Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 46 (Part 1)
Pure: This is a good chapter… huehue sweet sweet vengence!
Translated by Pure
Edited by Qing
Chapter 46.1 Qi Kai, that annoying fly that keeps buzzing and flying around… Can’t bear it anymore, it’s time to act. (Part 1)
Qi Qing and Jiang Qiaqia arrived at Yan City a week ago. Deng Mai had plenty of connections, so after asking around, he was quickly informed of the couple's movements during their time in Yang City.
From the day the two set foot on Yan City, they had visited every member from the previous Changqing City inspection team. They had sent out invitations for dinner or drinks to all of the bigshots in Yan City. They had been attempting to form beneficial relationships, but their persistence only led to others becoming annoyed. Dai Gaofeng didn't even bother meeting them, while Flux Realty found an excuse to drive them away after drinking a cup of tea. Of the companies that had dealt with them, the largest one was Dominion Properties. Qi Kai had acted quite uncharacteristically, having treated the couple with courtesy and he had even taken the time to meet them in his own office. Twice.
Lin Jingzhe locked onto his target almost instantly. Except for Qi Kai, he hadn’t really offended anyone in Yan City. Suddenly gaining a standing in Yan City may have caused unwarranted jealousy, but honestly, there weren’t many people who were idle enough to use this kind of petty and underhanded method. Because of his ownership of the triangular plot, Qi Kai had sent people to negotiate with Deng Mai many times before. Each time, his attitude remained very arrogant. He only said that he would offer a price to take the land away, but Deng Mai would be crazy to sell the land to him!
Deng Mai evaded him by saying he had no power to make this decision, so Qi Kai approached Lin Jingzhe himself. However, the ending was that they parted on bad terms. The grudge-turned-hatred between the two of them because of the position of ‘land king’ of Shiku Lane completely settled after that.
Instead of personally acting upon his resentment, Qi Kai had actually borrowed another person to do his dirty work; he had brought two idiots to thwart Lin Jingzhe. Though one had to admit, Qi Kai had gotten a little smarter. Just a couple years ago, whatever he did in Yan City, no one paid attention to him. If it hadn't been for learning a lesson from his fall in Qunnan Province, his way of venting his unhappiness would never have been as roundabout as it was now.
Lin Jingzhe had some understanding of Qi Qing and Jiang Qiaqia, as he had been in contact with two people in his previous life. They were the kind of people ‘who bootlicked the strong and bullied the weak’, but they were also quite savvy when it came to business. If it hadn’t been for Qi Kai's promise of bountiful benefits, the couple wouldn't have dared to confront Lin Jingzhe after having just arrived at Yan City. Although New Beginnings Real Estate couldn’t compare to Dominion Properties, it was more than enough to crush Qiqing Real Estate.
Deng Mai was so angry that he slammed his fists on the table. "Is Qi Kai f*cking sick in the head?!"
Thinking about it, he became a little worried. "Brother Lin, if he continues to target us, what should we do?"
Although Qi Kai was no longer as capable as he was a few years ago, Elder Qi still had his prestige. Dominion Properties was a company that had developed for so many years and had many properties under its name. New Beginnings Real Estate would suffer if Dominion Properties really wanted to go head to head.
Lin Jingzhe shook his head, signaling for Deng Mai to stop worrying. He knew that Qi Kai would only do such childish tricks at most. He hadn’t dared to use his own name to rob their lease, which showed that Qi Kai still had scruples. Let alone make bold and decisive acts, he didn’t even dare commit petty crimes.
Even so, it was not in Lin Jingzhe’s personality to suffer silently. The next day, Qi Kai went out to do errands as usual. His car had been parked on the side of the road, but when he came back, his car’s tires were punctured.
"Fuck!" Qi Kai exploded when he saw the flat tires. This was his favorite car. It took a lot of effort to bring it back to China. Not to mention the high price, it was impossible to find a second one in this whole country. Other than loving cars, Qi Kai had no other hobbies. From the first time he sat in this car, he had never touched another car’s steering wheel. Because it was difficult to get maintenance domestically, Qi Kai had always been careful on the road, and would rather do all the repairs himself if he could. He even had a professional team for car washing and maintenance, just for fear of getting his precious car bumped and its paint stripped.
But this car, which he had always cared for more than his previous girlfriends, was pitifully leaning on the side of the road at this time. The two wheels on the right side were like shriveled bags, slumping down lifelessly.
Qi Kai was stupefied for two seconds before he was filled with endless fury. Unfortunately, surveillance and CCTV were not as widely used as it was in the future. If not caught on the spot, it would be difficult to catch the perpetrator even if one had all the means. Qi Kai had no other choice than to suffer his loss silently.
He followed the tow truck all the way to the repair shop. His friend was also shocked when he saw this situation. "Who the hell was so bold? Who dared to do this to your car?"
"Cut the f*cking bullsh*t." Although there was no proof, Qi Kai could guess who it was. He immediately became furious when he heard his friend remind him. He didn't know much about Lin Jingzhe and had only personally confronted him twice. The first time was when he sold the land in Shiku Lane and the second time was when he had been beaten in Changqing City. In these two short encounters, the first cost him tens of millions, and the other sent him back to Yan City overnight, forcing him to recuperate for three days.
