allonlinenovel Chapter 264 Apology
Chapter 264 Apology
When asked why she came to see her, Chen Shufen picked up the box in her hand with a guilty look on her face, "I made some snacks that you like and brought them here for you to try."
Lu Xingchen could tell it wasn't just for this, but he said in a flattering way, "I've been craving the snacks you make for a long time. I ate the Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes a few days ago, and I felt they were far from the ones you made by hand."
Chen Shufen felt more relaxed after hearing this. "Do you want to try it now? It's freshly baked and delicious."
"Okay, let's find a place to sit down and eat. It's a bit hot outside, can we go to our company's rest area?"
"As long as it doesn't affect your work, I'm fine with it."
"It doesn't affect it." Lu Xingchen took the initiative to help her get the lunch box.
Chen Shufen didn't let go, "I'll just hold it."
Lu Xingchen couldn't help but smile when she remembered that when she was a child, whenever Chen Shufen picked her up from school, she would always help her carry her schoolbag and everything.
It was almost lunch time, and there were a lot of people coming and going in the rest area of the Zhencheng Building, so Lu Xingchen took her to the meeting room on the top floor.
Although she didn't officially enter the office area, Chen Shufen passed by and saw such a grand and bright office space and exclaimed: "I heard from Xiaolin that you reopened a company, I didn't expect it to be so large."
“It’s not big in scale, but the venue is big.”
"Don't worry, you will become bigger and bigger with your ability."
"Just because of what you said, I'm going to make it bigger. Aunt Chen, please sit here."
"Okay." Chen Shufen put the box in her hand on the table and sat down on the sofa.
"Mother Chen, what would you like to drink, tea or juice?"
"No, no, you're tired from work, you don't need to entertain me."
"Mr. Lu." Xiaoyi saw them walk into the reception room and came over and knocked on the door. "Do you need anything to drink?"
Lu Xingchen looked at Chen Shufen with a smile.
Chen Shufen said to Xiaoyi: "Then just give me a glass of water."
Lu Xingchen also looked at Xiaoyi, "Me too."
Chen Shufen looked at Xingchen with admiration when she saw Xiaoyi doing it quickly, "You have to be capable. Xiaolin is not cut out for starting a business."
Lu Xingchen sat down opposite her, "Xiao Lin is a recognized senior technician in Zhencheng Company, she is very capable."
"That's far inferior to you."
"We are in different fields, so we can't compare them like that."
"You can start your own company, but she can't."
"She just doesn't want to develop in this direction. By the way, Aunt Chen, what delicious food did you bring me?" Lu Xingchen changed the topic that was being compared.
"Let you see for yourself." Chen Shufen immediately opened the box with a smile and placed it on the table.
The box is very big, with four layers in total, each layer is divided into two compartments, and each compartment contains a kind of pastry. From the appearance, it is comparable to those sold in large stores, very delicate and beautiful, and the taste is better than that made outside, and there are fewer additives.
Lu Xingchen ate in small bites, and after eating two dishes, he gave Chen Shufen a thumbs up, "It still tastes the same as before, so delicious."
"I'm relieved to see that you're enjoying it as much as before." Chen Shufen smiled and handed her another one after she finished eating. "Try this one."
Lu Xingchen took it and gave her one, "You eat too."
"Okay." Chen Shufen took it, took a bite, then held it in her hand and ate slowly with her.
After Lu Xingchen ate one pastry from each grid, he looked at Chen Ma and said, "I should have come to see you a long time ago, but things kept coming one after another and I never made it."
"I should have come to see you and your mother earlier, but..." Chen Shufen was embarrassed for a while, not knowing how to start, "Is your mother okay now?"
"pretty good."
"You're in good health, right?"
"It's also very good."
"That's good." After saying that, there was an indescribable awkwardness between the two of them, as if they were still as familiar as before, but in fact, there was still a sense of strangeness as if they hadn't seen each other for a long time.
When Lu Xingchen was a child, he was very attached to her. She also liked this child, but she always remembered her own identity, so while loving her, she also always treated her as if she was the child of her employer.
Now that they are no longer in an employment relationship, she still habitually feels fear. If possible, she would like to love her as before, but Lu Xingchen no longer relies on or trusts her like he did when they were children.
"Stars."
"Hmm?" Seeing that she was hesitant to speak, Lu Xingchen smiled faintly and said, "Auntie Chen, just speak frankly."
"I want to say that I'm sorry to you, Xingchen." Chen Shufen finally said this.
Lu Xingchen was slightly surprised, but he keenly knew where her apology came from, "Why do you want to apologize?"
"Last year, I heard from Xiaolin that you returned to China. I have wanted to come and see you for a long time, but... I didn't dare." Chen Shufen looked apologetic. "Back then, you returned the money I invested in you and paid me 3 million in interest in advance. You also told me that your company had recovered its funds and was no longer short of money. Then, I not only recovered the loan but also received the 3 million."
Her eyes were red when she said this. She looked at Lu Xingchen awkwardly and guiltily, "Actually... Liu Wenhao let it slip at the time that I knew your mother's company was in trouble, and you were forced to be sold by your own company to pay off your mother's debts and return my money."
Lu Xingchen put down the half-eaten snack in his hand, picked up the tissue box and gave it to her, and said with a smile, "It's okay to know, there's no need to cry about this, right?"
Chen Shufen sobbed and wiped her tears with tissues. "I knew you were in such a difficult situation, but I not only took back the loan but also took the extra interest you gave me. I feel ashamed every time I think about it."
Lu Xingchen naturally thought of the time when he went to the hospital to visit Chen Shufen and came back, and heard her conversation with Chen Xiaolin.
Chen Xiaolin said that if Chen Shufen didn't accept the money, she would break off relations with her. Why shouldn't she, Lu Xingchen, suffer? Why should her mother love an outsider more than her? She just wanted Lu Xingchen to be made worse off when she had nothing.
Lu Xingchen looked at Chen Shufen and said, "I am the one who should be ashamed. You were beaten like that for supporting my work. If you don't return the money, doesn't that mean I am using your life to protect myself? Aunt Chen, money is just a thing outside of your body. You can earn it again if you lose it. Your health is the most important thing. Whether you are thinking about yourself or me, you should accept the money as a matter of course."
Chen Shufen: "Even if I take a step back, I shouldn't have accepted the three million. Isn't this just trying to make money from you when you're in trouble? I... I'm just obsessed with money and have no conscience. You and your mother were so good to Xiaolin and me in the past. Without you, we wouldn't be where we are today..."
Chen Shufen burst into tears when she said this.
"Okay, don't cry." Lu Xingchen handed her the tissue box and asked her to take out tissues to wipe her tears. "I gave you the money to make myself feel at ease. I know you feel very uncomfortable because of me being beaten. Why do you think I am so useless? If I didn't need money, I wouldn't need your help, and I wouldn't let you suffer like this.
You know I have no concept of money since I was a child. If I could have given you more, I would have forced you to give me 30 million, not to mention 3 million, just to appease my guilt. So you don’t have to feel guilty at all, because I would be more uncomfortable if you didn’t accept it.”
The two talked about this topic several times, and Chen Shufen was finally calmed down by her and stopped crying, but she sniffed and said, "There is one more thing. I came here today to apologize to you on behalf of Xiaolin."
Lu Xingchen: “…”
Chen Shufen: "On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Xiaolin drank too much and came back to me crying, saying that she didn't want to continue working at Zhencheng, and she didn't want to compete with you for any projects of the National Investment Corporation. She still wanted to be friends with you."