Chapter 16 A Mud-Legged Man Who Crawled Out of a Poor Place…

Fang Xinle hugged Xia Zhiyu with heartache, feeling both anxious and angry.

"That damned Jiang Zhiyan, I misjudged him. He didn't even come to see you once," Fang Xinle said through gritted teeth, trying to comfort Xia Zhiyu.

"It's okay, it's over. It's not hard to find a man with two legs. You're good at your job and have a good side job too. Let's try our best to find an 18-year-old diamond bachelor. Once a man is over 25, his pee is like a fairy showering flowers. What's the difference between a 27-year-old like Jiang Zhiyan and an 80-year-old who's about to go to the grave?"

"Cry, you'll feel better after you cry. After you cry, I'll take you to see some male models tonight. They're big, sweet-talking, and good at sweet-talking. They're a million times better than Jiang Zhiyan, that kind of guy."

Fang Xinle spoke with great pride and confidence in just a few words.

Before the tears welled up in Xia Zhiyu's eyes could fall, the corners of her mouth involuntarily turned up. She wiped away the tears with a tissue.

"I won't spend money on men unless I hire male models. I want to hire several beautiful women to sing and drink with me. I can't let men earn my money."

"What good end comes from sacrificing for a man?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Zhiyu felt like crying again.

She, a southerner, traveled thousands of miles to study and work in the north. What was she after? Wasn't it just to be with Jiang Zhiyan? She devoted her time and effort, working hard to improve herself in order to gain the approval of Jiang Zhiyan and Jiang Jing. But what did it all amount to?

The typhoon was howling, and despite the heavy rain, Jiang Zhiyan didn't chase after her at all.

Like the final blow that broke a domino effect, all the accumulated disappointment of the past erupted in that instant, sweeping across Xia Zhiyu's chaotic world with overwhelming force.

Being love-struck is not advisable; she should stop having expectations of men.

"That's why we need to cut our losses in time," Fang Xinle said earnestly to Xia Zhiyu as he stepped on the brakes.

"Everyone stumbles a few times in love in their life. It's better to fall early than late. Look at you, you're only twenty-five and you already understand that it's meaningless to give to a man. When you're making millions a year, you'll be able to play with men like you're playing with dogs."

"Do you remember my cousin that I told you about before? His family was very strict with him since he was a child, and my uncle also had mistresses. He grew up like an ascetic. He just joined the board of directors last year, and his future was about to be bright. But what happened? Now he's obsessed with love and has gone to the African savanna to be a photographer."

"My uncle is furious. Now he's planning to leave the company to his mistress's child."

"Therefore, it is right to realize as early as possible that love is essentially a trap."

Fang Xinle waved his hand and solemnly said to Xia Zhiyu during a break at the traffic lights, "I hereby declare that your love-struck brain is now cured."

"Now you can focus on cultivating your career mindset, Comrade Xia."

Xia Zhiyu was both amused and exasperated, but the shadow that had lingered in her heart for two days was finally dispelled somewhat. As soon as they arrived in the city, Fang Xinle insisted that she go to their usual restaurant first.

If Fang Xinle hadn't reminded her, Xia Zhiyu would have almost forgotten that she hadn't eaten for the past two days.

The orange-red sunset hung on the horizon, warmly bathing the historic buildings of the northern city. Xia Zhiyu rested her cheek on her hand as she looked at the city where she had lived for five years.

In a daze, she suddenly realized that this city, which most people yearn for, was extremely beautiful. The wind blew the willows, raising white fluff everywhere. On both sides of the road were two-story retro buildings, exuding a profound sense of history.

Why didn't I notice these things before?

Looking back, her impression of Beicheng was just crowded subways, noisy crowds, and the glaring light reflected from the windows of numerous office buildings when she worked overtime until late at night.

The so-called high-tech zone where elites gather is just the domestic version of KK Park.

Unexpectedly, it wasn't until five years later that she realized how beautiful the northern city was, with the fragrant aroma of full moon roses and irises lining the roadside.

What were her feelings when she came to Beicheng alone with her suitcase five years ago?

Xia Zhiyu closed her eyes, the gentle sunset caressing her cheeks, the red light shining through her thin eyelids, causing a stinging sensation in her eyes.

Five years ago, she was mostly focused on Jiang Zhiyan and didn't care about the scenery outside the window. The thought of seeing Jiang Zhiyan soon made her so excited that she didn't even notice that she had lost her phone and wallet. She didn't care about the scenery at all.

For the next five years, all she could see was Jiang Zhiyan's back. She chased after him with all her might, forgetting to stop and appreciate the scenery around her.

Looking back now, it was all her own fault. She came to Beicheng with all her love, but she only moved herself. Jiang Zhiyan probably never thought about a future with her, so no matter how hard she tried to catch up, in the end, it was all just a mess.

