Ch. 556..560: The Secretly Rich Man Chapter 556-560

Chapter 556

Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 556 As he drove on, Gerald noticed something weird. There seemed to be a sudden increase in luxury cars in town. Most of them were parked outside hotels.

Though it was rather strange, Gerald didn’t think too much about it.

At that moment, Gerald’s phone began to ring. He saw that it was a call from Mrs. Winters.

“What’s the matter, Mrs. Winters?” asked Gerald with a smile after picking the call up.

“Gerald? Where are you? I saw that Queeny had driven home by herself earlier. She looked slightly upset. Did both of you get into some kind of argument? Did she leave you there alone?” asked Mrs. Winters, her voice filled with concern.

“Don’t worry, I’m driving back now in a friend’s car!” Gerald had no choice but to say that so that Mrs. Winters wouldn’t overthink the situation.

“I see! That’s good to hear… By the way Gerald, could you get a bag of rice in town on your way back? That way your uncle won’t have to go out anymore!”

“No problem!”

Gerald then found a supermarket nearby and bought two bags of rice, a bottle of peanut oil, and a few other items.

As Gerald moved the items into the car, he remembered that back when he had just returned to Serene County, Mr. Winters had refused to take any money from Gerald. Gerald had promised himself then,

that since they wouldn’t accept his money, he would just use the money to get necessities for them.

Realizing that he had almost forgotten his own promise to himself, he rushed back into the supermarket. After a few trips in and out to make sure he could carry everything, Gerald ended up buying a few boxes of milk, good wine, and an array of herbs and spices as well.

As he opened his almost filled to the brim car trunk again, he heard a surprised voice call out to him.

“Gerald?”

Gerald was holding a pressure cooker in his arms when he turned to see who had called him. It was a girl standing at the entrance of a hotel that was right next to the supermarket.

“F*ck! Leila? What are you doing in this town?”

The girl standing at the hotel’s entrance was definitely Leila, and that left Gerald equally as surprised as she was. After all, he had never thought he would see anyone from the Jung family again after that incident.

Gerald had just been too disappointed and heartbroken with them. Even after Willie encountered further problems, Gerald completely ignored them despite his father’s constant reminders to look after them on his behalf.

He hadn’t answered any of Leila’s calls either. This made their current situation more awkward than it should have been.

“Well, we’ve just arrived and I was about to go buy something from the supermarket. I really hadn’t expected to see you here!”

Leila was still very kind and polite toward Gerald. She then began walking over to him. It was obvious that she wanted to continue chatting.

“We? Who else did you come with?” asked Gerald.

“My parents and my dad’s colleagues… They’re here to enjoy themselves!” replied Leila in a soft tone.

“I see!” said Gerald as he nodded.

Was there anything interesting in Touin? Why had so many people specifically come here to have fun? However, Gerald didn’t really want to continue talking to Leila anymore. Therefore, he didn’t bother to ask her for further details.

“Speaking of which, Gerald, are you still living in your house?” asked Leila.

“Of course. Where else would I be living at?”

“I see! I don’t think I’ve ever been to your house before… After all, you were the one who always came to mine when we were still kids!” replied Leila as she smiled.

“Well alright then, if there isn’t anything else, I’ll be taking my leave first! I have to hurry back home to cook!” said Gerald, immediately changing the topic.

Leila was aware that Gerald didn’t want to talk to her. However, the more Gerald ignored her, the more she wanted to chat with him!

After all, she was Leila Jung! Was she really that undeserving of his time and attention?

“By the way, Gerald, you only bought one cable for your pressure cooker. Don’t you plan on getting a spare one? After all, the voltage in villages can get pretty unstable and cables are prone to get burnt out easily!”

“Ah. I didn’t really think of that. Thank you!” replied Gerald with a slight smile. If she had only been this kind toward him in the past, things could have been perfect.

After placing the pressure cooker into his car, he turned to re-enter the supermarket again to get another spare cable.

“Hehe… You know, since I’m going in anyway, you can just leave that to me!”

Before he could stop her, Leila had already ran into the supermarket. Shortly after, she returned with a spare cable in hand. Just as she handed it over to Gerald, a middle-aged man’s voice could be heard from the entrance of the hotel.

