The woman next door, upon hearing the sound of the door closing, finally remembered who he was.
Jiang Zhao!
He was Jiang Zhao!
Oh my god! She had actually run into a singer in real life! And a pretty popular one at that!
He was so handsome in person!
Although she hadn't had much good to say about the man before because of all the shady rumors about him online, after seeing him in the flesh, she suddenly felt that those rumors about Jiang Zhao could be completely ignored!
How could Jiang Zhao possibly do anything wrong!
No, she had to stay by the door. If Jiang Zhao came out again, she absolutely had to get his autograph and a photo with him!
After stepping inside, Jiang Zhao walked over to the coffee table and looked at the array of empty beer bottles on it. He asked with displeasure, "Brother, what the hell is going on? Why did you drink so much?"
He had always held great respect for his older brother and had never used such a tone to question him before.
But this time, he really couldn't stand it anymore.
Jiang Xing lay sprawled listlessly on the sofa, saying weakly, "Drowning my sorrows, what else would it be for?"
"Because of Xiao Li?" Jiang Zhao asked.
"What else? What other reason do you think there could be?" At this, Jiang Xing let out a bitter laugh. "I'm afraid I can't hold out much longer. The poison she gave me is too torturous. Xiao Li really does seem to want me dead."
Jiang Zhao frowned and said, "So what exactly did you do afterwards?"
Jiang Xing shook his head. "Forget it. It's done. What's the point in telling you?"
"Brother, don't give up. There's still a chance." Jiang Zhao tried to comfort him.
"YOU'RE not the one who's been poisoned. YOU'RE not the one writhing in agony every single night. Easy for you to say there's still a chance." Jiang Xing mocked himself.
Jiang Zhao was left speechless by those words.
Jiang Xing wasn't finished yet. "If it hadn't been for you coming to me that day, asking me to stand up for Jiang Yonghe, I wouldn't have ended up in this mess today."
Jiang Zhao didn't like hearing that. "Brother, you dare say that even if I hadn't come to you, you wouldn't have stood up for Jiang Yonghe someday anyway?"
Jiang Xing got angry too. He stood up, grabbed a beer bottle, and smashed it on the floor. "Fine! Yes, I would! I asked for it! I brought it on myself, okay?! So why are you even here trying to comfort me?!"
Shards of glass scattered everywhere.
Jiang Zhao looked at the mess and closed his eyes guiltily. "Brother... I'm sorry..."
Jiang Xing said with red eyes, "Don't say sorry. It's useless. Those words don't do anything for me. All I want right now is to get rid of this poison, or else I'll have no choice but to die!"
Jiang Zhao sat down beside him and pressed firmly on his brother's shoulder. "Brother, I'll find a way to help you. Just hang in there a little longer."
The only option left now was to beg their grandfather. He thought, no matter how cold-hearted Grandfather was, there was no way he could actually let his eldest grandson die!
Jiang Zhao had to go to Great Wind Entertainment in the afternoon, and he didn't feel comfortable leaving Jiang Xing alone in the apartment. So he called their mother, Qin Yulian.
"Mom, come over to Brother's place and check on him."
"What's wrong with your brother?"
"His mood isn't great. I'm worried he might do something drastic."
"I understand. I'm heading over right now."
Meeting Jiang Zhao's worried gaze, Jiang Xing laughed at himself. "I pride myself on being the big brother, saying I should be more level-headed and responsible than you. Yet here I am, making you, my little brother, worry about me."
Jiang Zhao put down his phone and sighed. "Brother, don't say that. We're brothers. We're supposed to look out for each other. It was me who was out of line before. If I think about it carefully, if it hadn't been for that time I messed with Xiao Li's car just to get back at Jiang Yonghe, Xiao Li probably wouldn't have been so ruthless with us. In the end, there's a part of me that's to blame for Xiao Li refusing to cure your poison no matter what."
