“Don’t worry, honey. With me watching over things, nothing will go wrong in Jinling!” Qing’er smiled gently, her eyes incredibly determined.
In the past, it had always been Jiang Tian protecting her. Now that her immortal body had awakened, she could finally protect the Jiang family too.
“Mm, then I’ll set off tomorrow!”
Jiang Tian took the Iron Flying Shuttle out of his storage ring and handed it to Qing’er, saying, “This can also serve as a flying artifact, and it’s already been refined with your spiritual consciousness. If you want to find me, just follow the spiritual imprint I left on you, and you’ll find me directly!”
“My physical body can break the sound barrier, and with the shuttle, I can fly over 1,000 kilometers per hour. In about three hours, I’ll be right by your side!”
Zhao Xueqing placed the shuttle into her storage ring and smiled.
……
The next day, after declining his family’s offer to see him off and bringing no attendants, Jiang Tian arrived at Jinling International Airport with Qing’er accompanying him.
It was only a few days until the Spring Festival, and there were many travelers heading to Southeast Asia. Fortunately, the Jiang family were VIP customers of Dongnan Airlines—otherwise, they wouldn’t even have been able to book tickets.
Entering the VIP waiting lounge, Jiang Tian and Qing’er drank coffee, ate light meals, and chatted in low voices. It was peaceful, but also beautiful.
“Jiang Tian, what are you doing here?”
Suddenly, a surprised voice called out. From the booth across from them, someone waved at Jiang Tian.
“Yang Wenlun!”
Jiang Tian looked up, somewhat surprised, then smiled and nodded. “Where are you headed? Xingzhou too?”
Across from them sat several young men and women dressed in business attire. The one at the head was Jiang Tian’s college classmate, Yang Wenlun.
Except Jiang Tian had been in the same year but a different major—”alumni” was a more fitting term.
He remembered that Yang Wenlun’s hometown was in the Zhonghai area. His family ran a ship parts factory and had assets worth tens of millions, maybe up to a hundred million. Back then, at Jinling Pharmaceutical University’s Rende College, he’d been a big shot.
Rende College was a secondary college. Its students were all rich second-generation and official second-generation kids, most of them proud and arrogant. Jiang Tian and Yang Wenlun had both been conspicuous playboys, so clashes and friction were inevitable.
Except compared to Jiang Tian at the time, Yang Wenlun was far behind.
Back then, the Yaowang Group had a market value of several billion, and the Jiang family’s net assets were over a billion too—they were at their peak.
During Jiang Tian’s teenage years, Zhang Wanqing had been busy starting her business and inevitably neglected him. So, out of a sense of compensation, Jiang Tian’s allowance during college had been especially generous.
Jiang Tian had money and was a local tyrant in Jinling. So in his several confrontations with Jiang Tian, Yang Wenlun always came out on the losing end, getting crushed by Jiang Tian time and again, utterly humiliated.
Actually, back then their conflicts were just small grudges—fighting over basketball courts, competing for girls’ attention—but Jiang Tian had struck him pretty hard.
The cruelest time was when Jiang Tian slept with a girl Yang Wenlun was pursuing and even sent him the bedroom video, making Yang Wenlun furious beyond measure, ready to risk his life against Jiang Tian.
Toward Yang Wenlun, Jiang Tian did feel a bit of guilt.
“Yeah, I’m going to Xingzhou to sign a contract—a massive 20-billion-yuan ship parts processing contract!”
Yang Wenlun was dressed like a businessman—snow-white shirt, sharp creases in his trousers like knives, shoes polished to a shine. He walked over holding his coffee cup, smugly smiling.
He held deep resentment toward Jiang Tian. Back then, Jiang Tian had relied on his family’s stinking money to throw his weight around, bully men and women alike—even Yang Wenlun himself had been trampled so badly he couldn’t lift his head.
But things were different now. Their Yang family’s shipyard had grown to assets worth several billion. How could Jiang Tian possibly compare to him now?
“Twenty billion? That is indeed a big contract. Net profit should be around a billion, right?”
Sensing the show-off vibe, Jiang Tian didn’t mind. He chuckled and gestured for Yang Wenlun to sit.
“A billion? What kind of joke is that! This is heavy industry, a capital-intensive enterprise—of course the profits aren’t ordinary! At least three billion in profit, easily!”
Yang Wenlun sat down across from Jiang Tian and said with a faint smile, “How’s your family’s pharmacy doing? Probably a national chain by now, huh?”
“Pharmacy?” Jiang Tian was taken aback for a moment before it dawned on him.
During college, Jiang Tian was always getting into trouble, and the Jiang family was a listed company that had to worry about negative news affecting stock prices.
So the Jiang family had strictly forbidden Jiang Tian and all family members from showing off their background outside.
As a result, Jiang Tian spent money like water back then but couldn’t reveal the Jiang family’s background—he only said his family ran a big pharmacy.
So even though the Jiang family had recently caused a huge stir in the capital markets, aside from a handful of close college classmates like Liu Yating, nobody else knew what that had to do with Jiang Tian.
In Yang Wenlun’s eyes, Jiang Tian was nothing more than a small rich second-generation kid whose family ran a pharmacy and had a few tens of millions in assets.
