Inside the elevator, Xu Feiyao was extremely curious about the person both the second young master and his sister seemed to like.
Xu Feiyao: “What are you doing here?”
Jiang Yumo looked a bit speechless. “What else is there to do besides have fun?”
Xu Feiyao choked on his words for a moment. “This place isn’t easy to get into. Weren’t you worried you wouldn’t make it inside?”
Jiang Yumo gave him a look that said are you an idiot? “But I’m already in now, aren’t I?”
“That’s because…” Xu Feiyao stopped mid-sentence. “Hey, kid, you’re kind of interesting.”
They reached the 10th floor. Walking across the thick black carpet and through a long, dim corridor, Jiang Yumo followed him to a private room. When the door opened, the room was already full of men and women having fun.
Some were playing mahjong, others were singing karaoke, and a few were playing billiards…
Jiang Yumo glanced around and realized that the activities were actually quite… wholesome.
Meanwhile, in another private room on the same floor, Jiang Huarong was tied up and forced to kneel on the ground.
At a glance, there were four strong, broad-shouldered bodyguards standing nearby, their builds powerful and imposing. Jiang Huarong’s eyelids twitched as he looked at Qian Sheng, who sat on the sofa with legs spread wide like a boss, and forced out a smile. “President Qian, what does this mean?”
Qian Sheng flicked his fingers. The young model sitting on his lap promptly cut the tip of a cigar and lit it for him. Qian Sheng’s hand roamed over the scantily dressed model while he exhaled smoke, saying nothing.
“You didn’t really think our money was that easy to take, did you?” Qian Xin, dressed in a silver suit with the jacket open and several buttons of his shirt undone down to his chest, stepped forward. His black leather shoes stomped hard several times on Jiang Huarong’s thick thigh before he walked to the wall and pulled a golf club from a bucket.
“Jiang Yumo ran away. How do you plan to settle this?”
Jiang Huarong’s face twitched. “Well… I can return the money to you?”
Qian Xin inspected the golf club carefully. Hearing that, he glanced at him in surprise. “Why would you think that once the money’s returned, the matter is over? Is this about money?”
Jiang Huarong had clearly already been beaten up; the bruise at the corner of his mouth twitched painfully. Looking somewhat reluctant, he said, “Uh… give me some time. I’ll definitely find a young and beautiful one who’s willing…”
Smack!
Qian Xin pressed Jiang Huarong’s head down and strapped a small base onto his head. “Shh, shh, shh. Did you forget we run a talent agency? If we want pretty stars, we’ve got plenty.”
Jiang Huarong watched as Qian Xin placed a golf ball on top of his head. His body trembled uncontrollably. Qian Xin crouched down and pressed on his shoulder.
“Don’t move! If the ball falls, the thing getting hit will be your head.”
Jiang Huarong stiffened his neck as sweat poured down his face. In no time at all, he was drenched.
Qian Xin lifted the golf club and stood up, setting his stance. After adjusting his posture several times while gripping the club with both hands—
Whoosh!
The club swept past the top of Jiang Huarong’s head. The powerful sound of air splitting rang clearly in his ears. Jiang Huarong jolted violently and collapsed onto the floor in fright.
“Tsk, missed again,” Qian Xin said with dissatisfaction. “Kneel properly!”
But Jiang Huarong was truly terrified. He didn’t even have the strength to speak, let alone kneel. “Pl… ha… please…”
Following Qian Xin’s command, the bodyguards stepped forward, grabbing Jiang Huarong’s shoulders and holding him firmly in place.
Qian Xin set his stance again and narrowed his eyes to aim. “Don’t move! If it hits your head later, don’t blame me.”
Jiang Huarong’s lips trembled. “Y-you… I-I’ll compensate you! Ten million!”
Whoosh!
The second swing missed again, but Jiang Huarong could feel the club brush his scalp. A cool yet burning pain spread across the top of his head, leaving his mind spinning.
“Tsk!” Qian Xin kicked the wig aside in disgust. “You’re so ugly!”
Jiang Huarong’s nerves were stretched to the limit. His eyes widened to their maximum, bloodshot, breathing like an ox. When Qian Xin raised the club for the third swing, Jiang Huarong shouted in a trembling voice, “No matter what you say, I’ll agree to it!”
