The wicked mother-in-law doesn't try to whitewash herself; she only abuses her awful children.

Chapter 454 What is a Love Brain?

Since Lu Zhaozhao achieved great success in the cosmetics business, Old Master Lu has begun to take his granddaughter's business acumen seriously.

He intends to hand over the family business to Lu Zhaozhao in the future.

Since that's the case, a successor training program was launched, and Lu Zhaozhao was taken to meet various managers to hone her skills in the businesses the Lu family was involved in.

The Lu family had a business in Jiangnan. After Lu Zhaozhao got engaged, the old master Lu took Lu Zhaozhao to Jiangnan for the first time to familiarize herself with the business there.

Upon learning that Lu Zhaozhao had discovered a shop in Suzhou and Hangzhou whose three-year accounting records were all falsified, Tong Huaqiong couldn't help but look at Lu Zhaozhao with new respect.

"Grandpa must have already figured it out. The reason he sent me to expose him was twofold: first, to test me, and second, to help me establish my authority. You see, if a girl like me were to take charge of the family business in the future, those managers and employees would definitely not respect me. I need to show some real skills to intimidate everyone."

Lu Zhaozhao ate cherries while humbly praising Tong Huaqiong.

These cherries are really sweet.

Tong Huaqiong said, "That means you passed the test."

It has to be said that Lu Zhaozhao has made great progress in both financial intelligence and emotional intelligence.

Lu Zhaozhao didn't become so insightful in the last six months; she has always had a talent for business, but in her previous life she was confined to the inner quarters.

Tong Huaqiong asked, "So how did you punish the employees involved?"

Lu Zhaozhao said, "An accountant certainly wouldn't be that bold. The mastermind is the manager. I fired the manager. We were supposed to part ways amicably, but he said that without him, our Lu family's silk business wouldn't have grown so big. So I'll show him whether it's the Lu family's platform that made him successful, or whether the Lu family's business depends on him. Ever since the news of his falsified accounts got out, I doubt any employer would dare to hire him now."

Tong Huaqiong praised, "You did a great job. If you want to shoulder the responsibility of the Lu family business, you can't be soft-hearted."

Upon receiving praise from her future mother-in-law, Lu Zhaozhao smiled, revealing her beautiful teeth.

Gu Jingzhe flashed past the window shadow.

The future mother-in-law and daughter-in-law then started talking about Gu Jingzhe.

There's nothing that can't be said.

Although Tong Huaqiong is Gu Jingzhe's mother, she still has a young soul inside her, and her conversations with Lu Zhaozhao are similar in nature to their late-night chats in the dormitory in the future.

Tong Huaqiong always knew that Lu Zhaozhao liked Gu Jingzhe very much.

Whether in the previous life or this life.

Thinking of Lu Zhaozhao's experiences in her previous life, Tong Huaqiong wanted to remind Lu Zhaozhao not to be blinded by love.

"Do you know why I agreed to let your grandfather allow you and Jingzhe to get married a few years later?" Tong Huaqiong asked.

Feeling her future mother-in-law's sincerity, Lu Zhaozhao wasn't shy at all when discussing her marriage with Tong Huaqiong.

She shook her head, her bright eyes fixed on Tong Huaqiong, wanting to hear Tong Huaqiong's reasons.

Tong Huaqiong said, "You and Jingzhe are still young. Right now, you seem to be deeply in love, but no one knows if your feelings will change in the future. I'm not saying this because I don't trust my son, but because that's human nature."

"Zhaozhao, although I am Jingzhe's mother, I still have to tell you something. We women must never be love-struck."

Lu Zhaozhao asked, "What is a 'love-obsessed' mind?"

Tong Huaqiong said, "It means to love someone wholeheartedly and without reservation, to believe whatever the other person says or does, and to hold onto the illusion of the other person and never abandon them, no matter if the other person betrays or hurts you."

Lu Zhaozhao in her previous life was just like that.

Lu Zhaozhao smiled and said, "Then I understand."

