Chapter 85#
“That should have been mine all along.”#
The tightly shut office door couldn’t block Jiang Sheng’s furious questioning.
The man’s cold reprimands, occasionally interspersed with the sounds of things being smashed, continued to come from the office.
Everyone outside the door exchanged glances, their voices significantly lowered.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen Manager Jiang this angry…”
Another man chimed in softly, “More than that… have you ever seen Manager Jiang lose his temper at the young master like this before? Not like today, where the sound can’t be contained even with the door closed…”
“Why is Manager Jiang so angry?” someone else chimed in.
The man wearing glasses glanced towards the office. The door was tightly shut, and the curtains were drawn so thoroughly that not a sliver of what was happening inside could be seen.
He lowered his voice, “The young master is in big trouble this time.”
Jian Yunchen walked past them without shifting his gaze. Seeing his back, everyone quickly shut up and stopped their discussions.
He returned to his seat and sat down, but his eyes were fixed on the office.
He curved his lips slightly.
Half an hour later, Jiang Sheng pulled open the door. His face was ashen, his eyebrows furrowed, and his brow deeply creased. He strode out with purpose. Jian Yunchen propped his chin on his hand, his gaze following him for a good while.
Only when Jiang Sheng’s back disappeared around the corner did he slowly retract his gaze.
Seeing such a dramatic expression on Jiang Sheng’s face for the first time, Jian Yunchen still felt a lingering sense of amusement.
The door was left wide open. Jiang Yunhan stood alone in the center, his posture upright. He turned around, his face a little pale, his gaze landing on Jian Yunchen.
Jian Yunchen looked up at him, and their eyes met, a spark of hostility igniting between them.
Jiang Yunhan was the first to break eye contact.
He bent down and picked up the documents that Jiang Sheng had scattered all over the floor.
Jian Yunchen watched his bent back for a long moment before slowly withdrawing his gaze.
During the lunch break, everyone headed downstairs to the restaurant together, leaving the entire floor gradually empty.
In the pantry, Jian Yunchen was alone, stirring his coffee.
Footsteps sounded, and he didn’t turn around.
“Xiao Chen.”
Jian Yunchen’s movements paused for a moment. He turned to look at him.
He beamed and asked sincerely, “What is it, Gege?”
“It was you, wasn’t it.”
Jiang Yunhan’s question was not a question.
Jian Yunchen put down his coffee cup, leaned back with his hands on the edge of the table, and tilted his head up to look at him.
“I don’t understand. What are you talking about, Gege?”
Jiang Yunhan pressed his lips together. He had discovered a pattern.
Every time Jian Yunchen meant something other than what he said, he liked to find various intimate ways to call him Gege.
The more intimate the tone, the more he was brewing mischief in his heart.
His voice carried a hint of weariness. “Did you ask Yan Yi to block our family’s shipment?”
A faint smile spread across Jian Yunchen’s eyes, but he said,
“Yan Yi? You mean that crazy woman who made a scene at the company last time? Why would she block our family’s shipment?”
He blinked and looked at Jiang Yunhan, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. “It couldn’t be that she’s seeking revenge, right?”
Jiang Yunhan frowned. “You know that’s not what I…”
“But she doesn’t know that.” Jian Yunchen retorted coldly.
“Then if she retaliates against you, what’s the problem?”
Jiang Yunhan fell silent. He looked at Jian Yunchen, at their almost identical faces, his heart a complex mix of helplessness and a hint of disappointment.
“Xiao Chen…” he said with heavy sadness. “In all of your eyes, am I just a chess piece?”
“You wanted this project. I told you from the beginning that I could give it to you.”
“I never wanted to compete with you for anything.”
Jiang Yunhan looked at him, his eyes filled with sorrow and distress, his eyes slightly reddened. His voice was very low, and what he said was light, yet heavy.
The smile in Jian Yunchen’s eyes vanished completely.
He took a step forward, confronting Jiang Yunhan.
He asked him word by word,
“Why would you give it to me?”
Jiang Yunhan was slightly startled.
Jian Yunchen stared at him, his eyes chilling:
“That should have been mine all along.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Yunhan’s face went blank for a moment. He quickly explained, “That’s not what I meant…”
“Jiang Yunhan.” He interrupted him. “Do you feel wronged by being treated like a chess piece?”
Jian Yunchen tilted his head slightly. His dark, lustrous eyes were now like frozen ice, unfathomably cold.
“Do you know the difference between you and me?”
“When you are used, deceived, and hurt, you feel sad, even angry. You can break up with Qin Zheng, question Jiang Sheng for reasons, and even ask your questions in front of me.”
“But I won’t.”
“I’ll only feel that I still have value, and I’ll seize every opportunity to climb higher.”
“But you don’t need to.”
“Your path is already laid out before you. You don’t even need to put in any effort to step onto it, your shoes won’t even get dirty. So you have time to be sad, to be angry, to question.”
“You say you don’t want to compete with me, but I will fight for and snatch my things.”
“Because that should have been mine all along.”
Confronted, Jiang Yunhan felt a sense of chaotic loss of control. He was so questioned that he couldn’t find a retort and instinctively took half a step back.
He frowned. “Why? Why do you hate me so much? I’ve never…”
“Gege.” Jian Yunchen suddenly changed his tone. He leaned in, coming close to his ear, and whispered intimately, “When you start to look at me properly, maybe I won’t hate you so much.”
Jiang Yunhan didn’t quite understand this request.
Jian Yunchen didn’t explain further. He just smiled and patted Jiang Yunhan’s shoulder affectionately.
Just as Jiang Yunhan was about to press further, he was interrupted by Secretary Wu, who had been looking for him.
“Jian Yunchen, Manager Jiang is looking for you.”
He looked at the two of them confronting each other, his gaze pausing on Jian Yunchen.
Jian Yunchen smiled and withdrew his hand.
He turned and followed Secretary Wu out. Jiang Yunhan watched his retreating back, feeling an indescribable strangeness.
Both Jian Yunchen’s words…
And Secretary Wu’s attitude towards Jian Yunchen.
His eyes narrowed, and he pondered in his heart.
Chess piece… utilization value… look at properly…
Jian Yunchen pushed open the door and saw Jiang Sheng sitting in his chair, his hands clasped in front of the desk, his face grim.
The cooperation with “Zhaohui” was at a critical juncture. The goods that were supposed to be shipped out and packaged were stuck at the review stage.
The review department, citing a defect rate exceeding 25%, had forcibly detained the batch of goods.
Having been in the business world for so many years, Jiang Sheng couldn’t fail to see that this was a deliberate obstruction by Yan Junxing?
After so many years, there had never been a single flaw, and precisely this time…
Such a major incident occurred.
The contract was in black and white; failure to deliver the goods would be a breach of contract.
Tomorrow was the deadline.
It was today that he learned the reason for Yan Junxing’s deliberate obstruction.
Jiang Yunhan had stolen a man and targeted Yan Yi. The Yan family was extremely protective of their own, especially their only daughter.
And thus, this incident occurred.
Deliberate retaliation.