The Tycoon's Mysterious Darling Wife-Chapter 504 - 507. An Invitation from the First Lady (2 Updates)

Chapter 504: 507. An Invitation from the First Lady (2 Updates)

"Su Qing, you... be careful yourself," Bruce said, and after he finished speaking, he was going to turn around and leave, but Su Qing called out to him, "Bruce, are you not afraid of being punished for leaving like this?"

Bruce’s footsteps paused, he turned and looked at her, and Su Qing smiled, "He didn’t ask you to kill me?"

Bruce’s pupils shrank, and he only heard Su Qing continue, "Want to know how I found out? Bruce, I understand him." She even knew that the man did not really want to kill her, but rather wanted her to live each day in the midst of being hunted, so that one day she would feel tired and unable to bear such torment, willing to return to his side and allow him to manipulate her, like a docile puppet.

"Bruce, go ahead and do it, or you won’t be able to explain yourself once you get back," Su Qing said indifferently, standing in a seemingly casual but ready posture. From the moment she had seen Bruce, she had been waiting for him to make a move, but this fool really planned to leave without doing anything.

Bruce clenched his fists and looked down, "Su Qing, I won’t lay a hand on you." After speaking, he turned and left.

Su Qing silently watched his retreating figure, and after a long time, she left.

After Bruce returned to the base, he gave the USB drive to the man, whose lips curled into a cold smile, "Indeed worthy of being the best agent I’ve personally groomed—getting the intelligence in just a month." See, his Su Qing was so excellent, how could he bear to let her go.

"Did you do what I asked you to do?" the man looked at Bruce.

Bruce kept his head down, "I’m no match for her; I failed."

With a bang, the man kicked Bruce in the chest, "Useless trash."

Bruce groaned, clutching his chest where blood immediately flowed out from where he was kicked, and the man narrowed his eyes slightly, "Injured?"

"Yes, I was defeated; please punish me, Master."

"You do deserve punishment; you couldn’t even defeat a woman," the man snorted coldly, "Go and take your punishment yourself."

"Yes," Bruce got up and slowly walked out of the room, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

**

Shen Qinglan was unexpectedly looking at Fu Hengyi, "Are you saying you want me to go too?"

Fu Hengyi nodded, "The message I received said as much. It seems the Queen of the other country really likes your paintings and has always wanted to meet you in person, but never had the opportunity. This time the First Lady is visiting Country G, and the Queen expressed a hope of meeting you, so the First Lady would like to invite you to accompany her."

Shen Qinglan frowned, "I’m just an ordinary painter; why would the Queen of Country G want to meet me?" She couldn’t figure it out. What was more important was why the leaders at the top would agree to such a request, knowing that the visit of the First Lady to Country G was a diplomatic affair. By all reason, they should not allow her to accompany them.

"Your aunt will also be going on this trip." Fu Jingtong, who had originally been a diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had retired at home these past two years, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would still occasionally hire her for some events, and since she had lived in Country G for several years, she is very familiar with their culture. She was specially invited this time.

"Should I go then?" Shen Qinglan asked her husband.

"You can go if you really don’t want to; it is also fine to refuse." Although refusing might make the First Lady feel that Shen Qinglan was not giving face, it was not impossible. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"I’ll go," Shen Qinglan had thought about this issue. "How long do I need to stay there?"

"No more than ten days."

"Alright, I’ll prepare."

This visit of the First Lady to Country G was a very important event for Country Z, and naturally, the security detail was of the highest level.

Even Shen Qinglan was assigned a bodyguard, a beautiful woman who looked about the same age as Shen Qinglan.

"Mrs. Fu, my name is Ye Qing, I will be responsible for your safety during this time," said Ye Qing, with a neat and tidy short haircut, wearing a crisp suit. Shen Qinglan shook her hand lightly and noticed the calluses on her hands; these were hands that held guns all year round.

"I appreciate your help during this time," Shen Qinglan said with a faint smile.

"It’s my duty," replied Ye Qing.

Shen Qinglan knew that the Queen of Country G liked her paintings, and since she was visiting Country G this time, she specially prepared a painting as a gift for the Queen.

Ye Qing came today not just to report to Shen Qinglan but also to pick up this painting. Once they set off, Ye Qing would protect Shen Qinglan around the clock.

In the evening, Qinglan was packing her luggage and Hengyi was helping her. This time, the security wasn’t under Hengyi’s team’s responsibility, so he wouldn’t be accompanying her. In the midst of packing, Qinglan looked at Hengyi and asked, "What do you think are my chances of winning if I get into a fight with that person named Ye Qing?"

Hengyi folded another piece of clothing and said, "You would most likely win."

"You’re that confident? That person came from the special forces." And those who were responsible for security of this level were the cream of the crop. According to Qinglan’s assessment, Ye Qing was someone who had truly seen action.

