Shoutout to Alinaza for the commission!
The official leather case lay quietly on the bed for two days, its lid flipped open outward, revealing rows of unopened boxes of aloeswood inside.
A faint warm fragrance filled the bedroom.
Early in the morning, Jiang Se received a call from Zhu Mingli.
Judging by the time, news of Zhu Yinlin being expelled from school should have already reached her. Besides that, Zhu Mingli must have also received the video of him smoking weed and cursing his father and stepmother.
In the video, his eyes were muddy, his expression deranged, saying “I’ll kill them sooner or later” with every breath.
Very exciting.
Zhu Mingli suppressed her anger: “What do you mean? You ruined my little brother, aren’t you afraid I’ll fight you to the death?”
“Who ruined your little brother? He cheated on exams and got someone to take the test for him, getting expelled is what should happen, right? Besides, that video was only sent to you, your dad and your stepmother haven’t even seen it yet, what are you anxious about?” Jiang Se slowly closed the lid of the government leather case, unhurriedly saying, “I already said it’s just an appetizer. Getting expelled, recording a video, what is that. With your little brother’s kind of talent, he’s done plenty of big things.”
Zhu Mingli let out a “heh”: “You’re asking me for help with this attitude? Cen Se, don’t force me into a fight to the death with you.”
“You’re mistaken about one thing. I’m not asking you for help. I’m giving you all a way to live.” Jiang Se got off the bed, bare feet stepping onto the floor. “Your little brother caused a huge mess before, almost made the Australia project lose a lot of money. Several people in charge were furious, questioning why Fu Yun shoved someone like him in. You just happen to be able to use this to open your eyes and see clearly Fu Yun’s attitude toward you and your little brother. They say you won’t cry until you see the coffin. I’ve prepared the coffin for you. Take it well.”
She hadn’t slept well for two days. Jiang Se was a bit grumpy when waking up. After saying a few sentences and finishing the matter, she hung up the phone.
When the busy tone “doo doo” sounded, Zhu Mingli almost bit through her silver teeth.
The next second the phone cut into a new call. She looked at the screen, then raised her brows, lowered her voice and answered, “Ah Yun, I just happened to have something—”
Fu Yun coldly interrupted her: “Do you know how much trouble your little brother caused me?”
Zhu Mingli froze.
“He even went out using my name to make empty promises. After a few drinks he says anything, saying everything is backed by his older sister and brother-in-law. Cen Li said if he stays in the project again, I’ll be the one cleaning up his mess.”
Fu Yun’s voice slowly carried a bit of impatience. “After I dissolved the engagement with Sese, my relationship with Cen Li is not what it used to be. I don’t want to fall out with him because of Zhu Yinlin. I’ll have people send your little brother back. He hired someone to take the exam for him and made the whole world know. I’m too lazy to step in and speak to the school. When he’s back in Beicheng, I’ll casually arrange a university for him to get a diploma.”
“Casually arrange a university?” Zhu Mingli frowned. “Zhu Yinao is currently at A University. If Yinlin goes somewhere worse than him, my dad definitely won’t place any hope on him again.”
“Place hope?” Fu Yun let out a gentle laugh, yet what he said was rude. “Your little brother is almost 20. Think about what we were doing at 20, and what your little brother is doing now. What expectations do you think he’s worthy of?”
“Ah Yun, he’s my little brother.” Zhu Mingli slightly raised her voice. “He’s the little brother my mom asked me to take good care of before she died. Didn’t I tell you? I promised my mom I would take good care of Yinlin.”
Fu Yun stood in the Chairman’s office of the Fu Group, looking at the stretch of skyscrapers symbolizing wealth below, a trace of contempt flashing across his clear eyes.
The dignified eldest son of the Zhu family, with such a good hand of cards, and he ruined it like this. How could he not feel contempt?
If he had such a good hand of cards back then, would he have ended up with so many lives on his hands?
From that shabby place in Bai County climbing step by step to this top-floor office meant for the Chairman of the Fu Group, he even killed his own uncle, he would let no one drag him down.
