Transmigrated into the Cannon Fodder's Daughter - Chapter 62

Editor: Aaghna

Ai Wen called Li Xiao out for afternoon tea to discuss business.

“Your cousins are back in China.”

Li Xiao was indifferent. She had no memories of her cousins. None. Were they relatives of the Xu family? After the Xu family went bankrupt, most of the family had gone abroad to escape pressure from the Li family.   

“You probably don’t remember but you had a good relationship with Rou. She was able to get along with everybody,” Ai Wen said.

Xu Rou. Li Xiao’s cousin. She was ranked third in the Xu family, which didn’t discriminate between men and women.

Li Xiao thought about it. “Isn’t she already married?” She looked down and searched online. Information was readily available on the internet, making things very easy to find out. In addition, when Xu Rou got married, the Xu family was at its peak. And the man she married was not from a small family, so the wedding ceremony hadn’t been small. With just one search, plenty of photos came up.

There was a photo of Xu Rou and Xu Manqin, and they looked awfully similar, but Xu Rou’s features were softer and more gentle. Li Xiao stared at her face and was able to deduce some information. Xu Rou gave her a good feeling. She was genuine and had a kind heart. Her husband, Wei Ting, was handsome. His eyes pulsated with emotion and serenity. They looked good together in the photos.

Li Xiao snorted as she looked at Wei Ting. He was the embodiment of the beauty standards

Ai Wen nodded. “Your family moved abroad in fear of the Li family. Now that the Li family has no time to give them a second glance, some of your cousins have come back to see how the situation is.”

Li Xiao wasn’t quite worried about the Xu family, who could more or less fend for themselves, but since they came back, she had to find time to meet up with them.

She told Ai Wen, who immediately gave them a call.

So in less than an hour, Li Xiao saw her cousins, Xu Xufeng and Xu Rou. Xu Xufeng was just a few months younger than Li Xiao, but the domineering teenager had a touch of serenity. Xu Rou, on the other hand, held sadness between her brows but still flashed a gentle smile at Li Xiao when she saw her.

“Xiao Xiao.”

“Sister Rou,” Li Xiao said instinctively, unsure whether she had called her by that name in the past. Xu Rou didn’t seem surprised at the title, which probably meant it was the right one.

Ai Wen excused herself first, leaving the three alone.

Xu Xufeng immediately blurted, “Xiao Xiao, you must have suffered!”

Li Xiao was shocked.

She was well-fed and clothed, and she often angered the Li family. How was she suffering? Was there something wrong with her cousin’s vision?

“I know you didn’t want us to worry, so you never told us anything. But I’ve seen the news. The Li family has been bullying you, and Li Qianfei even attempted to frame you,” Xu Xufeng angrily said.

Li Xiao came to her conclusion. Xu Xufeng must not have been totally up to date while reading Weibo abroad. On the internet, Zhan Jaiyin and the Li family were notorious, and Li Xiao was fiercely pitied by the majority of netizens.

In the hearts of the netizens, Li Xiao was the delicate daughter of heaven. But with the appearance of Zhan Jiayin, she was framed, treated harshly, and stepped on at home.

Xu Xufeng thought she was merely brushing off the situation. “Don’t worry. I own a company. Although it’s far smaller than our family’s previous company, I can still support you. You don’t need to suffer from the Li’s any longer.

“I bought a few houses in China. When the time comes, I can transfer some to your name.”

Xu Xufeng and Li Xiao were similar in age, and his mother had died early. Xu Manqin had always taken good care of him, so he had a good relationship with Li Xiao. Now that Xu Manqin was nowhere to be found, the only thing he could do was take care of Li Xiao, who was not much older than him.

“I also have some spare cash, so I let Feng buy some places for me. You can pick from those, too.”

Li Xiao was both amused and touched. These cousins were quite sweet and had good personalities. 

“Li’s stocks have fallen recently, so I’m going to take advantage of the low prices and buy some,” Xu Xufeng continued.

What he wanted most was to revive the Xu family’s glory, but the Xu family’s company had gone bankrupt. So he took the next best option and was set on investing in the Li family. Their family company also had a part of the Xu family’s heart and soul. If the company fell into the hands of Zhan Jiayin’s children, Xufeng would vomit.

“You bought their stocks?” Li Xiao raised her voice.

Xu Xufeng flinched before saying, “Not yet.”

“Don’t buy them! They’re only going to continue falling,” Li Xiao said solemnly.

Xu Xufeng thought Li Xiao must’ve gotten some sort of insider information, so his hopes increased, but they shattered the next second when Li Xiao said, “I’ve been watching the stars at night, and the Li family will go out of business next year at the latest.” 

Xu Xufeng and Xu Rou seemed baffled.

