The Jiang family and the Shen family stand on opposing factions. The feud between them traces back to the generation of Jiang Suizhou’s father. For over ten years, the two families have maintained a highly delicate relationship.
This “delicacy” meant clear public boundaries and polite exchanges at important events, while privately they each operated within their own camps, constantly attempting to infiltrate the other’s influence.
With Shen Shenyuan’s retirement, the baton of power in the Shen family passed to Shen Siren. His style inherited Shen Shenyuan’s steadiness and conservatism, but also carried a degree of flexibility and ambition, which quickly put the Jiang family under threat.
It was said that a master once told Old Master Jiang that he was destined to have no sons, advising him to adopt early if he wished to pass on his legacy. That was how Jiang Suizhou came into the picture. He was the child of a distant relative of the Jiang family, brought into the household at the age of eight and raised as an heir.
But an adopted son could never compare to a biological one.
Old Master Jiang never gave up on having a son. In his later years, a mistress he kept outside finally gave birth to a boy.
The old master was overjoyed and named him Jiang Zaixing.
The name symbolized the hope of carrying the entire family’s future.
The day Jiang Zaixing arrived at the Jiang household was the darkest day of Jiang Suizhou’s life. Suddenly, his life seemed to have nowhere to go—forward, backward, left, or right—there was no path left.
Because everyone, including himself, understood clearly: he was no longer the heir of the Jiang family. Yet he awkwardly remained the “young master,” occupying a title that no longer truly belonged to him. Even his biological parents had another child and, after receiving money from the Jiang family, had long since erased him from their lives.
Old Master Jiang doted on his late-born son. On one hand, he spoiled him; on the other, he had no energy to manage him properly. So Jiang Zaixing was raised within the Jiang household by the old master’s legal wife.
Madam Jiang had endured hardship alongside her husband. She once thought her suffering had finally paid off, only to be betrayed in her old age, forced to raise another woman’s child without even a word of comfort.
Thus, she lavished excessive indulgence on Jiang Zaixing, deliberately spoiling him into uselessness.
Jiang Suizhou had entered the Jiang family at an age too old to form a real mother-son bond with Madam Jiang, so their relationship remained superficially polite for many years. As long as Jiang Suizhou made no mistakes, Madam Jiang tolerated him. But Jiang Zaixing’s arrival changed her attitude—she shifted from indifference to support of Jiang Suizhou.
Years later, Jiang Zaixing grew into a spoiled playboy—arrogant, domineering, and unruly. Meanwhile, Jiang Suizhou skillfully navigated all sides and gradually built his own power base.
However, Old Master Jiang was not foolish. He deliberately loosened control over Jiang Suizhou while secretly setting a trap, using Shen Siren’s hand to frame him. This stained Jiang Suizhou’s political reputation and permanently blocked his path into politics. Afterward, the old master played the benevolent figure and gave him a company, encouraging him to enter business and start over.
At that time, Shen Siren—who had unknowingly been used—was dating the naive and innocent Chu Xia.
To give her a sense of security, Shen Siren openly brought Chu Xia into his social circle and publicly acknowledged their relationship.
Although Chu Xia’s background was not prestigious, she was clever, sweet-tongued, and most importantly, beautiful. Over time, Shen Siren’s friends all had a good impression of her.
However, just because people did not say it out loud did not mean they believed the two would truly end up together.
Class barriers are like rebuilding a moat—an inherited collective mindset across generations. Anyone who tries to lower those walls becomes a traitor to the group.
The reason class is so difficult to cross is because the people within it collectively maintain its glory and thresholds—even if that “glory” is hollow.
Chu Xia knew nothing of this back then. She only knew she liked Shen Siren, and he liked her too.
One day at a gathering, Chu Xia accompanied Shen Siren to an event, and Jiang Zaixing caught sight of her profile.
From that moment on, Jiang Zaixing searched for her everywhere, easily digging up her background.
