Chapter 17#

When Jin Yan received Jiang Qin’s call, his voice sounded quite surprised:

“Hello, what did you say? The signal here isn’t very good. I’m at the wrap party on set, handing out cash to the crew one by one from a box… What did you say? What homepage?”

Jiang Qin’s voice changed: “You don’t know about this?”

“Please, wifey, I have so many things to do when I open my computer, where would I find the time to look at that messy stuff… Don’t panic, don’t panic, tell me which website it is, I’ll go take a look right now.”

Jiang Qin sent him the URL. A moment later, Jin Yan exclaimed in surprise: “Oh!”

“…The photo angles are nice, and the writing isn’t bad either, just a bit too bold.” After giving his evaluation, Jin Yan said: “Don’t panic, I’ll contact the CEO of that website right now. I’ll make sure they take down the news within today.”

“Who is the insider claiming to be from your company in that report?”

“Oh wifey, don’t you know this? Any random employee could pretend to be a senior executive, or maybe the website reporter just made up a character to attract attention. With such a half-true, half-false report, who’s going to investigate if the insider really exists?”

Jiang Qin stood by the window in the company hallway, seeing the reflections of colleagues walking behind him in the glass. After a long while, he said in a deep voice: “Jin Yan, do you swear you really didn’t know beforehand?”

“…What benefit would I get from exposing myself?” Jin Yan paused and said: “Alright, if I did this, may I be struck by lightning as soon as I go out, or hit by a car and die, is that enough?”

Jiang Qin said angrily: “Shut up!”

Jin Yan immediately laughed and coaxed him, saying he was joking, not to take it seriously, and told him to put his heart at ease.

Jiang Qin’s mind was in chaos, he simply had no way out. Jin Yan seemed to sense his irritable mood and sighed: “Wifey, don’t go to your cousin’s house tonight, come back and keep Li Xiaomeng company. Don’t go to work until this is resolved. Don’t you still have annual leave? Go back after this blows over. I promise to fix this news before your colleagues find out, okay? Be good.”

Jiang Qin knew there was no other way now but to listen to Jin Yan, so he silently acquiesced to his suggestion.

Jin Yan hung up the phone with a smile, looked up and saw the whole crew at the table looking at him.

“A few small websites crazy for money were blind enough to provoke your sister-in-law.” He naturally picked up some food with his chopsticks and said while eating: “I took the kid to the amusement park yesterday, and ended up getting photographed the whole way. They published all of them.”

Those who knew the inside story nodded, while most who didn’t know about Jin Yan’s family situation were dumbfounded on the spot, not expecting him to admit it so readily.

A producer laughed loudly: “What’s going on with Brother Jin? Your vigilance has dropped significantly recently, hasn’t it?”

Jin Yan laughed too.

A popular young actor sitting nearby chimed in: “No wonder we never see Brother Jin going out with those young girls. So there’s already someone at home. When will you bring them out for a meal together?”

“He’s a homebody. When he has time, he just reads novels on his phone, specifically those bloody murder mysteries. It creeps me out. Last time your Director Duan lent him a horror movie DVD, and he insisted on dragging me to watch it with him, saying he wanted me to ‘relax’. I asked him, if you want to relax, why don’t you let me get into bed? What do you mean by dragging me to watch a horror movie?”

The whole table burst into laughter. Jin Yan took a sip of wine and continued: “I asked him if he was scared and didn’t dare to watch it alone. He refused to admit it and warned me not to talk nonsense. As soon as I pressed play, oh my god, he pinched me so hard I almost lost a chunk of flesh. When the ghost appeared, his hand shook so much he spilled a whole cup of hot tea on my crotch. I almost…”

The table full of actors and producers couldn’t stop laughing. A few particularly tactful ones played along and asked loudly: “Brother Jin and sister-in-law have a very good relationship, huh? How many years has it been?”

“Oh, that’s been a long time. We knew each other in elementary school and got together in middle school. You see our little prince acting like he hasn’t grown up all day, but we were already rolling in the sheets at his age.”

Jin Yan was acting out of character today. He never used to mention his family affairs, but today he was exceptionally talkative and didn’t refuse any toasts. Some artists who deliberately wanted to get close to him tried various ways to make him drink, and he drank whatever was offered without any reluctance.

There were also clear-headed ones who saw that Jin Yan only cared about sitting there talking but didn’t mention a word about going to find that website, so they smelled something fishy.

But no one at the table was tactless enough to expose him. Only later when the party broke up, someone secretly asked the producer: “Brother Jin was in high spirits today? About that report…”

The producer sneered: “It’s precisely because of that report that his spirits are high. There are so many twists and turns in this, why do you care? Do you expect Brother Jin to get a divorce or something?”

