Looking up and seeing Qin He enter, Gu Qichen waved her over.
Qin He walked to Gu Qichen's side and sat down. "You've heard too."
Gu Qichen nodded. "I'll handle it."
"No need. Zhang Caiyu causing this kind of trouble this time is purely because she resents what happened before."
Qin He frowned. "I just don't know why she suddenly dares to do something like this? She clearly knows that Qingsui is a brand under Gu Corporation, and she knows that Wild Tea is my work. Has Zhang Caiyu's audacity grown this much?"
Before, in that competition, Zhang Caiyu had lost to her in the end, and her reputation was ruined due to her own series of foolish actions.
It was normal for her to be hated, but Zhang Caiyu clearly knew she was from the Qin family and that this brand belonged to Gu Corporation.
Who gave her the guts to offend two families at once?
Gu Qichen's voice was deep. "When I saw the news, I had already sent someone to investigate. Zhang Caiyu's studio has recently received support from the Fang family in the capital."
"The Fang family?" Qin He frowned. "The Fang family in Qingcheng that's a branch company?"
"Yes."
"Then I understand." Qin He sneered. "The Fang family in the capital has been wanting to shift their company's focus to Qingcheng in recent years, but they've been suppressed by our two families and can only rank third in Qingcheng. But his previous methods weren't so foolish. Fabricating such a scandal would have a minimal impact on the company."
"There must be a reason." Gu Qichen's gaze was deep.
"I'll deal with this matter, so you don't have to worry. Focus on preparing for the press conference. I will thoroughly investigate before the press conference."
Qin He sighed.
After chatting with Gu Qichen about Zhang Caiyu for a few minutes, her phone rang. Qin He took it out and glanced at it. It was Gu Ranran calling.
"Ranran's call. Has she been in contact with the family recently?" Qin He looked up at Gu Qichen and asked.
Gu Qichen shook his head. "If she contacted anyone, it would be privately with my mother. It's unlikely she'd contact me."
"That's true, Ranran is afraid of you."
Qin He made a shushing gesture to Gu Qichen and answered the call.
"Hello, Ranran."
Gu Ranran's voice on the other end was hesitant. "Sister Qin He, where are you now?"
Qin He's eyes flickered. "I'm at Gu Corporation, in the Qingsui office."
"Mhm—" Gu Ranran fell silent again.
Qin He's voice was gentle. "Ranran, tell me what's on your mind. I'm the only one in the office."
Gu Ranran's voice was filled with great embarrassment. "I just wanted to ask you, you said before that Qin Corporation's funds were in trouble, how is it now?"
Qin He pursed her lips, suddenly feeling a pang of sympathy for Gu Ranran. She could probably guess the reason for Gu Ranran's call.
Gu Ranran, as the eldest daughter of the Gu family, grew up in luxury. Although her personality was sometimes difficult, she was always straightforward with people she liked.
It wasn't easy for her to ask this so hesitantly.
Qin He clenched her fist, but at this moment, she absolutely could not concede.
"The funds are still the same as before, it's quite troublesome," Qin He said.
"It's good that the jewelry you lent me last time can cover some of it, but there's still a significant shortfall. I'm planning to discuss with my maternal grandmother's family in Haicheng to see if my uncle can lend me some money."
After speaking, Qin He asked, "What's wrong?"
The other end fell into complete silence. After a few seconds of silence, Gu Ranran let out an awkward laugh. "Nothing, it's nothing."
Qin He narrowed her eyes. "Ranran, are you still running away from home? Are you short on money? If you're short on money, I can send you tens of thousands for pocket money first."
"No need, I just wanted to ask about your situation. I— I'm not short on money."
After ending the call with Gu Ranran, Qin He looked at her phone and fell into thought.
"I can probably guess why Ranran called. It's likely that Yang Hao can't hold on any longer and wants Ranran to ask her family for money to open a bar."
Qin He looked up at Gu Qichen. "Tell your mother to be firm too, absolutely do not give them this money."
If Yang Hao discovered that the Gu family could easily provide Gu Ranran with two hundred million, he would probably cling to Gu Ranran like a piece of dog skin plaster for the rest of his life.
Gu Qichen's eyes were cold. "I know."
After he finished speaking, Qin He's phone vibrated again. She looked at it. It was a WeChat message from Gu Ranran.
Gu Ranran: [Qin He, can you talk to my brother and ask him not to freeze all my cards?]
Qin He replied: [Okay.]
She showed the message to Gu Qichen and frowned. "Did you freeze all of Ranran's cards?"
"Yes. Otherwise, if life is too easy, she won't see that person's true colors."
...
In an apartment on Tingqing Road, Gu Ranran sat on the sofa. It was only morning, but the curtains were drawn, and in the dim room, Gu Ranran looked at her phone with a complex expression.
She knew Qin He had a difficult time recently, and she wanted to help Qin He. However, she was also at her limit.
Gu Ranran looked towards the door. The apartment had two bedrooms; she and Yang Hao each had one.
Now, sitting on the sofa, she could hear Yang Hao snoring from the other room.
Their spending was too high. Before, she had no concept of money. She usually used the supplementary card her brother gave her, which had no limit, and she could swipe it as she pleased.
Therefore, she had never thought about saving money.
After running away from home this time, she had thought things through.
She heard that the average salary in Qingcheng was only a little over ten thousand yuan. She brought her credit card with her, thinking that at worst, she and Yang Hao would live a normal life for a while.
But she never expected that the day after leaving home, her brother would block her credit card.
At first, she didn't take it seriously, because she still had over eight hundred thousand yuan in her WeChat.
She thought Yang Hao was unemployed, so she transferred it to Yang Hao bit by bit.
Yang Hao had been going to bars every day to "study." Last night, he told her that the more than eight hundred thousand yuan was gone.
Gu Ranran pursed her lips tightly. Her WeChat balance was only a few thousand yuan left.
Yang Hao's words from last night were still echoing in her ears.
"Ranran, since we're going to study the bar's operating philosophy, we can't be stingy. We have to treat people more. You know how expensive bars are, opening a bottle of wine costs tens of thousands."
The logic made sense, but Gu Ranran felt that something was not quite right.
She pursed her lips tightly and finally opened those group chats with her close friends.
Gu Ranran sent a message to one of them, wanting to borrow a million yuan.
The other party quickly replied: [A million? Ranran, you know that our family is an ordinary family. A million yuan would probably require selling our house.]
Gu Ranran sighed and typed a reply: [Sorry.]
She propped her chin on her hand and hesitated for a long time before awkwardly opening another friend's WeChat.
Half an hour later, Gu Ranran's initial embarrassment turned into anger.
She had never cared about her friends' financial status when making friends.
These friends were the ones she considered closest. She had spent millions on them over the years!
She never expected that not a single one of them would be willing to lend a hand at this time.