“Leila, what are you doing?”

Chapter 557

Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 557 At that moment, two couples and a young man exited the hotel. All of them happened to see Leila talking to Gerald.

The middle-aged man who had called out to them coldly just seconds ago, was now walking toward the two. He seemed to be the leader of the group, and he was naturally none other than Willie himself

“What are you doing here, dad? I was just helping Gerald buy something!” grumbled Leila.

“What? You’re still buying things for him? Humph! I’ll never give anything to him! Even if I have to throw it away!”

Immediately after he said that, he snatched the cable from Gerald’s hand before throwing it onto the ground.

Before this, Willie had been very dissatisfied as he was prepared to beg Gerald to use his connections to help him. However, in the end, Gerald had simply ignored him.

That made Willie extremely angry and frustrated.

“Didn’t I tell you not to have anything to do with him anymore, Leila? Why can’t you remember such a simple thing?”

Leia, who had previously been walking over, now stood beside Willie. She simply looked at Gerald with eyes filled with contempt.

“Uncle Jung, who is this person?” asked the young man from before who had also walked over.

“He’s just the son of someone I used to know in the past. He lives in Touin!”

“Why does it seem as though you have some kind of misunderstanding with this young man?” This time, the other middle-aged man was the one asking.

The reason why this group of people had gathered wasn’t just to have fun together. Their secondary purpose, at least for the two couples, was to get their children to meet.

Leila currently seemed to have a pretty good relationship with the young man. Since his son was also concerned about the matter, the other middle-aged man couldn’t help but pose his own question.

“Heh. Mr. Westwick, it’s not just a simple misunderstanding! This person right here isn’t well-mannered in the least! When Willie went to look for him last time, we couldn’t find him anywhere! We couldn’t even get a hold of him! The entire trip there was a complete waste of time!” replied Leia angrily.

“Humph! Let’s go, Leila. If I ever catch you talking to this kind of lowly person again, don’t blame me for teaching you a lesson!” yelled Willie coldly before stepping on the cable that Leila had bought earlier.

“Mr. Jung!” shouted Gerald. Naturally, Gerald wasn’t going to refer to the man as his uncle anymore.

“Pfft. What do you want?” asked Willie coldly.

“No matter what you say, I donated seventy thousand dollars to you last time. You could even say that I’ve done you a huge favor back then. If you continue talking to me like this, I’m afraid it’ll be no good for your own face if word about this matter gets out to the public.”

“Also, Aunt Leia talked about a wasted trip because you couldn’t find me last time. Could you perhaps have forgotten that time when I was in high school? When my father and I waited for you outside your house for up to four hours just to meet you? I remember clearly that when we finally got to meet, you

immediately sent us off, saying you weren’t free. So I suppose I’m still the wrong one just because you made a wasted trip?” said Gerald.

“Pfft. What do you even mean? Willie’s a very busy man. Why would we ever have the time to entertain someone like you or your father? Thinking about it now, he did the absolute right thing by ignoring both of you back then! After all, you’re useless to us!” replied Leia angrily.

“Ah, I see there really is a pretty big misunderstanding. I had initially thought that we could ask this country boy to take us around this place. He could’ve been our tour guide or something. Looks like we’ll have to scratch that idea!” said the young man with a contemptuous smile.

“A tour guide? Consider our status! If we need a tour guide, we should look for one with at least a good reputation and relationship with us!”

The other woman was now chiming in as well. Leia and Willie’s hatred toward Gerald made her feel equally disgusted with him.

However, Gerald wasn’t angry. He simply smiled faintly at their retorts.

“Fine then. We’ll cross the bridge when we get there, Mr. Jung. See you again in the future!” said Gerald before getting into his car and driving off immediately.

After finding out that the Audi A6 belonged to Gerald, the young man was dumbfounded.

“D*mn! He’s actually driving such a good car?”

He hadn’t expected that. He had backed his uncle up by insulting Gerald earlier, but even he couldn’t afford to buy himself an Audi.

“What’s so great about that? It’s obviously a second-hand car. He probably can’t even afford to buy a new car anyway! Seeing him really ruined our good mood!” grumbled Leia.

Chapter 558

Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 558 “Humph! Don’t even talk about him anymore!” snorted Willie coldly.

