Her Imperfection for Wifehood - Chapter 44.2

Chapter 44.2

He turned his head: “Miss, you drive back first, I…”

He wanted to say that he would find a way to get Second Miss Wei out, but before he could finish his sentence, with a few “bangs” of gunfire, two holes appeared in the car body.

“We are being followed. Hold on tight, Miss!”

The car hadn’t left the old town yet. Engaging in a head-on fight here, where the roads were narrow and could easily harm innocent people, was dangerous.

Lu Cheng’s driving skills were clearly far superior to the driver of the car behind them. Weaving through the well-connected streets and alleys, he quickly put some distance between them.

Unexpectedly, as they drove into the suburbs, people were already waiting by the roadside.

Boulders constantly rolling down the hill forced the car to stop. Lu Cheng yelled “Damn it!” and was about to restart the engine to go around when people rushed down the slope. There weren’t many, about five or six.

One of them looked very familiar—it was the rough man from the Sea Gang they had severely beaten on the street that day.

He held a gun, and the others carried machetes.

“Boss Jing, you’ve met your match today.”

They were caught between a rock and a hard place.

An Jing and Lu Cheng got out of the car. Before they could even start negotiating terms, the car that had been following them fired another shot, clearly leaving no room for negotiation.

Jin Baolu, the boss of the Sea Gang, leaned out of the passenger seat: “What are you dallying for, d*mn it? Don’t you want the 50,000 da-yang?”

Fifty thousand?

That meant someone had paid for her life. An Jing couldn’t think of anyone else besides Kahn.

“Go get her, all of you! Kill the men, capture An Jing alive!”

The Sea Gang members outnumbered them, and several had guns.

An Jing and Lu Cheng were cornered front and back. Situated on the mountainside, there was nowhere to run.

“Lu Cheng, head down!”

Below was a dense thicket of thorns. Scrapes and cuts were unavoidable, but it offered cover, buying time to hide and escape.

The two exchanged a look and simultaneously jumped, splitting off in two directions.

The Sea Gang pursued relentlessly.

Using obstacles for cover, An Jing fired accurately, eliminating several small-time thugs in succession. Realizing she had only one bullet left, she dared not fire randomly again.

This one shot was for her survival.

“Watch out, Miss!”

Lu Cheng made a dive, blocking Jin Baolu’s fatal shot for An Jing from the side.

The sound of a bullet striking a human body suddenly exploded in her ear.

An Jing’s mind went blank.

She quickly reacted, firing her last shot swiftly toward the direction the bullet had come from.

“Lu Cheng!” She tried to move him to a more concealed spot, but she struggled and couldn’t drag him.

“Miss, take… take this.” Lu Cheng raised his left hand, handing the pistol to An Jing. He forced a smile, and blood immediately gushed out, streaming down like a river.

“I’m sorry, I can’t accompany the Miss on the road ahead anymore, and I can no longer protect the Miss. It’s truly good. Finally, I protected the Miss this time. Finally, I didn’t fail in my duty again. Miss, Lu Cheng dies without regret.”

With that, he closed his eyes permanently.

That shot had entered Lu Cheng’s left chest cavity from his back. In his other hand, he still clutched a meter-long branch stained with blood.

He used the branch as a weapon, engaging in close combat with the enemy, only to save the bullet for An Jing, creating a chance for her to live.

“Ah…!” Looking at the bloody wound on Lu Cheng’s back and his right hand mangled by thorns, An Jing looked up and let out a roar of anguish.

Driven by a murderous rage, An Jing survived with her exceptional marksmanship and tenacious will.

Only Jin Baolu among the enemies managed to escape by sheer luck.

Covered in blood, she dragged the equally bloody Lu Cheng, painstakingly climbing the mountain path step by step: “Lu Cheng, I’m taking you home.”

Everyone worked together to bury Lu Cheng in the backyard.

Wanyun cried while applying medicine to the dozens of wounds on An Jing’s body. Some were severely lacerated, but the one saving grace was that she hadn’t been shot.

“Miss, please cry it out.” When they were burying Lu Cheng, the three of them were inconsolable with tears, but An Jing endured, pouring an entire bottle of strong liquor as a farewell for him.

“Lu Cheng’s blood cannot be shed in vain. I will make them bleed and weep. I will make them accompany him to the grave.”

Just then, the voices of Old Li and Xu Weiqiang could be heard outside the door.

“An Jing.” Xu Weiqiang yelled An Jing’s name and, ignoring Old Li’s attempts to stop him, barged right in with Bai Yang.

“It’s Xu Weiqiang.”

She quickly turned her back and put on her clothes. Wanyun stood up to block the doorway: “The Miss is indisposed. Please wait a moment, Sir.”

Wanyun hadn’t met Xu Weiqiang but knew he was a “friend” of the Miss, so she treated him politely.

After tidying her clothes, An Jing said: “Let him in.”

Seeing An Jing’s bloodless face and the large and small wounds on her skin, Xu Weiqiang cursed: “Jin Baolu, that scum, is looking for death!”

On the way, he and Bai Yang had seen the signs of the fight and the bodies of the Sea Gang members.

“You took the bait at the hospital but found nothing. Now you dare to show your faces and come looking for me? Are you tired of living?” The An family was currently at the center of a storm and in peril. Getting involved would make them a target.

