"When you rich kids just throw around this much money, it can really make a person lose hope, you know!"
In her cramped apartment.
Qi Xiaowan sat on a chair, completely conflicted, clutching a card tightly in her hand.
Just as she had said in the office earlier, she didn’t need any investment. She wouldn’t get a single penny’s benefit even if the project succeeded; in essence, she was just a salaried employee punching a clock.
Chen Yuan realized that was true.
So, he cashed out the benefits he had promised for the investment, shoved a bank card into Qi Xiaowan’s hand, and told her the PIN.
"You’re a great person, Wan. Talking with you has been really enlightening. As Yaoyao’s best friend, you’ve gone to so much trouble looking after her. Please, take this small token of my thanks as a red envelope... Of course, I don’t mean this as a bribe. I was just hoping you could give me a little more... information?"
The image of Chen Yuan holding the card and coaxing her replayed in Wan’s mind. She hadn’t had time to refuse before Chen Yuan had scurried off, as if he had something urgent to attend to.
Of course, she couldn’t accept this money.
Chen Yuan had only added her as a contact, saying he was worried Jiang Yao would be in danger in Edo Prefecture and hoped Wan could gather some intel for him so he could ensure Yaoyao’s safety. Even so, Wan felt there was something not quite right about taking the money.
Until that afternoon, when she couldn’t contain her curiosity and went to the bank to check just how much money was on the card.
She never expected Chen Yuan to have actually given her such a big red envelope—a full fifty thousand yuan.
An even fifty thousand.
Qi Xiaowan was floored. That was almost her entire yearly salary!
Seriously, she couldn’t help but wonder, how come these people were playing *Minecraft* while she was stuck playing *Apocalyptic Survival*?
She was working herself to the bone just to get by. Why did he have to tempt her with such a mouth-watering red envelope?
’If... if it’s just about gathering a little information to make sure Yaoyao is safe, then it’s not really betraying my best friend, right? I shouldn’t have to feel guilty, should I?’
’Fifty thousand yuan... oh, fifty thousand yuan. How much merchandise and how many cute dresses could that buy? It would cover her rent for the next three years, no problem.’
The key thing was that Chen Yuan hadn’t given her an exorbitant amount. If it had been much more than fifty thousand, some huge number, she would have rejected it without a second thought. Qi Xiaowan would never dare accept that kind of pie-in-the-sky handout.
"Should I give it back? A friendship shouldn’t be mixed up with any kind of financial transaction..."
"Actually, there’s no need to return it, right? To people like Chen Yuan, this is probably a tiny amount. Don’t some rich kids give people money just to make friends? Maybe this is his way of showing sincerity, and I’m the one making a big deal out of it. Besides, if those two end up together, I’d be happy for them as their friend."
"Seriously, this is so frustrating..."
Wan kept muttering to herself, then grabbed a stuffed doll from her computer desk.
"Xiao Ba, what do you think? Say something!"
...
Chen Yuan had been so busy all day his head was spinning. Frankly, if Qi Xiaowan hadn’t agreed to his request, things would have gotten very difficult for him. He would have paid any price to win her over.
In the time since he’d gone into business and become a general director, he had learned one very useful lesson for dealing with anything: most things in this world have a price.
Many problems that seemed difficult would become incredibly simple as soon as money was involved.
Chen Yuan had been ready to offer a large sum, but on the way to Qi Xiaowan’s office, Pei Youwen stopped him. He shook his head and said it would be better to offer a smaller number—enough to be tempting, but not enough to scare her off.
Because even when using money, you had to use different methods for different people.
To many people, dignity, friendship, and ideals were just as important as money. If your actions made them feel insulted, something that should have been easy would become very difficult.
That was why Chen Yuan had been so tactful with his words.
Fortunately, Pei Youwen’s method worked.
That night, his back aching from a long day’s work, Chen Yuan opened his phone and saw a new screenshot in his chat with Qi Xiaowan. He tapped on it and saw a screenshot of Jiang Yao’s hotel reservation.
Best friends tell each other everything, of course, so she had easily acquired the information Chen Yuan had been dreaming of.
"Let me be clear..."
As for the few sentences she sent after that, he didn’t read them closely. He immediately replied, "Thank you so, so much, Wan. Don’t worry, even if I have to say I put a tracker in Jiang Yao’s phone, I will never, ever mention your name."
His response did the trick, and Qi Xiaowan’s anxious heart was finally put at ease.
After closing his phone, Chen Yuan’s spirits lifted immediately.
He really didn’t plan on stopping Jiang Yao from going to Edo Prefecture, but he couldn’t just stand by and watch Yaoyao run off to a foreign country by herself. He decided he would go with her. If everything was fine over there, he would come back and have the people from Jiang Corporation’s local branch help look after her, while he flew back to deal with his own endless work.
’So bribing her best friend is this effective, huh?’
’I wonder if Ningning has any best friends she tells everything to... maybe I could bribe them, too... It’s a bit unscrupulous, but the results are just too good.’
’Only by fully understanding the psychological state of both sisters and observing every possible detail can I be ever-victorious and hold all the cards.’