My Youth Began With Him

Yang Meirong immediately took Huo Mian’s phone and explained, “Zhixin, this is Xiuping, your uncle’s daughter.”

“Who?” Zhixin had no recollection of who ‘Xiuping’ was.

“Your uncle’s daughter.”

“Oh, the one from Nanwa Village?” He tone was unfriendly, but Yang Meirong wanted them to get to know each other. After all, they were cousins.

“Xiuping, come and say hi to Zhixin.”

Upon hearing what Yang Meirong said, Yang Xiuping shyly walked over and waved her hand at the screen. “Hey, Zhixin.”

She and Zhixin were of the same age, so she could call him by his name.

Zhixin, however, didn’t like Yang Xiuping much, so he ignored her. Instead, he said to Huo Mian, who was standing behind Yang Xiuping, “Sis… do you miss me?”

“What do you think?”

“I think that… you probably forgot about your little brother now that you have my brother-in-law…”

“Hey, is that jealousy I’m detecting in your voice, you little brat?”

“Sis, you’re a chief of an entire department now, you shouldn’t be so liberal with terms like ‘brat’, it’s not good for your reputation.” Zhixin laughed aloud at Huo Mian’s comment.

“Okay, I don’t have time to talk to you anymore, I’m going to dig in now. This pork hock soup is so aromatic and delicious, it tastes just like mom’s cooking…” Before hanging up, Huo Mian provoked Zhixin once more.

As expected, Zhixin could barely contain his saliva. “Huo Little Mian, come to New Zealand right now, I promise not to beat you to death!”

After hanging up, both Huo Mian and Qin Chu had more soup.

Yang Meirong was a really good cook; she had a couple of specialty dishes that Huo Mian and Zhixin loved eating…

It was already 10:30 PM by the time they finished dinner…

Qin Chu and Huo Mian stood up to leave, but right before they reached their car, Yang Meirong suddenly said, “Mian, wait, I need to talk to you.”

“Sure.” Huo Mian nodded and stayed where she was while Qin Chu got onto the car first.

Then, Yang Meirong turned around and glanced at Xiuping, who was playing with her phone. “Xiuping, can you go back to the house first?”

“Oh, sure.” Yang Xiuping looked at Huo Mian in an unfriendly manner before turning around to leave.

“Mom… what did you need to talk to me about that you had to do it in private?’ Huo Mian laughed.

“Mian, I went out to see someone yesterday.” Yang Meirong didn’t cut straight to the chase; perhaps she was afraid that Huo Mian wouldn’t be able to accept the truth, so she decided to set the stage first.

“You went to see Huo Zhenghai?” Huo Mian asked, and her mother looked at her with surprise. “How did you know?”

Huo Mian easily deduced who it was – Huo Zhenghai had officially begun his civil war with Huo Siqian and was in dire need of money. He already came looking for her a couple of days ago, but she didn’t help him. Therefore, it was only natural for Huo Zhenghai to turn his attention to Yang Meirong.

Her mother wasn’t one with a great temper, but she was straightforward and soft-hearted.

Huo Zhenghai took that to his advantage, trying to benefit himself again and again. His actions disgusted Huo Mian.

“I think something happened at his company… you know that ever since Shen Jiani’s incident, he couldn’t trust anyone anymore. After all, he didn’t give birth to Huo Siqian, and this foster son of his colluded with Jiang Hong, and they are trying to suck him dry. Apparently, he’s short of cash, and since it’s a large amount, even the banks aren’t willing to issue him a loan.”

“How much did he tell you he needed?” Huo Mian asked calmly, and Yang Meirong stuck out five fingers. “500 million yuan.”

“That’s not too much…” Huo Mian nodded.

“Right, I know Qin Chu can afford to lend him that amount. Can he help Huo Zhenghai?”

“Mom… do you know what will happen to us if we help him?” Huo Mian looked up and asked her mother as she looked into her eyes.

“Don’t worry, he said he’ll return the money in 2 months at the latest. In two months, he’ll receive collections from other projects and have enough money to pay you guys back. Plus, to show his sincerity, he’s willing to give you and Qin Chu 8% of Huo Corporation’s stocks. Those stocks are worth quite a lot, so I wanted to ask you what you think.”