Rebirth: I Became Mr.President's Beloved-Chapter 1002: Just Buying Her Five Years

Lai Yuaner didn’t expect her father to make her like those outdated stars and show herself in public. Although she wasn’t as furious as her mother, her eyes were still rimmed red.

Ouyang Qian’s questioning failed to change Lai Wenyan’s mind.

"I’ve never treated her badly as a father. She’s also my daughter. If Tang Li can do it, why can’t she?"

Lai Wenyan still remembered what Ouyang Qian had said before: "Don’t forget, it was you who told me this industry makes money fast. Since Yuaner can’t get any roles, instead of lying around at home all day, she could run some commercial performances like other artists. At least it’s a way to make a living."

Make a living?

It turned out Ouyang Qian’s daughter had fallen to this level of destitution!

Ouyang Qian felt like she just had filth shoved into her mouth.

And she herself had initiated this filth for Lai Wenyan.

"You may have no limits, but I still need to maintain my reputation in this circle." Ouyang Qian grabbed her bag from the sofa and pulled her young daughter over, giving Lai Wenyan a cold look: "Asking my daughter to smile for tens of thousands? Not unless I, her mother, die first!"

Leaving the ward, Lai Yuaner’s eyes were still flushed.

The mother and daughter took the direct elevator.

Once the elevator doors closed, Ouyang Qian wrapped her arms around her daughter’s shoulders, "Don’t worry! With mom around, running gigs and hosting won’t touch you."

"But why would dad ask me to do gigs?" Lai Yuaner couldn’t help but wipe at the corner of her eyes, feeling aggrieved and disappointed as her tears uncontrollably fell: "Dad wasn’t like this before. He’s spoiled me since I was little."

Ouyang Qian smoothed her daughter’s stray hair but didn’t answer the question.

—What else could it be?

Considering gigs to make money, it’s likely that Tang, that little punk, instigated it!

She knew Lai Wenyan’s intent quite clearly.

Claiming it was for Yuaner to do commercial performances was just to push her to cough up one billion!

After what happened to Xiaxia, Yuaner was like her eyeball.

Someone as calculating as Lai Wenyan would know how much this daughter meant to her.

How could she bear to let her daughter suffer in third and fourth-tier cities?

Back at the Lai Family, Ouyang Qian told her daughter to get out of the car first, while she gave the driver an address.

Nearly three hours of car ride later, the vehicle stopped at a rehabilitation center’s entrance.

Ouyang Qian signed in at the guard station and went straight to the building where Lai Shengxia was located. Because she had arranged it beforehand, the facility put Lai Shengxia in a relatively quiet building, mostly inhabited by Alzheimer’s patients or those with depression.

In the ward, Lai Shengxia was leaning against the window sill, gazing outside.

She turned her head upon hearing the door open.

That half scarred right face also came into Ouyang Qian’s view.

Waiting for the medical staff to leave, Ouyang Qian closed the door behind her and sat opposite Lai Shengxia: "I took Yuaner to meet Chairman Guo today. When the shareholders’ meeting is held, like Chairman Liu, he’ll support transferring my shares to Yuaner. With my current shareholdings, there shouldn’t be any issues."

"Safe sailing is better than sinking." Rarely venturing out of the ward, Lai Shengxia’s thin face had little color: "With someone like that at home, caution is necessary."

Mentioning Tang Li, Ouyang Qian’s heart burned with hatred.

Lai Shengxia noticed her mother’s unease, "Is there trouble at home again?"

"Isn’t it that little bitch!" Ouyang Qian gritted her teeth: "She urged your father to have Yuaner perform in small towns to scramble for money."

Though confined in the rehabilitation center, Lai Shengxia wasn’t restricted in communication.

She’s read all those posts online.

Lai Wenyan’s embezzlement of Tang Family antiques, Ouyang Qian had also informed her over the phone.

"Unable to gather this money, dad must be trying anything desperately now."

Ouyang Qian knew well how anxious Lai Wenyan was; without paying up that billion, Lai Wenyan couldn’t join the councilman election, and even if this debt went bad, it might affect that little bitch’s marriage.

No wonder the father-daughter duo was anxious like post-frost crickets.

The more they were like this, the less she’d pay up.

After resolving the antique matter, wasn’t it just making clothes for others!

Her residual affection for Lai Wenyan had diminished, but planning was complete, so why throw a billion at the last moment?

Moreover, no matter how much she did, Lai Wenyan might not appreciate it.

Ouyang Qian raised her hand, gently stroking Lai Shengxia’s right face: "Lawyer Zeng has arranged the medical parole application. Regarding the certification documents, the rehabilitation center will assist you, and it’s just a matter of days. Once the approval comes through, you can live at home."

"Is the person found?" Lai Shengxia inquired.

Ouyang Qian nodded.

"From Xiangnan Pingxiang Mountain, older than you by two years."

Since she hadn’t handled it personally, Lai Shengxia wasn’t fully reassured: "Older than me by two years...not yet thirty. Is she really willing?"

Understanding her daughter’s concerns, Ouyang Qian explained: "Her son has a heart condition, a congenital illness. Over the years, a lot has been spent on medical bills. Her husband’s family has strong opinions, and her relationship with her husband isn’t good. I gave her two million. After all, I only asked for five years, not her life."

Her son was that woman’s lifeline.

As long as the child’s illness persisted, an endless stream of money was required.

Ouyang Qian wasn’t worried she couldn’t maintain control over that woman.

As she spoke, she grasped Lai Shengxia’s hands over her lap, "Your current priority is to get healthy. I’ve arranged the hospital in Vancouver; once we land, you can have the reconstructive surgery."

Ouyang Qian planned to divorce Lai Wenyan, which Lai Shengxia was aware of.

"About father..."

She began, only to be interrupted by Ouyang Qian’s cold sneer: "Isn’t he all about that illegitimate daughter? Whether our mother-daughter presence matters at home is irrelevant, so I’ll see if that daughter will care for him in his old age!"

...

Tang Li left Lai Wenyan’s ward but didn’t immediately depart the hospital.

As Ouyang Qian and her daughter exited the car, Tang Li was sitting in the pavilion eating a popsicle.

She watched this pair of mother and daughter enter the inpatient department, and not long after, saw them rush out, clearly agitated.

After they drove off, Tang Li threw her popsicle stick in the trash.

Just as she was about to leave, a cry sounded from the nearby bushes.

Very weak, almost unnoticeable.

With a subtle turn in her step, Tang Li parted the shrubbery and spotted a palm-sized kitten.

—It was an orange tabby.

Looking a lot like the one she had in her previous life, except it lacked a tuft of white fur on its forehead.

The afternoon sun made the patch of grass droop and wilt.

Tang Li cupped the kitten in her palm, the little one sensing a stranger’s scent, uttered a feeble tiger-like mewl.

She waited but the mother cat didn’t appear.

Seeing the little one rub its face with a paw, Tang Li couldn’t help but smile, gently poking its pink nose: "Alright, today I’ll help you find a permanent job."

—Note—

Little Kitten: Of course it looks alike, she’s my daughter!