Jiang Xiu had only told the Wang family to break down the cooperation with the Cheng family to destroy their dream of becoming the wealthiest people in Jiang City, so he was also clueless about the rest.
A problem arising with one project might be coincidental, but when it happens in succession, there was no doubt someone was acting behind the scenes.
The Cheng family was ruined this time.
Sun Xiaohong's face turned ugly due to the nervousness, "Hanlin, what's happening? How can this happen? Wasn't the company doing well?"
"How can something like this happen?"
She was thoroughly frantic and couldn't calm down. If the Cheng family declined, she would become a poverty-stricken peasant.
"I-I also don't know."
He was completely stupefied.
However, he was sure that someone was targeting the Cheng family. Who is it? Who has such power?
There was no doubt that it was someone with influence as only such a person could shut down all the projects of the Cheng family in a day. He couldn't remember offending such a person ever though.
"Come out with me…" Cheng Lingsu said in a voice tiny enough just for Jiang Xiu to hear. She got up then walked towards the courtyard.
"It's so warm. Why have you called this Deity outside?"
Cheng Lingsu looked straight at Jiang Xiu. Ever since she returned from Hang City, this man entirely occupied her mind, that visage of him looking down on everyone like a monarch.
"Did you do it?"
Jiang Xiu shook his head.
Cheng Lingsu persisted, "Even if you don't admit it, who else in Jiang City can make my family sink into such a state?"
"I know you aren't a magnanimous person."
Jiang Xiu never believed he was a nice person and never acted magnanimously. He had obtained the position of the Sect Master of the Heaven Treading Sect by stamping over the corpses of several other people. Blood was piled up behind the moniker Deity Xiu. His dictionary didn't have the two words known as leniency and magnanimity.
"What? You have nothing to say now?"
"Jiang Xiu, we are family friends. I didn't expect you would do such a thing."
"Family friends?"
If your Cheng family knew the meaning of these two words, you wouldn't have tried to remove the engagement with this Deity nor tried to make a clear dividing line with the Jiang family. Also, the tragedy in the previous timeline would've never happened.
"What if this Deity was the one who was behind it? What if I wasn't?"
"If it was you then stop immediately. The Cheng family is my parents' heart's blood, they had paid a lot for this…"
Jiang Xiu sneered, "Stop?"
"Don't you know who I, Jiang Xiu, am?"
A ruthless character who had left behind corpses in the Wang family and had over half of Jiangnan under his feet.
Saying this, Jiang Xiu turned around to leave.
Cheng Lingsu pursed her lips and stated towards his back, "Do you think you're terrific? You have a weird personality and act condescendingly. Don't think you'll always be like this, even from the underworld people still get killed. You'll definitely suffer the consequences for your actions one day."
"When the time comes, you'll find yourself alone without anything at all."
"No one will pity you."
"Even those villains in the TV end up living under the bridges after getting old."
Cheng Lingsu's mood turned intense the more she spoke, right until tears glistened at her eyes and her voice went hoarse.
But Jiang Xiu didn't stop.
She cried out in despair, "I promise, I promise you…"
Jiang Xiu stopped, "Promise me what?"
He took note of her tear-stained face now. "I promise to marry you.." She felt her heart crush into pieces as she said this. "Let the Cheng family off."
"Hahaha…"
Jiang Xiu felt as if he had the heard the best joke ever, almost crying from the laughing.
"Isn't that what you want?"
Cheng Lingsu couldn't understand why he was laughing. She knew he wasn't laughing due to feeling pleased but rather due to laughing genuinely, exposing a satisfied devilish smile on his face as if his plan had succeeded.
"Cheng Lingsu, you overestimate yourself too much. Did you think this Deity handled the Cheng family to get you?"
"You didn't do it for that?"
According to what Cheng Lingsu knew, Jiang Xiu had liked her right from their childhood and always took her word. She just acted cold towards him, so she thought that he was hurt due to that and was making reprisals now.
"Hah…"
"If you feel resentful, deal with me directly. Don't act against my family. My parents and my sister are innocent."
Jiang Xiu pondered about Cheng Lingran's fate if the Cheng family really lost its businesses. He wondered whether she would accept his care. According to what he knew about her, she absolutely wouldn't do that. In the previous timeline, when Cheng Lingran had decided to follow him, she had never accepted the kindness of others. And now, Jiang Xiu was just an ordinary person to her so she would never accept him.