Several people were speechless. The producer sneered: “If this master gets divorced, no one will have a good life. ‘If I go to hell, I’ll drag everyone down with me’—Brother Jin is the typical example of this personality.”

Jiang Qin asked the accounting firm for two weeks of annual leave. The personnel department didn’t know what had happened yet, but the young girl in charge was very easy to talk to and immediately completed the annual leave procedures.

Jiang Qin called Fang Yuan to say he had something to do and wouldn’t be going back tonight, then drove home.

Seeing that neither of his parents were home, Li Meng left his homework unwritten and secretly went online to play speed chess with people. As a result, when Jiang Qin opened the door and came in, he was startled and scrambled up to hug his leg, saying: “Mom! I promise to go do my homework right away! Let me finish this game first!”

Our little student Li Xiaomeng wasn’t very serious about anything in his life. A fifteen-year-old high school senior, his exam grades were just so-so. If he couldn’t solve chemistry problems, he would draw little turtles on the test paper. Learning to manage the business with Jin Yan, he only knew how to rush to eat at cocktail parties, not caring about money in and out at all. For such a big child, his biggest interests were eating and playing with sheep. His small body was thin, and it was a wonder where all the food he ate went, making adults worry when they saw him.

However, Li Xiaomeng, who didn’t take anything to heart, was quite serious about chess. Give him a chess book and an endgame, and he could sit down and study it all day without eating or drinking.

Jiang Qin flipped through his homework book and sighed: “The college entrance exam is in two months. The mock exam results are out, right?”

Li Meng’s hand shook, and he immediately pretended nothing was wrong, humming a song about carrying a dynamite pack to blow up the school.

Jiang Qin leaned over to look at his computer and commented after a while: “Your chess skills are improving day by day.”

“Oh! Of course!” Li Meng said complacently: “Wait a bit longer, I’ll go study after finishing this game!”

Jiang Qin glanced at the “Ten-Game Speed Chess: Game 7” sign in the upper right corner and was too lazy to expose him.

When Jin Yan returned home, Li Meng had defeated his opponent eight to two and went to do his homework with his tail up. Miserable howls of him reciting English were coming from the study. Jiang Qin sat on the sofa in the living room, a deep furrow between his brows, unsure if it was because of the damn news or the damn son.

He threw his tie on the sofa, three buttons of his shirt undone; his well-tailored trousers showed his particularly long legs, looking very sexy sitting down. Jin Yan changed clothes behind him and couldn’t help but reach out and touch below his collarbone.

Jiang Qin glanced at him from the corner of his eye. Jin Yan made conversation: “Why are you so cold? Turn on the heating if you’re cold.”

After speaking, he looked at the afterglow of the early summer evening outside the window and laughed dryly twice.

“Is that news taken down?”

“Yeah, it’s gone. Don’t worry, ordinary people don’t have the leisure to stare at a few photos to identify who you are. Besides, even if they recognize you, so what? We have a certificate!”

Jiang Qin frowned at him, but Jin Yan seemed unaware. He poured two cups of tea, sat down, and hugged him involuntarily, saying: “I was too impulsive during the fight that day. I’m sorry, can you forgive me?”

“…Mm.”

“Look, we’ve been together for so many years. You raised Li Xiaomeng with your own hands, and he’s grown into a human shape now. Let’s live a good life and not get divorced, okay?”

Jiang Qin closed his eyes silently.

Jin Yan immediately said: “I know you care about your parents’ attitude. How about this, let’s go back to S City someday. I’ll kneel at your door for three days and three nights with you, guaranteed to make the two elders change their minds, how about it? Look, I can even tolerate kneeling…”

Jin Yan was naturally chauvinistic; asking him to kneel was worse than killing him. Moreover, now that he had status and position, and was complimented like the moon surrounded by stars wherever he went, it was truly not easy for him to make such a promise.

Jiang Qin opened his eyes and looked at him, seeming a bit uncomfortable. After a long while, he said: “I want to ask you something.”

—Here it comes.

Jin Yan’s muscles tightened instantly, and even the fingernails of the hand holding the teacup changed color.

Jiang Qin seemed to find it difficult to speak, not knowing how to start several times. Jin Yan knew that the more it was like this, the more critical the question he wanted to ask was. Jiang Qin was usually as tight-lipped as a revolutionary martyr; only particularly major and tangled issues could make him hesitate like this.

Sure enough, after waiting for a long time, Jiang Qin finally asked in a low voice: “Jin Yan, do you remember, back then my third uncle was fine, and suddenly he had a stroke…”

Jin Yan’s brow twitched violently.

In that instant, he only felt cold all over, and then cold sweat poured down.