Hengyi had personally sparred with Qinglan and had seen her serious side, so he understood her capabilities. Although Ye Qing was outstanding, Qinglan had a slight edge over him.

"Don’t forget to call me when you’re out there and stay safe," Hengyi reminded her.

"Hengyi, I’m just accompanying on a visit this time; there won’t be any problems." Whether it was on China’s side or the host country, such a significant diplomatic event will definitely have appropriate security measures in place; naturally, there shouldn’t be any accidents.

Hengyi knew that his concerns were superfluous, so he mentioned it only in passing.

"But this is a rather novel experience for me. I’ve never been protected like this before." Twenty-four-hour close protection meant someone would even follow her to the restroom; it wasn’t just talk.

Hengyi just smiled and quickly finished packing Qinglan’s suitcase for her. She didn’t have much luggage—just a few sets of clothes.

The next morning, Hengyi personally took Qinglan to the airport. The visit this time was on a private plane and when they arrived, Fu Jingtong had also just reached.

"Auntie, I’m entrusting Qinglan to you this time," Hengyi said warmly.

Upon hearing that, Qinglan glanced at Hengyi with indifference. Did he really treat her like a child needing parental care?

Fu Jingtong just smiled and said, "I know, I’ll take good care of your precious wife for you."

It wasn’t until the plane took off that Hengyi left. After he left, he also packed up and went back to the Military Region. He was supposed to return the day before, but because Qinglan was departing in a few days, he specifically stayed an extra day.

**

Lu Real Estate President’s Office.

Lu Jincai looked at the manager of the business department with a stern face, "They’ve been taken from us again?"

The business department manager was sweating profusely, "President Lu, we did our best."

Lu Jincai snorted coldly, "This is the result after your best efforts? If you didn’t try hard, would we be going straight to chill in the northwest wind?"

As he spoke, he slammed the documents in his hand at the feet of the business department manager, "A bunch of useless idiots, earning such high salaries, yet you can’t even outdo a greenhorn. What use are you to me?"

"President Lu, although the other party is a greenhorn, they have someone guiding them from behind," the business department manager felt wronged. No matter how capable he was, could he outmatch Shen Junyu?

However, who would have thought that a small company could grow to such a size in just a few short months and snatch away many of their projects? In this month alone, they had lost several big deals to them.

Lu Jincai looked at him coldly, "The other side is a small company with less than 300 people; we are a large enterprise with thousands of employees. Even if they have someone behind them, you have no way to deal with them. Isn’t that incompetence?"

The business department manager felt it was unjust. The other company might be small, but how could he help that behind them stood a colossal power?

"President Lu, with Junlan Group behind Bokai, we don’t dare to go all out. Moreover, continuing this struggle doesn’t benefit us. Why not make peace with them? Besides, isn’t Shen Junze your nephew?"

Lu Jincai’s gaze turned even colder, "What I asked you to do was to hit Bokai and prevent them from continuing to grow and expand, not to talk to me about making peace."

He and Shen Junze had long since fallen out; there was no possibility of reconciliation.

"Next month, if the results you bring me are still like this, then you can just get out," Lu Jincai said coldly.

The business department manager could only nod in agreement and left the office. But once he stepped outside, his expression turned dark as he glared hatefully at the door to the president’s office. This Lu Jincai lacked competence, yet he still pushed the responsibility onto them.

Lu Jincai sat alone in his office, thinking of strategies. A few months ago, Shen Junze resigned from Junlan Group and officially joined a company called Bokai Real Estate.

Bokai Real Estate was a small company that had been fairly quiet for two years, one that nobody took seriously; naturally, Lu Jincai wouldn’t bother himself with a company with just a few dozen employees.

Even though Shen Jun Ze moved into Bokai Real Estate, Lu Jincai never took him seriously. But who could have imagined that, after Shen Jun Ze settled into Bokai Real Estate, this inconspicuous little company would grow at a rocket-like speed? Within merely a month, it expanded from a small team of just over twenty people to one hundred, and then continued to two hundred, three hundred.

Furthermore, it won multiple plots of land at the land auction, outbidding Lu Family Real Estate each time with higher prices.

Lu Jincai couldn’t believe that a newly established small company could have such financial power; eight out of ten times, Shen Jun Yu was supporting Shen Jun Ze from behind.

Lu Jincai’s guess was correct. Shen Jun Yu indeed provided financial support. Although he said he wouldn’t get involved in Shen Jun Ze’s affairs anymore, he had privately given him substantial financial support. The funds, however, were not under the name of Junlan Group but rather his personal name, and could be considered a loan to Shen Jun Ze.

At the same time, Shen Jun Yu also provided many constructive suggestions for the company’s development and introduced Shen Jun Ze to several business magnates. It was for these reasons that Shen Jun Ze was able to grow and strengthen the company in such a short time.

