The Unlucky One in a Crematorium-Style Story (9) It had to be said—when capitalists played the roles they were best at, they were usually award-level actors through and through.
Xiao Min, who had been watching the drama unfold from the sidelines, grew serious as well. Miss Jiang had completely restrained her aura, sitting on the sofa clutching a handkerchief and sobbing softly. Even Xiao Min herself felt a little affected.
Although Uncle Shangguan currently looked full of disgust, if Miss Jiang kept coming back to beg and cry like this—out of lingering feelings or even just for Bowu’s sake—Uncle Shangguan might… soften.
Over the past few months, Xiao Min had gradually learned what kind of people the Jiang family really were. If she let the Jiangs make a comeback right under her nose, then she might as well have lived her life in vain.
Xiao Min made up her mind. She tugged on Jiang Bowu’s sleeve and whispered, “I feel like Uncle… the two of them might have known each other before. Ling Jing used to be your uncle Chairman Jiang’s assistant.”
“Now she’s probably defected to the light?” Jiang Bowu’s expression twisted slightly. “My mom coming over right now to ask for help is real—but even if it fails, she still wants to drag my dad into the mud.”
Xiao Min nodded. “You understand your mom better. But no matter how angry Uncle is, it’s not easy for him to deal with your mom directly—and you can’t either. That’d be too cheap. My guess is Uncle wants Ling Jing to help.”
While Jiang Bowu and Xiao Min whispered to each other, no one else could hear them—but Ling Jing, whose five senses had been enhanced by her system, heard every word clearly.
Her expression turned subtle. She said to her system, “I’m a little surprised.” In the original plot, during these two or three years, Jiang Bowu and Jiang Ruitong fought openly and covertly, carved out territory, and firmly established themselves within Jiang Group.
But because Jiang Bowu was extremely starved for affection, in the period that followed he indulged his mother in everything she wanted. Just as he was about to become a dark, twisted mama’s boy, Xiao Min—who had been suffering terribly in her relationship with Jiang Ruitong and had just had a miscarriage—was in a terrible mental state herself, yet still forced herself to counsel Jiang Bowu… and indeed managed to dissolve many of his obsessions.
Although none of that had happened in this reality, Ling Jing was certain that both Jiang Bowu and Xiao Min had already developed a few hidden “fault lines.” Xiao Min aside—Miss Jiang had come specially this time, yet Jiang Bowu could still behave so normally. That genuinely surprised her.
Ling Jing was impressed. “He was actually reminding me just now. Calling it a warning wouldn’t be wrong—telling me not to set my sights on Jiang Bowu and Xiao Min. I have to admit, he’s doing a pretty solid, responsible job as a dad.” The system answered honestly, “That’s true. And I think his suggestion is workable.” Ling Jing laughed. “I can’t beat him anyway, so of course I’ll listen. Besides… you know my last three missions all relied on psychological warfare—enduring disgust while stringing scumbags along. If it weren’t for the decent pay—” She suddenly changed tone. “Isn’t building a career more satisfying? Why torture yourself?” The system was enthusiastically on board. “Yay!” Ling Jing stood up and looked at Miss Jiang, who was still sobbing and refusing to give up. “You really won’t give up until you hit the Yellow River. Jiang Ruitong’s factory was indeed overseas—but the special raw materials were shipped out through Weng Zhenghe’s channels…”
Miss Jiang shot to her feet, threw out a hurried “I’ll go back and check—wait for me,” and ran off without a trace.
Qin Jingzhou raised an eyebrow. There was something like that?
The system showed zero sense of crisis. “That part wasn’t in the plot I got. She can complement you.” Qin Jingzhou narrowed his eyes, asked Ling Jing for her contact info, and said, “You handle the patents first.” He pointed at Jiang Bowu. “Discuss the details with him.”
With one sentence, he fully established the young master’s status.
Ling Jing looked at Jiang Bowu, who smiled politely at her. No wonder he’d managed to win Jiang Bowu over so quickly.
