Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 604: Conquering the Jiang Family

Judging solely by Jiang Xinyi and Liu Jing's demeanor, their visit to Zhou Yuwen did not seem like a work-related matter at all. Moreover, the older woman had just mentioned something about considering the many years between Zhou Yuwen and her daughter.Zheng Yanyan's mother was no fool; she could tell at a glance that the relationship between Zhou Yuwen and that girl was anything but simple.

In truth, Mother Zheng had braced herself from the very first moment she laid eyes on Zhou Yuwen. After all, he was far too excellent. No matter how excellent her own daughter was, it was impossible to expect him to be entirely single-minded.

A boy like Zhou Yuwen had both wealth and striking good looks. What kind of girl could he not get?

As for her own daughter, besides being pretty, what else did she really have?

Therefore, Mother Zheng had always suspected that Zhou Yuwen definitely had other women. Still, she had to maintain the proper posture; she absolutely did not want her daughter to suffer and feel wronged.

Seeing her mother acting so unyielding, Zheng Yanyan inwardly cursed. 'This is bad,' she thought.

Zheng Yanyan thought to herself that she might as well tell her mother the truth. 'Your daughter is just the other woman. Actually, I probably don't even rank high enough to be the other woman. That girl is a genuine Jinling nouveau riche. If you act so tough and actually start a fight, I might not even get to be his concubine.'

In reality, Zheng Yanyan was panicking even more than Zhou Yuwen at this moment.

She couldn't shake the feeling that Jiang Xinyi and her mother definitely wouldn't back down or show her any deference.

However, to everyone's surprise, in the face of Mother Zheng's questioning...

Before Zhou Yuwen could even speak, Jiang Xinyi took the initiative and said, "Auntie, you've misunderstood. We really came to find Zhou Yuwen because of work. This is my business card. A project that Zhou Yuwen and I are collaborating on has run into some problems, and it's quite urgent."

As Jiang Xinyi spoke, she proactively handed over her business card.

Jiang Xinyi's business card was certainly impressive. It listed her as the General Manager of Jinling Jiang's Real Estate, along with titles like Honorary President of various associations.

Seeing how official Jiang Xinyi's business card was, Mother Zheng found it hard to press the issue further. Still, just looking at this mother-daughter pair, it was obvious they weren't really here for work.

Especially since the older woman had just mentioned the phrase "so many years."

With this thought, Mother Zheng cast another lingering glance at Liu Jing.

As for Liu Jing, she had actually been caught off guard a moment ago when faced with Mother Zheng's interrogation.

She recognized Zheng Yanyan and knew perfectly well that she was one of Zhou Yuwen's women.

She couldn't accept that Zhou Yuwen was trying to juggle multiple relationships. But right now, her entire family was unable to protect itself, so what right did she have to say anything? In the past, she had arrogantly believed that marrying Jiang Xinyi would save Zhou Yuwen over a decade of hard work. Now, however, Zhou Yuwen stood to gain absolutely nothing from marrying Jiang Xinyi—in fact, Jiang Xinyi was even quite a few years older than him.

She dared not speak, fearing that if she said too much, their sole remaining opportunity would slip away.

Therefore, she could only let Jiang Xinyi do the talking.

And so, Jiang Xinyi spoke those deeply humiliating words.

Upon hearing that sentence, Liu Jing tightly grasped Jiang Xinyi's hand.

When had her proud, haughty daughter ever bowed her head to anyone?

All of this was her own fault.

If only she hadn't insisted on having her own way back then...

She wanted to step forward and defend her daughter, but facing Mother Zheng's probing gaze...

Liu Jing ultimately lowered her head.

She said absolutely nothing.

Mother Zheng held Jiang Xinyi's business card, looking at it over and over again. Still somewhat suspicious, she asked, "Is it really just a working relationship? Then why..."

"Xinyi is my ex-girlfriend."

Zhou Yuwen felt that Liu Jing and her daughter had essentially already bowed their heads. If he didn't step up and say something at this moment, it would show a complete lack of responsibility.

