"Are you sure that if you fail, you will stay with me for the rest of your life, be my woman, and bear my children without asking for any official status?" Yi Anguo asked again.

"Of course! I mean what I say. We can sign an agreement. With this club's resources, they could find me even if I fled overseas, should I dare to break my word," Ding Jing said with conviction.

After their conversation, Yi Anguo promptly transferred three million yuan to Ding Jing. He told her to handle her family affairs first and then come find him, making no immediate demands on her.

Three million yuan was no longer a huge sum for Yi Anguo. As for whether Ding Jing would simply take the money and disappear, he decided to take the gamble.

Yi Anguo arrived at the convenience store in Blue Coast Phase Three. A little girl named Duo Duo ran up to him cheerfully, calling out, "Uncle Landlord!"

"Big Brother Yi! You're here!" Han Ying said, stepping out from behind the cash register. "My boss went to look at a new shopfront."

"She just opened her second store, and she's already planning a third?" Yi Anguo remarked.

Han Ying remained silent. It wasn't her place to comment on such matters.

"How old is Duo Duo this year?" Yi Anguo asked.

"Uncle Landlord! I'm already four years old!" Duo Duo replied eagerly.

"Four years old! Why aren't you in kindergarten? There are lots of other children to play with there!" Yi Anguo said, squatting down to her level.

"Mommy says kindergarten costs a lot of money, and we don't have any," Duo Duo said with a maturity beyond her years.

"Sigh... Can you still not get in touch with her father?" Yi Anguo sighed.

Han Ying shook her head, her eyes turning red.

"Duo Duo, do you want to go to kindergarten?" Yi Anguo asked.

"Yes!" Duo Duo nodded emphatically.

"Alright! How about Uncle takes you to kindergarten tomorrow?" Yi Anguo said with a smile, stroking the little girl's face.

"Uncle Landlord, are you serious? Can I really go to kindergarten and play with the other kids?" Duo Duo asked excitedly before her face fell. "But Mommy said we don't have any money."

"It's okay, Uncle has money. Uncle will take you, and your mom won't have to pay a thing."

...

"Big Brother Yi, I'm so sorry for troubling you again," Han Ying said, her voice filled with shame.

"I'm helping Duo Duo because the child is innocent," Yi Anguo said with a helpless air.

"You need to be strong, too. Stop being so withdrawn and depressed, as if you have nothing to live for. You have a daughter, and you need to set a good example for her.

"Acting like this will only make your daughter's personality weak and timid, which is bad for her development."

...

Yi Anguo went to Blue Coast Phase Three to collect rent from a few tenants. As he was leaving the complex gate to head back to Phase Two, he suddenly heard a young woman call out, "Brother Landlord!"

"Brother Landlord! What are you doing here? Do you have apartments to collect rent from in this complex, too?"

Seeing Chen Ting sitting in a red convertible, Yi Anguo stopped and asked, "Chen Ting! Isn't it about time you paid your rent? How many months do you owe me now?"

"Oh, Brother Landlord, I don't have any money on me! How am I supposed to pay you?" Chen Ting cooed.

"Every time I ask for the rent, you say you have no money. When will you ever have any?" Yi Anguo said, annoyed.

"Hey now, Brother Landlord, it's not like I'm intentionally avoiding paying you. I had the money ready for you several times, but you never came to collect it, so I ended up spending it," Chen Ting said, putting on an innocent look. "Well, if you came by to collect it more often, I'd pay you eventually! It's your own fault for not showing up for one or two months. How can you blame me for not paying! You're not even proactive about collecting rent when it's owed. Is something wrong with your head? Now you decide to come looking for it when I'm broke."

"You're the one who owes me rent, and you think you're in the right? When you have the money, don't you know enough to pay me proactively?" Yi Anguo rolled his eyes in frustration. "Besides, you claim to have no money while driving a convertible. If you're so broke, where does the gas money come from?"

"This convertible was a birthday gift from my dad; I didn't buy it. And I don't pay for gas—I have a gas card! He gave me that, too!" Chen Ting said with a giggle. "Brother Landlord, do me one favor. Take me somewhere, and I promise I'll pay you back every penny I owe."

"Really? What's the favor? Where are we going?" Yi Anguo asked, his interest piqued. Chen Ting owed him for rent and utilities, which added up to over ten thousand yuan. It was not a small sum.

"Just get in the car. You'll find out when we get there," Chen Ting said, hopping out of the convertible and trying to pull Yi Anguo toward the passenger seat.

"Nice try! You're trying to trick me into pretending to be your boyfriend again, aren't you? I'm not falling for it this time!" Yi Anguo said, pulling his arm away.

With that, he beat a hasty retreat, leaving an incensed Chen Ting to stomp her foot and yell after him, "Serves you right for being single!"

It wasn't that Yi Anguo disliked beautiful women; he'd just grown wary after being conned by Chen Ting so many times. Naturally, he wasn't willing to be fooled again. Every time she dragged him along to play her boyfriend, he ended up getting horribly fleeced. He could never get away without taking a major hit to his wallet, whether it was being roped into treating her to a fancy dinner or buying her an expensive designer bag. Yet, Yi Anguo found he couldn't get angry about it, since he always went along with it of his own free will.

Yi Anguo had discovered that whenever Chen Ting acted cute and spoiled in front of him, he was simply incapable of refusing her requests. He couldn't understand it himself, which was incredibly frustrating.

Is it because I don't have a younger sister? Do I subconsciously dote on her like one? he often wondered. That seems to be the only explanation that makes any sense!

Actually, it's obvious Chen Ting can afford the rent. A girl dressed head to toe in luxury brands, carrying handbags worth tens of thousands, and driving a convertible worth millions... is she really hurting for a couple thousand in rent money? I don't know why she deliberately withholds it. I don't even know why I'm not angry or upset about it, even after she hasn't paid a cent for months and I've lost over ten thousand yuan to her schemes. It's as if it's perfectly natural for her to owe me money and take advantage of me. If a day ever came when Chen Ting wasn't behind on rent and didn't try to pull a fast one on me, *that* would feel abnormal.

Time flew by, and before long, the first half of 2004 was over. Hu Qian was home from university for the summer holiday.

Around that time, Yi Anguo finally bought his first car: a Bentley worth over nine hundred thousand yuan.

Yi Anguo drove to the airport to pick up Hu Qian. Her sister, Hu Jing, was too busy scouting locations for the third Quiet Convenience Store to go herself. She felt there was no need to waste her own time, as she was completely at ease with Yi Anguo picking up her sister.

Hu Jing's goal for the year was to open six directly-operated Quiet Convenience Store pilot locations. The following year, she planned to formally establish the Quiet Trading Company and launch the Quiet brand franchise chain.

Ever since Yi Anguo had bought Hu Qian a laptop, she had grown very close to her brother-in-law. They often chatted on QQ, and Yi Anguo, for his part, doted on Hu Qian, treating her like a little sister. He would periodically check if she had enough money and transfer her some for expenses. He always told her not to be too frugal—to eat and drink whatever she liked and spend money when she needed to, because her brother-in-law could afford it.

This naturally brought them even closer. Hu Qian felt that her brother-in-law treated her even better than her own sister did. Her sister would often nag her to be frugal, reminding her how difficult it was to earn money. Her brother-in-law, however, never scolded her for spending. In fact, he encouraged her to spend as she saw fit and not to skimp on herself.

The contrast was stark. It was obvious her brother-in-law treated her best.

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