What was Jiang Shao doing here?
Qi Mu could not help frowning. But the car had passed in a flash, and he had not gotten a clear look. Maybe he had simply been mistaken?
The speech onstage soon reached the important part, so Qi Mu stopped looking out the window and focused seriously on the speaker, occasionally using his phone to jot down key points.
…
The black sedan glided silently along the road.
It stopped beside a villa half-hidden among the trees farther back.
Jiang Shao opened the door and stepped out. He wore a dark suit in a more casual cut, the collar of his shirt left partly unbuttoned, giving him an easy, unruly air. His hair, however, had been swept back from his face, revealing his smooth forehead and sharply defined brows. Although his posture remained relaxed, his gaze and bearing were steady and cold, making him seem noticeably different from usual.
Lu Jin Wen got out from the other side of the car and went inside with him.
The villa was decorated in a European style that showed its age, but meticulous daily maintenance had kept it from looking old or worn.
An attendant waited at the entrance and led them upstairs to a reception room.
A wine-red wool carpet covered the floor, while red velvet armchairs complemented the marble tea table.
A middle-aged man was sitting in one of the chairs. When he saw them, he smiled and rose to his feet.
The man had dark brown hair and blue eyes and appeared to be in his fifties. Although his face bore quite a few wrinkles, it was easy to imagine how debonair he must have been when younger. He wore a bespoke suit and a simple platinum band on one finger, every gesture carrying the polished grace of a gentleman.
In somewhat awkward Chinese, the man politely extended his hand to Lu Jin Wen. “Mr. Lu, good to see you again.”
Then he looked at Jiang Shao with curiosity in his eyes. “You must be Jiang?”
Jiang Shao briefly shook his hand and nodded. “Yes.”
Lu Jin Wen smiled. “Mr. Anderson, why don’t we sit down and talk?”
Anderson smiled. “Of course.”
Once they were seated, he stopped speaking Chinese and switched to English. “Lu and I go back a long way, but this is my first time meeting you, Mr. Jiang. You’re even younger than I imagined. Truly an impressive young man.”
Jiang Shao replied blandly, “You’re too kind, Mr. Anderson.”
Lu Jin Wen normally handled business matters on Jiang Shao’s behalf. But this cooperation with Erwin Group was extremely important, and Anderson, Erwin Group’s CEO, had personally come to City C this time and asked to meet him. That was why Jiang Shao had agreed to come.
Anderson said admiringly, “For Mr. Jiang to have achieved so much at your age is truly remarkable. I have great confidence in our cooperation. If two powerhouses like us join forces, I believe we can reshape the global market.”
Jiang Shao looked at him sharply and gave a faint laugh. “Since we’re here to discuss business, why not get straight to the point?”
Anderson’s expression stiffened for a fraction of a second before his smile returned. “Of course. The main reason I wanted to meet you today was to discuss the equity stake again.”
Understanding flickered in Jiang Shao’s eyes.
Shunxun Technology wanted to fully break into Country M’s market, but it faced considerable resistance. Powerful financial conglomerates pulled the strings behind the scenes in Country M, and they would not allow foreign capital to seize the market easily. That was why Jiang Shao had chosen to cooperate with Erwin Group, using its connections and influence to clear a path for himself.
But Erwin Group was far too greedy.
They actually wanted a fifty-percent stake.
Jiang Shao remained unmoved. “Twenty percent. That’s as far as I’m willing to go.”
Anderson looked troubled. “Personally, I would very much like to accept your offer, but I’m afraid that figure would be difficult to get through the board…”
Jiang Shao raised an eyebrow. “Is that so? If things are truly difficult on your end, we do have other options. We certainly wouldn’t want to put you in an awkward position.”
Anderson looked somewhat embarrassed. He turned toward Lu Jin Wen. “Lu, help me persuade Mr. Jiang. The assistance we can provide is undoubtedly the best fit for your company.”
