Chapter 12

Zhao Fei’er had just taken a sip of her latte, the pig-shaped ice cube still bobbing in the cup, when she saw Bai Lu appear at the top of the stairs, looking utterly lost and dejected.

Startled, she rushed over. “What happened to you? What’s with that expression?”

Bai Lu didn’t speak. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she would burst into tears, and that would be far too humiliating.

Zhao Fei’er studied her face, guessing things hadn’t gone well with Shen Qing. She quickly tried to console her. “It’s okay, it’s okay. So your allowance got cut off. She can’t stop it forever. It’s fine, I have money, I’ll take care of you.”

“It’s not that…” Her voice threatened to choke up the moment she spoke. Bai Lu immediately shut her mouth, sat down on a chair, and forced herself to calm down for a long while before speaking again, her voice muffled. “She reinstated the bank card.”

Zhao Fei’er was stunned for a moment, then looked confused. “Then why do you have that expression?”

Bai Lu pursed her lips and said, “But I think I made her angry.”

Zhao Fei’er let out an “Ah,” and saw Bai Lu’s eyes start to redden the moment she finished that sentence.

“She probably won’t bother to discipline me anymore.”

Zhao Fei’er paused, a little perplexed. “Isn’t her not bothering with you exactly what you wanted?”

Bai Lu glared at her, the action forcing a tear right out of her eye.

“Alright, alright, I won’t talk. Not talking, okay?” Zhao Fei’er surrendered immediately.

Truthfully, even Bai Lu couldn’t quite articulate what she was feeling. She just felt wronged, incredibly wronged, even more than when Zhou Ying treated her coldly.

Ever since she was little, no one had ever disciplined her the way Shen Qing did. Her father and eldest brother had always only ever indulged her whims. Even Zhao Fei’er, the beloved youngest daughter in her own family, had never enjoyed the princess treatment Bai Lu received at home—getting whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted.

You’re seriously lucky you didn’t turn out rotten.

That was a phrase her best friend Zhao Fei’er often said to her during their middle school years.

So, regarding Shen Qing’s strict control, she wasn’t actually as resistant as she imagined. In fact, she even found it somewhat novel, and her daily defiance had never been born from genuine anger.

But now…

Just thinking about the expression that woman had given her earlier made her feel so awful she could die.

As evening fell, Zhao Fei’er saw that her mood was still low and forcibly dragged her out to a bar, calling over a big group of handsome men and beautiful women for company. As the drinks flowed, everyone else was getting wildly carried away, but Bai Lu felt none of it. She even found it terribly boring.

“Going home so early?” Zhao Fei’er grabbed her arm.

“Yeah, I have class tomorrow.”

As soon as Bai Lu said it, she saw Zhao Fei’er’s expression change. Her friend looked at her with utter bafflement, seemingly unable to understand why she was so obediently going to school when no one was even making things difficult for her anymore.

Bai Lu felt an inexplicable surge of irritation. Without saying another word, she hurriedly left.

She had driven here today and originally intended to drive herself home. She had even gotten into the driver’s seat, but then suddenly remembered how Shen Qing had scolded her about driving. Pursing her lips, she got out and called over one of the bar’s designated drivers.

Bai Lu sat alone in the back seat. The last time she had cried her eyes out in front of Shen Qing had been in such an enclosed space, and Shen Qing had even watched the spectacle and taken pictures, complaining that she was an embarrassment.

She gritted her teeth.

Hmph, looking down on me, are you?!

Shen Qing, I just don’t believe it! When I finally inherit the Bai family, will you still dare to treat me like this!

As for Bai Lu’s affairs, Lu Zhi indeed didn’t pay much more attention to them. She poured most of her energy into the art studio. She only thought of Yifang Group matters when Xu Zirui proactively brought them up.

The company had indeed found buyers for those several business lines, but the specific prices were still being haggled over. What slightly surprised Lu Zhi was hearing Zhou Ying’s name.

“Yifang Investment still manages over twenty funds, with a scale exceeding a hundred billion. The company rakes in a huge sum just from annual management fees.” Xu Zirui tapped the table. “Zhou Ying is in this business; naturally, he’s covetous.”

“Some people inside the company are unwilling to let go, aren’t they?” Lu Zhi asked with a smile.

Xu Zirui sneered. “Of course. Those people never stuck their necks out when it was time to work. Now that we’re selling, they finally admit there’s profit in it and are scratching their heads and hopping around frantically.”

“Regardless of how high the management fees are, it’s a problem if they can’t be paid out. A scale of a hundred billion means over a thousand investors. The company is swamped with negative press right now. If the investors’ money still can’t be repaid next year, even a single day’s delay could cause the entire situation to collapse.” Lu Zhi sighed lightly, then asked, “How much is Zhou Ying offering?”

“Fifty percent.” Xu Zirui wore an expression of utter speechlessness. “He’ll only take it at a fifty percent discount.”

“This isn’t selling vegetables,” Lu Zhi laughed. “He’s trying to loot a burning house.”

Simply put, selling off projects was a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. But that didn’t mean Peter was worthless junk; it was only because Paul was the main pillar of the house. Zhou Ying’s move was simply seeing Yifang Group’s current predicament and making an outrageous demand.

“There’s still more negotiating to do…” Xu Zirui tugged at his tie, his face full of exhaustion. Clearly, the recent running around had cost him a lot of energy. “But the most important thing is thanks to your mediation behind the scenes. Only then did the Chairman relent and support this matter. Otherwise, by next year, Yifang Investment would indeed become a major headache.”

