A Broken Mirror Never Mends - Chapter 14

Rewind five hours.

After checking out of the hotel early in the morning, Shi Tian had a preliminary meeting with his lawyer. Once the meeting ended, he had Assistant Chen drive him back to Dijing Manor.

As the car reached the entrance of the neighborhood—built to look like the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in France—Assistant Chen heard President Shi say from the back seat, “Stop here. I’ll walk the rest of the way.”

Although he was a bit worried about letting President Shi see Ji Yuanlin again, this was the man’s own home, after all, so he couldn’t say much.

Unlocking the doors, he watched Shi Tian get out. As the door closed, he leaned out the window and shouted, “I’ll go get the car washed then. Call me anytime if you need something, President Shi!”

Holding his suit jacket, Shi Tian gave a cool wave with his back turned, signaling that he understood.

Watching his Audi disappear around the corner, Shi Tian stood still for a moment. Then, he walked to a vending machine and bought a can of ice-cold Coke. Leaning against a railing, he watched the traffic and drank every last drop.

He had sent Assistant Chen away because he just wanted some peace and quiet.

Since returning to the country two days ago, he had spent a full day being questioned by authorities, followed by an all-night emergency meeting at a hotel with finance executives, and then a meeting with his lawyer at dawn. He had been meeting and talking to different people constantly, keeping his brain running at high speed. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t exhausted.

In the past, when he returned home after a long day of work, Ji Yuanlin would cook for him, making his favorite lychee and rock sugar water. After eating, they would curl up on the sofa and play PS5. He was always the one to fall asleep first on Ji Yuanlin’s shoulder, and Ji Yuanlin would cover him with a blanket and carry him to the big bed in the bedroom.

Suddenly remembering the past with Ji Yuanlin made Shi Tian’s eyelid twitch. He crushed the empty soda can and tossed it in a perfect arc into a trash can two meters away.

Thinking of that man right now… how unlucky.

Dijing Manor was massive; the golf course alone took up half the hillside. The people living here were all wealthy or powerful. Usually, they drove luxury cars up the hill; very few people walked.

After walking for thirty minutes under the scorching sun along the Nordic-style pedestrian path, Shi Tian finally saw his villa in the distance.

Two large trucks were parked in front of the garage with “Shengde Moving Company” written on them. As he got closer, he saw several movers carrying boxes out of the house and into the trucks.

Shi Tian instinctively reached into his pocket and remembered that Ji Yuanlin had taken his key card and house keys back in the Maldives. He couldn’t even get into his own home.

“…Xiao Shi?”

A familiar female voice came from behind. Shi Tian turned around and saw the housekeeper.

The woman stood at the garden gate, looking at his back uncertainly. “Mr. Shi, why are you back?”

He noticed she was dressed in street clothes and holding a suitcase, looking like she was about to leave.

“Auntie Lin,” Shi Tian pointed at the trucks. “What is this—”

“Xiao Shi, I couldn’t reach you by phone. I thought something had happened.” With wrinkles deepening at the corners of her eyes, Auntie Lin walked up to her employer, her eyes full of worry. “Xiao Ji came by yesterday. He said this house is being seized by the court and planned to take some things that aren’t on the seizure list. He gave me some money and told me to go back to my hometown and not come back.”

“I asked Mr. Ji where you were, and he said you were busy abroad and wouldn’t be back soon.” At this point, Auntie Lin frowned deeply. “I thought that couldn’t be right. Xiao Shi is usually so thoughtful. Even if he isn’t coming home for dinner, he calls to tell me not to wait. Why wouldn’t he tell me something this important?”

Looking at the confusion in the eyes of the woman who had cared for him for years, Shi Tian was momentarily speechless.

He reached out to take her suitcase and smiled, keeping his tone as normal as possible. “The company is having some trouble, so we’ll probably stay somewhere else for a while. Go back and spend time with your family first. Once we’re settled, I’ll hire you back.”

He didn’t plan on telling her the truth.

Auntie Lin had always treated him and Ji Yuanlin like her own sons; she’d worry even if they just had a cough. How could he tell her that his eight-year relationship with Ji Yuanlin was a complete joke?

He had planned to call Assistant Chen to see if he could drive Auntie Lin back to her hometown. But when he picked up his phone, he remembered that, strictly speaking, Assistant Chen was no longer his employee. He couldn’t just order him around whenever he wanted.

Xiao Chen had been running around with him these past few days not for the money, but entirely out of past loyalty.

Shi Tian put his phone away, his smile turning a bit bitter. “With all this stuff, Auntie Lin, let me call a car for you.”

“Oh, no need,” Auntie Lin waved her hand quickly. “Go on with your work, Xiao Shi. My son and his family are driving into the city to pick me up. They’ll be here any minute!”

