Though the plane was gone, the airport still bustled with a huge mass of humanity.
Jiang Huai slowly withdrew his eyes from the sky and then looked over at Xu Xinyi who was standing to the side. He smiled and said, “Miss Xu, thank you for coming to see Jiang Nian off today. I’ll send you home.”
Xu Xinyi returned a smile that was not a smile. “How could I trouble Mr. Jiang to send me home? My driver is waiting outside so I’m fine going back myself.”
“Miss Xu, you don’t need to worry. I just wanted to thank you for taking care of Jiang Nian over these past few months.”
“Jiang Nian is an artist in my studio so it’s only right for me to take care of him. Mr. Jiang, you don’t need to be so polite to me.”
If you read between the lines of her words, it was nothing but subtle and overt refusals.
Jiang Huai smiled. “Miss Xu, why are you speaking as if I were some kind of beast?”
He was much scarier than a beast she thought in her heart. Xu Xinyi felt her stomach cramping as she faced off with Jiang Huai.
Though the plot of the novel seemed to have disappeared a long time ago, Jiang Huai was still the main male lead and Xu Xinyi had never forgotten that fact. For her, it would only be beneficial to avoid Jiang Huai and not deepen their relationship beyond the level of acquaintances. She wished more than anything that she could be the well water that did not mix with the river water, Jiang Huai.
“You don’t have to be so cautious, I’m working with Yi Yang now, and a gentleman doesn’t mix business and pleasure. Besides, though I’m saying it myself, I am a rich and powerful man, would I really need to stoop to putting my eyes a married woman? I was just a little curious about Mrs. Yi, so I wanted to talk to you.”
“Curious?”
Jiang Huai scanned her with his eyes from top to bottom and said, “Curious about Mrs. Yi’s mysterious charm.”
When she felt Jiang Huai’s eyes sweeping from the soles of her feet to the crown of her head, Xu Xinyi took two uncomfortable steps back. “Charm? I’m sure I can’t compare with Mr. Jiang’s charm, considering your ability to attract bees and butterflies.”
“Me? Attracting bees and butterflies? Miss Xu, you are really wronging me.”
“Mr. Jiang, you’re being too humble. You already mentioned that you are rich and powerful so there are no doubt a lot of women who secretly love you. It’s a pity that I’ve only ever heard of the affair between Mr. Jiang and Miss Xu Weiyin but, later, there was no more news.” Xu Xinyi took the opportunity to change the subject. “Speaking of Miss Xu Weiyin, I haven’t seen her for a long time. I wonder what she’s been up to recently.”
“You don’t know?” Jiang Huai asked.
“Me?” Xu Xinyi sounded slightly stupefied, “Does she have anything to do with me?”
“Huh, you really don’t know.” Jiang Huai’s question turned into a statement. Then, after a moment of thought, he said with a smile, “Since Miss Xu really doesn’t know, could I take this opportunity to sell a favor?”
When he saw Xu Xinyi’s puzzled expression, Jiang Huai began to elaborate, “In fact, Xu Weiyin always thought that her son belonged to Mr. Yi, so she went to a hospital to have a paternity test done and it showed that the father was Yi Yang. As a result, she took the paternity test and confronted Old Master Yi and Mrs. Yi with it. After that, the matter got a little out of hand and it reached the point where they all went to the police station for an answer. In the end, the police affirmed that the child really did not belong to Yi Yang, so Xu Weiyin could only give up. But Mr. Yi was not satisfied ending things just like that so he banned Xu Weiyin from the industry. Nowadays, in the entertainment industry, no one dares to cooperate with Xu Weiyin.”
Xu Xinyi looked at the man in front of her coldly. “You arranged all this?”
“Miss Xu, you can’t just accuse me without any evidence like that. Even moreso now that I am working with Yi Ying, Miss Xu’s words could be construed as intentionally sowing discord.”
“Xu Weiyin was always very close to you, so don’t tell me you didn’t know anything about this.” Xu Xinyi said.
“Miss Xu Weiyin and I shared a relationship where each of us took what we needed. We were never as close as you seem to think. What’s more, does Miss Xu think I look like an overly warm-hearted sucker*?”
“No.” But actually, you are. Xu Xinyi replied silently in her heart.