Qi Kai had never suffered such grievances. In his earlier years, everyone treated him like an ancestor. Not to mention the triangular plot on 2nd Middle Road, no one had dared to snatch anything from him. But now, even Lin Jingzhe, whose background was unknown in Yan City, dared to refuse his request. Qi Kai really couldn't swallow this offense. Several times he contemplated on whether he should have someone beat some sense into Lin Jingzhe, to show him how powerful he was like what he used to do.
However, ever since the Qunnan incident, his old man kept telling him to be cautious in his words and deeds. To avoid making any more enemies, he shouldn’t act so blatantly.
Qi Kai originally wanted to disturb Lin Jingzhe's affairs at least a few times. He wanted to let the latter know that he was not someone to be provoked. Qi Kai had been in the midst of feeling schadenfreude after Qi Qing said Lin Jingzhe left with a ugly face, unexpectedly, his happy mood didn’t even last three days.
He had imagined countless possibilities for Lin Jingzhe's response. Because of Lin Jingzhe's background–or lack thereof–Qi Qing hasn’t taken those possibilities seriously at all. Unexpectedly, he actually dared to ‘blaze a new trail’ on his precious car!
Stabbing his car tires? Might as well just stab his heart!
The model of Qi Kai's car could not be repaired in China, this also meant that spare parts were nowhere to be found. To repair his original tires was impossible, so new tires could only be bought from the car’s place of origin.
This was not an era where shipment could arrive within a week by express delivery. From searching, to purchasing, to delivery by mail, Qi Kai had to wait a full two months!
But there was no other choice but to wait. The car still had to be driven, so he could only temporarily replace it with four ordinary tires.
Qi Kai struggled to even step on the gas pedal, and he sat slumped all the way home. The ugly replacement tires on his shiny car were incredibly out of place. It made Qi Kai, who was a little obsessive-compulsive in this regard, feel very uncomfortable, as if someone was stabbing him with needles.
He decided that he should just park the car at home and not drive it out during this period of time. It’s hard to say if that lunatic Lin Jingzhe was still going to target his car again. Just slashing his tires was negligible, as he could get four replacements sent from out of state. But in the case he wanted to scratch the car’s paint job or something, Qi Kai would really want to cry without tears.
Furious, he scolded Lin Jingzhe for being insidious and despicable in his heart all the way home. Unfortunately, before he reached his destination, Qi Kai met another person who he didn't want to meet even more.
He sat in the car and sighed secretly, but in this narrow road, he had to lower the car window to greet the other party. "Mr. Xiao."
Xiao Chi nodded, his eyes flicked across the car body, and stayed on the conspicuous tires for a few seconds.
"Hey, don't mention it!" Qi Kai realized Xiao Chi had noticed the abnormality of his car. Even though he was fuming, Qi Kai still didn't want his opponent to pick out any weaknesses, so he rested his left arm on the car window with an indifferent expression. "I met a black-handed b*stard and suffered a bit, but it’s nothing serious."
As soon as he thought of the conflict between Lin Jingzhe and Xiao Chi, he immediately added another sentence, "You should know the b*stard, it's Lin Jingzhe. The one from New Beginnings Real Estate."
Xiao Chi paused when he heard the name ‘Lin Jingzhe.’ His initial nonchalant expression turned into a slight smile, showing a relatively normal and calm expression that one could call soft. "Oh?"
Qi Kai, thinking that they both had a common enemy, immediately became enthusiastic. He started to blabber about Lin Jingzhe's ignorance and also spoke about his insidious plans of how to take his revenge. Xiao Chi nodded frequently from outside the car, as if there was nothing unusual. After Qi Kai finished speaking, Xiao Chi even waved to him, signaling him to come out of the car.
Qi Kai ignorantly turned off the ignition after parking his car beside the road and came down to shake hands with Xiao Chi. This was the first time they had spoken on friendly terms, so he was very excited. As if all the unhappiness he had with Xiao Miao had passed through their shared grievance, Qi Kai solemnly said to Xiao Chi, "Mr. Xiao, we must stay united! We can't let those bumpkins outside think we're easy to bully!"
Seriously speaking, when it came to family background, he and Xiao Chi were indeed from the same world.
Xiao Chi seemed to agree, "You are right." He continued to fiddle with the buddhist beads in his hands. His upright look comforted Qi Kai.
Qi Kai decided not to drive the car home and just walk. Every time he looked at his car’s current state, he felt suffocated. Moreover, since they were already in their residential neighborhood, outsiders would never dare to come in and make trouble.
He thought about the estimated time that his friends from the auto repair shop had told him when the new tires would arrive in China. After bidding farewell to Xiao Chi, Qi Kai walked towards the direction of his home. Before he could continue to contemplate, a not-so-small movement completely disrupted his thoughts——
Bang!! Shatter!!
The violent collision and the sound of falling glass made him jump up instantly. Qi Kai quickly looked back and became immediately stunned.
Xiao Chi's departing back didn't stop for a moment, he didn't even turn his head, and continued to walk slowly towards the distance at a constant speed. Qi Kai looked at his sports car and saw a large hole in the front windshield. Dense spider web-like cracks filled every gap, just like his shattered heart after seeing this scene.