Meanwhile, Gerald had already arrived back home. His anger toward Willie had made the trip feel much shorter.

There seemed to be several cars parked in front of Mr. Winters’s house. Squinting his eyes, Gerald realized that they belonged to the eldest, second, and third son.

With that, Gerald pressed on his car horn with the intention of getting some help to move some of the groceries.

A few people were standing in the courtyard at that time. When they heard and saw the Audi parked in front of the house, they couldn’t help but curiously come out to have a look. Mr. and Mrs. Winters followed them out as well.

When Gerald opened the car door and stepped out, everyone present was surprised.

“Gerald? You’re driving an Audi?” asked the eldest son’s wife, clearly taken aback. If this was the car Gerald was driving, then he was much more capable compared to her own son!

“Humph! Don’t be fooled. This Audi clearly looks like a second-hand car!” replied Francis.

Francis bore an ugly expression as he said that. After all, he was driving a car that only cost thirty thousand dollars. Since Gerald’s Audi A6 probably cost much more, it was inevitable that his inferiority complex would fire up.

With a depressed look, Francis then walked over to the Audi and kicked its tires lightly. “There’s no need to make such a big fuss over this. Second-hand refurbished cars like these are commonplace. If the seller was an acquaintance, he could probably get it for about fifteen thousand dollars. You know, my friend once tried to persuade me to get a second-hand Audi as well. I refused his offer, though. Heh. After all, the poorer you are, the more you want to drive a good car to show off!”

“He’s right. Only rich bosses should drive Audi cars!” replied another young man.

The young man in question was Jasper Winters. It seemed that he had come home this time.

“All of you seem to be misunderstanding something. This isn’t my car. The car belongs to someone else. I’m just lending it for a few days!” said Gerald with a faint smile.

“Oh! And here I thought you suddenly got rich and bought yourself a car! It turns out it’s not even yours in the first place!”

The few sisters-in-law present felt a wave of relief wash over them before they continued smiling contemptuously toward Gerald.

Looking around, Gerald couldn’t see Queeny anywhere. It felt odd that she wasn’t here, but he didn’t question anyone about it.

Turning to look at Mr. Winters, he said, “Mr. Winters, I bought some things for you! Let’s move them into the house first!”

“Oh! Young kid, why are you spending so much money again? You bought so many things!” replied Mrs. Winters in mock anger. She just didn’t want Gerald to spend so much on them.

“It’s fine. After all, all of these are basic necessities anyway. They didn’t cost too much either. I got you a pressure cooker, so if you buy some bones and ribs, you can make some soup! That’ll be great for

your health!” said Gerald as he smiled.

His goal was to get the items to Mr. and Mrs. Winters so Gerald simply ignored the ridicules from the other people.

“Oh my, this pressure cooker is actually branded! How much did it cost you?” asked the second sister- in-law, jealousy reflected in her eyes.

“It wasn’t that expensive. Just a little over seventy-five dollars!” replied Gerald.

“Heh. Then this pressure cooker can’t be compared to the one given to us for free by Francis’s unit. You get free stuff like this occasionally when you work for a public institution, and you know what they say, free things are always the best to use!” bragged the third sister-in-law.

“Queeny isn’t doing too bad herself. She usually gets some peanut oil, canned tuna, and other canned food from her company once every two months! We can’t even finish all of it so the cans are just piling at home! We barely have to spend any money on food at all!”

Not wanting to be outdone, the second sister-in-law continued saying, “Oh, and did you know? One of Queeny’s colleagues asked her out for dinner tonight. She gets invited out for dinner almost every night, so there’s barely a need for me to cook dinner for her at all. We really have so much free food…”

As the group continued bragging among themselves, none of them even considered to help Gerald move the things inside at all.

In the end, it was Mr. and Mrs. Winters who helped him move everything inside.

After everyone entered the house again, Gerald suddenly remembered that he had something to tell them. “Oh, that’s right…”

 

Chapter 559

Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 559 “You know, tomorrow’s my birthday and I won’t be celebrating it at home this time. I’ve already booked a hotel for it. Will any of you have the time to attend?” asked Gerald.

