Chapter 53 — Family Background

Although she seemed to be laughing at his expense, the fact that she had taken the initiative to joke with him made him very happy. Everything that was going on with the Qin family had inevitably dragged down his mood, but now he was feeling much better.

Compared to the happiness he had now, what did the Qin family count for? They weren’t worth his attention.

“Yanyi, were you able to find out who the culprit is?” he awkwardly changed the subject.

He was rather skeptical about the culprit. It couldn’t be that nominal father of his, but what about the other members of the Qin family?

“Old man Qin will be dying soon, so Qin Zhenyi and his three brothers are fighting to be the next head.” Su Yanyi was quite familiar with the happenings in the Qin family. After all, power struggles were not uncommon in prestigious families.

And as for her addressing Qin Zhenyi by name, that was a decision she had made based on how Qin Jiran viewed the Qin family. Her family was of great importance to her, but as far as she was concerned, even though they shared blood ties, the Qin family was not worthy of Qin Jiran. Therefore, there was naturally no need for her to respect them as in-laws.

Over the past few days, Mother and Father Su had been doing some investigating and dug up the reason why Qin Jiran had been put into an orphanage.

His mother hadn’t known that she was carrying Qin Zhenyi’s illegitimate child. She was a beautiful but simple-minded college student. Although at the time Qin Zhenyi was already engaged, he still fell for Qin Jiran’s mother, and the two had quickly tangled. When she was pregnant, Qin Zhenyi had married his fiancee and kept Qin Jiran’s mother as a mistress.

In the beginning, Qin Jiran’s mother was oblivious and hadn’t even known Qin Zhenyi’s real identity. Back then, it was hard for an unmarried woman to support a child. When she found out about her pregnancy, she’d talked with Qin Zhenyi about marriage, only to learn that he had already married someone else. She was so sad that she had almost committed suicide, but for the child in her stomach, she’d held on until he was born. Unfortunately, the childbirth was what had killed her.

In other words, Qin Jiran had been born without a mother, while his paternal family was less than happy about his existence. Without so much as a glance at him, they had instructed their housekeeper to take him to an orphanage. Very few people in the Qin family knew about this—as a matter of fact, not even Qin Zhenyi’s wife was aware.

Qin Jiran was over ten years old when he found out, and it was the dean of the orphanage who told him. After all, the Qin family was very well-known, and the housekeeper had specifically told him to take good care of Qin Jiran, handing over a large sum of money for child support before leaving.

By then, Qin Jiran had passed the confusion period, and the desire to find his parents had already been extinguished. After learning about his background, he’d reacted calmly without bothering to pay any heed to it.

“It has nothing to do with me.” Whether it was in the past or now, the Qin family had nothing to do with him.

“The Wang family also played a part. They conspired with Qin Zhenren to strike at Qin Zhenyi, which is why your background was exposed. The Wang family is feeling restless, huh.” When she talked about that senseless Wang family, she spoke with a cold and irritated tone of voice.

Their company was on the verge of bankruptcy, and yet they were still thinking about drawing Qin Jiran’s attention. Su Yanyi didn’t know if she should call them ignorant or foolish.

“I have some information on the Wang family that might come in useful,” he said, despite knowing that Su family had most likely dug up more information than he had.

Su Yanyi’s eyes shone with admiration, as the man had thought similarly to her.

“Give it to Kang Zhong, let him sort through the information. We will use it soon.”

Su Yanyi and Su Yanmo had begun to covertly acquire shares in the various companies under the Wang family. Companies that had potential would be acquired, but those that didn’t would be completely destroyed as to not leave any benefit behind for the Wang family.

“Good.” The Wangs had caused him trouble so many times already that it wouldn’t be right if he didn’t reciprocate.

....

For the next few days, every major newspaper focused on Qin Jiran’s family background, but thanks to The Dragon’s Emissary and the support of the Su family’s connections, the public opinion never once turned from Qin Jiran’s side.

Although both Wang Media and Tiansheng Media tried their best to splash dirty water on Qin Jiran, the results only backfired on them. When the main instigators, Wang Zhilin and Wang Pinde, learned about what was going on, they were so angry that they started to smash things. Wang Zhilin was especially mad.

historical

And speaking of Wang Zhilin, just what was she thinking? She claimed to like Qin Jiran, but everything she had done so far was an attempt to damage his reputation.

Off to the side, Wang Zhiruo sneered, “Did you really think Qin Jiran would leave Su Yanyi after he finds out about his birth family? Little sister, I don’t mean to look down on you, but why are you so naive? Even if those two are acting, you can’t separate them with petty tricks like this. You know what I think? That man likes Su Yanyi very much, whereas you.. tut-tut, I’m afraid you’re not even worth a glance.”

The two sisters were pretty close in age. They had grown up competing against each other and were not close at all. Last time, Wang Zhilin had laughed at Wang Zhiruo for getting divorced. Now there was an opportunity for her to retaliate, so why wouldn’t she?

Wang Zhilin’s face reddened with humiliation. She believed that Qin Jiran was only with Su Yanyi for her money, so if she had acted faster, the man would’ve been hers. That was why she had tried everything she could think of to break them apart. She’d never thought she would go for wool and come home shorn1, making a fool of herself in front of her older sister.

“Look at yourself. At least I didn’t get abandoned after a marriage,” Wang Zhilin retorted mercilessly. She didn’t think she was doing any worse than Wang Zhiruo, who turned blue in the face and gave a cold harrumph.

“Enough. Look at the situation we’re in, have you both forgotten what our goal is? That man is not our target, the Su family is! Can’t you stop letting me down? Don’t always make such a mess!” Wang Pinde snapped. The entire family sunk into a moment of silence.

Ironically, they were here trying to scheme against others, completely oblivious to the fact that they themselves had already become the other party’s meal, that they were slowly being cooked over a fire, and that before long.. they would be consumed.