Lu Jin Wen gave him an apologetic look and sighed. “Anderson, if we hadn’t known each other for so many years, why would Erwin Group have been my first choice? But this really isn’t something I can decide. I’ve already helped as much as I can.”
Anderson hesitated.
Lu Jin Wen continued persuasively, “I understand that you have your difficulties, but if this cooperation goes through, it’ll be a win-win for both of us—especially for you personally. This would be an achievement completed under your leadership. Whatever happens, that’s still better than letting the opportunity fall into a competitor’s hands, isn’t it? With that silver tongue of yours, I’m sure you can convince the board.”
These greedy foreigners always opened with outrageous demands. If they dared ask for fifty percent, then fifty percent obviously was not their real bottom line.
Anderson frowned unhappily. “But if I go back completely empty-handed this time, what am I supposed to use to persuade the board?”
Lu Jin Wen looked at Jiang Shao and gave him a meaningful glance before putting on an earnest expression. “Why don’t you give a little too? Don’t make things so difficult for Anderson. He came all this way. That wasn’t easy either, was it?”
…
An hour later, Anderson left with a rather forced smile. He still had other engagements afterward.
Lu Jin Wen got up and saw him out.
When he returned, Jiang Shao was sitting there with a sour expression, idly playing with his fingers while a gloomy aura practically hung around him.
Lu Jin Wen laughed. “Young Master, getting him to accept a twenty-five-percent stake is already the best possible result. What are you still unhappy about?”
Hadn’t he seen that constipated expression on Anderson’s face?
Jiang Shao hated it when Lu Jin Wen called him that. What was there to be happy about? It felt like someone had just taken twenty-five percent from him for free.
As though he could read Jiang Shao’s mind, Lu Jin Wen said leisurely, “I know you don’t like this sort of thing, but that’s how society works. Some rules still have to be followed even if you dislike them. I think you understand that perfectly well yourself. You cooperated with me quite nicely today, didn’t you?”
Jiang Shao gave him a cool look and scoffed. “You were doing most of the acting.”
Lu Jin Wen gave an unconcerned hum. “You weren’t bad at playing yourself either.” That arrogant, insufferable way he looked down on everyone…
Jiang Shao could not be bothered with him.
Lu Jin Wen continued, “Fine. Let me tell you something that should cheer you up. I’ve secured control of Hanxing Automotive and kicked Li Xin out. Li Group took a serious hit this time. Feeling any better?”
Jiang Shao remained expressionless. “It happened exactly according to plan. What is there to be happy about?”
Besides, Li Group was only the beginning.
It was not his true target.
Lu Jin Wen thought, That still doesn’t work? It seemed the only topic left that might improve Jiang Shao’s mood was Qi Mu, but he worried that dose might be too strong and backfire, thoroughly provoking this formidable ancestor instead. In the end, he wisely kept his mouth shut.
Jiang Shao rose lazily. “If there’s nothing else, I’m going back.”
Lu Jin Wen: Fine, whatever.
The two of them got up, left the room, and headed downstairs.
…
At night, much of the garden lay in shadow beyond the reach of the lights.
Li Xin moved quietly beneath the trees, passing the hotel where the conference was being held up front and heading toward the villas behind it.
No one noticed him.
Not long after he signed the valuation-adjustment agreement with Lu Jin Wen, Hanxing Automotive had been hit by a public-relations crisis. As the stock price continued falling, Li Xin tried everything he could think of but failed to stop it. Worse, the internet sleuths were terrifyingly good at digging. They followed the trail from Hanxing all the way to its parent company, Li Group. As the fire threatened to spread farther and farther, potentially dragging the entire Li Group down with it, Li Xin had no choice but to ask his aunt and uncle for help.
In the end, Jiang Zong Chao did help him, forcibly suppressing the online uproar and preventing the scandal from spreading beyond Hanxing.
