Return of the Goddess

“Nephew Chang is so busy that it’s so difficult to meet you even once.” Jiang Yuanpeng held the teapot and poured two cups of tea, then pushed one of it to Chang Shi Gui with a gleeful smile. “Since it’s such a rare occasion, let's have a drink together.”

Chang Shi Gui’s eyes swept across the teacup, then leaned back into his seat with a calm look, “Mr. Jiang, please speak your mind. There’s no need to be this courteous.”

Hearing Chang Shi Gui address him as “Mr. Jiang”, Jiang Yuanpeng wasn’t angry. He smiled instead, as he held his cup and leisurely took a sip, then pushed a thick envelope to Chang Shi Gui. “I heard that Mr. Chang and Miss Ning’s wedding is coming soon. To congratulate you, I’ve prepared a hefty gift, I hope that you won’t reject it.”

Chang Shi Gui’s index finger tapped the table lightly. He had long known that Jiang Yuanpeng was a despicable and vengeful man. If it wasn’t because of his aunt, he wouldn’t have wanted to have anything to do with this man over the years. As for the document bag before him, he didn’t need to open it to guess what the contents were.

“There’s something that I don’t really understand.” Chang Shi Gui’s finger slid over the envelope, the rough cover bringing a tinge of numbness over his finger, “Our Xixi is just a normal actress, why is Mr. Jiang so concerned about her?”

“A normal actress?” Jiang Yuanpeng lit a cigarette and wedged it between his fingers, then looked at Chang Shi Gui mockingly, “Nephew, do you really think that she’s just a normal actress?”

Chang Shi Gui’s expression was cold, and his gaze fell upon the lit cigarette. Even though he didn’t say a word, Jiang Yuanpeng could tell that the other party didn’t seem to like him to smoke at such a meeting. He exhaled a mouthful of smoke, “If Nephew doesn’t know what type of person she is, why aren’t you opening this document bag?”

“It’s not important what type of person she is. What’s important is Mr. Jiang’s arm seems to be reaching where it shouldn’t.” Chang Shi Gui stood up, his towering figure staring down at Jiang Yuanpeng, “Mr. Jiang, do you know what I hate most?”

Jiang Yuanpeng’s fingers tightened over the cigarette, feeling somewhat nervous internally. As a man, he didn't expect that after luring Chang Shi Gui here, using Ning Xi as pretext, Chang Shi Gui never suspected that Ning Xi did anything that let him down.

As a man, how was it possible that he didn’t care about whether his own woman was true to him, or whether she had done anything to deceive him? The difference between the couple’s social status was so stark, how could Chang Shi Gui have not thought about such issues before? If his property [1] wasn’t loyal, as it’s owner, he could still be this calm, was he still a man?!

Jiang Yuanpeng’s voice hardened, “What is it that you hate most?”

Hearing this, Chang Shi Gui laughed. Jiang Yuanpeng seldom saw Chang Shi Gui laugh, hence when he saw this expression, he suddenly felt that he might have made a wrong move. However, at this point in time, apart from forcing himself to walk down this path, he had no other options.

If he’d known that things would come to this, he could have never arranged for Zhu Moli to lure Ning Xi. Even now, he was in doubt about whether Ning Xi knew about the truth behind her father’s death, that the real culprit was Jiang Hongkai, and not the driver who became the scapegoat.

If she didn’t know about it, why would she request for the police to reopen the case after so many years? Yet, if she knew, how could she remain calm when Zhu Moli intentionally brought up Jiang Hongkai and Chen Zhenzhen’s names?

If the phone call was also a pretense, then this woman named Ning Xi was simply too terrifying.

“Mr. Jiang, you sent Ning Xi’s photos from eight years ago to me, just for this?” Chang Shi Gui waved the document bag in his hand, then continued flatly, his face expressionless, “I hope there won’t be a next time. I really don’t like it when others abuse their power to bully others, and the one that they are bullying is my lover.”

“Mr. Chang might treat her as your lover, but does she treat Mr. Chang as her lover?” Jiang Yuanpeng’s worries shot through him, turning into an inexplicable sense of anger and impulse. “Right now, in the entire upper class, who doesn’t know that the head of the reputable Chang family is entirely devoted to a small-time celebrity?” He sniggered, “It’s been said that actresses are heartless, and even more disloyal than bitches. Hasn’t Mr. Chang thought before that her willingness to be with you was actually because she had other intentions?”

Chang Shi Gui took the teapot and another cup from the tray, then filled it before taking a sip slowly, “Mr. Jiang, you can be direct about what you are trying to say. Such methods are already old-fashioned, and your acting is so redundant that I’m getting bored.”

Jiang Yuanpeng almost lost the smile on his face after being berated so directly by Chang Shi Gui. “If Mr. Chang doesn’t enjoy seeing others act, how can you be patient enough to bear with Ning Xi putting up a show before you everyday?”

Chang Shi Gui put down his teacup and stood up. “If Mr. Jiang is unwilling to say, then we’ll speak again another time.” He then turned and prepared to leave, without sparing another glance for Jiang Yuanpeng.

“She’s willing to be your girlfriend not because she really likes you. She wants to make use of you to investigate the Jiang family!” Seeing that Chang Shi Gui was really going to leave, Jiang Yuanpeng finally came clean.

Chang Shi Gui stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at Jiang Yuanpeng, his expression cold.