Bang!
Crash!
The golf ball shot out and shattered a vase placed on a pillar by the wall.
Qian Xin clenched his fist. “Nice shot!”
Qian Sheng clapped. He slapped the model’s backside, and she swayed her hips gracefully as she left the private room.
Qian Sheng exhaled a cloud of smoke. “What are you all standing there for? Is this how you treat a guest? Hurry up and help President Jiang sit down.”
Half an hour later, Jiang Huarong staggered out of the private room. He had just finished work and had barely reached the underground parking lot before being brought here along with his car. He was still wearing his suit, now soaked and wrinkled, looking shriveled and sour like pickled vegetables.
A grown man in his forties stumbled into the restroom and finally broke down, wailing loudly as if trying to vent all the fear and shock he had just endured.
Back in the private room, the atmosphere was extremely harmonious.
The system looked at its host, who had just met these people yet was already calling them brothers, and couldn’t help but marvel.
As long as the host was willing, he could easily gain other people’s goodwill and trust. That was also the reason he had been able to manipulate things behind the scenes and slaughter his way through the original plot.
After all, the host’s past was so pitiful that even someone with a heart of iron couldn’t help softening toward him, and the host was also quite willing to use that as a tool to gain others’ trust.
Everyone present had a fairly good relationship with Xu Feiyao. A few of them had even been classmates with Jiang Chongyuan. They weren’t close, but they all knew he had an illegitimate younger brother living at home named Jiang Yumo.
Among wealthy young masters and ladies, nothing was more disgusting than an illegitimate child.
Someone said, “I have a classmate named Jiang Chongyuan. He has an illegitimate younger brother living at his house, also called Jiang Yumo.”
Why did this guy become the center of the party the moment he arrived? Was this illegitimate son trying to mooch free food and drinks?
Jiang Yumo tossed the dice in his hand onto the table. “That’s me.”
The expressions of the people present immediately changed, though because he had been brought by Xu Feiyao, they didn’t say anything too unpleasant.
The man forced a smile and said, “I was just confirming I didn’t recognize the wrong person. You won’t blame me, right?”
“Sigh, why would I blame you?” Jiang Yumo lowered his eyes and sighed. “If anything, blame my bad luck. Blame my mother for having poor judgment at such a young age, getting pregnant out of wedlock in her third year of university, actually believing Jiang Huarong would divorce, and dropping out of school to give birth.”
The room suddenly fell silent. That person had only known Jiang Yumo was an illegitimate child and had assumed his mother was some model or minor celebrity trying to climb the social ladder. Who would’ve thought it was a greasy middle-aged man deceiving an innocent female college student?
“My mother gave birth to me, but Jiang Huarong refused to acknowledge it.” Jiang Yumo narrowed his eyes slightly. “My grandparents disowned my mother, and since she still had to raise me, she had no choice but to stay with Jiang Huarong. If it weren’t for the burden of me, my mother wouldn’t have developed bipolar disorder and slit her wrists when I was five…”
He paused, unable to continue. Turning away from everyone, he wiped at the corner of his eyes as if crying.
Under the accusing gazes of everyone in the room, the man who had spoken earlier felt like he was sitting on needles, twisting restlessly in his seat and feeling extremely uncomfortable.
Xu Feiyao said coldly, “Xiao Jiang came with me. He’s my younger brother. Who the hell is Jiang Chongyuan? Never even heard of him! If you bring up this kind of nonsense again next time, don’t bother coming.”
The others quickly chimed in.
“Yeah, this is obviously that old Jiang’s fault. What does it have to do with our little brother Jiang?”
“If you ask me, being born into the Jiang family is what’s truly unlucky for little Jiang! If my family had a younger brother like him, we’d definitely treasure him like a gem!”
This was clearly pushing that guy out of their small circle.
The man panicked, regretting that he had listened to Jiang Chongyuan’s one-sided story. He immediately raised his hand and smacked his own mouth. “My fault, my brain’s bad! I believed someone so easily. Xiao Jiang, don’t get mad at me, don’t ruin your health. I’ll apologize and punish myself with three drinks!”
