On the other end of the phone, the assistant Zhuoyue sounded a bit hesitant. “Ma’am, President Cheng is in a meeting right now and can’t get away.”
“Can’t get away,” Jiang Shi repeated softly. “Is he busy with the meeting, or busy avoiding me?”
Zhuoyue said, “Ma’am, please don’t think that way. President Cheng really is busy—he’s so pressed for time he even has to grab meals in the conference room. He’s not intentionally avoiding you.”
“Then does he have time to see Cheng Xiaoxiao?”
“That…”
Jiang Shi held her phone, her forehead pressed against the steering wheel. The exhaustion in her heart had already outweighed all other emotions.
She didn’t want to go through the surgery alone, but she wanted pointless back-and-forth even less.
Whether Cheng Jili was truly busy or just pretending, the result was the same to her.
She didn’t press further, only spoke faintly, her tone devoid of any emotion. “Then please tell him—no matter how busy he is, he should eat slowly. Don’t choke to death.”
Zhuoyue: “…”
“And also,” Jiang Shi paused, “tell him to find time to come home. I have something I want to tell him.”
“Alright, ma’am. I’ll be sure to pass it on to President Cheng.”
The call ended, and Zhuoyue let out a long breath of relief.
This was, as far as he could recall, the first time the madam had ever called him because she couldn’t reach President Cheng.
In Zhuoyue’s memory, Jiang Shi had always been gentle and composed. Even when President Cheng frequently went off the grid, she had never stormed into the company making a scene like other wives did.
It was the Cheng family’s adopted daughter who often came looking for President Cheng.
He thought the boss and his wife were quite well-matched. He didn’t understand how things had come to this.
Behind him, the conference room door opened from the inside.
Cheng Jili walked out, pinching the bridge of his nose, exhaustion written all over him.
The AGI Intelligence Project had been established independently from the main group, without any resource support, and they were up against a formidable rival in the Shen family. Competition in the industry was white-hot, and every decision could determine the project’s survival.
Partners and the technical team were crammed into meetings all day long. Every major and minor decision required Cheng Jili’s sign-off. These past few days, he’d been making do with sleeping in the office.
Zhuoyue approached and lowered his voice. “President Cheng, the madam called looking for you earlier.”
Cheng Jili said nothing and walked straight back to his office.
There were missed calls on the phone on his desk. He picked it up and glanced at it casually, then raised a hand to loosen his tie before lazily asking, “What did she say?”
Zhuoyue said, “She said she has something important to tell you and asked you to come home when you have time.”
Cheng Jili took a pack of cigarettes from the drawer, shook one out, and put it between his lips without lighting it.
“Go home? What for?” He tilted his head back slightly, leaning against the chair, his voice so soft only he could hear it. “Just don’t let her bring it up.”
Jiang Shi didn’t waste any time. She first called her boss to request leave, then went back to the studio to wrap things up and hand over her work.
Whether or not Cheng Jili was there, the surgery had to be done.
The legacy her grandfather left behind needed to be carried on. She couldn’t afford to fall.
Setting things aside temporarily was for the sake of moving forward later.
By the time she finished, it was already evening.
Suddenly a call came in. “I found the old man’s notebook. Come get it right away, or I’m throwing it out.”
Her grandfather had left behind three notebooks during his lifetime, filled with his insights on making qipaos. Jiang Shi only had two in her possession.
When she heard the third one had been found, she didn’t think twice—she drove straight to the courtyard house her grandfather had left behind.
The courtyard house was very small. After her parents passed away in an accident, her grandfather had brought her here to live with him, and she had spent her entire adolescence there.
Unfortunately, after her grandfather passed, her uncle had forcibly taken it over.
Right now, no one was in the main room, but a clattering sound came from the west wing.
Walking over and pushing the door open, the sight that greeted her was a table of mahjong and a room thick with smoke.
Her uncle and aunt were both at the table.
“Where’s the notebook?”
Her uncle’s eyes were fixed on the tiles in his hand as he jerked his chin toward the tea table beneath the window.
The notebook was tossed there carelessly, its cover stained all over with tea. Jiang Shi’s heart tightened, and she quickly pulled a tissue from her bag.
