Chapter 62
The man beside Xu Chun, the one who had just poked at her sore spot, snorted with laughter, disbelief all over his face. “Xiao Chun, I never took a young thing like you for such a big appetite.” He added meaningfully, “And you love joking around, just like your dad.”
Qin Yao? Was Qin Yao someone an ordinary person could even dream of? If she ever entertained thoughts of marriage, the suitors lining up at her door would probably wrap around S City ten times. With all the rich, powerful heiresses in the world, would it ever be the turn of some mere eldest daughter of the Xu family?
What a load of nonsense.
Xu Chun’s father instantly flew into a rage. “What’s wrong with my daughter? Don’t you dare look down on people.” He grabbed his jacket from beside him, clearly ready to leave, thoroughly incensed by his old fair-weather friends. “My daughter has looks, fame, and money. How is she not good enough for Qin Yao?”
“Yang Xingyan, let me tell you. Our years of friendship end today! Tomorrow, after you sober up, I’ll have my secretary discuss the withdrawal of my investment with you properly.”
Xu Chun’s father was so angry he could barely walk straight, grumbling as he went, “After all these years of me giving you my whole heart, and you dare stab me in the back and look down on my daughter.”
He spat viciously to one side. “Take a good look in the mirror at your pathetic self. If I hadn’t been covering for you all these years, what the hell would you have made of yourself!”
Cursing all the way, Xu Chun’s father pulled open the private room door. Tang Shiyu tugged at her daughter, signaling Xu Chun to follow quickly, while she lingered a few seconds longer to exchange polite pleasantries, doing her utmost to keep up appearances for her husband before leaving.
When Xu Chun’s father stormed out, the others hurriedly gestured for Yang Xingyan to chase after him and apologize, to make amends so as not to damage relations and affect everyone’s business. But for some reason, Yang Xingyan had gone completely stubborn, refusing to bow his head, and even declared arrogantly, “As if we can’t survive without him.”
The others tried to persuade him further, but Yang Xingyan was in such a mad state he recognized no one. Whoever tried to advise him got cursed out. Seeing this, the others stopped trying. After all, the fire wasn’t burning them. If he insisted on courting death, let him. Once he sobered up, he’d have all the regret in the world.
Xu Chun caught up with her nominal father. He had drunk a great deal tonight and was thoroughly intoxicated, his steps unsteady. Tang Shiyu caught up and supported his other side, saying to her daughter, “I’ve been telling him for ages not to associate with Yang Xingyan and that lot, especially not to go into business with them. He just won’t listen.”
Speaking of this, Tang Shiyu grew angry. “Those old classmates of his sweet-talk him every day, cheat most of the business out of your father’s hands, and after making money they don’t even show any gratitude. Instead, they turn around and swindle your father’s money. And he still treasures people like that like they’re precious gems.”
“You don’t understand.” Xu Chun’s father immediately cut in. “They’ve been my brothers for so many years. For a brother, I’d take a knife in the ribs and go through fire and water without hesitation. So what’s a little less profit?”
“Yes, brothers. Your brothers dare to look down on your daughter right to your face; who knows how ugly they talk behind your back.” Tang Shiyu retorted without mercy. Stung by her rebuttal, Xu Chun’s father instantly shut his mouth and behaved.
But Tang Shiyu hadn’t cooled down yet, and she vented to Xu Chun. “Just a couple of days ago, your father was about to hand over a big project your grandfather introduced to those brothers of his. Our own company is barely surviving. We haven’t even had a bite of meat ourselves, and he’s already giving priority to others.”
“Anyone who didn’t know better would think he was their family’s biological son.”
Tang Shiyu’s words were harsh enough that Xu Chun’s father was about to argue his case on the spot, but one glance from Tang Shiyu made him stiffen his neck and stubbornly resist for three seconds before she promptly pinched him in the waist. He let out a yelp and no longer dared talk back to his wife.
Standing to the side, Xu Chun furrowed her brow. The name Yang Xingyan sounded more and more familiar. She racked her brain for a long while, and finally a flash of inspiration hit. She remembered what this man had done in the original novel.
Yang Xingyan was actually Xu Chun’s father’s elementary school classmate, and the other people at the dinner table tonight had been in the same class. They hadn’t been in contact at first; after graduating elementary school, the group had gone their separate ways and never interacted again. It was only later, after Xu Chun’s father went into business, that one day, under “coincidental” circumstances, they reconnected and grew close.