What's this? Isn't this just pure simp behavior?

A simp, a simp, will end up with nothing.

Hilarious, this has actually become a true reflection of her.

The waiter brought over the menu, and Xia Zhiyu held it and looked at it for a long time before ordering crispy roast duck and braised pork offal.

Fang Xinle frowned slightly. "You haven't been eating properly these past few days. Can your stomach handle this greasy food all of a sudden?"

"Let's have one last meal before going back to our hometown."

Are you going back to your hometown?

Fang Xinle's tone was no less shocked than when he heard that Jiang Zhiyan and Xia Zhiyu had broken up.

"Yes, let's go back and rest for a while, spend some time with Mom and Dad, and we can talk about the rest later."

Xia Zhiyu herself did not expect that when she said the words of deciding to leave Beicheng, she would feel relieved, as if a huge stone had been lifted off her shoulders.

Fang Xinle comforted him, "It's good to rest for a while. If you don't recover, you can always come back. The media industry in Beicheng is the most developed in the country."

The water cup in her hand was warm. Xia Zhiyu smiled but didn't reply.

...

The extended Lincoln drove into the estate villa area, passing a lake whose surface shimmered with glittering gold, where water lilies rested serenely on the water's surface.

The vast manor was completely silent. The servants moved quietly and orderly through the garden, their footsteps making not a sound.

The atmosphere was silent and heavy, as if shrouded in a gloomy cloud.

Jiang Zhiyan pushed open the door and entered the villa. The expensive and cold golden nanmu furniture exuded an aura of wealth and power. A faint look of disgust flashed in his eyes, and his expression grew increasingly indifferent.

"Song Ziqi snatched the Qikang Pharmaceutical case."

A cold female voice came from the dark red spiral staircase. Jiang Zhiyan looked up at the sound and saw his biological mother, Jiang Jing, looking down at him with suppressed anger in her tone.

Jiang Zhiyan loosened his tie and gave a curt reply.

"How did you communicate with Qi Kang? Did you even maintain such a big client? How can I entrust Huawan to you with such a useless attitude?"

Jiang Zhiyan frowned. "I know about Qi Kang's case; you don't need to worry about it."

After saying that, he turned around and walked towards his room.

"How many?"

Jiang Jing sneered and raised his voice, "You mean you're so 'knowing what you're doing' that you didn't even attend the international conference in Hong Kong because of your little girlfriend? Don't you know how much cooperation you're going to ruin by doing this?"

"It was the same before. You gave Jiang Yuan such good resources just like that, and you flew all the way back to China to help her solve problems. Why didn't you use that time to think of a way to take the company back from your father? I don't know what kind of bewitching drug that little vixen from the mountains gave you. How come I didn't realize you had the potential to be a womanizer before?"

Jiang Jing abruptly changed the subject, like a venomous snake extending its tongue in a deep forest, its venom flowing through every inch of Jiang Zhiyan's heart, corroding flesh and blood, hissing and emitting white smoke.

"You're just like your useless father. I've raised you for so many years, and you can't even overcome this disgusting genetic instinct?"

Not content with that, she strode downstairs, her words still flowing as she walked, dripping with sarcasm and mockery.

"They're exactly like your family. Your grandfather had a mistress, and your father cheated on you. They keep talking about true love, but they're just born filthy and love to eat wildflowers and weeds. That's how it is for mud-roots from poor places. A leopard can't change its spots."

“I can tell from the way you are now that you will only be like your father in the future: cowardly, unfaithful, and full of complaints.”

"When you were four, your dad pushed you down the stairs for that little bitch he'd only known for three months. Now, for their son, if you don't seize the opportunity, are you just waiting to be pushed down by that little bitch's son and become a good-for-nothing who only sponges off his parents?"

Jiang Jing's tone became increasingly sharp whenever Jiang Zhiyan's father was mentioned, sounding like a razor blade scraping against an iron plate to Jiang Zhiyan.

The room was eerily quiet, the tense atmosphere growing increasingly stagnant and heavy. Jiang Zhiyan paused, glanced back at her, and said coldly:

"Instead of wasting your time criticizing me, you should think of ways to win over the support of the other major shareholders."

"Besides, you were the one who didn't sign the agreement before marriage without telling my grandfather, and you were also the one who didn't divorce him in time and sued for shares after he cheated on me."

"So don't try to pin the blame for Huawan's accident on me. I won't pay for your stupidity."

Jiang Jing knew exactly how to hit his sore spot; Jiang Zhiyan only needed two short sentences to provoke Jiang Jing into excruciating pain.

Jiang Zhiyan stared intently at Jiang Jing with his dark eyes. "As for drugging, you're the real expert. The old man is ruthless in the open, but you're cunning and poisonous."