“I’m not tired of living, so I’m here to take you away.” Xu Weiqiang stepped forward and grabbed her shoulder. “An Jing, let’s leave together. You also said, ‘where there’s life, there’s hope.'”

“Lu Cheng is dead.”

Hearing the news of Lu Cheng’s death, both Xu Weiqiang and Bai Yang behind him froze. They had witnessed too many partings, but An Jing hadn’t.

Lu Cheng was nominally a follower, bodyguard, and driver, but in reality, he was like her younger brother.

“Lu Cheng is dead, so you should live even more! A gentleman’s revenge is never too late. An Jing, the situation in Shanghai is too chaotic right now. It’s absolutely not the right time for revenge. Let’s leave here first, find another place to recuperate and build up our strength…”

“Xu Weiqiang,” An Jing didn’t show any sign of seeking death. She gripped his arm instead, saying almost pleadingly, “Go find An Xi and take him away.”

“Okay, I’ll go with you to find An Xi, and we’ll all leave together,” Xu Weiqiang agreed without hesitation.

What An Jing didn’t know was that Xu Weiqiang coming to the An house at this time was arranged by An Xi, who had someone contact him. Afraid that An Jing wouldn’t leave, An Xi wanted Xu Weiqiang to forcibly take her away.

The An residence was not safe. Staying even one minute longer was dangerous.

An Jing instructed Old Li to pack all the valuable antiques and curios that hadn’t been pawned yet. She then gave Old Li, Zhang Ma, and Wanyun 10,000 yuan each from the emergency fund in the household safe.

“The An family is in trouble, and Lu Cheng is gone. I cannot let you be implicated too. Uncle Li, Zhang Ma, take this money as a token of respect from An Xi and me to you two elders. And Wanyun, this time, you must not be deceived by others again. Today is our farewell. After this, go and make a living for yourselves. If you can enter the concession, do so. If you can leave Shanghai, leave. Going to the countryside is also a good choice. Find a safe and secluded place to hide and take care of yourselves.”

“Miss.” Zhang Ma’s face was covered in tears. Despite her extreme reluctance, she knew they had to part now. “You… you and the Young Master must also take the utmost care of yourselves.”

Five years.

From the day An Jing took over the An Corporation’s factories, she became the resolute head of the household—Boss Jing, and no longer just the carefree Miss of the residence.

They knew best how much An Jing had suffered and endured to keep the An Corporation afloat.

Old Li held An Jing’s hand and said earnestly: “Miss, you and the Young Master must remain calm. We must cherish the time Lu Cheng bought us with his life. With your and the Young Master’s abilities, revenge and the revitalization of the An Corporation are only a matter of time. By then, I hope the Miss and the Young Master won’t disdain our old bones. We… we will all wait for that day. Wait to manage the household and finances for the Miss and the Young Master again. Wait to be reunited.”

Tears streamed down Wanyun’s face: “Miss, I’ll pretend you’re being kind and giving me a long vacation. What Uncle Li said is what I also want to say. When you and Young Master Xi revive the family’s honor, no matter where I am, as long as you don’t look down on me, I am willing to come back.”

An Jing patted her shoulder and said, “Good.”

All three understood that An Jing’s “Good” to Wanyun was a promise that might never be fulfilled. This farewell could very well mean they would never see each other again in this life.

Indeed, none of them said goodbye. In this chaotic world, saying goodbye was an extreme luxury.

“Before you leave, one last favor. Help me take Xixi and these valuables to the Tang family. Tell them I’m returning them to Miss Tang, and if it’s not enough, I’ll make up for it… when I have the chance. Also, please ask her to take care of Xixi. If it’s inconvenient to keep it at home, find a loving family for it.”

In the courtyard, Old Li sat in the driver’s seat, Zhang Ma in the passenger seat, and Wanyun in the back, holding Xixi, with a letter tucked in her bosom. She looked back at the house where she had lived for over a decade, deeply reluctant to leave.

Old Li: “Miss, rest assured, we will deliver them.”

An Jing nodded: “Go now, don’t delay any longer.”

Watching the car drive away from the An house, An Jing said to Xu Weiqiang: “Let me be alone for a moment. Just a few minutes.”

She walked back into the empty house, standing on the second-floor balcony, looking out at the lawn and garden.

This land was no longer hers.

What fate awaited this house?

Lack of funds, exclusion from the business world, moral condemnation, and even the threat of national traitors and enemies. The An Corporation had fallen into an unprecedented abyss.

Whose fault was this?

Kahn? Liang Xu? Wei Zhengqing?

Although these people were hateful and deserved to die, was she completely faultless?

No. She had made mistakes. She was also guilty.

While packing just now, An Jing realized that the photo of her and Yinyin by her bedside was gone, taken at some point.

Was it An Xi?

But the marriage certificate was still there.

Removing the outer cover, An Jing folded the marriage certificate and put it in her pocket. She took their parents’ memorial tablets and buried them next to Lu Cheng in the backyard. Before leaving, she poured a box of fish food into the pond. They could only rely on fate.

When An Jing and Xu Weiqiang’s group arrived at the place where An Xi was recuperating, it was already deserted.

A note left by An Xi lay on the table:

Sister, forgive my sudden departure. Don’t look for me, don’t go to the Wei house. Leave Shanghai immediately with Boss Qi. Leave Kahn to me. Wait for my good news. Wait for me to find you. Only if we both live well will we have a chance to meet again.

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