Chapter 1370: 1370: Attracting Hatred

Chapter 1370: Chapter 1370: Attracting Hatred

(Thanks to the book friend from minelib for the reward, and thanks to Poggio book friend for the 10,000 reading points reward, there will be two additional chapters today)

It was unclear whether Ouyang Huihui knew she was going to study abroad, or if Ouyang Lingyun had scolded her on the way, but when Ouyang Huihui got out of the car, she looked listless, with faint traces of tears at the corners of her eyes.

Luo Ziling had a bit of a headache, but he didn’t pay it much attention.

He knew that the more he got involved in this kind of thing, the bigger the trouble would become.

He could only ignore it.

When Luo Ziling brought Ouyang Feifei and Ouyang Lingyun to the old mansion, Luo Liansheng had just sent off a group of visiting neighbors.

It was already one o’clock in the afternoon, but in anticipation of Luo Liansheng and Ouyang Feifei’s arrival, Luo Liansheng, Luo Xusheng, and Ling Ruonan had not had lunch yet.

The chefs hired from the day before were still there, preparing for today’s lunch.

In the evening, they would return to the city to eat.

That was the arrangement made by Luo Liansheng.

Upon learning that Ouyang Lingyun and Ouyang Feifei would be coming, Luo Liansheng waited at the door with Luo Xusheng and Ling Ruonan.

Seeing Ouyang Lingyun get out of the car, Luo Liansheng hurried to greet him, warmly shaking hands and expressing a welcome and apologies for not being able to meet them at the airport, then led Ouyang Lingyun by the hand into the old mansion.

Luo Xusheng and Ling Ruonan also came forward to greet them. After saying hello to the old man, Ling Ruonan took Ouyang Feifei’s hand, and the two spoke softly as they entered the old mansion.

Luo Yuqing and Wuyue stood aside, appearing a bit restrained, especially Luo Yuqing, who was still somewhat resistant to the Ouyang family members, merely greeting them briefly.

“Wow, the Luo Family Old Mansion, it’s very impressive,” Ouyang Lingyun said in surprise as he walked through the gate: “Such an ancient and quaint courtyard is rarely seen in the more economically developed regions of the South.”

“Having been away for so many years, what I can’t let go of is this ancestral old mansion,” Luo Liansheng chuckled: “In the whole Yuezhou, such a large old mansion is very rare. Unfortunately, my brothers did not treasure this old mansion and didn’t take good care of it, resulting in much disrepair.”

“Antiques left by our ancestors are priceless treasures that need to be well preserved and protected,” Ouyang Lingyun chuckled as he entered, looking up and examining the eaves and various carvings inside, “The preservation isn’t too bad. Replacing the ruined parts will make it a complete ancient building.”

“It costs quite a bit of money for repairs,” Luo Liansheng also chuckled, then pointing to Ouyang Feifei, “thanks to Feifei who’s been organizing this matter. In just about a week, the backyard renovation is almost complete. Seeing that we could live here by the New Year, I decided to stay here for the festival. Last night, we all slept here, although they might not be used to it. There’s still a bit of a smell from the recent refurbishment.”

Ouyang Lingyun laughed even more jovially, “Money doesn’t matter, the most important thing is that the Luo family’s old antique can be preserved and well protected without being destroyed.”

“Feifei, how much money has been spent on the repairs and these furnishings in the recent period?” Luo Liansheng asked Ouyang Feifei in front of everyone, and before she could answer, he explained, “The old house renovation is all under Feifei’s supervision, and all the money was advanced by her.”

“Grandfather Luo, a large sum of Ziling’s money is with me, Mrs. Ling has asked me to invest it for him. The money spent here is not mine, but the investment returns of Ziling’s assets,” Ouyang Feifei said calmly: “I would also like to report to the elders here. Excluding the money for buying property, the renovations and the purchase of furniture altogether cost 2.3 million yuan.”

“Oh my, spending money like it’s water,” Luo Ziling couldn’t help but exclaim when he heard Ouyang Feifei’s explanation.

He hadn’t expected the past few days of refurbishment to cost so much.

Of course, he believed the figures Ouyang Feifei reported were real. This woman would not falsify such matters, and there was simply no need to. However, he didn’t expect that just about a week of renovation could cost so much money.

Seeing the slightly surprised look in Luo Liansheng’s eyes, Luo Ziling knew that his grandfather also didn’t know it would cost so much money.

Ouyang Feifei turned her head to Ling Ruonan and said, “Mrs. Ling, I will summarize all the expenses and send them to Assistant Wu’s email, so you can review them later. Due to the rush to meet the construction deadline and the purchase of some uncommon furniture, the expenditures are quite substantial.”

“The cost is a minor issue as long as the work can be finished sooner,” Ling Ruonan chimed in, she was aware of the situation.

During the renovation process, Ouyang Feifei kept in contact with Ling Ruonan, and for any expenses that exceeded one hundred thousand, she would inform Ling Ruonan. Of course, it wasn’t her who directly contacted Ling Ruonan, but rather she had Wang Qing send emails to Wuyue.

She would only contact Ling Ruonan directly on more significant matters.

In this way, Ling Ruonan would feel respected, but not find her bothersome.

Truly, on these matters, Ouyang Feifei was quite experienced, far beyond what the still studying Yang Qingyin and Luo Yuqing could match.

Chen Xiaoyi and Lin Lan were also completely incomparable.

This was also where Ling Ruonan admired Ouyang Feifei the most.

“It looks like the renovation of the entire old mansion will cost over a hundred million!” Luo Liansheng exclaimed somewhat emotionally.

“There were too many dilapidated parts, a lot of the carving had to be bought at a high price. The three new ‘bullock legs’ in the back garden alone cost one hundred and fifty thousand each, and one openwork window costs fifty thousand yuan, and their age is not even as old as the old mansion,” Ouyang Feifei spoke of these things with a calm demeanor, “Grandfather Luo’s requirement to ‘restore the old as old’ is indeed the most costly. But I also think that to maintain the mansion’s original appearance, we must ‘restore the old as old.’ The broken parts must be replaced with items of a similar quality. I just hope that once the repairs are complete, they will fully integrate with the original architectural style.”

Hearing Ouyang Feifei say this, Ling Ruonan couldn’t help showing a satisfied smile.

Luo Xusheng, who hadn’t spoken much, also looked at Ouyang Feifei with astonishment.

Luo Yuqing, Ouyang Huihui, and Wuyue, after listening to Ouyang Feifei’s words, had mixed feelings.

Especially Wuyue.

She increasingly felt that Ling Ruonan’s trust in her was diminishing.

Normally, such significant expenditures would definitely be handled by her, and she was confident that she could handle them well.

But the old mansion renovation and real estate purchases, these big matters, were all being managed by Ouyang Feifei.

This left Wuyue feeling quite dejected.

Although Luo Yuqing’s position was somewhat awkward, she also harbored a wariness against Ouyang Feifei.

Unconsciously, her dislike for Ouyang Huihui had decreased a bit.

The enemy of one’s enemy is a friend, isn’t it?

Although describing Ouyang Feifei as an enemy might not be appropriate, Luo Yuqing could see that both Ouyang Feifei and Ouyang Huihui were interested in pursuing Luo Ziling. To fend off Ouyang Feifei’s “intrusion”, she was prepared to join forces with Ouyang Huihui and drive Ouyang Feifei away from Luo Ziling.

Ouyang Feifei certainly wouldn’t expect that her self-perceived appropriate behavior actually led to several people around Luo Ziling developing ill feelings towards her.