Zhang Guodong was burning with anxiety, clearly driven to desperation to seek out Tang Xiaomin.
Zhang Guo'er stood by his side, unusually silent.
Tang Xiaomin vaguely sensed something and softened her tone.
"I can help you, but I can't help for free."
"Then what are your terms?"
Tang Xiaomin held up one finger.
"One million."
"What?"
Zhang Guo'er, who had been silent all along, suddenly exploded.
"Why don't you just rob a bank?"
Tang Xiaomin knew their family was fond of money and reluctant to part with it.
"I can't help you for free. If you don't agree, I won't force you. I won't lose anything anyway."
Zhang Guo'er was about to say more, but Zhang Guodong frantically gestured for her to shut up.
"Xiaomin, as long as you can help me resolve this matter, I will find a way to gather this one million for you. What do you say?"
"Okay, money first, then the deed. The order absolutely cannot be mixed up."
For a moment, Zhang Guodong's expression turned grim.
This Tang Xiaomin was truly difficult to fool.
But no matter what, this matter was pressing and had to be resolved quickly.
"Alright, alright. Give me some time to gather the money. I'll transfer it to you as soon as I have it. But what's said is done, and once the Zhang family's reputation is ruined, it can't be recovered."
"So, can you talk to them first?"
"No. I've said it, money first, then the deed. The order cannot be mixed up."
Only by sticking to her bottom line would she not suffer losses. Tang Xiaomin would not be foolishly tricked by them.
What about relatives? Weren't there plenty of cases where relatives tricked each other?
Why were people deceived? It was because they were familiar, trusted, and easy to talk to.
If it were someone less familiar, they wouldn't even have the chance to be deceived.
Seeing how difficult Tang Xiaomin was, Zhang Guodong retreated to advance.
"Alright, alright. I'll go back and raise the money first. I'll contact you immediately. Wait for my call."
With that, Zhang Guodong and Zhang Guo'er left.
As soon as they were a good distance away, Zhang Guo'er became furious.
"Dad, are you really planning to give Tang Xiaomin one million? She's taking advantage of our crisis, and she might not even be able to persuade them to stop targeting our family."
Zhang Guodong knew these concerns.
"If a problem can be solved in the simplest way, don't complicate it. This matter, in the end, is because you deceived the daughters of those companies, and they are enraged."
"I'll handle this. Don't cause me any more trouble."
...
At nine in the evening, Zhang Guodong personally called Zhang Meiyu to explain the situation.
His tone was humble on the phone, and he kept saying nice things, still unwilling to pay.
Listening to Zhang Guodong's desperate pleas, Zhang Meiyu's heart remained unmoved, and she felt no sympathy.
"My son just had surgery. I really don't have the energy to deal with other matters. I can't help you."
"Meiyu... we are relatives. You can't stand by and watch, Meiyu..."
Zhang Meiyu paid no attention, her attitude as cold and unyielding as ever.
Thus, Zhang Guodong's plan dashed his hopes, and he had to call Tang Xiaomin again.
"Xiaomin, your uncle has only managed to scrape together thirty thousand so far and is still trying to gather more. Please talk to your classmates and ask them not to suspend cooperation. The Zhang family is counting on you now."
Upon hearing this, Tang Xiaomin merely let out a cold laugh.
From the moment the father and daughter left, she had anticipated this call. Zhang Guodong's words were also exactly as she had expected.
First, state their position, then try to trick her into acting.
After the deed was done, who knew what would happen.
"Okay, you take your time gathering it. There's no rush."
Tang Xiaomin hung up the phone.
Since Zhang Guodong and Zhang Guo'er treated others like fools, let them bear the consequences.
Tang Xiaomin completely ignored the Zhang family's affairs.
The next morning.
The energetic young people had already investigated the man who created the sea of volcanic flowers.
And there was evidence proving that the man who brought romance to the entire city of Modu was Yan Jue.
"This is hilarious. Yan Zong is the one who arranged the sea of volcanic flowers, yet Zhang Guo'er had the nerve to claim it was her boyfriend confessing his love to her?"
"Tsk, she said it as if it were true, even staging it herself. She claimed her boyfriend booked her lunch at a five-star hotel, which made many people envious. Who knew, she booked it herself using a lunch voucher."
"This person is too immersed in her role. She's a liar. In the end, she even believed herself. How utterly speechless."
"When this person becomes shameless, she loses all sense of shame."
...
Wherever Zhang Guo'er passed, she was met with strange glances and hushed whispers.
Everyone uniformly avoided her and didn't speak in front of her.
Back in the classroom, she found everyone else distancing themselves from her, isolating her.
Things were fine before, so why was this happening?
Filled with questions, Zhang Guo'er opened her phone, wanting to check the group chat to see what had happened.
To her surprise, she discovered she had been kicked out of the group chat since yesterday afternoon.
After a nervous morning class, she went to the cafeteria to queue for lunch.
Zhou Dan accidentally bumped into her, rolling her eyes and speaking sarcastically.
"Oh, Guo'er, you're at the cafeteria too. Didn't your boyfriend book you lunch at a five-star hotel today?"
Zhang Guo'er's heart skipped a beat, and she tried to remain calm.
"I... I'm already tired of eating at five-star hotels. Today I want to eat cafeteria food."
As soon as she said this, the entire cafeteria burst into laughter.
"Haha..."
"Hahaha..."
...
Everyone treated Zhang Guo'er as a joke, laughing uncontrollably.
Zhou Dan also laughed, and as always, she spoke words of flattery to Zhang Guo'er.
"Your boyfriend is truly capable. I'm so envious of you."
"It's just lunch, it's not as great as you think. You'll also meet a good man who treats you like that in the future."
"Hahaha..."
The cafeteria erupted in another burst of laughter, with some even spitting out their food.
Zhou Dan smiled playfully and turned to join the queue.
Watching the people around her laugh at her, Zhang Guo'er, no matter how foolish, sensed that something was wrong.
But it was strange, no one said anything to her, they just lowered their heads and whispered, as if afraid she would know and deliberately kept it from her.
Zhang Guo'er ate her lunch uncomfortably and then ran into the restroom.
In the restroom, she finally heard clearly from a stall the reason for everyone's mockery. Su Dan novel network.
It turned out that everyone knew Yan Jue had created the sea of volcanic flowers.
Everyone knew she had fabricated a capable boyfriend.
Even the fact that she had used a lunch voucher to buy her own meal but deliberately claimed it was a gift from her boyfriend had spread.
Everything, her true self, everyone already knew.
And they treated her as a joke, fiercely mocking her for staging it herself and deceiving herself, while also condemning and cursing her.
"How could this happen?"
"Didn't we agree with Tang Xiaomin that she would settle this? How did it turn out like this?"
"Could it be that she didn't settle it at all? And deliberately leaked the news to make everyone laugh at her?"
Zhang Guo'er kept doubting.