Chapter 197 Returning Home
Early in the morning, Jiang Ranxing arrived at the SR building and ran into Sylvie, who had just arrived for work.
"Ember, you're here so early. Didn't you get some rest?" Sylvie walked over and walked side by side with Jiang Ranxing toward the elevator.
Jiang Ranxing smiled: "Nothing much, I just wanted to get here as soon as possible."
Jiang Ranxing and Wen Qingrang both have the habit of waking up early and are not willing to sleep too much; they are both quite self-disciplined people.
Sylvie said, "That's perfect. I have some design-related things I'd like to discuss with you today."
"Let's go, let's talk."
Jiang Ranxing and Sylvie walked into the SR building together and went to Sylvie's office in the design department. The two began to discuss some professional issues.
Just then, the assistant knocked on the door: "Manager, someone has come to visit."
Sylvie glanced at Jiang Ranxing, nodded, and then had her assistant invite him in.
Neither Sylvie nor Jiang Ranxing expected Tan Shen to come. After Tan Shen explained his purpose for coming to apologize, Sylvie didn't say anything and politely accepted.
Tan Shen then placed the last exquisitely packaged black leather gift box in front of Jiang Ranxing.
"This is?"
Tan Shen opened the gift box and placed it in front of Jiang Ranxing.
"This is Mr. Fu's apology to designer Ember. I hope you like it."
Looking at the magnificent and dazzling set of jewelry displayed in front of him, Jiang Ranxing could tell the quality of the jewelry at a glance.
What Fu Shenyuan gave was far more valuable than the apology he gave to SR Company.
This small set of jewelry is worth far more than the company's average market value, and it's a limited-edition collector's item. No one would use this as an apology gift; only Fu Shenyuan would do something like that.
"Is this necessary as an apology?" Jiang Ranxing reached out and touched the gemstone, but the coldness made her pull her hand back. "Even if I appreciate the gesture, I won't do anything for him."
Tan Shen lowered his head and replied, "President Fu just wants to apologize to you. He has no other requests. He only hopes that you can be happy."
Jiang Ranxing smiled calmly and said nothing. She raised her hand and closed the gift box.
"I'll take it. Go back now."
Tan Shen smiled politely and then turned and left.
Jiang Ranxing pushed the jewelry gift box in front of Sylvie.
Sylvie: "Ember, what's wrong with you...?"
Jiang Ranxing said, "I don't want to take it with me. You can leave it at the company for your use."
Sylvie was about to say that she really didn't need such precious jewelry, but Jiang Ranxing interrupted her, saying, "Don't be polite with me. Since Fu Shenyuan is willing to give it to me, you can use it without any guilt."
Jiang Ranxing gave Sylvie an approving look, and Sylvie gladly accepted it without further hesitation.
After the two finished talking, Jiang Ranxing took the materials to the fabric factory, watched the fabric pattern making for a while, and then went home.
As soon as she entered, she saw Wen Qingrang hurriedly putting on his coat, as if he was in a hurry to go somewhere.
Jiang Ranxing put down what he was holding and stepped forward to ask, "Qingrang, what happened? You seem very anxious."
Wen Qingrang didn't have time to say much to Jiang Ranxing, and simply said, "Ranxing, something happened with Grandpa, and I have to rush back. Wait for me here, and don't go anywhere for now, okay?"
Upon hearing that the Wen family was in trouble, Jiang Ranxing felt that he couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
So Jiang Ranxing also prepared to leave with Wen Qingrang, but Wen Qingrang stopped her.
"Burning Star, I know you're worried, but please trust me, I can handle this myself. I don't want you to worry with me."
Jiang Ranxing hesitated and said, "But I don't mind sharing these things with you. We should face them together, shouldn't we?"
Wen Qingrang usually listens to what Jiang Ranxing says.
But this time, Wen Qingrang clearly didn't want to follow Jiang Ranxing's ideas.
Wen Qingrang insisted, "I'm not entirely clear on the situation in China right now. I'm worried you won't get enough rest when you go back. You still need to go to the doctor for regular checkups, have you forgotten?"