Actually, Lu Yaqin had told Lu Jincai about Shen Jun Ze starting his own company long before, but he didn’t take it seriously, even scoffed at it. In his view, Shen Jun Ze could never grow to such a height so quickly to become any threat to him. In his eyes, Bokai Real Estate was just a tiny company that, no matter how much it developed, was insignificant. With just a little maneuvering, he thought he could bankrupt them.

And indeed, when Bokai started to develop rapidly, Lu Jincai did have this idea and not only thought about it but also took action. However, Shen Jun Yu subtly blocked him, causing Lu Jincai to offend a contractor and lose a sum of money. Lu Jincai knew this was a warning from Shen Jun Yu, and naturally, he couldn’t hinder the development of Bokai Real Estate, lest he truly anger Junlan Group and bring disaster upon himself.

It was precisely because of his laissez-faire attitude that Bokai Real Estate’s development was unimpeded, and now Lu Jincai regretted his previous hesitation. He wished he had taken the risk of offending Shen Jun Yu earlier and acquired Bokai first.

Lu Jincai’s assistant, his wife Zhang Wenli, saw that the business department manager had left. She walked in with a cup of coffee and put it in front of Lu Jincai, softly comforting him, "What’s got you angry this time?"

How could Lu Jincai not be angry? Just in these few months, their profits had dropped by five percentage points. Five percentage points might not seem like a lot, but the sum was truly shocking.

"Who would have thought that the kid, Shen Jun Ze, could reach today’s heights," Lu Jincai said with hatred. Shen Jun Ze used to be nothing but useless mud that couldn’t stick to the wall, otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to treat him like that.

Zhang Wenli was nonchalant, "You’re also to blame. Why did you have to take things so far? Don’t you know his relationship with the Shen Family? Wouldn’t it be better to maintain a superficial peace? You pushed too far, and now it’s weird if he doesn’t hate you."

On hearing this, Lu Jincai’s face darkened, "You’re my wife, whose side are you on?" If he had known that Shen Jun Ze would reconcile with the Shen Family, he wouldn’t have foolishly severed ties with him.

Zhang Wenli massaged his forehead, "Naturally, I’m on your side. But now that Shen Jun Ze has the backing of Junlan Group, you definitely can’t win against him. It’s better to seek peace."

"Seek peace? After everything I’ve done, he hates me to death. How could he make peace with me?" Lu Jincai didn’t believe it.

He had watched Shen Jun Ze grow up, and he knew exactly what kind of temper the kid had.

"You might not be able to, but your sister can."

When Lu Yaqin was mentioned, the anger that had just subsided in Lu Jincai’s heart flared up again, "I was fine until you brought her up; just hearing her name makes me angry."

"What’s got you angry now?" Zhang Wenli was puzzled. Lu Yaqin had always been on their side; wasn’t that a good thing?

"What use is she? She can’t even control her own son." That Lu Yaqin couldn’t make Shen Jun Ze obey was what truly angered him.

"No matter how much she can’t control Jun Ze, he’s still her son. Jun Ze can’t neglect his mother’s well-being. I’ve investigated, and even though Jun Ze claims he doesn’t care about her, the money he sends to her account every month isn’t small. This shows that he still cares about her. You should ask Yaqin to talk to Jun Ze properly, tell her to tell him that you know you were wrong in the past and want to seek peace with him. As the saying goes, ’like father, like son’, although you and Jun Ze aren’t father and son, your relationship is close. Infighting benefits outsiders. It’s better to work together so both sides can profit."

Lu Jincai calmed down and seriously considered his wife’s words, "But that kid hates me so much, would he agree?"

"He hates you, but don’t forget, he’s now a businessman. Businessmen seek profit, and in the face of benefits, what’s past animosity? Besides, he’s upset that you took the company away from him, but he still holds shares of Lu Real Estate. The devaluation of Lu Real Estate’s stock is of no benefit to him."

Zhang Wenli spoke, and Lu Jincai had almost forgotten that part of Shen Group’s shares were still under Shen Jun Ze’s name and hadn’t been reclaimed.

"Go find Yaqin tonight and talk to her, then ask Yaqin to persuade Jun Ze."

Lu Jincai found his wife’s advice sensible, and not waiting for the end of the workday, he went to the mall to buy some gifts, then drove to where Lu Yaqin lived.

The door was opened by Fan Yanghong. Ever since Shen Jun Ze learned of the relationship between Fan Yanghong and Lu Yaqin, Fan Yanghong stopped hiding it and moved directly into her home.

At first, Lu Yaqin did not agree, for fear that Shen Jun Ze would come home and find Fan Yanghong’s presence uncomfortable. But in these past months, not to say Shen Jun Ze came home; he hadn’t even called her once. Aside from the monthly living expenses sent punctually to her account, she and Shen Jun Ze were like strangers.