What troubled Jiang Xiu was that if Cheng Lingsu revealed to Cheng Lingran that he had dealt with the Cheng family, it would change the way she would act with him. He continued to think further and pondered if she would hate him.
"I had nothing to do with this…"
Jiang Xiu was also puzzled about the person who had acted against the Cheng family.
"Really?"
Cheng Lingsu didn't believe him, "Who else besides you can do it in Jiang Cty?"
"I merely told the Wang family to break off the contract with your family."
Deity Xiu didn't like explaining things to others, but one person was an exception, that's Cheng Lingran. He didn't wish for her to misunderstand him.
"Why have so many incidents happened to my family then?"
Jiang Xiu shook his head. "This Deity doesn't know. Maybe your father offended someone while doing business. Nowadays, there's a lot of profit in real estate and the Cheng family has it going good so it isn't a wonder that people will covet it."
"Then… Can you help?"
Jiang Xiu felt astonished, "You want this Deity to help your Cheng family?" It felt simply absurd to him.
"You don't want to?"
"You're the most suspicious in this. This is the only way for you to clear my suspicion. I'm sure you don't want this to fall on your head in the end."
Jiang Xiu's face turned cold, "You dare to threaten this Deity?"
"I'm not threatening you. Let alone, do you care about my Cheng family?" She knew Jiang Xiu didn't have any good feelings for the Cheng family and even felt rancor. She also knew that he blamed the Cheng family for Uncle Jiang getting imprisoned. If he still cared about the Cheng family, the sole reason for it would be her.
The girl looked towards Jiang Xiu, thirsting to seek that burning desire in his gaze for her but it was no longer there. Only pain flashed through it.
He turned back in anger, "This Deity won't help you."
The girl clenched her teeth. "I'll go find Ye Wenchen if you don't help me. His father is the Deputy Mayor now and is in-charge of the construction work in the city. He can easily solve this matter."
"Find whoever you like to, it's unrelated to this Deity."
He pushed the door and returned back inside. Cheng Lingran was sitting on the sofa, comforting Sun Xiaohong who was out of her wits right now. Her face was filled with helplessness as if a nightmare was approaching them and Cheng Lingran's face was also covered with worry. She held her mother's hand tightly. "It's alright, don't worry. Father had done business for so long. I'm sure he'll find a way to solve this."
"Our Cheng family's liability accounting is still fine, so there shouldn't be a problem."
Jiang Xiu still remembered that Cheng Lingsu was studying MBA and understood things about companies pretty well.
"Sis! I have something to do so I'll be leaving."
Jiang Xiu felt it wouldn't be good for him to stay here.
"Alright, you can go back."
Cheng Lingran sent a meaningful glance towards Jiang Xiu, quietly saying, "Sister won't be seeing you out."
"It's all because of him. This poor devil, bearer of ill luck. Bad things keep happening ever since he entered our house." Sun Xiaohong started cursing after Jiang Xiu went a little far and blamed everything on him.
Cheng Lingsu had just arrived inside and got anxious that Jiang Xiu would hear this, "Mom, how is he related to this? Also, don't talk wrong about him from now on or scold in front of him. He isn't someone to be trifled with."
She wasn't planning to reveal Jiang Xiu's identity, but she couldn't allow her mother to vilify Jiang Xiu again. He was after all Mr. Jiang who had over half of Jiangnan under his feet.
Cheng Lingsu believed that Jiang Xiu always kept bearing her mother silently for her sake or due to the engagement between them.
But everyone has an underline. Just in case Jiang Xiu got angered, from the way he had handled the Wang family, Cheng Lingsu knew he wouldn't show mercy to his enemies.
"He isn't someone to be trifled with?"
"Are you telling me that he will rebel?"
Cheng Lingsu didn't wish to quarrel with her mother, "Leave it. I'll make a call to Ye Wenchen and ask whether Deputy Mayor Ye can help."
Sun Xiaohong's eyes brightened after hearing that, "Yes, that's right. Deputy Mayor Ye is in-charge of real estate. He'll surely be able to settle this issue."