Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem
Mother Qiao, who sat by Qiao Anhao’s side, was speechless when she heard the news. After a while, she turned her head in shock. She stared at Qiao Anhao, then asked, “Qiao Qiao? Is this true? You had a baby?”
Qiao Anhao had waited all night for this very moment.
Not only did she want Han Ruchu’s reputation ruined in front of the entire circle of Beijing’s wealthiest, she wanted for the Qiao family to side with her and become enemies!
Even if she wasn’t uncle and auntie’s biological daughter, they were still a family and the same blood ran in their bodies. What’s more, she was raised by them for almost twenty years.
If they knew about just how cruelly Han Ruchu had treated her…
Qiao Anhao let out a cold chuckle, then she put on a shocked expression on her face and the bottom of her eyes began to fog up. “I don’t know what’s going on… I did have a baby, but the baby died in the womb. I was definitely pregnant around the time Aunt Xu gave me the swallow’s nest…”
With those words, two lines of tears rolled down Qiao Anhao’s face. “Auntie, Aunt Xu put sleeping pills in my swallow’s nest and killed my baby…”
On stage, having to face everyone’s finger pointing, Han Ruchu couldn’t take it any longer!
Before the auction even started, she had already gotten into an argument with Qiao Anhao, and now because of the baby, her reputation was ruined…
The image she had worked so hard to uphold all these years, gone! Just like that! Gone!
Han Ruchu instantly looked like she was going to crumble. As though she had nothing to lose, she suddenly stomped down from the stage and headed straight towards Qiao Anhao, then smacked her with the bag in her hand. “You little bitch, did you do this?!”
Qiao Anhao knew that as soon as the recording was broadcasted, Han Ruchu would definitely flip out, but she never imagined that she would actually lose control like this. She actually was going to hit her in front of so many people!
But… Qiao Anhao liked that, because only then could she act delicate and pitiful. It would make people sympathize with her, and at the same time unveil the truth due to Han Ruchu’s anger and shame!
Without any intention of dodging, Qiao Anhao looked at the handbag flying at her, allowing it to smack her on the head.
To endure one moment’s pain for Han Ruchu’s irrevocable situation. It was well worth it!
As the pain struck Qiao Anhao, she discreetly clenched her teeth and cried streams of tears. She stared pitifully at Mother and Father Qiao. With a little shock and panic, she cried, “Uncle, Auntie.”
Mother Qiao’s personality was quite similar to Qiao Anxia’s – incredibly protective.
When Han Ruchu first gave Qiao Anhao those two boxes of swallow’s nest, Mother Qiao had seen Qiao Anhao run to the toilets to vomit a few times when she came over in the afternoon that same day to watch TV together at the Qiao family estate. At the time, she told her that she must’ve eaten something bad on set, so she didn’t think much of it.
Now, after mingling in the business industry for so many years and hearing the broadcasted recording released by an anonymous person, she instantly understood. Already angered beyond restraint, she now saw Han Ruchu actually physically hit Qiao Anhao, and her temper was set alight.
She unexpectedly stood up and addressed the woman by her full name. “Han Ruchu, just what the hell do you want? What evidence do you have to be so sure it was our Qiao Qiao who did this!”
Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem
When Mother Qiao finished speaking, she turned her head and stroked Qiao Anhao’s shoulder to comfort her. “Don’t be afraid, Qiao Qiao. Uncle and auntie are here. I’d like to see what she does!”
“If it’s not that little bitch, then who could it be!” Han Ruchu, at this moment, had already lost her mind.
Mother Qiao grew increasingly angry with Han Ruchu’s repeated words “little bitch”. “Han Ruchu, could you watch that mouth of yours. Just who are you calling a little bitch?
“Let me tell you, even if it was Qiao Qiao who broadcasted the recording, what are you really going to do? You’ve done such outrageous things, and yet afraid to let people know about it? You think the Qiao family is easy to bully, don’t you?”
Mother Qiao and Han Ruchu’s argument raised a lot of eyebrows nearby and drew a lot of people’s attention.
Xu Wanli had already stood up from his seat and walked over to Father Qiao. He then said, “Look, there are so many people watching. Can we talk about this when we get home?”
People shouldn’t underestimate Mother Qiao for her usual warm and gentle personality, agreeing to anything Father Qiao said. When the occasion arose, if she didn’t want to fallback, even Father Qiao didn’t dare to mess with her.
