Qiao Yitang stopped and slowly turned around.
She doubted Jiang Yihuan had anything important to say, but she still wanted to hear what scheme her cousin was cooking up this time.
Jiang Yihuan’s attitude had softened considerably, though she still had no intention of being nice to Qiao Yitang.
Lifting her chin, she said, “I want to go to the Xie family’s banquet. Get me an invitation.”
“The Xie family?” Qiao Yitang paused to think, then remembered that Song Zhi had also told her yesterday that the Xie family would be holding a banquet.
Seeing that Qiao Yitang hadn’t refused outright, Fang Zhiqiu hurriedly said, “This will be Chengyan’s first public appearance. He’s thirty this year, old enough to marry. If someone at the banquet catches his eye…”
As she spoke, Fang Zhiqiu looked at Jiang Yihuan with satisfaction, as if all her daughter had to do was attend the banquet and Chengyan would choose her to become a rich young madam.
Qiao Yitang thought they were living in a fool’s paradise.
Though Yitang had never met Xie Chengyan, she knew someone like him would never be interested in Jiang Yihuan.
“I can’t get an invitation. There’s nothing I can do.”
Jiang Yihuan instantly flew into a rage. “The He family can definitely get one. All you have to do is say a word to He Jingchuan, and I’ll be able to get in.”
“You won’t even help with such a small favor? You really have forgotten how our family raised you!”
Qiao Yitang repeated, “I’ve already broken up with He Jingchuan.”
Jiang Yihuan didn’t believe she had broken up with He Jingchuan. She assumed the two had merely had a falling-out, and that Qiao Yitang couldn’t get through to him right now.
“Don’t you have a best friend? The Song family is an influential family in Jing City, too. Get Song Zhi to find me an invitation!”
Qiao Yitang’s voice was cold. “I can’t.”
Getting another invitation wouldn’t be difficult for Song Zhi, but Qiao Yitang simply didn’t want to help.
The entire Jiang family was getting anxious.
With their standing, there was no way they could get an invitation to the Xie family’s banquet.
Their only option was to rely on Qiao Yitang.
If Qiao Yitang wouldn’t help, it would be next to impossible for Jiang Yihuan to attend.
Fang Zhiqiu knew she couldn’t afford to anger Qiao Yitang just then, so she hurried over and took her hand.
“Yitang, your younger cousin is so beautiful. If she makes a good impression on Xie Chengyan and becomes the Xie family’s Young Madam one day, you’ll benefit from it too.”
Qiao Yitang couldn’t help giving a derisive laugh. “Do you think the Xie family’s heir would be interested in just anyone?”
“You!” Jiang Yihuan stamped her foot in fury. “You’re useless, and your best friend’s useless too. Neither of you can even get an invitation!”
That kind of provocation didn’t work on Qiao Yitang.
She deliberately played along. “That’s right. I’m useless, and Song Zhi is useless too. We can’t get you an invitation. You’ll have to find someone else.”
She was about to leave when Jiang Changzheng rose from the sofa.
“It’s only an invitation. Why beg so many people? I remember your father was on good terms with Old Master Xie when he was alive. He could have gotten anything done for you, not just an invitation.”
At the mention of her father, Qiao Yitang’s expression darkened by the second.
“A moment ago, you were saying the Qiao family had fallen on hard times and everyone looked down on me. Now you suddenly remember my father’s connections?”
“That’s…” Jiang Changzheng was at a loss for words.
Qiao Yitang shook her head gently. “I’ve already done more than enough for you. I really can’t help with this.”
When she looked ready to leave again, Jiang Yihuan called out in a panic, “What have you ever done for us? You’ve eaten our food and lived under our roof all these years, and now that we need you, you won’t even help with one little thing. You ungrateful wretch!”
Qiao Yitang hadn’t intended to keep arguing, but Jiang Yihuan and Fang Zhiqiu had brought up the debt of gratitude they supposedly owed them again and again. She wasn’t someone who would just take it lying down.
She strode back inside and dropped onto the sofa in the middle.
“If you’re going to bring up how you raised me every other sentence, then let’s settle this properly today.”
“Last year, the Jiang family’s company nearly went bankrupt. If I hadn’t begged He Jingchuan to help, this house you’re living in would have been auctioned off by now.”
As she spoke, Qiao Yitang looked up at the grand crystal chandelier overhead, worth several million.
Without her, how could the Jiang family afford a house this expensive?
“And last month, Jiang Qing’an’s girlfriend got a job at my studio through my connections. In her first week, she broke a vase worth over a hundred thousand in the boss’s office and insulted her coworkers. I had to keep apologizing to everyone on her behalf. Have you forgotten that?”
“Things like that have happened over and over. I’ve done more than enough for you all these years.”
Now Qiao Yitang sat on the sofa while the others stood in front of her.
She looked like the head of a company, with the rest of them lined up like employees called in for a dressing-down.
The Jiang family felt humiliated.
They knew Qiao Yitang was right, but they couldn’t stand the way she acted so superior.
Jiang Qing’an, who had been silent until then, muttered, “You owe our family. Everything you’ve done is only what you should be doing…”
Qiao Yitang’s sharp gaze swept over him, and Jiang Qing’an shrank his neck in fright.
Then he deliberately took a step forward, lifted his chin, and glared at Qiao Yitang, as if to say, “What are you going to do about it?”
Qiao Yitang slowly closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her voice was thick with anger and emotion.
“Before my parents died, the Qiao family’s business ranked among the best in all of Jing City. We had more power and influence than even the He family.”
“I was my parents’ only heir, but I was just an eight-year-old child. You adopted me, and that gave you a convenient excuse to take over the company too.”
After Qiao Yitang’s parents died in an accident, Jiang Changzheng quickly took over the Qiao family’s company.
But he had little ability. Under his management, Qiao Corporation steadily declined, and within a few years it was on the verge of bankruptcy.
In the end, he had no choice but to sell the company to foreigners.
Jiang Changzheng took the money and started a smaller company, the one he ran now.
By the time all was said and done, the inheritance Qiao Yitang’s parents had left her had been squandered.
Qiao Yitang forced herself to steady her breathing. “I was young then. You lied and told me the company was going bankrupt, and that you’d sold it for only a few hundred thousand. You even said that wasn’t enough to cover what you’d spent raising me all those years.”
“But do you really think I’m stupid? A company as large as the Qiao family’s, with so many people watching it, couldn’t possibly have sold for just a few hundred thousand.”
“Do you really not know what paid for your family’s wealth and lavish spending all these years?”
Qiao Yitang paused, then laughed bitterly in sheer anger.
“Instead of saying you raised me, you should say I’ve been supporting you.”
“The only reason I haven’t fallen out with you until now is that I still remember the so-called debt of gratitude you keep bringing up. If you don’t care about saving face, I have ways to take back everything that belongs to me!”
Every word Qiao Yitang said landed like a blow. After she fell silent, the entire villa was terrifyingly quiet.
The Jiang family, who had been so aggressive moments ago, couldn’t utter another word.
Qiao Yitang’s gaze passed over each of their four faces in turn. As they stared at her in shock and disbelief, she rose and headed for the door.
She left the Jiang family’s home without looking back.