Jiang Yuanpeng couldn't care about anything else anymore, and he continued, “Ever since you got together with Ning Xi, the joint projects between the Jiang and Chang families have been facing problems, resulting in massive losses from the Jiang family. This is not a coincidence; rather, someone by Mr. Chang’s side has been eavesdropping on detailed plans of our cooperation.” In reality, what he wanted to really say was, how could there be such a coincidence that the Jiang family would always be held accountable whenever something happened, while the impact on Chang Enterprises was close to none?

Initially, he didn’t know what had happened. It was only after news of Ning Xi and Chang Shi Gui’s romance became widespread and Jiang Yun was publicly humiliated by Chang Shi Gui that he hired someone to investigate Ning Xi. It was from the investigation that he discovered that the actress who was pampered by Chang Shi Gui was actually the daughter of the man whom Jiang Hongkai had accidentally knocked down when he was drunk-driving.

Furthermore, some time ago, Tao Minya had filed for a divorce without any warning. Without any consideration of their status, she’d rather become gossip fodder for the upper circles and insisted on going to court to settle the divorce. This didn’t suit Tao Minya’s personality.

It was only a couple of days ago that he found out that a stranger had actually passed something to Tao Minya, and it was after that that Tao Minya had filed for divorce. Even that idle younger brother of his had started to talk back to him, and even said things like, “Even if he’s the elder brother, he can’t despise others.”

All these years, even though Jiang Hongkai might have done many unsightly things, he had always respected Jiang Yuanpeng, and would have never shown his unhappiness towards him. Now that he said such things, it was certain that someone was secretly driving a wedge between the brothers.

He suspected that Ning Xi was behind all of these.

The corner of Chang Shi Gui’s brow twitched, and he squinted at Jiang Yuanpeng, “Why would she intentionally go after the Jiang family?” He knew that Ning Xi had met with many heartbreaking events in the past because of school bullying, and he was clear about everything that happened after that.

However, he didn’t know that there was a feud between Ning Xi and the Jiang family.

Jiang Yuanpeng didn’t respond to this question, because he couldn’t say what Jiang Hongkai had done back then. Moreover, in order to erase all tracks, he even personally sent people to clean up the scene.

Seeing Jiang Yuanpeng remain silent, Chang Shi Gui threw the envelope onto the table with a bang. He then strode over to Jiang Yuanpeng and grabbed him by his lapels before asking coldly, “I’m asking you again. Why would Ning Xi have a feud against the Jiang family?”

Chang Shi Gui was very forceful, and when Jiang Yuanpeng saw from his chilling gaze the murderous intention Chang Shi Gui had.

“Speak!” Chang Shi Gui gritted his teeth and seethed.

“Eight years ago, Jiang Hongkai was drink-driving and accidentally killed Ning Xi’s father. Later on, a driver was made the scapegoat.” In a few words, Jiang Yuanpeng pushed the matter to Jiang Hongkai.

Chang Shi Gui released Jiang Yuanpeng, his expression dark, but he remained silent. Just as Jiang Yuanpeng thought that Chang Shi Gui had let him off, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach, and he was kicked to the ground. The teaware on the table was also overturned and smashed to the ground.

“What’s going on?” The two waiters stationed outside heard the commotion, looked at each other, then pushed the private room door open hesitantly.

The duo was shocked by the sight that greeted them when they opened the door. The usually graceful and noble Mr. Chang had pinned Mr. Jiang on the ground, and was beating him up. What had happened? The two men stood dumbfounded for a while, before stepping forward with the intention to persuade Chang Shi Gui to stop.

However, once they were near, Chang Shi Gui released Jiang Yuanpeng. He adjusted his tie and looked down at Jiang Yuanpeng who was huddled on the ground. He then took his blazer from the seat, threw the envelope on the table on Jiang Yuanpeng’s face, and left the room without turning back.

It was only after Chang Shi Gui left that the two waiters helped Jiang Yuanpeng up. One of them wanted to call for an ambulance, but was reprimanded severely by Jiang Yuanpeng, “Who told you to come in? Get out!”

After being scolded, the two men held back their anger as they left the room. After closing the door, they ranted softly, “If he dares to, he can go and scold Mr. Chang. What’s the use of taking it out on us? Tsk!”

Jiang Yuanpeng sat down on a chair, a twisted expression on his face as he ripped open the document bag. In the bag were photos of Ning Xi with other men, taken at an angle such that they appeared to be hugging or kissing. There were even pictures of Ning Xi walking out of hotels with other men. Anyone who saw these pictures would probably have their imaginations running wild.

However, Chang Shi Gui didn’t even open the envelope despite him specially preparing these pictures.

Jiang Yuanpeng gripped the envelope so tightly in his hand that the pictures were crushed, but his mood didn’t improve. He had never expected Chang Shi Gui to react in this manner.

If Chang Shi Gui didn’t change his mind about Ning Xi, then it would almost be impossible for him to touch Ning Xi.

Since Chang Shi Gui wasn’t willing to look at these pictures when he shared them privately, he could only make them public and force Chang Shi Gui to look at them.

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When Chang Shi Gui opened the bedroom door, the room wasn’t pitch black as he’d expected. The light was on.

Ning Xi sat by the bedside, holding a fashion magazine in her hand. She turned towards her more photogenic side, then looked at him without batting an eyelid, “Where did you go?”

He looked at her mesmerizing eyes and kept silent.

[1] The term here used was 自己的东西 - literally meaning "one's belongings/things". It seems to suggest Jiang Yuanpeng's views towards women - that they were property to be owned, rather than people.