Chapter 1132: Chapter 425: Visitation and Opulence
The next day.
The sun pierced through the thin mist, releasing its warmth in the autumn sky, striving to dilute the seasonal changes.
“Sister Zhong, I… aren’t we there yet?”
Near a long line of traffic lights, inside a white BMW 3 Series with a Magic City license plate, a modestly dressed but undeniably beautiful young girl timidly asked Zhong Huilan, who was driving.
“Linlin, are you feeling restless? Don’t worry, we’re almost there, should be just one… oh, no, two more intersections.”
After glancing at the GPS again, Zhong Huilan adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses and turned back with a smile.
“No, it’s mom… mom seems a bit stuffy.”
Linlin looked down at her mother, Zhao Yu, whom she was holding in her arms, and whispered.
“Oh, I forgot your mom becomes more drowsy after taking that medicine.”
Zhong Huilan quickly rolled down the window, “Sorry, sorry, that was my oversight, I also forgot to turn on the air conditioning earlier. Opening the window should help a lot…”
Zhong Huilan wasn’t surprised why Linlin didn’t know how to open the car window; after all, even though she was a Ph.D. returnee from overseas, she had once taught in underdeveloped mountain areas before going abroad. She understood deeply how limited the knowledge of modern technology was for children from those places…
Uh, although Linlin wasn’t from the mountains, the rural areas in a small county in Yunan Province probably weren’t much different from the mountains, right?
Growing up in the coastal Hai Province, Zhong Huilan thought so.
“Mm-hmm, thank you, Sister Zhong.”
Linlin quickly expressed her gratitude.
Seeing Linlin’s obedient demeanor, Zhong Huilan felt quite guilty. With Linlin’s personality, she must have clearly felt that her mom was uncomfortable before she couldn’t help but speak up, which meant that because of her, this poor mother and daughter had likely been tormented for the entire journey…
It’s all my fault, even though I followed the GPS, I still managed to take the wrong turn twice, one time even mistakenly going onto an overpass, taking several extra kilometers unnecessarily before getting back on track.
The traffic management department designing signs, couldn’t they make them simpler and clearer? Even I, a dignified Ph.D. holder, almost got lost…
After internally blaming others, Zhong Huilan then shifted blame to the car she was driving.
If it wasn’t for being cheap initially and thinking that BMW is a big brand that would look good, I wouldn’t have bought this second-hand BMW 3 Series, nor would I have ended up with its air conditioning breaking down after just over a year of driving it, getting it repaired several times just to find it as if it’s not fixed at all…
But what can I do? In a place like Magic City, being a doctor, I couldn’t possibly drive a small, domestic car on the road, right?
Zhong Huilan sighed.
Her former classmates envied her for establishing herself in a big city and having a glamorous profession, but only she knew the bittersweet experiences it entailed.
With an annual income of about 700,000 to 800,000 including bonuses and performance-based pay, it sounds okay, but come on, this is Magic City!
She considered herself frugal, yet the everyday expenses consumed nearly 10,000 per month—that, too, without buying any cosmetics, jewelry, etc.
Plus, the apartment her foster parents helped cover the down payment for had a total price of 6 million, with a monthly mortgage payment of nearly 20,000…
So, up to now, her bank savings had never broken into six figures. She usually had to save for a year before daring to buy a designer handbag and could only afford to travel once after receiving her bonus—never mind how “tight” life was.
Thankfully, that man’s appearance changed everything.
She stumbled into a triple jump, leaping to become the Vice President of Jiahui International, soon having a basic annual salary of 1.2 million.
The real kicker, however, lay in the performance bonuses and position allowances.
The position allowances varied based on the department she managed. Though there’s no specific number, it reportedly was a lot.
Because she had yet to receive the first payout, Zhong Huilan wasn’t sure how much it would be, nor was she comfortable asking the other vice presidents, but according to her colleagues’ confident words, the overall welfare for a year would not be less than two to three million.
Zhong Huilan vaguely felt this number might be low, but since it was her first time as a leader, she wasn’t certain.
In any case, her life was certainly about to face earth-shattering changes.
The day before, after returning home, Zhong Huilan emptied her shopping cart in one go, putting tens of thousands on her credit card.
But so what?
She could pay it off!
In short, this joyful mood had lasted for several days, even greatly diluting the embarrassment from that day’s “failed sacrifice,” instead deepening the unease in Zhong Huilan’s heart.
She owed Zhou Wang so much, what should she do in the future?
Perhaps… find another chance to try again?
After all, based on Zhou Wang’s reaction that day, she should still have some attraction for him, only because Sister Qi Jiayi was present that Zhou Wang couldn’t fully enjoy… right?
“Sister Zhong, watch out!”
While Zhong Huilan’s thoughts jumped one after the other, Linlin suddenly exclaimed from the back.
Zhong Huilan snapped back to reality, only to find a cart unexpectedly appearing on the pedestrian crossing ahead. She quickly swerved the steering wheel, narrowly avoiding it.
Barely avoiding a fright, Zhong Huilan dared not lose focus again, complaining internally about the cart not watching where it was going while continuing to drive attentively.
A moment later, the GPS showed “destination reached,” and Zhong Huilan stuck her head out of the car window to take a look, clicking her tongue in amusement: