The Scum Gong Refuses the Crematorium [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 14

Jiang Huaisu arrived in a towering rage.

Heaven knows the fury she felt when, while happily getting a facial and listening to gossip at the beauty salon, she realized the protagonist of said gossip was her own son.

The “melon” she was eating ended up being from her own backyard.

Suddenly, all those gossip points—”Bar owner closes shop to chase a movie dream,” “Foolish big boss throws away a fortune to support his buddy,” and “I heard the big boss is actually gay”—slapped her across the face the moment someone mentioned, “It’s the Drunken Dream Bar on Jianghuai Road.”

She couldn’t even finish her facial. After a hurried rinse, she grabbed her bag and rushed to Guo Hang’s bar.

If she remembered correctly, the Drunken Dream Bar on Jianghuai Road was the only one owned by Guo Hang. Therefore, the “big fool” and “gay boss” they were talking about could only be Sheng Yan, as he was the wealthiest of Guo Hang’s friends.

If the gossip she overheard was true, she was certain to catch Sheng Yan here.

However, she didn’t expect to catch not only Sheng Yan but Lu Mingyue as well and, as luck would have it, she arrived just in time to hear Sheng Yan telling Lu Mingyue how much his heart ached for him.

Jiang Huaisu’s heart was smoldering with resentment.

Playing me with “yes-man” compliance while doing exactly as you please behind my back, are we?

She wanted to see exactly how they would explain themselves.

Sheng Yan, Lu Mingyue, and the rest of the group hadn’t expected a sudden visit from Jiang Huaisu. The moment they saw her, everyone stood up to greet her: “Hello, Sister Jiang.”

Jiang Huaisu wasn’t buying it. Her gaze swept over the group, lingered pointedly on Lu Mingyue, and finally settled on Sheng Yan. “Explain yourselves. What is going on?”

When Sheng Yan resigned from Shengshi, he told her he was too tired, felt unwell, and wanted to rest.

Was this what he meant by resting?

Facing Jiang Huaisu’s interrogating gaze, Sheng Yan didn’t show a hint of the panic one might expect from being caught red-handed. He admitted it openly: “It’s exactly what you see.”

“You!” Jiang Huaisu was waiting for a sophisticated excuse, but Sheng Yan didn’t even bother to lie. This left her with nowhere to take the conversation.

Ignoring her irritation and guessing she likely knew everything already given her aggressive entrance, Sheng Yan asked, “Sister Jiang, where did you hear our news?”

Only the people on this set knew about the movie, and they certainly didn’t move in Jiang Huaisu’s social circles. Since Sheng Yan was a grown man, Jiang Huaisu didn’t track his every move. Her arrival suggested she had heard something specific from someone.

Seeing Sheng Yan so calm and unruffled without a shred of guilt made Jiang Huaisu even angrier. “Where did I find out? It’s spreading everywhere outside! I was getting a facial and people were telling me gossip. As the mother of the person involved, I was the only one who didn’t know. Where do you think I found out?”

“The Meizhilan Club?” Sheng Yan asked.

“Yes,” Jiang Huaisu snapped impatiently. She turned back to him. “Don’t try to distract me! If you don’t explain why you quit a perfectly good job to come here and film a movie, I’m not finished with you.”

Sheng Yan smiled and gestured toward the set. “Sister Jiang, take a look around this set. Who here looks like they could set foot in Meizhilan?”

Jiang Huaisu glanced at the staff. Aside from Sheng Yan and Lu Mingyue, it was highly unlikely any of these girls could afford millions in annual membership fees.

She froze for a moment.

Seeing her anger starting to dissipate, Sheng Yan added a reminder: “Sister Jiang, how likely do you think it is that the estheticians at Meizhilan would frequent a place like this?”

Jiang Huaisu was angry, but she wasn’t stupid. The estheticians who worked there were highly paid and extremely disciplined; they were careful about their diet and sleep. There was no way they would be hanging out in a bar in the middle of the night.

If their lives were on completely different tracks, how did they hear the gossip?

Someone must have told them, and that person was likely one of their clients. But among their clients, how many would frequent a bar? At that social level, there were plenty of private clubs for entertainment; why come to a mixed-crowd bar? Even if they came once for the novelty, how could they know the details of Sheng Yan’s affairs so clearly?

It was obvious: someone had intentionally used the club to funnel this information to her.

Jiang Huaisu’s mind raced, and her hostility toward Sheng Yan softened. “But you are doing this. It’s not like they were lying to me.”

Sheng Yan didn’t deny his “mistake.” He nodded. “True. But don’t you think their motives are impure, Sister Jiang?”

Jiang Huaisu remained silent.

Sheng Yan said quietly, “Perhaps someone with ulterior motives just wants to watch a drama of a mother and son tearing each other apart. Do you want to give them what they want?”

Jiang Huaisu coughed awkwardly and reached up to smooth her hair. She asked with feigned indifference, “So… how much did you invest in this play?”

Sheng Yan named a figure.

“Pocket change,” Jiang Huaisu said, her brow relaxing instantly. “Consider it play money. Am I really that stingy?”

Sheng Yan followed up: “Sister Jiang is beautiful and kind-hearted.”

With that matter settled, Jiang Huaisu decided not to pursue it further, but she turned her eyes toward Lu Mingyue. “How do you explain this? Don’t tell me nothing is going on—I heard what you said just now!”

