Chapter 38

The weather was nice the day Father Jiang returned. As the head of the family with absolute authority, his return cast a palpable pressure over the entire household.

Normally, any dramas or arguments were kept well away from him.

Jiang Muti understood this, so she never expected that throwing a tantrum would achieve anything in his presence.

However, what Jiang Yunjuan had told her previously about her parents’ cold relationship was evident. In the past, they only interacted respectfully in front of their children or during important social events. They had never appeared especially close.

But now, with the time difference in their arrivals, it was immediately noticeable.

Her aunt and her family had been living with them for nearly half a month, and Father Jiang hadn’t even noticed.

When he returned and saw her aunt’s family, he was quite surprised at first, but as they were close relatives, he quickly recovered and warmly welcomed them.

He then looked at Zhong Hao and said, “The child looks quite clever. Study well and come help your cousin in the future.”

The adults all took it as polite conversation, but it made the younger cousin very happy. Seeing him prance around in delight amused everyone.

As for cousin Xuan, she was completely ignored by him, except for the polite greetings.

This favoritism towards boys was evident in both families. Jiang Muti was quite impressed by her “cheap” father’s stubborn behavior.

She guessed that Father Jiang probably didn’t know about the issues between Mother Jiang and cousin Xuan. She hadn’t yet asked her brother about the specifics, but thanks to Father Jiang’s indifference to the family’s girls, he had never paid much attention to such matters.

Of course, some facts that would require deeper investigation had been missed. No matter how powerful one person was, they couldn’t know everything.

In other words, if Father Jiang knew about cousin Xuan, with his authoritarian nature, whether she would have survived this long was uncertain. Mother Jiang also wouldn’t have the current position she held.

Therefore, that young girl had been full of jealousy and contradictions since entering the Jiang family, developing a strong sense of comparison towards Jiang Muti, which Jiang Muti found laughable.

Her comfortable life was built on Father Jiang’s support, not Mother Jiang’s. Without the Jiang family’s resources, Mother Jiang’s business wouldn’t have thrived.

At the dinner table, when Father Jiang learned that Jiang Muti had been grounded, he furrowed his brows and asked, “What trouble did you cause?”

“You’re about to get engaged, stop acting like a child. At home, your parents and brothers indulge you, but when you go outside, it won’t be that comfortable, will it?”

“Besides, the Zhou family is interested in you to be their head of the household. I don’t want them to say that the daughter raised by me, Jiang Zhide, is useless.”

Jiang Muti sneered inwardly. It was as if he had raised his own daughter for a day.

But on the surface, she said, “It’s just a small conflict between children. I already know I was wrong. My mom asked me to reflect, and these past few days, I’ve realized that my impatience is a serious issue, and I need to stay calm. I’ve thought a lot about how to handle things in our family and how to manage relationships in the Zhou family moving forward.”

“And also, since you’re planning for the family business to be settled soon, I’d like to stay home and celebrate.”

Father Jiang was pleased to hear this. It was great that his daughter was maturing. He felt reassured that she understood the importance of thinking about the family, which wasn’t easy.

Compared to the restless daughters of his business partners, his own daughter throwing a minor tantrum at home was nothing serious.

He said happily, “I heard from your brother that you’ve been collecting jewelry recently. I have a few jade stones at my place, you can have them to play with. They’re really valuable, but nowadays, young girls don’t seem to appreciate them much.”

“Don’t know the value!”

Jiang Muti immediately smiled, and all the irritation from before vanished: “I like them! Of course I like them! Dad, you said it, no backing out now! It’s not easy to get these good things from you.”

Father Jiang smiled and shook his head, and for a moment, there was a harmonious atmosphere between the affectionate father and dutiful daughter.

Since Jiang Muti started her collection, she had accumulated quite a bit of personal wealth.

Aside from the custom-made dresses and shoes in her wardrobe, each worth tens of thousands of dollars, and even more expensive seasonal dresses, the majority of the value came from her jewelry collection.

At first, after she lost weight, Mother Jiang gave her a lot of her own personal stash. Over time, Jiang Yunjuan had also been collecting pieces for her, but only the jade stones that met the standards for Father Jiang’s collection were truly valuable.

These were, of course, priceless treasures that were rare and hard to come by.

