Chapter 306

Chapter 306

The first half of the letter aligned with what He Yun had said—they were gifting Lu Mingzhu 500,000 taels of gold.

Since they handled the account setup, it was naturally convenient.

Lu Mingzhu could withdraw the gold using her own identification and seal without any hindrance.

Zhang Zhenxing wrote with genuine emotion: had it not been for Lu Mingzhu and her family’s selfless contributions, they would not have been able to focus entirely on negotiating with their "Big Brother" country, repaying the debt with interest, and now standing tall, free of debt.

When in debt, it was difficult to negotiate as equals.

What Zhang Zhenxing did not mention in the letter was that while repaying the debt, all remaining funds were invested in scientific research, leaving no time to worry about hunger.

The choice between hunger and oppression was obvious.

Originally a painful dilemma, Lu Mingzhu’s involvement had changed things, and everyone knew it.

Now, with major scientific breakthroughs and no longer fearing foreign aggression, they finally had extra funds to repay her.

Repaying Lu Mingzhu alone was akin to repaying He Yun, the three generations of the Lu family, and the Xie brothers, Junhao and [his brother].

The latter half of the letter covered several matters, and Lu Mingzhu continued reading.

One was regarding Mr. Zhang’s declining health—the original five-year agreement might need to be postponed. Due to communication difficulties, Zhang Zhenxing relayed the message for him.

As long as Mr. Zhang and Zhang Huaizhi left early, the exact timing of the five-year agreement mattered little to Lu Mingzhu. She moved on to the second matter, frowning as she read between the lines.

He Yun, who had been sipping tea, noticed and asked, “What’s wrong? What does the letter say?”

“Comrade Zhang mentioned that during the difficult times, many wealthy capitalist households in Shanghai remained entirely unaffected. Given their substantial wealth, splurging on luxury food wasn’t the issue, but the resulting extravagance and waste were unacceptable.” Lu Mingzhu paused before continuing, “While many struggled to eat, with scarce supplies of basic groceries, these families fed their cats and dogs meat and soup, and even gave fruits—unavailable to ordinary citizens—to monkeys.”

He Yun responded with a single phrase: “The rich feast while the poor freeze to death on the streets.”

Lu Mingzhu sighed. “Indeed. But that’s not the worst of it. The gravest issue is that they’ve led many working-class youth astray, surrendering to hedonism.”

“That is serious,” He Yun remarked, knowing this group was in trouble.

Lu’s father had once said he left early precisely because he feared ending up like his uncle—though his lifestyle remained unchanged, his family assets were no longer his. Now…

The state-private partnerships of Kang's Pharmaceutical and others had already sparked public outrage. What would happen this time when they pushed too far again?

He Yun couldn’t predict, but he knew it wouldn’t end well.

Lu Mingzhu gave the letter a shake. “Comrade Zhang told me this as a warning because my elder sister is among them.”

Truthfully, over the past few years, she herself had lived in luxury without a drop in her standard of living. But Lu Zhenzhen’s circumstances were different.

While Lu Mingzhu could spend extravagantly in Hong Kong without issue, Lu Zhenzhen’s actions on the mainland were bound to stir resentment.

Besides Lu Zhenzhen, there was also Kang Yingying.

Zhang Zhenxing politely called her Kang Yingying. Having completed her reform through labor, she had returned to Shanghai and, somehow, stayed close as sisters with Lu Zhenzhen, back to living comfortably after just a few rough years.

Lu Mingzhu wasn’t concerned about Kang Yingying—she was a schemer, just like Li Qingyun.

No matter what, she always came out on top.

Lu Zhenzhen, too, insisted on showing off around Kang Yingying—falling right into her trap.

Hopelessly naive.

Lu Mingzhu shook her head and then saw Zhang Zhenxing's invitation for her to visit the capital again.

"I definitely can't go anytime soon," Lu Mingzhu murmured to herself.

"Why not?" He Yun asked.

Lu Mingzhu then told him about her plan to play the stock market in Wall Street. "Just for some extra cash."

"If you need money, I can give you some." Although he had already distributed many assets to his children, He Yun's annual income remained astonishing.

Lu Mingzhu smiled. "I get more satisfaction earning it myself!"

And I’ll feel better spending my own money.

"Pops, just wait for me to bring you a gift when I return, just like how eldest brother brought us gifts yesterday." Lu Mingzhu folded Zhang Zhenxing's letter neatly, placed it in an envelope, and then tucked it into her Chanel 2.55 handbag.

She’d always been fond of this style.

He Yun set down his teacup and handed her the seal she had nearly forgotten. "Without this, you won’t be able to withdraw the gold."

"You're right." Lu Mingzhu accepted it with both hands.

Opening it, she saw a blood-red chicken-blood stone seal inside, carved with her name in strong, bold strokes that seemed vaguely familiar.

Lu Mingzhu held it like a treasure. "This is as good as 500,000 taels of gold!"

He Yun chuckled. "You didn’t hesitate giving away ten gold bars before, yet now you treat 500,000 taels as a treasure."

"Back then, it was to save lives. A life is worth more than gold." As for gold, it meant little to Lu Mingzhu. If needed later, she’d hand it over in a heartbeat.

After drought comes deluge. Before the flood, Zhang Shuo should arrange for people to evacuate in advance, right?