What’s more, Qiao Anhao was related to Father Qiao by blood, not Mother Qiao. Since his own wife was protecting his niece like this, who was he to stand out and shut it down. Naturally, he stared at Mother Qiao without making a sound.
Mother Qiao let out a “Hmpf”.
“F*ck talking about this when we get home! I’m telling you all, from this moment forth, the Qiao family and Xu family no longer have any ties. We will never be in contact again! How could you pick on our daughter out of nowhere?! Do you think that we, the Qiao family are weak sauce?! You’ve hit someone in the face, and you want them to kneel over for you? You wish!”
Mid-way through the aunt’s speech, a teary-eyed Qiao Anhao almost couldn’t hold back her laughter.
She had never imagined that her aunt, who only went to work or played mahjong, would actually know how to use internet slang.
“Do you really think that your daughter is good? Do you really think that little bitch is a match for our Jiamu?” Suddenly, Han Ruchu raised her hand and pointed a finger at Qiao Anhao. “Her baby deserved to die, because it was…”
“Enough!” roared Xu Jiamu, who had remained quiet all this time. He had suddenly screamed for he knew exactly what his mother was going to say. He abruptly got up and tugged on Han Ruchu’s arm. “Have you had enough? Or is this not embarrassing enough for you?”
As he said that, he dragged his mother and walked right out the door with a hostile look on his face.
When he passed Qiao Anhao, his feet slightly halted. He really wanted to look at Qiao Anhao and tell her he was sorry, but he never raised his head. He just stopped for half a second, then dragged his mother straight out.
–
Xu Jiamu dragged Han Ruchu all the way out of the Beijing Club without bothering for her cries of “Jiamu, let go of mama”. He didn’t stop until he reached the Xu family’s car.
After seeing them, the housekeeper, who was sitting in the car, hurriedly got out. “Madam, young master, what’s going on?”
Xu Jiamu didn’t even bother with her, directly pulling the car door open and shoving Han Ruchu inside. “Go home!”
He then suddenly slammed the car door shut.
Han Ruchu hastily pushed the door open. “Jiamu, where are you going? Are you not coming home with mama?”
Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem
Last time, on Han Ruchu’s birthday, Xu Jiamu was angry for such a long time after learning that she was behind Qiao Anhao falling down the stairs, and he never stepped foot in the Xu family estate again. Not even to spend the New Years together.
Eventually, Han Ruchu ended up in a hospital for refusing to eat or drink. Only then did he come back. The housekeeper took the full blame for everything and told him that it was all her idea, which finally made Xu Jiamu feel more at ease. That hadn’t been all that long ago… And now, all this happened… Except this was far more serious than the last time…
Han Ruchu was frightened to death. This time, with Xu Jiamu’s departure, she didn’t know what she should do to call him back…
She thought about it, and hurriedly got out of the car. She chased after him and grabbed tightly onto his arm. “Jiamu, you’re mad at mama again, am I right? Don’t be mad at mama, okay?
“Listen to mama, that baby wasn’t yours. You were in a coma at the time, so it was that bastard Lu Jinnian’s baby. Mama couldn’t let him keep it… Mama can’t have you raise another person’s child out of nowhere… Mama was doing this for you, you have to believe mama…”
“Is Lu Jinnian an outsider? He’s my brother! He’s also a child of the Xu family. His child is my child. How could the child not be able to stay!” Xu Jiamu didn’t know if it was the anger or the pain, or even perhaps the panic, but with a trembling voice, he said, “Ma, it was a life. It was Qiao Qiao and my brother’s child. A living, breathing life. How could you do it?!”
“That bastard is not your brother! He stole your company!” shrieked Han Ruchu.
“Why did he steal my company? It was all because you killed his child! What’s more, he was meant to have half of that company. It wasn’t all mine!”
As Xu Jiamu said this, he viciously swung Han Ruchu’s arm away, which made her stumble. In the end though, she still managed to quickly grab hold of Xu Jiamu’s again. “Mama was wrong. Mama promises you, mama will never do that again, okay?”
Xu Jiamu was truly a little defeated by the truth. He always knew that his mother didn’t like Lu Jinnian, and he could understand why she never liked him, but never could he have imagined that she would actually do something like this!