But even so, Li Xin still lost under the agreement. Hanxing Automotive was forced to sell shares at a low price and separate from Li Group.
A new CEO appointed by Shunxun Technology replaced Li Xin at Hanxing Automotive. He had made such an enormous mistake in his impatience for quick success, nearly dragging the entire Li Group down with him. His aunt was furious. She refused to see him or even answer his calls.
Driven into a corner, Li Xin blamed all of his anger on Lu Jin Wen. He believed that if it had not been for Lu Jin Wen, he never would have ended up with nothing.
Unfortunately, Lu Jin Wen had been guarding against him from the start and gave him no opportunity to meet. Li Xin had relied on his old connections and asked around everywhere before finally learning that Lu Jin Wen would be here tonight.
So Li Xin came looking for him.
He did not actually know what he intended to do once he found Lu Jin Wen.
He simply had to find him and demand an explanation…
Li Xin looked haggard and exhausted, his thoughts tangled into chaos. Gritting his teeth, he continued deeper inside.
At last, outside one of the villas—
He saw Lu Jin Wen.
Lu Jin Wen happened to be coming out with Jiang Shao.
The two were walking together and talking.
Li Xin stared at the scene in disbelief. His mind seemed to freeze, unable to turn over the sight for a long while. Never in his dreams had he expected to see Jiang Shao here.
How did Jiang Shao know Lu Jin Wen?
And judging by how familiar the two of them appeared, this was clearly no ordinary acquaintance…
Could it be…?
A flash of insight suddenly struck Li Xin’s almost-frozen brain.
Could Jiang Shao and Lu Jin Wen have set all of this up together?
Otherwise, how could things possibly have lined up so perfectly? He had barely signed the agreement with Lu Jin Wen when everything exploded, almost as though they had been standing there waiting for him to jump into the pit.
Could Jiang Shao have done all this to take revenge on the Li family?
But wasn’t Jiang Shao nothing more than a troublemaking playboy? He had even been thrown out of the family now. How could someone like him possibly have that kind of ability?
If Li Xin had still possessed any reason, he would have concluded that Jiang Shao could not possibly have done these things. But with his rationality gone and nothing left but furious instinct, he somehow eliminated the distracting possibilities instead and began to suspect that everything really was connected to Jiang Shao.
His anger instantly shifted targets.
The more Li Xin thought about it, the more convinced he became.
Lu Jin Wen had never had any personal grudge against him.
Why would he go so far just to set Li Xin up?
It had to be Jiang Shao.
If not for Jiang Shao, he never would have fallen this far!
Li Xin charged out without caring about anything else, grabbed Jiang Shao by the collar, and glared at him with a twisted expression. “It was you, wasn’t it?!”
Ordinarily, a pampered, useless wastrel like Li Xin would never have gotten close enough to lay a hand on Jiang Shao.
But Jiang Shao had been talking to Lu Jin Wen and had not been paying attention. Li Xin came rushing unexpectedly out of the shadows, and actually managed to seize his collar.
Jiang Shao’s expression immediately darkened. “Have you lost your mind?”
Li Xin had stopped caring about everything. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared fiercely at Jiang Shao. “You and Lu Jin Wen are in this together, aren’t you?!”
Lu Jin Wen felt the beginnings of a headache. He had avoided Li Xin for so long, yet somehow the man had still found his way here—and had even happened to catch him together with Jiang Shao.
This could become troublesome.
Lu Jin Wen had not cleaned up this loose end thoroughly enough.
He frowned. “What nonsense are you talking about? Let go.”
He started forward to pull Li Xin away.
But Jiang Shao abruptly raised a hand and stopped him.
His dark eyes rested heavily on Li Xin. His expression looked perfectly calm, but anyone familiar with him would have known that this was the warning sign before an explosion.
Violence surged through Jiang Shao’s chest. Everything he had suppressed over the past several days began stirring restlessly.
