Siheyuan: A Very Happy Era

Chapter 617: Show your sincerity
"I'm not a live-in son-in-law, but Lou Xiao'e asked me to go live with her in Hong Kong!" Sha Zhu waved his hand awkwardly and explained.

Although he understood in his heart that Lou Xiao'e meant for him to go to Hong Kong and become a live-in son-in-law of the Lou family.

However, this kind of thing is easy to do but doesn't sound good.

Moreover, since it happened in front of Yi Zhonghai, he naturally didn't want to admit it.

So that Yi Zhonghai wouldn't think he was after a woman who wanted to live off her.

"So what do you think?" When Yi Zhonghai saw that Sha Zhu denied it, he didn't expose him. Instead, he suppressed his complicated emotions and asked with a serious expression.

"I...I haven't decided yet. I don't know if I should say yes to her?" Sha Zhu scratched his head, a troubled look on his face.

Seeing Sha Zhu like this, Yi Zhonghai felt a slight sense of relief, and then began to earnestly advise him:
"I suggest you don't rush into this. You can first find out more about Lou Xiao'e's current situation and see if she really wants to get back together with you."

After all, you haven't seen each other for more than a decade, and didn't you say before that she remarried in Hong Kong?

You don't even know who the other person is, what their relationship is like, or whether they have children.

If I rashly go to Hong Kong with her, it will be difficult to come back later.

"You're right, we need to understand these situations thoroughly." Upon hearing this, Sha Zhu couldn't help but nod repeatedly in agreement.

What if Lou Xiao'e and that man are still entangled, or she has that man's child? If he goes to Hong Kong with her, wouldn't he have to suffer every day?

Moreover, he was unfamiliar with Hong Kong and didn't know who to ask for help if anything happened.

In this situation, to put it bluntly, even if he were killed, probably no one would know.

Thinking of this, he felt a slight chill and became increasingly resistant to going to Hong Kong with Lou Xiao'e.

"By the way, when you went to see Lou Xiao'e today, besides telling you that she wanted you to come to Hong Kong with her, did she say anything else to you?" Yi Zhonghai began to probe for information.

"No, I didn't say anything, just talked about some things from the past," Sha Zhu shook his head, answering somewhat absentmindedly.

"Okay, if there's nothing else, I'll head back now. You can think about it on your own!" Yi Zhonghai nodded, then stood up and left without saying anything more.

Although he was very anxious about Sha Zhu wanting to get back together with Lou Xiao'e, he knew that he couldn't rush Sha Zhu to change his mind; the more he rushed, the more problems would arise.

Moreover, he hasn't figured out a specific strategy yet, so it's not convenient for him to say too much to avoid making Sha Zhu rebellious.

Soon, the next morning arrived.

Lou Xiao'e arrived at No. 95 Courtyard early in the morning, carrying several boxes of gifts by herself.

Afterwards, instead of going to the Intermediate People's Court to find Sha Zhu, she turned a corner and went straight into Li Guoqiang's house.

"Qiangzi, Qiangzi!"

"Oh! Aunt Lou, what brings you here?"

Just then, Li Guoqiang finished breakfast, sent Qin Huai, Xiao Dang, and Huaihua out to work, and was about to go to No. 99 Courtyard to handle some group affairs when he suddenly heard Lou Xiao'e's shout, which surprised him.

Logically speaking, Lou Xiao'e and Sha Zhu have been separated for more than ten years. Now that they have finally come back, shouldn't they seize the time to rekindle their old feelings?
How could you possibly have time to visit his home?
"Didn't you say yesterday that I could come over and sit for a while whenever I had time? I happen to have something I wanted to ask you about, so I took the liberty of coming over to bother you. I hope you don't mind?" Lou Xiao'e's eyes lit up slightly when she saw Li Guoqiang come out of the house, and she quickly explained with a smile.

"No, come in quickly!" Upon hearing this, Li Guoqiang immediately waved his hand and greeted him.

In fact, he wasn't surprised at all that Lou Xiao'e had come to see him.

After all, anyone who knows his importance in the Qiangsheng Group will try every means to get on his good side.

Lou Xiao'e, in particular, came from Hong Kong.

Soon, he led Lou Xiao'e into the house and they sat down on the sofa.

