Chapter 33 - Who Tampered With Her Safe? (1)

In her previous life, many said that Fang JunRong was an unreasonable, evil, and callous mother-in-law to the female lead. Everybody was pleased when she was sent to the mental institution at the end and that Li WangJin was practically a saint for not doing more to her.

Back then, they had pretended so well that they were able to fool everyone. Well, okay, maybe not everyone was necessarily fooled. Back then, Li WangJin and Li ShiZe's assets had increased by several folds. They had taken the #1 and #3 places on the top wealthiest list and a lot of power that came with that. Nobody would want to risk offending the two of them by defending Fang JunRong. During this lifetime, not only did she want to reclaim what was hers, but she also wanted to tear off that fake facade of theirs.

She ordered a few small plates of food, enjoyed them slowly, and also ordered some take out that her daughter liked to take with her.

When she arrived at home, Li WangJin had already come back. Sitting on the couch, his hair stuck together from his sweat. There was a sense of distress surrounding him. His usual scholarly elegance was goone. When he looked up suddenly, his eyes looked like that of a beast who wanted to tear a person apart. There were dark clouds inside his eyes, and his voice was filled with accusation. "You told everyone that I was buying paintings?"

Everyone in their circle knew about it, and many of them mocked how stupid and wasteful he was behind his back. Other than that Boss Su, many others called him up and sang Fang JunRong's praises to him. All the compliments for Fang JunRong made Li WangJin feel like he had just swallowed a fly – his stomach roiled with disgust. He had worked so hard and lost so much money on it, and all that came out of it was improving his wife's reputation? How could he not want to puke blood?

Fang JunRong chuckled slightly and responded in a casual way, "I didn't think that was something that needed to be kept on the down low. Why can't I share that?"

Li WangJin immediately responded anxiously, "You have no idea what they said about me behind my back."

Fang JunRong put on a more serious look and said to him, "It's better to tell them the truth rather than them speculating about what was going on. Many thought that your selling so much stocks in a hurry was because our company was cash-strapped. A few of our contracted companies wanted to back out of the contracts. I had to explain it to them."

Li WangJin was suddenly speechless. That had not occurred to him.

Fang JunRong carried on, "Some of them even whispered to me that you were cashing out so much because you are having an affair. I can't possibly let them think that of you, so I had no choice but to clarify it.

"Sun Mei even told me today that she saw you having lunch with a woman and the two of you looked quite intimate. Was that true?" She looked directly at Li WangJin as she said that.

Under her stare, Li WangJin felt that he was standing stark naked under the sun, and there was nowhere to hide. The only thing that was in his mind was Wang SiXian's tender and affectionate look. He shook his head to shake off the image – no, there was nothing going on between the two of them. He was only extending the olive branch to Wang SiXian because of Wang SiEr.

He said in a righteous tone, "You shouldn't hang out with that gossiping Sun Mei. She never felt happy about how loving the two of us are."

He paused, then explained himself. "She's YaGe's aunt. She was down on her luck and had recently returned to the country. I only met up with her to talk to her about YaGe and wanted her to spend some time with YaGe and help her feel better. You know, YaGe had been depressed ever since her parents passed away."

Fang JunRong only wanted to snicker. Li WangJin made Jiang YaGe sound like such a filial person. If she missed her parents so much, then she shouldn't be spending all the time being intimate with Li ShiZe. She was always making soup for him or picking up his room for him. Several of the servants at home had already mentioned this to her. The two of them had been so intimate that they had started crossing the line.

Chapter 34 - Who Tampered With Her Safe? (2)

In her previous life, when she found out about this, she spoke with Jiang YaGe and nicely gave her a reminder. Jiang YaGe turned around and ran and cried to Li WangJin and Li ShiZe. Suddenly, Fang JunRong had turned into the villainess elder who was slandering her.

During this lifetime, Jiang YaGe and Li ShiZe could do whatever they wanted. It didn't concern her whatsoever.

She had no interest in talking about Jiang YaGe and changed the subject. "Oh, by the way. When will the painting arrive? I remembered that we have already made the payment. I would love to appreciate Master Xu's great work as well."

Li WangJin froze in his spot. He Ming had already run off with the money. He didn't leave any painting behind. Where was he supposed to find a "Snow by the River" from? He wouldn't even be able to find another person to paint it for him with such short notice either. He didn't want words to get out nor would he be able to immediately find another artist was an expert in counterfeit.

His lips quivered, and he wasn't able to come up with anything after a long while.

Fang JunRong casted him a glance and asked, "Did something happen? Did the seller back out of the deal?"

How could Li WangJin possibly tell her the truth? He could only grit his teeth and said, "Yes, his money freed up and he backed out of it."

He suddenly realized sadly that he would need to cough out whatever money left that he shored away for himself to fill the hole. Li WangJin was at loss all of a sudden. Did that mean his efforts over the years were all for nothing?

He felt particularly depressed and frustrated. His recent setback made him age a lot all of a sudden. He walked up the stairs weakly; his back looked dreary.

