Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 71 (Part 1)
Translated by Pure (ko-fi)
Chapter 71.1 Shen Tiantian's expression gradually turned cold, "I see."
When Lin Runsheng received the message, he left his university office. Once he walked to the school gate, he saw a woman anxiously pacing back and forth.
He stood far away and looked at Jiang Qiaqia, and couldn't marvel at the wonder of time. In front of him stood someone who once was one of the most important women in his life.
Her facial features were the same outline of the past, but the state was much older than in memory. The vicissitudes of life had eroded her youthfulness, shrouding her in fatigue. At this moment, Jiang Qiaqia was biting her nails nervously, head lowered and staring at the road absent-mindedly. Suddenly, she stumbled and almost fell.
Because of this, she raised her head and saw Lin Runsheng standing in the distance.
Jiang Qiaqia recognized him in an instant, and as if she had finally touched the backbone of her hopeless life, endless grievances welled up in her heart as tears welled up in her eyes.
Lin Runsheng sighed. He wanted to leave at first, but now that she had seen him, he could no longer do so. Hence, he can only approach Jiang Qiaqia under the surprised eyes of the people around him. "Don’t stand here and cry, you are blocking the door."
Jiang Qiaiqa's tears flowed more and more violently. "Runsheng, I finally found you."
It's no secret that Lin Runsheng was teaching at Hanhai University. Jiang Qiaqia was aware of this fact for many years, but she never had the desire to find him. Hanhai University was one of the top universities in the country, so it seemed like a pretty prestigious job to be a professor in this school. However, a poor teacher was a poor teacher, even if they were an excellent teacher, it was nowhere as lucrative as doing business.
In Jiang Qiaqia's mental dictionary, this type of career belonged under the column of ‘nothing promising’.
But at this moment, she was really desperate and could not think of any other way out.
The only contact information she knew of Lin Runsheng was his home landline number. Due to the ultimatum given by Shen Juanying regarding the issue of child support, Jiang Qiaqia dreaded the thought of his current wife picking up the phone if she called. Therefore, she could only thicken her face and go directly to Hanhai University and inquire about Lin Runsheng from the reception office. It was only now that she had unexpectedly discovered Lin Runsheng's social status seemed to be completely different from what she had imagined.
As soon as the security guards in the reception room heard that she knew Professor ‘Lin Runsheng’, their attitude immediately became extremely polite. When they called back just now, their tone was equally respectful. Moreover, while waiting for her ex-husband’s arrival, Jiang Qiaqia had heard many outstanding matters that he had accomplished.
For example, Lin Runshen was appointed to become the head of the National Communications Fund Project by virtue of his numerous excellent scientific research publications. Another example– he had already been elected as a Party Committee of Hanhai University by a landslide of votes. Or how his national-level research and development projects were all allocated a large amount of funding, etc etc.
In the eyes of this group of campus security guards, the ‘stern’ Professor Lin seemed to be an existence that should never be blasphemed.
Jiang Qiaqia felt the hidden majesty exuded by the other party, which was completely different from when he was younger, and couldn't help becoming more and more bitter. The two avoided the large flow of people at the entrance of the school and walked to the side. Jiang Qiaqia continued to cry as she leaned forward, wanting to rest her body on Lin Runsheng.
Lin Runsheng dodged to avoid her, with a fierce expression, "What do you want from me?"
Jiang Qiaqia was caught off guard and raised her head in astonishment. Lin Runsheng's current expression was extremely unfamiliar to her.
In her memory, he had never… never… never had faced her with such a cold attitude before.
Jiang Qiaqia became flustered for a moment and momentarily forgot her purpose for seeking him out. She opened her mouth and softly asked, "How have you... been all these years?"
Lin Runsheng looked at her delicate face. It had been twenty years since their divorce, and apart from her brief phone calls asking for money, this was the first time he had ever heard her ask him about his wellbeing. He thought that there should be lingering feelings in his heart, but unexpectedly, at this moment, he really didn't feel anything except wariness.
Unknowingly, Jiang Qiaqia in his mind had changed from someone who he could go home to talk and hug, to the current ‘beautiful snake’ who he must approach with caution.
Lin Runsheng had already been defeated once, knowing that he couldn't beat her, he quickly raised his arm and glanced at his watch. "Just tell me what you want to say now, I have a lecture at 10:30."
Jiang Qiaqia’s heart ached; she had seen through his intention. "Are you trying to avoid me?"
"Qiaqia," Lin Runsheng frowned and stared at her solemnly, "We have been divorced for twenty years."
"So you don't even have time to drink a cup of coffee?" Jiang Qiaqia asked hastily, and then muttered to herself with tears still in her eyes, "I remember you liked to drink freshly brewed coffee..."
What good memory. Lin Runsheng didn’t know whether to cry or to laugh. "Forget it. Since it’s nothing important, then I'll be leaving."
Seeing that he really turned around and was about to leave, Jiang Qiaqia finally caved in. She broke down, grabbed the hem of his clothes, and cried, "Runsheng...you have to help me!!"