Xu Xufeng wanted to say something but no words came out of his mouth. Had his cousin been cheated by some crook?

“Well, truthfully, Zhan Jiayin is sitting behind iron windows, and after the news breaks, their stocks are sure to fall further, so you best not buy it,” Li Xiao said helplessly.

Xu Xufeng smiled and put off the idea of buying their stocks.

“Focus on developing your company. It has a great future awaiting it,” Li Xiao said.

“Do you know what kind of business I have started?” Xu Xufeng asked in surprise.   

Li Xiao merely smiled. Of course she didn’t know, but she knew how to read faces. His face showed that he had struck disaster upon reaching adulthood (that disaster was the bankruptcy of the Xu family). After passing the disaster, he would be able to spread his wings like a phoenix and soar in the heavens.

Li Xiao changed the subject. “You don’t need to give me a house. Keep it.” Upon seeing their disapproving expression, Li Xiao quickly said, “Do you know about the Purple Country District?”

Xu Xufeng nodded. Of course he knew. That neighborhood was expensive, and the Xu family had owned some land there in the past. Unfortunately, it had all been sold off later.

“I own a building in that neighborhood,” Li Xiao calmly said.

She wasn’t poor.

Suddenly, Xu Xufeng felt embarrassed. The cousin who he had thought was miserable actually was well-off and owned lots of property. Had Li Nanjue actually given her money? Xu Xuufeng had thought that Li Nanjue only had Zhan Jiayin and her children in his heart.

“I have spare cash to invest, but I’m not well-educated, so I’ll just invest in your company,” Li Xiao said.

Xu Xufeng was moved. Li Xiao trusted him too much. She didn’t ask any questions and was willing to invest. Needless to say, this was a wonderful misunderstanding.

“How much spare money do you have?”

“Right now, I have billions. I’ll invest a billion in you,” Li Xiao said. She knew she shouldn’t put all her eggs in one basket.

Xu Xufeng’s company’s total assets didn’t even add up to more than 200 million. Xu Xufeng was silent.

His emotions were complex, very complex.

Finally, Li Xiao and Xu Xufeng reached an agreement. She was to first invest 100 million, and increase her investment after the company had developed and expanded.

Xu Rou watched the two of them discuss. The melancholic emotion she had once held in her eyes was now gone.

Li Xiao’s phone suddenly rang. She looked down, and the screen showed Ren Shaotang’s caller ID.

Ah, this fool!

She hung up immediately. But what had Ren Shaotang called her for? Li Xiao wasn’t afraid to assume the worst about Ren Shaotang.

After Li Xiao gave her address to Xu Xufeng and Xu Rou, she headed home. She asked Zhang Yan to find a ghost to keep an eye on Ren Shaotang and see what he was up to. Without realizing it, Zhang Yan had collected nine lonely ghosts.

    *****

With a grim expression, Ren Shaotang continued to phone Li Xiao, but he was rejected each time. He didn’t expect that he would be unable to carry out the first step of his plan. Li Xiao didn’t even give him the time of day and refused to answer his calls.    

Li Qianfei was also a bit anxious. How could their plan succeed if they couldn’t even meet face to face. Of course, she didn’t dare to call Li Xiao herself in fear that Li Xiao would retaliate. 

Ren Shaotang inhaled sharply and held his breath as he sent Li Xiao a lengthy text message. He proclaimed he felt guilty, so he would like to apologize in person, hoping that Li Xiao would overlook the past. Otherwise, he’d be left with unbearable guilt.

He chose his words carefully while comforting Li Qianfei. “Don’t worry. It’ll work this time. I already accepted the invitation from the Douhu live streaming website, and I’ll show her true face to the public.”

Li Qianfei nodded. She was sick of living like a street rat. She wanted Li Xiao to experience the same pain she had.

While the two of them waited for Li Xiao’s reply, Li Xiao received first-hand information from a ghost.    

Standing in front of Li Xiao was a girl who died tragically at the age of fourteen, blubbering and repeating Ren Shaotang’s words to them. 

Li Xiao lowered her eyelids. Of course she had to go! It was rare of Ren Shaotang to ask her to meet him.

Of course, she couldn’t go without a purpose. Ren Shaotang’s apology was worthless, without any semblance of sincerity, so she would use his money to invest in her cousin’s company. She truly was a wonderful cousin.

So she replied.

【Your apologies are worthless. I’m a little short on cash right now. Give me 100 million, and I’ll consider forgiving you.】  

After sending the message, she began to look through the Daoist books she brought down from Yun Miao temple.     

How do you draw a truthfulness charm? She had not drawn this thing before, so she had little memory of it. She could draw the fireball spell and the sky thunder spell with her eyes closed, but the truth spell…

Li Xiao rubbed her hands together.