Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 77 (Part 1)
Translated by Pure
Chapter 77.1 Elder Qi snapped like an over taut bow, and fell to the ground without warning.
Even though Lin Jingzhe desperately tried to exhort, Zhou Haitang and Gao Sheng were still made aware of his ambush.
The car involved in the accident was registered under New Beginnings Real Estate, so immediately after the accident the law enforcement team had contacted the company. Now the car had been smashed into smithereens, there was no need to send it for repairs. After Shen Juanying intervened in this ‘accident’, the car became classified as important evidence by the special case team and was confiscated and locked for further investigation.
Gao Sheng almost went insane from fright. At that time, he had accepted an order from a famous big company to shoot a commercial in Hong Kong Island. The most famous actresses in Hong Kong Island and even the whole country were invited. On the day he received Deng Mai's call, he dropped everything aside and flew back to Yan City. He didn't stop for a moment until he rushed into Lin Jingzhe's office.
Before he saw him, Lin Jingzhe was answering the phone. On the phone was Zhou Haitang's mother's loud cry.
"You stupid child—"
After Mother Zhou became successful, it seemed that even her cries were more resounding than before; she also learned a wide range of swear words. Lin Jingzhe could do nothing but smile. In fact, he didn't even want to say anything at first, for fear that his family would be worried. But this time, since Shi Nanxing had confronted him head-on, he feared that the man would also plot against his family behind his back. In the end, Lin Jingzhe decided to give a warning to Mother Zhou who often executed large-scale commercial activities.
On the other end of the phone, Father Zhou was heard comforting his wife. At the same time, he continued to curse the scoundrel who aimed at other people’s lives as an outlet to his personal grievances.
With his voice sounding more and more furious, Lin Jingzhe had no choice but to comfort him, "Other than the totaled car, I didn’t suffer any short of injury, so everything else is fine. More importantly, you must keep your eyes open and pay attention to your surroundings. He and I are now in an open war. The other party is not easy to deal with. I'm worried if he can’t find a breakthrough from me, he will turn to attack you guys. Our food factory is still in its infancy, so we must be more careful. Uncle Zhou, you and Uncle Gao's branch restaurant have just recently opened..."
Father Gao and Father Zhou hit it off a few years ago and decided to expand the snack bar on Sun Street and directly upgraded the next store to be a regular restaurant. Both fathers were men of action, and their efficiency was astonishing. After the new year, the location they had set their eyes on was quickly settled, and it was officially opened after taking one and a half months to fix and decorate.
The blueprint for the new restaurant’s decoration was handed to Gao Sheng. As the owner of a now renowned advertising company, he had met countless bigwigs, including famous interior designers. The designer he introduced had a good sense of aesthetic. In this day and age, where the recognition of innovative styles was still in its infancy, the designer surprisingly created a minimalist style that would not even falter at the compositions from the future generations.
The news of the opening of the new restaurant had been known to the patrons of Sun Street since its purchase. So after that month and a half, the opening day saw an uncessing amount of diners. Coupled with the subsequent period of operation, it quickly became the most popular restaurant in the south of the city.
Father Zhou had now handed over the management of the old snack bar to the apprentice with the best skills while he concentrated on running the new restaurant. Seeing their attitude, Lin Jingzhe wanted to develop the restaurant into a large chain in the future. Therefore, the current start-up stage, as the building block of this future franchise, had to be operated with caution and care; Lin Jingzhe didn't want to see any accidents happen because of his matter.
However, in regards to his kind advice, Mother Zhou loudly cursed, "Like hell I’m scared of him!!"
Lin Jingzhe was left without any alternative. Just then, he heard a muffled sound, so he turned his head and saw his childhood friends’ sweaty face and shining eyes.
"..." He sighed, and rolled his eyes at Deng Mai who opened the door for the two.
Deng Mai pushed his glasses, with a rare smile on his usually taunt face.
After recalling the hundreds of missed calls made by him to his damaged phone when checking the records later, Lin Jingzhe really couldn’t muster up the confidence to criticize Deng Mai. He could stretch out the loud crying from the receiver towards Zhou Haitang, and greeted, "It’s your parents."
Zhou Haitang had already made out it was his mother's scolding. He silently stepped forward to take the receiver and directly hung up.
Lin Jingzhe: "..."
Gao Sheng looked at Lin Jingzhe from head to toe, and confirmed that he was completely unharmed. Inwardly relieved, he gritted his teeth and grabbed and pulled both of Lin Jingzhe’s cheeks. "You stupid child——"
*****
"We can’t let this slide."
Gao Sheng's words loudly resonated.
The forces involved behind Shi Nanxing were too complicated, Lin Jingzhe feared implicating his family members into such a troublesome miasma, so he immediately refused, "It’s okay, don't bother, don’t you think you already have enough at hand? The car accident is already in the midst of investigation, and the truck driver has already been brought under control and is put into interrogation. I really don’t need any help, do you see that not a single hair on me is missing?"