Despite that, Shi Tian waited at the villa gate until Auntie Lin’s son drove into the neighborhood.

Before leaving, Auntie Lin’s little grandson jumped out of the car and stuffed a few large oranges into Shi Tian’s hands. His eyes curved like crescents. “Uncle Shi, Mommy told me to give these to you. Thank you for taking care of my Grandma!”

He and Ji Yuanlin had indeed treated the housekeeper and workers well. They paid Auntie Lin a salary much higher than the average. She sent a little home every month, and within a few years, her children were able to build a house and buy a car in their village.

Seeing the Lin family waving to him from the car windows with simple, honest smiles, Shi Tian smiled and waved back.

After seeing them off, Shi Tian clutched the oranges and left the villa gate without looking back.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to look back; he didn’t dare.

He was afraid that if he stopped to look, he’d find that behind him wasn’t some grand story of love and loss, but just a mess of broken pieces.

Walking back down the hill, Shi Tian planned out his schedule for the next few days.

Although Fengyu was currently suffering from internal power struggles, the production lines and supply chain hadn’t stopped. Sales from distributors had dropped due to the negative news, but they were still maintaining normal supply levels.

Ji Yuanlin knew very well that no matter how much the company was weakened by internal fighting, it couldn’t affect the distribution of products. This was the foundation of Fengyu’s survival.

Since he controlled the board of directors, Ji Yuanlin’s ultimate goal wasn’t to destroy Fengyu, but to push all the blame onto Shi Tian and then kick him out of the company legitimately.

Therefore, to minimize the company’s losses, Ji Yuanlin would definitely choose a quick resolution. He would either clear his own name before the authorities investigated deeply, or he would start a lawsuit immediately to send Shi Tian to court as a scapegoat.

In his conversation with the lawyer this morning, the lawyer mentioned one point: the most likely thing Ji Yuanlin would do next was pay the massive fines involved in the dispute before the Bureau of Industry and Commerce investigated further. This would turn his passive position into an active one.

Once the fines were paid, all the pressure would fall on Shi Tian, who was in charge of the company’s investments and financing. As Chairman of the Board, Ji Yuanlin would have every reason to call an emergency meeting to replace the CEO.

If Ji Yuanlin was fast enough to “sacrifice a relative for justice” and show Baolong Electric that Fengyu was sincere, that 100-million-yuan deal might not even fall through.

He had to admit, every step Ji Yuanlin took was carefully thought out to catch him off guard.

What he needed to do now was first prepare all the legal procedures for the lawsuit, and second, find the loophole in Ji Yuanlin’s plan as quickly as possible.

He couldn’t file for divorce at this stage. Once the divorce process started and their assets were split, given that he was facing a lawsuit, the majority of the funds would definitely be seized by Ji Yuanlin.

Finding a large tree by the road to rest in the shade, Shi Tian squatted down and began counting seriously on his fingers.

Fines, compensation, plus bank interest—he planned to roughly calculate the cash flow going out at this stage.

“One, two, three, four, five—”

“…”

Staring at his curled fingers, Shi Tian slowly squinted under the shade of the tree.

“I’m bankrupt.”

Sitting in a crowded Sichuan restaurant, Shi Tian decided to be honest with his assistant. He held up six fingers toward the bubbling hot pot in front of him. “Based on a rough calculation, I’ll need to pay at least this much before the court date.”

Assistant Chen asked, “Six million?”

Shi Tian shook his head solemnly.

Struggling to swallow a piece of tripe, Assistant Chen’s eyes widened. “Sixty million?”

Shi Tian looked at him with pity.

“…It can’t be—”

Shi Tian: “Six hundred million.”

Assistant Chen choked on the tripe and quickly gulped down a glass of orange juice.

Seeing his watery eyes, President Shi quickly handed him a folded napkin and told him to put it on his lap so he wouldn’t get his clothes dirty.

President Shi had let him choose this Sichuan restaurant today. Usually, when booking for his boss, he would choose high-end restaurants that fit the boss’s taste. This was the first time President Shi asked to be taken out for a meal.

President Shi said to eat somewhere cheap and good, but mostly cheap.

He had searched on an app for a long time and found this place where the average was 200 yuan per person, asking President Shi if it was okay.

President Shi’s expression had looked a bit strained, but he came along anyway.

“It’s not all coming out of my account; Ji Yuanlin has to take at least thirty percent of the responsibility,” Shi Tian said, scooping some duck blood curd. Finding it delicious, he took another scoop. “But I’m worried his little lover will whisper in his ear and make him take the money from our joint trust fund.”

“By the way,” he remembered something and couldn’t help but ask, “that kid, his name is Cheng Xi, right? What exactly is his background?”

Assistant Chen looked up from his bowl and noticed that President Shi’s expression hadn’t changed, as if he were talking about someone completely irrelevant.