In the previous years, Mr. and Mrs. Winters had always been the ones celebrating Gerald’s birthday with him. This year would be no exception.

However, since everyone was already here, Gerald naturally felt obligated to invite all of them over to his birthday banquet as well.

The third sister-in-law coughed before saying, “As if we’d have the time to go there. Francis and the rest will be working tomorrow. We don’t have time to celebrate your birthday with you.”

“That’s right. What more, if you’re celebrating your birthday, shouldn’t you just be eating at home? Why did you have to book a hotel? Have you forgotten your roots just because you have some money now?” said the second sister-in-law coldly.

Since Gerald was initially very poor, everyone was used to looking down on him. The fact that he suddenly became rich from winning the lottery caused the power dynamic to flip, resulting in their increased dissatisfaction. This was the main reason why they were speaking to him even more coldly compared to how they used to.

“Well, it seems that we’re all busy. Looks like you’ll have to celebrate your birthday alone!” said the eldest son next.

Just as his sentence ended, his phone began ringing.

“Hello? Mr. Walts! How are you? What’s that? Congratulations! Oh, I’ll definitely be coming with my family the day after tomorrow! No, no, I’m free! I’ll definitely be free once I’m done with everything that I need to finish tomorrow! Haha!”

After that, the eldest son hung up. He looked somewhat excited.

“What’s the matter?” asked the eldest sister-in-law.

“It’s Mr. Walts’s son’s eighth birthday the day after tomorrow. We’ve been invited to attend his birthday celebration so of course I agreed!”

“Hmm? Didn’t you say that you had an important chamber of commerce meeting to attend on that day?”

“Humph! Mr. Walts’s son’s birthday has a higher priority! I’ll just cancel my participation in the chamber of commerce meeting!” lamented the eldest Son.

“Uncle, second uncle, I think we should start eating now. I still have a lot of important things to do tomorrow. I need to get back and rest as soon as possible! Actually no, I still have to make some plans once I get home since I’ll be meeting up with Mr. Jung tomorrow!” said Francis.

Naturally, he too would be busy tomorrow.

“Isn’t Mr. Jung already here? I said that I’d treat him to dinner tonight. Just ignore the fact that he’s only a department chief now. After all, since he was a pretty reputable figure in the past, he still has several relationships and connections in Serene County!” replied the third son in a prideful tone.

“It’s really a pity that he wasn’t free tonight. It seems that his schedule is already fully packed!”

As everyone began to chime in one after another, Gerald simply listened. He could only conclude that the Mr. Jung they were talking about was most definitely Willie.

However, he remained silent.

Since everyone said that they wouldn’t be free tomorrow, Gerald didn’t try to insist for them to attend his birthday celebration anymore.

Not that it mattered to him. Everyone had their own things to do.

After eating a simple meal at Mr. Winters’s house, Gerald went back home.

Not too long after, he received a call from Mila.

“Happy birthday, Gerald!” shouted Mila.

“It’s not my birthday yet, why are you wishing me happy birthday so soon?!” said Gerald before laughing as he lay on his bed.

“What’s stopping me from wishing you twice? I’ll wish you happy birthday again at midnight! Not like I can take back my earlier wish anyway. By the way, Gerald, could you come over to look for me in two days’ time? Once you’re done settling your own matters of course. I’m at the television station now. I’ve just transferred to become an intern reporter today. I can finally do something that I’ve always wanted to do now!” said Mila happily.

Mila had told Gerald about this some time ago. She would take an examination to apply to become an intern reporter.

She managed to pass and she was now officially an intern reporter. Gerald was equally happy for her.

“Sure thing! I’ll come look for you in two days’ time. We’ll have a big celebration together for you then!” replied Gerald as he smiled.

“Alright! Ah, do note that that date may not be fixed. I may have a short holiday in a few days’ time so we may need to discuss it again then. Speaking of celebrations, how do you plan to celebrate your birthday tomorrow?”

After the two talked about his birthday plans for a short while, Mila eventually said that she needed to take a bath, so they both ended the call.

Just as Gerald was about to put his phone down, his phone started ringing again.

Chapter 560

Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 560 This time, it was a call from Giya.

“It’s your birthday tomorrow right, Gerald?” asked Giya as soon as he picked up.

