Qiao Weimin didn’t give up. He tried stuffing the box into her hands. “Just take it. Your birthday is over, but this is a token of my sincerity! It’s a Seven necklace, have you heard of that brand before? Your sister wanted it, and I didn’t even get it for her. Keep this necklace with you, Dad won’t forget your birthday next year. When the time comes, you can call your Mom and Grandma along to Waterside Loft, and we’ll have a feast to make up for your birthday.”

If she hadn’t seen his mean and harsh side before, Qiao Nian would have believed him and his nonsense and thought of him as a good father. Too bad, she had seen the Qiao family’s disgusting looks of disdain. Now, he just looked like a joke to her.

Qiao Nian didn’t accept it. Instead, she raised a brow and asked him, “What does Chairman Qiao want from me? Just get to the point.”

This damn girl!

Qiao Weimin held the box before her palely. He waited for her to take it from him, but she never did. Eventually, he retracted it. “… It’s nothing much, I’m just here to show concern.”

Qiao Nian glanced at her watch and cut him off impatiently. “Chairman Qiao, I don’t have much time!”

Or at least, she didn’t want to spend it on him at all.

Qiao Weimin was evidently angry, but he simply couldn’t figure out this fake rich girl’s actual family background. Hence, he dared not offend her. He said slowly, “Nian Nian, things haven’t been going well in the company. Cheng Feng Corporation suddenly withdrew their funding, our financial flow is cut off now, and a lot of project collaborators are leaving.

“I haven’t had a good sleep in days; your mom and grandma as well. They’ve been going around, using connections to help our situation. We just want to know why Chairman Yuan of Cheng Feng Corporation doesn’t want to work with us anymore all of a sudden.

“I saw you at Cheng Feng Corporation the last time. You surely know Chairman Yuan, right?”

Shen Qiongzhi and the rest said that Qiao Nian couldn’t possibly know people of Yuan Yongqin’s level and status, but he stubbornly insisted that Qiao Nian must know Yuan Yongqin. It wasn’t just because he had seen Qiao Nian at Cheng Feng Corporation the last time, but also because there was this nagging sixth sense that kept telling him he had been wrong. He had underestimated this “cheap daughter” who had put up at his house for over 10 years.

“Nian Nian, could you help me ask Chairman Yuan out for a meal?”

Qiao Weimin looked so sincere, and there were even tears in his eyes. He looked much older than before, and it was obvious that he hadn’t been doing so well.

“You can do that, right?”

He had gone to Qiao Nian the last time too, but back then he had thought that they were just being lucky because Cheng Feng Corporation already had a positive bias towards them.

Perhaps, he thought, just some pleading would work and Cheng Feng Corporation would soften their stance.

But without Cheng Feng Corporation backing him now, he’d been running into trouble everywhere.

The Qiao Family had depended on Cheng Feng Corporation in their growth this whole time. Now that the industry had gotten wind that Cheng Feng Corporation was no longer on good terms with the Qiao Family, the other pragmatic firms immediately called things off with them too.

“Nian Nian, just help me ask the Chairman of Cheng Feng Corporation out. If the company’s back on track, you’ll have one more maiden family to back you up when you get married in the future, right? No matter the status of your biological father, he’s still just a teacher, after all. If you have a listed company behind you in your maiden household, you’ll have so many more choices of men when you get married in the future. I’m doing this for your sake too!”

Qiao Nian had seen thick-skinned people like Jiang Li before. They were always smiling no matter how many people told them off.

But she’d never seen people this shameless. This was an eye-opener for her.

“Don’t you still have Qiao Chen? Didn’t Qiao Chen approach Fu Ge and get his family to ask Cheng Feng Corporation’s Chairman out?”

The Fu family was one of the four most powerful families in Rao City. Even if they were trailing sometimes, they were still one of the leaders in terms of wealth and status.

It was just asking the Chairman out for a meal, it wasn’t that difficult.

It was bad enough before she mentioned this, but now that she brought this up, Qiao Weimin could barely keep his expression calm. He looked away uneasily, not daring to meet her gaze.

“The Fu family are outsiders, after all. I don’t wish to trouble them.”

Qiao Nian didn’t bother saving face for him. “And you wish to trouble me?”

Qiao Weimin’s expression sank as he went silent.

In fact, they did contact Madam Fu when things first happened. She had rejected them right away, and even explicitly said that Qiao Chen was dating her son, not marrying him, and that the Fu family didn’t want to be involved.

But… the whole industry knew that the children of both families were already in a relationship. Madam Fu’s words just showed that she despised Qiao Chen.