Jiang Huai was a man who was ruthless when it came to feelings. However, the ‘Xu Weiyin’ inside the novel was more than capable of transforming Jiang Huai into a ‘warm-hearted sucker’, to the point that he was such a good father that he wouldn’t even demand to check ‘his’ child’s DNA.
“So Miss Xu Weiyin and I really have nothing to do with each other.”
Xu Xinyi saw for herself Jiang Huai’s ruthlessness.
But Xu Xinyi had no time to feel sorry for Xu Weiyin. She was not such a magnanimous person. She still remembered clearly that night when Xu Weiyin pushed her into the pool. Not throwing stones down into the well was the only kindness she was willing to show.
“Mr. Jiang is laughing but what happened between you and Miss Xu Weiyin has nothing to do with me. At any rate, if there’s nothing else, I’ll go back first. I’ll see you again if there is a chance.”
With that, Xu Xinyi spun on her heel and stalked away.
Regarding this kind of person, it was clearly better the less contact you had with him.
As he watched Xu Xinyi walking away with an obviously fast pace, Jiang Huai smiled faintly.
On the way back to his company, Jiang Huai leaned against his seat and closed his eyes in thought.
Jiang Nian had been sent abroad so now he really had no more obligations in China. The cooperation with the Yi Group was smooth for the time being and once the project they were working on together started the strength of the Jiang’s would climb another level.
Jiang Huai arrived at the company about an hour after he saw off Jiang Nian. He had rushed back because he actually had a lot of work on hand during this period. The cooperation with the Yi Group was just too important, so he had to personally keep an eye on things all the time.
But as soon as he stepped into the elevator, an assistant stepped forward and whispered a few words into his ear. When he heard what was said, Jiang Huai frowned slightly. After mulling it over he said, “Take her to the lounge and have her wait for me.”
“Alright, President Jiang.”
Xu Weiyin had arrived.
In fact, this was not the first time that Xu Weiyin had come to his office but every time before Jiang Huai hadn’t wanted to see her. After all, he could more or less guess Xu Weiyin’s purpose in coming.
The moment he stepped into the lounge, Xu Weiyin got up from the sofa and looked at him sadly.
If there had been any other way at all she would not have come to Jiang Huai.
But at this point, she had been blocked thoroughly by Yi Yang. All her former friends in the entertainment industry now shunned her and the men who had pursued her in the past suddenly changed their attitudes. Now they would give her the cold shoulder or even offer her things like bags or jewelry. To ‘keep’ her.
She was very clear that these people were unreliable.
“What can I do for you?”
“You said that you would help me find out who the father of my child is!”
Jiang Huai slowly walked into the room and sat on the sofa without looking at her. “It really sounds like a joke. You, the mother of the child, came to me to ask who the father is.”
“And you said you would find out for me!” Xu Weiyin spoke angrily.
“Yes, I did say that, and I did find out.”
“…you found out? Then who is it?”
Jiang Huai raised his eyes and looked coldly into the depths of Xu Weiyin’s reddened eyes. Inside all he saw was naked desire. Something in between hoping and demanding, “It was…” He smiled. “A member of the hotel staff.”
“…what?” Xu Weiyin obviously couldn’t believe it. “A member of the hotel staff?”
“Yes, I found the surveillance video from that night and I also found the hotel employee in question and asked him about it face to face. He admitted it easily. So, Miss Xu, do you want the hotel employee’s information? If you want to find a father for your son, I can provide that for you.”
Xu Weiyin took an uncertain step back.
Obviously she couldn’t accept this fact.
“No… How could that be? How could the one back then have been…”
“Back then that hotel staff member had a low salary and low status. Even if they’ve worked hard until today, they are probably only at the level of a manager. Does Miss Xu despise it?”
“That’s impossible!” Xu Weiyin shook her head and denied him, “There’s no way!”
“Whether you believe or not, it doesn’t matter. I can give you that man’s phone number and address, and you can ask him yourself.” After saying that, Jiang Huai put a business card on the coffee table in front of him and waited to see if Xu Weiyin would pick it up.
Xu Weiyin’s eyes fixed on the business card. A brief but intense internal struggle played about her face as she wrestled with whether to take it or not.
She had always known what she wanted in life and she knew that a small hotel manager could not even satisfy her desires, let alone help her realize her dreams.