"?" Mother Zheng paused, startled, and shot a look at Zhou Yuwen.

Zhou Yuwen simply continued, "Auntie, Xinyi and I used to date, and currently, we are business partners. This time, there truly is an issue with our project, so I probably won't be able to accompany you shopping anymore, Auntie. Tell you what—Yan Yan, take my supplementary card. Buy whatever Auntie wants and just swipe my card. I need to step away with Xinyi and her mother for a bit."

As he spoke, Zhou Yuwen pressed his card into Zheng Yanyan's hand.

Zheng Yanyan quickly nodded. She knew that both Zhou Yuwen and Jiang Xinyi had already given her plenty of face. If she continued to push the matter, she would truly fail to recognize a favor.

"No, wait..."

Zheng Yanyan's mother still wanted to say something.

But she was immediately held back by Zheng Yanyan. Meanwhile, Zhou Yuwen ushered Jiang Xinyi and Liu Jing to leave with him, aiming to find a quiet place to discuss the specifics.

Watching Zhou Yuwen leave without even a proper goodbye to her, Mother Zheng felt a surge of anger.

She pulled away from Zheng Yanyan and demanded to know what she meant by holding her back.

"Ex-girlfriend? Business partners? Isn't this exactly what it means when the lotus root is snapped but its fibers are still connected? Can you really tolerate this?"

A faint trace of fiery indignation danced in Mother Zheng's eyes.

But Zheng Yanyan looked as if this was simply as a matter of course. "Why couldn't I tolerate it? Mom, don't go too far. They've already given me more than enough face. Do you even know what her background is?"

"What does her background matter? Zhou Yuwen is your boyfriend—"

Before her mother could finish, Zheng Yanyan cut her off. "She's a postgraduate student at Jinling University, and her family's assets are in the billions. And your daughter? Just a student at an ordinary second-tier university."

"Don't push it, Mom. They really are meeting for work. If they wanted to get back together, they would have done it ages ago, and there wouldn't even be a place for your daughter. He bought me a house, bought me a car—what more do you want?"

"Do you want me to return all these things? Find some perfectly ordinary guy to get married to? How will you explain that to our relatives then? Plenty of relatives have been flocking to our home these past few days. If Zhou Yuwen and I really split up, just wait and see what they'll say. Do you honestly think they'll give you a thumbs-up and praise you for having a spine?"

Zheng Yanyan's barrage of words immediately rendered her mother speechless.

Thinking about it, she was right. Over the past few days, the Zheng family's threshold had practically been trampled flat because of Zhou Yuwen. Everyone who visited gave the husband and wife a big thumbs-up, praising them for raising such a good daughter.

If they really broke up, their family would become a laughingstock.

Still, watching helplessly as Zhou Yuwen walked away with other women made Mother Zheng quite angry, and she wanted to spit out a few more stubborn words.

But before she could speak, Zheng Yanyan waved it off. "Alright, alright, that's enough."

"Mom, just drop it. I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. At the very least, I'm still Zhou Yuwen's girlfriend right now. Honestly, even if I were just his mistress, I'd be perfectly willing."

"Anyway, I'm not like you. I would rather live a lifetime of wealth and splendor sharing one man with many women than spend my entire life with an ordinary man."

"How could you have such a mindset?"

At that moment, Mother Zheng was stunned, looking at her daughter with deeply complicated eyes.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yuwen instructed his driver to take Liu Jing and her daughter to the hotel.

When Zheng Yanyan and her mother were present, Liu Jing still had to remain slightly reserved to maintain her dignity. But the moment she got into the car, she could no longer sit still. She directly grabbed Zhou Yuwen's arm, her voice thick with sobs as she pleaded, "Yuwen, you absolutely must help us!"

Zhou Yuwen turned to Jiang Xinyi and asked about their current situation.

Jiang Xinyi proceeded to give him a brief overview of the crisis.

Beside her, Liu Jing was steeped in deep remorse. She admitted that it was all her fault. She had been boastful and arrogant out of ignorance, looking down on Zhou Yuwen. It truly was like an egg attempting the impossible by striking a rock; she had completely overestimated her abilities.

