Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 70 (Part 3)
Translated by Pure (ko-fi)
Chapter 70.3 Jiang Qiaqia's heart throbbed painfully, as if she had cut off something with her own hands.
Qi Qing was cremated in a hurry, his casket was buried so fast that his spirit wouldn’t even have the time to leave the body[1]. The funeral was embarrassingly simple.
He had a poor reputation in Yan City’s Real Estate Industry, but after being acquainted for a while, many people still attended his funeral. However, Shi Nanxing and Qi Kai, who originally had the closest relationship with him due to their shared interests, were absent.
Lin Jingzhe was wearing a black suit, he was quietly staring at the black and white photo of Qi Qing in the mourning hall. That face in the portrait was all too familiar, but at this moment it had changed from a living person to a cold printed picture. This huge gap between his past life and his present life made it difficult for him to just calmly accept it.
Therefore, he was probably the most sincere guest at the whole funeral. Looking at his pale and solemn face, Dai Gaofeng couldn't help shaking his head and sighed at Xiao Chi, "The warmth and coldness of social relationships truly unfolds at moments like these. Mr. Lin is really a forgiving man. Alas, Qiqing Real Estate had given him a lot of trouble back then. "
He originally wanted to use this matter to persuade Xiao Chi to change his view of Lin Jingzhe, but after listening to his words, Xiao Chi's eyes became sharper and profound. The hairs on Dai Gaofeng's back stood upright when he saw this, so he kept his mouth shut and didn't dare to say any more.
As a widow, Jiang Qiaqia had donned on a simple white garment; sobbing as she burned paper money for her dead husband. The guests stepped forward one by one to give her their condolences and for her to restrain her grief, but her future was as unknown as the universe. This funeral will bring her a handsome amount of condolence money, but unfortunately this money was a drop in the bucket compared to Qiqing Real Estate’s bank loan. The company was now in chaos, and everyone was worried that it would go bankrupt tomorrow. Jiang Qiaqia tried her best to appease the group of employees who wanted to leave; if these people left, the crumbling Qiqing Real Estate would really have no way out.
Jiang Qiaqia felt more confused than ever. What had she done to have ended up like this?
Unknowingly, her life was like a train that took a wrong turn at some point in time, and rushed to a wilderness.
She had been constantly reflecting on herself these days, drowning herself in remorse and alcohol; regretting the times that she had probably made wrong decisions in her life. But after she sobered up, she still had to face reality; with huge debts on her head, she needed money.
Lots and lots of money.
Jiang Qiaqia first thought of Qi Kai, but she couldn't even enter the front door of Dominion Properties. Their cooperation had already broken down about the moment the crematorium was announced. So none of the employees there cared to give her any face.
She had no choice but to borrow money from her business partners, but with the current situation of Qiqing Real Estate... maybe someone would give her some money out of pity, knowing fully well she wouldn’t be able to pay it back, but 90 million was undoubtedly a fantasy.
In desperation, Jiang Qiaqia had no choice but to call her younger brother and sister, who she never kept in touch with, back in Liyun Town.
But it wasn't until then that she realized that her siblings were also having a bad time.
Qunnan’s earlier crackdown on smuggling had affected all aspects of the business community. The companies of her younger brother and sister had completely shut down after she left Qunnan, and their family’s house and car were already sold.
Jiang Xiaoyun still had to support her son Jiang Run, who was going to college. With the little money from selling her car, she was now running a small hussle, but it was laborious and didn’t make very much.
There was no need to mention asking to borrow money, Jiang Xiaoyun actually asked Jiang Qiaqia for information as to where Lin Jingzhe was. Her younger sister wanted the house that the old man had left for Lin Jingzhe. Their family were now living in a cramped small house, while the luxurious old house was wasted and empty. Jiang Xiaoyun tried to find and ‘talk some sense’ to Lin Jingzhe, but heeded no results, so they simply planned to move in without a heads up. This kind of matter would usually pass unless reported, but for some reason, their family was discovered by the police the next day. Jiang Xiaoyun was detained for a few days, and all her relatives soon found out about this embarrassment.
She asked Jiang Qiaqia where Lin Jingzhe was, but Jiang Qiaqia also wanted to know the answer too!
But where could she inquire about such information? So she could only end the call with her sister unsatisfyingly.
She hesitated for a while and still didn't dial the phone number of Qi Qing's home. With that old woman at home, Jiang Qiaqia didn't dare to inform her of her husband's death.
A black shadow approached her, Jiang Qiaqia pulled out of her thoughts and raised her head with tears still in her eyes.
A young and delicate face fell into her eyes. Lin Jingzhe lowered his head and looked down, his back upright, his face void of expression.
He was as calm as the boundless sea under the night, but with a pinch of his hand, she could fall under without any means of redemption. Jiang Qiaqia didn't dare to underestimate him at all, so her attitude was extraordinarily humble. "Mr. Lin, thank you for coming today."
Lin Jingzhe stared at her quietly for a while, then squatted down in front of her, and said softly, "You're thanking me?"
Jiang Qiaqia squeezed out a grateful smile, "Yes, I didn't expect you to come today."
Lin Jingzhe's eyes suddenly became very complicated, so complicated that Jiang Qiaqia couldn't even read a bit of his complex thoughts. He looked at Jiang Qiaqia, and then suddenly turned his head to look at the photo of Qi Qing surrounded by white flowers in the mourning hall.
