The Real Heiress Just Wants to Be a Lazy Fish - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Attack

Jiang Group, Jiang Zitan’s Office.

“Ahem, could a certain workaholic take a break for a second?” Xiao Ran, the eldest daughter of the Xiao family, glanced out the window. It was already dark, yet her workaholic friend was still bowed over a mountain of documents.

She gave a light cough to remind Jiang Zitan that there was still another person in the office.

Having been busy all day, Jiang Zitan finally lifted her head. The light spilled over her, casting a cold glow on her snow-like skin. Her brows were slightly furrowed, and within her indifferent demeanor lay a trace of worry that was difficult to decipher.

“Your efficiency isn’t up to par today. Something on your mind?” Xiao Ran saw through her immediately; Jiang Zitan was clearly out of sorts, and her processing speed was much slower than usual.

Jiang Zitan massaged her temples tiredly. After a long silence, she said, “Tonight… I have to go home for dinner.”

“Go home for dinner?” Seeing Jiang Zitan’s troubled expression, Xiao Ran suddenly realized something. “Still haven’t figured out how to get along with the one who just came back?”

Because someone had been fueling the fire behind the scenes, the Jiang family hadn’t even had time to cover it up before the “True and False Daughter” incident became public knowledge. Naturally, Xiao Ran knew all about it.

It was a rare sight; Xiao Ran hadn’t even seen Jiang Zitan look this troubled back when the old Master Jiang fell ill or when the company was facing a crisis.

Jiang Zitan didn’t speak. Her gaze simply fell upon the photograph at the very top of the stack of files beside her.

The subject of the photo was a girl wearing a white shirt, standing at the entrance of the Jiang family villa.

The person in the photo looked delicate and frail, evoking a sense of pity. Judging by her attire, her previous living conditions must not have been good; the plain white T-shirt was washed until it looked worn, and her face bore a sickly paleness, likely due to malnutrition.

The documents beneath the photo confirmed that she had indeed suffered over the years.

Back when Tao Yitong was less than a year old, the Tao parents took her back to their village in Northeast China. Though they weren’t wealthy, the family of three was happy. However, sudden tragedy struck when Tao Yitong was four years old; that year, the Tao couple met with a fatal accident while out, leaving Tao Yitong an orphan.

The Tao family had no other relatives, so an elderly woman from the village eventually took her in. The old woman had no children of her own, and the two relied on each other for survival. However, the old woman’s health was poor and the household was impoverished. Tao Yitong dropped out of high school to work and earn money for her grandmother’s medicine, but the elderly woman passed away shortly thereafter. Following that, she left her hometown to work elsewhere and support herself.

These were files meticulously adjusted by the Special Affairs Bureau half-true and half-false. Even if outsiders investigated, they wouldn’t find any issues.

The Jiang family had investigated the daughter’s past, and Jiang Zitan had a copy as well. Seeing these records made her unsure of how to face Tao Yitong. After all, the other girl had endured the hardships that should have been hers, while she herself had enjoyed the girl’s rightful life of luxury.

At the same time, what bothered Jiang Zitan wasn’t just this, but also the strange attitude of her adoptive parents. They seemed remarkably cold regarding the return of their biological daughter.

She had been staying in an apartment near the company under the guise of working overtime, intentionally leaving space at home for the family of three to bond until tonight’s unavoidable family dinner…

Jiang Zitan sighed softly. “I’ll just let nature take its course. What about you? Why did you come here?”

“I heard some things regarding your uncles… well, I should say Miss Tao’s uncles now. Ever since they were suppressed by Grandpa Jiang, they’ve been secretly trying to contact Miss Tao. You need to be careful.”

Xiao Ran heard that the Jiang Group had been quite lively this past week. Once the “parasites” who were usually suppressed by Jiang Zitan realized she wasn’t a biological child of the Jiangs, they all jumped out. Fortunately, Grandpa Jiang wasn’t senile yet; he knew exactly who should be managing the company.

“Yes, I’m aware of their situation.” Jiang Zitan knew their every move. They posed no threat to her, especially since she had never planned on taking anything from the Jiang family to begin with.

“And? This matter isn’t worth a personal trip from you, is it?” Jiang Zitan looked at her old friend.

Xiao Ran’s expression became a bit shifty, her fingers constantly twining through her long hair. “Also… congrats on your family finally breaking that wretched engagement.”

Twenty-odd years ago, Jiang Hong met the head of a century-old prestigious family in Haishi. The two hit it off and set an engagement for their grandchildren. Jiang Hong had received plenty of help from them when he was starting his business. After the “True and False Daughter” incident broke, he immediately stated the marriage would involve his biological granddaughter. However, the Li family refused; they insisted on Jiang Zitan. For reasons unknown, Jiang Hong wouldn’t agree either, so the engagement was scrapped.

This was perfect, as Jiang Zitan had already intended to break the engagement. Now it was settled once and for all. Though it wasn’t exactly amicable, the goal was achieved.

But congratulations could be offered over the phone. Clearly, Xiao Ran had something more important to say.

“By the way…” Xiao Ran hesitated.

“By the way, is it about your ex-girlfriend?” Jiang Zitan couldn’t think of anyone else who could make the great Miss Xiao wear such an expression besides her ex.

After a moment of silence, Xiao Ran suddenly blurted out, “Jiang-Jiang, let’s collaborate!”

Jiang Zitan was utterly confused. “Collaborate on what?”

“Let’s work together to take down Jinghui Entertainment!”

Jinghui Entertainment? Jiang Zitan had some impression of the company. On one hand, the Group’s new product had hired an artist from that company as a spokesperson; on the other… it was because Xiao Ran’s ex-girlfriend was signed there.

