QTIMP -Chapter 99 Character Persona – Money Loving (Part 9)

“Come over and sit down to eat a little. Even if you’re angry, you still need to eat something—otherwise you’ll feel awful tomorrow.”

Pei Jingzhou sat on the sofa as a bowl of warm porridge was pressed into his hands. A faint aroma drifted to his nose, making his Adam’s apple roll unconsciously.

“Then I’ll head back to rest first. You should go to bed early too—don’t exhaust your body.”

“You do seem to care about me,” Pei Jingzhou said that much before lowering his head and starting to drink the porridge. Its tender, fresh flavor instantly whetted his appetite.

Si Qiu frowned slightly when she heard his words. She had come intending to soothe him, but this man really didn’t seem to understand the situation at all.

There he was again, speaking in that strange, sarcastic tone. Earning this little bit of humiliating money was really not easy. She decided that once the club was running steadily, she would go her separate way from him.

She shut the door and returned to her room. Si Qiu began taking things out of her space. Although she had quite a bit of money, it wasn’t as much as before—the clothing factory and the shop had already consumed some of it.

Opening branch stores wouldn’t require additional money, since funds could be transferred from the clothing factory.

But opening a club would cost quite a lot even by rough estimation. Si Qiu did have a fair amount of money, but she was also planning to speculate in the Japanese stock market.

The latest time to enter the market should be around early 1990. By then she would bring in a large amount of capital and operate with high leverage. She remembered that April and August of 1990 were the two months with the greatest fluctuations.

It seemed that some of the jewelry she had sorted out earlier could be sold. There were also some items the system had rewarded her with—nothing particularly valuable—so she could sell those together as well.

After all, the club probably wouldn’t generate returns very quickly. She couldn’t spend all the money in her hands.

Meanwhile, in the study, Pei Jingzhou suddenly lost all appetite when he heard the sound of the door closing.

What did that mean? Was she throwing a tantrum at him?

She had already gone too far, and he hadn’t buried her in the ground like a ginseng root—yet she still had the nerve to act temperamental with him. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He slammed the bowl in his hand heavily onto the coffee table.

He was going to ask this woman whether she had any heart at all.

The loud banging on the door clearly carried his temper. Si Qiu hurriedly tossed the things on the bed back into her space, then stormed over to open the door.

“Pei Jingzhou, what do you mean by this? Tell me—do you have someone else outside? I’ve already noticed it. These past few days you’ve been picking on me for everything. Today I stayed up so late just waiting for you to come back. I even made hangover soup and cooked porridge for you. And after all that attentive care, this is how you treat me—getting even worse!”

As Si Qiu spoke, she sniffed. Right on cue, tears spilled from her eyes like beads from a broken string.

Seeing that Pei Jingzhou was about to speak, she cut him off first.

“Sure enough, none of you men are any good. You’re all just obsessed with the new and tired of the old—and you’re even worse. I’m not even old yet, and you’re already chasing after someone new. If you really don’t like me anymore, then just say it. Why keep speaking in this sarcastic way to squeeze and bully me? Isn’t it just because you know I like you and can’t leave you, so you think you can act however you want? Pei Jingzhou, you… you’ve really gone too far!”

The one being accused hadn’t even said much yet, but the accuser herself was crying as if tears were free—her eyes red, the tip of her nose red too, looking pitiful beyond words.

Pei Jingzhou had originally come to question her, but after being scolded from the start, he instinctively reached out, wanting to wipe away her tears.

But when he thought about that dream of his, he forcibly stopped himself, his fingers digging into his fingertips. He had originally wanted to scold her.

Yet before he could say anything, he heard her say that she liked him, that she couldn’t live without him. It was just a simple sentence, but it instantly sent all his previous thoughts and suspicions flying out of his mind.

He quickly pulled her into his arms. Seeing a shadow pass in the hallway, he guessed the housekeeper had come to check on the situation, so he hurriedly closed the door.

Holding her as he sat on the bed, he said, “Qiuqiu, stop crying. If you cry too much your eyes will hurt tomorrow. I don’t have anyone else outside—I can swear it to you.”

Si Qiu sniffled and looked at him pitifully. “Really?”

“Mm.” Pei Jingzhou saw that she didn’t keep questioning him, so he explained on his own.

“These past two days… it’s because I had a dream a couple days ago. In the dream, you abandoned me for money and immediately turned to follow someone else.”

Si Qiu fiddled with the button on his shirt, pretending to let out a big sigh of relief.

“You’re just worrying over nothing. You said I abandoned you for money—do you think you’ll be without money in the future?”

Pei Jingzhou glanced down at the top of her head. “No.” In his heart he thought: with the warning from that dream, at the very least he wouldn’t end up as miserable as he had in it.

“Then what are you worried about? Even if I’m with you for money, you’ll always have money. As long as you keep spending money on me, how could I bear to leave you?”

Pei Jingzhou snorted. “You’re not greedy at all, are you?”

But what he thought inside was: that’s right. He would always have money. He wouldn’t fall into poverty like in the dream. So even if Si Qiu stayed with him for money, why would she have any reason to leave?

That slick-haired ingrate—he wasn’t as handsome as him, didn’t have a better body, and certainly wasn’t richer.

Even if this woman was a little foolish and blind, she couldn’t be stupid enough to choose him instead of me, right?

At the same time, he remembered what Shen Xuan had said: what difference was there between loving his money and loving him? As long as he kept having money, love would keep existing.

In an instant, all the previous entanglement and sadness seemed to vanish into thin air.

Hearing the indulgence in his tone, Si Qiu immediately pushed her advantage.

“I’m not being greedy. Isn’t a husband supposed to earn money for his wife to spend? Look at it this way—when you wear a suit, people say you’re showing off. When you drive a luxury car, people say you’re showing off. But if you take a beautiful ‘mobile display cabinet’ like me out with you, everyone will say: this man is amazing, this man is rich. So if you take good care of me and invest in me, it’s basically buying face for yourself.”

“Alright, alright. Don’t worry—you won’t lose out. But if you really dare to do what you did in that dream, be careful I don’t throw you into the sea to feed the fish.”

When he said this, he deliberately pulled some distance between them so she would look directly into his eyes.

Si Qiu naturally saw the flash of ruthlessness and gloom in them. But suddenly she got up from his lap and knelt astride his legs on the bed.

Then she cupped his face with both hands and stared at him from above.

“So my husband can be this fierce? But why is it kind of exciting?” As she said this, Si Qiu lowered her head and lightly rubbed her nose against his.

Pei Jingzhou’s breathing immediately grew heavier.

She leaned down a little more, their lips almost touching.

“In order not to have your precious treasure fed to the fish, shouldn’t you take good care of me? And to make sure I don’t touch your bottom line… shouldn’t your investment increase a bit?”

Pei Jingzhou closed his eyes for a moment, then reached out and pressed a hand against her back, flipping over and pinning her onto the bed.