She had no idea! No wonder he had been acting so suspiciously back then. The factory was a joint venture between husband and wife; if he ran off with the money, what would happen to her?
With a single sentence, Jiang Ke had driven a wedge between the profit-driven couple.
In the eerie silence, as the timer ticked down, Jiang Ke spoke with a heavy, deliberate pace.
“Does it feel good to suck my blood? You can’t even take a single step forward without me, can you? That’s why you’re practically begging me to go to the banquet tomorrow. But did you really think I was so stupid that I’d give everything to the Jiang family for free without asking for a single share or position?”
“The filth you’ve left behind over the last decade is enough to put you away for half a lifetime. Instead of stepping into that mud myself, why wouldn’t I just let you two work yourselves to death for me?”
“Haven’t you noticed? The supply channels, the tech, and the personnel have been going through my hands for a long time. How do you think I know about your asset transfers and the ledgers?”
“A brain is a good thing to have. If you’d used yours while ‘listening’ to my advice, you wouldn’t be in this position. Are you finally catching on? Don’t worry, given your intellect, I have more clean evidence to report you with than you even remember having. Once you’re inside, I can easily contact my network, take the channels and the staff, and start a new factory without a single stain on its name. What do you think I’ll do then?”
The car fell into a deathly silence. Chang Dai looked at her daughter as if she were a total stranger—a monster. Jiang Rui’s face had turned from red to a hypoxic purple, his breathing coming in ragged, difficult gasps.
Then came the final, chilling threat: “So, you’d best not provoke me. And you’d better not touch my sister.”
Jiang Ke returned exactly before the five-minute mark. She didn’t say a word, only took her sister’s hand firmly and hailed a taxi.
In those “puppy eyes” that usually crinkled with cheer, there was still a lingering, smoldering rage. Xu Yinian had never felt this way before—protected with such an overwhelming sense of security by the very sister who usually relied on her.
In the few minutes she had been left alone on the sidewalk, the shock of her uncle’s words had slowly faded, replaced by a cold clarity.
Regardless of whether her uncle was lying, Xu Yinian chose to believe in the mother she knew. She believed in the intelligence that shouldn’t have been trapped in a tiny town like Yuanwu; she believed in the grit of the woman who raised her alone.
She remembered her mother’s honor—how she had cast aside her pride to borrow money for her husband’s medical bills, only to work herself to the bone on a meager salary, paying back every cent, plus interest, over the years.
What hurt Yinian most was seeing her mother slandered and mocked behind her back. Xu Yinian pursed her lips, a rare spark of determination in her soft eyes. Next time, she would speak up. She wouldn’t let anyone talk about her mother like that.
Beside her, Jiang Ke looked down, her eyes clouding with a dark, painful struggle.
This was undoubtedly the best time to tell Xu Yinian that she wasn’t her mother’s biological daughter. If she did, Jiang Ke could completely shatter the shackles of blood relations and any “taboo” nature of their feelings. She would have the same standing as Shen Ruoshuang or anyone else—a real chance to be with her.
But if she opened that Pandora’s box, how could Xu Yinian’s heart survive the despair?
She knew too well what Xu Yihe meant to Yinian. Her mother was her greatest love, her most trusted anchor, her eternal safe harbor.
Jiang Ke admitted that when her darker, baser side took over, she felt jealous. She wondered why Xu Yihe always occupied the largest space in Yinian’s heart, and why Yinian took her mother’s kindness so much for granted. Furthermore, Xu Yihe was incredibly sharp; her control and protection of Yinian were woven into the girl’s very bones. There were several times Jiang Ke feared her true feelings had been seen through.
She had even felt a momentary, secret joy when she learned that Yinian had disobeyed her mother for the first time in eighteen years to live independently.
But she always woke up quickly. She knew she couldn’t compare to Xu Yihe, who had sacrificed everything for eighteen years.
Xu Yinian was a flower that was difficult to raise. She was so pure and white that she was easily targeted by the greed and malice of others. Jiang Ke herself was one of those dangerous, covetous people.
How could she bear to let her sister’s world collapse? Just seeing her turn pale and shake had made Jiang Ke’s own heart twist in agony.
With that thought, she completely suppressed her selfish desires and looked up.
“Ke-ke, just now…”
Cutting ties with her uncle was one thing, but Xu Yinian didn’t want the feud to affect Jiang Ke’s relationship with her parents.
Knowing her sister would always believe in Xu Yihe, Jiang Ke spoke softly, “Big Sister, do you want to hear about Auntie? I know a few things. And actually, ever since you came to the Capital, Auntie has been in constant contact with me, asking how you’re doing.”
A look of surprise and joy instantly lit up Xu Yinian’s face.
Jiang Ke began to tell the story as if it were casual conversation.
Xu Yinian only knew her mother was smart—smart enough to go from a substitute teacher to a math teacher for the honor-track Competition Class. She had often wondered about her mother’s alma mater and why she had stayed in a place as small as Yuanwu. Her mother never spoke of it, and the few relatives they saw were always evasive.
For the first time, Yinian learned that her mother had been an adopted child. As soon as she finished middle school, the family had been desperate for her to start working to support her younger siblings and “repay the debt” of being raised.
Even her high school education had only happened because her class advisor couldn’t stand to see her talent wasted and personally funded her. Her adoptive family hadn’t given her a cent for university.
Tough and independent, Xu Yihe refused to owe anyone anything. She didn’t even take the National College Entrance Exam; instead, she went straight to work to pay back every cent her adoptive parents had spent on her. Once the debt was cleared, she changed her surname to Xu and cut ties with them almost entirely.