Wen Qingrang smiled gently, though Jiang Ranxing could see the forced smile in it.
But Wen Qingrang gently pulled Jiang Ranxing into his arms and patted him, trying to comfort Jiang Ranxing even when he himself was very anxious.
"I don't want you to live in fear when you go back. I promise you, I'll bring you back as soon as things are settled in China, okay?"
Since Wen Qingrang had already said that, Jiang Ranxing naturally couldn't force him to do anything.
Jiang Ranxing looked at him with concern: "If there's anything you need me for back home, you must contact me immediately, and I'll be back right away."
Wen Qingrang understood, of course, that Jiang Ranxing's concern had clouded his judgment.
"Okay, don't worry, don't be so anxious. Maybe nothing's wrong at all," Wen Qingrang said, gently stroking her long hair, his tone revealing obvious uncertainty.
Jiang Ranxing nodded. Not wanting Wen Qingrang to worry about her so much when she returned to China, she could only force a smile and pretend to be relaxed, going along with Wen Qingrang's wishes.
"Okay, I'll wait for you to come back. You said you'd take me on a road trip, and we're going to travel together," Jiang Ranxing said, trying to sound casual.
Wen Qingrang left with his suitcase, his last words before leaving were, "Wait for me to come back."
Wen Qingrang was in a hurry to catch a flight, so he booked the earliest one, even though he would have to transfer to a new flight midway.
Jiang Ranxing was filled with anxiety at home. She felt that something must have happened in China. Wen Qingrang called her again when he was changing phones to reassure her, but Jiang Ranxing's unease only grew stronger. She didn't feel at ease until Wen Qingrang had returned to China safely.
At first, Wen Qingrang would frequently contact Jiang Ranxing to let him know she was safe, but later the two contacted each other less and less.
This is definitely not a good sign. Jiang Ranxing even made a phone call to Mia.
Mia was a little confused: "Sister, are you talking about Brother Qingrang's family? I haven't heard anything about the Wen family. Is there something I don't know?"
Mia was unaware of this, and Jiang Ranxing naturally had no way of finding out anything.
But things changed a week later. Mia called Jiang Ranxing, her tone and attitude were clearly different, she was very flustered.
Mia said, "The Wen family! It seems the Wen family is in trouble. I've seen the stock price of the Wen family's company plummet. A media friend of mine said that the Wen family is in a very turbulent situation and may not be able to withstand this shock."
Jiang Ranxing immediately stood up, extremely anxious: "What exactly happened? The Wen family has always been law-abiding, how could they have gotten into trouble?"
Mia replied, "I'm not entirely clear on the specifics, but it seems to be related to the Fu family, specifically their current CEO."
Jiang Ranxing immediately understood what was going on. If it was related to the Fu family, then Fu Shenyuan was currently abroad, so it was unlikely that he was the one who did it.
The only person in the Fu family who still has such methods is Fu Hongkai.
If it really was Fu Hongkai who targeted the Wen family, Jiang Ranxing could easily guess what had happened.
In her impression, Fu Hongkai was definitely not a good person, and it was impossible to predict how he would go wrong by targeting people like the Wen family, who were not related to him.
Jiang Ranxing immediately stood up and said, "Mia, I'm going back to China tomorrow. I don't want Qing to be alone in the country."
Mia: "Then I'll pick you up from the airport. Send me the flight number once you've booked it."
After chatting with Mia for a while, Jiang Ranxing hung up the phone and began packing his suitcase.
She acted quickly; after handing over her work to Sylvie, she swiftly booked a flight, preparing to return to China as soon as possible.
With everything ready, as Jiang Ranxing pulled her suitcase out the door, she turned back to gaze at the beautiful house. This was the place where she and Wen Qingrang had lived together, and she truly hoped to bring Wen Qingrang back here again.
The plane soared across the boundless sky, and after a long flight, Jiang Ranxing finally landed in this familiar city.
When Jiang Ranxing walked out of the airport, he met Mia and Manager Shen, who had been waiting for him.
