I smiled awkwardly, and then asked him politely: "Brother Zhu, what do you want from me?"
Zhu Yunxiu said to me gently: "Xiao Su, are you busy today?"
I didn't know what he wanted from me, so I subconsciously replied: "Oh, I'm not too busy."
Zhu Yunxiu then said: "Oh, if you are not busy, why don't you come to my place? How about I ask the driver to pick you up?"
As soon as I heard this, I quickly said: "Oh, no need. If you go there, I can just take a taxi." But I still asked Zhu Yunxiu in confusion, "Brother Zhu, what do you want from me?"
Zhu Yunxiu smiled and said to me: "Let's discuss it in detail after you come." Then he told me the specific location of his office.
I put down the phone call to Zhu Yunxiu, and I sat there and pondered for a moment. To be honest, I had a good impression of Zhu Yunxiu. I felt that since he was looking for me, there shouldn't be anything bad going on.
So, I made up my mind, told Xiaomei a few words, and asked her to check the store. I took my backpack and took a taxi directly to Zhu Yunxiu's office building.
Zhu Yunxiu's company is very big. He bought a piece of land in the suburbs in his early years, and then built a group of buildings on that land. The main functions of this group of buildings are for offices, some are used for commercial rental, and some are specialized.
It provides accommodation for employees, and there are also some facilities for leisure and entertainment of internal employees. In short, it is very grand.
Following Zhu Yunxiu's previous instructions, I went directly to his office building. Because Zhu Yunxiu had already greeted him in advance, as soon as I entered the office building, someone asked me my purpose of coming, and then someone led me directly to Zhu Yunxiu.
Repaired office.
In fact, from what I saw along the way, from the decoration in the lobby to the design of the elevators and doorways, I could tell that this majestic building was extremely luxuriously decorated, which was a symbol of the company's financial strength.
I heard Deng Wenliang say before that Zhu Yunxiu got rich relatively early, and when he got rich, he caught up with the real estate boom and saved several pots of gold. Therefore, his family wealth is very thick and he is a veritable god of wealth.
Grandpa.
Of course, I just heard this before, but as the saying goes, hearing is false and seeing is believing. Now that I have seen it with my own eyes, I understand that the "God of Wealth" mentioned by Deng Wenliang is indeed well-deserved.
From the facilities I saw along the way, I inferred that Zhu Yunxiu's office must be extremely luxurious, but I was still surprised when his staff actually ushered me into his large office.
This office is almost as big as an entire house of an ordinary family. It has wine cabinets, bookcases, antique display racks, and a huge floor-standing fish tank. It is extremely luxurious and even has an exquisite billiards case.
This shows that Zhu Yunxiu is still a billiards enthusiast.
When I arrived, Zhu Yunxiu was sitting in the comfortable boss's chair behind the executive desk, waiting for me at leisure. His large executive desk and boss's chair were also unusually spacious and elegant.
Seeing me arriving, Zhu Yunxiu smiled slightly, leaned forward, pointed to the soft chair opposite the executive desk, and said to me: "Xiao Su, sit down."
To be honest, I was a little nervous at this time, but I couldn't show it yet, so I smiled awkwardly at him and sat down across from his desk.
During the whole process, Zhu Yunxiu kept looking at me with a smile. After I sat firmly, he asked me gently: "How is it? Is your shop not busy today?"
I smiled and replied: "Oh, it's not very busy, especially in the afternoon, there are not many people." There was a bit of restraint in my tone.
Zhu Yunxiu is a person who is used to seeing all kinds of scenes. Of course, my mental activities cannot escape his eyes. Maybe in order to relieve my nervousness, he smiled gently at me, and then chatted with me about other things.
Topics, such as our respective daughters’ studies, living conditions, etc.
As we chatted, my mood gradually relaxed.
I knew that when Zhu Yunxiu asked me to come here today, he definitely didn't ask me to chat with him about these trivial matters, so I greeted him while waiting for him to get to the point.
Sure enough, Zhu Yunxiu later turned the topic to the management of my small store. He felt that since the place was going to be demolished soon, I might as well find a suitable store as soon as possible and open the Chinese fast food restaurant I originally conceived.
I forced a smile, and then replied to Zhu Yunxiu: "I have thought about this issue too, but it is not easy to find a suitable store, not to mention there are issues such as decoration, so I want to wait for a while before talking about it."
Zhu Yunxiu smiled and nodded, then asked me softly: "Is there any pressure on funds?"
I smiled awkwardly, and then replied softly: "It's okay. If I want to open a fast food restaurant, I will plan it to the best of my ability."
Zhu Yunxiu nodded again and was silent for a moment. Later, he took out a check from the drawer next to him, then slowly handed it to me and said to me: "Xiao Su, take this and I'll give it to you."
If a little investment in that small shop is not enough, you can tell me again."
When I looked at the check, the amount of one million was clearly written on it! I was shocked at the time.
After a moment, I hurriedly pushed the check back to him and said hastily: "No, no, no! Brother Zhu, Su Man really can't bear this!" Then I explained to him sincerely, "If I open a fast food
The store is within my financial capacity. I won’t make it too big at the beginning because I’m afraid it will be too big and I don’t have the business ability. I hope to go through it step by step so that I can be more confident.
