Chapter 53: Hurt p1
Qiao Rubai put down her chopsticks and looked at the crew-cut man who had been sitting quietly in the corner, almost forgotten. “Do you know what business Jiang Dingyi is in?” she asked.
“Jiang Dingyi used to run a photo studio. We have additional information regarding the real reason he borrowed money from Lu Gaoshi. However, this information isn’t included in our original agreement and requires additional payment. Are you interested, President Qiao?” the crew-cut man asked formally, tapping the folder on his lap.
“I’ll pay extra. Tell me everything else you’ve found about the Jiang family.” Qiao Rubai had originally only wanted them to investigate Lu Gaoshi and let Ji Junxin watch the show, focusing on Lu Gaoshi. But now it seemed that the Jiang family also had a story. She hadn’t known much about Jiang Duo’s family in her previous life, so hearing about it now might be useful.
The crew-cut man, receiving Qiao Rubai’s confirmation, opened the folder and said, “Jiang Dingyi and his wife, Yuan Wenhui, have a son and a daughter. Their daughter, Jiang Duo, is 22, and their son, Jiang Bin, is 12. Jiang Dingyi ran a photo studio for seventeen years, and Yuan Wenhui also helped out. They were a moderately well-off family, and their relationship was good. However, eleven months ago, Yuan Wenhui, introduced by a client at the photo studio, became addicted to gambling. For the first three months, she had some wins and losses, mostly small wins, but then she started losing consistently. Jiang Duo’s acting income and the studio’s cash flow were quickly squandered. Six months ago, Yuan Wenhui, heavily in debt to loan sharks, confessed her gambling addiction and debt to Jiang Dingyi. After learning about this, Jiang Dingyi quickly sold the photo studio and all their properties except for their house, practically emptying their savings, to repay Yuan Wenhui’s debts. Shortly after, Jiang Dingyi contacted Lu Gaoshi, whom he hadn’t spoken to in decades, hoping she could help his daughter, Jiang Duo, who was with Dajin Entertainment, get connected with Qiong Yu.” The crew-cut man paused, glancing at Qiao Rubai, whose expression was still calm, before continuing, “Because the information we were looking for dates back quite a while, we only found out recently that Qiong Yu’s collaboration with Dajin on ‘Imperial Secrets’ might be partly due to Lu Gaoshi bribing some people within Qiong Yu, ensuring that Dajin was chosen among the many entertainment companies. But we’re still investigating whether this is true and who Lu Gaoshi bribed.”
Qiao Rubai slammed her cup on the table. She had initially felt a sense of satisfaction hearing about the Jiang family’s mess, but now she felt a slap in the face. So, this conspiracy started much earlier than she had known? She hadn’t realized Lu Gaoshi was so capable!
The crew-cut man, seeing his client’s anger, quickly said, glancing at the surprised Ji Junxin and then at the furious Qiao Rubai, “Of course, this involves your company’s internal affairs. If you don’t want us to investigate Qiong Yu, we can drop this line of inquiry.”
“No, investigate, continue investigating.” Qiao Rubai practically gritted her teeth. “The more detailed, the better!”
There were many things from long ago, so long ago that no one mentioned them, and Qiao Rubai wouldn’t have remembered them. The crew-cut man’s words seemed to connect some dots from her previous life. No wonder, when she was pitching the “Imperial Secrets” script and looking for partners, Dajin Entertainment’s name was frequently mentioned by some people. And some of those people later amicably moved to Dajin, receiving higher positions than they had at Qiong Yu. At that time, Qiao Rubai had thought it was just normal employee turnover. Thinking about it now, they were probably already connected to Dajin.
The crew-cut man carefully glanced at Ji Junxin, who was pressing her lips together, cleared his throat, and continued, looking down at the folder, “After Qiong Yu confirmed the collaboration with Dajin, Lu Gaoshi attempted to manipulate things behind the scenes to secure the role of the empress for Jiang Duo. However, Director Pan had already agreed to Qiong Yu’s invitation, and Jiang Duo’s image didn’t fit his vision of the empress, so she was rejected. Dajin Entertainment then secured a more substantial supporting role for her. Later, during filming, Lu Gaoshi frequently brought food, claiming it was homemade by Jiang Duo, trying to build a relationship with Miss Ji. However, most of the food was eaten by President Qiao.”
“Ahem… this… let’s skip this part.” Qiao Rubai glanced at Ji Junxin awkwardly. “I just happened to be a little hungry a few times.”