Lou Xiao'e placed the gifts she had brought on the coffee table, then discreetly surveyed the room.

When she realized that Li Guoqiang was the only one in the room, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

She was initially worried that Qin Huairu would stay with Li Guoqiang.

In that case, there are some things she can't bring herself to say.

"Aunt Lou, you didn't come here just to chat, did you?" Li Guoqiang had no interest in beating around the bush with Lou Xiao'e and went straight to the point.

"Oh! To be honest, I've come here this time because I need your help with something!" Lou Xiao'e didn't think anything was wrong with Li Guoqiang's directness and immediately revealed her purpose.

"What is it?" Li Guoqiang raised an eyebrow and asked with some curiosity.

Hearing this, Lou Xiao'e straightened her back and said sincerely, "Well, as you know, if you want to do business in Hong Kong now, especially big business, it's absolutely impossible without the support of your Qiangsheng Group."

Therefore, our Lou family has always wanted to cooperate with your Qiangsheng Group, but we have never been able to find a good opportunity.

Given your status and position within the Qiangsheng Group, you should be able to speak with the person in charge in Hong Kong.

"Could you perhaps help me put in a good word with them and offer the Lou family a chance to cooperate?"

“Sure! It’s not a big deal. I can put in a good word for you in Hong Kong and offer the Lou family a chance to cooperate.” Li Guoqiang nodded and readily agreed.

Before Lou Xiao'e could show any surprise, he suddenly sat up, his expression turning somewhat playful. "However, the prerequisite is that you have to show me your sincerity in cooperating!"

"Sincerity?"

Lou Xiao'e was slightly taken aback, then asked with some confusion, "What do you mean?"

Li Guoqiang chuckled upon seeing this.
"Ha! Aunt Lou, you've lived in Hong Kong for over a decade. You don't actually think that just because we're neighbors, I'd go to such lengths to persuade the leaders of a Hong Kong corporation to cooperate with your Lou family, do you?"

"Of course! Just tell me your conditions, and I'll do whatever it takes to make it happen!" Lou Xiao'e immediately understood and confidently assured him.

"is it?"

Li Guoqiang raised an eyebrow, then asked with a hint of amusement, "If I said I wanted you to sleep with me for a while, could you do that?"

"Don't joke with me, I'm already this old, how could you possibly be interested in me?" Lou Xiao'e glared at him, then said somewhat awkwardly. "No, no, no! I'm not joking with you. Unless you can come up with other conditions that interest me, this is the only thing that could interest me!" Li Guoqiang waved his hand, then said seriously.

Lou Xiao'e felt a little embarrassed when she heard Li Guoqiang say that.

She never expected that Li Guoqiang would make such an outrageous request to her.

This made her feel somewhat humiliated and embarrassed.

After all, she was a rich young lady.

Apart from being stabbed in the back by Xu Damao due to circumstances, she has never suffered any further injustices.

However, even so, she didn't dare to lose her temper with Li Guoqiang.

Because she knew that with Li Guoqiang's status and position in the Qiangsheng Group, it would be as easy as eating and drinking for him to completely destroy the Lou family.

Moreover, no matter how angry she was, she had to admit that she really didn't have anything that would make Li Guoqiang think highly of her.

Now, she only has two paths before her.

One of them was to agree to Li Guoqiang's conditions.

The other option is to politely refuse Li Guoqiang, completely abandon the idea of ​​cooperating with Qiangsheng Group, and also gamble that Li Guoqiang will not retaliate afterward.

"Well? Aunt Lou, have you made up your mind?" Li Guoqiang saw that Lou Xiao'e hadn't said a word, and then asked softly with a slight smile on his lips.

"Qiangzi, can you change the terms?" Lou Xiao'e swallowed hard and then pleaded.

“Sure! As long as you can show even greater sincerity than this, there’s no problem.” Li Guoqiang nodded and said nonchalantly.

In fact, the main reason he made that condition was because Lou Xiao'e didn't have anything that he liked.

Furthermore, given his relationship with Lou Xiao'e, it's impossible for him to help Lou Xiao'e for no reason.

Therefore, he simply asked Lou Xiao'e to serve him, which could be considered as unlocking the achievement of making a mess.

