Volume 1 Chapter 3: The Lu Family
“How could you tell all that?” Jiang Zhiwan was very curious.
Fu Baozhu pointed at the coat, a confident smile spreading across her face. “It told me.”
She didn’t even need to touch the fabric of this coat—one look was enough to know it wasn’t cheap.
Combined with the stitching details, it was clearly custom-made by hand.
In the dead of winter, a coat would most likely be worn over a suit, so the style would naturally be cut a bit more loosely.
Fu Baozhu’s father had died early, and during the hardest times, her mother had supported the entire family by sewing clothes for others.
Having grown up immersed in that environment, Fu Baozhu had developed a sharp eye for identifying sizes just by looking at garments.
After explaining, Fu Baozhu pulled a chair over and sat down, looking at Jiang Zhiwan with a scrutinizing gaze. With a half-smile, she said, “Spill it—where did this coat come from?”
She and Fu Baozhu had known each other for a long time, and there was nothing she couldn’t share, so Jiang Zhiwan told Fu Baozhu everything that had happened the night before.
Actually, she hadn’t turned back to look at the time—she’d only caught a glimpse of the back seat while getting into the passenger side.
Although she’d never truly seen the kind stranger’s face, Jiang Zhiwan felt that Fu Baozhu’s description was probably accurate.
Every time she heard about the things Jiang Zhiwan’s stepsister had done, Fu Baozhu couldn’t help but feel indignant on Jiang Zhiwan’s behalf.
A wave of gratitude welled up in Jiang Zhiwan’s heart. “Getting so worked up over people like that isn’t worth it.”
To divert Fu Baozhu’s attention, Jiang Zhiwan had no choice but to steer the conversation back to the coat. “Baozhu, there’s something I need to ask you to help with.”
Given how expensive this coat was, it definitely couldn’t be washed in water, nor could it be sent to an ordinary dry cleaner.
She didn’t know who the kind stranger was, or whether she’d ever have the chance to return the coat. But since she’d borrowed someone else’s clothes, she ought to have them cleaned properly.
The moment she said that, Fu Baozhu understood. “Alright, it just so happens that tomorrow is Friday and I need to head home anyway. I’ll take it with me when I leave.”
Jiang Zhiwan said earnestly, “Thank you.”
Suddenly, as if something else had occurred to her, Jiang Zhiwan lowered her voice and asked, “How about I walk you to the school gate tomorrow and personally explain this to Mr. Chi when he comes to pick you up?”
Chi Chen was Fu Baozhu’s boyfriend of many years—a self-made man with exceptional ability.
Jing University required all first-year students to live on campus, and every Friday after Fu Baozhu’s classes ended, Chi Chen would personally come to pick her up.
Based on what Fu Baozhu had said, Chi Chen was perfect in every way except for one thing—he was terribly jealous.
And Fu Baozhu was just a carefree, free-spirited sort of person. She might not necessarily mention the coat to Chi Chen.
Thinking about all this, Jiang Zhiwan couldn’t help but feel a bit worried.
Jiang Zhiwan’s subtle reminder made Fu Baozhu recall that last week, because finals were approaching and one of her elective courses required checking notes to calculate participation grades, she’d borrowed an elective textbook from a male classmate in her department and brought it home to copy notes. When Chi Chen had found out, she’d gotten ten strikes on her palm with a ruler.
Most of Chi Chen’s anger was certainly because Fu Baozhu hadn’t been taking her classes seriously, but it was also inseparable from the fact that she’d brought that male classmate’s textbook home.
Fu Baozhu rubbed the tip of her nose awkwardly. “No need—I’ll explain it to him in advance.”
That was good enough.
With finals approaching, Jiang Zhiwan’s two afternoon elective courses had already finished their exams early, so she didn’t need to attend class anymore.
After reminding Fu Baozhu to go to class in the afternoon, Jiang Zhiwan hurried off to her part-time job.
She couldn’t pin all her hopes for her mother’s medical treatment on whatever charity Father Jiang might offer. The more she could save now, the better.