It took him a long time before he turned around again, with a fake smile, he replied, "You're welcome."
Jiang Qiaqia had heard that the investment promotion of the shopping mall on 2nd Middle Road had been completed. Lin Jingzhe’s net worth had already snowballed along with this process to an unimaginable level. Thinking of the things that Qiqing Real Estate had done against him to appeal to Qi Kai before, Jiang Qiaqia regretted so much that she wished she could go back to that time and give herself a slap in the face. But now that Qi Qing, who usually handled such matters, was dead, she began to fear that the other party would take this advantage to settle accounts.
So even though she was panicking, Jiang Qiaqia still insisted on remedying. "...There were many things...that we had done… to have offended you, and I am sorry to say to you on behalf of Qi Qing."
She spoke very sincerely, but Lin Jingzhe didn't answer immediately. After several seconds of silence, he slowly repeated, "Sorry?"
"Yes." Jiang Qiaqia showed a bleak self-deprecating smile. "We did a lot of wrong things in the past, I hope you let the bygones be bygones."
She raised her head, ready to study Lin Jingzhe's complexion. However, when their eyes met, Lin Jingzhe suddenly turned his eyes away; the latter looked elsewhere and smiled.
This was not a smile of joy, rather it was more like relief. At this moment, something seemed to be different about him. Jiang Qiaqia was confused and wanted to get to the bottom of it, but before she could do so, Lin Jingzh’s demeanor had reverted back to normal.
His complicated gaze cleared up little by little, he said his condolences to her, and then got up and left.
Jiang Qiaqia's heart throbbed inexplicably, she felt as if she had chopped off a piece of her own.
But in the next second, a sudden noise crashed into the mourning hall, interrupting her doubts.
"My God—————"
With a loud cry that resounded through the sky, the visitor passed through the crowd and threw herself on the altar with precision. The moment she saw the other person's face, the blood on Jiang Qiaqia's face faded away.
Qi Qing's mother knelt down on the ground holding her son's photo. She was crying hoarsely, and looked ready to pass out at any moment. The relatives of the Qi Family rushed to the mourning hall soon after, and the dozen new visitors packed the mourning hall to the brim.
The sounds of weeping followed soon after, one after another, the Qi Family knelt down in succession, all shouting Qi Qing's name with tears all over their faces.
"My son!!!!" The old lady was the loudest of the bunch. "You said you would go to Yan City to do business and would go home when you finished. Why did you let me, an elderly, send off her young[2]?!!"
The people who came to express their condolences were overwhelmed by their momentum. Dai Gaofeng was pushed and shoved and almost fell down. When he came back to his senses, he couldn't help frowning in disgust. He turned and said to the people around him, "Let's go."
Xiao Chi dragged Lin Jingzhe over and pulled him to the safety of the wide and open entrance. Lin Jingzhe turned his head and looked inside in a daze.
Jiang Qiaqia seemed to want to sneak away, but was quickly apprehended by the Qi Family's quick-witted relatives.
The mourning hall, which was supposed to be calm and solemn, was now full of scolding. The old lady accused Jiang Qiaqia of withholding the news of her son's death, "You jinx! Nothing good has happened since you married into our house! If it weren't for you wanting to pull in ‘connections’, how could our family’s company in Qunnan go bankrupt? You caused my son to leave his hometown and travel so far to Yan City to work, and now he’s worked to death!!!”
Not to be outdone, Jiang Qiaqia screamed back, "What does this have to do with me!! It's obvious that he’s the useless one!!"
"You heartless wretch! Did he ever mistreat you before?!!" The old lady’s cries were suppressed, she was obviously exhausted, "You owed so much money to the real estate employees and construction workers when the company in Qunnan closed down. Those people had hired loan sharks to our house every day to harass us, making us unable to return home, and our whole family was ruined by you! Whatever, you can keep running your mouth, I have already told them that you are in Yan City! Let’s see how you try to escape this!"
"You hag, why haven't you died yet!!!" Jiang Qiaqia was obviously stunned by the news. She screamed and broke free from the person who was holding her down, and rushed at the old lady.
The fruits, candles, and candy were all smashed to the ground, and even the brazier that burned the paper money was overturned. The ashes rose in the surging air, and floated in mid-air like snowflakes.
It was the first time that the people outside the mourning hall khad heard of this matter, so they all frowned. To delay payment to their employees for so long, what an immoral thing to do.
One’s hands would be bound to get dirty when it came to handing overdue debts; the methods of debt collection were well known to everyone present. Dai Gaofeng frowned and said, "Since this involves private matters, we shouldn’t get too involved. Let's go."
Lin Jingzhe ordered the security guard at the door to call the police, this way the situation inside would not get too out of hand.
Then he sighed, turned, and smiled at Xiao Chi's worried expression, "Let's leave."
.
.
.
Footnote:
[1] buried so fast that his spirit didn’t have time to leave the body - in china, it's a tradition to not cremate a body after their death for at least 3 days. They are placed in a coffin and placed in shelter, so the soul can leave the body to be reincarnated.
[2] Why did you let me, an elderly, send off her young - There is a Chinese saying that describes the grief of seeing a younger relative’s death: ‘White hair has to send black hair first’ meaning that the old-man with white hair has to bury the young man with black hair. To any parent, this is the worst kind of nightmare.
Note from Pure the translator: Jiang Xiaoyun JQ’s younger sister, she made an appearance at chapter 5.
