Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 70 (Part 2)
Edit: I keep forgetting to thank my patreons here, but I appreciate every little bit, so shoutout to D.N, E.M, and K.O for your support!
Translated by Pure (ko-fi)
Chapter 70.2 Jiang Qiaqia's heart throbbed painfully, as if she had cut off something with her own hands.
"Qi Kai." Seeing that he was acting as if he was numbed even in the face of death, Shi Nanxing knew it would be fruitless if he continued to press too hard. Swallowing the anger that reached the pit of his throat, Shi Nanxing forced himself to sit down beside Qi Kai. "I'm not trying to scare you. I've promised Sha Peng 20 million. Anything else can go wrong, just not this."
He looked into Qi Kai's eyes, wanted to move him with his eyes, but Qi Kai just blocked his own face with his arm and refused to look at him. Uncomfortable by his persistence, he just replied, "Don't you still have shares in April Wind Square? You can gather enough funds if you sell them."
"I only have about ten-something percent in my hand now. If I hadn’t sold part of it to Xiao Chi before, then maybe I would have had no problem with 20 million!!" When reminded of this, Shi Nanxing recalled the humiliation of being cheated and almost vomited blood. Xiao Chi's family hasn't had a falling out yet, but Sha Peng's presence was like a knife hanging above his head. With this issue, Shi Nanxing no longer had the mood to urge Qi Kai to find someone who was able to enter Xiao Shenxing's office. Thus the revenge for being cheated can only be put on hold for now. Was there anything in the world that was more suffocating than that?
The short answer was yes.
Shi Nanxing held on and didn’t vomit any blood as he opened his mouth and asked, "The land by Wubao Mountain is still considered the company’s property right? How much money can it be sold for?"
Qi Kai sighed, "No more than 50 million."
That was less than half of the cost they had put into the land. This figure made Shi Nanxing's heartache and his scalp tightened. But after a moment of hesitation, he still insisted, "40 million yuan is enough. Give up our shares as soon as possible, and pay whatever we own to Sha Peng. This way the urgent problems can be solved first."
But when Qi Kai heard his plan, he hesitated, "Uncle..."
Shi Nanxing was immersed in Sha Peng's dark shadow, but now it seemed that he finally saw a glimmer of life. He looked back at Qi Kai. "Huh?"
"That land by Wubao Mountain… Qiqing Real Estate still owes the bank more than 90 million yuan in loans..." Qi Kai mumbled, "Now that Qi Qing is dead, Mrs. Jiang is just a woman, we can’t just..."
It took a while for Shi Nanxing to understand the meaning of Qi Kai's words. He was shocked, and scrutinized Qi Kai's expression as if he wanted to know if he was seriously suggesting this.
"Are you retarded?!" Shi Nanxing raised his hand and slapped Qi Kai on the head, "What’s Jiang Qiaqia's life or death have to do with you? Stop worrying about others’ business, else get the hell out of here."
*******
Qi Kai finally got his wish to meet Sha Peng, whom he had been longing to meet. However, it’s a pity that the atmosphere of their meeting was ‘not very good’.
When Shi Nanxing tentatively asked whether the delivery of the 20 million yuan could be delayed for some time, a profound smile slowly appeared on the other party's exotic dark face.
The bodyguards brought by the Sha Peng were muscular and emitted a murderous chill. When the head of the bodyguards slapped the table, it felt as if it was about to split. This scared Qi Kai so much that his whole body tensed up.
Sha Peng waved his hand lightly to settle him down, he then coldly looked into Shi Nanxing's eyes, "Mr. Shi, so you no longer want the mountain in Ladakh anymore?"
Shi Nanxing gritted his teeth, hesitated for a while, and insisted, "Of course I still want it."
"But you can't even manage to show me any sincerity. You delaying this 20 million makes me doubt the sincerity of our cooperation." Sha Peng's gaze was bloodchilling, Qi Kai almost felt that he was a pig waiting to be slaughtered in his eyes. "The money has already been taken out of my pocket, if you go back on your word halfway, I will be the one who suffers."
Shi Nanxing forced a smile. "How can I make you suffer? It's really that the business has not been doing well recently, and the influx of money is less than usual. Don't worry, I will definitely give it, but it’ll take a little bit more time. I hope you can forgive me."
Sha Peng looked at him with a smile, he rested his elbows on the table, and stroked his chin lightly with his fingers, as if thinking, "Then you must give me a specific time, right?"
Shi Nanxing immediately looked at Qi Kai. The sudden spotlight caused the latter to become so frightened that he stuttered, "The... the application has been submitted to the bank… the latest... before June at the latest..."
Sha Peng seemed to have found Qi Kai’s terrified expression funny, so he laughed happily. After the hearty laugh, his expression quickly reverted back, and he turned to stare at Shi Nanxing, "Mr. Shi doesn’t plan to use delaying tactics to devise a crafty escape plan, right?"
What a joke, Shi Nanxing wanted his name to be written on that field more than he does, so he immediately replied without thinking, "How could that be possible?"
Sha Peng's eyes became gloomy, and he was obviously dissatisfied with them dragging the payment. However, considering Shi Nanxing's special status, which could bring them a lot of convenience in the future, he managed to push down the anger of being played, "I hope Mr. Shi will not disappoint me."