On days when she had classes, Jiang Zhiwan would go out of her way to squeeze in time for part-time work, let alone on Saturdays and Sundays—she was so busy her feet barely touched the ground.
Every Sunday afternoon, Jiang Zhiwan would tutor a middle school girl in math.
The tutoring location wasn’t far from the hospital, so after each session, Jiang Zhiwan would stop by to visit her mother.
Most of the time, Mother Jiang would be asleep.
But today, when she went, Mother Jiang was awake, and her mental state seemed slightly better than before.
Jiang Zhiwan was very happy.
Before she left, the attending physician called Jiang Zhiwan into his office again to bring up the matter of the medical costs.
For an ordinary family, once someone with Mother Jiang’s condition entered the emergency room, it was essentially no different from burning money.
Jiang Zhiwan and Aunt Wan walked out of the attending physician’s office one after the other.
Aunt Wan looked deeply troubled.
Jiang Zhiwan forced a light smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out.”
Aunt Wan could easily see through Jiang Zhiwan’s bravado. She was just a young girl who had barely reached adulthood—what could she possibly do in the face of such enormous medical bills?
“That damned Jiang Shuchen…” Aunt Wan cursed through choked sobs.
Jiang Zhiwan lowered her gaze, then lifted it again after a moment, speaking in a grave tone as she pleaded, “Aunt Wan, no matter what, you have to keep the medical costs a secret from Mom.”
All along, Mother Jiang only knew that the money for her treatment had been obtained by Jiang Zhiwan from the Jiang family.
She had no idea how many times Jiang Zhiwan had begged the Jiang family, nor how much money her illness had cost.
Aunt Wan wiped the tears from her face and gave a low hum of acknowledgment: “I’ll definitely keep it a secret.”
The money used to treat Mother Jiang’s illness the first time was said to have been begged for by Jiang Zhiwan, but in truth, it was more accurate to say it was extorted by her.
Jiang Shuchen was hardly a good man.
After all, when he had married Mother Jiang back then, it was only because he wanted to swallow up the entire Jiang family inheritance.
The moment her maternal grandparents died, Jiang Shuchen secretly transferred the assets of the company belonging to Mother Jiang’s family, which was how the Jiang family came to hold its current status in Wangjing.
The money for treating Mother Jiang’s illness was indeed obtained through threats, but Jiang Shuchen, now under Jiang Zhiwan’s control, naturally harbored a pent-up resentment.
So every time Jiang Zhiwan went to him for money, he would toss her a sum as if dispensing charity, just to get rid of her.
He also refused to let Jiang Zhiwan move Mother Jiang to a regular ward to save money, insisting that everything be the most expensive and the best in every aspect, not allowing Jiang Zhiwan to spend the money wisely—so naturally, the money flowed out like water.
What a perfectly calculated scheme!
After boarding the last bus heading to school, Jiang Zhiwan leaned against the window and rubbed her sore brow.
The mere thought of having to return to the Jiang residence tomorrow made it impossible for her to feel any joy.
At the banquet two days ago, her stepsister had humiliated her, all to amuse a young lady from a collateral branch of the Lu family.
Everyone in Wangjing knew that the Lu family was the true top-tier aristocratic clan.
Moreover, the current head of the Lu family wielded formidable power and acted with swift decisiveness. In just a few short years at the helm, he had already elevated the Lu family—already a colossal entity—to even greater heights.
As a result, even the collateral members of the Lu family had risen in prominence, and whenever they appeared at a banquet, they became the object of flattery among high society.
Unfortunately, that very evening, Jiang Zhiwan received an emergency call from the hospital, and she left midway without looking back, which surely caused her stepsister to lose a great deal of face.
By all logic, after losing face in front of someone she was trying to curry favor with, her stepsister should have come looking for trouble by now. So why, this time, had there been not a peep until now?
Jiang Zhiwan didn’t believe her stepsister had “graciously” let her off the hook; on the contrary, it made her all the more uneasy.