When Jiang Yunjuan saw how money-minded his sister was, he could only helplessly pat her on the head.

Mother Jiang gave Father Jiang a glare: “You spoil her too much. So, my grounding is just a way for you to send her more goodies?”

This was of course a joke, and no one would spoil the mood at this moment.

The only one who seemed bothered was cousin Xuan, who, seeing this star-studded treatment and lavish rewards, was upset that Jiang Muti could get them with just a few sweet words.

Although she had already made up her mind, she was still overwhelmed by a wave of jealousy.

But this time, she was smarter, knowing her expression wouldn’t look too good, so she just lowered her head and drank her soup.

The next few days, as expected, Jiang Muti blatantly skipped school.

And she was being rather mischievous, not only skipping school but also standing at the gate early in the morning, yawning as she saw Yun Cheng and Yun Duo off to the car.

“Take care~ you guys have a good day, I’ll go back to sleep for a while.”

“Brother! Can I hit her?” Yun Duo asked with a stern face.

“Better not. After all, she did borrow our car. Wait until after school to hit her,” Yun Cheng replied.

Although Jiang Muti wasn’t going to school, the car still picked them up.

One time, cousin Xuan made a comment about their family’s employee benefits, how the children all had private cars to take them to school.

But no one paid attention to her. Jiang Yunjuan and Jiang Muti treated the Yun family as their own, so they weren’t stingy about such things. Father Jiang and Mother Jiang were even less concerned about whether their daughter borrowed someone else’s car.

Instead, that night, cousin Xuan was privately scolded by Mother Jiang. Wanting to get closer to Muti and take the place of Yun Duo, who was currently the closest to her, seemed like a clever tactic.

But it was too obvious, almost laughable. The Yun family had been working diligently here for so many years.

The Yun family’s steward was competent and reliable, admired even by Father Jiang, so they had been given better treatment year after year, even profit-sharing. Finding such a capable person was hard, and they were worth their weight in gold.

Even Mother Jiang was always polite with others. For a little girl to treat the staff like servants she could command around, using trivial reasons to criticize their children, was completely disrespectful to the relationship between employer and employee.

From Mother Jiang’s point of view, it was a foolish and embarrassing move.

Xuanxuan grew impatient: “Yes, I have shallow eyelids, and my knowledge is limited. For me, having a driver and riding in a private car is something only young masters and young ladies get. When I was in school, no one picked me up, and who knew that the children of the servants here live better than I did.”

She cried to Mother Jiang, “You sent me to my mom’s place, but it would have been better if you had let me grow up like the servants here. Jiang Muti throws a tantrum, and all she has to do is say a few sweet words, and you give her jade worth millions like it’s nothing.”

“She casually gives those two siblings some earrings to wear, while I’ve begged for years, but you never bought me anything like that.”

Mother Jiang felt a headache coming on. She knew this girl was just being swayed by the temptation of real gold and jade, but since she had been acting decently the past few days and was getting along peacefully with Muti, Mother Jiang thought she could give her a little something. That way, it wouldn’t be suspicious to Jiang Zhide, after all, the girl was growing up, and it was natural for an aunt to give her a little something.

She waved her hand: “Alright, alright, I have a few sets suitable for young girls like you. I’ll send them over later.”

“These things, as long as you’re smart, you’ll have plenty in the future. Don’t be so narrow-minded, seeing too little will only limit your view.”

Xuanxuan thought her aunt was just talking from a place of privilege, but once the items were delivered, the large diamonds did indeed ease her depression a lot.

The next day, Xuanxuan wore a pair of earrings out. The design was delicate and compact, suitable for everyday wear.

But when Jiang Muti saw them, she immediately instructed the maid: “Go to my room and pick out two sets of dresses for my cousin, preferably pink or white. She looks good in those colors.”

At first, Xuanxuan was a bit surprised by the attention. She knew the dresses Jiang Muti had, and they were worth tens of thousands, and each could only be worn once. In terms of value, they were no less than ordinary jewelry. The key difference was that jewelry wasn’t something that could only be worn once.

Seeing how generous she was, Xuanxuan thought to herself, as Auntie said, if she could get along with her, Muti would be easygoing. She realized how foolish she had been, always showing hostility.

