Chapter 85: No bargaining chips.

Jingge was skeptical but unwilling to admit it: "You're exaggerating."

"..." The man paused briefly, then said, "What's so exaggerated about it?"

Jing Ge: "It's all about helicopters, cars, bodyguards, and red carpets."

Li Mushi seemed to fall silent.

He paused for a few seconds before speaking: "Ah Long, Ah Hu..."

Perhaps it was because the car was too warm, Jing Ge's ears were burning. Before he could finish speaking, he said with a mix of embarrassment and joy, "But I like it."

He immediately shut up.

After a long pause, he said calmly, "If you like it, that's good."

Jingge touched his burning face, and the little girl asked in a soft voice, "When are you coming back?"

"next month."

"Wow, that took so long."

"Um."

"oh."

When the call ended, Jingge felt a visibly collapsing heart. She felt an indescribable, complex mix of emotions, as if they had sprouted tendrils in her blood, making her nose sting and her eyes burn.

Torn, anxious, longing, restless—a torrent of emotions surged through her, making her desperately seek an outlet.

Ultimately, it all points to one place.

She wanted to hug him.

-

Although she changed vehicles several times along the way, Jingge took a helicopter back to Hai City after Ah Long and Ah Hu arrived, so she was not late for her original return date.

As soon as they arrived in Haishi, Jing's father came looking for them.

Jing Ge was prepared and said bluntly, "If you hit me again, I will call the police. It's 10,000 yuan for every slap. I mean what I say."

Moreover, she really didn't understand why he kept staring at her after the engagement was dissolved.

"..." Jing's father was not in good spirits, suppressing his irritability, "Where did they go?"

Jing Ge: "Don't worry about it."

Jing's father: "You will always be my daughter, no matter where you go."

Jing Ge: "You can publish a notice in the newspaper to sever ties with me, I beg you, hurry up and do it."

Jing's father gritted his teeth: "Do you know what Li Zhan did?"

“I don’t care,” Jingge said. “I don’t care, I don’t want to hear it.”

This daughter has truly grown up and is completely out of control. Parental authority and economic sanctions can no longer subdue her.

Jing's father forced himself to calm down: "Jing's Group is on the right track. Quit your current job and intern at Jing's Group."

Jingge sat quietly in the chair.

“When Prince takes over the Jing family business,” Jing’s father said, “you will assist him and receive shares, or the ceramics factory will be given to you as part of your dowry.”

Jingge: "I don't want to."

Jing's father: "How much can you earn in a year at a foreign trade company? What future can you have working for someone else?"

“When you work for someone else, they will pay you wages and won’t ask for them back. There are labor laws to govern you,” Jing Ge said. “If you work for someone else and they don’t pay you wages, or if they do pay you wages and then ask for them back, what can I do?”

Jing's father was furious: "You!!"

Jing Ge: "If you dare to hit me, I'll call the police immediately and make you lose face all over Shanghai."

"..." Jing's father suppressed his anger, "You're not taking care of your mother anymore?"

Jing Ge: "She's your wife."

"Belle has always been good to you, his older sister!"

“He is your son, you will care more about his future than I do.”

At this point, Jing Ge said seriously, "Do you think he didn't experience what I went through? You plundered the Li family's property, do you think he was happy to take it over?"

Neither she nor Prince Jing escaped the pain of their family's bankruptcy, nor did either of them escape the disdain and ridicule of others.

Creditors always retaliate against Jing's only son first.

Prince Jing suffered far more external torment than she did.

“You have to pay your own debts,” Jingge said. “Don’t come to me to make up for them.”

But Jing's father couldn't stand it.

As the company got on track and Jing Beile grew up to be a successful man, the long-awaited glory of the Guangfu family seemed to have hope for everything.

He couldn't stand the unexpected complications: "When Jing's was re-established, he was an old friend of mine. He was the one who gave Jing's orders, accounting for 50% of the total orders. But a few days ago, he suddenly came to me and apologized, saying that he couldn't give me this year's orders and that he had given them to Li Zhan. Do you know what that means?"

Half of the Jing family's empire collapsed.

With orders from the Wen family already in place, Jing's was able to calmly and patiently acquire new customers during the turbulent early stages of its establishment.

Now that the Wen family's orders have been withdrawn, the Jing family's well-functioning blood flow has suddenly stopped.

Jing Ge wasn't curious: "The elders of the Li family are kind-hearted, letting you take so many things. Now that Li Zhan is taking some back, what's wrong with that?"

“Go see him,” Jing’s father ordered, not bothering with her, “and ask him what he really wants.”

"not see."

"It's not up to you."

"You still dare to... force me?"

Before she could finish speaking, Jing's father had already looked behind her towards the entrance of the teahouse.

It is a fierce battle.

Jing Ge suddenly realized that her father had deliberately cornered her at the teahouse. He clearly knew that Li Zhan was coming and had calculated that she wouldn't agree.

Li Zhan didn't dodge or flinch, but came over naturally and generously: "Oh, Uncle, you're here."

Mr. Jing nodded: "I have something to do, I'll be leaving now."

Jing Ge: "I have something to do too, I'll be going now."

Li Zhan stretched out his arm to stop her: "What are you doing? You didn't even say hello?"

Jing Ge: "Do you think I can even fight you?"

Jing's father gave her a cold look, then turned and left.

"Looks like you're doing well," Li Zhan smiled, staring at her chubby little face. "Full of energy."

“Actually, you and my dad are more like father and son,” Jingge met his gaze. “You both love to make fun of me.”

The smile on Li Zhan's lips gradually faded.

Jing Ge was too lazy to say anything more and turned to leave.

Li Zhan: "Let's talk."

Jingge ignored him and walked out on his own.

Li Zhan: "Jing Ge."

The girl didn't even turn her head.

Li Zhan: "Don't you care about your family and your company?"

Jingge stopped in his tracks: "Who has ever cared about me?"

She turned to look at Li Zhan, her childhood friend and companion: "Fight all you want, I'd be dead if I blinked."

Li Zhan's expression suddenly changed.

"But you should still give up. The Jing family is awful, all the Jing family members are awful," Jing Ge said softly. "You have such a good family, such good parents and relatives. Just be good to yourself and don't make Uncle Li and Aunt Man worry..."

Li Zhan abruptly interrupted her: "I'm perfectly fine, it's all your fault! You're the one who caused everything to turn out this way!"

She doesn't want him anymore, so how can he still be doing well!

If she truly cares about him and the Li family, she should honestly come back to him, return to his side, and coax him and make him happy. Then he will forgive her.

His eyes reddened, and Jing Ge lowered his eyelashes: "Li Zhan, before the Jing family went bankrupt, I didn't mind you saying these things, and I didn't take them to heart. But after the Jing family went bankrupt, if you say these things again, I feel a little sad every time. You make me feel that I have no bargaining chips to be worthy of you, that I am not worthy."

Li Zhan suddenly froze.

“For a long time, I hoped that you were with me because of me, and that no matter the rise or fall of the Jing family, it would all be because of me,” Jing Ge said wistfully, “instead of being forced to be tied to me because of the marriage contract. But you always told me that I was overthinking it and that I was not worthy.”