Now, she clearly saw the vast disparity between the two sides.

Her only hope was that, for the sake of Jiang Xinyi's face, Zhou Yuwen would leave the Jiang Family Estate a way out.

"Yuwen, please consider this Auntie begging you. It's our Xinyi who is not worthy of you, but please, won't you spare us?" As Liu Jing spoke, her tears inevitably began to fall.

Hearing this, Zhou Yuwen simply replied, "I think I understand now, Auntie. You still hold grievances against me."

"No, no, I have no grievances at all," Liu Jing hurriedly waved her hands in denial.

Zhou Yuwen asked, "Then, Aunt Jing, are you still willing to let Xinyi be with me?" "I..."

Liu Jing froze for a moment. She clearly hadn't considered this question, but her first instinct was undeniably an outright refusal.

Honestly speaking, under the current circumstances, calling them bitter enemies wouldn't be an exaggeration.

The only reason Liu Jing was begging Zhou Yuwen for mercy was that she was completely out of options.

Had her family not been facing utter ruin, Liu Jing would never have given Zhou Yuwen a second look.

Zhou Yuwen only needed to look at Liu Jing's eyes to know exactly what was running through her mind.

He couldn't help but sigh. He said, "I never expected things to escalate to this point. Actually, Auntie, in the very beginning, I wasn't even aware of this matter. Let's talk more once we get to the hotel."

On the way there, Zhou Yuwen briefly explained to Liu Jing that his overseas financial institutions had always been managed by Su Qing and Lu Wanting. He only focused on the profits, paying little attention to the process.

In this matter, what Su Qing did was indeed wrong.

"I've already reprimanded her for this."

Liu Jing remained silent, thinking to herself, 'Does it even matter whether you reprimand her or not?'

With hundreds of billions in assets at stake, would Su Qing dare to act without your explicit permission?

However, when Zhou Yuwen admitted that the several financial companies that had aggressively targeted her family were entirely his personal property, Liu Jing was genuinely shocked to her core. Hundreds of billions in assets...

The young man sitting right in front of her was absolutely terrifying.

Liu Jing felt a deep sense of regret for ever allowing her daughter to date Zhou Yuwen.

Truthfully, all Liu Jing wanted now was for Zhou Yuwen to show mercy and let her family off the hook.

She no longer dared to harbor any extravagant hopes of having her daughter marry him.

The problem was, right now, it wasn't Zhou Yuwen who refused to let their family go.

They arrived at the suite in the Hilton Hotel.

Zhou Yuwen asked them to wait for him in the living room for a moment. He then went inside and brought out a stack of documents.

Handing the documents to Liu Jing, Zhou Yuwen said, "Auntie, please take a look at this."

Liu Jing had no idea what was inside, but she obediently opened the folder. The moment she saw the contents, she was utterly dumbfounded.

"This? Are these the property rights our family mortgaged?"

Hearing Liu Jing's words, Jiang Xinyi was also stunned and quickly leaned over to inspect them.

Sure enough, all their property deeds were right there, including the factories and the villas.

The more Liu Jing looked, the more astounded she became. She looked up at Zhou Yuwen and asked, "How did you get these?"

Zhou Yuwen replied, "I truly didn't know about the conflict between you and Su Qing at first. But later on, Xinyi's father sought me out."

"?" Liu Jing stared at him blankly.

Zhou Yuwen recounted the entire sequence of events exactly as they had happened. Upon learning the devastating truth, Liu Jing nearly collapsed. She never dreamed that everything happening today was a trap orchestrated by the very husband she had lived with for so many years.

For a price of 3.8 billion, he had sold out her entire family's lifelong enterprise.

By now, Liu Jing was sitting frozen on the sofa.

Zhou Yuwen, however, appeared incredibly calm. He said, "Aunt Jing, I'm not scheming to seize your family's assets. I've known you and Xinyi for a few years now, and I remember every kindness you've shown me."

"I just felt that you deserved to see the true face of the man sleeping beside you."