When the dresses arrived, Xuanxuan was immediately stunned by the stunning designs.

“Thank you, cousin!” she said, delighted.

Jiang Muti waved her hand: “It’s nothing. Mom is always just adding jewelry. These things can’t be used alone. Don’t you need dresses, shoes, and bags to match?”

“When she prepared things for me back then, she wasn’t so clueless. By the way, the shoes don’t fit me. You can go to the store to try them on next time you go out. Just put it on my mom’s account, same for the bags.”

After saying that, Jiang Muti went upstairs to find her brother, leaving Xuanxuan feeling mixed emotions.

The night before, Xuanxuan had been so excited about receiving the jewelry, but who would have thought that it was just a casual gesture.

Even Jiang Muti could think of these things. Auntie always said she favored her, but had she ever been as considerate with her as she was with Jiang Muti?

—

Jiang Muti curled her lips. People like this, whose desires are never satisfied, won’t remember the good you do for them. But let there be even the smallest slip-up, and they’ll hold it against you forever.

Her mother always thought she was planning for others, but look at the relationship between the two of them. How long could it withstand years of pent-up resentment?

In the end, her heart had been cultivated by Mother Jiang herself, and now it was time to savor the fruits of her labor.

She went upstairs and pushed open her brother’s study door, only to find her father there as well. They were talking about work.

Seeing Jiang Muti enter, Father Jiang frowned: “What are you doing here? Didn’t you go out to play?”

Jiang Yunjuan laughed: “She must have just come to ask us what we want for lunch. She’s really thoughtful. She knew you were coming back, so she made the effort to come ask in person.”

Father Jiang’s face softened: “In the future, just remember, when we’re talking about work, don’t come in.”

Just as he finished speaking, Father Jiang got a phone call. After listening to the contents, his expression changed drastically.

He suddenly stood up from his chair, his face turning pale. This was the first time Jiang Muti had seen the business magnate lose his composure since arriving in this world.

After hanging up the phone, he immediately said to Jiang Yunjuan, “Go to the company. The shareholders and directors should be on their way.”

Jiang Yunjuan glanced at Jiang Muti, who was out of sight of their father, and they exchanged a subtle smile.

It was already noon. Father Jiang and Jiang Yunjuan were in such a hurry to leave without eating, and Father Jiang’s face hadn’t looked this bad in years, which left Mother Jiang and the others at home at a loss.

When Jiang Muti came down from upstairs a little later, Mother Jiang quickly grabbed her, “What’s wrong with your dad?”

Jiang Muti shrugged, “How would I know? Maybe one of his investment projects failed, and he lost a lot of money.”

Mother Jiang, seeing her nonchalant attitude, wanted to scold her. She snapped, “How do I have a daughter like you? Are you trying to make your dad angry? There’s a problem with our family’s business, and instead of worrying, you’re acting so indifferent. Do you think this life was just handed to you? What a fool.”

Jiang Muti shrugged again, with an indifferent expression, “Worrying won’t help. Let’s just eat, I’m hungry.”

Mother Jiang was nearly driven mad by her, but her sister-in-law managed to calm her down. Xuanxuan snickered inside.

This is the high-minded daughter Aunt always talks about? It’s just like ^[1]“how can one eat meat porridge” (何不食肉糜) comes from a famous historical anecdote in China. It refers to a ruler or privileged person being out of touch with the struggles of … Continue reading”how can one eat meat porridge?”

The whole lunch was eaten without much appetite by anyone, except for Jiang Muti, who ate two bowls of rice, and seemed to be enjoying it more than usual, as if something good was happening at home.

Mother Jiang, already anxious, grew even more frustrated watching her.

Just as Jiang Muti put down her bowl, someone entered the room—one of Jiang Yunjuan’s assistants.

He gave a slight bow to everyone at the table and then turned to Jiang Muti, saying, “Miss, it’s time. The car is ready.”

“Alright, let’s go!” Jiang Muti set her bowl down, elegantly wiped her lips with a napkin, and stood up to leave.

Mother Jiang, feeling confused, asked, “Where are you going now? Forget about the family situation for a moment, you’re still in confinement. You’re not supposed to go anywhere. Go back to your room and stay there.”

