Mrs. Fu, please be mindful of the appropriate boundaries.

Xu Qingcheng washed her face and came out to see Song Chang quickly tidying up the kitchen and preparing the dishes.

Cumin potato and beef stir-fry, shrimp and broccoli stir-fry, and a cold salad of dried shrimp and celery.

The two of us don't eat much, so let's keep it simple.

"I see you've finished cooking the rice, this is enough." Song Chang looked at Xu Qingcheng standing to the side, "You can go now, don't get in the way, I'll be done soon."

"Changchang, why don't you teach me how to cook?" Xu Qingcheng followed Song Chang and watched.

"Are you out of your mind?" Song Chang glanced at her. "Suddenly wanting to learn to cook?"

Xu Qingcheng's best skill is frying eggs; she can only manage a dark, mushy mess when she tries to make scrambled eggs with tomatoes. She's definitely a kitchen novice.

She just doesn't use her brain for this. Well, she's a little princess who's been pampered since she was a child, so she doesn't need to lift a finger.

Moreover, everything is smart now. Cooking porridge and steaming rice is as simple as putting them in a rice cooker, adding water, and waiting for the timer to finish.

She's also good at making tomato salad with white sugar, fried eggs, and sometimes other simple dishes, as long as she doesn't starve.

For more complicated options, just order takeout or stay at a hotel.

Actually, Xu Qingcheng wasn't particular about food and felt she wouldn't starve anyway, but she suddenly wanted to learn how to eat.

"Yuanyuan can't keep eating fried eggs and porridge with me every day, can she?" Xu Qingcheng said, her nose suddenly feeling a little sore, and she wanted to cry.

"That's right." Song Chang glanced back at her, finally realizing something was wrong. "What's wrong with you?"

Xu Qingcheng didn't say anything, but snatched the spoon from her hand, "You give the directions, I'll try."

The cumin-flavored potato and beef stir-fry was a bit overcooked; the beef was too tough.

Shrimp and broccoli stir-fry was barely acceptable.

I added a little too much vinegar to the cold shrimp and celery salad.

But they were all still edible. Song Chang took a bite and commented, "They're barely passable. They need more practice."

"I think it's alright." Xu Qingcheng finally showed her first smile of the day while eating.

Song Chang stared at her, making Xu Qingcheng's scalp tingle. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You slept with Fu Jingting?"

Xu Qingcheng: "No."

"You're kidding me." Song Chang simply put down his chopsticks, raised his chin, and pointed at her neck. "Even the hickeys can't be hidden."

Xu Qingcheng wore a two-piece long-sleeved pajama top and pajama pants, which covered her relatively well, but her neck area was not covered.

Song Chang knew that Xu Qingcheng couldn't let go of Fu Jingting. If Xu Qingcheng was going to sleep with a man, it could only be Fu Jingting, not anyone else.

"They've already slept together, what does he mean by that?"

Xu Qingcheng didn't speak, but Song Chang understood: "You just want to sleep with me?"

"Changchang, I'm preparing to cooperate with FUC. The Xu family will enter as the second largest shareholder. Shengshihui will be a platform for Qingyao to take off." Xu Qingcheng changed the subject.

Song Chang slammed her hand on the table and stood up angrily. "Is he using this to threaten you? I'm going to find him."

"No, he didn't threaten me." Xu Qingcheng grabbed Song Chang. "I was the one who foolishly threw myself at him."

"You know that too, so why did you act so foolishly..." Song Chang stopped mid-sentence when she saw the tears on Xu Qingcheng's face.

"Because I miss him, I love him." Xu Qingcheng broke down in tears. "I don't want to be completely estranged from him like this, and I don't want to see him with another woman one day."

It is because I love you so much that I can allow myself to lower my head.

But my heart is so bitter, like I've eaten bitter melon.

Song Chang's eyes reddened, and she reached out to hug Xu Qingcheng. It seemed like nothing she could say would make a difference in this situation.

"Should we not tell him about the wish?"

"The wish is mine."

Song Chang understood; Qingcheng lacked confidence in their relationship.

She nodded. "Yes, Xuyuan is yours. You gave birth to her, loved her, and took care of her; she is only yours."

"So what do you plan to do?"

"You know me." Xu Qingcheng gritted her teeth, her eyes red, and after a long pause, she spoke, "I'll do everything I think I can. If it really doesn't work, then I'll let go."

The moment the word "let go" was uttered, Xu Qingcheng herself couldn't bear it; her heart ached terribly.

Song Chang did not express any opinion; she knew that anything she said at this point would be futile.

Qingcheng's personality is actually stronger than anyone else's. As a friend, the only thing Song Chang can do is to be her strongest support. "If you've thought it through, then do it this way."

