Chapter 78 If all goes well, the person locked up here should be a living person.
The room was like an art palace, with snow-white walls and white display cases.
The cabinet is filled with framed photos, all of which depict the same person.
Without exception, they all had smiling or indifferent expressions; he could never catch a single one crying or angry.
From the photograph in the frame to the larger painting in the middle.
It's a woman's graduation photo. She's wearing a black graduation gown, standing tall and straight, with black suit pants and high heels showing. Her black hair is tied in a low ponytail with a ribbon, and she wears diamond earrings. Her smile is confident and bright, and her temperament is mature and gentle. She walks from among the students towards the stage.
The photographer captured this scene.
He studied painting for two years and created this painting, which is hung high on the wall. The figure in the painting is so lifelike that it seems to come to life.
But it's just an illusion, nothing more than a painting.
The room is well lit
Yet it was so quiet that there wasn't a sound; it was pure white, holy, and untouched by the mortal world.
This place is full of Ji Tanyuan.
Shen Xichen sat on the only white sofa, silently looking at those things.
If all goes well, it should be a living person locked up here, not these inanimate objects.
He looked down and touched the snake's tail. "It failed again this time."
"But it's okay, she'll turn against the Zhong family for the sake of the Ji family, she'll come back."
Shen Xichen's eyes were dark and deep. Very few family businesses can be passed down for more than three generations. They usually fail when it comes to the second generation's succession. Even if Ji Tanyuan is capable of taking on this heavy responsibility, the old shareholders of Ji's Group and the people from other partner companies do not accept her, so it is not possible.
The reason there are no problems now is because Ji Qing is there. He is in charge, watching his daughter and older brother argue, but he doesn't express his opinion, so no one else will act rashly.
What if Ji Zhihe, whom they had just found, suddenly died? Wouldn't that give them an excuse to cause trouble?
The plan was to use Madam Ji as a tool to kill the person, but it didn't work out.
He tapped his finger, stood up and went out, where he saw Xiao Qi waiting at the door.
She was wearing a black cheongsam, her hair was jet black, and her eyes were also jet black, but empty. When she saw someone come out, she bowed and said, "Mr. Ji Ting has arrived."
Shen Xichen gave a cold "hmm," and stretched out his hand. The snake automatically crawled onto the woman's arm.
In the year-round spring-like indoor environment, snakes move freely and show no intention of hibernating.
Xiaoqi raised her arm, letting the snake crawl all over her body without moving.
“A person can’t live. I’m worried about Ji Ting. You go.”
Xiao Qi: "Yes."
The fake Ji Zhihe was destined to die; only with the person dead could the plan proceed smoothly.
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Zhong Yan returned to Yanjing and attended meetings for two days. Even after returning to the Zhong family home for dinner, he did not speak to Ji Tanyuan, nor did he return to the Yulongguanzhi Villa. He had truly lost interest in that dog.
Ji Tanyuan must also be very busy at Hujiang, busy dealing with crises and purging internal forces.
The series of actions taken by the Ji family at that time were exemplary, demonstrating high efficiency and professionalism in public relations, and they did not falter again.
However, Qinghe was inevitably affected in terms of how it was handled, as Ji Ting's fabrication was a fact.
Judging from Ji's solution, it seems that he does not want to continue to focus his energy on the real estate industry, and he intends to withdraw as soon as possible before any major problems arise.
Zhong Yan sometimes finds it strange that the Ji family's initial capital accumulation relied on real estate, yet she just gave it up like that.
It is evident that the extent of the internal decay is far more severe than what has been revealed.
The night before New Year's Day
Zhong Yan returned to the Zhong family home alone. Zhong Fangqi, seeing his son return alone, asked, "Where's Tan Yuan? Are you planning to live apart for the first time this year?"
Zhong Yan sat in her seat and said, "You know what's been going on lately, how could she possibly have time for the New Year?"
There was only the family at the dinner table. Grandpa Zhong and Grandma Zhong were furious and went straight to their second son's place, planning to come back for the Spring Festival.
This made things much easier for Zhou Yanyu and Wen Yi'an, as they no longer had to deal with the old lady all day.
After the old lady left, Zhou Yanyu's temper improved a lot.
She put down her chopsticks, somewhat dissatisfied:
"You're letting her stay there by herself and come back for the New Year by herself?"
"You two are husband and wife, how can you let her face so many things alone? What will others think when you come back? What will your in-laws think?"
Zhong Yan paused, "No, she wouldn't feel at ease if I were there."
“There are many things I can’t get involved in. She needs to handle the issues in Ji Tanyuan’s name, not Mrs. Zhong’s.”
Zhong Fangqi didn't speak, but just glanced at his youngest son.
He then wiped his mouth and said, "Even if it's an arranged marriage, the relationship between husband and wife is more than just work. You and she are husband and wife, so you should support each other."
"Besides, you all share the same fate now, so how can you not feel at ease?"
Zhong Yan, with an air of nobility, sat down without even touching his chopsticks. "Now we share both honor and disgrace, but what about the future?"
Zhong Fangqi looked at his son, his eyes unreadable, "If she wants to continue with you, then of course she can."