She and Jiang Bowu reached an agreement on the specifics very quickly. With the authorization letters and patents in hand, Ling Jing contacted two fairly powerful OEM factories, then unapologetically poached several executives from Jiang Group—people who had long been dissatisfied with the board but had solid abilities and decent character. Clinical trials were pushed forward at speed, and she went head-to-head with Jiang Group.
One had to know: the new drug Jiang Group had previously poured tens of billions into developing was, at its core, a strong painkiller for cancer patients with a weak stabilizing effect on mental states and relatively mild side effects.
Now listen to that description—and compare it to Jiang Ruitong’s new-type LSD… Think about it carefully.
How could a place packed with elite officials not sense something fishy?
It was just that at the time, after Jiang Ruitong’s attempt at playing crazy failed, he chose to shoulder all the crimes alone. Aside from Weng Zhenghe, the authorities couldn’t find ironclad evidence tying Chairman Jiang or Miss Jiang to the matter, so it had to be temporarily shelved—waiting for those fox-like siblings to slip up again.
The siblings knew perfectly well that the Jiang family was hanging by a thread.
On the surface, it looked like Chairman Jiang had reluctantly “stepped down” after losing to his sister and gone home to recuperate. In reality, the siblings had already reached an understanding behind the scenes.
Miss Jiang’s decision to seek out her ex-husband and eldest son after taking over as chairwoman had naturally been discussed with her elder brother as well.
As for how the siblings fumed after realizing they’d played themselves, and how they then gathered their strength for a desperate counterattack—Qin Jingzhou didn’t care in the slightest. Everything was handed over to his fellow professional. She had the ability, the experience, and the motivation. He could rest easy.
The only thing that made him uneasy… was his cheap son.
That started with Quan Ruilan.
Quan Ruilan was a textbook martial arts prodigy—top-tier bones, meridians, and comprehension, with high emotional intelligence to boot. Qin Jingzhou liked students like this—explain once and they get it, no need to spoon-feed, let them self-study and save tuition. Truly low-maintenance.
Jiang Bowu’s talent was two tiers below Quan Ruilan’s. But he was his biological son, so naturally he received Qin Jingzhou’s most patient and meticulous instruction.
Being openly treated differently left Jiang Bowu both satisfied and proud, yet also under immense pressure. And then he… as Qin Jingzhou had expected, went a little off the rails.
Jiang Bowu didn’t have a major illness—but he definitely qualified for a “medium one.” And the little bastard in his early twenties stubbornly refused to see a psychologist.
On this matter, he was inexplicably obstinate.
Jiang Bowu clutched his dad’s sleeve, crying nonstop. “Dad, I’m crazy, I’m useless, I don’t deserve to be your son.” After crying himself to sleep, he’d be fine the next day—but still refused to see a psychologist.
It was the first time Qin Jingzhou had encountered something like this.
Right then, he received a call from Ling Jing.
Ling Jing had deliberately skipped a fairly important medical forum and rushed back to Jing City for this. Having just been selected among Huaguo’s top twenty most powerful businesswomen, she was brimming with energy and didn’t beat around the bush. “My system tipped me off that there’s now inauspiciousness on the new male lead that can be cleared. I knew Jiang Bowu had reached the critical point of blackening.”
Qin Jingzhou grew serious. “I’m all ears.”
Ling Jing smiled. “From the start, I knew you were doing your best as a dad. But you two are too polite with each other… and that’s exactly the problem. How should I put it—you treat Jiang Bowu, your biological son, with the politeness you’d show an adopted son or stepson.”
Qin Jingzhou felt as if enlightenment struck. He looked at Ling Jing sincerely. “Thank you!”
That afternoon, Jiang Bowu—still refusing to see a psychologist no matter how he was asked—got thoroughly beaten by his dad, stuffed into a car, and personally hauled to the best psychologist in Jing City.
Once he obediently got treatment, Jiang Bowu recovered remarkably fast.
From this, Qin Jingzhou drew a conclusion: when sons get melodramatic, you should just give them a good beating now and then.
The system: …Although the reality isn’t quite like that, I think you’re right.
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