Unorthodox methods, cultivating immortality relies on rich women

Chapter 163 The Dumb Family

Looking at the thin sheet of paper that Lao Zhong handed over, Shen Qingzhou was speechless: "This is so unprofessional."

"What can I do? Xu Xiumei's life story is pretty uneventful; I can't exactly make up a whole book about it, can I?"

Old Zhong spoke with great conviction, and after thinking about it, Shen Qingzhou realized that he did have some merit. So she stopped criticizing him and began to carefully examine the documents in her hand.

Xu Xiumei is not a native of southern Anhui; her ancestral home is Xunzhou in Lingnan.

She started working at the age of sixteen, working as a waitress at the Lingnan Baiyun Hotel, where she met Ma Weiguo.

At that time, Ma Weiguo's main business was clothing, which involved sourcing goods from Lingnan and reselling them in Anhui.

In those days, the clothing business was incredibly profitable, and it was through this business that Ma Weiguo completed his initial capital accumulation.

However, Ma Weiguo did not initially venture into high-end villa health and wellness, private health clubs, or resort tourism projects. His first industry was the construction industry, or more precisely, building materials wholesale.

It can be said that Ma Weiguo has almost perfectly timed every trend of the times.

Throughout this entrepreneurial journey, Xu Xiumei has never been just a pretty face.

In the early stages of Ma Weiguo's career, she played many key roles, especially in the clothing business, where she provided him with tremendous assistance.

She understands women and fashion very well, which is why Ma Weiguo's clothing business was able to grow so big. Otherwise, there were many people doing clothing business in that era, so why was he the only one who could stand out?

Only after giving birth to her daughter did Xu Xiumei gradually withdraw from the company's management and focus on being a wife and mother at home.

Shen Qingzhou continued reading. Xu Xiumei's life resume was very simple, almost a straight line, without much turbulence.

Perhaps this information is too simplistic, resembling more of a resume than intelligence gathering, and is far too unprofessional.

Shen Qingzhou tossed the paper onto the glove box and asked directly, "Don't you think Xu Xiumei looks familiar? Like I've seen her somewhere before?"

Upon hearing this, Old Zhong looked at him in surprise: "I won't argue with a young girl saying that, but someone this old says the same thing? I'm going to have a serious talk with you—"

Just then, the two glanced up and saw Xu Xiumei, who was sitting at the coffee table, pick up something and hand it to the female lawyer opposite her.

The two chatted casually in the car, and the conversation turned to Mr. Zhong's daughter, Zhong Yating.

"Did she go back to Germany?" Shen Qingzhou asked.

"No, I don't plan to go back for the time being."

Old Zhong's tone was half relieved and half worried.

"Isn't this exactly what you wanted? It wasn't for nothing that you used me as a pawn to lure her back. So what's she doing now? Staying at home, or preparing to find a new job?"

"She's working for Han Yuming now."

"Han Yuming? Why did you let her go there? Didn't you want her to stay away from these things?"

Han Yuming is Lao Zhong's friend who does shady business. The burly men that Zhong Yating hired last time were borrowed from Han Yuming.

"Sigh, daughters are no longer under their fathers' control once they grow up," Old Zhong sighed. "Besides, she doesn't touch Han Yuming's businesses anymore, saying she's going to do some kind of live streaming."

"Live streaming now? You can't even catch up with the latest trends." Shen Qingzhou looked on in astonishment.

"They say they're doing AI live streaming, some high-tech stuff, but I don't understand it at all."

Shen Qingzhou was even more puzzled now.

Someone who's been involved in shady dealings for years suddenly switching to AI live streaming? Could it be some new kind of pig butchering scam?

Just as she was pondering this, Lin Yunong returned with Xiao Qiu.

As soon as the person entered, Shen Qingzhou immediately pressed, "What did Xu Xiumei and her lawyer say?"

Old Zhong kept glancing back through the rearview mirror, but naturally couldn't see anything. He could only watch Shen Qingzhou nodding repeatedly and asked in a low voice with a face full of curiosity, "What exactly did you talk about?"