Jiang Muti smiled, “Although I’m just a backup, I’m still one of the participants. How could I not be there when the results are revealed?”

Her words left Mother Jiang even more confused, but she had a strong, bad feeling, one so intense that it almost overshadowed her concern about the company.

Suddenly, she guessed that Jiang Muti might be going to the company, so she quickly grabbed her coat, “Are you going to the company? Fine, I’ll go with you. Staying here and worrying doesn’t help.”

However, the assistant refused, “Madam, Master specifically asked to take only Miss to the company. Please stay here and wait for news.”

Mother Jiang couldn’t believe it: “He dares to restrict my movements?”

She looked at Jiang Muti, and her heart began to race, “You and your brother have something planned, haven’t you? I’m telling you, you two should stop. You’re my biological daughter, and I won’t harm you. Do you really think your dad is easy to mess with? If you anger him, he won’t go easy on you.”

Seeing her daughter still acting indifferent, Mother Jiang became even more furious, “What are you after? Do you know Jiang Yunjuan—? You don’t trust your own father but stand with your foster brother, are you a fool?”

Jiang Muti smiled, “Mom! I’m just going out for some fresh air. You’re so worked up, you’re turning it into a drama. I’ll have a doctor come check on you later to help you relax.”

“You’ve been through so many storms with my dad. If you can’t handle this small situation, he’ll definitely say you’re not behaving.”

“There are still guests at home. You should be worrying with Auntie. Is this how you act?”

Auntie and her family awkwardly laughed, realizing they were indeed caught up in a troublesome situation.

“Don’t play games, come back here—” Mother Jiang was still calling her, but Jiang Muti had already left the dining room and was getting into the car.

Mother Jiang couldn’t understand what was going through her unlucky daughter’s head. All she could do was resent Jiang Yunjuan for being so cunning, coaxing his sister to stir up trouble.

She had just been informed that a car was being prepared for her and was planning to go when she received the feedback from the other side—

The eldest young master had already given orders that no vehicles, except those he arranged, were allowed to enter the estate today, which essentially meant she was being confined at home.

Jiang Muti leisurely had her lunch before heading out. By the time she arrived at the company, the shareholders and directors had already gathered, and the emergency meeting was already halfway through.

When she was brought into the meeting, although some were surprised to see her, no one paid her much attention, as the meeting’s content was the urgent matter at hand.

Father Jiang also saw her. At this moment, the project leader was speaking, and although he frowned, clearly displeased that his daughter had appeared here, he didn’t interrupt the meeting because of it.

“As everyone knows, the plan was perfect. From the initial site selection to the guidance on competitors, and communication with the authorities, every step was flawless. Who would have thought that a directive would come directly from the capital, rejecting the already finalized site selection? This was not a mistake in execution, but—”

“We don’t have the patience for your excuses,” one of the shareholders interjected. “The result is that the money we invested is down the drain, while you released information that led to another piece of land being invested in, and they’ve made a huge profit.”

“Such a large sum of money, the company’s liquidity has been drained, and now that the policy has been released, the land is unsellable. Who’s going to buy it?”

“Zhou’s side is already prepared with two plans. The latest news we’ve received is that they’ve contacted the Huo family from the northern province. They must have a backup plan to secure funding. And what about us? Do we have to shrink the company’s scale?”

Jiang Zhide was silent for a long while, not saying anything. To be honest, the collaboration between the Jiang and Zhou families was both solid and fragile.

Solid because of their mutual benefits, but once the project failed, with no profit left, the contract and tacit understanding would automatically become void.

Just like how Zhou’s side, which had now contacted the Huo family, had originally considered the Huo family before planning the marriage with the Jiang family. The Huo family had long been eyeing a certain industry of the Zhou family and had been actively seeking to make this happen.

But because of this project, the Jiang family became the preferred partner, and Zhou’s first choice switched to Jiang Muti.

Now, however—

Jiang Zhide glanced at his daughter, who was sitting at the end of the conference table. It seemed that this marriage would likely come to an end.

But at this moment, the priority was still to calm down the shareholders and the other shareholders present.