She finally exposed the unspeakable predicament. The loan was secondary; there wasn’t much of a reciprocation if she were to delay paying it. The most frightening thing was the debt collectors Qi Qing's family had brought from Qunnan.
Qiqing Real Estate went bankrupt for the first time in Qunnan, the company failed to persist to the end after a long period of stubborn resistance. On top of the large amount of debt, as Qi Qing’s first major failure, he became completely disheartened. It was only when Jiang Qiaqia proposed to make a comeback in a different city did he finally cheered up.
While their company was facing bankruptcy, they still had a project in hand. As time went on, their economic situation fell into dire states. The couple had relied on all kinds of concealment to persuade the construction workers to continue their work. After bankruptcy, the land was taken away by the bank, but the construction costs and workers' wages still needed to be paid out of their own pockets. Qi Qing borrowed from all his relatives, and even dug out most of his own mother's total savings to barely scrape up enough to pay their total due. However, before paying it out, the couple had a second thought.
A comeback required a huge sum of money.
After several discussions with the rest of the family, Qi Qing's mother finally agreed to hold off the debt collectors. With that settled, Jiang Qiaqia and Qi Qing chose an unassuming sunny day to go head out together. To avoid being discovered, they didn't even dare to bring any luggages and secretly boarded a train to Changqing Province.
In their original plan, if all went well, they could repay everything within a year.
Later on, the money indeed trickled in very quickly. The couple could have allocated some money from the 90 million loan they had received for the plot of land by Wubao Mountain. But at that time, both the couple felt that this matter was not of great importance and could be delayed compared to other things that cost money.
In the end, Qi Qing passed away, leaving Jiang Qiaqia alone and behind bars.
The old woman of the Qi Family was really vicious. She almost disclosed all the information she knew to the group of debt collectors.
With the newfound information, the debt collectors went directly to Qiqing Real Estate’s headquarters. They smashed the inside to a horrible mess, and injured two employees who wanted to dissuade them.
Jiang Qiaqia felt that she might be the most unlucky person in the world. "The people in the company were terrified, and almost all of our employees walked out in the past few days. As for those two employees, although they were injured, it was all minor skin wounds. Their mouths, however, were like hungry wolves. Each of them are demanding a thousand yuan for medical expenses... All the money collected from Qi Qing’s funeral was taken away by that old woman. Now that the debt collector knows my company and private address, I can't even go home anymore..."
The more she narrated the more aggrieved Jiang Qiaqia became. In the end, she even squatted helplessly on the ground with her hands over her face. Lin Runsheng sighed. He took out his wallet, opened it, took out all the cash in it, knelt down, and handed it to her.
"Take this."
Jiang Qiaqia raised her head with tears in her eyes. When she felt the thickness of the bills in her hand, she was stunned for a moment. She held it in front of her eyes and counted, "Three thousand?"
This was approximately one month of Lin Runsheng's salary. He sighed and said, "Pay the medical expenses of the employees, and then use the rest to find a temporary place to hide."
Jiang Qiaqia spoke with difficulty, "I...I still owe more than ten million to the construction workers..."
The expression on Lin Runsheng's face froze, "What?"
Jiang Qiaqia was obviously dissatisfied with the amount Lin Runsheng gave her. Her sad expression turned into annoyance. "I’m in a desperate situation here, can’t you help me out?"
"..." Lin Runsheng stood up speechlessly, "I'm going to class."
"Lin Runsheng!" Jiang Qiaqia chased after him while holding the money in her hands, "Wait!"
How dare Lin Runsheng stop? He walked faster and faster, but was finally caught up by Jiang Qiaqia, who was running after him. Jiang Qiaqia grabbed his sleeve, but realizing that she would not be able to borrow any more money today, she could only grit her teeth and ask, "Do you know where Jingzhe is now?"
Lin Runsheng was taken aback when he heard the name, "Who?"
"Jingzhe, our son." Jiang Qiaqia looked anxious, "He is studying in Yan City now, right? It seems to be Yan University, do you know which campus he is in?"
Lin Runsheng's heart skipped a beat, and he replied subconsciously, "I don't know."
How could this man be considered a father?! Jiang Qiaqia inwardly scolded her ex-husband for being irresponsible. Although she wanted to keep talking, she was blocked by the security guards called by Lin Runsheng.
Looking at the back that was getting further and further away, Jiang Qiaqia squatted helplessly on the ground.
She only knew a few people in Yan City, the people she did know, she had already borrowed from. The company was empty now, and there was probably a debt collector standing guard at the door of her residence; she had nowhere to go now.
Her only hope now was pinned on Lin Runsheng; he was a soft-hearted man after all.
Therefore, under the watchful eyes of the security guards, she could only walk away from the entrance of the school. However, she didn’t leave, instead, Jiang Qiaqia squatted down in a location where she could clearly see people coming in and out of the school.
Lin Runsheng received a call from the security guards after class. He was informed that Jiang Qiaqia was still at the school gate, so he knew that she had not given up bothering him.
He didn't dare to go up against Jiang Qiaqia again. Thinking about how she was inquiring about Lin Jingzhe's whereabouts, he was at a loss for a while. In the end, he could only drive away in a hurry through a side door of the campus.