Chapter 11 - Fate Can Manifest Itself In Such An Interesting Way (3)
"Did you lose the business card at home?"
Zhong Yi shook her head and said, "No, I had it in the pocket of my uniform. It was gone the next day." She regretted so much not bringing it home with her.
Fang JunRong thought of something. After she had returned, she called up Ning Qing, the owner of White Crane. Ning Qing and her were acquaintances, and she trusted that there would be security cameras in the employee's lounge. The business card couldn't get lost by itself. Perhaps, someone didn't want to see Zhong Yi's luck changed.
Fang JunRong hung up the phone with Ning Qing after promising to take her to lunch someday.
After that, Fang JunRong waited till Sunday's arrival. Both Li WangJin and the kids would be home that day. Fang JunRong took Li XinYun for a makeover early that morning and made her look glamorous and perfect.
She pulled out a ruby necklace that she had purchased a couple of days ago and put it on her daughter. She had been spending a lot of money as of late. Perhaps Li WangJin had a guilty conscience, so as much as he wasn't happy about it, the most he'd do was to prompt that they should save some money for their son to start his business.
Like Fang JunRong cared what he had to say about it.
Li XinYun liked the necklace a lot. Even though she owned a lot of jewelry, a gem this size was still rare. That truly convinced her that her mother loved her the most and also made her able to remain calm and composed when her two new sisters arrived.
Zhong Yi arrived before Jiang YaGe. When Fang JunRong sent someone to pick her up, she also hired a makeup artist to help doll her up. She had on a fuchsia colored ball gown. She looked as glamorous as a peony in her dress and her being in and of itself was a gorgeous scene. It was obvious that she was a little nervous and was gripping onto her dress reflexively.
Obviously, her look wasn't the type that Li WangJin and Li ShiZe father and son duo could appreciate. Especially Li WangJin, he had already frowned deeply.
Fang JunRong, on the other hand, was in a good mood. "Come over, Zhong Yi. This is your younger sister XinYun."
Her voice slowly calmed Zhong Yi's nerves. She walked in front of Li XinYun and said in a somewhat appeasing tone, "XinYun-meimei."*
Li XinYun nicely curved her lips up a little and said, "Jiejie."*
(T/N: Meimei - younger sister and jiejie - older sister)
Li WangJin said indifferently, "Now that you have joined the Li's, you must keep in mind your status. You must lose those bad habits that you have picked up at those shady establishments."
Obviously, he wanted to show who was the boss there.
Zhong Yi turned a little pale but dared not talk back.
Fang JunRong, on the other hand, wasn't happy about it. She said, "I say Zhong Yi looks pretty good. She is pretty like a flower. Just looking at her is pleasing."
Li WangJin said no more but just looked in the direction of the front door. He was obviously waiting for Jiang YaGe to show up.
In his desperate wait, Jiang YaGe finally arrived. She had on a white dress today and even her makeup was that of a young girl, fragile, pure, and attractive. Her lips that were the color of cherry blossoms made her appear especially lovable.
Li WangJin's frown disappeared immediately when he saw Jiang YaGe. His voice couldn't be any more tender, as though he might startle her inadvertently. "YaGe, you are here."
Zhong Yi looked at her in disbelief. She didn't know that her good friend, too, was being adopted by the Li's.
Fang JunRong put on a surprised look at the right time and said, "Oh, hey, it's you."
Li WangJin asked, "JunRong, you have met YaGe before?"
Fang JunRong said in a most cheerful tone, "Oh yes. I met her at White Crane. She was working there alongside Zhong Yi. What a coincidence. Fate can manifest itself in such an interesting way."
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Chapter 12 - Looking at how the scene was unfolding, Li WangJin felt that he'd need some nitroglycerin (1)
Jiang YaGe turned a little pale. She looked over at Li WangJin and Li ShiZe reflexively. She was worried that she'd see a look of disgust on them.
She was so happy when she got the call from Uncle Li. She didn't think someone who was orphaned and being targeted from all directions would have the luck to become the adopted daughter of the Li's. She had seen Uncle Li's picture and knew that he was one of the top wealthiest people in the country. She had further looked him up on the web and learned that Fang JunRong was his wife. She just hadn't expected her to freely point out that she had worked at White Crane the moment that they've met right in front of everyone else.
