Four Years Ago, Her Husband Cheated on Her Body - Chapter 4

Wang Liang’s body was half-suspended in the air. The cold rain, like fine needles, drifted into his eyes, causing a sharp, stinging pain.

His nape was gripped tightly, and the intense agony made him instinctively want to call for help, but his voice was broken and incoherent due to fear.

“Ah! Help, help…”

“Shhh.”

Jia Qiao pinched the back of his neck with one hand, applying a slight increase in pressure. The pain was so severe that Wang Liang thought his neck would break.

“One more sound, and I’ll let go.”

The hotel’s structure was somewhat unusual. Although the banquet hall was on the 1st floor, the area outside the balcony was the open space above the underground garage, estimated to be about two stories high.

A face-first freefall from this height would at least result in severe injury, if not death.

Wang Liang instantly quieted down, frozen in terror. He clung desperately to the slick railing, his entire body shaking like a sieve.

A gust of wind carried a foul, acrid smell into the air.

—He had peed himself out of fear.

Urine dripped down his trouser legs, mixing with the rainwater, pattering onto the hood of some unlucky soul’s Ferrari.

Jia Qiao frowned in disgust. His right hand held the cold, gleaming champagne flute, its jagged break pressed within 0.1 cm of Wang Liang’s eyeball.

The eyes, which moments ago had been misty and pitiful, now held only a cold and cruel lethal intent.

“Answer me.”

Answer?

Answer what?!!!

The serrated crystal glass was pointed right at his eyeball, and leaning back even an inch would mean a broken neck.

Wang Liang was too terrified to blink, snot and tears smearing his face. He desperately recalled the question Jia Qiao had asked earlier—

‘Who did you just say died at the wrong time?’

“I! I died at the wrong time!”

Wang Liang yelled himself hoarse, cursing himself in the most vile ways he could imagine:

“I am an ungrateful, despicable, shameless scumbag! I deserve to be hit by a car, boiled in oil, fall to my death, be sliced into a thousand pieces! After I die, I should go to the eighteenth level of hell and never be reincarnated!”

The answer was passable. Jia Qiao retracted the champagne flute and casually tossed it away, leaving the half-dead Wang Liang slumped over the railing.

“Remember, you are in no position to judge Zhu Nanyu.”

He turned, the pure white ribbon on his hair flicking up in the night wind.

“Also, if a single word of what happened here gets out—”

“Want to try all the different ways to die?”

.

After enduring a few more minutes of cold rain, Jia Qiao felt the fever in his body intensify. He almost stumbled as he walked into the restroom.

He splashed a couple of handfuls of cold water on his face, barely managing to stay conscious and avoid fainting on the spot.

He staggered back to the banquet hall. Tonight’s charity performance was reaching its climax, with a popular idol performing a song, dance, and rap in the center of the stage.

The cameraman for the main shot pulled a wide view, sweeping the lens from left to right across the entire hall, and then fixed it on Jia Qiao as he rounded the side of the stage.

Precisely at that moment, he looked up at the main camera.

A few strands of wet black hair clung to the side of his neck, water mist hung on his raven-like lashes, and a touch of red was precisely diffused at the corner of his eye. His gaze was cold yet fragile.

The previously sparse barrage of comments in the live stream instantly exploded.

OMG, who is this beauty! I need all his information within three seconds!!!

I stopped breathing when the camera swept over him. Is this magnificent face real?

I know this one! His name is Jia Qiao, the current representative of Qianhe Group. He used to attend events with his husband, but after his husband died, he never appeared again. I didn’t expect his beauty to explode even more after years of widowhood. I am willing to surrender a thousand times over to this sense of fragility.

Yes, yes, yes, I used to ship Jia Qiao and his husband. I can’t imagine how many CP fans they could have gained if they’d been on a marriage reality show. Too bad now he can only be on Goodbye Lovers: Widowhood Season

Hahaha, what kind of dark humor is that? I heard his husband’s death was all Jia Qiao’s fault for throwing a tantrum and demanding his husband come back for his birthday in a rainstorm.

Haven’t the rumors been enough for four years? Did no one read the police’s official blue-badge statement? Their relationship was great. Link to a previous live event they attended together, suggested viewing with insulin right arrow

Clicking on the link brought up a video only 5 seconds long.

In a similar banquet hall filled with guests, a photographer secretly aimed the camera at Jia Qiao, who was selecting butter cookies at the self-service table.

The moment the focus locked, a glass of champagne blocked the lens, the wedding ring on the ring finger reflecting light.