Manager Shen approached Jiang Ranxing first and said with a smile, "Welcome back to China, Ember."
Mia came over and hugged Jiang Ranxing warmly: "Sister, you're finally back! I missed you so much."
Jiang Ranxing greeted the two people separately, hugged Mia, and then said, "I should have met with you guys first, but I need to go to Qingrang's place first to see what the situation is now."
Both of them understood Jiang Ranxing's anxious mood and didn't delay him any longer. Instead, they took her to the Wen family's company building.
Mia was a little worried: "Sister, do you want me to come with you? I'm worried it will be chaotic here. Your identity has been revealed, I hope nothing bad will happen."
Jiang Ranxing wasn't worried about that: "It's okay, nothing will happen, don't worry."
Manager Shen also said, "Be careful, and contact us if anything happens."
Jiang Ranxing nodded, put on his sunglasses, and walked into the Wen's Group building.
As Jiang Ranxing entered the building, he sensed a somber atmosphere, a kind of work atmosphere that subtly conveyed a sense of hardship.
Jiang Ranxing walked to the front desk and asked the staff to contact the president's office, saying that she needed to speak with Wen Qingrang immediately.
The receptionist asked, "May I ask your surname? I need to report this to the president's assistant."
Jiang Ranxing took off her glasses, and the receptionist gasped in surprise when she saw her face.
Jiang Ranxing said, "Just say Ember is back."
The receptionist, of course, knew the relationship between Ember and her CEO—she was the future CEO's wife. So she quickly contacted the people in the CEO's office upstairs and soon received a reply.
The receptionist led Jiang Ranxing directly to the private elevator and waited for him to board.
As the elevator ascended, Jiang Ranxing pondered the current situation. She guessed that Wen Qingrang must be extremely busy right now, otherwise he wouldn't have been unable to contact her.
After the elevator reached the designated floor, Jiang Ranxing couldn't wait to get off. When the people from the president's office came to pick her up, she skipped all the formalities.
"How is Qingrang?" Jiang Ranxing asked directly.
The assistant told Jiang Ranxing about Wen Qingrang's situation in detail, and she felt heartbroken after hearing it.
Jiang Ranxing said, "Okay, thank you, I understand. I'll go in by myself. You go ahead and do your work."
The assistant was indeed very busy, so after hearing this, he went back to his office to continue working.
Jiang Ranxing walked along the glass window toward the president's office, where he saw Wen Qingrang through the glass door.
Wen Qingrang had lost his usual elegance and neatness. The entire office was piled with all kinds of paper materials. Looking at Wen Qingrang himself, his face showed unconcealable haggardness and fatigue, and stubble had gradually grown out. Jiang Ranxing had never seen him look so disheveled.
Jiang Ranxing walked to the door and saw everything clearly before her. She gently knocked on the door.
Wen Qingrang assumed it was his assistant bringing materials, so he didn't look up. He simply said, "Just put them on the table. I'll look at them later."
But when he received no response, Wen Qingrang looked up and saw Jiang Ranxing standing in front of him.
Jiang Ranxing's eyes were filled with heartbroken pain. She stepped closer and touched Wen Qingrang's chin. The new stubble was prickly, which showed how tired Wen Qingrang had been lately.
After the two looked at each other in silence, Wen Qingrang said deliberately, as if to reproach, "Didn't I tell you not to come back? Why didn't you listen?"
Wen Qingrang's words at this moment were not actually intimidating; he was simply feeling sorry for Jiang Ranxing as well.
Jiang Ranxing tried hard to suppress his emotions and said, "If I don't come back, how long are you going to keep this from me? What exactly happened?"
Wen Qingrang was reluctant to tell Jiang Ranxing, so he declined again, saying, "It's nothing, I've just been a bit busy these past few days and haven't had time to contact you. Sorry."
Jiang Ranxing grabbed him, insistently saying, "Qingrang, I've already heard that it was the Fu family who did it, right? What exactly happened? Don't hide it from me anymore. No matter what you say this time, I won't leave."
Wen Qingrang had witnessed Jiang Ranxing's stubbornness and knew that there was no point in hiding it anymore at this point.
