Li WangJin’s Chest Pain

Jiang YaGe's face went pale. She looked over at Li WangJin and Li ShiZe reflexively. She was worried that she'd see a look of disgust on them.

She was so happy when she got the call from Uncle Li. She didn't think someone orphaned and targeted from all directions would have the luck to become the adopted daughter of the Li's. She had seen Uncle Li's picture and knew he was one of the wealthiest people in the country. She looked him up on the web and learned that Fang JunRong was his wife. However, she hadn't expected her to freely point out that she had worked at White Crane the moment they'd met again around everyone else.

She couldn't help but feel a sense of grievance. She worked there for her tuition, not like Zhong Yi at all. Even though she worked at a place like that, she had always taken precautions to protect herself and not become corrupted. Nor had she ever associated herself with any wealthy men outside of work.

Her eyes reddened, and her tears rolled around in them.

Li WangJin had on him a look of disbelief, as though someone had just bitch slapped him. His well-maintained features twisted on his face, and he had lost all his usual elegance. He had talked down on people from the clubs, only to find out that the girl who he thought of as his daughter had also worked at a place like that. But YaGe was such an innocent and kind-looking girl!

No. He must believe in YaGe. She was not like the others. She must have her reasons for doing that.

Li WangJin took a deep breath and finally sorted out his emotions. Before he could say anything, Fang JunRong had already beat him to the punch. "What kind of a nice girl would work at a place like that?" Her words sounded all so familiar. "Now that you have joined the Li's, you must keep in mind your status. You must lose those bad habits you have picked up at those shady establishments."

She remembered what Li WangJin had said clearly, and now she could repeat them word by word.

Jiang YaGe, so hurt by those caustic words, tears rolled down her cheeks right then and there. Her body shook and made her look all the more pitiful.

After Fang JunRong had repeated all of Li WangJin's words from earlier, she finally slowly added, "Oh, that's what your Uncle Li said earlier. I told him he should not have preconceptions about people, but he just wouldn't listen. I trust that you are both good kids. Especially Zhong Yi, she only worked there for her grandmother's medical bills. She's so pure coming out of the place like that."

Li WangJin was thoroughly speechless. He hadn't expected his wife to reveal his words right in front of YaGe with no regard. Had he known that YaGe had worked at places like that, he would never have said what he said. Great, YaGe might have misunderstood him now.

"I trust YaGe's character. She must have her reasons."

Jiang YaGe found her voice once again and said, "I… I worked there for my tuition."

Li WangJin let out a sigh of relief. He was just about to praise her when his daughter chimed in. "For your tuition? You can't even afford to pay for your tuition?"

Jiang YaGe sniffled, tears welling in her eyes once more, and said, "My relatives had taken away all the money that my parents had left for me."

Li WangJin was angry for her. "Your uncle is such an evil person!"

"Then why didn't you apply for a student loan? Isn't that very easy to get?" said Li XinYun.

Jiang YaGe didn't respond. She didn't want others to look at her that way. Never mind a student loan; she didn't even apply for financial aid.

Fang JunRong wanted to laugh out loud. Li XinYun was her precious daughter, getting straight to the point. But judging by the way that Jiang YaGe dressed, it wasn't difficult to see that most of the money that she made went there. It was obvious to her that Li WangJin did not buy her the outfit she wore today. Li WangJin was a man. He would not have thought about something like that.

Neither her clothes nor her shoes were of the expensive brands, but the entire set probably cost upward of ¥5,000.

Li XinYun continued on, "I thought you got good grades at school. Couldn't you have gotten a scholarship?"

Jiang YaGe couldn't respond. She was lucky that she even got into this prestigious school, never mind having grades good enough for a scholarship. 

Fang JunRong smiled slightly and said, "I recall that Zhong Yi has a scholarship?"

Zhong Yi looked at her good friend and quickly added, "I lucked out and got decent grades." She has been keeping up with her studies every day after work. Plus, she was naturally bright, so her grades had always been pretty good.

Li XinYun took a look at her father. Her voice was accusatory as she complained, "Dad, you've always been bragging about Older Sister YaGe's grades in front of me and said I should learn from her. But she couldn't even get a scholarship. What kind of a cum laude1 is she? She's not like big brother who gets the top honor every year. Now, that's what I'd call a cum laude."

