On the other side of town.
When Bai Shuqin and Guan Ruirui returned to the Guan residence, they entered to find Guan Baocheng hurrying downstairs while on the phone, his face a mask of frantic anxiety.
"Assistant Tan, didn't we have an agreement? The terms on both sides were practically settled. Why has Jianghai Group suddenly called off the cooperation?"
Hearing this, Bai Shuqin and Guan Ruirui felt their hearts skip a beat. When they stole a glance at one another, they saw the same guilt reflected in each other's eyes.
Guan Ruirui tried to step forward to speak with him, but Guan Baocheng pulled a long face and raised a hand to signal her to stop bothering him.
Turning back to the phone, he suppressed his emotions, speaking with a tone that was almost fawning. "Is it because the Guan Corporation's terms were too high? Everything is negotiable. We can even concede a portion of the profit points we discussed previously. I am truly sincere about cooperating with Jianghai Group."
Whatever was said on the other end caused the muscles in Guan Baocheng's face to twitch. Suddenly, he seemed to deflate, sinking onto the stool by the entryway.
Bai Shuqin and Guan Ruirui rushed over to him. "Baocheng, what's happened?"
Guan Baocheng clutched his head, looking utterly agitated. "What happened? How should I know what happened? Jianghai Group just called out of the blue to say the cooperation is cancelled, even though everything was fine before!"
As he spoke, he suddenly turned his gaze toward Bai Shuqin. "Didn't you take Ruirui to visit the Third Madam of the Jiang family? Did something go wrong while you were there?"
Bai Shuqin's heart thudded in her chest. It was clear that Jianghai Group hadn't mentioned the incident at the Jiang residence. She opened her mouth to explain, but Guan Ruirui quickly grabbed her arm.
"Nothing happened, Papa," Ruirui lied. "We didn't even get to see the Third Madam Jiang."
Bai Shuqin looked at her daughter instinctively and saw Ruirui give her arm a light squeeze, clearly signaling her to keep her mouth shut.
Guan Baocheng didn't suspect anything. He simply scratched at his thinning hair in frustration and muttered to himself.
"But why? Jianghai Group is such a great partner... If we could successfully link up with them, our family could rise to the next level! No, I can't just let this go."
With that, he stood up and strode out the door, ignoring Bai Shuqin and Guan Ruirui behind him.
Only after he had disappeared out the front door did Bai Shuqin turn to her daughter. "Ruirui, why did you stop me? The Jiang family cancelling the deal it's likely because of that little bitch..."
"Mama!" Guan Ruirui cut her off, refusing to give up hope. "I thought about it carefully on the way back. That President Jiang never explicitly said Guan Xuxu was his daughter. Maybe we misheard him?"
Guan Ruirui was unwilling to believe that Guan Xuxu, after being cast out of the Guan family, had actually become the daughter of a top-tier elite family like the Jiangs. She could not accept that Guan Xuxu's status was now higher than her own.
"How could we mishear? If Guan Xuxu isn't President Jiang's daughter, why would he suddenly cancel our deal? And why would that butler say those things?"
Bai Shuqin was eighty or ninety percent certain that Guan Xuxu was the daughter the Jiang family had just found; otherwise, the timing was just too coincidental.
If that really were the case, she had to explain things to her husband as soon as possible. With an estate as vast as the Jiangs', their family raising his daughter for him should be met with mountains of gold and silver in gratitude. How could they cancel the cooperation?
Wasn't that just being an ungrateful wolf?
"Anyway, I don't believe it," Guan Ruirui said, trying her hardest to convince her mother and herself. "Mama, think about it. If Guan Xuxu was the daughter the Jiang family lost years ago,
why didn't anyone from the family come to pick her up in person? The person who contacted Papa before also mentioned they lived deep in the mountains where the signal was bad. A family like the Jiangs has no reason to lie to us."
Guan Ruirui strained to find logic. "President Jiang's sudden anger today might just be because we were causing a scene in his home. As for the cancellation, it might just be a coincidence. Business matters aren't child's play; it definitely has nothing to do with what happened today."
Swayed by her daughter's persistence, Bai Shuqin began to doubt her own conclusion. "Is that so?"
"It definitely is." Guan Ruirui spoke with certainty, then pulled out her phone. "There are people talking in the group chat about this eldest miss of the Jiang family. They say the Jiangs are hosting a banquet the day after tomorrow to officially debut her. If we can find a way to get an invitation, we'll know for sure when we see her with our own eyes."
Bai Shuqin hesitated. Given that Jianghai Group had just terminated their partnership, getting an invitation wouldn't be easy.
Seeing her mother's hesitation, Guan Ruirui quickly added, "If Guan Xuxu isn't the daughter they found, even better. We can use the opportunity to explain the misunderstanding to President Jiang. Papa might even be able to get the project back. In a setting like that, Mr. Jiang wouldn't be able to refuse easily."
She paused, grit her teeth, and suggested the other possibility. "And even if... even if Guan Xuxu really is the eldest miss of the Jiang family, our family raised her after all. She can't just acknowledge her birth parents and turn her back on us, can she?"
These words acted like a wake-up call for Bai Shuqin. Her eyes lit up.
Indeed, why hadn't she realized it? Regardless of whether Guan Xuxu was the Jiangs' daughter or not, there was a way to turn it to their advantage!
"Ruirui is right. If that little bitch Guan Xuxu really is the Jiang family's daughter, the Jiangs won't be able to kick us out in front of all those people. Whether it's the project or something else, they'll have to give us something as a token of their gratitude. After all, we raised their child for them."
The more Bai Shuqin thought about it, the more it made sense. She clapped her hands. "I'll find a way to handle the invitation. We'll take your father along, and you should go buy a few beautiful dresses. You must be dressed to the nines the day after tomorrow."
The elite socialites and wealthy heirs of Haishi would surely attend the Jiang family's banquet. When her Ruirui made her debut in such a circle, she would surely stun everyone.
Guan Ruirui leaned shyly against Bai Shuqin, her heart echoing her mother's ambitious thoughts.
Guan Xuxu had no idea what the Guan family was plotting. After dinner, she was led by her second aunt, Yao Lin, to see her new room.
It was a suite located at the edge of the third floor. The room was spacious, divided into an inner and outer chamber. The entire space was decorated in a dreamlike, princess-style aesthetic meant for a child. The corners of the outer room were piled high with various toys and gifts.
There were even items like baby strollers.
"This was originally prepared as your nursery. Your eldest uncle insisted on keeping it all these years. However, I felt the decor was too childish, so I planned to arrange another room for you first and give this back to you after a fresh coat of paint and some rearranging. I didn't expect it to cause such a fuss and make you unhappy. You mustn't blame me, dear."
As Yao Lin spoke, she reached out affectionately to take Guan Xuxu's arm.
Guan Xuxu quietly pulled her arm back, her expression unreadable. "I won't."
Yao Lin's smile stiffened at her cold, distant attitude. After a few more perfunctory instructions, she turned to leave. The moment the door closed, her friendly smile vanished instantly. As she looked back at the door, a dark, sinister light flickered in her eyes.
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