Zhang Mutian did not care about Zhang Ling's attitude.
He took a document envelope out of his drawer, handed it to Zhang Ling, and said, "If I just tell you, you might not take it all in. I had someone compile some information for you. Take it back, look through it carefully over the next two days, and memorize it.
"Don't embarrass yourself at the banquet when the time comes. You are now the eldest young mistress of the Mu Family. If you lose face, it's the Mu Family's face you're losing.
"From now on, in everything you do, you must think of your husband's family. Don't do anything that will drag them down."
Zhang Ling took the document envelope and mocked her father. "If you're so afraid that I'll drag the Mu Family down, why did you have me marry into the Mu Family in place of your precious daughter?"
"You are my daughter too. In the past, I failed to fulfill my duties as a father and fell short where you were concerned. It's rare for you to ask me for help. Knowing that your marriage hasn't been settled yet, I made arrangements for you. Isn't this much better than you just marrying any random man?"
Having Zhang Ling stand in for Zhang Qing to go on a blind date and get into a flash marriage with Mu Lingfeng—even though he knew Mu Lingfeng was gay—did not make Zhang Mutian feel the slightest guilt toward his eldest daughter. Instead, he felt she had ridden on his and Qing'er's coattails of good fortune to be able to marry into the Mu Family as their eldest young mistress.
The Mu Family was, after all, a hundred-billion-dollar wealthy clan.
"Fine. I took your money, so I'll solve your problem. I will play the role of the Mu Family's eldest young mistress well," Zhang Ling said self-deprecatingly.
Who was she to blame for not being liked by her father?
Though both were his daughters, Zhang Qing was the apple of their father's eye.
She, on the other hand, was worth less than a blade of grass.
Even the man she was marrying was someone Zhang Qing didn't want, which was why her father had arranged him for her.
"If there's nothing else, I'm leaving."
Zhang Ling did not want to stay and listen to her father any longer. She picked up the document envelope and stood up to leave.
"Zhang Ling."
Zhang Mutian called her back.
Zhang Ling turned around to look at him. She saw him taking something else out of his drawer. Once he placed it on the desk, she saw clearly that it was a bank card.
"Though you were the one who came to me for help, we are still father and daughter. There is one million yuan on this bank card. It's the dowry I'm giving you. The PIN is... go change the password yourself later.
"Don't let your stepmother know," Zhang Mutian did not forget to remind his daughter.
His current wife did not allow him to financially assist his ex-wife and eldest daughter. Even his eldest son, whose custody belonged to him, lived a tight material life. He doted much more on the son and daughter born to his second wife, believing that his eldest son needed to undergo more hardships in order to become successful in the future.
Therefore, when his eldest son was sent abroad to study, he only gave him a tiny amount of living allowance each month. If his son didn't have enough, he had to find his own way.
As Zhang Ling once said, a stepmother brings a stepfather; after her biological father remarried, he became worse than a stepfather.
Zhang Ling did not refuse the one million yuan dowry her father gave her. There was no point in turning down free money; she wasn't going to turn her back on wealth.
Picking up the bank card, Zhang Ling gave a cool "thank you," slipped the card into her pants pocket, and turned to leave once more.
This time, Zhang Mutian did not call her back.
Just as Zhang Ling reached the office door, it was pushed open from the outside. Two women walked in, face-to-face with her. The younger one bore a thirty-percent resemblance to Zhang Ling—it was her half-sister, Zhang Qing.
Zhang Qing was only three years younger than Zhang Ling, and was twenty-three this year. After graduating from university, she did not pursue further studies, nor did she work. Upon finding out that Zhang Ling had opened a shoe store, she opened one of her own on the very same street, not far from Zhang Ling's shop.
Her purpose was to steal Zhang Ling's business.
However, the shoe store Zhang Qing opened targeted the high-end market. That street was by no means a wealthy shopping district; those who usually frequented it were ordinary people. With the cheapest pair of shoes costing over a thousand yuan, very few average customers could bring themselves to buy them.