"Enough. Don't talk about it anymore. Brother, I know you haven't been sleeping well at night. Just get a good rest during the day."
Jiang Xing didn't answer. He slowly closed his eyes.
Jiang Zhao ordered some takeout on his phone and started cleaning up the coffee table. By the time their mother Qin Yulian arrived, the food had just been delivered.
"Zhao'er, what is really going on with your brother?" Qin Yulian said with concern, looking at her eldest son asleep on the sofa.
Jiang Zhao didn't want to spark more hatred in his mother toward Xiao Li, so he just said, "It's nothing. Just keep an eye on him."
But Qin Yulian pressed on. "This is nothing? Your brother hasn't drunk himself into this kind of stupor since he took over Star Light Entertainment."
She had smelled the alcohol in the air as soon as she walked in, and figured out that her eldest son must have been drinking heavily.
"Even if you don't tell me, I know. It's the agony of the poison." Qin Yulian was so heartbroken she could barely speak. "That girl... she's truly heartless! So much time has passed since Jiang Yonghe's true face was exposed, and she still refuses to give your brother the antidote! Who knows how long she's going to keep holding a grudge. Is she really trying to push your brother to his death?!"
The very reason Jiang Zhao hadn't wanted to talk to his mother was to avoid hearing this kind of nagging. He cut her off impatiently. "Alright, stop talking about Xiao Li like that. We were the ones who were wrong first."
"We were wrong, yes, but is she going to hold it against him forever?!" Qin Yulian's tears started to flow when she saw the state of her eldest son.
"Mom, if you don't want to upset Brother, don't say these things when he wakes up. This is the takeout I ordered. Eat if you're hungry. I have things to do, so I'm leaving now!" Jiang Zhao didn't even bother eating. He simply left Jiang Xing's rental apartment.
At the doorway.
The woman next door heard the sound of the door closing again and immediately opened her own door. "Jiang Zhao?" she called out nervously.
Jiang Zhao glanced at her, put his cap and mask back on, and said, "You've got the wrong person." Then he strode toward the elevator without paying her any more attention.
After leaving Jiang Xing's apartment, Jiang Zhao drove straight to Great Wind Entertainment.
"Isn't that Jiang Zhao?"
Jiang Zhao went to the front desk and said he was looking for Zheng Zegang, when he suddenly heard a woman's voice behind him.
He turned his head and recognized the woman approaching.
Yu Linglong.
The daughter of Great Wind Entertainment's chairman.
And also Long Yuan's fiancée.
"What are you doing at Great Wind Entertainment?" she asked him suspiciously.
Then, with a sneer, she added, "Wait, don't tell me you're actually planning to break your contract with Star Light and sign with Great Wind?"
Jiang Zhao said, "That's none of your business."
Seeing how arrogant he was, Yu Linglong couldn't resist taunting him. "You're right. I don't really care about a stray dog like you who got kicked out of the Jiang family."
Before Jiang Zhao could strike back, she marched straight to the elevator.
Jiang Zhao clenched his fists.
"Mr. Jiang, hello. Manager Zheng asked you to come up to his office," the front desk said after hanging up the phone.
Jiang Zhao immediately strode forward and squeezed into the elevator before the doors closed, right in front of Yu Linglong.
Yu Linglong glanced at him but said nothing.
The elevator stopped at the twelfth floor, and the doors opened. Jiang Zhao stepped out first.
Since he had gotten ahead of her, Yu Linglong said from behind, "Stray dog."
Jiang Zhao paused mid-step. This time, he couldn't hold back. He turned around and said, "Say that again!"
Yu Linglong walked out. "I'll say it again—so what do you intend to do? Am I wrong? A dog cast out of the Jiang family by her own little sister!"
She deliberately stressed the final phrase, "a dog cast out," word by word.
Jiang Zhao clenched his fists once more, struggling to suppress the fury rising within him. "Don't think that just because you're Long Yuan's fiancée, you can look down on everyone else!"