Lu Zhi took a sip of her coffee.

She had indeed made a special trip to the Bai Family Residence for this matter. Father Bai, having navigated the business world for many years, actually knew in his heart how to alleviate the company’s current difficulties. But after so many years of being cautious and prudent, he lacked the decisiveness of the young. Those projects were also the hard work of his deceased son. Without external impetus, it was hard for him to make up his mind.

However, Shen Qing and Father Bai were in the same trench, both being the ones left behind by Bai Hao. Therefore, Lu Zhi’s persuasion carried a weight and effectiveness that others could not match.

Lu Zhi also learned that Bai Lu had been following up on this matter recently. She was currently working as an assistant to Yifang Investment’s General Manager and was the group’s Eldest Miss. She was the first to know about the news that Yifang Investment was being transferred. Not to mention, among the new prospective shareholders was the male lead, Zhou Ying’s Yingshi Capital.

The female lead, Lin Wei, had already been promoted to Zhou Ying’s personal secretary. As the two companies negotiated cooperation, people below came and went, hidden daggers drawn. As the villainous, IQ-diminishing supporting female character, Bai Lu followed the plot as always, giving the female lead quite a bit of trouble.

As for whether this indirectly slapped Zhou Ying’s face, that wasn’t within her scope of consideration, and Bai Lu’s little brain couldn’t even think that far.

Lu Zhi put down her phone.

Li Ai walked over and asked her, “Did Teacher Wang reply?”

Lu Zhi shook her head. “Work stuff.”

Li Ai let out an “Oh” and didn’t pry further. Instead, she stood in front of the easel, looking at the oil painting already coated with varnish. A very puzzled expression slowly dawned on her face. “I really think it’s painted beautifully. Why can’t it be entered in the competition?”

The painting on the easel was the one Lu Zhi had been working on when Bai Lu interrupted her. It had already been titled: Sleeping Woman.

Lu Zhi let her gaze fall on the painting and sighed softly. “Laymen watch the excitement; experts watch the technique. This painting is indeed beautiful, but its beauty stops right there.”

“True art isn’t measured by whether it’s painted well or poorly, but by whether it can penetrate the paper, transcend the limitations of time and space, stir emotions, and convey ideas. This one of mine…”

She paused, then uttered two words. “Soulless craft.”

“How can painting rely solely on skill? Even if you know a hundred and eighty techniques, painting this way, rendering that way, using every trick you have, if there’s no emotion, it’s utterly useless.” The elderly professor, over half a century old, looked dissatisfied and asked her, “Shen Qing, I’ve mentored you for over a decade. How could you forget such a simple principle?”

“I still think it’s painted very well,” Li Ai’s voice interrupted Lu Zhi’s recollection. She looked at Lu Zhi and said seriously, “If I had money, I’d definitely be willing to spend a large sum to buy it.”

Lu Zhi smiled, saying thank you, accepting the not-so-obvious consolation.

But in truth, she wouldn’t be saddened by this. The only thing she felt somewhat ashamed of was because of Shen Qing. She possessed Shen Qing’s body but couldn’t shoulder Shen Qing’s talent and brilliance.

This painting of Lu Zhi’s ultimately couldn’t be entered into the competition, but it received rave reviews from all the café staff. They unanimously decided to display it in the first-floor lobby and quite arrogantly declared that those in the faculty were too rigidly stuck in abstract expressionism to recognize real value.

Lu Zhi found herself quite amused by this group of young people. She had the painting framed and hung at the stairway. Later, this painting was spotted by a bank executive and bought for 2 million.

But that’s a story for another time.

As the weather gradually turned colder, in the half-month leading up to the New Year, a major incident occurred at Yifang Group.

Over twenty construction workers held up red banners at the base of the company building, furiously denouncing the unscrupulous developer for failing to pay the migrant workers’ wages. Their words were fierce, their actions extreme. Several panes of glass in the first-floor lobby were smashed, and the shocking spiderweb cracks were splashed across front-page headlines by reporters.

In this era of self-media, even though the PR department promptly contacted major media outlets and threw money around to cover it up, the bad news still flew everywhere as if it had grown wings.

On her way to the company, Lu Zhi saw the news on her phone shift from sympathizing with the migrant workers to exposing the extravagant wealth of the capitalists. One of the pieces was an anonymous tip revealing that the Bai family’s Eldest Miss was keeping a male celebrity from the entertainment industry. It also included a photo: against a dim, shadowy background, two silhouetted figures were marked, one being Bai Lu, the other a third-rate male actor whose name was somewhat known in the entertainment circle.

Nowadays, under the sun, anything linked to men and women tends to ignite the enthusiasm of onlookers, especially with scandalous keywords like ‘second-generation rich’ and ‘male celebrity.’

Someone was clearly riling up the crowd from behind.

“What’s the situation now?” Lu Zhi asked the family butler as soon as she got out of the car.

“The Mister refused to go to the hospital, so we only had the private doctor examine him. He said it’s nothing serious for now, just that his emotional state is very unstable and he recommends rest.”

Lu Zhi replied with an “Mm.” The living room was seated with quite a few people, from the company, from the Bai family. Their reactions upon seeing her were minimal; clearly, everyone was waiting for Father Bai to make a decision.

Bai Lu was also there off to the side. Compared to the others waiting anxiously, she looked like a child out of place, her hair slightly disheveled, her face pale, her fingers unconsciously at her mouth, nibbling. She was clearly in shock. The moment she saw Lu Zhi walk in, she shot to her feet, her two eyes fixed on her, as if she had seen her pillar of support.