HE raised his head and looked up at the sky. With a deep breath, he turned his head around to look at Han Ruchu, suddenly asking in a calm voice, “Just how many more cruel things have you done to them? Tell me all in one go. I beg you, let me mentally prepare for it.”
“No more, no more,” answered Han Ruchu without even thinking twice. She shook her head and then said, “Really, no more.”
“Really, there’s nothing more?” asked Xu Jiamu.
Han Ruchu nodded. “Mama swears on it.”
Xu Jiamu didn’t say anything but stared at Han Ruchu.
She felt a little weak under Xu Jiamu’s gaze. “Jiamu, believe mama. There’s really nothing more. Come home with mama, okay? Please don’t do it like before, not return home…”
Xu Jiamu still didn’t say anything, a tinge of disappointment surfacing in his eyes. It left Han Ruchu a little speechless.
After a long while, she spoke again. “Jiamu, what’s wrong with you? Don’t stop talking. Don’t scare mama, alright?”
Xu Jiamu lowered his eyes and raised his hands, then pulled out a stack of papers from his bag and handed it to Han Ruchu.
Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem
Xu Jiamu lowered his eyes and raised his hands, then pulled out a stack of papers from his bag and handed it to Han Ruchu.
She looked at him, and hesitated for a moment before taking the papers and flipping through them to find that they were printed text messages of logs from China Mobile.
Han Ruchu used the lights from the roadside to take a closer look for a while. Then, she understood that these were text messages sent between Qiao Anhao and Lu Jinnian on Chinese Valentine’s day.
After staying quiet for a long time, Xu Jiamu finally said, “During those four days when Qiao Qiao was in the hospital, the phone was at our house. Can you tell me who sent these texts under Qiao Qiao’s name?”
Han Ruchu didn’t say a thing, her fingers lightly trembling with the printed texts in her hand. After a while, she raised her head and asked, “Jiamu, where did you get this?”
Xu Jiamu closed his eyes. “We’ve already reached this point now. Are you honestly concerned about who is setting you up behind your back? The problem is, this isn’t a set up, it’s the truth!
“You knew my brother liked Qiao Qiao, am I right? You used Qiao Anhao as bait to draw him in, so he agreed to impersonate me, am I right? Then you couldn’t bare to see him happy when you found out that Qiao Qiao had a date with him on Valentine’s day, so you ruthlessly pushed her down the stairs. After that you took her phone and sent those messages to my brother, didn’t you!”
As Xu Jiamu roared, his eyes suddenly turned red. “My dad is the one who wronged you, not my brother’s mother, nor my brother. Wake up! This was all Xu Wanli’s fault! Why haven’t you dealt with him? Why do you have to deal with them? What have they done wrong?!”
“It was that shameless Qiao Anhao, am I right? It was Qiao Anhao who did this, am I right?” cried Han Ruchu suddenly while holding the papers.
At that moment, Xu Jiamu didn’t quite know what to do. He raised a hand to rub his forehead and let out a deep sigh. He said, “You really disappoint me.”
With those simple words, he yanked his hand from Han Ruchu’s grasp.
“Jiamu, don’t go…” she said, then as though she had just thought of something, she turned her head and shot a glance at the housekeeper.
The housekeeper instantly understood what Han Ruchu meant and immediately said, “Young master, I took Miss Qiao’s phone and sent those messages. Madam didn’t know about them. It was all me, don’t blame madam…”
“Enough!” Even though Xu Jiamu didn’t turn his head to look at the two of them behind him, he clearly understood something in his heart. “Stop acting. Do the two of you really think I’m stupid? I know whose idea it was to push Qiao Qiao down the stairs. I believed that because you’re my mother… the mother who raised me to be this big, I thought that, after having argued with you for so long in this cold war, you would have reviewed yourself… you would of known where you went wrong… you would of understood what your son cares about, and then you would have respect for your son.
“But in reality, I was wrong.
“Honestly speaking, I have no idea who gave me these text logs. I received them earlier today by anonymous express delivery, and yet you are so certain it was Qiao Qiao who did it.
“From the beginning, you never thought about the fact that you were in the wrong. You always stood at the best place from which you could make other people’s lives miserable.”
Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem
Having said that, Xu Jiamu suddenly turned his head with a calm expression on his face and stared at Han Ruchu, who had no idea when she had started crying. “I’ve given you opportunities. And not once. Just now, when I asked you what else have you done, you spoke so candidly to me… All the wrongs you’ve committed, I could’ve redeem them for you, but you didn’t tell me. You still tried to treat me like an idiot and lie to me again.
