou Qiaoqiao and Yan Wei stood in line behind the crowd. Zhou Qiaoqiao asked him, “Don’t you have the privilege to just make a phone call and go in?”

Yan Wei glanced at her and said, “I don’t know, I’ve never tried. I’ve only been to the First Hospital of Yiwu…”

Zhou Qiaoqiao pursed her lips and said, “Well, let’s wait then. After all, it’s almost our turn!”

Yan Wei agreed with a nod. The initial check-up required a lot of tests, and by the time they were done, it was already noon.

Perhaps because she knew she was pregnant, Zhou Qiaoqiao felt a bit hungry. Yan Wei immediately said, “That won’t do, the doctor said you can’t starve the baby.”

So, Yan Wei took Zhou Qiaoqiao to a five-star hotel and booked a private room.

With an air of pride, Yan Wei said, “The food outside is not clean. I’m familiar with this place. Their bone broth has been simmering overnight. I asked them to bring a bowl up for us.”

Zhou Qiaoqiao: “…” Ever since she reserved a table for Min Bao Bao and herself for 20 people, she felt like “reserving a large table for a small party” has become a norm.

After the meal, Zhou Qiaoqiao was in high spirits again. She insisted on going with Yan Wei to look at cars.

Although Yan Wei was initially concerned about her getting tired, seeing her enthusiastic, he agreed to take her to a car dealership to look around.

---

Sansukini: She’s a cute ninny to the end.
We have one month left to finish this novel. I have 3 amazing novels lined up. I was initially planning to follow up this novel with an interstellar transmigration novel called “Interstellar Dad”, but I recently finished and loved this ancient rebirth novel “Casting nets to catch a husband”. And the last one was a 70’s novel from the same author of Bai Fu Mei in the Seventies which is one of my favorite chinese novel. If you have any novel suggestions, please feel free to tell me.

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