"The premise is that we shouldn't get too close to the Shen family."
"Her uncle is too close to the Shen family. How do you know if it was her uncle's idea or Ji Qing's idea? Human nature is greedy, and perhaps Ji Qing is no exception."
Zhong Yan swirled the water glass around. "I understand."
Zhong Yan only sat for a short while before leaving.
Before leaving, Zhou Yanyu told Zhong Yan that she had to return to Hujiang.
As Zhong Yan put on his coat, he said, "I thought you would ask Ji Tanyuan to come back quickly, since she can't stay in Shanghai all the time."
The changes are happening too fast.
That raises suspicion.
"You and Father aren't plotting anything, are you?" Zhong Yan asked.
At the doorway, Zhong Yan, standing at 188 cm, blocked the light. He looked down at his mother, tall and imposing, wearing a black overcoat, a black shirt and suit, and shiny thin-soled leather shoes. His entire being was extremely sharp in the cold winter air.
Zhou Yanyu took a step back, her face also turning cold. "Zhong Yan, are you starting to be wary of us now?"
"There's no way around it. Some conflicts of interest exist, and even if we're family, they still exist."
Zhou Yanyu scolded in a low voice, "Don't let your father hear these words, Zhong Yan. You must remember that you are a member of the Zhong family. You and your father are an inseparable community of interests. After all, the preferential resources you are receiving now are largely due to your status as Zhong Fangqi's son."
"Don't do anything foolish for Ji Tanyuan's sake."
Zhou Yanyu only gave one warning.
“It’s a good thing that she can inherit the Ji family now. We have no reason to stop her. Your father never thought of taking over the Ji family.”
Zhong Yan knew, of course, that his father had never intended to annex the Ji family.
However, his father always wanted Zidian Technology, the joint venture between the two companies, to become part of a state-owned holding company.
By doing so, the Ji family would disrupt the Shen family's plans, which would inevitably sacrifice the Ji family's interests. Zhong Fangqi's idea was to have Ji Tanyuan cooperate at this time, and then compensate them after the goal was achieved.
It would be strange if Ji Tanyuan were willing.
Zhong Yan didn't say anything more, turned around and left, getting into the car at the door.
Rong Xi deliberately squatted at the entrance of the club to wait for Zhong Yan. She couldn't even go into the private room to wait calmly.
Nowadays, everyone in the real estate industry is laughing at her. She is destined to have no good New Year this year. She hates Ji Tanyuan to the core and resents Zhong Yan for watching her jump into the fire pit.
No one had a good time during this period, especially Rongxi, who had to rely on sleeping pills to fall asleep even though she slept on the most expensive mattress.
In the hall, Rong Xi stopped Zhong Yan.
"You knew all along, yet you just stood by and watched me jump in?"
Zhong Yan took a step back, his expression indifferent, his whole body radiating a chilling aura, brought in from outside the door, and also due to his own natural emanations.
He said coldly, "I reminded you, I told you not to get involved in this mess, did you listen?"
Rong Xi was stunned. At that time, she thought that Zhong Yan just didn't want her to make things difficult for Ji Tanyuan.
Zhong Yan scoffed, "You're too arrogant. When you used your relationship with the director of the Housing and Construction Bureau to make things difficult for Ji Qing, you should have thought that one day he would retaliate."
"Rongxi, when you first met Ji Tanyuan, when Lao Cheng mentioned at the dinner that Ji Tanyuan had graduated with two degrees from MIT, I thought you understood his other meaning—that Ji Tanyuan wasn't as simple as she seemed. I never expected that you, along with Shuyun, would actually think she was just a pretty face who didn't know anything?"
"Haven't you seen enough people who are just putting on a show in the world of vanity and fame?"
Rong Xi took a deep breath before saying, "You know everything?"
Yes, Zhong Yan has even more connections in official circles than she does, so there's no reason he wouldn't know.
"So you've been sitting on the sidelines watching the tigers fight? Ji Tanyuan isn't that important to you, is she?"
Zhong Yan frowned and looked at Rong Xi, "You still don't understand anything."
Rong Xi took a step back; such ambiguous words were truly annoying.
To everyone's surprise, Zhong Yan's next words were: "Isn't it annoying? I learned it from you."
"Didn't you use the same tone when you used to egg people on?"
After saying that, Zhong Yan left without looking back.
Unexpectedly, Rong Xi suddenly said, "I have the results of the paternity test between Ji Zhihe and Ji Qing."
"Guess what will happen if we release them?"
Zhong Yan turned his head: "So, you've partnered with Shen Xichen?"
Rong Xi did not deny it, "There's nothing we can do, people are all driven by self-interest."
Zhong Yan nodded, "You'd have to have the ability to release it, wouldn't you?"
"There's no need to release it publicly. Just let a few people in the industry know, isn't that enough?" Rong Xi said.
Zhong Yan chuckled lightly, his eyes cold, his chiseled face sharp as a blade, and then said, "Whatever you say."
Zhong Yan went upstairs and called Chu He as he walked: "Go to Hujiang and do something for me."
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