Chapter 558 - 549: The Stepmother Who Refuses to Be a Stepping Stone 37

Chapter 558: Chapter 549: The Stepmother Who Refuses to Be a Stepping Stone 37

Anning took all of Wang Baozhu’s money, and after returning to the Provincial City, she deposited it into her own bank account.

When she came out of the bank after depositing the money, her wrist was suddenly grasped by someone.

Anning flipped her hand, trying to capture the person, but it turned out to be in vain.

She was shocked and hurriedly turned to look at the comer, only to see Xiao Yuan’s face.

"You..."

Anning was stunned.

This Xiao Yuan was very different from the Xiao Yuan from Shanqian Village.

His features had changed somewhat, becoming more refined and his spirit more vibrant than before, especially his pair of eyes, deep like a dark abyss.

The corners of his mouth curved up, with a slightly bewitching smile looking at Anning.

"I’ve come."

Anning narrowed her eyes slightly, sensing that many things had already changed.

"Let’s find a place to talk."

Xiao Yuan led Anning to a teahouse and found a very quiet private room.

When the tea and snacks were served, and only the two of them were left in the room, Xiao Yuan reached out and gently hooked Anning’s stray locks of hair behind her ear, "I’m sorry for taking so long to reach out to you."

"You?"

Anning was puzzled, "Do you remember what happened before?"

Xiao Yuan nodded, "I remember everything now."

He remembered memories from all his past lives, many lifetimes in which he never remembered Anning. He knew nothing, watching Anning start over with him time and time again, truly pained his heart.

"I’m sorry."

Xiao Yuan’s voice was filled with tender love, delicate and dense, aiming to weave a web of affection to ensnare Anning, to save her from sorrow and wandering.

Anning looked steadily at Xiao Yuan. After a while, a gentle smile blossomed on her lips, "If you feel sorry, then you should treat me better in the future."

"How are you now?"

Xiao Yuan looked at Anning, his eyes brimming with concern, "You’ve divorced him, right?"

Anning nodded, "Mhmm."

"That’s good."

Xiao Yuan held Anning’s hand, "From now on, I’ll take care of you."

Anning looked down, "You should be very clear about your identity in this life. There’s no way we can be together."

Xiao Yuan was taken aback and took a long while before chuckling lightly, "It’s okay, even if we can’t be together, as long as I can take care of you, that’s all that matters."

Anning took a sip of tea before asking Xiao Yuan, "When did you regain your memory?"

Xiao Yuan thought for a moment, "It should have been during my visit to the Special Economic Zone."

He spoke softly, "I’ve already built a career for myself now. When you have time, you can come down south to find me, and we can go into business together. If you don’t want to do business, I can give you all of my wealth."

Anning quickly waved her hand, "No need, I was planning to go down south anyway. I want to take a trip to Mingzhu City, make a fortune in the stock market, and, in addition, I plan to return to my hometown and invest after getting the money."

At this point, Anning remembered the particularly restless Zhang Erfeng.

"What are you going to do with Zhang Erfeng? Are you going to let her bother you for a lifetime?"

At this moment, Xiao Yuan suddenly laughed lightly, "I’ve already figured it out, I’ll handle this matter well. Regardless, Zhang Erfeng, after all, raised this body. I will certainly provide for her in old age, but I won’t let her meddle in my affairs anymore."

Anning felt much relieved hearing Xiao Yuan say this.

She looked at Xiao Yuan, the smile on her face particularly genuine. Hand in hand, they each recounted the events of the past few years.

Later, Anning said to Xiao Yuan, "If possible, try to get closer to the Li family in the future. They’re all people with great Qi Fortune and they have good character and understand the ways of the world. Getting closer to them will make things much easier for you."

Anning’s words were always taken to heart by Xiao Yuan, "Mhmm, I know, I’ll visit the Li family after a while."

The two chatted a little longer, and Xiao Yuan asked Anning if she had enough money now, as he was planning to give her some.

Anning hurriedly waved her hands: "Really, there’s no need. When have you ever seen me short of money? If I truly needed money, I wouldn’t be polite with you. Without you asking, I would have asked you for it."