Upon hearing this, Lou Xiao'e hesitated for a long time, unable to think of anything that could satisfy Li Guoqiang.

"Aunt Lou, if you really can't think of anything and are unwilling to agree to my conditions, then you can go back and think about it again." Seeing this, Li Guoqiang didn't make things difficult for Lou Xiao'e and directly gave her a way out.

In any case, Lou Xiao'e and he had no grudges against each other, so he didn't need to make things difficult for her.

However, Lou Xiao'e had no idea what Li Guoqiang was thinking. When she heard Li Guoqiang say that, her first reaction was that Li Guoqiang was being sarcastic and that he was warning her about the consequences of not agreeing.

Her expression immediately changed drastically. Then she took a deep breath and asked in a deep voice, "If I agree to your conditions, can you guarantee that Qiangsheng Group will agree to cooperate with our Lou family?"

"Of course!" Li Guoqiang nodded calmly.

Anyway, it doesn't matter who he cooperates with. If Lou Xiao'e can show her sincerity, he naturally wouldn't mind giving the Lou family a chance to cooperate.

"Okay, I promise you!" Lou Xiao'e's voice trembled slightly.

"Are you sure you've thought this through?" Li Guoqiang looked at Lou Xiao'e with a slight surprise.

Could it be that Lou Xiao'e has no intention of getting back together with Sha Zhu?
"I'm sure!" Lou Xiao'e nodded seriously.

In her view, the development of the family has always been the top priority.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so heartless as to abandon Sha Zhu and go to Hong Kong with her parents, and then choose to marry someone for the sake of the family business.

As long as Li Guoqiang doesn't reveal this matter, it won't have any real impact on her.

At most, I'll just feel bad for a while.

"Alright! Then come in with me!" Seeing how certain Lou Xiao'e was, Li Guoqiang didn't ask any more questions and simply stood up and walked towards the bedroom.

Upon seeing this, Lou Xiao'e's expression changed. After hesitating for a long time, she finally stood up slowly and followed.

Before we knew it, it was 11 a.m.

Seeing that the neighbors in the courtyard were about to come home from get off work, Li Guoqiang did not delay. He took the brush from Lou Xiao'e's hand, dipped it in ink, and quickly drew a treasure map.

"Phew~" Lou Xiao'e saw that Li Guoqiang had finally finished drawing the picture, and she couldn't help but slowly exhale a breath of stale air. Then she looked at Li Guoqiang with a somewhat dazed expression.

At this moment, she felt like she was dreaming.

If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she probably would never have imagined that someone's writing style could be so stunning and unforgettable.

"Alright, Aunt Lou, the promise I made to you will be fulfilled in three days at the latest. You can go back now and have someone make preparations!" Li Guoqiang gently patted the ball and then softly instructed.

"Hmm!" Lou Xiao'e snapped out of her reverie upon hearing this, nodded gently in agreement, then silently got up, tidied herself up, and hurriedly left.

Soon after, she returned to the hotel without incident, and as soon as she entered the room, she ran into her mother, Lou Tanshi.

"Xiao'e, what are you like?" Lou Tanshi was stunned when she saw Lou Xiao'e's radiant and charming appearance.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with me?" Lou Xiao'e's heart jumped into her throat as soon as she saw this, afraid that Lou Tanshi would notice something was amiss.

"No, it's nothing." Lou Tan hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not voice her suspicions.

"Oh! It's nothing, I'll go back to my room and rest for a bit!" Lou Xiao'e felt relieved and hurriedly walked towards her room.

"Well, Xiao'e, you're not young anymore. Since you've decided to start over, you should hurry up and get married!" Looking at Lou Xiao'e's charming back, Lou Tanshi couldn't help but remind her.

"No, Mom, what do you mean by that?" Lou Xiao'e paused, then turned back to look at Lou Tanshi with some confusion, seemingly not understanding why she would suddenly say that.

"You still have the nerve to ask me? Just go into the bathroom and look in the mirror and you'll know!" When Lou Tanshi saw that Lou Xiao'e was still pretending to be confused, she couldn't help but scold her in a somewhat annoyed manner.

Upon hearing this, Lou Xiao'e was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly turned around and ran towards the bathroom.

(End of this chapter)