If she really took her child to recognize a hotel manager as his father, then she would eat nothing but plain rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar for the rest of her life. Those kinds of dull days were not what she wanted in life.
What she wanted was something a small hotel manager could not provide!
When she came to that conclusion, Xu Weiyin gave Jiang Huai a hard stare. “You already lied to me once so I don’t believe you. Since you won’t check it for me, I’ll check it myself. One day, I’ll find the father of my child.”
After throwing down those words Xu Weiyin spun away and did not hesitate to yank open the door to the lounge and leave quickly.
Jiang Huai sank back against the sofa. The faint smell of Xu Weiyin’s perfume seemed to waft in the air.
Once upon a time he had held Xu Weiyin in his arms and praised that same intoxicating fragrance.
But it was just a game, nothing more than that.
An assistant knocked at the door and then delivered a certain document.
This document happened to be delivered by Jiang Huai’s assistant right at this moment, it was a pity for Xu Weiyin that she left a little too early and was doomed never to see it.
Jiang Huai didn’t bother to read it either. He just looked down at the document’s cover with indifference.
The words ‘Paternity Test Results’ were very eye-catching. He could have found out the truth by flipping open a single page, but Jiang Huai did not open it.
The result didn’t matter anymore.
He picked up the business card from the coffee table in front of him, rubbed his thumb on it, and sighed regretfully.
The business card did not actually belong to any hotel manager. Instead, the two big words ‘Jiang Huai’ were clearly written on it.
What a pity. She was so close.
Xu Weiyin was a woman who liked to act smart right until the very end.
The real father?
Jiang Huai sneered. Only a child he admits could be his son. Whoever he didn’t admit could never be his blood.
He picked up the paternity test result in front of him and lit one corner with a lighter.
The fire spread in an instant and, in the twinkling of an eye, the flame almost reached the hand holding the corner of the document. But the instant before the fire reached his hand, he released his grip and the last small bit of paper burned into ashes that promptly fell onto his pant leg.
The smell of perfume in the room disappeared, covered by the smell of burning paper.
Jiang Huai stood up, dusted the dirt from his pant leg, tidied up his suit, and then strode out of the lounge.
——————
Jiang Nian’s career had been steadily rising when he suddenly and resolutely chose to go abroad to study. It came as a great surprise to his fans, and there were howls of woe under the Weibo post where he announced his decision. As fans, they naturally hoped that their idol could make more appearances and join more variety shows but suddenly it was announced that he would ‘Go abroad to further his studies’?! And the words ‘Return date unknown’ directly caused the fans to explode.
There were people hoping he wouldn’t leave, people giving tearful blessings, people posting rational analysis and advice and, before long, the topic #Jiang Nian Wants To Go Abroad For Further Studies# had climbed the hot search.
“Ahhhhhhhh! How could this happen? Why would Jiang Nian, who I only became a fan of two days ago, suddenly go abroad!”
“Why are you going abroad without telling your fans in advance? Have you ever thought about how your fans feel? I’m really impressed by your professionalism!”
“The return date is unknown? I just looked at your face and became a fan but now it seems you have an unknown return date… Forget it, it’s not like you’re the only fresh meat in the entertainment industry. I’m disappointed.”
“You have my blessings! I’m waiting for you! [heart]”
“Ahhhhh, I’ll always wait for you to come back!”
“If you leave to study abroad, you will definitely have to start all over again when you come back. It wasn’t easy for you to get popular. I’m really sweating for Jiang Nian.”
“Be reasonable everyone. Jiang Nian is young and he doesn’t have any professional background, so he can’t just hope to ride his current fame forever. It’s clear that by arranging this Jiang Nian’s studio is really thinking for his sake. I support his decision to further his studies, and I also support his studio!”
Maybe because Jiang Nian going abroad was already a foregone conclusion, but the person who had been competing with Jiang Nian did not bother to buy a marketing account to smear him this time. And after a few days, the fans accepted that this was reality, and Jiang Nian’s name finally dropped from the hot search.
Around this time, Director Xu was preparing to start filming on his first film.
Xu Xinyi got ready early that morning and, after saying goodbye to the two elders, she got into Yi Yang’s car and had him drive her to the filming location.
Yi Yang’s face was very dark inside the car. In fact, his face hadn’t looked good for about a week now.
