Chapter 60: What Han Cheng Did for Him
“If Han Cheng hadn’t been avenging you, he wouldn’t have worked with Zhuang Da to retaliate against Zhuang Feng. Zhuang Da was a wolf with wild ambitions—once he took over the Zhuang family, he wanted to devour the Han family. Unfortunately, he was too stupid and failed.
Wei Rang, in order to take revenge on Han Cheng, had long planned to go after you. Over the years abroad, Wei Rang made connections with quite a few people in the underworld. If Han Cheng hadn’t been secretly protecting you, you would’ve been caught by Wei Rang long ago and sold overseas, living worse than death.
Ji Xu originally planned to help Han Cheng bring down Wei Rang and deal the Wei family a heavy blow, so that Han Cheng could reconcile with him and get back together.
But Han Cheng rejected Ji Xu for your sake. The Ji family is now very unhappy and is suspending its cooperation with the Han family.
They say beauties bring disaster—who would’ve thought you’d be even more disastrous than a beauty.” Han Li ground her teeth as she spoke up for Han Cheng.
“So Han Cheng has done so much for me. Hearing it from you, Miss Han, I’m actually a little moved. Han Cheng is rich and loves me—such a good man. How could I bear to leave him?” Jiang Yu said, somewhat surprised by Han Li’s words. He had never known that all these things Han Cheng did were connected to him.
Still, Jiang Yu was skeptical and didn’t fully believe her.
“If you don’t leave Han Cheng now, sooner or later he’ll be retaliated against by the three families until he’s penniless. If you cling to him to the end, you’ll end up with nothing.
He’s my only younger brother. I won’t watch him destroy himself—and the Han family—for your sake. Don’t force me to lay a hand on you.” Han Li tossed out the last sentence with disgust and left.
Jiang Yu watched the taillights of Han Li’s car and sighed helplessly. He wanted to leave too—but Han Cheng wouldn’t let him.
He did want to leave, but when he glanced at Aunt Chen, he knew that the moment he stepped out of the villa, Aunt Chen would call Han Cheng, and a so-called “protective” tail would appear behind him.
Not long after Han Li left, Han Cheng’s car screeched to a stop outside. Han Cheng rushed into the house and saw Jiang Yu sitting on the living room sofa, eating strawberries and watching TV, looking completely at ease.
Han Cheng finally relaxed. He sat down beside Jiang Yu, wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him into his embrace, then used his other hand to snatch the half-eaten large strawberry from Jiang Yu and pop it into his mouth. After chewing a few bites, he asked, “Where’s my sister? What did she say to you?”
“She just left. She said you’re being jointly retaliated against by the Zhuang family, the Wei family, and Ji Xu’s family—that you’re about to go bankrupt.
She also said she wants to find you a wife who can help you deal with the three families, told me not to cling to you, and to know my place and leave—otherwise I’d die a miserable death.” Jiang Yu leaned against Han Cheng and tattled.
In TV dramas, it’s usually the male lead’s mother who does this—slapping a check in the heroine’s face, arrogant as if she’s above humanity.
When it came to him, though, it was the sister instead—and a stingy one at that, who didn’t even leave a single cent.
“Don’t listen to my sister’s nonsense. I’m not getting engaged to anyone else. The Zhuang and Wei families have already been severely weakened—they can’t stir up any trouble.
The Ji family has too many cooperative projects intertwined with our Han family. Going after me would be like going after themselves. They won’t fall out with me over a single Ji Xu.
No matter how three ants join forces, they can’t affect a lion. You don’t need to worry about me.”
Jiang Yu put down the strawberry in his hand, looked at Han Cheng, and suddenly asked, “Why did you team up with Zhuang Da to take down Zhuang Feng?”
Han Cheng didn’t answer right away. He smiled faintly. “Why ask that? What did my sister tell you?”
“She said you teamed up with Zhuang Da to bring down Zhuang Feng in order to avenge me,” Jiang Yu asked directly. He didn’t like guessing games.