Jiang Yumo turned back, his eyes slightly red. “It’s fine, I’m not mad at you. People’s words can be terrifying. You were just deceived.”
This instantly shifted his anger onto Jiang Chongyuan.
The man’s expression was full of admiration. “Xiao Jiang, you’re magnanimous!”
In his heart, though, he secretly hated Jiang Chongyuan for tricking him.
The system marveled: 【Host, you’re incredible!】
Zhong Qikai suddenly slapped his forehead. “Damn! I remember now! A long time ago, when your mom died, it even made the news… cough cough, never mind, let’s just play dice!”
Jiang Yumo seemed not to have heard the previous words. He obediently played dice with the others, guessing the numbers.
Zhong Qikai, however, gave Xu Feiyao a look and pulled him aside into a corner.
Xu Feiyao asked, “What’s up?”
“I just remembered. That incident was pretty shocking.” Zhong Qikai fiddled with his phone. “Found it.”
He gestured for Xu Feiyao to look at the screen. “This is the news report from back then. A single mother with depression committed suicide. Her five-year-old child was trapped with her body for three days. When discovered, her corpse was already rotting, and the child was curled up in her arms, nearly starving to death.”
Xu Feiyao was stunned. He didn’t expect that this seemingly sunny, outgoing boy had such a tragic past.
Zhong Qikai continued, “I don’t know how he survived those three days. They say there was no food in the room…”
“Enough. Don’t tell anyone about this.” Xu Feiyao knew the boy wouldn’t want people’s pity. “Don’t spread it around.”
Xu Feiyao sent the news to himself on his phone, returned the phone to Zhong Qikai, and then looked down to text Gu Yu. He didn’t wait for a reply; Gu Yu was busy with work and might not see it for a while.
Zhong Qikai said, “I get it. I’m just surprised. I never thought I’d meet the person who was in the news over a decade ago.”
By the time they returned, their expressions were back to normal. In the blink of an eye, the man who had earlier tried to embarrass Jiang Yumo, Ye Qiu, was now completely in awe of him.
“You guys don’t know! Xiao Jiang is amazing! He can roll dice, he just rolled a triple leopard. Incredible!”
It was obvious that someone who had just come of age must have been through a lot to master that skill. Xu Feiyao couldn’t help but feel heartache. “So amazing… let’s play a few rounds.”
The party in the private room was in full swing. They treated Jiang Yumo like a money-making machine, within minutes, he had already won a hundred thousand.
They hadn’t been playing long before a few of them suggested moving out to Panlong Highway on the outskirts of the city. They hadn’t had a chance to drink yet tonight and wanted to show off a little in front of Jiang Yumo.
That road, far from the city center, had little traffic, but it twisted and turned like a coiled dragon, hence the name Panlong Mountain Road.
The group left the private room.
Jiang Huarong, who had spent a long time tidying himself in the bathroom and was finally looking less messy, accidentally bumped into someone at a corner. “Sorry…”
Jiang Huarong, about to apologize, saw Jiang Yumo and immediately flew into a rage. “You little brat! Finally, I’ve got you!”
He grabbed Jiang Yumo’s slender wrist like clutching at a lifeline. “Come with me! Go explain everything to Qian Sheng! All of this is your doing, it has nothing to do with the Jiang family!”
“Who are you?” Zhong Qikai grabbed Jiang Huarong by the collar.
Being confronted by a young man, Jiang Huarong felt humiliated and shouted angrily, “I’m his father!”
“Oh~ so you’re the scumbag dad who seduced a college student, made her drop out, and get pregnant before marriage?” Xu Feiyao grabbed Jiang Huarong’s wrist hard, and Jiang Huarong yelped in pain and let go.
Only then did Jiang Huarong notice the crowd surrounding Jiang Yumo. Some faces were familiar, some weren’t, but there was no doubt, these were people the Jiang family could not mess with. Jiang Huarong’s expression changed faster than any Sichuan opera face-changing master. He forced a smile. “I don’t know what Jiang Yumo told you… I’m the one who’s been schemed against…”
“Pfft!” Xu Feiyao scoffed. “A young college student scheming against you, a fat, greasy middle-aged man whose belly is bigger than a bucket?”