He and Xu Xinyi had finally really gotten together and they were in the period where they both wanted to be together all day. It was the period when the relationship was strongest but suddenly Xu Xinyi would have to leave for more than two months. And that wasn’t even mentioning that there was a certain ‘dangerous person’ in the crew. It was no wonder that Yi Yang was in a bad mood.
Xu Xinyi leaned over and rested her arm against his shoulder. “It will only be two months at most. I’ll be back two months from now at the latest.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you walking around with such a dark face?”
Yi Yang’s brows furrowed and his face looked like it was layered in ten thousand year ice. “Xu Xinyi, I know that the male lead of the film this time is Han Xiao. Be honest in your conduct and video call me every night. I will come to visit you once a week. Don’t go around hooking up* everywhere, do you hear me?”
Xu Xinyi rolled her eyes secretly.
–“Hooking up… do you have to make it sound so ugly? I call it appreciating beauty.”
Although Xu Xinyi thought so in her heart, she still had to say some honeyed words promising him, “I promise you I would never hook up behind your back! Husband, you must believe me!”
Yi Yang: “…”
“Don’t be angry. Come on, kiss.” Xu Xinyi puckered her lips at him.
Yi Yang sneered. She really liked to use this trick.
Wasn’t she tired of it?
He was so disgusted that he bowed his head and kissed her lips.
tl note: I made a discord. Just sort of testing the waters to see if there’s any interest. You can chat about my current projects or read my gripes about my new projects.
*the term used here is ‘接盘侠’ and it’s hard to translate properly into English. Literally it’s something like ‘catcher’. It basically means someone who ‘receives’ something no one else would want – and it’s used mostly either in the context of bad relationships or junk stocks
**term used here is ‘勾三搭四’ which basically just means hooking up
tl note: maaaan. I get that we’re supposed to come away from this chapter thinking that Jiang Huai was the bad guy in the situation but I really dislike how the author added that tang of ‘poetic justice’ by taking a bunch of parting shots at Xu Weiyin. Like sure, she’s not a great person maybe but she always acted appropriately with the information she had. By this chapter Jiang Huai had already lied to her once so why would he expect her to trust him again?
And I don’t buy this garbage where Jiang Huai is only receiving the paternity test results at the most dramatically appropriate moment. He had been with her for months and she had explicitly asked him for help with finding the father of her child but he’s only checking NOW?
Bleh. What I’m saying is: I dearly hope he ends up exactly like his father.
Wow so the child of Xu Weiyin Is actually Jiang Huai. Damn that dude is ruthless. Why does he needs to hurt that woman, feel pity for her. Jiang Huai is just like his father who also didnt accept Jiang Nian’s mom at first. But at least I thought he maybe was kind of different but nah he i so ruthless and even worse than Yi Yang. Damn I am happy Xu Xinyi is smart and knows Jiang Huai is a dagerous man. Brrr such man are scary
I honestly thought Han Xiao is the father considering his phobia. I thought he might have accidentally got caught in a scheme meant for YY or JH.
Poor child. I hope the kid doesn’t suffer from this.
Jiang Huai will die like his father where his own son won’t talk to him even during his last moment.
Well, the child is innocent but the woman isn’t really. If she had accepted the fact that whoever the father of the child is, she would accept them. Had she really took the business card that is “supposedly a normal hotel staff” then she would have gotten a diamond but she didn’t because of her greed and ambition. Though juang Huai really is indeed ruthless to fabricate the paternity test results to make it look like it belong to Yi Yang. Tbh, both parties are at fault here. But at this point, Jiang Huai probably wanted a sincere woman than a calculating woman who doesn’t even truly love him.
Tbh, I think Jiang Huai is really going to turned up like his father.
I see now, so jiang huai wanna test xu weiying? Well, he’s a fucker indeed, xu weiyin too, you don’t want to accept the father if the father was a manager hotel? Wtf? Then, if the father was not JH, you want to do what? Search for the father you want to accept for the rest of your life?