“Oh, my family doesn’t run a pharmacy anymore. We’re into pharmaceutical manufacturing now. We get by—not starving, not thriving. Just muddling along, I guess!” Jiang Tian said casually.
“Oh, I see!” A trace of imperceptible contempt flashed deep in Yang Wenlun’s eyes.
In his view, even after several years of development, Jiang Tian’s family would at most have a few hundred million—absolutely nothing compared to the current Zhonghai Yang family. He didn’t take it to heart at all and couldn’t be bothered to verify or ask further.
He smiled smugly and continued his showing-off mode, sneering, “And the one signing the contract with us is the Xingzhou Ship King, the Guo family!”
“The Guo family? Which Guo family? Is there a member named Guo Lili?” Jiang Tian asked with slight surprise.
Finally seeing that shocked expression on your face! Let’s see you pretend now—can’t keep it up, can you?
“Jiang Tian, you’re way too ignorant!”
Yang Wenlun felt secretly delighted, his confidence in showing off growing stronger. He laughed, “How many Guo families are there in Nanyang? There’s only this one! The Guo family controls at least a hundred billion US dollars in assets—nearly a trillion Chinese yuan. That’s truly wealthy enough to rival a nation! Ship King of Xingzhou, Hotel King, Real Estate King—all those titles belong to one man: the Guo family head, Guo Junfeng!”
To be able to cooperate with the Guo family—he felt honored.
The Guo family was a renowned Chinese business dynasty famous at home and abroad. The current head, Guo Junfeng, had been ranked in the top ten of the global Forbes list for years running.
Compared to the Guo family, even Jinling’s richest family, the Nie family, seemed like country bumpkins—the gap was too vast.
Perhaps only the Bai, Tie, and Tang families of Lingnan combined could compete with them.
“Oh…” Jiang Tian nodded, thinking that this trip to rob the Guo family would probably yield quite a harvest.
“You even know Guo Lili?”
At that moment, Yang Wenlun suddenly asked in surprise, “Did you see her in a fashion magazine?”
“Fashion magazine? Is she in the fashion world too?” Jiang Tian said with some surprise.
“Country bumpkin, nouveau riche! No wonder you’ll never amount to anything—you don’t even know this!”
Yang Wenlun grumbled inwardly, then casually grabbed an airport magazine and pointed at a cold, elegant, tall woman on the cover, saying:
“Isn’t she all over the place? Guo Lili, English name Lilyan, legitimate daughter of Guo family head Guo Junfeng, first in line for succession. But instead of inheriting the family’s billions, she became an international supermodel and founded her own fashion group. She’s been on the cover of Esquire three times—even Prada’s chief designer hired her as an exclusive model!”
“Not to mention her family business and background—just her fashion group alone is valued at over a billion Singapore dollars!” Yang Wenlun’s tone carried a hint of admiration and worship.
“Oh, I see…”
Jiang Tian nodded faintly. This woman wasn’t just a brainless airhead, then.
Hah… Such a calm reaction. Your acting skills really have improved!
Yang Wenlun grumbled inwardly, then continued, “This time, it’s the old master of the Guo family’s birthday banquet. He was seriously ill before but has recovered, so the Guo family is holding a grand ceremony to announce it to the world! I got an invitation!”
“So his illness has already healed. You have their invitation—that’s truly enviable!” Jiang Tian smiled lightly.
Damn!
How come when you say you’re envious, I don’t feel even a trace of genuine envy from you? Instead, you seem almost dismissive?
“Jiang Tian, since you’re not doing well, why not work for me? I’m already a vice president at our company now. Be my assistant, and I’ll pay you a million a year!”
Yang Wenlun offered a business card, looking smug.
Hmph, kid, now I’ll make you understand your place—you’re only fit to be my assistant.
Now that they were older and had become pillars of society, they couldn’t just throw punches like in college. This kind of low-key showing off was all he could do.
If he’d run into Jiang Tian a few years earlier, right after graduation, he might have just thrown a punch.
“Sure! Then can I get a chance to attend this birthday banquet?”
Jiang Tian’s heart suddenly stirred, and he agreed.
Wang Chongyan had a noble identity—a hidden master who rarely appeared in public. He was hard to find.
And the Guo family happened to be members of the Xingzhou Society, closely connected to Wang Chongyan.
So why not go to the Guo family and have them lead the way? Besides, Guo Lili still owed him ten billion for the pills!
“Gah—!”
Yang Wenlun suddenly felt a bit awkward.
Jiang Tian had always been arrogant. He’d never expected Jiang Tian to actually agree—he’d only meant to humiliate him.
But now…
A million a year seemed a bit too high.
He should have made Jiang Tian his driver instead. Humiliate him thoroughly and pay him almost nothing.
“Haha, just kidding. Actually, I’ve always admired the Guo family. When the time comes, just take me to the Guo family’s gate and let me take a photo to post on Weibo to show off!”
Jiang Tian laughed.
“That’s nothing! I can even take you inside to meet Guo Lili—even take a photo with her, no problem!”
Yang Wenlun patted his chest and boasted smugly:
“She and I are great friends. Otherwise, how could I have gotten an invitation?”
Then he suddenly turned and waved, strutting proudly. “Jiang Tian, look! Li Xinyue—remember her? The campus beauty of your college back then. Now she’s my secretary.”
