Volume One, Chapter 19: News of Mother

“Done!”
“Miss Huang signed the contract with me on the spot.”
Jiang Wan excitedly waved the document right in front of Chu Lingtian’s eyes.
Even now, it felt like a dream to her.
“My wife is amazing!” Chu Lingtian sincerely congratulated her.
He glanced briefly at the contract. The water park construction project in New World City was worth over thirty billion yuan. Although it was only about one-tenth of the entire New World City project, it was already a major project for Jiang Wan.
“Thank you. If it weren’t for your encouragement, I wouldn’t have dared to come.”
Jiang Wan stuck out her tongue playfully and linked her arm with Chu Lingtian’s. “Dinner’s on me!”
The two walked away hand in hand, intimately close.
“What a perfect match of a shameless woman and a scoundrel, bound to last forever.”
From a short distance away, Jiang Wenwen watched the scene and snorted disdainfully.
One was damaged, the other rotten, yet they truly ended up together.
She suggested locking them away permanently so they wouldn’t harm anyone else.
“Wait.”
“Wasn’t the contract Jiang Wan held just now the water park project?”
Suddenly, Jiang Wenwen realized that the contract in Jiang Wan’s hands was the one she had been preparing to sign.
“Manager Zhang, Manager Zhang!”
They spotted Zhang Chao coming down the stairs and quickly stopped him. “Manager Zhang, we’re here to sign the New World project contract today.”
“It’s already signed and sent out. You can go back now.” Zhang Chao didn’t even glance at them. He got into the car at the door and was about to leave.
The young lady had just assigned him an important task, which he needed to confirm.
“Manager Zhang, what’s going on?”
Secretary Lin frowned and held the car door to prevent Zhang Chao from leaving.
“Let go!”
Zhang Chao frowned and gave the man a cold glare.
The sharp look made Secretary Lin shudder, feeling a trace of fear.
After all, he often accompanied the city mayor and frequented high-end venues; he had seen all kinds of situations. But Zhang Chao’s gaze just now genuinely frightened him.
He shrank his neck. “Manager Zhang…”
Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Chao slammed the car door shut and left without a second thought.
He completely disregarded him.
“Dad, what’s going on?” Lin Shaodong asked in confusion.
“Since the contract is signed and it’s all under the Jiang family, it doesn’t make much difference,” Secretary Lin said. “Maybe when I have time, I’ll ask Manager Zhang about it.”
But now was definitely not the time. The other party clearly had urgent matters; delaying them would be disastrous.
After all, he was just the city mayor’s secretary.
When shown respect, he was Lin Chu; when not, he was just a bespectacled nobody.
“How can it be the same?”
Jiang Wenwen was furious. Although the contracts were all under the Jiang family, if the credit went to Jiang Wan, then all the glory would belong to her.
Seeing that Uncle Lin didn’t want to push the matter further, she didn’t dare to press on.
She planned to go home and inform her father about this first.

On the way home, Lin Shaodong accompanied her, and the more she thought about it, the more confused she became. How did the contract end up signed by Jiang Wan when Huang Yancheng had never met her before?
“Maybe President Huang mistook her for someone else?” Lin Shaodong offered.
“Huh?” Jiang Wenwen was initially puzzled.
Then Lin Shaodong explained, “I already spoke with Zheng Shao about this project. At President Huang’s place, the water park is only one-tenth of the entire project, nothing significant. She probably didn’t look over it carefully, just saw it was a woman from the Jiang family and signed it.”
“Yes! That’s the only explanation!” Jiang Wenwen suddenly understood.
Jiang Wen and Jiang Wan—without careful attention, it was easy to mix up their names.
“Jiang Wan left looking so happy, it’s really infuriating!”
Recalling how Jiang Wan had left, practically jumping with joy, filled Jiang Wenwen with disgust.
“This is easy to fix. No need to ask President Huang anymore. Just have Jiang Wan hand over the contract.”
“We’re almost home. I’ll talk to Grandpa and Dad right away.”

