Lai Hui didn’t press further; there were too many accounts to settle, and this was just a minor one. “Then why couldn’t I reach you when you were in the country?” Zhou Yuqian adjusted the cushion against the wall, cradled her, picked up a magazine, and pointed at the spirited old man on the cover, “That’s my father. Thirty years ago, he and my mother started from nothing, and now he’s the largest shareholder of Zhou Group, as you know.”
Lai Hui looked at him for a moment, then said uneasily, “Of course, I know, but what I can’t figure out is, if your father is a wealthy Chinese, why are you here? They run a retail business, so why are you involved in technology?” Zhou Yuqian handed her a glass of juice from the table and began explaining the backstory. Ten years ago, his father, Zhou Chenjun, worried about his son’s lack of discipline and feared he would squander the family fortune. Upon Zhou Yuqian’s graduation, he invested a sum of money and sent him away, leaving him to fend for himself. Compared to his previous luxurious lifestyle, that money wouldn’t last long, forcing Zhou Yuqian to think of ways to multiply it. At that time, the high-tech industry was just emerging in the mainland, and he seized the opportunity. Within a few short years, his business expanded significantly. His parents were initially proud, but his first marriage disappointed them. His wife’s constant scandals drained their resources and efforts to keep their family’s reputation intact. They were troubled, and Zhou Yuqian insisted on keeping his family background hidden. His parents were exhausted from managing the situation, and when he divorced, his family’s history was exposed, angering them. Zhou’s mother lectured him for a whole month and learned about Lai Hui’s existence.