"Ma Weiguo has an illegitimate son who is seven years old this year, and Xu Xiumei has long had concrete evidence of this. She just handed it all over to her lawyer," Shen Qingzhou said.

"Oh dear, Ma Weiguo is finished now."

"There's no such thing as 'never-ending.' The law doesn't recognize personal feelings. At most, infidelity will only get a slight bias in the division of property. If there's a real problem, it'll be the transfer of marital assets."

"How do you know so much when you've never been married?" Old Zhong asked, his face full of surprise.

"That's called professionalism. I've helped catch so many mistresses before, so I have to know a thing or two about it."

Shen Qingzhou continued, "What's really serious is that Ma Weiguo is suspected of increasing his shareholding in the group during the period when the two's relationship broke down. Once we get solid evidence, this behavior will be considered a transfer of marital property."

"Why would he need to increase his shareholding?"

"Although the Ma family holds 68% of the shares in Kangrui Group, it is not all under Ma Weiguo's name. He personally holds 33%, making him the largest shareholder of the company. Xu Xiumei holds 25%, and their daughter holds 10%. If they divorce, Xu Xiumei can join forces with her daughter to become the largest shareholder with 35% of the shares, and directly kick Ma Weiguo out of the company's decision-making level."

"So Ma Weiguo's only options are either to increase his shareholding or to fight for the shares held by his daughter. The fact that he hasn't chosen to fight for the shares shows that his relationship with his daughter is very bad, and he's afraid that his daughter will side with Xu Xiumei."

"That's not necessarily true."

Old Zhong grinned, a malicious grin on his face. "This daughter of the Ma family doesn't have a good relationship with her parents. I heard years ago that she became a nun. I suppose something sordid happened. These rich people love to mess around."

"Became a monk? Became a nun?" Shen Qingzhou was taken aback for a moment, then casually asked.

"Yes, they said he went to Tonghui Nunnery to have his head shaved, but I don't know the specifics."

"What? Tonghui Nunnery?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Qingzhou was taken aback. He finally realized why Xu Xiumei looked somewhat familiar.

"Why are you so surprised? Do you know her daughter?" Old Zhong asked casually.

Shen Qingzhou nodded: "I might actually know her. Do you have a picture of her daughter?"

"No, she rarely shows up and has nothing to do with what we're going on, so naturally I didn't bother to look for her," Old Zhong said matter-of-factly.

"You must have a photo of Xu Xiumei, right?" Shen Qingzhou asked again.

"Yes, I have it."

Old Zhong took out a few photos from the side and handed them over.

These photos include some taken by Xu Xiumei in a shopping mall, some at home, and a few taken at the beach. It is clear that these photos were provided by Ma Weiguo, as only he would have such private photos as home shots.

The home photo was a close-up shot of Xu Xiumei wearing a round-neck pajama top, her facial features were exceptionally clear, and even the fine lines on her face were captured clearly.

Shen Qingzhou held up the photo, facing the sunlight streaming through the window: "Who does she look like?"

"Who does he look like?" Old Zhong quickly came over.

Lin Yunong and Xiao Qiu, who were in the back seat, also squeezed into the middle of the seats out of curiosity, staring at the person in the photo and examining him closely.

Old Zhong and Lin Yunong looked at it for a long time, and the more they looked, the more familiar it seemed, but they just couldn't remember who it looked like.

Just then, Xiao Qiu suddenly raised her hand high and said excitedly, "I know."

"You know?"

Lin Yunong turned around, looking surprised. Was her intelligence even lower than that of a child?

Old Zhong, of course, couldn't hear Xiao Qiu's words and was still frowning in thought: "She does look familiar, but where have I seen her before?"

Just then, Xiao Qiu revealed the answer: "She looks like a dork!"

"That's right."

Shen Qingzhou was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected that Xiao Qiu would be the first to react.

"Right what?"

Old Zhong looked bewildered. It seemed he was also an idiot; he had just seen the person that morning.