Since someone had delivered himself right to Jiang Shao’s door asking for a beating, why should he keep restraining himself?
Jiang Shao had always known how to control himself.
Some things needed to be vented in moderation; otherwise, they would only make him lose control even more.
He lazily lifted his eyelids and looked down at Li Xin. The corner of his mouth curled, and a mocking laugh escaped him. “The way you can’t accept losing really makes you look like a beaten dog with nowhere left to go.”
The words completely enraged Li Xin.
He glared at Jiang Shao with hatred and contempt, his face twisted with fury.
He was nothing but a motherless bastard. Jiang Zong Chao had already shown him extraordinary charity by bringing him back and giving him a place in the family. Without Jiang Zong Chao indulging him, what the hell did Jiang Shao amount to?
Li Xin had only shown him a little respect before because of his aunt. Jiang Shao had better know his place. The Jiang family would belong to Jiang Qin in the future!
And all because Jiang Zong Chao could not let go of his dead wife and that bastard child, his aunt had been forced to endure so much humiliation at home!
A woman of his aunt’s status had lowered herself to become Jiang Shao’s stepmother, tolerating him and caring for him at every turn, yet Jiang Shao was still an ungrateful wretch who appreciated none of it.
Everything was Jiang Shao’s fault.
And now he even dared scheme against Li Xin!
What right did a spoiled playboy who had been thrown out of his own family have to act so arrogant?!
Li Xin suddenly swung his fist at Jiang Shao—
Without even bothering to look, Jiang Shao lifted his right hand and caught Li Xin’s incoming fist. At the same time, he seized the hand gripping his collar and hurled Li Xin bodily away!
Coldness gathered in the depths of his dark eyes as he walked toward Li Xin one step at a time.
…
After the conference ended came the open networking session.
Inside the banquet hall, everyone stood holding wineglasses and talking beneath the gleaming lights, glasses crossing amid the flow of conversation.
Qi Mu moved skillfully among them. Occasions like this were routine for him, but tonight he was strangely distracted. For some reason, Jiang Shao’s figure kept flashing through his mind…
He must have been mistaken earlier, right?
Jiang Shao had no reason to be here.
After socializing for a while, Qi Mu found an opportunity to step outside for some air. He set down his wineglass and left the banquet hall. There were still people scattered throughout the garden, but far fewer than inside, gathered sparsely in groups of twos and threes. The air was cooler and cleaner, without the stuffiness of the hall.
Qi Mu walked past the dim silhouettes of trees and caught sight of one corner of a building, half-concealed among the branches and darkness.
Just as his thoughts began drifting—
A familiar laughing voice suddenly sounded beside him. “Qi Mu.”
Qi Mu turned around and found Fang Ming Qian standing beside him, smiling.
He could not help smiling back. “What are you doing out here too?”
So many people inside were waiting for a chance to meet Fang Ming Qian. He should have been one of the busiest men there tonight.
Fang Ming Qian shrugged and sighed. “Probably for the same reason as you.”
Qi Mu immediately understood.
So Fang Ming Qian had also grown tired of socializing and slipped out in search of some peace and quiet.
They exchanged knowing smiles. Neither suggested going back. Instead, they chatted as they wandered farther toward the rear.
The farther they went, the fewer people there were, and the quieter it became.
Without realizing it, they walked deep into the grounds, approaching the villas behind the main hotel.
The path was almost at its end.
Qi Mu was just about to suggest turning back when he suddenly heard what sounded like an argument up ahead. Immediately afterward came a heavy thud, as though something substantial had hit the ground, accompanied faintly by a cry of pain…
Qi Mu and Fang Ming Qian exchanged a look. Both of their expressions changed, and they hurried toward the sound.
When they looked—
They saw—
Jiang Shao kick Li Xin to the ground, his eyes icy and violence radiating from him. One hand had Li Xin by the collar, while the other was already clenched into a fist, about to come crashing down!
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