“Hmm…”

“Humph! Why didn’t you invite me over to celebrate with you then? I was waiting all day for you to call me today! It’s already this late yet you still haven’t invited me… Could it be that you’ve already forgotten about me?”

“Not at all. It’s just that since I’m back in my hometown, I was just planning to have a simple birthday celebration!” explained Gerald.

To be completely honest, Gerald really hadn’t planned to invite Giya at all.

Though she was very nice to him, Gerald simply wanted to be together with Mila now. He didn’t want to get too close to other girls. Therefore, he summarized that continuing to have such a complicated relationship with Giya just wouldn’t do.

What more, Giya had gotten into trouble when she was here with him the last time. Gerald felt embarrassed to even invite her to come over again.

“Whether you’re inviting me or not, I’m coming over to your house to look for you tomorrow. Unless… you don’t regard me as your friend at all…?”

Giya leaned her head against the bed’s headboard as she spoke through the landline. She was currently in a room in a villa.

Over the line, Gerald could only agree helplessly as he nodded. Immediately after that, he came up with an excuse saying that he was busy and ended the call.

“Humph! You b*stard! You’re really heartless toward me!” said Giya with a desolate expression on her face before hanging up as well.

She had initially expected Gerald to take the initiative to invite her over to celebrate his birthday with him. On the contrary, she now felt that if she hadn’t called him, he definitely wouldn’t have invited her over at all.

What more, since that major incident, whenever she tried looking for Gerald just to have a simple chat with him, he’d always reply indifferently. At most, it was common for him to reply with just a few words.

This made Giya slightly uncomfortable. The more uncomfortable she felt, the more she couldn’t help but overthink the matter.

At that moment, knocking could be heard on her bedroom door.

“Giya? Are you asleep? Your father and I have some things to discuss with you!” said Giya’s mother from behind the door.

“Dad, mom, I’m not asleep yet! You can come in!”

Both her parents then entered her bedroom. Giya could see that her father had a very sad expression on his face.

“Giya, I know that you don’t want to hear this, but the Quarrington family in Yanken is giving us the orders this time. They want you to get engaged with the third young master from the Long family in

Yanken. There’s really nothing else that we can do about the matter.”

“Mr. Crawford has already helped us settle our family’s economic problems last time. However, the Quarrington family is still pressuring us even now. We really can’t do anything about it and we can’t always rely on Mr. Crawford to help us. So tell us Giya, what do you think about a marriage contract with the Long family?” asked Giya’s father.

Giya’s mother sighed before saying, “Though we’ve already ended our relationship with the Quarrington family, the influence and power they hold over us is simply too great. Please don’t blame your father, he’s done everything he’s could. You have to consider how this is putting the company’s interests at stake here. In extension, it’s also going to affect your uncles and all the other employees working for our family as well!”

“Is there really no other way? You know, we can still beg Gerald to help us! He’ll definitely help me!” replied Giya, her eyes tearing up.

“Giya, though Mr. Crawford is very capable, the Mayberry Commercial Group is only influential in Mayberry City. The Quarrington and Long family, on the other hand, have even bigger groups and corporations in Yanken!” said her father with a sigh.

“What more, the third young master of the Long family may even come over to pay us a visit tomorrow. You’ll have to stay home and prepare to meet up with him. If he leaves a really bad impression on you, we may still have some time to think of a solution then!” added Giya’s father.

“No! I’m not free tomorrow! It’s Gerald’s birthday and I’m going to celebrate it with him!” replied Giya angrily.

“You are not to go anywhere tomorrow. You shouldn’t bother Mr. Crawford about our issues anymore. You’re just a young girl who doesn’t understand anything at all!”

As soon as he finished his sentence, Giya’s father pulled her mother out of her bedroom immediately.

Giya was so anxious about the whole thing that she was ready to burst into tears.

Moving back to Gerald, he woke up at six in the morning the next day.

Gerald had a call with Zack last night. He wanted to welcome his 22nd birthday.

Since the guests could arrive early, Gerald decided to tidy up the place a little first.

At that moment, a girl suddenly entered through the front door.

“Gerald! I heard from my mother that you had come back, but I’ve tried looking for you a few times and you were never home!”