“Ninety percent of it was because of you.” Han Cheng wrapped both arms around Jiang Yu’s waist, his face darkening. “He wouldn’t give up—he still wanted you. Anyone who dares set their sights on you, I’ll kill.”
Jiang Yu raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t known about this at all—neither Sister Bai nor Han Cheng had mentioned it.
“Only ninety percent? What about the other ten percent?” Jiang Yu asked, clearly displeased.
Damn bastard—even avenging him had to be mixed with something else.
“The other ten percent, of course, was for money. If I don’t earn more, how can I hire bodyguards to keep an eye on you? Otherwise, you’d run off.” Han Cheng said aggrievedly.
“Then what about Wei Rang? Did he really want to catch me and sell me overseas?”
“His desire for revenge is even stronger than mine. Being forced to hide abroad for ten years, he planned for ten years as well.”
“Unfortunately, our country isn’t a place just anyone can get into. All those thugs he met abroad have criminal records—they can’t enter at all.
He was so furious that he wanted to grab you to get back at me, but domestically he had no manpower he could use. The few amateur nobodies he found were caught by the bodyguards protecting you before they even laid eyes on you.
I’ll have to work harder to make more money in the future, so I can give those bodyguards a raise.”
“Then what about Ji Xu? You really had the heart to reject him?”
“I don’t like him. Why would I have trouble rejecting him? Did my sister even tell you about that?”
“What else? If your sister hadn’t told me, how would I know all this?”
“My sister is trying to make you leave me—or maybe she wants you to fall in love with me, so she told you everything I’ve been doing behind the scenes. I actually didn’t want you to know all these worries.
She’s never been very bright since she was little. I didn’t expect her to get even dumber as an adult.
Jiang Yu, my sister and I grew up in the Han family relying on each other. If it weren’t for her protecting me, I might’ve already been killed by those uncles and elders.
She really does want what’s best for me—she just doesn’t think things through and often does stupid things. So can you ignore her bullshit, but not hate her, okay?”
“Is it really that exaggerated? Does your family have a throne to inherit or something? Is it that dangerous just to grow up alive in your family?”
“There’s no throne to inherit, but our money really could buy one. Even now, though I manage the family business, it’s only because my grandfather is still around to keep those uncles and elders in check.
If one day the old man is gone, things in our family will get even more chaotic. That’s why I’ve never made our relationship public. But after Ji Xu stirred things up, everyone in my family already knows you exist.
If you agree, I can make our relationship public right now—let everyone know that you’re the one I want to spend my life with.”
“No need. Things are fine the way they are. I don’t want my private life photographed every day by long lenses and short cannons.”
Back when Han Cheng and Ji Xu made things public, gossip outlets reported on their lives twenty-four hours a day. They were practically one step away from publishing footage of them bathing.
Just thinking about it—yikes, terrifying.
Han Cheng pouted and rested his head on Jiang Yu’s shoulder. “I’ve done so much for you, and you’re not even willing to go public. Have you fallen in love with me at least a little?”
“For my sake, you offended three families. Aren’t you really afraid they’ll gang up on you and retaliate—turn you into a penniless nobody?”
“They can’t possibly unite. Haven’t you heard the saying: there are only eternal interests, no eternal friends?
The reverse is true too. As long as I give them enough benefits, even the Zhuang family and the Wei family will make up with our Han family again and become friends.”
Han Cheng smiled in a very sinister way. Jiang Yu looked at him with disdain. If you cut this man open, his heart would probably be covered in eyes—far too many schemes.
Unhappy with the disdain in Jiang Yu’s eyes, Han Cheng leaned in and smacked a kiss on Jiang Yu’s cheek, then asked, “If I became penniless, would you leave me?”
“I’ve got twenty million. That should be enough to support the two of us.” Jiang Yu had actually thought about this.
“Then I’d better give you more pocket money. If one day I really become penniless, I’ll have to rely on you to keep me.”
Jiang Yu smiled. Even he didn’t know whether he’d really run if Han Cheng truly became penniless.