Be practical."
Hearing what I said, Zhu Yunxiu smiled helplessly. He said to me patiently: "Xiao Su, you see you are polite again. In fact, this money is nothing to me, but it may solve your problem."
It's urgent, so I think you should take this money. If you make money in the future, you can pay it back to me slowly."
As he said that, he looked into my eyes and added: "Xiao Su, don't think too much. I don't mean anything else. I just admire you and think it's not easy for you to do something alone as a woman."
So I want to help you as much as I can." As he said that, he pushed the check in front of me and said softly, "You'd better take this."
Zhu Yunxiu said this, I really feel a bit stuck.
To be honest, when I opened a fast food restaurant, I did lack some funds. After all, the hard-earned money from opening Malatang was not very generous. However, despite this, I did not want to accept Zhu Yunxiu's money.
Because I am not an inexperienced person. I know very well that there is no free lunch in this world. There is an old saying among the people, the hand of the person who takes the person is short, and the person who eats it has a short mouth. An ordinary friend is still a person of the opposite sex.
Why do you spend so much money to support you? What do you use to repay others?
Therefore, I can't accept Zhu Yunxiu's money under any circumstances. I am short of funds to open a store. I can ask Haichao and Xu Xinnuo to turn over the money, or let them buy shares. I will manage it in detail. When the money is made, the three of us will share the dividends.
It's all debatable, and it can be stated openly, and I won't feel any guilt in my heart.
But if Zhu Yunxiu receives this money, it will be hard to say what will happen next.
In fact, by this time, I had already vaguely felt that something was wrong with Zhu Yunxiu's feelings for me. I am a person who has experienced it, and I know all about the things between men and women, and even those subtle looks and hints.
I believe Zhu Yunxiu is a good man, and his original intention of giving generously may really be out of sympathy and to help a lonely woman. However, one thing also exists, that is, he has a faint affection for me. I think this
I won't make a mistake either.
So if I take this money and he asks me to have a meal, watch a movie, chat, etc., should I accept it? Or reject it?
Accept it, he is the father of my daughter's classmate, and he is also a married man with a wife and children. In principle, I should definitely stay away from such a man.
But refuse. You have taken such a large amount of money from him. What qualifications and dignity do you have to refuse any of his requests? This is the real cannibalism.
All things considered, I definitely couldn't accept the money, but Zhu Yunxiu said it so sincerely, and I couldn't directly reject his kindness, so I thought about it and rejected him in a more tactful way. I whispered to Zhu Yunxiu.
Said: "Brother Zhu, do you think this is good? Since I have decided to open a fast food restaurant next, I will first find a good store, and then inquire about the specific details of the decoration. When everything is clear, I will see if there are still funds.
I'll come to you again for help. If you leave such a large sum of money with me now, I won't be able to use it for a while, and I'm afraid it won't be safe." As I said that, I smiled awkwardly and handed over the check.
Pushing it back to Zhu Yunxiu again, he said gently to him, "Brother Zhu, you'd better keep this for me first."
After hearing what I said to this extent, Zhu Yunxiu couldn't force himself to make excuses anymore, so he smiled generously, nodded helplessly at me and said, "That's fine."
Later, the two of us chatted for a few more words, and the topic just revolved around the two children Ranran and Tongtong, and some other things about our two families.
After chatting for a long time, I felt that the time was almost up, so I politely stood up and left.
Zhu Yunxiu didn't try to persuade me to stay. He asked me if he wanted to send a driver to take me back. I said no, it was quite convenient to take a taxi from here to my place. Zhu Yunxiu readily agreed and sent me out of his office with a smile.
When I walked out of his office building, I breathed a long sigh of relief.
It’s not that I’m ungrateful, I pushed people away when they tried to help me out of kindness, but I know what money should be taken and what money shouldn’t be taken, and I have my own bottom line and principles.
***
The demolition of urban villages is getting closer and closer, and I am also intensively searching for a suitable new store location.
At the same time, the lease of the small house given to me when Deng Wenliang and I divorced expired. I did not renew the lease with the tenant because I wanted to clean up the house and move back in. I was always outside like this.
Renting a house is not a problem. I can say it better myself. My daughter comes over often. After all, other people's houses are not as arbitrary as my own.
After the tenants moved out, I went back to tidy up. I planned to clean up the household garbage they left behind, and then find a construction team to repaint the house and repair any damaged areas.
I picked a day when the store was not busy, so I came to my house, put on a hat, a mask, and a big work shirt and started tidying up in the living room.
The original tenants were a young couple, and they were not that neat and tidy. After they left, they left a lot of colorful newspapers and magazines in the living room. I sighed and put those newspapers and magazines away, but just as I was putting them away...
When I was looking at these things, I glanced at it inadvertently, and I felt that there was a photo in a newspaper that seemed so familiar, so I stopped, took out the newspaper, and looked at it carefully.
It was an old black-and-white photo of a woman. She had her hair tied up and was wearing an old-style cheongsam. I had indeed seen that photo, it was in Ye Xing's photo album.