Ji Junxin’s gaze was meaningful.
“Miss Ji also ate some without knowing. However, most of the food wasn’t actually made by Jiang Duo, she had someone else make it.” The crew-cut man turned to the last page of the file. “Finally, based on our analysis and speculation, the real reason Jiang Dingyi suddenly contacted Lu Gaoshi after so many years was that Yuan Wenhui hadn’t stopped gambling. Jiang Dingyi couldn’t control her and didn’t dare to let Jiang Duo know that they were practically broke. They needed more money, whether earned by Jiang Duo or taken from Lu Gaoshi. Last month, Lu Gaoshi transferred 500,000 yuan to Jiang Dingyi, who claimed to have cash flow problems. This afternoon, she withdrew another 200,000 yuan in cash. That’s the current situation.” He closed the folder.
Hearing about the Jiang family’s troubles, Qiao Rubai felt a sense of satisfaction. But then she realized something was wrong. From what the crew-cut man said, all the problems seemed to be caused by Yuan Wenhui and Jiang Dingyi. Jiang Duo and Lu Gaoshi were portrayed as victims. This was completely opposite to her plan!
Qiao Rubai glanced at Ji Junxin, who was deep in thought, and suddenly felt that she had done something foolish. No, it wasn’t her, it was the crew-cut man’s report! Couldn’t he have emphasized Lu Gaoshi’s scheming and Jiang Duo’s social climbing? Why did he have to portray them as a pitiful middle-aged woman being scammed by her first love and a hardworking young girl struggling with her family’s financial problems! It wasn’t like that at all! Qiao Rubai glared at the crew-cut man, who looked back innocently.
If she didn’t have her memories from her previous life, hearing this report, she would also think it was a sad story. Qiao Rubai glanced at Ji Junxin again, hoping she wouldn’t soften.
But if she didn’t soften, would she still be Ji Junxin?
“So, Jiang Duo has been kept in the dark by her parents, she doesn’t know anything, all the money she earned is gone, she doesn’t even know her family is in debt… she’s really quite pitiful. Why are they hiding it from her?” Ji Junxin looked at Qiao Rubai.
Oh my god… she knew Ji Junxin was sensitive about parent-child relationships… Qiao Rubai, hoist by her own petard, didn’t know how to answer.
Fortunately, Ji Junxin seemed to be just expressing her feelings and didn’t press Qiao Rubai about these personal matters. She continued, “So, Sister Lu has been scammed out of 700,000 yuan. How can we warn her? Anonymously, of course, we can’t let her know we investigated her.” Ji Junxin looked at Qiao Rubai, clearly waiting for an answer.
My dear girl, if I had known that after hearing all this, you would only focus on how pitiful Jiang Duo and Lu Gaoshi were, I wouldn’t have bothered! Why don’t you notice how pitiful I am, my plan completely backfiring! Qiao Rubai looked away, not wanting to look at the fool beside her.
“Ahem… allow me to add something,” the crew-cut man suddenly interjected. “Lu Gaoshi knows that Jiang Dingyi asked for money not because of business difficulties, but to repay Yuan Wenhui’s gambling debts. She also hired a private investigator to investigate the Jiang family, not our agency, of course. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to reveal client information to you. The agency she hired is far inferior to ours.” He said with a proud expression.
“Why didn’t you say that earlier?” Qiao Rubai glared at the crew-cut man, who smiled sheepishly at her. Qiao Rubai, momentarily speechless, turned to Ji Junxin and patted her hand. “Did you hear that? Lu Gaoshi isn’t simple, she knows everything, there’s no need for you to worry about her.”
“She knows everything, and she’s still willingly letting Jiang Dingyi scam her?” Ji Junxin frowned.
Qiao Rubai took a deep breath. Don’t be angry, don’t be angry… “Look, when Jiang Dingyi wrote the IOU for Lu Gaoshi, did she stop him?”
Ji Junxin shook her head.
“And didn’t she even say something like, ‘No need to write it, I trust you’?”
Ji Junxin nodded.
Qiao Rubai patiently guided her, “Lu Gaoshi’s demeanor towards Jiang Dingyi clearly shows that she’s smitten with him. But she didn’t even say any polite words of refusal. That means she wanted that IOU. She wanted it so much that she didn’t even dare to refuse. I think, even if Jiang Dingyi hadn’t offered to write the IOU, Lu Gaoshi would have found a way to ask him to. She isn’t willingly being scammed, she’s lending him money. Or rather, perhaps she’s intentionally lending him money, to become his creditor, to change his distant attitude towards her.”
