After Uncle Ya’s treatment was completed, Jiang Youli and Qi Huan left the residential complex.
On the way back to Starlight Entertainment, Jiang Youli asked, “By the way, Huanhuan, do you know exactly how it happened that Uncle Ya was rescued by your mother?”
Qi Huan thought for a moment. “My mom mentioned it to me before. I remember some of it.”
“All I know is that someone forced Uncle Ya to swallow a poisonous chemical liquid back then. It burned and damaged his throat. My mom saved him, and she also had someone teach him sign language.”
“According to my mom, she originally wanted to arrange a job for him that was suitable for someone who was deaf and mute, but Uncle Ya refused. He wanted to become my mother’s bodyguard.”
Jiang Youli said, “Could it be that the bodyguards from the Twenty-Four Solar Terms your mother left you were all people she had helped?”
“I’ve wondered about that too,” Qi Huan said, “but I’ve never asked them.”
Jiang Youli thought of her own organization. Weren’t many of the people in it also individuals who had received her help and willingly followed her, working for her in return?
Some of the others were people whose talents had gone unrecognized until she discovered them and gave them a chance to shine.
……
[Are you going to President Jiang’s birthday party?]
After Jiang Youli and Qi Huan left, Uncle Ya used sign language to ask Zhou Zerui. While he had been in the room, he had overheard Little Rui’s conversation with Qi Huan.
Zhou Zerui had already put away the birthday invitation. He nodded and replied, “Yes.”
He did not tell the truth—that he wanted to meet his grandfather and find out what kind of person he really was. Instead, he lied, “President Jiang is willing to give me a chance to act, and I’m very grateful to her. That’s why I want to celebrate her birthday in person and offer her my best wishes.”
Uncle Ya watched him thoughtfully and continued asking: [Then why didn’t you get an invitation for me too?]
Zhou Zerui looked troubled. “I already said that I’m very grateful to President Jiang. I don’t want her birthday party ruined. Uncle, if you want to avenge my mother by taking revenge on Old Master Qi, you should find another opportunity.”
Uncle Ya said nothing more.
Find another opportunity?
Old Master Qi now rarely ventured outside, and whenever he did, he was surrounded by a group of bodyguards. What opportunity could he possibly find?
Should he wait until Qi Huan and Jiang Youli’s wedding?
That would work too.
It would also give him more time to confirm whether Cheng Xiran’s death had truly been orchestrated by Old Master Qi.
If it had, then no matter how difficult it was, he would never let Old Master Qi off!
After a long while, Uncle Ya finally signed: [I understand. President Jiang treated me, so I won’t repay her kindness with treachery by ruining her birthday party and putting her in a difficult position.]
Zhou Zerui secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Uncle Ya had accepted that explanation. At least it would buy him more time to personally find out from his grandfather whether his mother’s death had anything to do with him.
……
“Youli, the evening gown has already been finished.”
The moment Jiang Youli returned home, Pretty Mom happily came over and took her hand. Excitedly, she led her to the sofa and pointed at the dress resting there.
“Take a look. What do you think?”
Jiang Yehan could not help adding, “While you were away, your mother looked at this evening gown hundreds, thousands of times, just waiting for you to come home and see whether you liked it.”
Jiang Youli lowered her head to look at it. Just as in the design sketches she had seen before, it was a light-blue strapless evening gown with subtly shimmering embroidery. The fabric was all top quality, giving the dress an especially luxurious feel.
Zhang Susu watched Youli somewhat nervously.
After looking it over, Jiang Youli exclaimed without hiding her admiration, “It’s stunning! It looks even better than it did in the design sketches. Mom, you really have an incredible eye for fashion!”
Embarrassed by such straightforward praise, Zhang Susu said shyly, “As long as you like it.”
Jiang Youli sat down beside her and gently stroked the gown. “Mom, I’m definitely going to advertise your work at my birthday party!”
Zhang Susu grew even more self-conscious. “There’s no need. You’re the star of the evening.”
“How are things going with your fashion design studio, Mom?” Jiang Youli asked, turning to her.
“I’ve just chosen a location and taken over the shop,” Zhang Susu replied. “Over the next few days, I’ll find someone to draw up the renovation plans, and then we’ll get started.”
“With your eye for design and your talent, Mom, your studio will never be short of orders. I truly believe that if you keep at it, you can turn it into a new luxury fashion brand,” Jiang Youli said earnestly.
Encouraged and affirmed, Zhang Susu—who had once worried about how long it had been since she had worked in fashion design—gradually began to regain her confidence. “I’ll keep going. After all, I said that from now on, for every formal occasion you attend, I’ll personally design a one-of-a-kind evening gown for you.”
Jiang Yehan put on a pitiful expression. “Susu, are you planning to design menswear too? Why not make me some bespoke outfits in the future?”
Zhang Susu shot him a glare. “Where would I find the time and energy for that?”
Jiang Yehan sighed dramatically and lamented, “Sigh... Now that we have a daughter, I, your husband, have already fallen out of favor.”
Zhang Susu could not help saying, “Why are you becoming more shameless by the day?”
Jiang Yehan immediately replied, “I learned it from our daughter.”
Jiang Youli quickly retorted, “Nonsense! Dad, you’re obviously the secretly flirtatious type. You just stopped hiding it.”
Her words made Zhang Susu burst out laughing. “I can’t be bothered with the two of you.”
Once she had laughed enough, she carefully rehung the evening gown herself and put it away. “I’ll take it out again on the day of your birthday party.”
Jiang Youli blinked and teased, “Yes. I’ll wow everyone all over again when the time comes.”
“Miss, Madam, Sir, dinner is ready,” Auntie Liu called as she came out of the kitchen, smiling warmly at the happy family of three.
Ever since Miss Youli had returned to the Jiang family, the villa—which had once been so cold and quiet—had truly become a different place!
……
After dinner, Jiang Youli went to the medicinal garden to tend to the immortal grass and the other herbs. As soon as she returned to her room, she received a call from Ye Ying.
She had brought back the results of her investigation into Yu Hongtu and his mother.
“Boss, I’ve finished investigating Chairman Yu’s illegitimate son, Yu Hongtu, and his mother. I have the results here.”
Jiang Youli walked over to the window and looked down at the blanket of snow covering the ground below. “Go on.”
Ye Ying said, “Yu Hongtu’s mother, Tan Mengyun, is actually quite an accomplished woman. In her day, she managed to get into a prestigious university. Back then, she was an underprivileged student sponsored by Yu Zhanzhi. She met him at a thank-you reception and quickly caught his eye with her innocent appearance. The biggest stain on her record is that she became Yu Zhanzhi’s mistress and successfully rose to become his wife. Afterward, she remained obedient and never did anything to betray or offend Yu Zhanzhi. In fact, to please him, she even took the initiative to find other young female international students for him.”
At that, Jiang Youli gave a cold laugh. “Yu Hongtu’s mother certainly knows how to endure humiliation. She was even willing to find women for her own husband.”
Ye Ying said, “After all, she had already given birth to a son. As long as she didn’t make any mistakes, her son would be able to inherit Yu Zhanzhi’s assets. Until her son successfully inherited Dafeng Entertainment, she was afraid that even the slightest act of betrayal against Yu Zhanzhi would cause all her efforts to go down the drain. So she did everything she could to keep Yu Zhanzhi happy.”
It seemed Tan Mengyun truly offered no obvious opening, unless Jiang Youli had Ye Ying deliberately set her up.
Jiang Youli asked, “What about Yu Hongtu?”
At that, Ye Ying continued, “Yu Hongtu has an earth-shattering murder case hanging over him.”