She hoped he would.

He Yun shook his head.

"The mainland keeps improving. My help doesn’t matter much now. The personnel I sent earlier have long been withdrawn, and I’m also preparing to cut ties with Zhang Zhenxing." With nothing holding me back, who knows what I'll do?

Lu Mingzhu was momentarily stunned. "Whatever makes you happy."

The next few years will be okay, but after that, trouble’s coming.

Looking back, this generation had it rough.

They had it worse than anyone.

When Lu Mingzhu agreed, He Yun asked, "Should we send a reply to Zhang Zhenxing?"

"Don’t bother." Receiving the letter was enough.

Remembering her past life in the original body, both Zhang Zhenxing and Zhang Shuo had initially been investigated. Who’s to say their friendship now won’t cause problems?

He Yun gave a slight nod.

As Lu Mingzhu placed the ornate box containing the seal into her bag, He Yun handed her another ornate box.

"Godfather, are you giving me another gift?" Lu Mingzhu happily opened it.

If she had known that selling jewelry she didn’t like, with low collectible value, or duplicates could bring her better ones, she should have done it sooner.

This time, He Yun gave her a ruby ribbon bow brooch.

The oval main stone was enormous—so big it was hard to believe.

Lu Mingzhu owned many large rubies, but none could surpass this one.

"Godfather, please tell me its weight." Another priceless treasure—hahaha!

She was thrilled.

He Yun smiled and said, "It was discovered in Mogok early last year. The rough stone weighed 96 carats, and what’s rare is that it was internally clean without cracks, and the color reached the pigeon-blood red level. The only regret is that the finished piece is only 66.66 carats—triple sixes—a very lucky number. Wishing you smooth sailing from now on."

"That must be the world’s largest pigeon-blood ruby." Lu Mingzhu pinned it on her dress and looked down at its dazzling sparkle ('bling bling' in Chinese).

He Yun quickly added, "It has a name."

"Ah?" Lu Mingzhu had just been thinking of giving it a beautiful name!

"Star of Luck and Fortune." He Yun didn’t quite trust her naming skills for gems and diamonds—they were always so casual and perfunctory.

"Four sixes—now that’s lucky!" Lu Mingzhu touched the brooch. "Thank you, Godfather."

Too bad she couldn’t flaunt it right away.

Why?

After all, she’d just auctioned off her jewelry, pretending to be broke. If people knew she still had priceless treasures, they’d call her a hypocrite or say she held back.

Holding onto a few keepsakes was one thing, but flaunting new gems while crying poor? That’d raise eyebrows.

So she’d bide her time—until she struck gold in New York.

In a couple of years, she’d buy lottery tickets again.

American lottery.

By the time Xie Junyao and Xie Junhao wrapped up their work, it was already April.

The quarterly dividends came in without a hitch.

The company hadn’t been affected these past two years—in fact, its performance was even better than before, and the dividends were slightly higher, totaling over ten million dollars, mostly from the oil company.

The oil company was a cash cow.

But gambling? That’s where the real money was.

Nie Congyun once again secured the exclusive franchise for Macau’s gambling industry, opening two new casinos this year with business through the roof. The only regret was that He Yun had withdrawn and even forbade He Lan and others from engaging in the gambling business.

Long ago, He Yun had remained entirely behind the scenes—people only knew of Nie Congyun’s "Yun," not He Yun’s. Now, they were even more convinced that the true casino king was Nie Congyun alone.

Riding high on success, Nie Congyun started planning for his legacy.

He had a granddaughter—sharp, stunning, and accomplished, having just graduated from Oxford. Eager to secure a marriage alliance, he zeroed in on the Lu family.

And the ones he respected most in the Lu family were none other than Lu Shen and Lu Pingan.

He approached He Yun to arrange a marriage.

"It's not that I'm boasting, but my granddaughter is truly outstanding and deserves to marry the finest young man in Hong Kong." Nie Congyun held a cigar between his fingers, his face radiating pride.

He Yun took his time preparing tea. "I'm afraid I can't help you."

Nie Congyun frowned. "Why?"

"Because our Lu family has three taboos," Lu Mingzhu arrived to bid farewell to He Yun and happened to overhear their conversation. Smiling, she said, "These three taboos mean no sex trade, no gambling, and no drugs in business."

Nie Congyun paused, surprised. "My granddaughter isn’t involved in the family business."

Though he valued his granddaughter, with sons and grandsons in the family, business succession wasn't her concern.

Lu Mingzhu remained firm. "That doesn't change anything."

"Why?" Nie Congyun was displeased. As the gambling king, few dared to speak to him like this.

Lu Mingzhu smiled faintly. "Because we believe in free choice and love matches, rather than arranged marriages dictated by parental orders or matchmakers."

She had no respect for the Nie family—and didn't care who knew it.

Gambling had ruined countless families, and Nie Congyun’s shameless favoring of his mistresses over his wife was widely criticized.

His granddaughter certainly wasn’t from the main wife’s line, as the main wife only had daughters, no sons, while the second wife’s branch thrived. His other mistresses competed to bear his children, rewarded with vast fortunes and lives of luxury.

What a circus.

Lu Mingzhu’s opinion was secondary—what mattered most was Lu Pingan’s stance.