Therefore, Wen Qingrang had no choice but to be honest. He pulled Jiang Ranxing to sit down and then told her the general situation.
“During our absence from the country, Fu Hongkai has succeeded Fu Shenyuan as the new CEO of the Fu Group. He now wields the most power within the Fu Group. With the old master in poor health, he has no time to spare for the Fu Group. Fu Hongkai has used the pretext of expanding projects to once again target other business forces in City A, which is essentially a disguised form of suppression and annexation. Among them, the biggest thorn in his side is our Wen family.”
“Although we don’t flaunt our strength as much anymore, our foundation is still there. Fu Hongkai has his eye on that. If he were just engaging in healthy competition openly, that would be fine, but he chose the dirtiest method: having people investigate some of our past projects behind the scenes. Over time, many things can’t withstand scrutiny. In addition, the Wen family was already impacted by the crackdown by Old Master Fu many years ago, and some things were manipulated back then, but we didn’t pay attention to them anymore. Now that they’ve been investigated, it’s clear that he’s specifically targeting the Wen family’s weakest point.”
After Wen Qingrang finished speaking, Jiang Ranxing understood.
Fu Hongkai is clearly determined to destroy the Wen family. He wants to monopolize the entire business pie and won't allow anyone else to share even a little bit.
“His greed and ambition could no longer be hidden after he came to power,” Jiang Ranxing said to himself.
Wen Qingrang nodded: "We are looking for a solution now. After all, the incident was ultimately caused by the Fu family. I believe there is a way, but we do not yet have reasonable evidence to prove the Wen family's innocence."
Although Jiang Ranxing didn't understand business matters, he knew that given the Wen family's current stock price and the dual pressures from both the outside and inside, Wen Qingrang wouldn't have much time left.
Every moment now is extremely precious, enough to determine the life or death of the Wen family.
The Wen family must have held a different significance for Wen Qingrang.
Jiang Ranxing didn't want Wen Qingrang to have made so many efforts, only to end up with a bad outcome.
Jiang Ranxing thought for a moment, then looked up and asked, "Qingrang, how confident are you about this?"
Wen Qingrang hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "Less than 50%."
Less than 50%, and perhaps only 10% or 20% in Wen Qingrang's case, Jiang Ranxing's eyes flashed.
She encouraged Wen Qingrang, saying, "That's alright. I believe in your abilities. You will definitely overcome this difficulty. You definitely can."
Wen Qingrang smiled, but his haggard appearance was impossible to hide.
Jiang Ranxing checked the time and insisted that Wen Qingrang have a normal lunch first, and then take a nap in the lounge.
Wen Qingrang was also extremely tired, so he felt he should rest for a while.
Then Jiang Ranxing left the lounge. She glanced at the lounge and then closed the door to the president's office and walked out.
Jiang Ranxing went to the other window, opened it, and let the cool breeze blow in, clearing away much of the turbid air from her head.
She then took out her phone and looked at it for a while before finally making a call.
The call was answered surprisingly quickly, which surprised Jiang Ranxing a little, but he still put the phone to his ear.
"Do you have time? There's something I'd like to talk to you about," Jiang Ranxing asked calmly.
The voice on the other end of the phone trembled slightly: "Of course, I'm always available for you."
Jiang Ranxing didn't have time to think about these things right now, and continued, "Shall we meet and talk? I'm in City A right now. Contact me when you get back, and we'll meet up."
"Okay, no problem." The person on the other end answered without the slightest hesitation.
Jiang Ranxing didn't have much to say on the phone, so he hung up.
Fu Shenyuan stared at the phone for a few seconds, then looked up and saw everyone in the conference room looking at him. The next second, he stood up, leaving everyone behind, and left the conference room.
The meeting room door was closed, and a very important meeting was thus deprived of its leader; the door shut out all the questions from everyone.
Tan Shen immediately caught up and asked, "President Fu, where are you going?"
Fu Shenyuan's eyes were filled with endless tenderness, and he kept walking: "Let's go back to China now, Ranxing wants to see me."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com