It had supposedly been a coincidence. In reality, it was a carefully premeditated scheme by the others.
Back in elementary school, Xu Chun’s father had stood apart from his classmates because of Old Master Xu’s status and position. At the time, his family background was among the very best in the entire school. People like Yang Xingyan had envied and resented him back then, and that feeling reached its peak when they later saw him appear in a suit, prosperous and glorious, in the shopping mall where they worked.
Their sense of equilibrium shattered instantly. Why should this brat have had smooth sailing since childhood while they could only be salespeople and security guards in a mall? So they put their heads together and arranged a “chance encounter” with Xu Chun’s father, planning to befriend him through their old classmate connection and then pick up some scraps from him.
Xu Chun’s father was generous and easygoing. Seeing that these people lived in hardship yet still harbored dreams of starting companies and making something of themselves, he lent them money without a second thought to get things going. He did his utmost to help them register their companies successfully, then spared no effort introducing them to business and projects.
He even took excellent projects he hadn’t done himself and handed them directly to his so-called friends.
And so, relying on Xu Chun’s father, these people built themselves up from nothing, gradually reaching fortunes of tens of millions and then hundreds of millions. Yet even so, they felt not the slightest gratitude toward him. They even saw his past behavior as full of condescension and contempt.
Their hatred and hostility toward Xu Chun’s father deepened over the years of friendship, until in the end they wished they could wipe out the entire Xu family and see their old classmate, once successful and lofty, go bankrupt, his family destroyed and left with nothing.
Only then would the imbalance in their hearts finally be erased.
In the original text, Yu Sui’an had met Yang Xingyan at a drinking party, and through Yang Xingyan’s hand caused the Xu family company’s capital chain to break, forcing them to beg for loans everywhere. Xu Chun’s father was usually kind, and many people were willing to lend to him, but when he came to Yang Xingyan and the others, not only did they refuse to lend, they mocked and ridiculed him, even going so far as to destroy their own projects with him just to saddle Xu Chun’s father with hundreds of millions in debt, completely eliminating any chance of a comeback.
Watching Xu Chun’s father frantically sell off the family villa and all the luxury cars, the whole family crammed pitifully into a rented room in an urban village, Yang Xingyan and the others felt an indescribable delight.
What could be more pleasing to body and soul than watching an official’s son who’d been well-off since childhood fall into utter destitution?
It could be said that Yu Sui’an was the mastermind behind the Xu family’s bankruptcy, and Yang Xingyan was a gun in her hand, ready to fire wherever she pointed it.
Xu Chun instantly realized that the project Tang Shiyu had mentioned, the one Xu Chun’s father wanted to hand to Yang Xingyan and the others a couple of days ago, was precisely the crucial thing that could determine the Xu family’s life or death.
Her expression changed at once, and she fixed her eyes firmly on Xu Chun’s father. “Dad, you are not allowed to give that project from a couple of days ago to anyone else, especially not to Yang Xingyan and his people.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Xu Chun’s father said reflexively, “What are you calling your Uncle Yang…” Seeing him still hung up on this, Xu Chun didn’t even think before cutting him off. “If you ever hand a project to someone else again, I’ll immediately donate my entire fortune, and then I’ll wander the streets alone, sleeping under a bridge every day.”
Xu Chun’s father: “?”
Drunk as he was, he wasn’t stupid, but no matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn’t figure out why his perfectly good daughter would want to sabotage herself like that.
Tang Shiyu couldn’t help casting her a puzzled look, while Xu Chun, noting her father’s dismissive expression, changed her tune at once and launched into a tearful, utterly sincere performance. “I’m such a pitiful woman! My fate is three parts more bitter than yellow coptis! Out of nowhere, I get callously jilted by Jiang Zhaolie, and now even Yang Xingyan looks down on me.”
“He’s supposed to be your elementary school classmate, Dad, your friend of thirty or forty years. What does he think of me now? He dared to say those things about me right in front of you! Does he even respect you at all?! He’s clearly looking down on you, Dad!”
“And the others—not one of them stopped him. They must think the same as Yang Xingyan! They don’t respect me, they don’t respect you, Dad! You’ve helped them so much, so how could they do such a thing?”
“If this were ancient times, this would be the story of the farmer and the snake! You gave them your all, Dad, but were they grateful? At holidays, did they ever send Mom even a small gift? No. They took the gifts Mom gave their wives as a matter of course. Don’t they feel ashamed?”
