Chapter 53: A Clever Maneuver That Backfired

Xia Rui had been gone for a long time without returning, and as long as he remained away, no one in the house except Xia Rusheng could sleep.

When the old madam heard that he had gone out on business, she had been worried ever since. The company had indeed encountered quite a few problems recently while trying to raise funds, so she was too anxious to sleep and insisted on waiting for Xia Rui to return so she could question him properly.

Tan Li, however, did not see it that way at all. Which time had Xia Rui gone out to fool around without using business as an excuse? He had been like this for more than a decade. Truly, it was easier to change rivers and mountains than to alter one’s nature.

“He must have gone to see that little vixen again!” Since she did not even know who her rival was, Tan Li could only use “little vixen” as a code name. Little did she know that the woman she was talking about was her own younger sister, who was presently right beside her.

“That can’t be. This matter has only just come to light. Brother-in-law certainly wouldn’t dare defy the situation and commit the same offense again. Besides, I could tell from his expression that he was in a great hurry. It really did seem as though something had gone wrong with the company.” Tan Xue suppressed the emotions in her eyes and gently comforted Tan Li.

In truth, she was worried too. Xia Rui had more than one lover outside, and if he was not going to see her, he might have gone to someone else. Moreover, she had clearly sensed his rejection of her today. At a time like this, she should have drawn a clean line between herself and Xia Rui, but she had insisted on stepping into the mess. Xia Rui was surely angry with her now, which was why she needed Xia Xia’s help.

“Did you hear anything when he was on the phone just now?” Tan Li asked, suppressing the anger churning inside her. Tan Xue had been downstairs the entire time, so she must have heard Xia Rui’s conversation. There had to be some clue to be found.

“He seemed to mention some land, and something about bidding. Sis, stop overthinking things. The baby is what matters most. You should rest.”

Tan Li fell silent for a while. The only thing she could rely on now was the child in her womb. But that alone was not enough. She needed to secure more protection for herself; only then could she hold on firmly to her position as Mrs. Xia.

“Xiaoxue, help me take everything out of the safe.”

Tan Xue took the key from Tan Li and opened the safe. To her astonishment, it was crammed with expensive jewelry. On the uppermost layer lay nothing but cash and gold bars.

“Sis, where did you get so much money? There’s no way Brother-in-law could have given you this much spending money.”

As the wife of the chairman of Fengcheng Investment, Tan Li naturally possessed plenty of valuable jewelry. But Tan Xue knew that the secondary bank card Tan Li usually used never contained much cash. Even when it did, their mother had squeezed every last penny out of her. There had to be at least ten million in the safe, and several bank cards were tucked underneath it all. Their total could certainly be no less than the cash.

“I saved it bit by bit through more than a decade of hard work.” Tan Li proudly picked up four bank cards. “Xia Rui has no idea I’ve saved this much. There are twenty million on this card, and more than ten million on each of these three. Including everything else, I should be able to make up seventy million.”

Tan Xue was once again left speechless.

Seventy million!

To her, it was an astronomical sum. She had been with Xia Rui for five years, yet the money she received from him each year amounted to little more than a million. Tan Li had actually managed to save seventy million.

As expected, being Mrs. Xia had its advantages.

“What are you planning to do, Sis?”

“Invest.” After counting everything, Tan Li put it all away again. “Xia Rui wants to buy land and enter the real-estate market in City A, but he can’t raise that much working capital all at once. If I invest my private savings now, I can help ease some of his troubles while giving myself an extra guarantee. This is money that can make more money. I’m going to discuss it with Mother now.”

Tan Xue bit her lip instinctively. Then she helped Tan Li downstairs to speak with the old madam. Naturally, Tan Xue could not go inside, and she had no intention of doing so anyway. Instead, she quietly went to Xia Rusheng’s room and told her what had happened.

“Your sister is obviously trying to use this opportunity to repair her relationship with your father. What if she actually succeeds?”

Xia Rusheng calmly sipped her warm milk and smiled. “Seventy million. That’s quite a lot of money... How much do you think it costs to buy land and construct buildings?”

Tan Xue knew nothing about such matters and could only shake her head, but she could sense the disdain Xia Xia felt toward the seventy million.

“A real-estate investment project requires land-transfer fees, preliminary expenses, professional fees, construction costs, contingency reserves, sales expenses, taxes, and much more. The initial capital alone requires an investment of at least thirty percent of the total project value. City A is crowded with the wealthy, and every inch of land is worth its weight in gold. Seventy million is nothing but a drop in the ocean to the project as a whole. Only someone as naïve as Tan Li would think that seventy million was enough to buy her a stake. She is even planning to throw in everything she owns for it. How ridiculous.”

Tan Xue’s face reddened as she listened. Although Xia Xia had not named her, her reaction just now had been no different from Tan Li’s. Indeed, a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix, while she and Tan Li were typical examples of a cow remaining a cow wherever it was led.

“Miss Tan, let me offer you a friendly suggestion. Since my father has already decided to arrange a position for you at the company, use the time before you officially report for duty to make up for your lack of knowledge. If you can help him in his business, he will become even more dependent on you.”

Tan Xue had already been stunned and ashamed when she heard Xia Xia rattle off that string of professional terms. Now, she felt as though enlightenment had struck her. “I understand what you mean, Miss. Thank you for reminding me. As for my sister...”

“Do you believe me when I say that your sister will come out with a mournful expression?”

Xia Rusheng set down her cup, casually draped a coat over her shoulders, and walked out.

“Why? Even if that money is only a drop in the bucket, it’s still a gesture of goodwill. Surely the old madam wouldn’t curse her out of the room for that.”

Xia Rusheng stopped on the third floor and looked toward the room on the first floor, whose door remained tightly shut.

“Being able to save that much money under Grandmother’s watch is bound to make her suspicious. And with such a small amount, Grandmother will never agree to let Tan Li invest. That way, she can also avoid having one more person share in the profits. Tan Li is her daughter-in-law, so she will consider it only natural for Tan Li to hand over the money. Besides, the money originally came from the Xia family. Now that Tan Li has exposed her little private hoard, how could Grandmother possibly let her hide it away again? Those seventy million are destined to be given away for nothing.”

Tan Xue felt a chill run through her and stammered, “Mrs. Xia wouldn’t be that—”

Selfish...

“She is exactly that selfish. She was selfish before, she is selfish now, and she will remain selfish in the future.” Xia Rusheng completed the three unspoken words for her. It was precisely because the old madam was selfish by nature that Xia Rusheng could analyze every situation so clearly and avoid harm while pursuing her own advantage.

Tan Xue still found it difficult to accept. Just then, the door to the old madam’s room opened, and Tan Li emerged with a deathly pale face.

“See? In this family, knowing yourself and knowing your enemy is the most basic requirement. You will have plenty of opportunities to match wits with Grandmother in the future.” A mocking smile touched Xia Rusheng’s lips. With that, she turned and went back to her room.

Tan Xue hurried over to support Tan Li. “Sis, why do you look so awful?”

Tan Li said nothing, but the hand gripping Tan Xue’s was trembling violently.

“Seventy million! Money I worked so hard to save for more than a decade, and that old hag took it for the family with a single word. I—”

Before Tan Li could finish, she suddenly failed to draw breath and collapsed unconscious against Tan Xue.