A dim, decaying yellow light shone on his profile, casting a shadow over half his face, a sharp, ironic look.

"They're worse than rats in a sewer."

A vase filled with vibrant roses burst and shattered at my feet, the water stains reeking of decay, and shards of porcelain cutting into my skin, causing a sharp pain.

The servants in the shadows quickly and habitually cleaned up the trash and replaced it with a vase exactly the same as the original, even the angle of the flowers was almost identical.

Is this godforsaken place even home?

Jiang Zhiyan glanced indifferently at the vase, the antique mirror on the display cabinet reflecting the almost identical curve of his lips to Jiang Jing's.

They were connected by blood and shared a common source of pain; when Jiang Jing saw Jiang Zhiyan, all he could think of was his father. Therefore, to vent the pent-up malice in his heart, Jiang Zhiyan became the target of Jiang Jing's malice.

Every aspect of him that Jiang Jing disliked seemed to be evidence that his father would do evil.

The old man was the same way.

From the age of four, when his father pushed him down the second-floor steps, Jiang Zhiyan clearly understood that he was a tool his father used to defend against his mother. After his parents divorced, he became a weapon his mother used to attack his father.

How ridiculous.

This doesn't feel like a home anymore.

Ignoring Jiang Jing's sharp insults and the sound of things being smashed behind him, Jiang Zhiyan went into his study, took out the property certificate and documents from the safe, and walked out of the villa gate.

As he got into the car, he turned to look at the magnificent house.

Vast, cold, and expensive, but utterly devoid of life; it is a completely cold tomb.

Fish wouldn't like this kind of place.

Jiang Zhiyan opened Xia Zhiyu's WeChat chat with a dark expression. She hadn't sent him a single message since their argument yesterday.

Her temper is getting worse and worse.

The car's air conditioning was set very low, and the cold air rushed into my lungs like arrows, spreading the salty, fishy smell of fresh blood with each breath.

A very familiar smell, the capillaries bursting after excessive breathing caused by anger.

What's even more ridiculous is that Jiang Jing was completely unaware that Jiang Zhiyan frequently suffered from respiratory alkaloid poisoning.

It felt as if my lungs were filled not with oxygen, but with countless tiny, sharp thorns.

Every time Jiang Zhiyan returned to this so-called home, he would miss Xia Zhiyu terribly.

He clicked into Xia Zhiyu's chat box, typed a sentence, deleted it, typed it again, and deleted it again.

Have you arrived in the northern part of the city?

When are you going back to Beicheng?

[Jiangyuan is about to enter the settlement process, and we need your help to follow up.]

...

No matter how you ask, it's not appropriate.

Jiang Zhiyan pursed his lips into a straight line, paused in his typing, flipped his phone over, placed the screen face down on the seat, and gazed intently at the lush trees outside the window.

From a young age, he felt that plants were a terrifying existence, rooted in dead humus, and the more life buried in the soil, the more luxuriant the plants would grow.

Vigorous vitality comes from hell.

The Jiang family's old house is one, and so is he.

Why is Xia Zhiyu unwilling to draw nourishment from him? Is he not good enough?

Jiang Zhiyan didn't understand.

The driver glanced at Jiang Zhiyan in the rearview mirror and turned up the air conditioning temperature.

With such a huge artificial cooling device in the back seat, capable of cooling down to 16 degrees Celsius at a speed of 100 kilometers and consuming only the electricity of a cup of coffee, he was afraid he would catch a cold.

The boss may not have a wife and children to care for, but he does, so he needs to treat himself well.

On the other end of the network, Xia Zhiyu watched as the words "black-hearted capitalist" repeatedly changed to "typing..." and a huge question mark appeared on her face.

What is Jiang Zhiyan up to?

She frowned and flicked a question mark at the screen.

The WeChat notification sounded like a shackle loosened from Jiang Zhiyan's heart, allowing oxygen to flow into his brain and making his entire aura visibly brighter.

After a full five minutes, Jiang Zhiyan replied with a reserved question mark.

He knew that Xia Zhiyu was also waiting for his news.

Before the corners of my lips could even curl into a smile, a small red dot appeared on the chat box.

Xia Zhiyu asked:

When will you be home? I'll pack my bags.

-----------------------

Author's Note: My darlings, I need to be on the new book's 1000-word ranking list on Wednesday. If I update at midnight again, it will lower my earnings per thousand words and cause my ranking on the list to drop. This ranking list is very important to me. Whether this book can successfully climb the rankings in the early stages depends on this list. So I will have to update Chapter 17 at 11 pm. I will update a little more as compensation!

Thank you for waiting for me, my darlings!

After becoming a VIP member, I will update at least 4,000 words per day. [kissing emojis]