"As far as I know, Uncle Jiang has started a new family on the outside, and even has a child. I didn't want you and Xinyi to be kept in the dark, nor did I want everything you've painstakingly built to end up as someone else's wedding dress. All of your assets, exactly as they were, are right here. Take them back, Aunt Jing."

As Liu Jing stared at the mortgaged real estate documents, her mind went completely blank.

Zhou Yuwen's words finally snapped her back to reality. She looked into his eyes, not quite grasping what she was hearing. "Are you saying...?"

"You heard me correctly. Take it all back," Zhou Yuwen said with a firm nod.

At that moment, a layer of mist instantly formed in Liu Jing's eyes. She truly wanted to cry. To go from the darkest moment of her life to a sudden burst of brilliant clarity... This was the culmination of three generations of her family's blood, sweat, and tears. She was terrified of bankruptcy, yet now, Zhou Yuwen was telling her she could simply take it all back.

Who wouldn't cry in such a situation? Liu Jing didn't even know if it was pure gratitude or something else.

She only wanted to weep. She managed to choke out the name "Yuwen," but couldn't utter a single word beyond that.

A lifetime of living in comfort and ease made it impossible for her to articulate the humble words of profound gratitude she felt.

However, the fact that Zhou Yuwen was returning nearly six billion in assets to her without batting an eye left her utterly speechless.

Just as her lips trembled while tears streamed down her face...

Zhou Yuwen interjected, "Aunt Jing, there's no need to say anything."

"What's mine belongs to Xinyi. How could I possibly covet what is hers? I will handle the situation with Uncle Jiang. My perspective is that if two people no longer have any feelings for each other, they shouldn't force themselves to stay together. From now on, we are a family. Whether it's you or Xinyi, I will make sure you are both well taken care of. The most important thing is that the two of you live a good life. Understand, Aunt Jing?"

Zhou Yuwen was no benevolent saint. While he claimed to be returning six billion worth of assets, the fundamental nature of the ownership had entirely changed. This was a gift from Zhou Yuwen to Jiang Xinyi, but moving forward, Jiang Xinyi would belong solely to him.

Zhou Yuwen definitely needed to make the implications of his words crystal clear to Liu Jing; now it all depended on how she would interpret them.

Sure enough, although Liu Jing was initially so moved that she didn't know what to say, hearing the underlying meaning in Zhou Yuwen's speech caused her immense gratitude to evaporate by more than half. She understood exactly what he was implying.

In the future, the Jiang Family Estate would no longer bear the surname Jiang; it had already begun to bear the surname Zhou.

Yet, if Liu Jing refused, the Jiang Family Estate still wouldn't remain under the Jiang name anyway.

By agreeing to Zhou Yuwen's terms, the Jiang Family Estate would at least save some face.

Refusing him meant losing both their dignity and everything they owned.

Stripped of her status as a wealthy socialite...

She was merely a woman.

At present, with no man left to prop up the Jiang Family Estate, what choice did she really have?

She was nothing more than fish on a chopping block.

Liu Jing fell into a heavy, unbroken silence.

Zhou Yuwen then added, "Aunt Jing, I imagine you must be exhausted from the events of these past few days."

"Let Xinyi take you to get some rest. Once you've recovered your energy, you can tell me your thoughts. There's no rush."

With that, Zhou Yuwen gave Jiang Xinyi a subtle nod.

The gaze Jiang Xinyi cast toward Zhou Yuwen was also filled with profound complexity.

However, right now, their focus shouldn't be on Zhou Yuwen.

Their focus should instead be on the man who was supposed to hold up the sky for the Jiang Family Estate. If Jiang Lìming hadn't tried to secretly transfer their assets, how could Zhou Yuwen have ever found an opening to exploit?

Besides, even without Zhou Yuwen, the Jiang Family Estate's wealth would have inevitably fallen into someone else's hands.

Liu Jing ought to count her blessings that Jiang Xinyi was one of Zhou Yuwen's women.

At the very least, this man could provide a solid pillar of support for the mother and daughter.