A voice mixed with the sound of tiles reached her ears. “Is this your niece? Quite pretty. Is she married?”
Her aunt’s tone was dripping with sarcasm. “Married, yes. Thanks to our old man, she married into a good family.”
“Well, that’s great. She’s flown up to the branch and become a phoenix—you can bask in her glory too.”
“A phoenix?” Her aunt laughed with exaggerated delight. “A phoenix that can’t lay eggs—who wants that? Her in-laws are disgusted to death with her!”
At these words, the two strangers at the mahjong table both looked at Jiang Shi at the same time, sizing her up from head to toe as if looking at some kind of freak.
Jiang Shi raised her eyes faintly. “You can lay eggs, all right, but I don’t see Grandpa and Grandma favoring you any more for it.”
“You—!” The smile on her aunt’s face froze instantly.
Her uncle slammed his tile down with a bang and shot to his feet. “Jiang Shi! Who do you think you’re talking to? Have you lost your mind?”
The two playing partners at the table hurried to smooth things over, each pressing a hand on him to push him back into his chair. “All right, all right! Don’t take family so seriously. Draw your tiles, draw your tiles!”
The scene was momentarily suppressed. Jiang Shi didn’t want to stay any longer. She clutched the notebook to her chest and turned to leave.
But the moment she stepped over the threshold, the voices behind her drifted over again.
“Isn’t your family drowning in debt? Your niece married well—she must have money. Why don’t you sweet-talk her a bit so she’ll fork some over to help you pay it off?”
“Sweet-talk her? Not a chance!” Her uncle’s voice was rough and loud. “She’s just like her dead mother—both of them are money-losing goods who only ever help outsiders!”
Jiang Shi’s breath caught.
Many years ago, her mother had married her father and moved to Hong Kong, and the family of three had lived a comfortable, happy life.
Who could have known that when she was sixteen, their family had gone out to sea on a yacht, only to be hit by a sudden gale that capsized the hull.
Her parents had used every ounce of their strength to push her out of the water, but they themselves were trapped beneath the boat and drowned together.
In an instant, all their happiness was reduced to ashes.
Her father and mother were a pain Jiang Shi could never touch. Her uncle’s words pierced her heart like fine needles, word by word.
All her restraint collapsed in the blink of an eye.
She whipped around, her footsteps pounding back into the room. Before anyone could react, she grabbed a white porcelain teacup from the tea table and flung it with a swing of her arm.
Bang!
The teacup smashed hard into the center of the mahjong table, porcelain shards flying everywhere, the tiles left in complete disarray.
She stood where she was, her gaze sweeping coldly over each person. “I came here today only to take Grandpa’s things. I didn’t want to argue with you. But if anyone dares mention my parents one more time, don’t blame me for going crazy and showing no mercy.”
Her uncle came back to his senses, his eyes bulging. “You—you little dead girl! You dare throw a fit in my house? You—”
Her aunt grabbed his arm. “Forget it, forget it! She’s not welcome in the Cheng family, and she’s got nowhere to vent her anger. Let’s not provoke her!”
Jiang Shi walked out the door and stood in the empty little courtyard.
The setting sun spilled over the eaves, stretching her shadow out very long.
The roses and orchids her grandfather had planted with his own hands had long since withered, and the air was steeped in a cold desolation of abandonment.
After her parents passed away, her grandfather had brought her to Jingbei at once.
The old man poured all his longing for his daughter into his affection for Jiang Shi.
He accompanied her as she grew up reading and studying, taught her how to conduct herself and handle matters, and gave her someone to lean on and depend on.
But later, her grandfather also passed away.
And the man who once promised her grandfather he would take good care of her now refuses to even see her.
Another shadow flashed before her eyes. Jiang Shi closed her eyes, letting her lashes soak in a veil of moisture.
“Jiang Shi?” A male voice suddenly broke into her ears.
She hastily opened her eyes and saw her cousin Chen Yan.
“I just saw your husband heading off to the club to have himself a good time, and you’re still standing here in a daze? How can you be so carefree about it?”
Chen Yan looked down at his phone, scrolling as he made to leave.
Jiang Shi grabbed him by the arm and asked, “Which club did he go to?”