Guys, read between the lines. It is still not confirmed that Jiang Huai is the father. Before that, Jiang Huai wanted to test Xu Weiyin if she could accept someone who isn’t powerful, but a man who is struggling. In the end, Xu Weiyin didn’t accept it nor bothered to check it. Even though, the one Jiang Huai was offering to her was himself. And after that, the paternity results came. It was never revealed if it was his son or not because after that encounter, he did not bother to open and check the results. Xu weiyin already picked her answer. But it was also irresponsible of him. He should have checked for the child’s sake. So that sentence where he said “Only a child he admits is his son, whoever he doesn’t is not his blood”. It could be two way. Even if the result was negative as long as he admits the child is his son, then so be it. But yeah, the conclusion now is that this matter was buried. I feel sorry for the child. The mother is greedy and promiscuous that she doesn’t even know the father. While Jiang Huai if ever he was the father, he did not care enough. Sad. I hope the child won’t come to Yi Yang especially when Xu Weiyin brainwashed the child that Yi Yang was the father.
Nah Xu Weiyin didn’t even love Jiang Huai. That woman manipulates men into her advantage. Clearly Jiang Huai was the second best among her targets after Yi Yang so she was sucking up to him to build foundation and protection. I actually think he genuinely wants to take responsibility for the child otherwise why would he have Xu Weiyin by his side and the scene where he threw a business card (which was actually his) to Xu Weiyin, but gurl was so preoccupied and clearly disgusted with the thought that she couldn’t live with an ordinary life as a hotel managers partner or wife so biatch walked away feeling wronged? lol.
The only downfall here was that Old Master Jiang wanted Yi Yang and Xu Xinyi to divorce inorder for his precious Jiang Nian to have a chance with Xu Xinyi. Its clear that Old Master Jiang’s word is absolute that Jiang Huai wouldn’t dare to disobey so he used Xu Weiyin. The plan was also in favor with Xu Weiyins plan so she agrees to be the third party who will ruin a married couple.
By the end when Jiang Nian flew abroad. He had no more obligations to watch over his little brother. That was the last chance he could’ve revealed he was the father. But he didn’t. Instead he lied again on the surface to see Xu Weiyins reaction but meeh i think he was disappointed with the result.
Girl deserved it tbh with how many men she played. Also There’s a clear difference between Old Master Jiangs and Jiang Huai’s case. Old Master Jiang truly loved his wife but I think there was some kind of misunderstandings in the past that caused the family disbandment and he admitted that he was in the wrong, his wife however, was innocent, soft spoken and kind while both Jiang Huai and Xu Weiyin had this toxic relationship where they both used each other for their own advantages. So yeah, they are not the same.
Well, it looks like Jiang Huai is the father. I applaud his actions. Xu Weiyin doesn’t care about who the father actually is, she just wants to weaponize the child.
Remember when she wanted to cut ties with her son so long as the Yi Elders accepted her son. That wasn’t her being nice, since her son is the only child then everything would go to him in the future, that was calculated. This woman doesn’t care about anything. I feel sorry for the child but they’ve already been brainwashed and lied to, I wouldn’t take that kid. What was all that nonsense the kid said in the elevator to the Yi Elders “my father abandoned us” like… didn’t your mother run away and not tell anyone? How would the father have abandoned you in that case. The kid is in too deep and trusts the mother, no way no how, get that kid away.
Thanks for the translations.
I think he got soft in the og story because of his brother’s death. Maybe he can’t dare abandon his son since he remembers his brother. Also, Weiyin pretty much lost her halo in this story. So yep, things got ugly and she became unreasonable. But we could deduce she kinda is not a good seed, so yep let’s forget about them
Just a maybe. Jiang Huai said that Xu Weiyin was close to finding out. Maybe if she had taken the business card, he would have told her. Xu Weiyin could have also find out that it’s not true if she take a dna test again.
Throwing your wife out isn’t the same as refusing to marry a fling….
My understanding is he did like Xu Weiyin until Jiang Cheng forced him to use her for Jiang Nian’s sake. He manufactured the paternity test so she would break up Xu Xinyi’s marriage, and as a result Weiyin revealed how scheming she is. So he gave her one last test of character she failed.
Remember, in the original story Weiyin’s kid never took a paternity test. The fact he did here was probably a butterfly effect from Xu Xinyi saving Jiang Nian. Him burning the paternity test isn’t really that negative of an act either. In the original story, Jiang Huai still accepted him as his own child without a paternity test. It’s really pointing out that as with Jiang Nian, he values their relationship over blood ties. If Weiyin sincerely wanted a father for the child he probably would have accepted them both even if the paternity test was negative.