“A person who only causes trouble all day, stopping him from causing trouble is the best care for him. Do I have to be your little brother’s babysitter just because I’m engaged to you, wiping his butt every day?” His tone chilled bit by bit. “Lili, for someone who only drags us back, do you still need me to teach you what to do?”
—
Fu Yun worked swiftly.
That same night Zhu Yinlin flew back to Beicheng. Zhu Mingli personally drove to the airport to bring him home.
Zhu Yinlin had always been somewhat afraid of Zhu Mingli since childhood. Knowing he caused trouble this time, he didn’t dare make a sound all the way.
When the car stopped at the villa where Zhu Mingli lived, he finally muttered, “Sis, I know I was wrong.”
Zhu Mingli looked at the night outside the window, saying nothing.
Seeing her silent, knowing she was angry, he did what he always did, deliberately flattering her by bringing up Fu Yun, calling him “brother-in-law” again and again.
“Brother-in-law said he’ll help me find a new school, told me not to worry. You don’t need to worry either. Brother-in-law is so powerful now, when he takes over the Fu family, he’ll definitely help us get rid of Zhu Yinao and his mother.”
When Zhu Mingli heard this, she finally turned to look at him, her soft eyes carrying some indescribable emotion.
Zhu Yinlin felt a chill at her gaze. “Sis, what’s wrong? Did someone upset you? Was it Zhu Yinao and his mother?”
The siblings had always been close since childhood. His concern for her was overflowing, completely genuine.
Zhu Mingli said, “Yinlin, now that you’re back in Beicheng, don’t cause trouble again.”
“I won’t cause trouble. Sis, whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it.” Zhu Yinlin had said this countless times, effortlessly, with a sincere expression. “Right, sis, did you know brother-in-law actually has relatives in Bai County?”
Zhu Mingli’s expression changed: “Who told you that?”
“A new friend I met. He knows brother-in-law previously, I mean the one not retrieved by the Fu family. My friend’s relative once worked at a brewery in Bai County. That relative knows brother-in-law. I think that brewery is now owned by brother-in-law’s family.”
Zhu Mingli’s heart thumped hard. “What’s the name of your friend’s relative?”
Zhu Yinlin thought and said, “Zhao Zhi. I didn’t ask which ‘Zhi’. Do you want me to ask?”
Zhao Zhi.
Zhao Zhicheng.
Zhu Mingli clenched the platinum bag in her hand, stared at Zhu Yinlin, and asked word by word: “When you called Fu Yun, did you tell him about that brewery and your friend? Did you!”
Her expression was too stern. Startled by her shout, Zhu Yinlin felt uneasy: “No. My friend said brother-in-law used to be pretty down and out there. If I bring this up in front of him, wouldn’t that be ripping open his old wounds? Sis—”
Zhu Yinlin studied Zhu Mingli’s face: “Did something happen between you and brother-in-law?”
“My business with your brother-in-law is none of yours. Listen, Yinlin, don’t go looking for your brother-in-law these days.” Zhu Mingli said solemnly, “Whether it’s calls or messages, you cannot disturb him. As for the brewery and your brother-in-law’s relatives, just pretend you never heard of them. You cannot tell anyone. Especially your brother-in-law. Your brother-in-law has a bad relationship with those relatives. Do not mention them in front of him. Do you hear me!”
Zhu Yinlin was unsettled by her words, but didn’t dare ask more, so he just nodded.
Fu Yun was now a very busy man. Almost every night he had social engagements. The secretary said tonight’s venue was at Mayfair Club, and Zhu Mingli knew the host. After settling Zhu Yinlin, she drove straight there.
She didn’t expect to miss him. After asking around, she learned the hospital had called, and Fu Yun had been summoned away.
It wasn’t the first time.
Fu Yun rarely reported his whereabouts. She was always the one straining to dig them up.
Leaving the private room, Zhu Mingli suddenly recalled the look Jiang Se gave her that night in the hot spring.
She said: how did you become like this?
She said: what virtue does Fu Yun have to tame you like this?
It hadn’t started like this. Seven years ago, when Fu Yun had Jiang Se kidnapped, he’d said it was to vent her anger.
“You really don’t like Cen Se, right? Want me to vent for you? I also can’t stand that nephew of mine. How about we ruin her together?”