Plus, Fan Yanghong had been constantly bringing this up, and Lu Yaqin somewhat reluctantly agreed.

"Big brother, you’re here! Come in," Fan Yanghong said with a smile.

Lu Jincai entered but did not see Lu Yaqin, "Where’s Yaqin?"

"She went out to buy groceries; she should be back soon. Big brother, please have a seat for a while."

Lu Jincai settled into the sofa like a lord of the manor, grunting an affirmation, "These things are for Yaqin, and that bag is for you."

Fan Yanghong rubbed his hands together, "Big brother, you didn’t have to bring anything."

"It’s just some trifles, why be courteous among family?"

Fan Yanghong said yes repeatedly.

When Lu Yaqin returned from grocery shopping, she was somewhat surprised to see Lu Jincai; her big brother had not come to see her for quite some time.

"Big brother, what brings you here?" Lu Yaqin asked.

Seeing Lu Yaqin, Lu Jincai smiled and said, "I’ve always wanted to come over and see how you were doing, but there was just too much going on at the company, and I couldn’t make the time. Today I was free and thought I’d stop by. How have you been lately?"

"Just so-so, neither good nor bad," Lu Yaqin placed the groceries on the table, "Yang Hong, you take the groceries inside first."

Fan Yanghong, knowing the siblings had matters to discuss, didn’t hesitate to take the groceries into the kitchen.

"Big brother, you must have come today for a reason?" Lu Yaqin was well aware of Lu Jincai’s character; he was not one to make a visit without a purpose.

"Can’t I come see you just for the sake of it?" Lu Jincai pretended to be displeased.

Lu Yaqin only laughed and did not engage further.

Seeing that his ploy had failed, Lu Jincai got straight to the point, "Has Jun Ze come back these past few months?"

At the mention of Shen Junze, a hint of the smile faded from Lu Yaqin’s face, and she shook her head, "No, he’s busy with his company affairs."

Lu Jincai sighed, "Yaqin, I’m not blaming you, but Jun Ze is so busy, how come you don’t go to see him?"

"Jun Ze doesn’t want to see me."

"Because of Yang Hong’s matter?"

Lu Yaqin nodded, "Not entirely."

"I get it. Jun Ze is still holding a grudge against me. But Yaqin, Jun Ze holding a grudge is one thing; you are his mother, and there should be no overnight resentments between mother and child. If he won’t come home, then you should go see him, show some concern. He is prideful, perhaps unable to swallow his pride, so if you make the first move, wouldn’t mother and son reconcile?" Lu Jincai advised earnestly.

However, Lu Yaqin knew all too well that her biggest problem with Shen Junze wasn’t this at all; unless she was willing to cut ties with Lu Jincai and Fan Yanghong, Shen Junze would never forgive her in this lifetime.

"Big brother, let’s talk about Jun Ze’s matter some other time. Since you’re here today, please stay for dinner. I happened to buy extra groceries today." Lu Yaqin did not want to discuss Shen Junze further; this son had truly broken her heart.

Lu Jincai did not refuse, and after dinner, he did not leave but sat down with Lu Yaqin again, "Yaqin, I have something to talk to you about."

"Go ahead, big brother."

"It’s like this: back then, because Jun Ze was too young to understand matters, and I didn’t want to see my brother-in-law’s business go down the drain, I took over the company. But Jun Ze doesn’t understand this and thinks I stole his dad’s company; he’s held a grudge against me ever since. Now he’s started his own company, and it’s been doing quite well these past few months, which I’m very pleased to see. But after all, it’s a small company, and on the path to growth, there are bound to be issues. Having someone to look out for him would make the journey much smoother. I was thinking... It’s been so many years since our conflict, isn’t it time we resolved it?"

This statement caught Lu Yaqin off guard. She looked up at him, "Big brother, are you saying you want to reconcile with Jun Ze?"

"Jun Ze is, after all, my nephew, and I can’t be squabbling with him forever, can I? Besides, father and son in battle – with my brother-in-law gone, his children are mine. The company’s been doing quite well these years. If Jun Ze and I reconciled, I could lend him a hand in the business, right?"

Seeing that Lu Yaqin remained silent, Lu Jincai knew she was tempted and continued, "Now it’s not that I don’t want to help him, it’s that he’s still holding a grudge in his heart and won’t let me help. I’m powerless to do anything."

"But Jun Ze probably won’t agree to this," Lu Yaqin knew of Shen Junze’s hatred for Lu Jincai. This wasn’t something that could be resolved overnight.

"How do you know he won’t agree if you don’t try? How about this, you arrange to meet with Jun Ze, and let uncle and nephew talk it over. Sometimes, things get better once they’re out in the open."

Lu Yaqin was swayed by Lu Jincai’s words. If Shen Junze could truly reconcile with Lu Jincai, she would no longer be caught in the middle.