An orphan, a high school dropout, raising a mentally impaired adoptive father with the intellect of a six-year-old—Chu Xia, in Jiang Zaixing’s eyes, was like a stray dog on the roadside. Anyone could kick her. Even if she was stepped into the mud, she would still have to crawl up and lick the dirt off her own shoes.
After discovering she was Shen Siren’s girlfriend, Jiang Zaixing grew even more excited. While others might fear Shen Siren, he did not.
He was a Jiang family member and already opposed to the Shen family. Moreover, anything he wanted, he had never failed to obtain.
So Jiang Zaixing drugged Chu Xia, openly took her from the gathering, cuffed her hands to a bed, recorded her, and provocatively sent the footage to Shen Siren.
Before that day, Chu Xia was like a wildflower blooming in the cracks of stone—everyone admired her resilience. But when she truly encountered someone intent on crushing her into dust, she realized for the first time how powerless she was.
To protect herself, Chu Xia bit down on Jiang Zaixing’s throat.
At first came the sound of flesh tearing, then the cracking of bone. Soon, salty metallic liquid flooded her mouth—thick with the taste of rust.
Jiang Zaixing’s pupils dilated. He clutched his neck in disbelief. After more than ten seconds, he collapsed, eyes wide, his mouth still opening and closing like a fish’s gills, blood gushing from his mouth and nose.
The place where Jiang Zaixing had held her was her father’s security warehouse. Chu Xia did not call Shen Siren first—she called her father, because he had the key.
Later, Chu Xia often wondered: if she had not called her father that day, would their lives have been less painful?
But she quickly answered herself—no matter what, their lives would have been difficult. Poor people without power are just part of the world’s denominator; even without them, nothing changes, and no one cares.
Jiang Zaixing was dead.
Under pressure from the Jiang family, Chu Xia’s father was sentenced heavily. They demanded his life in exchange.
Shen Siren immediately used all his influence to hide Chu Xia from the incident and, under immense pressure, helped reduce her father’s sentence.
Because her father had the intellect of a six-year-old, Shen Siren repeatedly appealed, and eventually the court ruled he lacked full criminal responsibility, sentencing him to fifteen years in prison.
But Chu Xia did not accept it.
She knew Jiang Zaixing had not been killed by her father.
Why should they suffer the abuse, yet still pay the price?
Chu Xia fell into a dead end. Overwhelming resentment and anger filled her entire being. One thought dominated her mind: she was not wrong, her father was not wrong—the world itself was unfair, and the fault lay with the wealthy elite.
She did not know that Shen Siren was exhausted every day dealing with Jiang family retaliation, and still returned to comfort her.
She only knew he had promised her father would be released, yet her father was still being beaten in prison by Jiang family members.
She remembered that day clearly—she broke down screaming at Shen Siren, unable to control her emotions. She had no one else to rely on except him, clinging desperately to him as her only lifeline, the only thing she could depend on was his love for her.
But that day, he seemed exhausted. His gaze toward her was filled with weariness.
Chu Xia froze. She was terrified. Crying, she asked him: “Do you not love me anymore?”
What she was really asking was not about love—but for help.
She felt as if one foot was already over a cliff, and if Shen Siren let go, she would fall into utter ruin.
But Shen Siren did not respond.
He took off his glasses tiredly, pressed his temple, then stood up, grabbed his coat, and left without another word.
Chu Xia would never forget that moment. Standing at the entrance, the hallway light flickered on and off with his movement. In the end, he opened the door and left without looking back, his voice hoarse:
“I did my best.”
After that day, Shen Siren never returned.
He did not answer her calls or messages. When she went to the Shen residence, she was blocked by security. She begged his secretary, red-eyed, asking him to pass on a message—that she knew she was wrong, and she would behave from now on.
But the secretary handed her a property transfer document and a car key, saying:
“Mr. Shen asked me to tell you—it’s better to part amicably.”