When the man said this to her tenderly, Zhu Mingli’s heart beat wildly.
She was always suppressed by Jiang Se. Even her own mother preferred Jiang Se.
But why was Jiang Se allowed to be that moon in the center of all the stars?
Why did everyone like her and praise her?
Why, even now, did she still act so superior, mocking her for being Fu Yun’s obedient servant?
Her high heels clicked sharply on the polished marble floor. Zhu Mingli’s red lips were tightly pressed. Just as she was about to walk to the elevators, her peripheral vision caught the man standing at the end of the corridor.
Her steps halted instinctively.
The man was leaning against the window, smoking. His features were elegant, his temperament noble and cold. The fingers holding the cigarette tapped ashes into the tray beside him from time to time.
Zhu Mingli naturally knew this man.
If there was something Jiang Se once couldn’t obtain, it was probably this man.
She knew Jiang Se had liked him.
Precisely because Jiang Se had liked him, and because she wanted to make Fu Yun jealous, she had deliberately tried to flirt with Lu Huaiyan at her and Fu Yun’s engagement banquet.
But the man had seen through her at a glance. His tone flat as he advised her to go find a few waiters to sleep with instead.
In that moment, Zhu Mingli felt as if someone had stripped her bare and slapped her hard.
Humiliation, shame, and anger.
Yet she couldn’t offend him. She could only grit her teeth and leave.
Zhu Mingli had no real connection with Lu Huaiyan. This man had never looked her in the eye. At this moment, she should have kept walking and taken the elevator.
But she remembered the recent rumors. That he went to the airport to stop someone. The person he stopped was Jiang Se.
Jiang Se had sworn she had a backup plan.
Zhu Mingli had been thinking these days about what that backup plan could be.
Could it be Lu Huaiyan?
But wasn’t the Lu family supposed to marry into the Guan family?
Old Master Lu’s attitude toward that Guan girl was basically treating her as a future granddaughter-in-law.
Zhu Mingli licked her dry lips and walked toward Lu Huaiyan.
The man’s gaze shifted lazily to her. He slowly exhaled a plume of smoke. Behind the lenses, his eyes were veiled by pale smoke, their color unreadable.
Her black heels clicked as she approached, then stopped in front of him.
Zhu Mingli lifted a charming smile. “I wanted to remind Young Master Lu that lately you should be careful of people trying to use you.”
Lu Huaiyan looked at her quietly. He flicked his cigarette ash and asked in a light voice, “Who are you talking about?”
Zhu Mingli didn’t answer directly, smiling: “Young Master Lu is a smart man. You know who I mean. I only said this because I happened to run into you tonight.”
Such vague words should naturally end there. Zhu Mingli smiled and turned to walk toward the elevators.
Her heels clicked twice. Then the man behind her suddenly spoke: “If you’re talking about Jiang Se—”
Zhu Mingli’s heart gave a jolt. She froze, turning back to look at him.
The man’s expression remained indifferent. He raised his hand and crushed out the cigarette. Looking straight into her eyes, he said in a low, steady voice: “I would indeed be very happy to let her use me. If you don’t believe it, try touching a single strand of her hair.”
—
【Pick a time to meet. You choose the place.】
Jiang Se received Zhu Mingli’s WeChat in the middle of the night, but didn’t rush to reply.
“She’s letting you choose the place. That’s her showing sincerity,” Zheng Huan said as she glanced at Jiang Se’s phone, chewing mint gum. “People who help tyrants always get bitten back sooner or later. But… how did you know Fu Yun wouldn’t help her little brother?”
“He spent so much effort building himself such a perfect image. How could he let Zhu Yinlin ruin it? What Zhu Yinlin did already made him feel ashamed. My older brother has been pressuring him, and everyone is watching his attitude. If he helps this time, then from now on he’ll be tied to Zhu Yinlin. From then on, anything Zhu Yinlin does, he’ll have to clean up.”
Having been taught by Old Master Fu for over ten years, Fu Yun’s surface act was better than anyone’s.
With Zhu Yinlin, he would of course help reason, not family.
Old Master Fu had been gravely ill lately, and Fu Group was being run by him. With power in hand, his arrogance and self-importance were at their peak. His attitude toward Zhu Mingli… naturally grew even more dismissive.