Could an average person say such intimate things?

Lu Mingyue had been watching the confrontation between mother and son, finding their dynamic somewhat amusing and even enviable. When the spotlight suddenly shifted to him, his smile faltered.

“Ah, Lu Mingyue,” Jiang Huaisu redirected all her rage toward him. She hadn’t forgotten Lu Mingyue’s promise that if she invested in him, she could scold or beat him as she pleased, and he wouldn’t dare disobey. “What did you promise me? What’s this? Playing both sides and defying me?”

“Director Jiang, you’ve misunderstood,” Lu Mingyue immediately adjusted his posture, facing her as a standard subordinate. “There is nothing between President Sheng and me. He was just joking.”

Jiang Huaisu looked at Sheng Yan. “Were you joking?”

“No,” Sheng Yan shook his head. “I genuinely feel for him.”

Lu Mingyue was stunned, looking at Sheng Yan in disbelief. Is he trying to make things worse?

Sure enough, Jiang Huaisu grew even angrier. “I invested in him because he told me he wouldn’t be with you. But looking at the situation now, I think I need to reconsider our investment relationship.”

Precisely because she had considered this possibility, Jiang Huaisu had included a series of “overlord clauses” in the contract. For instance, if Party A deceived Party B, they would owe double the investment in compensation, and Party B had the right to withdraw funds at any time.

Lu Mingyue grew anxious and was about to speak.

Sheng Yan spoke first: “Sister Jiang, true investment is based on the rate of return, not on acting out of spite.”

“I assume you had someone evaluate the project’s value before you invested. If you throw away real money now just because you’re upset, you not only lose a large sum of money but also lose a project with long-term sustainable returns. All just to win a momentary argument?”

Jiang Huaisu looked at Lu Mingyue. “I can make him pay me back double. He’s the one who breached the contract first.” She wouldn’t lose out either way.

Sheng Yan continued, “Setting aside the fact that the contract itself is unfair even if my heart aches for him, what does that have to do with whether we are ‘together’? Can’t I care for someone without being in a relationship with them?”

“Between people, there is friendship and history, not just romance. To destroy a person’s life and all their efforts based on a single sentence of mine. Isn’t that too arbitrary and cruel?”

Jiang Huaisu could hardly believe Sheng Yan dared to speak to her like this.

Sheng Yan continued unphased: “I know you aren’t a bad person, Sister Jiang. Everything you do is for my benefit. But I think you should focus more of your time and attention on yourself. Life is short. Even if you watch over me for your whole life, you can only watch me for sixty years. In the remaining forty, I can still live exactly as I please perhaps even more recklessly. Isn’t it tragic to spend sixty years on me only to change nothing?”

Jiang Huaisu opened her mouth to speak.

Sheng Yan anticipated her words. “Yes, you are my mother. You gave birth to me, and you have the duty to educate me. But your method of education shouldn’t involve hurting others. As long as your child doesn’t break the law or commit immoral acts, even if he isn’t perfect, or if his orientation isn’t what you imagined. Could you try to accept him instead of constantly blaming others?”

Jiang Huaisu was left speechless.

What could she say? What should she say?

Sheng Yan was right. She had always blamed Lu Mingyue for Sheng Yan’s attraction to men because she simply couldn’t accept that the son she raised would be gay. She stubbornly refused to blame herself or Sheng Yan, so she fixated on the person he loved, believing all evil stemmed from him.

Now that Sheng Yan had torn away the veil, she had no one else to blame.

She felt utterly humiliated, especially with the person involved standing right there. Her eyes grew red with frustration. “You’re grown now. I can’t control you. Fine, I won’t care anymore, alright?”

She grabbed her bag to leave.

Sheng Yan stopped her just in time. “That won’t do. You’re my mom. Even if you don’t care about me, I still have to care about you.”

“Lu Mingyue.” Sheng Yan called out.

“Huh?” Lu Mingyue was still in shock that Sheng Yan could speak to his mother that way and hadn’t come back to his senses.

Back when Sheng Yan was loudly pursuing him in school, Director Jiang had visited the campus. Her first act was to demand why the school hadn’t expelled a student like him for “misleading others” and “corrupting the school atmosphere.” At that time, Sheng Yan had stood behind his mother, not daring to say a single word. If it weren’t for his high grades and several professors protecting him, he might have been expelled.

That was why, when Director Jiang offered him money later, he took it and left without hesitation. He knew that for a powerful entity like her, crushing him was easy. Professors could protect him once or twice, but not forever.

And yet, today’s Sheng Yan dared to tell Director Jiang that none of this was anyone else’s fault—it was his own, that he was simply not the perfect person she expected.

He had truly changed. He was no longer a “love-brain”; he was clear-headed, brave, charming—and it made Lu Mingyue start to actually like him.

Sheng Yan didn’t care what Lu Mingyue was thinking. Once Lu acknowledged him, Sheng Yan said: “Help me coax my mom.”

Jiang Huaisu had felt a bit comforted hearing Sheng Yan say he still cared about her. Even if he was rebellious, he was still filial. But then she heard him ask Lu Mingyue to help “coax” her, and she felt a surge of chest pain. “Why are you asking him to coax me?”

He doesn’t expect me to accept them together, does he? Impossible! Absolutely impossible! I will never accept it!

Sheng Yan explained, “To let you see for yourself whether or not we are actually dating.”