Chapter 43
The trouble that came to Jiang He was in the form of uniformed police officers.
“You are involved in a case of economic crime, please cooperate with us in our investigation.”
Jiang He was shocked, but the police presented their identification and arrived in a police car. Moreover, what they mentioned, Jiang He had indeed done.
But hadn’t Old Master Jiang helped him suppress this matter before? Since it was a closed case, why was it being brought up again?
Jiang He asked: “Who is the plaintiff?”
Since it was an economic crime, there must be someone accusing him.
As expected, the officer handcuffing him said: “Mingyuan Group.”
Jiang He’s heart calmed down. Clearly, this was Jiang Huaisheng’s doing, probably to vent anger for his lover, Gu Tang.
The old man would definitely bail him out afterward, and he wasn’t the only one who would benefit from this.
He still had evidence against others. If the old man refused to help, others would be willing to bail him out.
Jiang He, brought to the detention center, thought this, even with his hands cuffed, he held his head high, refusing to appear defeated or embarrassed.
Young people were too naive, thinking this kind of thing could crush him.
Seeing her husband being taken away, and it being related to Mingyuan Group, Wen Xinyi could only seek help from Old Master Jiang.
After all, if her husband went to jail, she would lose face and be unable to maintain her current lifestyle.
Although they had money, and she had bought several properties and made other investments in recent years,
Mrs. Wen Xinyi wasn’t a completely stay-at-home wife. If all her income depended on her husband, her life would be very suffocating.
When interacting with the wives of her husband’s business associates and her son’s classmates’ mothers, she would be left out due to a lack of common topics.
Mrs. Wen had her own businesses, a private flower shop and a bakery.
When he was young, Gu Tang had praised her desserts and sweet soups, and it wasn’t just a child’s biased view of their mother, but genuine praise.
So, the first bakery did very well, expanding into a chain of over a dozen stores, all directly operated under her name.
If she had no business of her own and relied entirely on her husband’s money, she wouldn’t have the confidence to argue with him.
And Wen Xinyi knew very well that her ex-husband had good character and loved her. With her current husband, if she had no leverage, as time passed, she would become a pathetic abandoned wife.
Relying on a man’s conscience would never end well, especially when you knew the other party didn’t have much of a conscience.
Wen Xinyi had used Jiang He’s money to open the first bakery and then found ways to ask him for more money.
She knew she didn’t have much business acumen and wasn’t willing to lower herself to deal with many people.
But she didn’t marry Jiang He to live a life of begging.
With strong connections, capital, the favorable economic climate, and competent staff recommended by her husband, these businesses did quite well.
Wen Xinyi didn’t aggressively expand these stores because she knew she couldn’t handle a large-scale business.
And she didn’t have much time to spend at the stores. She mainly focused on managing the finances, ensuring the money was enough for her to maintain her comfortable lifestyle.
Besides buying luxury goods, she invested the extra money in real estate.
That’s why Wen Xinyi didn’t hesitate to leave the house Gu Tang’s father left behind entirely to her eldest son.
Twenty years of marriage made Wen Xinyi and Jiang He inseparable.
Jiang He had contributed significantly to the success of these businesses. For example, when the business was doing well and encountered malicious competition or trouble, it was Jiang He who resolved these issues.
She provided the baking recipes, learned about finance and law, managed the accounts, and clarified the division of responsibilities.
If she lost her husband’s protection, Wen Xinyi was very worried about whether she could maintain these businesses that generated a steady income.
And she was also worried about how much money Jiang He would have to compensate. After all, these businesses were investments made during their marriage and were considered joint marital property.
Wen Xinyi didn’t want to sell her own assets, so she hoped Jiang He could be released safely, so as not to affect her life.
After a while, Old Master Jiang met with her. He didn’t want to see Jiang He’s wife, but Wen Xinyi wasn’t just Jiang He’s wife, she was also Gu Tang’s mother, the wife of the deceased Gu Ze.
“Uncle Jiang…”
Old Master Jiang interrupted her: “If you’re here to plead for Jiang He, don’t bother. If you want to protect your assets, for Xiao Cheng’s sake, divorce Jiang He.”
Jiang Cheng had frequently tried to ingratiate himself with Old Master Jiang in the past five years, and Wen Xinyi’s efforts to maintain their relationship during holidays had also been effective.
The old man, as he aged, wasn’t as decisive and ruthless as he was when he was young. He had softened considerably towards the younger generation, especially when it came to old friendships.
If it were in the past, he wouldn’t have treated Jiang He’s family so well. The whole family would have been implicated.
Wen Xinyi understood. She wiped her tears and asked softly: “Uncle Jiang, I understand. But for the sake of our past relationship, I want to know, what exactly did Jiang He do? You’re not even willing to help him?”
The old man sighed: “Regarding that car accident years ago, Jiang He knew about it, he found out, but he concealed it.”
The old man looked at Wen Xinyi. He wanted to know, in this woman’s heart, who was more important, her ex-husband or her current husband?
Wen Xinyi was startled, her expression becoming complex, but these complex emotions weren’t the reaction Old Master Jiang wanted.