“Before that, my dad’s attitude wasn’t that intense. Later… he even took a knife to chop me…”

“You suspect I did something to your family?” Jin Yan said calmly, “Jiang Qin, you know the situation back then. I was just a penniless hooligan, while your third uncle was already very rich from doing business. Why do you think I could fight against your family? Did I have that ability?”

Jiang Qin looked at him suspiciously and didn’t speak.

“To put it bluntly, I had nothing in S City, while your family was a scholarly family and social celebrities. Can you conscientiously suspect me? do you have any basis?”

Jin Yan paused, looked at Jiang Qin’s face, and changed his tone: “Yes, I hated your third uncle for instigating your dad back then, wanting to send me to the police station and lock you at home. But no matter what, I just cursed a few times verbally. Could I really beat him up? You can’t blame me for that verbal dispute; my temper has been like this for many years. Your third uncle used such vicious tricks, what’s wrong with me cursing a few times?”

Jiang Qin asked in a low voice: “Then why did my dad at that time…”

“It’s not like you don’t know your dad hates me! Fine, I admit I said some unreliable things in front of your dad, but it’s understandable to say something nasty when people are pushed to that point, right? Doesn’t Li Xiaomeng also clamor all day about severing the father-son relationship if forced to do homework again?”

Jiang Qin looked at this man. His understanding over the years made him feel that Jin Yan’s expression at this moment was real, and what he said was also true. However, what he said was so inconsistent with what he found out last year. Two contradictory truths constantly wrestled in his mind, making him very confused.

“…My third uncle has always been very healthy and bold. How could he…”

Jin Yan immediately interrupted Jiang Qin, “It’s unreasonable for you to say that. Can you blame me for his stroke? If he trips over a small stone on the road another day, can you blame me too?”

Jiang Qin gazed at this man for a long time, and asked after a while: “After you made your fortune, did you really never go back to find my parents?”

This question was asked very solemnly. Jin Yan immediately sat up and said seriously: “Absolutely not!”

Jiang Qin leaned on the armrest of the sofa, his brows deeply furrowed, one hand unconsciously and gently kneading the trousers at his knee.

Jin Yan looked on enviously, wanting to pull his hand over and put it on his own leg. Based on his understanding of Jiang Qin for more than ten years, this person would unconsciously knead things when he fell into a thinking state. That action was quite intimate, a good time to enjoy to the fullest.

However, the timing was wrong, and the place was wrong. Jin Yan took a deep breath, felt that his facial expression had been adjusted in place, and said sincerely: “Jiang Qin, it doesn’t matter if you don’t believe it. Someday we can go back to S City together, and you can confront your parents. Even if they really take a kitchen knife to chop my neck this time, I’ll accept it. As long as there is a word of lie, you can get a divorce, I will never stop you, how about it?”

Jiang Qin opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but finally sighed.

He murmured: “Alright.”

Jin Yan relaxed all over.

Based on his understanding of Jiang Qin, regardless of whether this matter was covered up, this hurdle before him was considered passed.

Jiang Qin asked: “Have you eaten? I made some porridge.”

Jin Yan immediately got up diligently to serve the rice, and stir-fried two dishes to bring out. The two sat opposite each other and finished eating. Jiang Qin then cleared the dishes to wash, while Jin Yan squatted there to organize those few pots of flowers.

Those flowers were nominally raised by Jiang Qin, but in fact, Jin Yan bought them back, watered them, loosened the soil, pruned them, removed insects, and posted photos online every now and then. The reason they were classified under the name “raised by Jiang Qin” was because Jiang Qin once said: “Jin Yan, should our family raise some flowers?”

After checking Student Li Xiaomeng’s homework in the evening, Jiang Qin went to sleep first. His day had been too thrilling, and he felt tired after eating. Jin Yan brought him a glass of milk, watched him drink it and rinse his mouth, then sat by the bed silently watching him fall asleep before getting up and walking to the balcony to make a phone call.

The balcony glass was soundproof. He closed the door, and when the call connected, he didn’t suppress his volume at all—in fact, he couldn’t suppress it anymore. The anger that had been rising since before dinner finally found an outlet. His second brother almost dropped the receiver from the shock when he answered the phone:

“Which subordinate did you find to handle the matter in S City back then?! Drag him out and kill him now! Do you still keep such unclean things for the New Year! You ask me? You fucking ask me? Jiang Qin knows everything! Son of a bitch! How do I know how he knows!”

“If I get divorced,” Jin Yan said viciously, “I’ll drag you all to divorce together. Don’t think anyone can be left out. If my family is broken, all of your families will be broken; if I don’t live well, none of you should think about living well. Damn it, tell your people to tighten their skins, let’s wait and see!”

Second Brother Jin was eating. He opened his mouth subconsciously, and the soup flowed down his chin.

He scrambled to find a napkin. Just as he wanted to explain, he heard a bang—Jin Yan had already smashed the phone.