She couldn't help but feel a sense of grievance. She only worked there for her tuition; not like Zhong Yi at all. Even though she worked at a place like that, she had always taken the precautions to protect herself and not let herself be corrupted. Nor had she ever associated herself with any of the wealthy men outside of work.
Her eyes reddened, and her tears rolled around in them.
Li WangJin had on him a look of disbelief, as though someone had just b*tch slapped him. His well-maintained features twisted on his face, and he had lost all his usual elegance. He had talked down so much on people from the clubs, only to find out that the girl whom he thought of as his own daughter had also worked at a place like that. But YaGe was such an innocent and kind-looking girl!
No. He must believe in YaGe. She was not like the others. She must have her own reasons for doing that.
He took a deep breath and finally was able to sort out his emotions. Before he was able to say anything, Fang JunRong had already beat him to the punch, and her words sounded all so familiar at that.
"What kind of a nice girl would work at a place like that?
"Now that you have joined the Li's, you must keep in mind your status. You must lose those bad habits that you have picked up at those shady establishments."
She remembered what Li WangJin had said clearly, and now she could repeat them word by word.
Jiang YaGe was so hurt by those caustic words that tears rolled down her cheeks right then and there. Her body shook and made her look all the more pitiful.
After Fang JunRong had repeated all of Li WangJin's words from earlier, she finally slowly added, "Oh, that's what your Uncle Li said earlier. I told him he should not have preconceptions about people, but he just wouldn't listen. I trust that you are both good kids. Especially Zhong Yi, she only worked there for her grandmother's medical bills. She's so pure coming out of the place like that."
Li WangJin was completely speechless. He hadn't expected that his wife would just blurt out all of those words right in front of YaGe with no regard. Had he known that YaGe had worked at places like that, he would never have said what he said. Great, YaGe might have misunderstood him now.
"I trust YaGe's character. She must have her reasons."
Jiang YaGe found her voice once again and said, "I... I worked there for my tuition."
Li WangJin let out a sigh of relief. He was just about to praise her when his daughter chimed in.
"For your tuition? You can't even afford to pay for your tuition?"
Jiang YaGe sniffled, looking like she was going to cry again anytime and said, "My uncle and my other relatives had taken away all the money that my parents had left for me."
Li WangJin was angry for her. "Your uncle is such an evil person!"
"Then why didn't you apply for a student loan? Isn't that very easy to get?" said Li XinYun.
Jiang YaGe, "......"
She didn't want others to look at her that way. Never mind a student loan, she didn't even apply for financial aid.
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Chapter 13 - Looking at how the scene was unfolding, Li WangJin felt that he'd need some nitroglycerin (2)
Fang JunRong really wanted to laugh out loud. Li XinYun was her precious daughter after all, getting straight to the point. But judging by the way that Jiang YaGe dressed, it wasn't difficult to see that most of the money that she had made went there. It was obviously that Li WangJin did not buy her the outfit that she was wearing today. Li WangJin was a man. He would not have thought about something like that.
Neither her clothes or her shoes were of the expensive brands, but the entire set probably cost upward of $5,000.
Li XinYun went on, "I thought you get good grades at school. Couldn't you have gotten a scholarship?"
Jiang YaGe, "......"
It was lucky that she even got into this prestigious school, never mind having grades that were good enough for a scholarship.
Fang JunRong smiled slightly and said, "I seem to recall that Zhong Yi has a scholarship?"
Zhong Yi took a look at her good friend and quickly added, "I lucked out and got decent grades." She has been keeping up with her studying every day after work. Plus, she was a pretty smart girl, and her grades had always been pretty good.
Li XinYun took a look at her father. Her voice was slightly accusatory as she said, "Dad, you've always been bragging about YaGe-jiejie's grades in front of me and said that I should learn from her. But she couldn't even get a scholarship. What kind of a cum laude is she? She's not like big brother who gets the top honor every year. Now, that's what I'd call a cum laude."