Jiang Zitan sniffed carefully. Sure enough, there was a faint scent of alcohol in the air. She sighed again and sent a message to Xiao Ran’s assistant.

“What did Jinghui Entertainment do to you this time?”

It would have been better if Jiang Zitan hadn’t asked. The moment she did, Xiao Ran’s eyes turned red.

“A-Yu is back, but… she seems to like someone else.”

“…” Jiang Zitan went silent for a moment. The “A-Yu” Xiao Ran spoke of was her ex-girlfriend. They had been broken up for many years, but Xiao Ran had been pursuing her again all this time. “Is that person also at Jinghui Entertainment?”

Xiao Ran nodded, her voice carrying a sob. “I finally managed to see A-Yu, but I had to listen to her praise her boss for ten minutes how ‘cute,’ ‘handsome,’ and ‘kind’ she is, and how well she treats her. How can such a perfect person exist in reality? The only explanation is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder! She never even praised me that much when we were dating, waah…”

“That person must be Wang Yue!” In just one day, Xiao Ran had investigated everyone in Jinghui Entertainment from top to bottom and finally locked onto President Wang.

“Are you sure you haven’t misunderstood?” Jiang Zitan recalled what President Wang looked like. She was in her forties with a sharp aura. One could call her majestic, but… ‘cute’? Moreover, she was already married.

“But I can’t think of anyone else. I’m not done with that person, waah…”

Inside the Jiang family villa, a certain person sneezed twice without warning.

Jiang Zitan naturally wouldn’t indulge her friend’s nonsense. “There should be some misunderstanding here. Calm down and sober up first. Look on the bright side at least you can contact An Yu now. Once her attitude softens, why don’t you ask her indirectly?”

Xiao Ran nodded dejectedly, though it was unclear if she actually took the advice to heart.

“Your assistant will take a while to get here. Should I drive you home first?” The Jiang and Xiao families lived in the same neighborhood, so it was on the way.

Xiao Ran had originally given a distracted “Okay,” but as they were about to leave, she suddenly received a message. It acted like a miracle elixir; the moment she saw it, her spirit was instantly restored.

“I have something to do elsewhere, no need to see me off!” Leaving those words behind, Xiao Ran rushed out of the office like a whirlwind.

Jiang Zitan had already packed her things. Although she didn’t need to drive her friend home, it was getting late and she had to be home for dinner, so she didn’t plan to continue working overtime.

The sky seemed to have darkened early today. By the time Jiang Zitan drove into her residential complex, the surroundings were pitch black.

Zzzt. A streetlamp by the road flickered, seemingly about to break.

Zzzt. Another lamp flickered.

Zzzt…

Jiang Zitan slammed on the brakes. Because she was driving very slowly within the complex, the inertia wasn’t strong, yet she still broke out in a cold sweat.

Just now, a black shadow seemed to flash across the front of her car. Was it an animal? A large dog?

Whatever it was had been on all fours, so it shouldn’t have been a child. To be safe, Jiang Zitan got out of the car to check. Fortunately, she really hadn’t hit anything.

Zzzt.

Jiang Zitan’s car was parked right next to the broken streetlamp. The light flickered rhythmically, making her feel dizzy.

Why was it so cold tonight? After stepping out of the car, Jiang Zitan felt the temperature was unusually low. She was just about to get back inside when she discovered she couldn’t open the car door.

The neighborhood was incredibly quiet tonight; otherwise, she wouldn’t have heard the eerie sound faintly coming from behind her.

“Heh… heh…”

The streetlamp flickered, illuminating Jiang Zitan’s pale face and the cold sweat on her forehead. Aside from that sound like a monster’s gasping, she could only hear the increasingly violent pounding of her own heart.

Speaking of which… based on the time she entered the complex, she should have nearly reached home, yet why did the surroundings still look so unfamiliar?

Jiang Zitan looked down at the ground behind her. Every time the broken lamp lit up, the shadow on the ground behind her moved a step closer.

I have to leave!

At that moment, a strange wind suddenly whipped up in the neighborhood. Jiang Zitan held onto the car to steady herself. The flickering lamp began to flash rapidly. Once the wind stopped, the lamp suddenly returned to normal.

the eerie sound vanished, and Jiang Zitan’s heartbeat gradually stabilized. She looked back; there was nothing behind her, and no shadow existed. It seemed it had all been her imagination scaring her.

“Mew…” A weak sound suddenly came from a corner not far away.

“Meow… meow…”

It was a cat.

Jiang Zitan breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps that eerie sound was just the wind. Had her work stress been too high lately?

She pulled the door handle, and sure enough, the car door worked fine now.

Watching the car drive away in the distance, the woman in the corner who had been mimicking a cat let out a sigh of relief. The “headless” monster beneath her hands was gradually dissolving.

“I told you not to make a sound, yet you forced me to manually mute you.” Tao Yitong kicked the monster. She had rushed here to save the person as soon as she sensed the abnormal energy fluctuations; she hadn’t expected the one targeted by the Xenodemon would be Jiang Zitan.

Because it happened so suddenly, she hadn’t brought a scrambler to hide from ordinary people. She had dragged the monster into the corner intending to finish it quietly, but the thing dared to howl as it faced death. To prevent it from attracting an ordinary person, Tao Yitong could only silence it manually by crushing the monster’s head.

How many was this now? Haishi had been a bit unsettled lately. Was it related to the Ogre case?

“Hiss…” Tao Yitong took a soft breath of cold air. She clutched the left side of her abdomen, her face still bearing a sickly paleness.

She couldn’t delay any longer. Once Jiang Zitan got back, they would definitely go to her room to call her for dinner. She had to beat her to it and climb back in through the window.

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