"This specialist is quite far away, so I might be gone for a week. If anything cos up, just leave a voicemail. I'll call you back as soon as I get off the plane."
Tang Xuewu pulled her suitcase with one hand while helping Qin Long out the door with the other.
"You brat, where do you think you're going!" Zhang ilan imdiately blocked their path, shouting with a furious expression. "His brain is scrambled, and now you've gone mad too?"
"I've already bought the plane tickets. I'll co right back after I help Qin Long get his leg checked," Tang Xuewu explained, pushing her mother aside.
"You are not allowed to leave!" Zhang ilan pressed her body against the main door, her expression turning icy. "Xuewu, you think I don't know what you're planning? Trying to run away will only push the Tang Family into a pit of fire. Even if I have to tie you up, I'll make sure you get to the Longquan Grand Hotel!" Zhang ilan was so angry she stomped her foot and scread.
"Mom, you know I can't stand Wang Ming. Why are you pushing your own daughter into a pit of fire?" Tang Xuewu gritted her teeth, trying to reason with her. "I don't like him, and I absolutely will not go!"
"Why not? If you marry Wang Ming, you'll be the young mistress of the Wang family! From now on, you'll be dripping in gold and silver, a true Phoenix! The Tang Family, and indeed no one in Jiangzhong, would dare to bully you. Do you have any idea how many young won are desperate to marry into the Wang Family?" Zhang ilan scolded, one hand on her hip while the other pointed accusingly at her daughter.
"Mom! I've grown to like this quiet life. I don't want to be a canary in a gilded cage. Besides, Qin Long has money too; he can provide a very good life for our family. We have an Audi, we have a villa—why must you insist that I marry into a rich and powerful family?
"Furthermore, Wang Ming and I are completely incompatible; our values don't align at all. Even if I married him, I wouldn't be happy. People would respect us because of the Wang Family's power, not because of our own. Why can't we work hard to achieve sothing ourselves and earn genuine respect? I, Tang Xuewu, will never allow myself to be used as a sacrificial pawn to curry favor with the Wang Family. And I don't care what other people think."
Tang Xuewu's gaze was incredibly resolute.
"You may not care, but the Tang Family cannot afford to!" a deep voice suddenly cut in.
The next mont, Old Master Tang, along with Tang Xuewu's second uncle, Tang Yuxiang, and her cousin, Tang Chuchu, all appeared in the family's small courtyard.
"Old Master, why have you co in person…" Zhang ilan imdiately greeted him with a fawning smile, bringing over a soft chair.
"Grandpa, Second Uncle…" Tang Xuewu said, her voice strained.
"Xuewu, you must go to the Longquan Hotel today," Old Master Tang stated the purpose of their visit directly.
"Grandpa, I have other plans. I really can't go," Tang Xuewu flatly refused her grandfather without a mont's hesitation.
Hearing this, Old Master Tang didn't fly into a rage. He knew his granddaughter's temperant well, so her response ca as no surprise.
"Old Master, here's a cushion we just bought," Zhang ilan said obsequiously, handing it to him. She then turned to her daughter. "Xuewu, is that any way to speak to your grandfather?"
Tang Xuewu lowered her head in helpless silence as the other Tang family mbers surrounded her, their faces etched with accusation. They completely ignored Qin Long, who was sitting off to the side, as if he were invisible.
Qin Long calmly sipped his tea. I want to see just how shaless the Tang Family can be. If they dare to act rashly, Aixue Group will imdiately step in and crush them.
"I was just reviewing the company's business," Old Master Tang began slowly, leaning back on the cushion.
"Grandfather, I've already completed all my tasks," Tang Xuewu said, her hands resting on her lap as she pleaded with him. "I've briefed the deputy general manager on everything. I'm taking Qin Long south to see a master of traditional Chinese dicine."
"Tang Xuewu, have you lost your mind?" Tang Chuchu sneered, jabbing a finger toward her. "You're the head of the project, yet you're abandoning it to take that cripple to a doctor? Aren't you taking things too far?"
"How am I taking things too far?" Tang Xuewu's eyes flashed with anger as she stared down her cousin. "For the past three years, have you or your brother ever worked more than seven days in a month? You two take more than twenty days off every single month! anwhile, I've been working overti through New Year's for three years straight, earning a salary of thirty-five hundred a month to complete *your* tasks. How is it that I, the project head, don't even have the right to a break? Tell , who is the one taking things too far?"
Tang Chuchu flushed with sha, unable to refute the accusation. Tang Xuewu was right, and she had no grounds to criticize her. For the past three years, with Old Master Tang's tacit approval, they had exploited Tang Xuewu to the absolute limit. She did all the work—the reports, the supervision—yet when it ca ti for dividends, she didn't receive a single penny. All this was because the Old Master had hoped this treatnt would make her regret taking in Qin Long and eventually drive him away.
"It's your own fault for playing the saint and saving that idiot on crutches, Tang Xuewu! You brought this on yourself, so who can you bla?" Tang Chuchu retorted with a cold sneer, shifting the bla to Qin Long.
"He is not an idiot!" Tang Xuewu suddenly shot to her feet, her fists clenched as she glared at her cousin.
"All of you, be quiet!" Old Master Tang rapped his cane on the ground angrily, and the arguing instantly ceased. He was here to get Tang Xuewu to the Longquan Hotel, not to listen to them bicker.
"Ah, Xuewu," he began, his tone softening as he looked at her with a helpless sigh. "Three years ago, even though I was furious about what you did, I didn't stop you by force. And thanks to you, Qin Long was saved. He has lived in the Tang household, eating our food and living under our roof for three years without contributing a thing. Our Tang Family has been more than fair to him. Starting today, you are to marry into a wealthy family and cut ties with him completely. You can no longer let him drag you down. You must understand my good intentions."
"Grandfather, I don't understand," Tang Xuewu insisted, resisting with all her might. "Why can't I choose who I love?"
"Xuewu, this matter is no longer sothing you or I can control," Tang Sen, her second uncle, chid in, trying to placate her. "It has already caused a major stir throughout Jiangzhong. Young Master Wang's mother, Wang Xiuhe, has invited every notable figure in the city, including many influential governnt officials. If you don't show up, do you really think they'll let the Tang Family off easily? For them, dealing with us would be child's play."
"Uncle, this is all Wang Ming's sche," Tang Xuewu retorted. "I never once said I liked him. This is a deal that you, the Tang Family, made with him." She saw it clearly now: this whole affair was a secret deal between the Tang Family and Wang Ming.
"But as a child of the Tang Family, isn't it your duty to contribute?" the Old Master pressed, his voice turning grave. "Our family has fallen from its forr glory. Do you really want to stand by and watch your grandmother's entire legacy go bankrupt and be liquidated?"
He had brought up Tang Rulan.
At the ntion of her na, Tang Xuewu fell silent, her mind thrown into turmoil. Matriarch Tang Rulan was not just her grandmother; she was a renowned patriot of Daxia who had once liquidated her vast fortune to defend the nation and aid the poor. To Tang Xuewu, her grandmother was a figure of imnse reverence.
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