Li XinYun didn't like Jiang YaGe much as her father had been singing Jiang YaGe's praises in front of her for the last few days. And not just praising Jiang YaGe; he must beat her down to contrast her with Jiang YaGe. She got pretty decent grades at the college entrance examination as well and also got into one of the prominent colleges. What was so bad about her? She was a little happy that she was able to gain back some lost ground today. Plus, over the last few days, she was able to pick up some signs that the relationship between her parents wasn't as good as they were in the past.
And, right at this moment, the person who felt the most awkward, other than Jiang YaGe, was Li WangJin. He couldn't possibly tell his daughter that in his eyes, everything about Jiang YaGe was good.
He took a look at Jiang YaGe and let out a light sigh. Jiang YaGe, after all, wasn't as good as her mother. No matter how much they look alike, they were still two different people.
Looking at the scene unfolding in front of her, Fang JunRong was reminded of her previous life. Jiang YaGe's arrival in her previous life wasn't at all like this. Li WangJin raved about her, and her BBQ-pork son grew fond of her; the setting was quite harmonious.
She lifted the corners of her mouth a little and said, "Alright, the two kids had just got here. I know that you want to teach them what's right and what's wrong, but there's no rush. I know that you are blunt and you only had their best interest in mind when you say those hurtful words. But we don't want them to have a misconception about you now."
Hearing that, Li WangJin almost puked out blood. How did she make it sound like it was all his fault? He felt stifled but couldn't find the right words to talk back, so he could do nothing but to sit down in dismay.
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Chapter 14 - Looking at how the scene was unfolding, Li WangJin felt that he'd need some nitroglycerin (3)
Fang JunRong put on her impeccable smile and was very articulate. She was able to quickly relax the both nervous Zhong Yi and Jiang YaGe. She further told them where their rooms would be and have their servants bring their suitcases into their respective rooms. Both Jiang YaGe and Zhong Yi's rooms were on the first floor, quite a distance from Li ShiZe's.
She didn't know what going through Li WangJin's head in her previous life. He insisted that Jiang YaGe take the room next to Li ShiZe's. She heard that Jiang YaGe had inadvertently walked into Li ShiZe's room. Well, she didn't think Jiang YaGe would be able to make that mistake again during this lifetime.
After dinner, Fang JunRong pulled out the gifts that she had prepared ahead of time. As for Li WangJin, he probably didn't even think about it.
"I have some welcoming gifts for the two of you."
What she had prepared for Zhong Yi was a set of gold jewellery. After all, Zhong Yi was the one who was more strapped for money. Gold has always been the acceptable currency. This set that she was gifting her cost at least $300,000. As she was expensing it on the company's book, she didn't feel a thing spending that kind of money.
As Jiang YeGe looked at the magnificent set of gold jewelries, Jiang YaGe's eyes were filled with anticipation. She saw Fang JunRong handed her a box the next second. She accepted the box and noticed that it was very light in weight.
Eh. So light. This couldn't be jewelry then.
She opened it up and saw a painting. Jiang YaGe wasn't familiar with paintings, so she couldn't tell who's work it was, nor did she know how much it was worth.
"That's ..." Li WangJin almost stopped breathing for a second there. His hands were trembling.
Fang JunRong smiled and said, "Isn't this the work of Xu FangWeng? I like YaGe a lot, so I want her to have this. Haven't you mentioned before that YaGe doesn't care about those common items? I felt that jewelries are too common, so I thought about it some and thought this would make a good gift for her."
She had already had someone appraised it and confirmed that this was a fake. Hoho. It'd be too wasteful to keep it herself, so she might as well recycle it and give it to Jiang YaGe. From now on, she'd gift Jiang YaGe some of the imitation goods every year on her birthday. She might as well recycle and declutter.
Jiang YaGe had, indeed, heard of Xu FangWeng. This meant that this was very valuable. She was worried that Fang JunRong didn't like her much, but she felt much better after receiving this gift. This painting was probably more valuable than that jewelry set. No work of Xu FangWeng would go for below $500,000.