The man in the suit seemed to appear out of nowhere, completely shielding Jia Qiao. His deep voice was unreasonably pleasant:

“Excuse me, my wife doesn’t like being photographed.”

Just this five-second live recording clip back then caused the ‘Overbearing CEO and His Pampered Canary’ CP to dominate the internet. Even now, there are still a few sporadic CP fans quietly following Jia Qiao.

When they saw that the live stream team, for the sake of traffic, seemed determined to stick the camera to Jia Qiao, the few remaining CP fans were so angry they flooded the comments with protests, wanting to exert their meager strength to protect Jia Qiao on behalf of Zhu Nanyu.

Respect private individuals, okay? Zhu Nanyu said he doesn’t like being filmed!

Move the camera away!!!

Jia Qiao had actually noticed the camera glued to him, but he had expended too much energy and felt even worse, so he didn’t bother to react.

Suspicious glances still clustered around him. The guests who had noticed him and Wang Liang heading toward the balcony one after the other exchanged knowing looks—

“Mr. Wang is in such a hurry?”

“Maybe the little widower is lonely and went up to him himself.”

Wang Liang had long since retreated to his seat, water still dripping from his wet suit trousers.

Hearing his friends tease him about his ‘good fortune,’ he desperately wanted to refute them, but Jia Qiao’s final threat echoed in his ears—

‘Want to try all the different ways to die?’

Jia Qiao ignored all the filthy whispers, forced himself back to his seat, and asked a waiter for another glass of warm water.

He took out the cold medicine Zhou Chuanbai had given him and took it without much hope, treating it as a placebo.

In the front row of the hall, a blonde man who was chatting and laughing with someone smiled toward that corner. “Who is that gentleman? Why hasn’t anyone introduced me?”

The host hurriedly explained, “That is the representative of Qianhe Group, Jia Qiao. Considering Qianhe is declining and he doesn’t hold real power, so we…”

“Oh?” The blonde man’s tone rose. “Are you implying that my market assessment is flawed? The person I personally sent an invitation to has no collaborative value.”

“Dare not, dare not!” The host panicked. “I’ll call him over right away.”

“Don’t bother.” The blonde man gracefully stood up from the main seat, his gaze sweeping over their terrified faces. “So, ‘at your beck and call’ is your style? Perhaps I need to reconsider my investment, lest your party dismiss me at will.”

With that, the blonde man moved through the crowd toward Jia Qiao, who was sitting almost in the furthest corner, and bowed slightly, extending his hand.

“Hello, Chairman Jia.”

—He didn’t call him ‘Mrs. Zhu’ or by his name, but addressed him by the most formal title.

Jia Qiao politely shook his fingertips. “Hello, Mr. Lanner.”

“You know me?” Lanner smiled, his golden eyelashes fluttering.

“I had the pleasure of hearing you mentioned.”

Jia Qiao had actually scanned the room upon entering and, noticing Lanner’s seat and his mixed-race appearance, guessed he was the overseas partner the executive assistant had mentioned.

Jia Qiao’s main goal for this trip was to leave an impression on Lanner, facilitating future cooperation.

He hadn’t expected Lanner to seek him out, which made Jia Qiao naturally a bit more wary.

“May I sit next to you?” Before Jia Qiao could reply, Lanner had already found an empty seat and sat down.

“If you’re willing to lower yourself, I naturally have no objection.”

Lanner congratulated him with a smile, “It’s an honor for me to sit next to the Chairman of the Qianhe Group.”

If Zhu Nanyu had been representing Qianhe, the word ‘honor’ would indeed be warranted.

Jia Qiao thought the foreigner didn’t understand the situation and ‘benevolently’ explained, “I am only the acting chairman. I hold no real power. All research and development and operations are managed by my husband’s former staff.”

“Just as I understood the situation.” Lanner’s interest grew. “I’ve looked at Zhu Corporation’s financial reports for the past three years. Since Chairman Jia took over, the market value has fluctuated by less than 0.5%.”

Jia Qiao replied perfunctorily, “My abilities are limited; I am merely holding the line.”

Lanner’s smile momentarily subsided. “However, even a major incident like the chairman’s passing didn’t shake Qianhe’s market value.”

Given the massive scale of Qianhe Group, having almost identical financial reports every year was nothing short of a miracle.

“Please don’t misunderstand, Chairman Jia. I’m just curious about your reasons for doing this.” Lanner cupped his face, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the table, half-threatening and half-joking. “Chairman Jia’s answer might directly determine my subsequent choice.”

