Chapter 929: Loosening Up

"Eat, eat!" Zhou Andong put the meat and vegetables into the hot pot.

Gu Minglan looked at Zhao Ping with great dissatisfaction: "Why didn't you tell me that the two of them were here?"

Jian Qiu immediately took over the conversation: "What, you don't want to see me, your daughter?"

"I get annoyed just seeing you." Gu Minglan gave her no face at all.

Zhao Ping said helplessly: "It was Qiuqiu and Dongzi who asked me to invite you over."

Gu Minglan let out a cold snort: "Didn't you tell him what I said?"

"I did!"

Zhou Andong's face was beaming like a flower, and in Gu Minglan's eyes, the anger in her heart flared up instantly.

"Since you already knew, why did you still come to see me?"

Zhou Andong diligently picked up a slice of meat and placed it in Gu Minglan's bowl: "Mom..."

"Stop!" Gu Minglan made a gesture to stop him. "Can you not call me Mom? I feel like I can't breathe when I hear it; it's suffocating."

"I won't call you that, I won't!"

Jian Qiu gave Zhou Andong a look, signaling him not to provoke the 'Old Buddha' any further, otherwise, it would likely be counterproductive.

Never mind earning 1 billion in two years; even if he earned 10 billion, it might not count anymore.

"Alright, alright, alright!" Zhou Andong didn't dare call her Mom again, and he didn't even dare use the title 'Auntie' (referring to her as the elder sister of his father-in-law): "Auntie, I wanted to see you just to tell you that the requirement of 1 billion in two years is too simple."

"What?" Before Gu Minglan could respond, Jian Mingfan was truly anxious: "Sister... Brother Dong, in front of my Second Aunt (Second Uncle's wife), can we be a bit more restrained? Stop bragging."

Zhao Ping was very surprised. She had always felt that Zhou Andong was quite mature; although his skin was a bit thick, his merits outweighed his flaws.

But what was wrong with him today? Especially in front of Gu Minglan, why was he speaking without a filter? Wasn't this like a birthday star hanging himself—tired of living?

"Chairman Zhou is indeed Chairman Zhou; your words are certainly grand." Gu Minglan sneered: "Fine, since you say it's simple, I will keep my word. In two years, as long as you can earn 1 billion, I will let you change your address to Mom immediately."

"Mom!" Zhou Andong called out 'Mom' with such crispness.

"Wait!" Gu Minglan's expression became even uglier. "Do you not understand what I said? I meant that within two years, only after you have earned 1 billion will I let you change your address to Mom."

"No need to wait two years." Zhou Andong diligently picked up a heart of cabbage and placed it in Gu Minglan's bowl: "My personal assets already total 1 billion now."

"Clatter!"

Jian Mingfan was just about to put a slice of meat into his mouth when he heard Zhou Andong's words; his chopsticks and the meat dropped onto the table at once.

"Sister... Brother-in-law, are you really not bragging?"

"Your brother-in-law here never brags." Zhou Andong glanced at Jian Mingfan: "Do you know that for a strong person, every word they say is the truth, but in the ears of the weak, they will think he is bragging."

Zhao Ping opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, she didn't say it. She just glanced at Zhou Andong and then shifted her gaze to Jian Qiu.

Jian Qiu nodded at Zhao Ping and then looked at her own mother: "Mom, what Dongzi said is true, and it's not just 1 billion; even adding a zero at the end wouldn't be enough."

"Clatter!" This time it was Zhao Ping whose chopsticks dropped onto the table. "Qiuqiu, you... are you saying it's all true?"

"Of course!" Jian Qiu looked at Zhou Andong with a face full of pride: "At the end of last year, the British Pound depreciated, and Dongzi predicted it in advance. We shorted the Pound, and coupled with buying the dip in the stock market, in just a few months, we earned over 2 billion US dollars."

Silence. Apart from the water in the hot pot bubbling and rolling, there was no other sound.

After a while, Zhao Ping let out a long breath, then started to laugh, and spoke to Gu Minglan, who was still in a daze.

"Second Sister-in-law, you have nothing to say this time, right?"

Gu Minglan came back to her senses, looked at Zhou Andong with a complex expression, then looked at her daughter, sighed, didn't say a word, stood up, and walked out.

"Mom!"

Jian Qiu's expression changed instantly. Just as she was about to chase after her, she heard Gu Minglan say:

"After you finish eating, go to Courtyard No. 6. Your grandfather wants to see Zhou Andong."

Jian Qiu froze there, and then she heard the door slam shut with a bang.

Zhou Andong smacked his lips, his face full of worry: "Auntie, is my mother-in-law suffering from too much shock?"

Zhao Ping burst into laughter: "It's not just your mother-in-law; even I have received a massive shock. Never mind 2 billion US dollars, even if 20,000 US dollars were placed together, I wouldn't know what it looked like."

"Yeah!" Jian Mingfan nodded, his eyes shining with little stars as he looked at Zhou Andong: "Brother-in-law, when I graduate from university, I'll follow you. You mustn't reject me."

Zhou Andong said with a smile: "I don't have the final say on this; you have to ask your father and mother. As long as they agree, I will definitely take you in and guarantee you won't go hungry."

Zhao Ping was truly happy: "As long as you agree, I won't object, and his father won't object either."

Jian Qiu looked at the door with concern and said worriedly: "Mom won't be okay, will she?"

"She will!" Zhao Ping waved her hand: "2 billion US dollars—even I, as an aunt, felt a huge shock hearing it, let alone her, the mother-in-law. She definitely needs time to digest it."

Jian Qiu was still uneasy. She checked the time and said to Zhou Andong: "Let's not eat anymore; let's go to Courtyard No. 6 now."

"Finish the meal before going." Before Zhou Andong could speak, Zhao Ping said first: "It doesn't matter if we take a little time to eat. After we finish, I'll go over with you."

"I'm going too!" Jian Mingfan said, raising his hand.

"Alright!" Jian Qiu could only nod: "Then eat quickly."

"That's right!" Zhao Ping greeted Zhou Andong: "Dongzi, eat quickly, so we can leave after we're done."

………………

Gu Minglan walked along the roadside, her mind in chaos, but Jian Qiu's words about 2 billion US dollars kept echoing in her head.

After walking along the road for more than ten minutes, Gu Minglan stopped, looked up at the sunset, let out a long sigh, and then reached out to hail a taxi.

At Courtyard No. 6, the old man had just finished his meal and was sitting in the living room reading the newspaper. He was very surprised to suddenly see Gu Minglan return.

"Why are you back so soon?"

Gu Minglan sat silently beside the old man: "Qiuqiu and Zhou Andong were there too, so I didn't eat."

The old man shook his head helplessly. He originally wanted to say something, but seeing that Gu Minglan's complexion wasn't very good, he didn't say it.

After all, she was his daughter-in-law, not his son; some things couldn't be said too deeply.

Gu Minglan was silent for a while, then suddenly said: "I won't interfere with Qiuqiu and Zhou Andong's affairs anymore." ===== CHAPTER 930 =====