Just one Zhu Yinlin was enough to make her see clearly what place she held in Fu Yun’s heart.
The best way to wake someone who deceives themselves was to brutally trample on what they treasured most.
“Are you really going to work with her?” Zheng Huan toyed with the candy wrapper in her hand, glancing at Jiang Se. “She’s one of the people who harmed you back then.”
“Why not?” Jiang Se smiled. “She’s the person closest to Fu Yun, and the only accomplice still alive. Collaborating with her will be most effective. Of course, she’s not my only partner. Getting Zhu Yinlin back from Australia in a tail-between-the-legs way isn’t just to make Zhu Mingli hesitant; it’s also to show their stepmother my sincerity.”
“Zhu Mingli and Zhu Yinlin’s stepmother?” Zheng Huan tossed the candy wrapper aside, her eyes brightening. “Her stepmother… isn’t an easy one. The son is impressive too. After being beaten like that, he still bit the bullet and got into A University, becoming your junior.”
Thanks to the Fu family’s help, the Zhu family had narrowly survived. In the past half year, Zhu Mingli had been so arrogant at home that her nostrils practically flared. Her stepmother and younger brother had been holding back all this time.
If the Cen family could give them leverage, Jiang Se didn’t believe they wouldn’t seize the opportunity.
She understood better than anyone what it felt like to live in hatred.
“If that mother-and-son pair were easy to deal with, why would Zhu Mingli have sent her little brother abroad?” Jiang Se glanced behind Zheng Huan. “Did Uncle Yu bring me the beer this time?”
“Uncle Yu’s memory is sharp,” Zheng Huan snorted, pulling out a market-style basket from under the desk. “A whole dozen.”
Jiang Se took a bottle of beer from the basket and held it, examining it.
Jiatu, green bottle.
Exactly the same as the one Zhao Zhicheng had brought back before.
Zheng Huan glanced at the bottle in her hand and suddenly said, “By the way, someone’s been checking on me these past few days.”
Jiang Se lifted her eyes from the bottle. “Checking on you? Who?”
“More precisely, trying to check on you through me.” Zheng Huan crossed her legs lazily, her expression calm. “Their attitude is open, as if they don’t care whether I noticed or not. Should be someone you know, and they mean no harm to you.”
Jiang Se’s gaze paused slightly. She said calmly, “Got it.”
Her expression was as composed as Zheng Huan’s. She put the bottle back in the basket and took out her phone to unlock it. Soon, Zheng Huan’s phone on the desk rang. She glanced down: a transfer notification.
“Sister Huan, this is the final payment.” Jiang Se put her phone back in her pocket and smiled at Zheng Huan. “This case is officially closed today.”
She extended her hand to Zheng Huan. “Pleasure working with you.”
The girl’s slender hand gleamed delicately in the dim basement light, as beautiful as jade.
Zheng Huan couldn’t help recalling the first time they met.
Five years ago, in the parking lot outside Dr. Gina’s clinic, this girl suddenly tapped on her car window.
“Heard you used to be a cop and now a private investigator?” The eighteen-year-old’s smile was curved, her delicate features carrying a maturity beyond her age. “I’ve seen the cases you solved. I admire your skills. Would you accept my commission?”
Zheng Huan had run into her a few times in the clinic. From her demeanor, it was clear she was a wealthy heiress.
Curious, she asked, “What kind of case?”
“A kidnapping,” her eyes dark and deep, opaque yet burning. “A sixteen-year-old girl is still trapped. I want to bring her back.”
Even now, Zheng Huan remembered that gaze.
The same look she had when searching for the serial killer who murdered her little sister: willing to risk everything, to gamble and fight.
“Are you sure?” Zheng Huan asked Jiang Se solemnly. “You really want to close this case?”
“Mm. There are still a few loose ends I’ll need you and Uncle Yu to handle.”
“Alright.” Zheng Huan stood, gripping Jiang Se’s hand firmly, unusually solemn. “Remember what I told you five years ago?”
“I remember.” Jiang Se smiled. “When you have not even a single trump card, don’t take risks lightly.”
