17. Blessed

That day while leaving school Lan Xie carried the huge easel out of the school grounds as RuQian was grumpily following her. This time only the driver was there to pick them. Seeing as RuQian did not make a fuss the earlier day Grandpa Zhang sent the driver to pick the girls up.

The driver placed the painting in the boot carefully while the girls got into the car. As the painting was away from her eyes RuQian felt a little better. Lan Xie had to bite her lips to stop as a giggle threatened to spill.

When RuQian reached the Zhang mansion she realized Lan Xie did not take the painting with her when they had dropped her off at her house. Turning around she saw the driver bringing in the huge painting. Just as she was about to instruct the driver to leave the painting in the car her grandfather's voice came from behind, "Oh is this the painting Xiao Xie was talking about? "

"Grandfather you are back already? "

"Xiao Qian what is that tone? Were you not the one who told me to come back early and that you would keep me company? " Her grandfather looked like a child who was told he looked ugly.

"I did not mean any disrespect grandfather, I was just a little startled."

"Anyhow. Leave the painting in the living room, I want to inspect it. Xiao Xie said it looked like a masterpiece, let's see if she was saying the truth or just boasting."

"Grandfather, Lan Xie already told you about this painting? "

"Of course. Who do you think bought it? "

"You gave money for this? Grandpa you should have just taken the painting. How can you waste money like this? " RuQian was so irritated with her grandfather that she did not realize she called him grandpa after almost a decade.

"Qian Qian! How can you say I am wasting money. It is a painting of you so I will certainly not let it go and moreover do you think your friend would just give me this painting? She did not want to part with it because it was you as the model. I had to convince her saying her parents would be mad at her if she took it home. That was when she finally let me have it."

Lan Xie's parents were against her choice of career. No one knew of her dream of becoming a fashion designer other than RuQian. Everyone else thought her dream was to become an artist. Even if she could earn money either way, her parents wanted her to manage the company. She did have a cousin who was a very successful businessman but her parents wanted her to bear this task.

When they sat down on the living room couch her grandfather had a solemn expression on his face.

"Xiao Qian, what are you going to do after your high school? Are you going to study business management? That way you could take over grandpa's company."

RuQian had expected this question from her grandfather but she never thought it would be this early. She intended to discuss this with him as she needed his help to start.

"Grandfather I want to fulfill my dream. My dream of becoming an actress, a top actress."

"I see. I knew this was your dream but I still hoped you would choose otherwise. Since you want to do this I will not stop you. But I do want you to reconsider, you know there is no other heir to our company. I just don't want to leave our company in an outsider's hand."

RuQian saw the lines marring the old man's face. He looked so tired as the lives of thousands weighed on his shoulders. She had experienced first hand how cunning the shareholders and board members were. Her grandfather had very few allies.

When she became a director she started controlling those old hags and even if they wanted to retaliate they couldn't because she had multiplied the profits by twice ever since she took up the position and she was very hard to deal with. They did try to snub her but she got rid of the first one who tried that so the rest could only grind their teeth and act supportive.

"Grandfather I am going to study business too."

"What!? "

RuQian gave a soft smile, "Grandfather I am going to take up both the courses required for my acting career and for my business career." It's not like she had to study. She was already a topper when it came to her courses in business management, so she just had to pass her exams which were very easy for her.

Meanwhile she could study for her acting courses and also have some time for the coding classes which she was going to enroll in. She did have some basic knowledge in coding and hacking, not advanced but of a beginner level so if she strived to work on it she would be able to finish all three.

Her grandfather did not have to know about the computer classes. She was planning on learning from a hacker who did illegal work so she could not divulge this information to him.

"Xiao Qian, you don't have to lie to me to make me feel better, I will not be angry with you."

Did her grandfather really think she could not do this? Well how could she blame him, she only started studying well after she met Chang Min in her past life. Before that she never bothered with studies.

"Grandfather I am really not lying to you. I really want to take up both career paths, this way I can work in either one or both. Do you really underestimate me? " RuQian gave her grandfather a cheeky smile.

"Ahh.. Why would I underestimate my Xiao Qian? You have been born to become great. You are the blood of this Zhang Wennai, you will only bring glory to the Zhang family. Don't worry my dear I would never even dream of underestimating you."

"Hehehe" A giggle passed RuQian's lips as she saw her grandfather's antics. Oh how blessed she was to be able to come back once again to live this life. She would cherish these memories forever...