Naturally, Fang JunRong wasn't going to feel bad for him. She returned to her own room cheerfully and eagerly wished that Li WangJin would go and seek comfort from Wang SiXian more often to allow her to collect more definitive evidence. She couldn't tolerate being under the same roof with him for much longer.

Her good mood didn't last very long. As soon as Fang JunRong walked inside her room, she noticed that her safe had been tampered with.

She had already emptied her safe out of all of her deeds and jewelries and moved them into her dimension, leaving just an empty shell in her bedroom. She tied a red knot on her safe – this knot was knitted by her daughter. It was crooked but it was the thought that counted, which was why Fang JunRong accepted it.

And now the knot was facing a different direction, indicating that her safe had been tampered with.

Fang JunRong did not have surveillance installed in her room, so she had no idea who was inside of her room. But she had some ideas – either Li ShiZe or Jiang YaGe. The odds of it being Li ShiZe was higher as he was the one who knew her passcode.

Her jade bracelet was stolen by her BBQ-pork son in her previous life and gifted to Jiang YaGe.

What Fang JunRong was even more curious about was how did Jiang YaGe know about the secret of the bracelet when she didn't even know about it herself? To a point that she would go above and beyond to get her hands on it. When she read the novel, that was only mentioned in passing as if everything was but a coincidence. But she wasn't one who believed in coincidences.

Now that Jiang YaGe wasn't able to get a hold of the bracelet, there would probably be a round two.

Fang JunRong reflexively toyed with the barely visible mark of the bracelet around her wrist.

***

Jiang YaGe looked at the tall and handsome Li ShiZe with anticipation. She must admit that she has certain fondness towards him. He was the second nicest person to her after Uncle Li.

"ShiZe."

Li ShiZe's usual cold look softened up when he saw Jiang YaGe without him even noticing it. He wasn't too fond of her originally when he found out where she had once worked. That was, until he had inadvertently found out she only worked there to help out a friend who was in dire need for money.

Chapter 35 - Who Tampered With Her Safe? (3)

Even when she was working at a place like "White Crane", she had maintained her pureness and never thought about clinging onto the rich and powerful. On top of that, even when she was misunderstood by others, she never explained herself in order to help her friend keep her secret.

Li ShiZe had met many women ever since he was a child, but he had never met one like Jiang YaGe who looked weak on the outside but was very stubborn and resilient on the inside. Plus, his mother and sister obviously disliked Jiang YaGe and always bullied her around the house. He couldn't help but be even nice to her as he felt bad for her.

Of course, he also placed the blame on Zhong Yi. If Zhong Yi hadn't been badmouthing YaGe constantly in front of his mother and sister, they certainly would not have such a bad impression of her.

As much as he had thought about, he maintained his image of being a man of few words. He only talked more in front of those he cared about.

"YaGe."

Jiang YaGe looked at Li ShiZe with her limpid eyes. Her eyes were the best of all her features. They looked like they could talk. The way she looked at one hinted at romance and suggestiveness. Her eyes were also what made her go from an above-average looking woman to a pretty woman.

Li ShiZe said to her, "I'm sorry. My mom stashed her bracelet somewhere else and I couldn't find it."

Li ShiZe saw Jiang YaGe crying one day and found out that she had lost her bracelet. The bracelet didn't belong to her, but it was a gift from her parents' good friend. When she was one, she was betrothed to that family and the bracelet was given to her family as the betrothal gift. They were to return the bracelet if the two kids were not suitable for each other.

The little fires in Jiang YaGe's eyes died off. "I have no feelings for him and didn't want to marry him. But I wasn't able to return the bracelet to them."

Li ShiZe said to her, "Don't worry, I will look for it some more and maybe see if we can buy a similar one? That shouldn't be a problem when money is not an object."

Jiang YaGe's eyes were slightly red. "No, I have never seen one liked that elsewhere, except for Mom's. There was a section in the middle that was so green, it was almost transparent and looked almost like the shape of a mountain."

Li ShiZe wasn't surprised that Jiang YaGe knew of his mother's bracelet. She probably had seen his mom wear it in the past. He tried to comfort her by saying that, "Don't worry. When push comes to shove, I will just give you my mom's. Betrothals like that are not legally binding at this day and age." Li ShiZe didn't feel that it was a big deal to take his mom's bracelet. What belonged to his parents would become his sooner or later. He was just getting it sooner was all.

He was reluctant to see YeGe marrying someone against her wish over something so silly. Except that he would need to avoid mentioning YaGe when he asked his mom for her bracelet. He worried that his mom would turn him down if she knew that YaGe had anything to do with it.

Jiang YaGe finally smiled after she heard him say that. "Thank you. I am glad I have you on my side."

Li ShiZe curved his lips, and his look became much gentler. He was cold and handsome. When he smiled occasionally, it was like ice melting. Jiang YaGe was charmed by the smile. Her cheeks blushed, and she looked at him amorously with trust and happiness.