Lu Zhaozhao suddenly looked up and said with a smile, "Aunt Tong, you've been telling me not to be love-struck, worried that Jingzhe might change his mind. Why can't it be me who changes my mind? Why isn't it Gu Jingzhe who's love-struck?"

She never intended to be the "love-obsessed" type that Aunt Tong described.

In the prefectural city, she associated with many young ladies from prominent families and was frequently invited to banquets. She often heard gossip at these banquets about favoring concubines over wives, achieving the top of the imperial examinations but betraying one's childhood sweetheart, and becoming successful only to have one's wife abandoned. She once wondered what kind of person she would marry, and what she would do if her husband's heart changed.
At that time, she thought she could only find a husband who was devoted to her.

Then she thought, how could she be sure that her husband wasn't devoted to her?

Just like there was a scholar in the prefectural city whose childhood sweetheart bore him children, took care of his blind old mother, and even embroidered for him to go to the capital for the imperial examinations.

After passing the imperial examination with flying colors, he felt that his childhood sweetheart and first wife could not provide him with better support, so he divorced her and married a woman from a collateral branch of a prominent family in Shengjing.

The first wife, unable to bear the anger, threw herself into a well and committed suicide.

Lu Zhaozhao thought, if she were the original wife, she wouldn't have committed suicide so easily, wouldn't that have been a bargain for the unfaithful man?

If you've already decided to give up your life, couldn't you kill the unfaithful lover before taking your own life?
After she got involved in the family business in the past six months, her worry about finding a devoted husband disappeared.

When she got engaged, she told Gu Jingzhe that if he wronged her, she would not let him get away with it.

"Aunt Tong, I was just kidding."

Seeing that Tong Huaqiong remained silent, Lu Zhaozhao assumed that Tong Huaqiong was angry, since no mother-in-law wants her daughter-in-law to change her mind. Realizing she had said something wrong, Lu Zhaozhao shook Tong Huaqiong's arm and acted coquettishly.

Tong Huaqiong snapped out of her daze, stroked Lu Zhaozhao's black hair, and said, "You're right. I only considered the Awakening of Insects. Why isn't it you who changed your mind?"

Yes, why can't it be Lu Zhaozhao who changes her mind in this life?

Everything has changed in this life. Even if Lu Zhaozhao and Gu Jingzhe's relationship is destined to be tumultuous, why shouldn't it be Lu Zhaozhao abusing Gu Jingzhe?

Of course, deep down, Tong Huaqiong hoped that the two lovers could eventually get married.

In case—she meant in case someone really did change their mind—she hoped it would be Lu Zhaozhao.

Tong Huaqiong said, "If Jingzhe changes his mind, I will castrate my son. If you change your mind, then my son will suffer."

Lu Zhaozhao: "."

Tong Huaqiong's words silenced Lu Zhaozhao.

No, who exactly is Aunt Tong's child?

If Lu Zhaozhao were certain that she was a child of the Lu family, she would have thought that she and Gu Jingzhe had actually been switched.

Lu Zhaozhao asked, "Aunt Tong, why are you siding with me?"

Tong Huaqiong said, "It's not that I'm on your side, but my son is good-looking. If you change your mind, he can find another girl to take over."

Lu Zhaozhao: "."

So, you think I, the granddaughter of a prestigious merchant family and the sister of a top scholar, can't be found?

Gu Jingzhe, who was passing by under the corridor, was stunned when he heard his mother talking to Lu Zhaozhao.

His mother is becoming increasingly risqué and indiscriminate in her speech.

For some reason, his mother never really believed in his feelings for Lu Zhaozhao, and seemed to be waiting for him to change his mind.

Gu Jingzhe's rebellious spirit was stirred up. Just to avoid being looked down upon by his own mother, he would not betray Lu Zhaozhao.

However, he never considered that Lu Zhaozhao would betray him.

He believes that the reason women change their minds is because men don't provide them with enough security, causing them to accumulate enough disappointment before leaving.

Just like her cousin Tong Pandi, who insisted on divorcing Wu Musheng even though she had to bear the gossip.

As long as he treats Lu Zhaozhao well and puts her at the center of everything, he believes Lu Zhaozhao will not change her mind.