Qiao Rubai had guessed the truth, but Ji Junxin clearly hadn’t fully processed it yet.
“If it were you, and you liked someone that much, and he asked to borrow money from you for an emergency, would you investigate him? Would you eagerly ask him to write an IOU?” Qiao Rubai tried to have Ji Junxin put herself in Lu Gaoshi’s shoes. Unexpectedly, her own question was like a lightning bolt striking her.
So, in her previous life, after Ji Junxin and Jiang Duo got together, Ji Junxin, who never did commercials, suddenly started accepting endorsements, even asking Qiao Rubai to arrange them for her, filming several in a row, saying that she had never done commercials before and it seemed fun. So, it wasn’t actually because of that? And for a long time, Ji Junxin and Qiao Rubai used the same financial manager. Shortly after she and Jiang Duo got together, the financial manager mentioned to Qiao Rubai that Ji Junxin had withdrawn all her money. The manager even subtly asked Qiao Rubai if he had done something wrong, which was why Ji Junxin no longer used his services. When Qiao Rubai asked Ji Junxin, she just said that she wanted to try managing her own finances, since she had plenty of free time when she wasn’t filming. So, it wasn’t actually because of that?
“I wouldn’t…” Ji Junxin replied, her head lowered.
Qiao Rubai was stunned by her own sudden realization, and Ji Junxin’s answer made her think that her guess might be the truth! In her previous life, Ji Junxin’s money had been used to fill the Jiang family’s financial hole! Right! Right!
She wanted to go back in time and slap her past self. Ji Junxin had only told her about her relationship with Jiang Duo after they got together. Qiao Rubai couldn’t stop it, and seeing how happy Ji Junxin was, she hadn’t thought of investigating the Jiang family. Later, when Ji Junxin started filming commercials and withdrew her money from the financial manager, Qiao Rubai thought that Ji Junxin was now in a relationship and, as a friend, she shouldn’t interfere too much, so she didn’t ask further. She hadn’t realized… Qiao Rubai clenched her fists, feeling terrible.
The two on the screen were still eating hot pot, but Qiao Rubai was almost consumed by her own anger.
“So, do you still think Lu Gaoshi is willingly giving away this money without expecting anything in return?” Qiao Rubai felt that if Ji Junxin still said yes, she would faint from the multiple blows.
Fortunately, Ji Junxin shook her head. “But the combined amount isn’t small for Sister Lu. Asking for an IOU is normal.”
Qiao Rubai choked. So how much money was this fool scammed out of in her previous life? How much!
It was unbelievable. As soon as she learned about Lu Gaoshi’s meeting with Jiang Dingyi, she had meticulously planned to keep Jiang Duo on set, so that Lu Gaoshi would drop her usual gentle facade and reveal her infatuation, and hopefully, without Jiang Duo there to mediate, she and the aloof Jiang Dingyi would have some conflict and reveal more. Qiao Rubai had put in so much effort, just so Ji Junxin could see things more clearly. But it was all for nothing!
Having come this far, Qiao Rubai finally understood. Her previous approach of gradually revealing Lu Gaoshi’s true colors to Ji Junxin was probably wrong. With someone like Ji Junxin, whose kindness often outweighed her reason, she needed a more direct and forceful approach, a relentless and thorough exposé, even if it meant resorting to underhanded tactics.
Just as Qiao Rubai was about to change her strategy, the conversation between the two on the screen caught her attention.
“Xiao Duo said that President Qiao from Qiong Yu really likes the desserts she makes. I wonder if there’s a chance to arrange for her to meet President Qiao more often.” The hot pot meal was coming to an end, and Jiang Dingyi finally brought up the topic his daughter had repeatedly emphasized.
Lu Gaoshi, who had been happily adding lamb to the pot for Jiang Dingyi, twitched the corner of her mouth. “Qiao Rubai did eat Jiang Duo’s desserts a few times. But Qiao Rubai is different from Ji Junxin. She’s capable of running a big company like Qiong Yu, she’s very busy, rarely comes to the set, and isn’t someone you can easily approach with a few desserts.” If she could easily manipulate Qiao Rubai, she wouldn’t have driven five hours back to Jiang City this morning at Qiao Rubai’s summons, only to wait for two hours at the company before Qiao Rubai’s assistant finally arrived and gave her a bunch of trivial tasks she wouldn’t normally handle. And in the end, she didn’t even get to see Qiao Rubai.