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I checked the weather forecast, the temperature will stabilize soon. Brother Yin said he'll be returning to China in a few days and will bring Yuan Yuan with him. Brother Yin has been trying to find an expert who's been abroad for a long time, wanting to see Yuan Yuan's medical records. He's Chinese, and I recently heard that his contract abroad ended and he was headhunted by a hospital in China with a high salary." Xu Qingcheng wiped away her tears. "Could you help me find a place to stay? Not in Ancheng, preferably in Jinzhou, it's closer to Ancheng, and it'll be convenient for me to drive there and back. Also, find a reliable nanny to help me take care of Yuan Yuan."

"Okay, leave it to me." Song Chang understood. "Aren't you going to tell your parents? They probably want to make a wish too."

"Now is not the right time." Xu Qingcheng lowered her eyes.

……

The grand auction was held as scheduled.

Xu Qingcheng and Xu Qingyao attended the auction together. The auction of bankrupt assets is not as lively as the auction of jewelry and calligraphy. Many items are actually communicated in advance. In order to facilitate the auction, the government will first eliminate the possibility of malicious bidding.

The prosperous era has become a hindrance to Tang Kaiji, and the Tang family of Jincheng seems to have recently encountered trouble and urgently needs to alleviate their financial difficulties.

Therefore, they were very cooperative in the bankruptcy issue of Shengshi, and the asset valuation was also reduced to the lowest possible level, squeezing out all the inflated figures.

Xu Qingcheng found it strange that Tang Kaiji could allow such a low valuation when he was short of money, and that the value would be even lower once the item was auctioned.

This doesn't make sense; she simply assumed that Tang Kaiji was at his wit's end and desperate to recoup his investment.

Seating was arranged according to asset strength. Xu Qingcheng and her brother sat on the side at the back, while Fu Jingting naturally sat in the middle of the first row. FUC came with a team, including legal and financial personnel.

He sat firmly in the middle position.

Xu Qingcheng's gaze fell directly on his face.

After that day, he never contacted her, and neither did she.

He told her to go to Jingshan No. 1 twice a week, but she deliberately didn't go this week, and he didn't contact her either.

Xu Qingcheng was annoyed. She had never pursued a man before, and neither taking the initiative nor using a strategy of retreating to advance worked.

In short, I'm very irritable. People can't stay calm when they have something to ask for.

Moreover, a man like Fu Jingting is never short of women, not at all.

She had never felt so insecure before.

Xu Qingyao noticed that her gaze was fixed on Fu Jingting, and couldn't help but frown. She called out to her, "Sister."

"Um?"

Xu Qingcheng snapped out of her daze. "What's wrong?"

"Your eyeballs are about to pop out." Xu Qingyao glanced at her indifferently, and even though his face was cold and he was angry, the unique charm of a young man was still evident.

The young man was dressed formally today, with a suit and tie, looking incredibly smart.

He never says anything nice, so Xu Qingcheng sat up straight and pinched him without any politeness, "Whose eyeballs fell out?"

Xu Qingyao remained calm. During his time in prison, he didn't learn anything else, but the high-intensity labor he did every day allowed him to continue with high-intensity training after his release. In addition, he was young, so his physique was extremely upright.

She pinched him, but he didn't feel anything.

He was just annoyed. His sister was beautiful and had a great figure, so why did she need to stare at a man like that and drool over him?

He used to call Fu Jingting "brother" because he hoped that someone would take care of his older sister when Fu Jingting was not around.

The result was that they got a divorce certificate before even having a wedding.

Xu Qingyao still remembers that before Xu Qingcheng went abroad, she went to the prison to talk to him about Shengshi. She said she was going abroad for half a year. Through the prison glass, she laughed and then cried.

He was powerless; he couldn't even wipe away his sister's tears.

Xu Qingcheng didn't say what she was going abroad for, so Xu Qingyao didn't press her for details. Even if he did ask, there was nothing he could do while he was inside.

But he never expected that he would find out after his release from prison that he had become an uncle without anyone noticing.

My mother shed tears when she talked about my sister giving birth, saying that she suffered a lot for this child.

Since Ye Kaihong framed him, Xu Qingyao has rarely thought about "what ifs" anymore, because there are no "what ifs," and the facts are the facts.

But at that moment, he still wondered if things would have been different if he hadn't been in prison. Would his sister have been spared the betrayal and scheming because she wouldn't have had to marry Fu Jingting?

They won't get hurt or sad.

When Xu Qingyao went abroad to visit Xu Yuan, he saw her hugging Xu Yuan and crying at night.

Regardless of who was right or wrong in the past, Xu Qingyao believes that even if no one is around, given a year or two, he will give his sister a stable life. She doesn't need to compromise with anyone.

"I don't think you two are a good match. There are so many men in the world, do we really need another one?"