Jiang Zhide spoke up, “Alright, it’s happened, but it’s just a small matter of a few billion. You’ve all been with the company for years, you’ve seen all sorts of storms. This is just a setback in decision-making. In fact, we can even say that it’s destiny that we suffered these losses. Who could have anticipated that an external project would suddenly intervene in our city development?”

“Putting that aside, our company is mature in operations, experienced, and holds the top competitive position in the industry. Do you really think that because of this one incident, you’ll lose confidence in the company, in me, Jiang?”

The shareholders exchanged looks and murmured quietly, filling the entire large conference room with hushed voices.

One of them whispered, “This isn’t just a few billion. With the broken capital chain, our situation isn’t so optimistic.”

Another responded more objectively, “It’s not to the point of a total break, and there are ways to quickly recover the funds. But the company will have to take a loss.”

“The issue with the bank isn’t that big. Our company has always had a good reputation. We also have other beneficial projects, and the employment opportunities at stake are significant. The authorities won’t allow us to collapse.”

In conclusion, the company was certainly in a tough situation, but it wasn’t yet a point of despair. It did, however, need to recover and restock.

At that point, someone questioned, “Doesn’t the failure of the decision-making process require someone to take responsibility?”

Jiang Zhide had been prepared for this, knowing full well that such a significant setback would shake the shareholders’ trust in him.

But having controlled the company for decades, Jiang Zhide had developed the determination to say, “At my position, who could have done it better at that time?”

“Should we have just let go of such huge benefits? Or should the process have been executed without any mistakes? You must admit, we’ve already done everything we could, and now it’s up to fate. This is how the Jiang family has expanded step by step over the years.”

“This time—” Jiang Zhide sighed. “It’s just that destiny is not on our side.”

Indeed, this silenced everyone. Over the years, Jiang Zhide’s decisions were rarely wrong, and this time it was a sudden policy change that caught them off guard. Their reach wasn’t long enough to affect the highest levels. Normally, such large-scale developments would have been decided within the city’s own system, which was something they could plan and control. Who would have thought that the result would be disrupted by an external factor?

The meeting seemed to have reached a conclusion, but suddenly a voice cut through the air—

“No, you didn’t do it perfectly.”

Everyone looked up in surprise, realizing the speaker was none other than the heir, Jiang Yunjuan.

The shareholders present were well aware of Jiang Yunjuan’s abilities, and his excellence was one of the reasons they had such firm confidence in the company’s future.

However, the father and son usually spoke in unison, with few disagreements in decision-making. For the son to openly question his father in front of everyone at a time when the situation was nearly stable was truly shocking.

Jiang Zhide was displeased by his son’s undermining and his expression darkened.

But Jiang Yunjuan stood up and said, “You say the decision from above was uncontrollable, but that’s not the case.”

“If you had done enough research, you would know that the land that was ultimately chosen is the hometown of a high-ranking official from the capital. Given the same development opportunity, he would definitely have fought for his hometown.”

“Although he couldn’t directly decide, it still had an impact.”

“Take, for example, even if these small details couldn’t have been anticipated, the Ji family had no involvement here. As a barometer, don’t you and Zhou’s side find it odd? Or have the arrangements above and below left you so drained that you couldn’t handle it?”

This was basically saying outright that his father was too old to continue and should step down.

Jiang Zhide’s anger flared, and he sneered, “Ah Juan, in business, success or failure is determined by the results. Being an armchair strategist after the fact does nothing.”

If he still couldn’t see that his son was trying to use this opportunity to seize power, then Jiang Zhide had wasted all these years.

But just as he thought this, Jiang Yunjuan took out a file and placed it in front of him.

The moment Jiang Zhide saw the words on the cover of the file, his expression changed drastically.

He looked up and saw Jiang Yunjuan smile. “Dad! Do you think after all these years of raising me, you’ve only produced a son who shifts responsibility after the fact? That’s an insult to yourself.”

He then turned toward everyone in the meeting room and said, “Gentlemen, the project has not failed. The company has suffered some losses, but once the policy is announced, I believe we will make many times over what we lost.”

“Because I have already bought the land that was marked by the policy, and I’ve secured it.”

The room immediately filled with whispers of shock and surprise.

Meanwhile, Jiang Muti remained calm, sitting at the back of the room, exchanging a smile with her brother.