C5 Chapter 5: One Hundred Million Rmb

On the way back, Tang Xueqi couldn't contain her curiosity and blurted out, "What on earth happened today? How did you end up arguing with my mom and hitting her? And where have you been these last three days?"

Luo Yun replied, "I don't know."

He genuinely had no recollection of the past three days and was clueless about the subsequent events.

Tang Xueqi's brow furrowed in confusion. How could he not know?

Given his coherent thoughts earlier, she had assumed Luo Yun had regained his senses. It was disappointing to realize that his mind was still muddled.

Trying to keep her composure, Tang Xueqi's voice grew colder, "First thing tomorrow, we'll go through with the divorce. I'll drop you off at the airport, and you'll fly to Qinzhou. I've arranged a place for you there, and our grandfather will help look after you. You won't need to come back to Yunhai ever again."

"I'm not going anywhere," Luo Yun interjected.

Fuming, Tang Xueqi snapped, "You have no choice but to leave. You've humiliated Zhang Tinglei today, and if you stay, he'll seek vengeance. There's nothing he can't do with his influence. I'm already struggling to protect myself; I can't look out for you too!"

"Let him seek revenge," Luo Yun said calmly. "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

He had seen through her tough exterior to the kindness within. Despite her insistence on divorce, she was clearly looking out for him, having bought his ticket and sorted his future living arrangements.

This woman wasn't heartless after all!

Tang Xueqi slammed on the brakes, her anger boiling over, "Protect me? How can you possibly do that?"

"You've been gone for three days without a word, and now you've crossed the Zhang family and ruined my wedding! How do you plan to protect me? You don't even understand what the Zhang Group represents behind Zhang Tinglei!"

Overwhelmed, Tang Xueqi broke down, sobbing into the steering wheel.

Luo Yun hesitated, then asked, "Do you need money? How much?"

He remembered from his original self's memories that Tang Xueqi had received a substantial amount from the Luo family.

"A billion!" Tang Xueqi cried. "You said you'd protect me, but how? Without the alliance with the Zhang family, our company's financial chain will collapse, and all our initial investments will go to waste. It's all ruined because of your rash actions!"

Luo Yun gently patted her shoulder, offering comfort, "A billion, huh? That's manageable. I'll handle it."

As the God of War from the Southern Territory, money was merely a number to him. He could easily access his shareholder dividends through the bank's internal system.

He held shares in several major national banks.

Tang Xueqi was so frustrated she almost laughed, "You? What are you thinking? Forget a billion, you can't even come up with a thousand! If it weren't for your reckless contract signing, the company wouldn't be in such dire straits. You're not just foolish; you're delusional! That's what I can't stand about you!"

"I'm not boasting. I mean it," Luo Yun insisted.

To Tang Xueqi, however, his earnestness only made him seem more foolish. How could he possibly have a billion yuan?

With a fierce glare, Tang Xueqi retorted, "Fine! You're serious, then? Let's go to the bank right now, and you can show me how you'll pull a billion yuan out of thin air!"

"If you can cover the debt, you're welcome to stay in Yun Hai. Otherwise, pack your bags and head to Qin Province—I never want to see you again!"

"Agreed," Luo Yun replied.

Tang Xueqi found a bank nearby, parked, and led Luo Yun straight to the ATM.

"This won't work," Luo Yun said, shaking his head. "The access level is too low; it won't let me withdraw that much money."

"You don't need to withdraw anything; checking the balance will suffice," Tang Xueqi insisted, eager to catch Luo Yun in his lie.

Luo Yun shook his head again. "Still too low. It won't show. We need to do this with a teller."

As the bank neared closing time, Tang Xueqi's patience ran out. "You're not going to admit the truth until you're forced to, huh? You know the bank's closed, and no one's going to help you now. I'm such an idiot—I knew you were broke, yet here I am, playing along with this charade!"

With that, Tang Xueqi stormed off, leaving Luo Yun behind.

Just then, a voice called from inside the bank, "Xueqi? What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

The woman, dressed in a professional suit with a name tag pinned to her chest, was the bank's customer manager—and Tang Xueqi's former university classmate.

Caught off guard by the encounter, Tang Xueqi tensed up and replied awkwardly, "Oh, it's nothing. Just a minor disagreement. I was just leaving."

Chiang Yu, the classmate in question, had never really gotten along with Tang Xueqi. Now, with the tables turned, Chiang Yu might relish the opportunity to gloat.

All Tang Xueqi wanted was for Luo Yun to keep quiet and to get out of there quickly, avoiding any further embarrassment.

But Chiang Yu blocked her path, her tone warm but her expression mocking as she glanced at Luo Yun. "So this is your wealthy husband? Marrying into money and you don't even invite your old classmates for a get-together... Your husband seems quite sharp—not at all like the fool some might expect. He's certainly living up to his reputation as a top-tier rich second generation!"

As Tang Xueqi's discomfort grew, Chiang Yu's smile widened. "Unlike me, I didn't have your luck. I ended up with Zhang Peng. His family's wealth is nothing compared to your husband's. His dad's just the bank manager here, hardly raking in the big bucks..."

"You always had better judgment. Remember how Zhang Peng used to hound you, begging you to marry him? You stood your ground. Good thing you never said yes to him, or you'd have missed out on all this splendor."

Humiliated, Tang Xueqi trembled with the urge to vanish into thin air.

She couldn't bear another moment in the bank. "I've got to go. Something came up."

"Don't rush off! It's not often we old classmates run into each other. Why leave so soon?" Chiang Yu called out after her.

Chiang Yu had once pursued Zhang Peng relentlessly, but his heart had been set on Tang Xueqi. Only after Tang Xueqi had firmly rejected him did he settle for Chiang Yu.

In her eyes, Tang Xueqi had always been the lofty rival, the one everyone adored. Now that Tang Xueqi was down on her luck, Chiang Yu was not about to let her slip away without savoring the moment.

"I overheard you mentioning a withdrawal? Do you require assistance with that? It must be a substantial amount, right?"

Chiang Yu's eyes brimmed with mockery as she offered a disingenuous smile. "For anyone else, they'd have to wait until tomorrow. But since we're classmates, I'll put in some extra hours and personally assist you with the withdrawal process! How much are you looking to withdraw?"

Tang Xueqi gestured dismissively, about to correct the misunderstanding, but Luo Yun beat her to it.

"One billion."

Her worst fears had materialized.

Tang Xueqi facepalmed, the urge to throttle Luo Yun overwhelming her. He had the audacity to say it out loud!

"What? A billion?"

Chiang Yu was taken aback. She had already caught wind of Tang Xueqi's bankruptcy and the impending court seizure of her assets, and had approached them with the intention of rubbing salt in the wound.

Little did she expect that Tang Xueqi's foolish husband didn't need anyone else to make a mockery of him; he was a walking punchline himself!

"Haha, Xueqi, your husband wants to withdraw a billion! Have you ever even seen what a billion looks like? He's bold to make such a claim. Truly a fool, hahaha!" Chiang Yu couldn't contain her laughter any longer and let it out in a boisterous cackle.

Her laughter left Tang Xueqi feeling utterly mortified.

Meanwhile, Luo Yun remained stoic, seemingly oblivious to the ridicule. He earnestly replied, "Indeed, I've never seen a billion."

To him, money was merely a series of digits. Why would anyone display their cash for all to see? He was no money-counting machine!