Rebirth 1983: Building My Business Empire-Chapter 229 - 218 The Guardian of Flowers
Chapter 229: Chapter 218: The Guardian of Flowers
Chapter 229 -218: The Guardian of Flowers
Nie Zhan knew she wasn’t the type to suffer in silence and said, “He Hanxuan has an illegitimate child outside, leak this information to the media. Mrs. He has been in frequent contact with Councilor Chen’s wife, and if the news about the illegitimate child comes out, this marriage won’t happen.”
Lu Jiaxin was surprised and asked, “An insatiable lecher like He Hanxuan could actually have a councilor betroth his daughter to him?”
“It’s a matter of mutual benefit. But if the news of the illegitimate child is leaked, the Chen family will hesitate to marry their daughter to him, fearing speculation and for the sake of their reputation and future prospects, they would refuse.”
The dishes arrived, and Nie Zhan and Lu Jiaxin kept talking while eating, with no adherence to the rule of ‘no talking while eating.’ Their topics ranged widely from international affairs to a particularly difficult math problem.
Nie Zhan said, “I’m not bad at math. If you want, I can tutor you.”
Lu Jiaxin joked, “I can’t afford you, you earn enough in a day to pay for a tutor for a year. Besides, if my tutor found out you wanted to steal his job, he might go spill the beans to a reporter.”
Nie Zhan was a top student from a young age and never worried about academics, so he wasn’t very familiar with tutoring: “I know a teacher from Hong Kong University, let me introduce you when you’re free.”
Lu Jiaxin tactfully declined; she didn’t want to bother Nie Zhan with everything. Moreover, Hong Kong was different from the Mainland; as long as those rich kids weren’t too terrible, getting into a university was easy. She wanted to get in through her own efforts rather than take shortcuts. Of course, she certainly needed to understand the admission rules and not apply blindly, but she could simply ask around to find out on her own.
Seeing her stance, Nie Zhan changed the subject: “I heard Su Heyuan is preparing to organize a fashion show, will you go watch it?”
Lu Jiaxin didn’t know about this as the date for the fashion show hadn’t been set, “If it’s on the weekend, I’ll go, but not if it’s during class time.”
Just as they were engrossed in conversation, Qian Xiaoxiao knocked on the door from outside, her loud voice clear even through the door: “Sister Xin, it’s eight o’clock, we should head back.”
Lu Jiaxin looked at her watch and said with a smile, “I still need to review my lessons, let’s chat another time.”
The next day, the entertainment tabloid published photos of Lu Jiaxin and Nie Zhan entering Good Fortune Here one after the other, with the headline being “The most beautiful campus flower straightens out Young Master Nie.”
Seeing the headline, Lu Jiaxin’s mouth twitched, annoyed by the implication that Nie Zhan was supposedly “straightened out,” as if he were gay. But the headline revealed that Nie Zhan indeed led a clean personal life. After all, Hong Kong paparazzi were notorious, and if he really had a girlfriend, she wouldn’t escape their notice. Considering Nie Zhan’s personality, if he had a girlfriend, he wouldn’t hide it.
However, Qian Xiaoxiao was somewhat worried: “Sister Xin, are you really dating that Nie Zhan? He’s already twenty-six years old, clearly an old man preying on a young girl, you’re getting the short end of the stick.”
By current standards, Nie Zhan being ten years older than her did indeed qualify as an old man preying on a young girl. However, considering her mental age of over thirty, it was she who had the advantage.
Lu Jiaxin said, “I won’t date before university. But he meets all my criteria, so if he hasn’t changed his mind after the exams, I will accept him then.”
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Qian Xiaoxiao, however, was not reassured: “I’ve heard those rich folks have a lot of rules and look down on Mainland people. If you and Nie Zhan start seeing each other, his family will give you trouble.”
“Don’t worry, they won’t meddle in the matter of dating.”
Qian Xiaoxiao’s expression changed: “Sister Xin, what do you mean by that? Is he only interested in dating and not willing to marry you? Isn’t that just playing around? Next time he comes, I’ll have to teach him a lesson.”
Lu Jiaxin laughed, “Xiaoxiao, this isn’t the Mainland, where it’s common for relationships to fall apart halfway. Actually, I think it’s good this way. If we discover incompatible personalities or philosophies during dating, it’s better for both men and women to split. Don’t worry about me; I’m only sixteen now, and marriage is something I won’t consider until at least ten years from now.”
Qian Xiaoxiao understood that it was Sister Xin who only wanted to date without thinking of marriage, not Nie Zhan.
Nie Zhan, busy with work, didn’t care for the entertainment gossip, but Feng Qing Lei always paid attention. As soon as he saw the magazine, he immediately called him.
As soon as the call connected, Nie Zhan heard loud laughter, “If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”
Feng Qing Lei, trying to contain his laughter, said, “You were photographed dining with Miss Lu yesterday, and the gossip tabloid published the photos today. Ah Zhan, I’ll read the headline to you.”
After hearing the headline, Nie Zhan wasn’t angry, “Is there anything else? I have a meeting in five minutes, if there’s nothing, I’m going to hang up.”
Bothering about the fabrications of the entertainment tabloid would only play into these people’s hands.
Feng Qing Lei found him incredibly dull. With that kind of temper, his chances of chasing beautiful women were slim! He felt he should give his brother a hand. If it were his girlfriend, he would definitely gift her designer clothes, Paopao, or jewelry, but Sister Xin was different; gifting her these could very likely result in rejection.
After some thought, he still gave up; he feared doing more harm than good with his well-meant interference. It was at that moment that Feng Qing Lei realized his former girlfriends were much easier to appease than someone like Lu Jiaxin.
Two days later, the scandal of He Hanxuan having an illegitimate child burst into the open, instantly becoming the headline of the entertainment news. Mrs. He was aware of the illegitimate child, but He Zhuliang was not. Upon seeing the magazine, he was furious. With this revelation, it was impossible for Councilor Chen to marry into their family now.
With a frown, Mrs. He said, “Master, this must be someone targeting us, quickly find out who is behind this, will you?”
Nie Zhan didn’t cover up this matter, and He Zhuliang quickly traced it back to him. There were no dealings between the He and Nie families, so naturally, there was no enmity either. The only possibility for such a move was that his son had offended him.
He Zhuliang demanded, “What did you do to offend Young Master Nie of the Nie family?”
“Nie Zhan, I’ve never offended him!”
He Zhuliang was nearly driven mad, “If you didn’t offend Nie Zhan, then why would he target you? If you don’t come clean, I’ll disown you.”
Just as He Hanxuan was about to defend himself, he suddenly remembered a joke his friend made, and hesitating, he said, “Apparently, Nie Zhan is pursuing a mainland girl, and if he is really behind this, it must be to stand up for her.”
As He Zhuliang didn’t follow gossip news, only Mrs. He would occasionally chat about it with him, “What did you do to Lu Jiaxin?”
After finding out that he had encouraged Bao Yingjie to pursue Lu Jiaxin, He Zhuliang was so angry he gave him a good beating with his belt and even had his cards cut off, while warning Mrs. He not to give him any money under the table.
After school, Lu Jiaxin learned about the incident and called Nie Zhan to thank him. He Zhuliang’s intent to marry into the Chen family for his own ends was now thwarted, and their wedding plans falling through served as a good retribution on her behalf.
Nie Zhan said, “Jiaxin, don’t worry, I will protect you in the future. You won’t be bullied by anyone again.”
Lu Jiaxin, not wanting to become a clingy woman reliant on men, shook her head and said, “Nie Zhan, I can protect myself and don’t need anyone else’s protection. For this incident, I owe you a favor.”
Wanting to be her knight in shining armor but getting no chance to be one, Nie Zhan discovered for the first time that a girl’s excessive independence could also be quite troubling.