Meanwhile, on the other side, Jiang Wan had taken Chu Lingtian out for a feast.
They went for a buffet, and Jiang Wan piled her plate high with food. Since she could remember, she had hardly ever been so indulgent.
Today, she just wanted to feast without restraint.
But with her small appetite, she only nibbled a little of each dish and gave the rest to Chu Lingtian.
Chu Lingtian looked helpless.
“You’re like a starving ghost reincarnated, never seen food before.”
“Not willing to take any loss, just wanting to freeload.”
“I’ve seen plenty of poor freeloaders like this.”
Their remarks invited strange looks and whispers from those around.
Chu Lingtian glared fiercely in return.
“Are you talking about your mother? Eating your family’s rice?”
“If you keep mouthing off, I’ll tear your mouth apart!”

“Wife, I have to go handle something. Eat on your own first.”
Chu Lingtian took out his phone and saw a message from Huang Yancheng, his expression instantly turning serious.
The message was brief: “Young master, come here. There is news about your mother.”
Yesterday, he had asked Huang Yancheng to send someone to search, and today there was already news.
The speed was astonishing.
Not long after Chu Lingtian left, Jiang Wan received a call from her father, Jiang Limin.
“Jiang Wan, come back immediately! Right now!”
Although she had previously said she wanted to sever ties with the Jiang family, her father’s serious tone left her no room to resist.
She simply replied that she was on her way.

She had wanted to tell Chu Lingtian but couldn’t get through, so she went alone.

Soon after, Chu Lingtian arrived at the top floor of the Golden Star Building.
“Young master, have some tea first.”
Chu Lingtian sat down, and Huang Yancheng, like a servant, immediately brought tea and poured it for him.
“You said you found news about my mother. Tell me now.”
Chu Lingtian didn’t waste time and got straight to the point.
“This person.”
Huang Yancheng took out a photo.
It showed a middle-aged woman dressed plainly. Though time had left its marks on her face, the wrinkles around her eyes lent her an air of composure and elegance.
“Her name is Zhu Cuihua... she was originally called Chu Ping. After more than a dozen name and household registration changes, she now goes by Zhu Cuihua,” Huang Yancheng explained.
“So many changes?” Chu Lingtian frowned.
He recalled that when he was in prison, he had used the Tianji Sect’s information channels several times but never found his biological parents.
If that was the case, how had Huang Yancheng managed to find her in such a short time?
“She is Xu Zhiguo’s wife from the Xu family. When I first came to Jiangnan, I attended a government-organized business forum. Xu Zhiguo appeared there, and Zhu Cuihua was by his side. I saw her once,” Huang Yancheng said.
This was why Huang Yancheng found the photo familiar when Chu Lingtian showed it the other day.
“Young master, if I’m not mistaken, this person is your mother.”
“Probably.”
Chu Lingtian was almost certain.
From the woman’s appearance, they bore a resemblance.
“She is Xu Zhiguo’s wife. Since she’s in Jiangnan...”
“Why hasn’t she come to see me all these years?”
A flicker of anger rose in Chu Lingtian’s heart.
Jiangnan wasn’t far from Donghai; if she wanted, she could have visited every day.
Yet in all these decades, she hadn’t even seen him once.
How cruel could she be as a mother?
“Young master, perhaps she has her reasons?”
Huang Yancheng seemed to sense Chu Lingtian’s doubts and said, “Zhu Cuihua has never appeared in public. If it weren’t for the last forum, where government required spouses to attend, I might never have seen her.”
“She doesn’t even show her face in the Xu family. Maybe there’s some unspeakable secret?” Huang Yancheng speculated.
“Perhaps. We’ll only know when we meet her...”
“Prepare the car.”
Chu Lingtian said.
He was going there now.
Just as the car was ready, he received a call from Li Siru.
“Son-in-law, please come to the Jiang family quickly.”
“Wanwan’s condition is serious...”