Volume One, Chapter 64: Suspected Target

“For your sister’s sake, I can let bygones be bygones and allow you to stay at the factory, but only if you return the money you embezzled.”

Hearing the first part, Yang Hui felt a surge of hope, but his face fell at the latter condition.

“Brother-in-law, that’s a lot of money—how could I possibly pay it all back?”

Chi Zhenghua unleashed a tirade: “So you know it’s a lot, yet you stole it anyway? Let me make it clear: if you can’t pay it back, don’t blame me for being ruthless. We’ll settle this in court.”

Yang Jing panicked. “Zhenghua, must we make things so ugly?”

Ignoring her, Chi Zhenghua turned to Yang Hui. “Don’t think you can threaten me with your sauces. The First Pavilion is just one part of the group. Even if I shut it down, you’ll still pay the price.”

“Brother-in-law…” This time, Yang Hui was truly afraid.

“Think it over.” Chi Zhenghua picked up the audit report, opened it in front of Yang Hui, and made him stare at the numbers.

“If this goes to court, you can forget about ever leaving prison.”

With that, Chi Zhenghua didn’t spare the siblings another glance and left for the company.

Yang Hui shook with terror. “Sister, we can’t let this go to court—I can’t go to jail!”

Yang Jing consoled him. “It’ll be fine—just pay back what you can. Go collect whatever money you can scrape together. I’ll try as well.”

The siblings calculated their assets, pooled them together, and found that they didn’t even have a tenth of the embezzled sum.

Yang Jing, furious, punched Yang Hui several times. “Where did all that money go?”

Yang Hui muttered, “I didn’t take it all at once—just a little each year, and it’s basically all gone.”

Most of it had been gambled away or spent on women, though he dared not admit it for fear of upsetting Yang Jing further.

Yang Jing was livid, but Yang Hui was her only brother, and their bond ran deep since childhood. No matter how angry she was, she still had to help him.

“Hurry and sell your house and car. Every bit helps make up the shortfall.”

“But it’s still not enough.”

Yang Jing was at her wit’s end. “Then what do you suggest? Where else can we get the money?”

Yang Hui’s eyes lit up with a new idea. “Sister, why don’t you make a comeback and hold a concert? Loads of people would pay to see you! Just a few shows and the ticket sales alone would cover it.”

Yang Jing shook her head. “I haven’t practiced singing much since I got married. If I come back now, I’ll ruin my reputation.”

Yang Hui was unconcerned. “That’s nothing. Just prerecord your songs and lip-sync on stage. No one will notice.”

Yang Jing was tempted but worried. “Will that really work?”

“Of course! You don’t know how things are nowadays. Tons of singers can’t sing live—they rely on post-production and fans still buy their tickets.”

Yang Jing wavered. “I’ll think about it.”

…

At the Qiao residence

Qiao Yang handed Chi Xingwan a proposal.

“I’ve thought about the name for the shop. Let’s call it Cloud Guest. As for the location, I've already picked one.”

Chi Xingwan opened the proposal and saw that all the proposed locations were near the First Pavilion—an open declaration of rivalry.

“Uncle Qiao, you had the same idea as me,” Chi Xingwan said with a smile.

Qiao Yang chuckled. “If we’re going to compete, let’s do it openly. Being sneaky would only drag things out. Of course, this means Chi Zhenghua will retaliate, but I’m not easily intimidated.”

The real reason he made this decision was that he had managed to reproduce Chi Xingwan’s recipes and, after tasting the results, felt confident that Cloud Guest would prevail against the First Pavilion.

In the restaurant business, after all, flavor is paramount.

“By the way, have you heard? The First Pavilion’s sauce factory had an incident. I heard the factory manager is Chi Zhenghua’s brother-in-law, and he got caught embezzling.”

Chi Xingwan feigned ignorance, her face showing just the right amount of surprise. “I haven’t been home lately—I really didn’t know.”

Qiao Yang, in high spirits, said, “This means that even if Chi Zhenghua keeps using his brother-in-law, there’ll be a rift between them. If he doesn’t, things get even more interesting—his brother-in-law isn’t one to take things lying down.”

“It’s good for us,” Chi Xingwan agreed.

After leaving the Qiao residence, Chi Xingwan made her way to the Xiao family.

“Grandmother, you called me so urgently—what’s the matter?”

Grandmother Xiao handed her a dossier. “I told you I’d help look for descendants of the Nalan family. I may have found a lead.”

Chi Xingwan immediately opened the file.

Wei Shian, twenty-five years old, a composer, diagnosed with a mental illness at the age of twenty.

Grandmother Xiao explained, “There’s no conclusive proof she’s a Nalan descendant, but I discovered that both her father and grandfather died on their thirtieth birthdays. According to her medical records, her first psychotic episode occurred on her twentieth birthday.”

Chi Xingwan finished reading quickly. The events in Wei Shian’s life fit the Nalan family curse.

“So, is she the one you’re looking for?” Grandmother Xiao asked.

Chi Xingwan shook her head. “I’m not sure. I’ll have to meet her myself to know.”

Grandmother Xiao agreed. “She doesn’t live in Yan Capital. I’ll have someone find out where she is and let you know.”

“Thank you, Grandmother.”

Leaving the villa, Chi Xingwan was still pondering Wei Shian’s case when someone suddenly called out to her.

“Chi Xingwan, can’t you hear me when I call your name?” Xiao Jin stood before her, hands on her hips.

Chi Xingwan stopped. “Sorry, I really didn’t hear you.”

Xiao Jin couldn’t tell if she was being sincere or sarcastic and huffed, “I wanted to ask what you’re planning to give Grandmother for her birthday next month.”

Only then did Chi Xingwan remember it was January—Grandmother Xiao’s birthday was in February.

“I’ve already prepared a gift,” she replied.

Xiao Jin’s eyes lit up. “What is it? Tell me, give me some ideas! You’re Grandmother’s favorite now, so you must know what she likes.”

As she spoke, Xiao Jin didn’t realize there was a hint of jealousy in her tone.

Chi Xingwan teased, “Don’t you have your sister Yueyao? Ask her.”

Xiao Jin’s face fell. “Yueyao seems to have a new boyfriend lately, no time for me—not that I need her around.”

Chi Xingwan thought of Qiao Qingyun’s messy romantic entanglements and raised an eyebrow. Had Chi Yueyao really picked up that particular thread and gotten involved with him?

She dismissed the thought after a second. Turning to Xiao Jin, she said, “I really have picked out a gift, but you can’t use it for reference—it’s not something you could get.”

Xiao Jin understood—it was surely something from the world of mysticism.