He suddenly felt it was pointless and waved his hand dismissively: “Go, if there’s nothing else, don’t come again. Tell Jiang Cheng he doesn’t need to come either.”
That car accident wasn’t a simple accident, but deliberate. It wasn’t Jiang He who did it, nor was it planned by him. If he had planned it, the old man’s reaction wouldn’t be like this.
Back then, Jiang He thought Old Master Jiang was his father. If he wanted to take over as the illegitimate son, he would naturally want the old man’s legitimate son dead.
But he wasn’t audacious enough to plan this. He simply chose to conceal it when he discovered the problem with the car.
If it weren’t for Gu Tang’s father reacting in time and sacrificing his life, it was very likely his son would have died, or at least been severely injured.
The reason the old man could be so magnanimous was because nothing happened to his son.
But he was willing to help Jiang He suppress the evidence back then. Now, with his feelings changing, he was no longer willing to help.
Without the old man’s help, it was very easy for Jiang Huaisheng to send Jiang He to jail.
As for how Jiang He’s actions were exposed, it was, of course, investigated by Gu Tang.
This was a long story. Gu Tang sat in the detention center, looking at Jiang He through the reinforced glass, and the latter asked him: “Are you satisfied now?”
Gu Tang said: “Even if you die, my father won’t come back to life.”
What Jiang He did didn’t even reach the level of a crime. He simply knew about it but didn’t say anything, hoping the car accident would kill Jiang Huaisheng’s father.
This offense was similar to a bystander witnessing a crime but doing nothing, even if they knew the perpetrator.
Even with solid evidence proving he knew, Gu Tang couldn’t send him to jail for that. What sent Jiang He to jail were the economic crimes, the evidence for which had even been destroyed by the old man before, and the matter suppressed.
But because Jiang Huaisheng firmly stood by Gu Tang’s side, Jiang He was easily sent to jail.
For the sake of profit, Jiang Huaisheng could have ignored Jiang He. Or rather, rationally, he could have used this incident to gain greater benefits.
But he chose to forgo profit for the sake of his lover, taking action at this less than opportune moment.
The conflict between the old generation and the new generation of leaders ultimately ended with the new generation’s rise to power and the old generation’s concession.
Gu Tang said: “I’m not doing this for my father, but for myself. Seeing you suffer now, and knowing you will continue to suffer, makes me happy.”
He had actually gathered some evidence two years ago, but waited until now to send Jiang He to jail, just to witness his downfall with his own eyes.
As Gu Tang was leaving, Wen Xinyi arrived, carrying a large bag containing a document, a divorce agreement and property division agreement in a transparent file folder.
Seeing Gu Tang, she opened her mouth: “I’m here to discuss divorce with your Uncle Jiang.”
Gu Tang said politely: “I’m glad to hear that.”
He brushed past her. Wen Xinyi’s appearance and words were like a breeze, only creating small ripples on the calm surface of the lake, then disappearing without a trace.
Leaving the detention center, a familiar luxury car was waiting outside. The sun was shining brightly, and the air was fresh.
The car window rolled down, revealing Jiang Huaisheng’s beautiful face, as if meticulously sculpted by Nuwa: “Is everything settled?”
Gu Tang nodded, walked over, and suddenly bent down, kissing him directly through the car window.
Jiang Huaisheng wasn’t embarrassed at all and deepened the kiss passionately and defiantly.
At eight years old, Gu Tang lost his beloved family and home. For the next twenty years, he didn’t have a home, but now he did.
A child couldn’t choose their parents, so he couldn’t choose his family either.
He had a mother, but it seemed he had completely lost her over a decade ago, after his younger brother was born.
Jiang Huaisheng wasn’t perfect, he was sick, paranoid, arrogant, vicious, and he was afraid of death, very, very afraid of death.
But it didn’t matter, he wasn’t perfect either.
Many times, he had thought about giving up, about joining his father, but seeing Jiang Huaisheng, he wanted to live again.
Despite having a strange illness, despite his parents’ hypocritical relationship, despite constantly falling ill, he desperately wanted to live.
The bond between a child and their parents often stemmed from that shared blood. Half from the father, half from the mother, blood connected them closely.
And now, his blood flowed within Jiang Huaisheng. The bone marrow stem cells donated from his body were transplanted into Jiang Huaisheng.
They continuously differentiated into new cells and tissues, producing blood, giving the sickly Jiang Huaisheng vitality.
Gu Tang and Jiang Huaisheng grew up together, they had been intimate for so many years, even their parents and other relatives hadn’t spent as much time with them as they had with each other.
Like a person and their shadow, except for the first eight years of his life and the five years abroad, in his twenty-seven years of life, Jiang Huaisheng occupied the most important fourteen years. How many fourteen years could one have in a lifetime?
If nothing unexpected happened, they would continue to be entangled for the next few fourteen years.
This was his symbiotic partner, a family member completely different from what he had once imagined, a family member he chose himself. They were like two intertwined plants, inseparable.
Gu Tang said gently: “Everything is settled, let’s go home, to our home.”