After thinking about it, he replied, “He’s a somewhat famous model. I heard he won first place in a beauty ranking for male celebrities on some platform. He has a lot of female fans online. He’s modeled for several clothing brands and recently got an endorsement with Danofe—”

At this point, Assistant Chen paused, a realization dawning on his face. “Wait, President Shi, did you forget? A while ago, he was in a scandal with that President Zhou from Danofe. I was wondering at the time how this kid was hooking up with rich people everywhere!”

He was about to continue, but then he remembered that he had been one of the “accomplices” who helped President Ji hide the affair. He immediately lowered his head and started eating vigorously, not daring to look President Shi in the eye.

Hearing this, President Shi frowned as if lost in thought.

After a while, he spoke seriously. “Xiao Chen.”

“Do you think this Cheng Xi,” Shi Tian paused, “could be a professional ‘pig-butcher’ scammer?”

“…What pig?”

“According to Lao Cui, the reason Ji Yuanlin turned against me is likely because of this person’s involvement.” Shi Tian tapped the table with his chopsticks. “Although I know Ji Yuanlin well enough to know he isn’t that stupid, when it comes to money, you never know.”

After all, love can easily cloud one’s judgment. Back when Ji Yuanlin was trying to win him over, he would do just about anything.

“For example, if you actively hook up with a wealthy married person, wanting him to turn against his spouse and split the assets so you can profit. After using him and getting the money, what would your next step be?”

Assistant Chen asked blankly, “What?”

“Target a bigger pig.”

Shi Tian picked up a piece of meat.

After hearing the example, Assistant Chen finally understood.

In other words, Cheng Xi’s appetite might be even larger. Not only did he want money from President Ji, but he was also targeting the legendary bachelor from Danofe?

However, the man from Danofe was President Shi’s old rival. If he really got scammed by a young model, President Shi would probably wake up laughing from his dreams.

Unexpectedly, President Shi checked his phone for a bit and then suddenly stood up. “Look at this.”

Taking the phone, the assistant saw a piece of entertainment gossip President Shi had just found. Just this morning, a marketing account photographed Taikoo Entertainment’s van driving into the Danofe headquarters building. A man dressed as a secretary personally came downstairs to welcome a masked Cheng Xi inside.

“Help me find Danofe’s front desk number.” Shi Tian’s gaze darkened. “Quick.”

Ten minutes later.

After being transferred twice, the call finally reached the line of the Danofe CEO himself.

The call connected. As soon as a cold male voice sounded from the receiver, President Shi pushed the phone forward and mouthed to him: You do it.

Assistant Chen: “?”

Worried the man on the other side would hang up out of impatience, Assistant Chen gave a brief self-introduction. He took a deep breath and quickly explained Shi Tian’s suspicions. Essentially, he told the man that what recently happened at Fengyu might be related to Cheng Xi. He suggested that this person might be an expert at scamming rich people for money and warned the man to be careful.

After hearing this, the man on the other end actually let out a short laugh.

“Thanks.”

His tone was indifferent. “However, this is my private business. Are you and your boss interfering a bit too much?”

Assistant Chen was at a loss for words. “Well…”

Shi Tian mocked from the side, “Tell him there’s a time and place for being led by your junk.”

Assistant Chen winced and repeated Shi Tian’s words exactly. “Mr. Zhou, President Shi asked me to tell you… there’s, um, a time and place for being led by your junk.”

After being scolded by Shi Tian, the man went silent, his emotions hard to read.

After a moment, Zhou Sifu spoke calmly over the phone, “As for me, I don’t care about being scammed. If I really like someone, I’d give them my salary card to manage.”

Shi Tian stood there with a dark face and said coldly, “If he doesn’t believe it, forget it. Let him do what he wants.”

Zhou Sifu raised his voice slightly and said composedly, “That’s why I like people with good tempers who are considerate.”

Shi Tian snatched the phone back and hung up with a loud click.

After hanging up, Shi Tian sat back down and dumped a whole bowl of tofu pudding into the spicy pot in front of him.

He thought angrily to himself that he must be crazy, worrying about that idiot when he couldn’t even save himself.

He had called out of kindness as a warning to keep the man from being scammed, but the man’s attitude was still so punchable.

Seeing President Shi change his mood faster than flipping a page in a book, Assistant Chen spoke tentatively, “President Shi—”

“Stop with the ‘President Shi’ stuff,” Shi Tian put down his chopsticks and stared at him expressionlessly. “Call me ‘Brother’.”

Assistant Chen thought to himself: It’s over. He’s still furious.

Shi Tian never expected his stomach to be so fragile. After just one hot pot meal and two days of takeout with Assistant Chen, his stomach began to feel uncomfortable.

He took stomach medicine for two days. Before he could lie down and rest, he ran into another difficult situation.

