"You are my wife, isn't my money your money?" Qin Xuan said with a smile. "If anything happened to you, no amount of money would mean anything. Money can be earned again, but if you're gone, then you're truly gone. Such a beautiful wife, I would be heartbroken to lose you."
"Don't talk nonsense, say something good." Tantai Yue rolled her eyes prettily at Qin Xuan, then pouted, "Besides, you already divorced me. I'm not your wife anymore."
Qin Xuan's heart skipped a beat. He deeply regretted what he had done before. If he had investigated properly back then, would she have suffered so much? Moreover, if he hadn't seen Tantai Yue on the rooftop through the livestream, they would likely have been separated by death by now.
Qin Xuan guiltily stepped forward and gently hugged Tantai Yue. "Tantai, I swear, from now on, I will never let you suffer any injustice again."
Half an hour later, the security guard who had gone to withdraw money returned, riding a scooter and dragging a large black sack. The security guard placed the sack in front of Qin Xuan and panted, "Sir, it's... it's all here. A total of thirteen million five hundred thousand."
Qin Xuan opened the bag and saw it was full of crisp banknotes. Tantai Yue looked at the dense pile of money, a little shocked. It was the first time she had seen so much cash, but at the same time, she felt a pang of distress. With so much money, Qin Xuan could have lived comfortably for the rest of his life. Now that it was used to compensate for her troubles, he had nothing left. Sigh, she decided, she would give him half her salary every month from now on. Qin Lin hadn't even started school yet. As his sister-in-law, she had to do something for them.
Qin Xuan took out a stack of money from the bag and said to everyone, "Come on, I'll compensate you all." Seeing the money, everyone scrambled forward eagerly. In less than ten minutes, Qin Xuan's more than ten million yuan had been divided.
However, after taking the money, the crowd didn't leave immediately. They stood there, hesitant, wanting to leave but also not. They were all employees of Jin's Group. Jin Shikai had approached them, giving each of them ten thousand yuan and asking them to cause trouble at the entrance of Xuanmei Cosmetics Company. They were ordinary employees, and ten thousand yuan was equivalent to one or two months' salary, so they were naturally willing. These people had never used Xuanmei Cosmetics Company's products. Their excuses were fabricated, and they had made outrageous demands. After all, even if one's skin was damaged by cosmetics, they could just go to the hospital for some medicine. Demanding hundreds of thousands was just something they said offhand. They never expected to be compensated, let alone that someone would actually pay.
Qin Xuan crossed his arms and smiled at the crowd, "What's wrong? You've taken the money and received compensation, but you don't want to leave? Do you want to stay here overnight?"
Everyone looked at a loss. Their assigned task was to cause trouble for three days, but they hadn't actually expected to be compensated. Now that they had been paid, they had no reason to cause trouble. Qin Xuan had long suspected that something was unusual about this situation. If Xuanmei Cosmetics Company's products really had problems, why were only these people having issues? And why was there no news online? It was highly likely that these people were hired troublemakers, specifically targeting Tantai Yue. Qin Xuan clenched his fist. Anyone who dared to bully his wife would not be spared, no matter who they were!
"I've paid what I owe. Now it's time to settle your accounts," Qin Xuan said with a cold smile. "You came here to cause trouble in the middle of the night and ruined the entrance. Look at the stone lions with their teeth missing, and the flowerbed in the middle that's been trampled beyond recognition. How do you intend to compensate for these?"
A man with glasses and a somewhat shifty appearance said dismissively, "How much could this cost? Ten thousand? Twenty thousand? Tell us, and we'll pay." This man with glasses had received four hundred thousand yuan from Qin Xuan. The stone lions and flowerbed were worth much less. At most, they would pay a few tens of thousands, and he would still have over three hundred thousand left. It was free money anyway, so a few tens of thousands didn't matter.
Qin Xuan chuckled and then pointed to the goldfish pond behind the crowd. "And what about that? How should that be accounted for?" The goldfish pond had been so thoroughly trashed that it was indescribable. It was filled with fruit peels, garbage bags, and even yellow liquid on some of the pond walls. It was obvious what it was. The corpses of dozens of goldfish floated on the surface, all dead. "The dozens of goldfish in that pond were all imported from the Y-country sea. Each one cost between one hundred thousand and two hundred thousand yuan to import. Adding the transportation costs back to the country, each fish would have an additional few tens of thousands. You tell me, with seventy to eighty fish killed by you, how much do you think you need to compensate?"
The expressions on everyone's faces immediately changed. A plump woman jumped out and yelled, "Are you crazy for money! Twenty thousand for a fish! Why don't you go rob someone!" According to Qin Xuan's statement, the goldfish in the pond alone were worth at least over ten million yuan, more than what Qin Xuan had paid them. Everyone also disbelieved him. What kind of fish could be that expensive? More expensive than the koi carp they ate.
Qin Xuan didn't explain much. Instead, he said to the crowd, "If you don't believe me, you can search online and see how much a 'Five-Colored Koi' costs." Some disbelievers quickly took out their phones and started searching for pictures of 'Five-Colored Koi'. When they saw the pictures, they were stunned. Because the koi carp in the photos looked exactly like the goldfish in the pond! And the price tag next to the 'Five-Colored Koi' in the photos was astonishing: two hundred thousand! That meant these seventy to eighty fish in the pond were worth over ten million yuan?!
"Oh, right, there's one more thing I didn't mention," Qin Xuan suddenly reminded them. "The feeding cost for these fish is tens of thousands per month per fish. Judging by their size, they've been here for about a year, so their value might have doubled."
Everyone was already dumbfounded. Forty thousand yuan for a fish? That was more expensive than a human life! "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" "A small cosmetics company that doesn't even rank among the top hundred in Jiangbei couldn't possibly afford such expensive fish! These definitely aren't 'Five-Colored Koi'!"
Qin Xuan chuckled. "Why is it impossible? Who says it has to be owned by them? Can't someone gift it? As he spoke, Qin Xuan glanced at the security guard beside him. The security guard immediately understood and quickly said, "Yes, yes! These are Five-Colored Koi, a gift from the CEO of a major listed company. I was the one who brought people to put these koi in the pond back then!"