“And they brought their mistresses to meet and dine with you and Mom. Did they even respect Mom? Bringing their mistresses to sit at the same table as Mom, isn’t that a bare-faced mockery of her?”
“As the old saying goes: if a man can’t even control his own lower half, what prospects could he have? If a businessman doesn’t respect the wife he’s had for years, how loyal and righteous can he really be?”
“I sincerely believe that only people like you, Dad, men who respect their wives, love their children, and keep their families harmonious, deserve to sit at the negotiating table with you, to benefit each other and achieve a win-win together. Don’t you agree, Dad?”
Xu Chun acted with tremendous gusto, and Xu Chun’s father’s expression changed on the spot. Seeing this, Xu Chun pressed her advantage and added fuel to the fire. “Besides, Dad, think about it—if I get married in the future, will they talk behind my back like they did today, saying I rose through improper means? If I have children in the future, will they whisper behind my back that my child isn’t my husband’s, but some bastard I got pregnant with from an affair…”
“They wouldn’t dare.” Xu Chun’s father was so furious he shot to his feet on the spot.
Xu Chun looked up at him with brimming, tearful eyes. “Why wouldn’t they dare? They dared say bad things about me right to your face today. Who knows what rumors they’ll make up about me tomorrow?”
“Dad, you know exactly what kind of people they really are.”
This time Xu Chun’s father fell silent, saying nothing for a long, long while.
Tang Shiyu snapped out of her stunned daze and glanced at Xu Chun with complicated feelings. Her daughter’s whole tangle of sophistry… was truly formidable. She tilted her chin at Xu Chun, signaling her to go back and rest. Xu Chun blinked, wiped the corner of her eye where no tears existed, secretly flashed Tang Shiyu an OK sign, and quietly took her leave.
Tang Shiyu didn’t disturb her husband. Xu Chun’s father was chain-smoking one cigarette after another.
It was a long while before Xu Chun’s father spoke, his voice low and hoarse. “Let’s do that project I mentioned a couple of days ago ourselves. Don’t give it to them.”
Tang Shiyu gave a soft “Mm. All right.”
“And the cooperation with them…” Xu Chun’s father stubbed out his cigarette, suddenly agitated. “I’ve never even had the heart to say a harsh word to my daughter since she was little. Who do they think they are? How dare they trample on and slander my precious daughter like that?!”
“Withdraw the investment. I want to withdraw the investment. I’ll withdraw it tomorrow.” Xu Chun’s father was furious. “Tomorrow I’ll send them right back to where they came from, back to being security guards and selling insurance!”
Hearing this from Xu Chun’s father, Tang Shiyu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Although Xu Chun’s father was usually a pushover, he was fiercely protective of his own. Once someone crossed his bottom line, he would repay every slight. That was precisely what Tang Shiyu had admired about him back then, and why she’d chosen to marry beneath her station despite her family’s objections.
As long as her husband was partial to her, protective of his own, and stood by her side in everything, what more could she want?
Who didn’t like to be favored?
Xu Chun had just reached the hotel when she received Tang Shiyu’s message. Tang Shiyu would stick to Xu Chun’s father every step of the way tomorrow to draw a clear line between him and Yang Xingyan and the rest. The message said, 【We’re not afraid of them retaliating. Without your father, they’re just a few lumps of mud that won’t stick to a wall. Nothing to fear.】
That said, those people would surely put up a desperate last-ditch struggle, so her parents would be busy for a while.
But all in all, the project was saved, and the possibility of their family going bankrupt had lessened somewhat. Xu Chun instantly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling she’d truly worried herself sick since arriving here.
What kind of fate did she have in her past life to suffer so much in this one?
Xu Chun lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Why couldn’t some softhearted god look at the good deeds she’d done in her past life and let her have everything she wished for in this one?
Thinking and thinking, Xu Chun fell asleep. The next day, when she met He Qingli, the other woman had dark circles under her eyes so deep the makeup artist had to apply concealer several times just to barely cover them. Xu Chun couldn’t help leaning in. “Did you stay up all night?”
He Qingli shook her head numbly, then nodded. “Some people don’t deserve to be parents at all.”
“Why isn’t there a qualification exam for being a parent?” She was furious, even at this early hour. “They gave birth to the child themselves, yet they won’t take responsibility for her. What I don’t understand is how they can be so biased when both children were carried for ten months and are both flesh of their flesh.”
“Is being born a daughter some kind of original sin?”