Before returning to the country, he had Assistant Chen take the remaining four million in cash from the safe and put it in five different properties in batches. These apartments were all unfinished units in new developments in the city. He had been cautious enough before the wedding not to put both his and Ji Yuanlin’s names on the deeds.

However, after just one week, one of the apartments was broken into by a gang of thieves in the middle of the night. The 600,000 yuan kept there was taken, leaving nothing behind.

After he had Assistant Chen report it to the police, he heard that the thieves were professionals who targeted high-end developments in the city. It was likely that Assistant Chen had been spotted when he was moving the cash.

This meant the remaining locations were no longer safe.

In the end, the remaining three million in cash went back into the trunk of the Audi.

During the day, Shi Tian ran between the bank, the law firm, and the Bureau of Industry and Commerce. Assistant Chen stayed in the car guarding the cash. At night, Assistant Chen went home to rest, and Shi Tian simply slept in the back seat, tossing and turning until dawn.

He chose not to deposit the money in the bank or move it to his parents’ or friends’ accounts. Once the lawsuit with Ji Yuanlin started, it was uncertain who that money would belong to.

After three days of this, dark circles appeared under Shi Tian’s eyes.

That evening, after checking out of the hotel, Shi Tian gave Assistant Chen an address—No. 208 Youtang Lane, Xiangye Alley.

Assistant Chen checked the navigation and found that Xiangye Alley was a street in the old town scheduled for demolition. Both sides of the street were packed with residential buildings that were decades old.

On the way to the old town, Assistant Chen couldn’t help but ask, “Brother Shi, why are we going there?”

“I have an acquaintance who lives there,” Shi Tian replied with his eyes closed while resting in the passenger seat. “I rented a room there for a few years during college. The landlady was a few years older than us and was very good to us. Three years ago, her family had a dispute over the inheritance, and her relatives tried to steal the house. I had some extra money, so I bought the house for her.”

Assistant Chen keenly caught the word “us.”

Who was President Shi referring to?

“I’ve been thinking about it. Since the money isn’t safe elsewhere, I might as well take it there first,” Shi Tian continued. “She said before that her home is my home, and I can go whenever I want.”

After driving in the dark for nearly an hour, they finally reached the entrance of Xiangye Alley, but it began to drizzle.

Summer rain is often accompanied by thunder and lightning. Soon, the rain grew heavier, quickly creating puddles on the bluestone road of the old alley.

Draping his suit jacket over his head, Shi Tian got out to check the trunk and shouted to Assistant Chen behind him, “The rain is too heavy. I’ll watch the car. You go knock on the door and see if Sister Zheng is home. Ask her if we can borrow a cart.”

“Okay!” Assistant Chen shouted back. “Brother Shi, go back into the car to stay dry. I’ll be right back!”

Watching Assistant Chen’s silhouette disappear into the rain with an umbrella, Shi Tian locked the trunk. He waded through the water to the car door. Just as he was about to get in, his footsteps suddenly faltered.

A familiar dull pain radiated from his stomach. The pain shot through his nerves to his brain and flooded his entire body.

It felt like all the strength had been drained from his limbs. The pain made Shi Tian’s vision go black. He could only steady himself against the car door, biting his lip hard. “…”

Oh no, his old condition was acting up again.

Tossing and turning day and night, high mental stress, and irregular eating—these were all clear triggers written in his medical records for his chronic gastritis to flare up.

But he had no choice. If he didn’t fill his schedule, see lawyers, and rush to gather evidence, his mind would fill with the image of Ji Yuanlin’s bloodshot eyes at the wedding as soon as he stopped.

[Are you willing to take this person to be your husband?]

[To love him, to be faithful to him, in poverty or wealth, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?]

At that time, Ji Yuanlin had stared into his eyes and said clearly—I Do.

To love him, to be faithful to him, until death.

With five pale knuckles gripping the car door, Shi Tian almost scratched the handle. He pressed his cold forehead against the wet glass window. Before long, he was soaked to the bone by the rain.

There was stomach medicine in the car, but he didn’t have the strength to pull the door open.

Nearby, a pair of blinding headlights flickered silently in the rain, making it almost impossible for him to keep his eyes open in the glare.

Realizing there was someone in the car, Shi Tian instinctively opened his mouth to ask for help. However, because of the intense pain in his stomach, no sound came out of his throat.

He let go of the door handle and slowly crouched down, clutching his abdomen.

Just then, Shi Tian heard the sound of rustling footsteps behind him.

Leather shoes stepped into the mud, and the footsteps grew faster. A few meters away, an umbrella dropped by its owner tumbled in the sudden wind, its thin ribs sagging in a puddle and splashing water.

Just before he lost consciousness and collapsed, a pair of hands reached out from behind and caught him firmly.

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