Li XinYun didn't like Jiang YaGe much as her father had been singing Jiang YaGe's praises in front of her for the last few days. Not just praising Jiang YaGe; he must beat her down to contrast her with Jiang YaGe. She got decent grades at the college entrance examination and got into one of the prominent colleges. What was so bad about her? She was happy that she was able to gain back some lost ground today. Plus, over the last few days, she was able to pick up signs that the relationship between her parents wasn't as good as it was in the past.

The person who felt the most awkward, other than Jiang YaGe, was Li WangJin. He couldn't possibly tell his daughter that, in his eyes, everything about Jiang YaGe was good.

He looked at Jiang YaGe and let out a light sigh. Jiang YaGe, after all, wasn't as good as her mother. No matter how much they looked alike, they were two different people.

Looking at the scene before her, Fang JunRong was reminded of her previous life. Jiang YaGe's arrival in her past life wasn't like this. Li WangJin raved about her, and her BBQ-pork son grew fond of her; the setting was quite harmonious.

She lifted the corners of her mouth subtly and said, "Alright, the two kids have just got here. I know you want to teach them what's right and what's wrong, but there's no rush. I know that you are blunt and only had their best interest in mind when you said those hurtful words. But we don't want them to have a misconception about you now."

Hearing that, Li WangJin almost puked out blood. How did she make it sound like it was all his fault? He felt stifled but couldn't find the right words to talk back, so he could do nothing but sit down in dismay.

Fang JunRong put on her impeccable smile and was very articulate. She soothed both the nervous Zhong Yi and Jiang YaGe. She further told them where their rooms would be and had their servants bring their suitcases into their respective rooms. Both Jiang YaGe and Zhong Yi's rooms were on the first floor, quite a distance from Li ShiZe's.

She didn't know what was going through Li WangJin's head in her previous life. He insisted that Jiang YaGe take the room next to Li ShiZe's. She heard that Jiang YaGe had inadvertently walked into Li ShiZe's room. Well, she didn't think Jiang YaGe would be able to make that mistake again during this lifetime.

After dinner, Fang JunRong pulled out the gifts she had prepared ahead of time. As for Li WangJin, he probably didn't even think about it.

"I have some welcoming gifts for the two of you."

What she had prepared for Zhong Yi was a set of gold jewelry. After all, Zhong Yi was the one who was more strapped for money. Gold has always been an acceptable currency. The set that she was gifting her cost at least ¥300,000. As she was expensing it on the company's book, she didn't feel a thing about spending that kind of money.

As Jiang YeGe looked at the magnificent set of gold jewelry, Jiang YaGe's eyes filled with anticipation. She saw Fang JunRong hand her a box the next second. She accepted the present and noticed that it was very light in weight.

Eh. So light. It couldn't be jewelry then.

She opened it up and saw a painting. Jiang YaGe wasn't familiar with antiques, so she couldn't tell whose work it was. Nor did she know how much it was worth.

"That's …" Li WangJin almost stopped breathing for a second. His hands were trembling.

Fang JunRong smiled and said, "Isn't this the work of Xu FangWeng? I like YaGe a lot, so I want her to have this. Haven't you mentioned before that YaGe doesn't care about those common items? I felt that jewelry is too common, so I thought about it and decided this would make a good gift for her."

She had already had someone appraise it and confirmed it was a fake. Hoho. It'd be too wasteful to keep, so she might as well recycle it and give it to Jiang YaGe. From now on, she'd gift Jiang YaGe some of the imitation goods every year on her birthday. She might as well recycle and declutter.

Jiang YaGe had, indeed, heard of Xu FangWeng. She was worried that Fang JunRong didn't like her much, but she felt better after receiving this gift. This painting was probably more valuable than that jewelry set. No work of Xu FangWeng would go for below ¥500,000.

"Thank you, Aunty. I like this gift, and I will always treasure it."

Fang JunRong put on the perfect performance and said, "Why are you still calling me 'Aunty'? You should be calling me 'Mom'."

"Mom." Jiang YaGe lowered her head. She looked a little shy, her innocent face filled with happiness. Her eyes sparkled like the stars in the sky, making her look all the more attractive.

Li ShiZe, who had been quiet the entire night, was enthralled. Even though Jiang YaGe wasn't the prettiest girl he had ever seen and was at most decent, there was something special about her when she smiled. But, remembering that Jiang YaGe didn't even apply for financial aid, he couldn't help but associate the label of an idiot with her.

Looking at how the scene developed, Li WangJin felt he'd need some nitroglycerin2. He wanted to stop it from happening, but he couldn't come up with a good enough reason. He had no choice but to watch as Jiang YaGe carefully put away the box in a cherished way.