Jiang Huarong’s shirt was wrinkled like he’d been wearing it for three straight days. Bald with a big belly, he looked no different from the low-class middle-aged men he usually despised.
“What did that person even get from committing suicide from depression…” Zhong Qikai said indignantly, then glanced at Jiang Yumo, who was looking down and hard to read. “Move, move, move! Don’t block the way! Annoying!”
“Exactly! Our Xiao Jiang is so good-looking, good thing he didn’t inherit any of the scumbag genes.”
The group shoved Jiang Huarong aside and walked into the elevator. As the doors closed, Jiang Yumo looked up and smiled at Jiang Huarong. Jiang Huarong clutched his chest, and instantly his neck and face flushed bright red.
But as he simmered with anger, he realized something and soon laughed again. “[1]Heaven never seals off all paths – This phrase means that no matter how dire a situation seems, there is always a way out. It conveys the idea that even when all hope appears lost, an … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1988494_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1988494_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });Heaven never seals off all paths…”
Although he didn’t know how Jiang Yumo had met these people, they were far more useful than Qian Sheng and Qian Xin.
Meanwhile, Xu Feiyao and the others were talking rapidly, trying their best to comfort Jiang Yumo. When had they ever done anything like this? It was more nerve-wracking than taking the college entrance exam.
Jiang Yumo, slightly moved, couldn’t help but smile. “I’m fine. I’ve long since accepted reality.”
“All right, all right, enough talk, we’re going for a drive!” Xu Feiyao said.
The system noticed that the host’s heart rate had been incredibly steady from just now until this moment. It sighed inwardly: the host really is a great actor.
One expensive sports car after another roared past on the highway, weaving through the constant stream of traffic. While waiting at a red light, five or six supercars lined up neatly side by side.
Other vehicles kept a wide distance, worried that even a slight scrape could cost tens or hundreds of thousands.
Xu Feiyao’s eyes lit up. “Let’s take a group photo.”
He held his phone high, framing all the sports car companions in the screen. “Say cheese!”
The cars thundered off into the distance, and at that moment, Gu Yu, still working overtime at the office, had just finished a video meeting with the overseas branch. He leaned back in his executive chair, massaging his temples, which felt sore and tight.
Buzz!
The phone on his solid wood desk vibrated.
He received the results of the investigation he had ordered on the people who had contact with Jiang Yumo. Every individual’s background had been thoroughly checked, and no unusual traces were found.
Could it be that in this second run of life, a [2]butterfly effect is a concept from chaos theory that describes how small, seemingly insignificant changes or events can lead to large, unpredictable consequences over time. The idea is often … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1988494_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1988494_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });butterfly effect had occurred, making everything different?
Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why this life’s Jiang Yumo was doing things completely unlike the Jiang Yumo of the previous life.
Gu Yu tapped his fingers on the desk a few times, thought for a moment, and ordered the investigation to continue.
As he swiped, he saw a message from Xu Feiyao.
Xu Feiyao: 【NewsScreenshot.jpg】
Xu Feiyao: Our little Jiang brother really had it rough 【crying heavily】
Gu Yu’s expression was complicated.
In his previous life, he had investigated Jiang Yumo’s background, but many details were long past, and Jiang Yumo, already accomplished and famous at the time, had intentionally kept his background hidden. So Gu Yu only had a rough understanding of his history and had never studied it in depth.
Even so, a tragic background was no excuse for Jiang Yumo to act the way he did.
But now it was clear that Xu Feiyao cared about Jiang Yumo. Although his words were casual, Gu Yu had known Xu Feiyao for many years and could tell he already treated Jiang Yumo as half a brother.
Before Gu Yu could make sense of it, he received another WeChat from Xu Feiyao.
Xu Feiyao: 【HighwayGroupPhoto.JPG】
Xu Feiyao: Going racing, Brother Yu, you coming?
He opened the photo and zoomed in, catching sight of Jiang Yumo’s bright smile in the lower left corner.
Racing, Panlong Highway…
Xu Feiyao had been racing on Panlong Highway, and when drifting around a curve, the brakes had failed. The sports car had gone straight off the track, plunging down a cliff, exploding, leaving nothing of the car or driver…
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