“They’re both women. Why can a mother treat her own daughter so viciously? If it were Fu Xin’s father, I could understand, but I never expected the one inflicting the abuse to be the mother she respected since childhood…” He Qingli was too angry to speak by the end.
Xu Chun deeply sympathized with Fu Xin’s plight. “I can introduce you to a few lawyers I know. If Xiao Fu can steel herself to cut ties with her family…” Before she finished, He Qingli grabbed Xu Chun’s hand. “Quick! Send them to me right now!”
Then she promptly sent Xu Chun a big red envelope.
All day long, Xu Chun was lost in thought. Staring at the red envelope He Qingli had sent, she agonized for a long while before dialing her agent’s number. “Sister Yang, I want to set up a nonprofit foundation, like President Qin’s, to help specific women.”
Her agent was genuinely startled by the idea. “Why?”
“No reason.” Xu Chun paused, then said, “If you must ask why, it’s probably because I want to accumulate some good karma for myself, so after I die I can keep enjoying myself.”
The agent’s eyelid twitched violently. “…”
Though speechless, since her artist had an idea, the agent agreed and began making arrangements. After tossing the work to her agent, Xu Chun hugged a prop gun and muttered sentimentally to herself, “Doing good deeds is definitely the right move. Who knows, one day karma and the butterfly effect might just save my life.”
After muttering, Xu Chun tossed the prop gun aside and used her break time to carefully review the original novel’s plot, terrified that a single oversight might make her miss some crucial detail.
The moment Zhao Ciying arrived, she saw Xu Chun sprawled lazily and motionlessly in a rocking chair, looking like a village idiot in her tattered costume. Xu Chun had been rocking idly, staring into space, when her gaze inadvertently swept past Zhao Ciying. At first she seemed not to register it, until a moment later she suddenly froze, then looked over with disbelief. “?!”
Xu Chun nearly jumped out of the rocking chair on the spot. She told herself to calm down, then quietly watched as Zhao Ciying’s long legs carried her slowly closer.
After a frantic mental scramble, Xu Chun didn’t give Zhao Ciying a chance to speak and struck first with a jab. “Has President Zhao made peace with your dear Suisui?”
Zhao Ciying hadn’t expected such a sudden prick. She was stunned for a moment, then narrowed her eyes slightly, smiling as she looked down at Xu Chun. “No, I didn’t agree.”
Xu Chun couldn’t help looking confused. Didn’t agree? But yesterday, after Yu Sui’an whispered a few words to her, she’d immediately left with her. Her suspicious gaze traveled over Zhao Ciying. This person had better not be fooling her.
Her face was full of distrust. Zhao Ciying couldn’t help sitting down across from her, raising an eyebrow. “Do you think I’m the type to be manipulated, someone who’ll wipe the slate clean just because someone says a few words?” There was no particular emotion in her tone. “Do you think someone can cross me without paying the price?”
Fair enough. If anyone dared provoke someone like Zhao Ciying, she’d probably chase them to the ends of the earth and repay the grudge tenfold.
“Then yesterday, when you left with her, was…”
Zhao Ciying didn’t answer directly. Instead, her tone carried a subtle, ambiguous quality, drawn out and meaningful. “I didn’t expect you to care about me so much.”
Xu Chun: “?” Do you have some misunderstanding about what caring means?
Was she caring about her? She was clearly fishing for information.
Having successfully reduced Xu Chun to a speechless, words-stuck-in-her-throat expression, Zhao Ciying was in great spirits. “Honestly, I quite like you.” She toyed with the nameless metal ring on her thumb. “Much more likable than Yu Sui’an’s personality.”
There seemed to be a hidden meaning in her words. Xu Chun immediately sat bolt upright and said earnestly, “President Zhao, I already have someone I like.”
“Oh?” Zhao Ciying blinked with interest. “So?”
Xu Chun suddenly ran out of steam. After a long while, she gave up. “Nothing.” She glanced at Zhao Ciying. “As long as President Zhao doesn’t cooperate with Yu Sui’an, I quite like President Zhao too.”
Her words seemed to open a whole new world for Zhao Ciying. She immediately leaned in. “Then if I…” She grinned. “Help you make Yu Sui’an wish she were dead, wouldn’t you fall in love with me on the spot?”