“…” Jia Qiao glanced at him, staring at his bright face for a while before speaking. “Since you’ve investigated, you should know that Qianhe was left to me by my husband. I have no interest in doing business. What he left me; I keep it as it is. Are you satisfied with this answer?”

Lanner didn’t answer whether he was satisfied or not, turning to look at the main stage. “Chairman Jia, the fundraising has started.”

The fundraising segment was the highlight of the charity gala.

In this day and age, information is advanced, and the donation lists for every charity event are transparent and public, with netizens even creating comparison tables.

Donating too little meant being ridiculed by the entire internet and losing face; donating too much meant having to meet that standard in every subsequent event.

Because of this, everyone had agreed in advance and set their amounts privately, just waiting for the procedure to play out on stage.

As soon as the fundraising started, people began shouting out ‘50,000’ and ‘100,000’.

This scene felt so familiar, it momentarily dragged Jia Qiao back five years, to the first charity gala he attended with Zhu Nanyu.

Jia Qiao, who had countless lives on his hands, felt he had nothing to do with the word’s ‘charity’ and ‘kindness.’ He had no interest in such occasions and was secretly playing a game under the table.

Suddenly, the host called out his name.

“Thank you, Mr. Jia Qiao, for your generous donation of 20 million for rural education!”

“Huh?” Jia Qiao looked up amid the thunderous applause, staring blankly at Zhu Nanyu.

At that time, Jia Qiao knew a bit about the business world and was aware that entrepreneurs donated mainly for reputation and tax avoidance.

By donating in Jia Qiao’s name, Zhu Nanyu gained neither reputation nor tax relief. What was the purpose?

Zhu Nanyu chuckled, squeezing his hand under the table. “Doing charity is a good thing. If there is indeed any good fortune, I hope it will come to you.”

Jia Qiao scoffed, “You believe in that?”

“Even if there is no good fortune, if someone finds happiness because of this, I hope they will thank you.”

His thoughts returned to reality. The fundraising event was nearing its end, and someone in the front row raised their hand and shouted ‘3.5 million.’ A deafening round of applause erupted in the hall.

—This was the highest amount of the evening, coming from a donor in the middle of the front row.

It was likely pre-arranged for him to take the most credit with over three million.

As the applause subsided, someone started counting who in the hall had not yet donated.

The list was checked from beginning to end, but the name ‘Jia Qiao’ was never found.

Seeing him sitting in the corner like an outsider, those who had long been dissatisfied with him began to mock him with passive aggression.

“If he’s too stingy to donate, why come to a charity gala?”

“Qianhe is about to collapse. No one in the high society circle wants to play with him, so he’s just using this event to network.”

“Even if that’s not it, can’t he spare 50,000 or 100,000?”

“Hehe, how could he? That’s his ex-husband’s inheritance, which he’s saving for his next wedding dowry.”

Just as the crowd was whispering, someone ran onto the stage and handed the host a new list.

The host’s face changed when he saw the end of the list. He cleared his throat and announced:

“Apologies, we just missed a donor who was not present—”

“Thank you to the Zhu Nanyu Foundation for donating 20 million to the charitable cause!”

“H-how much?”

The entire banquet hall was silent. Everyone looked at Jia Qiao in disbelief.

After a brief moment of shock, Lanner seemed to understand something. “Chairman Jia truly has an extraordinary touch.”

Jia Qiao was dizzy with fever and too tired for pleasantries, so he spoke frankly, “I owed Zhu Nanyu a bit of good fortune. I’m just paying him back.”

Sits in the least prominent seat, donates the most money. I’m tired of saying that Jia Qiao is beautiful and kind-hearted.

For those who don’t know: a foundation is different from a regular donation, especially one established under another person’s name. Not only does it offer no tax avoidance, but it must also accept third-party supervision.

This is pure charity, truly. Mr. Jia Qiao’s righteousness! Mr. Zhu Nanyu’s righteousness!

Five years ago, Zhu Nanyu donated 20 million in Jia Qiao’s name. Five years later, Jia Qiao donated 20 million in Zhu Nanyu’s name. This sense of destiny is totally off the charts, okay?

Two-way affection, I’m crying my eyes out. This broken sugar is both painful and sweet, boohoo.

…

“Two camera shots in total, and you’ve almost burned a hole through the screen.”

Lanner pressed the ‘pause’ button on the screen, stopping the 89th loop of the brainwashing cycle. He looked with a smirk at the man lying in the hospital bed who had just regained consciousness.

“Zhu Nanyu.”