"Thank you, Aunty. I like this gift a lot, and I will always treasure it."
Fang JunRong put on her perfect performance and said, "Why are you still calling me 'Aunty'? You should be calling me 'Mom'."
"Mom."
Jiang YaGe lowered her head. She looked a little shy, and her innocent face was filled with happiness. Her eyes sparkled like stars in the sky and made her look even more attractive.
Li ShiZe, who had been quiet the entire night was a little enthralled. Even though Jiang YaGe wasn't the prettiest girl he had ever seen and was at most decent, there was something special about her when she smiled. But, remembering that Jiang YaGe didn't even know to apply for financial aid, he couldn't help but also associate the label of idiot with her.
Looking at how the scene was unfolding, Li WangJin felt that he'd need some nitroglycerin. He wanted to stop it from happening, but he couldn't come up with a good enough reason. He had no choice but to watch on as Jiang YaGe carefully put away the box in a cherish way.
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Chapter 15 - The Title Of The Book Was – "The Doted on and Fortunate Wife of a Prestigious Family" (1)
For families like the Li's, adopting daughters wouldn't be just the family having dinner together. They'd pick a time, hold a banquet and officially introduce the two of them to the others. As for the timing of this event, they'd really need to give it some thought.
It was late at night when Fang JunRong returned to her own bedroom. Ever since her re-birth, she could no longer stand staying in the same room as Li WangJin. Their mansion was quite big anyway and has many rooms. All Fang JunRong needed to do was to clean out a room and move into it.
Of course, she also made up some lackadaisical excuse that she hasn't been feeling well lately, so she hired some fengshui master to check on her. She was told that the original room wasn't good for her health. Li WangJin didn't think too much about it and that's how the two ended up in different bedrooms.
She used to enjoy having a small glass of wine before bed. She had since lost that habit since her re-birth. In her previous life, someone had added drugs in her wine that caused her to have bad temperament. For a while there, she had a very quick temper and would snap for no reasons all the time.
In her previous life, she was truly surrounded by enemies from all directions.
Thinking about it for a while, Fang JunRong laid down in bed and got ready to go to sleep. She didn't forget to lock the door from the inside, however. She wasn't sure whether it was a figment of her imagination, but the moment she closed her eyes, she seemed to have seen a slight green glow that bubbled up then quickly disappeared.
***
Fang JunRong knew that she was dreaming. Oddly, she had dreamt before, but in none of them she felt as awake as she was right now. She noticed that she was standing on top of a mountain. The mountain was so tall it reached into the clouds. She was surrounded by the clouds, and it felt like she was in some fantasy land.
She had never been here before and had no idea why she'd dream about it, but most dreams were not logical. It wasn't a big deal dreaming about a mountain that she had never seen before.
She saw a stone tablet not too far away from her. The tablet seemed to be glowing and looked very unusual.
Perhaps because it was a dream, Fang JunRong was braver than usual and walked directly toward the tablet. The language on the tablet wasn't one that she recognized; it all seemed very metaphysical. Nonetheless, when she reached out to touch the tablet, it seemed to have translated for her right away, and she could understand what was written on it all of a sudden.
11 gram of duruo (East Asian pollia), 100 gram of yunyingcao...
Eh? That looked like a prescription. Okay, she had heard of duruo, but she didn't think she had ever heard of anything called yunyingcao. Out of curiosity, Fang JunRong still tried very hard to commit the prescription to her memory.
Even so, she was only able to read the top two of the prescriptions. The rest of the content on the tablet might as well have matrix over it, and she wasn't able to make out anything from them. There was a book carved on the upper right-hand corner of the tablet. More surprisingly, the book was flipping through the pages automatically. It was not scientific that a carved book could be animated.
But, since it was a dream, nothing needed to be logical at all.
After her initial shock, Fang JunRong quickly recollected herself and felt that she had no problem with the logic at all. A dream was a dream.
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Translator's Note: Chapter part 15 to 17 covers the background of the book where Jiang YaGe was the female lead, and it had a little bit of metaphysical element in it, but the faceslapping shall resume after this background introduction. =)