Qiao Rubai’s attitude towards her had changed recently, and Lu Gaoshi began to suspect that perhaps her attempts to connect Jiang Duo and Ji Junxin were too obvious, and Qiao Rubai was dissatisfied. But she didn’t think it was a big deal. If she really couldn’t handle these trivial tasks, she could just complain to Ji Junxin, and Ji Junxin would definitely speak up for her. However, although these matters were easy to resolve, they really affected her mood. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have lost her temper with Jiang Dingyi over the hot pot size earlier. Lu Gaoshi glanced at Jiang Dingyi, who was frowning, and continued in a softer tone, “Although it’s difficult to get on Qiao Rubai’s good side, befriending Ji Junxin isn’t a problem. Everyone in the industry knows that Ji Junxin and Qiao Rubai grew up together. Anyone Ji Junxin befriends, Qiao Rubai will protect. The benefits might even be greater than directly getting close to Qiao Rubai.”
“But Xiao Duo said that you haven’t made much progress with Ji Junxin. They barely interact off-screen, and the food you sent didn’t seem to have much effect. And that newcomer who plays the empress, I heard she’s also a good cook, and she’s even sharing a room with Ji Junxin.” Jiang Dingyi recalled Jiang Duo’s words, paused, and continued, “I see that although President Qiao is busy, she did eat Xiao Duo’s food several times, and finished it all. Perhaps she has a favorable impression of Xiao Duo. Since she doesn’t come to the set, can you ask about her schedule and arrange a ‘chance encounter’?” The implication was that Ji Junxin was a lost cause, but Qiao Rubai seemed promising.
Qiao Rubai was a difficult person to control. If she helped them connect with her, what would be left for her? Did he think she was stupid? Lu Gaoshi’s expression darkened, but her words were still seemingly helpful. “That newcomer who plays the empress, Mi Hongdou, she’s not even from an acting school, she just knows how to make fried rice, what use is she? Ji Junxin is just momentarily interested in her, how can her cooking compare to the chefs we found for Jiang Duo? Besides, Ji Junxin is my artist, she always listens to me. Once Jiang Duo befriends her, with me adding a few words on the side, won’t there be plenty of opportunities?”
Lu Gaoshi paused and added some stronger bait, “And Qiao Rubai, running Qiong Yu so successfully at such a young age, she’s not simple, how can we manipulate her? She’s not as easy to control as Ji Junxin, who only cares about food and is clueless about the ways of the world. Look, over the years, how many of her assistants have stayed? If I don’t like them, they’re gone. Ji Junxin doesn’t even know, she doesn’t care, she only trusts me. Not to mention, with Ji Junxin’s current status, she’s making a fortune. To be honest with you, her parents basically ignore her, her only friend is Qiao Rubai, and the person she trusts the most is me. Once Jiang Duo befriends her, her future is bright, and when you have business difficulties, would she just stand by and watch her best friend’s family suffer?”
Lu Gaoshi’s last sentence clearly moved Jiang Dingyi. He was silent for a moment, then, no longer insisting on Qiao Rubai, said with a rare gentleness, “From what you said, it seems like Ji Junxin, such a big star, is naive, clueless, and a foodie.”
Jiang Dingyi’s agreement made Lu Gaoshi relax. Looking at his warm smile, she also smiled. “Isn’t that exactly what you said?”
While they were gossiping, the other two rooms in Nan Tian were in an uproar.
No parental care, no friends, naive, clueless, a foodie, every word was a direct hit. Ji Junxin pursed her lips, tightly gripping her cup, her eyes reddening, but her gaze remained fixed on the screen.
Qiao Rubai’s cup had long been thrown to the floor and shattered. She had intended for Ji Junxin to hear some unpleasant things to push Lu Gaoshi away, but hearing those words, she couldn’t contain her anger. Some people were even more despicable than she had imagined, and she wouldn’t be as lenient as in her previous life. Severing ties with Dajin, ignoring them at events, that wasn’t enough, definitely not enough!
In Jiang Lingling and Mi Hongdou’s room, they had already learned from the burly man about the truth behind Jiang Dingyi’s need for money and were criticizing the Jiang family’s mess and Lu Gaoshi’s scheming. But after hearing their subsequent conversation, Mi Hongdou exploded. They were openly badmouthing Ji Junxin, even plotting to scam her feelings and her money! It was unforgivable!
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