Consequently, Zhang Qing's shoe store did not do as well as Zhang Ling's and was running at a loss. But Zhang Qing had plenty of money to burn and didn't care about the losses; she simply wanted to disgust Zhang Ling.
The beautiful middle-aged woman whose arm Zhang Qing was intimately holding was Zhang Mutian's current wife, Yuan Qiuying. She was ten years younger than Zhang Mutian. Originally, she had been Zhang Mutian's little secretary. After successfully climbing into his bed and giving birth to Zhang Qing, she nagged Zhang Mutian into divorcing his wife to marry her.
Zhang Mutian had been infatuated and head over heels for her, growing tired of his original wife, who had built the business empire alongside him. He quickly divorced his first wife and married Yuan Qiuying in a high-profile wedding. Later, they had a younger son, who was nineteen this year by traditional reckoning and had just finished his college entrance exams.
When the mother and daughter saw Zhang Ling, the smiles on their faces instantly froze. Yuan Qiuying's expression soured, but she remained silent. Zhang Qing, always quick-tongued, demanded of Zhang Ling, "What are you doing here?"
Zhang Ling straightened her back. "My dad told me to come."
"Zhang Ling, that's *my* dad!"
Zhang Qing loved to target Zhang Ling, mainly to fight her for their father's love. Even though she already possessed Zhang Mutian's favor, she still loved to fight for it.
Zhang Ling smiled. She was beautiful, and her smile was sweet. Zhang Qing was not as good-looking as her, which was what Zhang Qing envied most about Zhang Ling.
"He is your dad, but he's also my dad. He was my dad first before he became yours! That is a fact you cannot change, Zhang Qing. And don't forget, I am your older sister!"
Even if they didn't share the same mother, having the same father made them biological sisters!
Zhang Qing was half-dead with anger. "I will never acknowledge you as my sister!"
"Whether you acknowledge it or not, both you and I are his daughters. We are sisters. You still have to call me sister. To see your sister and not even greet her—how terribly impolite. Your upbringing is lacking, Auntie. You really should teach my little sister some manners."
After mocking them, Zhang Ling ignored the mother and daughter's dark faces, bypassed them, and walked away with large strides.
Secretary Qi was waiting for her.
Seeing that Zhang Ling had run into the wife and the young lady on her way out, Secretary Qi did not dare to follow Zhang Ling too openly. Only after Zhang Qing and her mother shut the office door with a loud bang did Secretary Qi jog to catch up with Zhang Ling.
"Miss Zhang, President Zhang asked me to accompany you to select a few evening gowns for tomorrow night's banquet."
Zhang Ling entered the elevator with Secretary Qi.
"Did he give you money? Since he's the one who said he'd buy me clothes, I'm not spending a single cent."
Secretary Qi smiled. "President Zhang has transferred a sum of money to me."
But in his heart, he was muttering, *Is this Miss Zhang really President Zhang's daughter?*
He had heard that President Zhang had been divorced once, and had also had a son and a daughter with his ex-wife. The eldest son was already thirty-one this year and had been abroad since high school, rarely returning to the country. The eldest daughter's custody had been awarded to the ex-wife.
Because Zhang Mutian and his ex-wife had been divorced for over twenty years, and the Zhang Group was only established after the divorce, no one who joined the company later knew about this, except for the veterans who had built the business with Zhang Mutian.
That was why Secretary Qi muttered to himself. He mainly felt that the way Zhang Mutian treated Zhang Ling did not resemble a father treating his daughter; there was no fatherly affection whatsoever.
Zhang Mutian's doting on Zhang Qing was plain for all to see, but the contrast in his treatment of Zhang Ling was simply too vast.
"President Zhang said to help Miss Zhang buy two evening gowns and a set of jewelry to wear at the banquet. Do you have high heels, Miss Zhang? If not, we will buy a pair of high heels for you too."
Secretary Qi glanced at Zhang Ling's hair and asked tentatively, "Miss Zhang, would you like to get your hair done and try a new hairstyle?"