When leaving the meeting place, Qi Kai's legs were endlessly trembling. Though this was his first time meeting the legendary behind-the-scenes man, he felt as if he had just narrowly escaped death. He stumbled into his car, and after a distance away, Qi Kai looked back at the dark restaurant door behind him. For the first time, he questioned himself if following Shi Nanxing had been a crazy idea.
*******
After making a large purchase of a variety of new spring clothes in Xiao Chi’s size, Lin Jingzhe went home. When he entered the house, he saw Xiao Chi sitting in the living room on the phone, so he took off his coat and walked towards him.
"Mmm, I see." Xiao Chi briefly responded to the person on the phone, his eyes fixed on him. Lin Jingzhe hung his coat on the back of the sofa and sat next to him. Xiao Chi stretched out his arm to wrap it around his body, and after hugging him tightly, he poked his head to look at the pile of bags on the ground.
Lin Jingzhe rested his head on his shoulder, and Xiao Chi didn't move away, so he could faintly hear the voice on the receiver.
However the words he heard immediately stunned him; Lin Jingzhe stared at the void without any response. After Xiao Chi hung up the phone, he rubbed his stiff arm and asked him worriedly: "What's wrong?"
It took Lin Jingzhe a while to ask softly, "Qi Qing... is dead?"
"Well, I heard he had a heart attack. He was carried out from Dominion Properties’ conference room, but they couldn’t save him in the end." Xiao Chi leaned over to look through the bag that Lin Jingzhe brought back, "What did you buy?"
Lin Jingzhe didn't hear his last question, he seemed to have fallen into an illusory and eternal mist.
Qi Qing, dead? How was this possible?
That arrogant man had always made his presence known all his life; Lin Jingzhe still remembered his disdainful and contemptuous look during his previous life. In fact, he didn't feel much about Qi Qing. The other party was just a suitable springboard for Jiang Qiaqia to lead a better life. Therefore, in this life, he avoided the other party from the very beginning, hoping that the other party could also do the same.
But at this moment, Xiao Chi told him that the other party had permanently departed.
It was still a heart attack, exactly the same cause that took Lin Runsheng’s life in his previous life.
Was this a coincidence? Or was there really retribution in the world? The news felt so surreal. Lin Jinzhe should be happy, but at this moment, he has no other emotions except bewilderment.
Xiao Chi loudly rummaged through the paper bag and took out the clothes inside. He was about to express his happiness, but when he turned his head, he saw Lin Jingzhe in a trance.
He froze and the movement of wanting to try on new clothes stopped immediately. He sat back on the sofa, hugged Lin Jingzhe, and gently touched his head, "No way? Are you scared?"
Lin Jingzhe panted a few times, leaned on Xiao Chi’s chest, and listened to his strong and powerful heartbeat. This sound was the proof of life; a real living being. It took him a while to sort out his mixed emotions. Lin Jingzhe struggled to ask, "Qi Qing...Qi Qing is dead, then what about Jiang...Jiang Qiaqia?"
How can you be so soft-hearted? His choking voice caused Xiao Chi's heart to feel somewhat painful. He quickly groped around Lin Jingzhe's cheek with his fiery palm, and was relieved to not find any tears, so he answered after some consideration: "She should be fine. Hu Shaofeng said that someone saw her being blocked at the entrance of Dominion Properties. She probably wanted to find Qi Kai but failed to get in."
Lin Jingzhe grabbed his hand, pressed it to his face, and listened wearily with his eyes downcast.
Xiao Chi spoke in a deep voice, "You must remember how Qiqing Real Estate cooperated with Dominion Properties to develop Wubao Mountain before, right? The municipal administration had allocated a funeral parlor and a crematorium in that area. The construction of their community had already been built halfway, which makes it extremely difficult for them now to back out. I heard that Dominion Properties had transferred the development rights to Qi Qing’s hands, and Qi Qing used this land as collateral to borrow a fair amount from the bank. Now that Qi Qing is dead, the pressure to repay the loan is all on Jiang Qiaqia’s shoulders. If she doesn’t pay the loan back, bankruptcy would be inevitable, so she probably went to find Qi Kai for this very reason."
Lin Jingzhe closed his eyes. He only wanted to use this land to rectify Qi Kai, but he didn't expect such a small action to snowball into an avalanche-like result.
He felt conflicted; but relaxed and pressured. In his previous life, he had tried his hardest, wanting nothing more than to cause Jiang Qiaqia to fall into this type of ending. But now that it finally happened, he didn't feel happy about it. At the same time, it was also difficult for Lin Jingzhe to feel pity, so he just sighed, "I originally wanted to buy this land back from Qi Kai."
Looking at his rare moment of weakness, Xiao Chi lowered his head and kissed his forehead. "Wubao Mountain is actually pretty good, the terrain contains dragon veins, and enough qi gather around there. Although it is not suitable for people to live there, it’s perfect for a mausoleum to be built there."
Lin Jingzhe didn't know what Xiao Chi was talking about, and his head was overwhelmed by his words, "What kind of nonsense are you talking about?"