“Look after yourself. I will never go back to the Xu family estate.”
“Jiamu, don’t! Mama was really wrong… Mama can’t do this, Jiamu…” When Han Ruchu said the last word, she finally broke into a pained cry.
Xu Jiamu lowered his eyes. She was his real mother after all. Seeing her cry like this, his heart still hurt. “I really want to believe you, but I’m sorry, I can’t.”
When Xu Jiamu finished speaking, he took two steps back.
Han Ruchu cried even more erratically, like her heart was torn. “Jiamu, mama has nothing left. Tonight, mama’s reputation has been ruined, everyone will say that mama is a horrible person and your papa will definitely blame me for this mess. If mama was to lose you, mama really would be left with nothing… Jiamu… Mama begs you not to leave…”
In the end, Xu Jiamu turned around.
The housekeeper also started to plead. “Young master, don’t leave.”
“Jiamu…”
Xu Jiamu pulled his own car’s door open and sat inside.
“Jiamu, mama was really wrong, Jiamu…”
Xu Jiamu shut his eyes and closed the door, isolating himself from the cries outside.
He sat in the driver’s seat in a daze for a while, without even looking at Han Ruchu on the side. Then, he started up the car and drove off.
As he drove, Xu Jiamu finally stopped holding back, and a single tear rolled out.
He was really heartbroken.
He couldn’t say what he was so heartbroken about.
He felt like in a single night, everything he knew was overthrown.
His mother, who always loved him, did such a cruel thing to his brother and his friend.
That brother of his, who he had hated and blamed, clearly acquired Xu Enterprise but also secretly left it to him. Even in his will, Lu Jinnian wrote his name as that of a beneficiary. Uncaring that his mother treated him like that.
The tears flowed endlessly from Xu Jiamu’s eyes. Every now and then, he would raise his hand and wipe them away. He then pulled out a print out of a document. It was a copy of Lu Jinnian’s personally signed will.
So his brother, who never liked to respond to anyone since he was young and always worked hard to adapt, actually… from his very bones, really cared about his little brother.
Xu Jiamu’s fingers, which were tightly clutching onto the photocopy, started to tremble. In the end, he couldn’t hold his emotions down anymore. He stopped the car by the side of the road and laid down on the steering wheel, his shoulders starting to tremble.
–
Because Han Ruchu was dragged away by Xu Jiamu, the auction was forced to stop. Without the main lead, naturally the explosive news suddenly died down and everyone left one after the other.
Father and Mother Qiao were really angry, but also really worried, as they endlessly tried to comfort Qiao Anhao. So much so, they insisted to take her back to the Qiao family estate with them.
Only when Qiao Anhao told them three times over that she was fine, and that she just wanted to be alone for a while, did they reluctantly let her be.
Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem
When Qiao Anhao parted ways with Father and Mother Qiao, she went back to her car and left Beijing Club. She drove straight to the New Haven shopping mall, then found a place to park the car. After pulling out a few coins, she walked up to the public phone box and dialed Han Ruchu’s number.
The phone rang for a long time before it was picked up.
Through the phone, Han Ruchu sounded weak and dispirited, as though she had recently received a big shock. “Hello, who is this?”
Qiao Anhao silently held the public phone for ten seconds before speaking. “Me.”
Although it was just one word, Han Ruchu could tell who it was. “Why are you calling me? I don’t have anything to say to you!”
She sounded as though she was going to hang up the phone.
Qiao Anhao was very certain that Han Ruchu wouldn’t actually hang up the phone and chose to continue to listen. She said in a calm and composed voice, at a neutral speed, “I was the one who sent Brother Jiamu the copies of the text messages, so that even if I clearly fell by myself at the gala, he wouldn’t believe you. In his heart, he would already subconsciously believe that his mother wanted to harm me.”
Just as Qiao Anhao imagined, not only did Han Ruchu not cut the call, she cursed her. The woman was fuming with rage. “Bitch!”
Qiao Anhao ignored it and continued to speak at leisure. “Of course I was the one who organized the recording at the charity gala. And naturally, the recording wasn’t only to embarrass you. The main objective was to put it out for Brother Jiamu to hear… Aunt Xu, Brother Jiamu must be really mad right now, isn’t he?”
