Xiang Wan felt embarrassed, asking Zhou Jinbei to return with them, but Zhou Jinbei insisted on staying.
With only two people left in the ward, she apologized to Xiang Wan.
"I need to confess something to you, Miss Xiang."
"Did Lu Mingzhe's mother visit you recently? She must have said unpleasant things. I gave her your contact information."
Xiang Wan was a bit surprised, as she wasn't close to Zhou Jinbei. How could she have her contact details?
Zhou Jinbei admitted,
"As you know, I'm good friends with Lu Mingzhe's ex-wife. I didn't understand your situation before and thought you ruined her marriage, so I had an opinion of you."
"I deliberately had someone find out your contact information and gave it to Auntie Lu so she could cause trouble for you."
"But last night, Lu Qingxu said a lot... I'm sorry."
"I myself hate it when parents interfere with relationships, especially being picked on by the man's parents. Yet I imposed such an awkward situation on you. I regret it."
Xiang Wan knew she hadn't been entirely blameless herself. They didn't understand each other before, and it was understandable for someone to speak up for their friend.
Moreover, she had helped her last night.
And now she was confessing voluntarily, showing she was a good girl who dared to do and admit.
"It's nothing. If it were me, hearing that a friend was in such a situation, I would have spoken up for her too. There's no need to apologize."
"The reason we had conflict was due to existing problems. It has nothing to do with you; what's meant to happen will happen."
Seeing that she didn't resent her, Zhou Jinbei breathed a sigh of relief.
"Don't worry too much. Brother Mingzhe is wholeheartedly committed to you."
"Auntie Lu is not an unreasonable person, just that there's a misunderstanding now. Once things are cleared up, I believe she will accept you."
"Besides, you have their child."
Hearing words of comfort at such a moment warmed Xiang Wan's heart.
"Thank you."
Zhou Jinbei's words were particularly sweet.
"You're welcome. You're so beautiful and have such a great personality. If you don't mind, let's be friends from now on."
Xiang Wan had no reason to refuse when a pampered young lady so readily offered to befriend her.
"Of course. You're both very beautiful, and I like you both. What do you do for work?"
Speaking of this, Zhou Jinbei sighed.
She mentioned that she was just a small assistant at Zhan Beijue's company.
"Unlike you and Jiao Jiao, and Sister Nan Fang, you're all career-driven strong women."
"You've made yourselves successful through your own efforts."
"How could I dare compare myself to them?"
Xiang Wan chuckled self-deprecatingly.
"Lu Mingzhe mentioned that Mrs. Zhan is a very capable woman."
Zhou Jinbei nodded.
"Yes, not only is she incredibly capable at work, but she's also beautiful, has high emotional intelligence, and gave my second brother four children."
"In this world, besides her, no one else is worthy of my second brother."
"The key is that she's very independent and has never relied on my second brother. She used to run a company abroad and now runs her own electrical company back home."
"She's even developed high-tech products that even my second brother couldn't, which is incredibly impressive."
"Alas, if only I had a tenth of her abilities."
Xiang Wan comforted her, "You're not bad either. You're beautiful, articulate, and have high emotional intelligence. You'll definitely get better and better in the future."
But in her heart, she felt deeply insecure.
She was older than Jiang Nan Fang, her career was a mess, while the latter had both love and career success.
Comparing oneself to others was maddening.
What's more, the other person didn't rely on men. The thought of her own mess made her blush.
The two felt an instant connection, chatting animatedly back and forth.
Soon, the sky began to lighten with the dawn.
Zhou Jinbei, having stayed up all night, was extremely tired and fell asleep on the adjacent companion bed.
Xiang Wan, lost in thought about her studio, lay in bed scrolling through her phone, with no sign of sleepiness.
She lay there until six in the morning, then tried calling Lu Mingzhe again, but his phone was still unreachable.
Just as she was fretting about what to do, Tang Haichao called.
"Miss Xiang, where are you now?"
He was up so early?
Did he have something to ask her?
Xiang Wan didn't say where she was, asking him what it was about.
Tang Haichao said, "Did something happen on your end?"
"I came to work early this morning and saw your factory was sealed off, with many workers gathered outside causing trouble."
"I found out after inquiring that the factory management had absconded. You don't know about this, do you?"
Even he knew something had happened.
Xiang Wan sighed and told him about yesterday's events.
Tang Haichao sympathized with her worry.
"You've invested over 3 million in total, and what's worse, it's going to delay delivery. This is a big problem now."
"Yes."
Xiang Wan didn't hide anything from him.
"I don't have a single penny to spare now. With a hundred thousand plus in orders, starting from scratch, I really don't know what to do."
Tang Haichao paused on the other end, seemingly hesitating whether to speak.
"What does your boyfriend say?"
He probably felt his question was overstepping, as he asked it very cautiously. Xiang Wan could sense his timidity.
She told him the truth.
"I don't know yet. He's away on a business trip, and I haven't told him."
"Then aren't you planning to tell him?"
"The fire incident already made him cover millions for me, and his family still can't accept me. Honestly, I'm too embarrassed to bring it up with him."
Tang Haichao expressed his understanding.
"People like us, we suffer because we're too proud. Our pride is too strong. That's why my ex-wife divorced me."
"Back then, his parents looked down on me in every way, and I stubbornly held onto the belief that I had to prove myself. I understand how you feel."
"But," he continued.
"Being too strong-willed isn't good either. When you need to be soft, you must be soft. Your hard-earned career can't be lost just like this."
Xiang Wan thought for a moment and asked him.
Was it possible to apply for a loan on the house she had recently bought, which was still under mortgage?
If so, she intended to go all out and take out another loan.
Tang Haichao paused again for a few seconds on the other end.
"How about this? Let's find a place to meet and talk. A few words on the phone aren't enough."
She couldn't sleep anyway and was just lying there anxiously, so Xiang Wan agreed.
Without waking Zhou Jinbei, she informed a nurse and discharged herself from the hospital.
Unexpectedly, when they met and had just sat down, Tang Haichao pushed a card towards her.
"I have some money here. I don't need it urgently anyway, so don't apply for a loan. Just take it for now to tide you over."
Xiang Wan naively thought he had asked her out just to discuss the loan. So this...
"Mr. Tang..."
"Don't rush to thank me yet. It's not much, 2.6 million."
Tang Haichao interrupted her.
"I originally planned to buy a house for my parents in our hometown, but they're used to living in the countryside and never let me buy one."
"Since I don't need it for now, just take it."
Even so, Xiang Wan felt embarrassed.
She had already borrowed 2 million from him for her previous house purchase. Even if he didn't need it, Xiang Wan felt awkward taking more.
"No, no, no, Mr. Tang..."