A room full of unrestrained laughter made Qin Qiong lose a bit of face. He turned his head to look at Ruan Jianguo, who was laughing the loudest, and shot back, "Brother Ruan, I heard you even have to get spending approved by Xiaohao now?"

The implication being: you’re not any better off than me, where do you get the face to laugh?

As soon as Ruan the Big Spender heard that, his expression stiffened as well. Shu Lang, watching the two of them dragging each other down, instinctively tensed up. Sure enough, the next second the two of them looked over at him. After all, he was their brother‑in‑law; with Old Master Shu sitting right there, the two still held back and didn’t say the nastiest things out loud.

But with so many years of dealing with each other, one look was enough for them to know exactly what the other was thinking.

The three men looked at one another—me at you, you at him—and in the end all fell silent.

Ruan Jiaojiao didn’t bother with the three of them. Her main targets today were her aunt, her aunt‑in‑law, plus Old Master Shu, Ruan Hao, Ruan Jie, and the others.

After stabbing Qin Qiong a couple of times, Ruan Jiaojiao instantly switched to a Little Cutie expression, scooted up next to Shu Wen, wrapped her slim arm and shook it lightly as she wheedled, "Auntie, you love Jiaojiao the most, don’t you?"

Shu Wen was straightforward as well. She smiled at her and said, "How much do you need?"

Ruan Jiaojiao blinked, putting on an innocent face. "That depends on just how much Auntie loves Jiaojiao."

"Tell Auntie first, what kind of startup are you doing?" Shu Wen asked, holding her little hand.

"Brother Duan wants to do game development." Duan Xi had majored in computer science to begin with, and with how, especially after the year 2000, games would be all the rage, it was really a very profitable industry.

But on the flip side, the capital investment was quite large. Computers weren’t widespread yet, and a single one casually cost over ten thousand, so the seed money Duan Xi needed for his startup wasn’t small.

Hearing this, Shu Wen’s gaze turned thoughtful and she didn’t speak first. Ruan Jiaojiao wasn’t in a hurry either. She scooted over to Gu Zichen’s side in a shy, fussy way. Gu Zichen laughed and said, "However much you’re short in the end, Jiaojiao, Aunt‑in‑law will make it up for you."

Gu Zichen’s love for Ruan Jiaojiao was truly from the bottom of her heart. She had quite a few friends abroad; pretty much all the skincare or slightly more luxurious things Ruan Jiaojiao used now were brought back from overseas by those friends at her request.

Money wasn’t something her family lacked either. Old Master Gu only had two daughters, and both daughters had married well, so money really was just a number.

As soon as Ruan Jiaojiao heard this, she threw her arms around Gu Zichen and planted a big kiss on her cheek. "Ah, I love Aunt‑in‑law the most, Aunt‑in‑law really does love Jiaojiao the best!"

"Ahem ahem!!!" On the other side, Old Master Shu, who had yet to be remembered, heard this and was a bit displeased. He coughed meaningfully, forcibly drawing Ruan Jiaojiao’s attention over.

Ruan Jiaojiao immediately flitted to his side like a butterfly, spilling sweet words as if they didn’t cost a thing: "Grandpa, Jiaojiao really, really missed you. The kind of missing you that feels like three autumns for every day apart. Every day, whether it’s when I wake up in the morning or before I go to bed at night, I think about you over and over and over!"

"Hmph! If you miss me so much, I told you to come stay at my place, why won’t you come?" Old Master Shu’s brows smoothed out at her words, but he still deliberately put on a displeased face as he asked.

"Because I’ve been busy. Jiaojiao has to follow Brother Duan to start a business and earn lots and lots of money for you to spend!" When it came to sweet‑talking people, Ruan Jiaojiao had absolutely zero psychological burden.