Xiao Yuan thought about it and realized that was true, so he didn’t insist.

Afterward, he asked for Anning’s address and gave her his phone number. By the time they left the teahouse, there was already a car waiting outside. Xiao Yuan said goodbye to Anning and got into the car and left.

Anning looked at the time; it was just right to pick up Liu Yuzhen from school, so she took the bus towards the school.

Wang Baozhu stayed at Li Zhifang’s place until it was almost dark before going home.

After having dinner and waiting for the whole family to go to sleep, she took a flashlight, intending to take out the money she had hidden.

But after searching the entire house, she still didn’t find a single cent.

Where had the money gone?

Wang Baozhu was so anxious that sweat started beading on her forehead.

She clearly hid the money well, so how could it be missing? Could someone at home have found it and stolen it?

Then, Wang Baozhu dismissed the thought.

She hadn’t told the Wang Family she brought money back, and besides, she had hidden the money very securely, the Wang Family couldn’t possibly have found it.

But where did the money go?

Wang Baozhu searched half the night but couldn’t find it.

The next day, she didn’t dare meet Li Zhifang.

But Li Zhifang was particularly anxious; he was in a hurry to get the money to repay Li Zhikang and Li Zhiping.

Li Zhifang couldn’t wait for Wang Baozhu and came to the Wang Family’s place to look for her.

Seeing Li Zhifang, Wang Baozhu couldn’t help feeling guilty.

Once they left the Wang Family’s home, Li Zhifang immediately asked anxiously, "Where’s the money?"

Wang Baozhu clenched her right fist, took a deep breath, and said with great sadness, "Zhifang, the money is lost. I—I hid it so well, but no matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find it. I..."

Li Zhifang looked at Wang Baozhu, and his first thought was that she was lying to him.

Perhaps subconsciously, Li Zhifang simply didn’t trust Wang Baozhu, or perhaps Li Zhifang himself realized that Wang Baozhu’s character really wasn’t good. So, his first thought was that Wang Baozhu wasn’t willing to help him repay the money and was using the excuse that the money was lost.

"How could it be lost? Didn’t you say it was all fine yesterday?"

Li Zhifang became somewhat angry: "I’ve even called Lao Liu to say I would repay the money."

Wang Baozhu was very sad and upset, tears kept falling down: "Are you, are you blaming me? I really didn’t lie to you, the money is truly lost, I also don’t understand how it could be lost. Last night when I came back, I wanted to prepare the money first, but no matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find it."

Li Zhifang frowned: "Did your mother or your brother take it?"

Wang Baozhu shook her head: "They shouldn’t have. They have no idea I took the money."

Li Zhifang then faced a problem: "What should we do now? Anning has already paid back the money, how would others look at me if I don’t repay? Can’t I even match up to a woman?"

Wang Baozhu was also particularly worried.

After thinking for a while, she said: "What if we borrow some money from others to repay Lao Liu first?"

Li Zhifang shook his head: "That won’t do. Although people in the village are living better lives now, they owe quite a bit to Fifth and Lao Liu, and no family can lend that much money."

"What about my eldest and second brothers?"

Wang Baozhu asked again.

Li Zhifang gave a wry smile: "They are angry about our affairs right now, they definitely won’t lend money at this time."

Wang Baozhu thought for another moment: "What if we take out a loan? We repay the money first, and then we work hard for a year or two to pay off the loan."

But loans require interest payments, and besides, getting a loan is not as easy as it was in previous years. Getting a loan now is not an easy task.

Previously, Li Zhicheng helped with the loan, but now Li Zhicheng definitely wouldn’t be willing to deal with Li Zhifang, Li Zhifang knew he didn’t have the means to get a loan.

He rejected that idea as well.

Wang Baozhu was truly worried: "Then what do we do? If it really comes to it, let’s sell the house, Jingyu and Jing Yan are both girls, what’s the point of buying a house for them? After they’re married, won’t the house belong to someone else’s family anyway?"