“You little bitch!” Through the phone, Han Ruchu was so angry that her breathing started to become unstable.
“Bitch? Don’t you worry. Even if I were a bitch, I wouldn’t go as far as to kill your child!” Qiao Anhao let out a chuckle. With a little curiosity in her voice, she said, “I really want to ask, if I’m a bitch for doing this, then just how would you describe what you did?”
As Qiao Anhao spoke those words, her face instantly became cold. Her voice turned as fierce as a whip. “Don’t assume that other people are stupid and you’re the smartest. You just used the fact that Lu Jinnian liked me and I liked him, that’s the only reason you were able to stir up trouble. I called you to tell you that now you have to start paying back what you owe. Last year on your birthday, I told you… I will make everyone betray you and your family leave you! I won’t let you die easy! That, I can promise you!”
“Make everyone betray me and my family leave me? Jiamu is my son. As mother and son, our hearts are aligned. Even if he’s mad right now, he won’t be able to not care about me!” said Han Ruchu.
If things were like before, Qiao Anhao wouldn’t be completely sure, but now they were different. Xu Jiamu had the copy of Lu Jinnian’s will that she had sent him.
She and Xu Jiamu were friends since they were young. Even though he is Han Ruchu’s son, his temper is really different. He’s a very sentimental person. On top of that, with a copy of the text messages, the recording pen, and the will, these three explosive pieces before Xu Jiamu’s eyes were enough to shake his belief in Han Ruchu.
Then, if anything were to happen to her and Lu Jinnian… The first person Xu Jiamu would assume behind it, would be his mother!
Translator: Kingbao Editor: DarkGem
Qiao Anhao asked leisurely, “Really? Auntie Xu, let’s see who’s the final one standing!”
Qiao Anhao removed her ear piece, but when she was about to hang up, she suddenly thought of something – she placed the ear piece back to her ear and spoke sweetly. “Oh right, one more thing, I forgot to mention that I’ve already married Lu Jinnian. Your efforts to ruin him have all gone down the drain, I really want to know how you’re going to continue your battle with him now that you lost his only Achilles heel.”
“You bitch…” Han Ruchu spat out through clenched teeth, but before she could finish her sentence, she started to cough violently.
Housekeeper Xu’s voice came through the phone, “Mrs. Xu, Mrs. Xu, are you alright?
“Mrs. Xu, you vomited blood!
“Call the ambulance, hurry…”
Qiao Anhao took in the entire exchange without feeling a hint of guilt, instead, the arrogance and forcefulness she had on when she confronted Han Ruchu remained etched on her face.
Han Ruchu, you were finally defeated for the very first time on the night of your birthday!
Today, you remain beneath me!
But no worries, from now on, everything has changed. From now on, you will never be able to rise again!
–
On the way to her car from the public phone, Qiao Anhao received a call from Lu Jinnian.
It was currently 11pm in Beijing and 10 am in America.
Before his plane took off, he informed her about the emergency meeting he was going to have the moment he reached America, hence he didn’t have time to call her. The flight was about fifteen hours and if she were to calculate, he should be done with his meeting by now or be having a break in the midst of it.
Not entering the car, she found a bench beside the mall. Above her was a street lamp spilling a warm glow over her.
Due to the late hour, there weren’t many people in the mall, other than the occasional car driving past, the surroundings seemed too quiet.
Lu Jinnian sent a video call request, and after she agreed, the screen went into darkness for about ten seconds before his face popped up.
From his back view, he was probably in a hotel room. He had a bathrobe on and his hair was half wet from a shower.
“Qiao Qiao?”
“Yea,” Qiao Anhao replied, before she could say another word, she saw the image of him on the screen frown deeply. “You’re outside?”
Lifting his head to look into his wrist watch, he said, “It’s 11 pm in Beijing, why aren’t you home? Are you alone outside? It’s not safe.”
When he glanced at the time, the black strapped watch appeared in the corner of the screen. Qiao Anhao tightened her grip on the phone, her gaze fixed on the watch.
Behind it, was there an ugly yet heartbreaking scar?
After talking for a long while, Lu Jinnian realized that Qiao Anhao hadn’t moved. Through the screen, he could see her gaze fixed on a corner. “Qiao Qiao? What’s wrong? What happened?”