Xu Chun’s eyelid twitched, and she hurried to talk her back from the cliff’s edge. “President Zhao, you mustn’t. We’re in a society ruled by law, and Yu Sui’an is a public figure. You could easily overplay your hand and get yourself thrown in prison.” She earnestly persisted. “No matter what grudge or grievance you have with someone, we must use legitimate means…”
“I understand.” Zhao Ciying suddenly spoke, her face serious. “So as long as I insist on getting her banned across the entire internet, pull all her resources, then engineer things so she owes tens of millions or hundreds of millions in debt, driving her into a corner. That would work, right?”
Zhao Ciying smiled with narrowed eyes. “Or I don’t even need to do it myself. With one word from me, plenty of people would be happy to handle her for me.”
“Am I right?”
Xu Chun: “…” Temporarily at a loss for words. Something seemed off, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
Zhao Ciying’s smile was radiant. “In all these years, you’re the first person to advise me like this.” She spoke half-truthfully, impossible to tell how much she meant. “Everyone else either thinks I’m utterly vicious and hates me to the bone, or racks their brains trying to get some benefit out of me.”
“You really are different from everyone else out there.”
Hearing this, Xu Chun immediately thought, “Hah, woman, you’ve successfully caught my attention.” The thought gave her goosebumps all over.
“I’m not much for making friends, but if I can get something out of it, it’s not out of the question.” Zhao Ciying looked at her leisurely. “Find some time to convey my meaning to your parents. I’m interested in cooperating with them on the ‘Tianyu’ project, but on one condition: your grandfather must step in to smooth the connections.”
The ‘Tianyu’ project couldn’t be more familiar to Xu Chun. It was precisely the national-level heavyweight project that Jiang Zhaolie and Yu Sui’an participated in within the original novel, a government-funded project jointly built by several major corporations and a landmark, textbook success story.
Back then, Jiang Zhaolie had leveraged her family’s support to become the project’s person-in-charge, while Yu Sui’an, relying on Jiang Zhaolie, became one of the project managers. Then, under the female lead’s unstoppable halo, one went on to establish a great reputation and reap both fame and fortune, while the other rose from a minor entertainment star to become a capitalist worth hundreds of millions.
The interests involved and the rich returns to be gained made even Xu Chun’s heart stir.
Thinking that Zhao Ciying, while having meat to eat herself, hadn’t forgotten to bring her parents along, Xu Chun’s impression of her underwent a complete hundred-and-eighty-degree change. She stood up, deeply moved, looked up at Zhao Ciying, and blurted out, “President Zhao, you’re truly a good person! I have no way to repay your great kindness. I can only repay you by serving you like an ox or horse in my next life!”
Zhao Ciying: “…”
Not this life? It had to be the next? Who knew what she’d become in her next life.
Zhao Ciying slowly straightened her clothes and reminded her again, “Don’t forget, I have a precondition. Your grandfather must step forward in person.”
Xu Chun suddenly hesitated. She agonized for a moment, then immediately pulled out her phone and dialed a number. “Then let me ask Sister Qin first and see how likely it is that my grandfather agrees to this.”
Zhao Ciying: “? Then why don’t you just ask your grandfather? Why call Qin Yao? Is Qin Yao your grandfather?”
Xu Chun’s breath caught in her throat, and just then, a voice suddenly came through the phone. “Does President Zhao have an objection?”
At the sound of Qin Yao’s voice, Xu Chun instantly felt the aura around Zhao Ciying shift. Even through the phone, the two seemed confrontational, and Xu Chun couldn’t help wondering what the past grudge between them was.
Suddenly, she was struck with a chill: could these two be exes?!
The thought had barely crossed her mind when she noticed Zhao Ciying’s dangerous gaze landing on her. Zhao Ciying smiled faintly, a smile like a gentle spring breeze, yet her words made Xu Chun shiver all over. “Xu Chun.” She called Xu Chun’s name softly. “You no longer have any attachment to this mortal world.”
“Do you?”
Xu Chun couldn’t help hesitating. Had she accidentally... said her inner thoughts out loud?
Whether she had or not, Xu Chun immediately let out a mighty, earth-shaking shout. “Dear sisters, let me explain!”
TL Note:
"three parts more bitter than yellow coptis (黄连)" is a common Chinese expression comparing one's bitter fate to the extremely bitter medicinal herb coptis.
lumps of mud that won't stick to a wall (烂泥扶不上墙) = a Chinese idiom for someone useless and beyond help.
"Hah, woman, you've successfully caught my attention" is a cliché line from domineering male lead romance novels, used here jokingly.