Lin Jingzhe maintained an indifferent expression on his face as he propped his head on the arm resting on the armrest of the sofa. Despite his act, Deng Mai, who knew some inside information, took off his glasses and threw them on the coffee table. He retorted with a gloomy face, "That’s only because you have gotten out of the car earlier! Did you not see the end condition of your car!?"
He looked around at the people in the room, and continued, "If you are interested, I still have a photo of the totaled car. The truck was seriously over-capacity; it hit the rear of the sedan and its tires ran over the sedan’s roof multiple times. When I fucking saw it..."
Lin Jingzhe felt uncomfortable at his tense expression so he kicked him with feigned anger. "Hey! Is that how you should be talking? I’m your superior, how can you talk to me so rudely?!"
Deng Mai glared at him, but continued to disregard him.
Mother Zhou could no longer hold it any as she shouted, "It was intentional homicide! He should be shot! Why hasn't that surnamed Shi been arrested yet?!"
Shi Nanxing hadn’t personally committed the crime. Moreover, the truck driver remained adamant and refused to admit that it was a contract killing. Although it was indisputable fact, there currently wasn’t any found evidence directly pointing to Shi Nanxing as the main perpetrator. The Shen Family were already doing their best to speed up the process, and even Xiao Chi's parents had recently turned down all their abroad-related duties due to this matter. Regardless, it had only been a few days since the incident happened. In addition, with people in the upper management ‘only heeding the words of their superiors,’ and dared not to cut off their means of retreat, it was difficult to make any immediate progress.
Gao Sheng could tell Lin Jingzhe was having difficulties explaining the whole situation, so he spoke bluntly and explained Shi Nanxing's background to the fuming Mother Zhou.
The whole living room in the Zhou Family’s House fell silent following his narration. After a while, Mother Zhou clenched her teeth and slammed her teacup on the table. "Insolent!"
Lin Jingzhe watched her bursting out with crazy rage. Afraid that she would go into a rampage, he hurriedly stopped her, "Aunt Zhou, don't act rashly!"
Mother Zhou didn’t heed his advice, and turned to Gao Sheng, who had been extraordinarily calm throughout the meeting. "We need to put some pressure…"
Father Zhou interjected, "If that surnamed Shi is so capable, it will be a difficult feat. You are all busy. Why don't I close the store for a few days and go to seek an audience with government officials?"
Gao Sheng shook his head slowly.
He said, "We don’t need to go through such troublesome methods."
Lin Jingzhe looked at him in shock, and could help but look at his family in front of him. If it weren't for their familiar faces, he would definitely have thought that he had entered the wrong house. The pure and simple family members in his impression were now gathered together, discussing how to push Shi Nanxing and his related party into a desperate situation. Those diabolical tricks are deadly and precise.
Although he knew that Gao Sheng would not be a simple person in the future, the speed of his transformation had happened so swiftly.
Lin Jingzhe held his teacup in a daze, and his current emotions were too complex to explain and too difficult to understand. His original plan to snipe Dominion Properties had come to a halt due to this unexpected event.
It's rare for everyone to get together, and they even held a harmonious tea party. To celebrate Lin Jingzhe's escape from calamity, Mother Zhou personally cooked their meal, insisting she make a table full of good dishes for Lin Jingzhe.
Now that she was busy with managing the factory, Mother Zhou seldom entered the kitchen, albeit her skills hadn’t deteriorated from the lack of practice. The aroma wafted from the kitchen and lingered in the spacious living room. The smell of stewed shiitake mushrooms and meat wafted from the boiling pot on the stove.
Gao Sheng stood by the window and contacted his friends to implement the plan that was brainstormed in the living room just now. The fathers gathered next to Deng Mai to inquire about the specific news about Shi Nanxing. Lin Jingzhe couldn't get in the conversation, and was blocked by the family's group efforts as soon as he opened his mouth. In desperation, he had no choice but to go to the kitchen to steal a bite.
Moth Zhou lifted the whole goose that had been simmered to a deep brown color, and cut off a leg for him to eat. Lin Jingzhe leaned on the stove and silently watched his aunties busy at work, and his initially tense state gradually eased.
This big family was special to him; they were the ones that had kept him company from the beginning to the end in his previous life. Lin Jingzhe recalled the last moments of his previous life, back then, he had constantly reminisced and cherished scenes such as these.
The voices of the fathers talking to Gao Sheng and Zhou Haitang echoing on the other side of the walls, while the mothers were busy cooking in the kitchen. The environment wasn’t the best, so they were cramped in the dark kitchen of Li Yun Town's family building. That was still a memory that continued to resonate within him; it was something he cherished and was incapable of abandoning.
The Xiao Family and the Shen Family were both harmonious families. However, due to their different lifestyles, they could never replicate the liveness and homely feeling of ordinary families.
The fully cooked goose on the chopping board was still emitting hot steams of vapor, its deep brown outer skin glistened with an irresistible luster, with the fatty layer under the skin completely saturated with the flavorful essences of the marinade.
Lin Jingzhe stared at the marinade that slowly seeped out from the cut on his goose leg. This was something that Mother Zhou had specially brought back from Chaozhou City. The tantalizing fragrance spread on the camphor wood chopping board, and filled the kitchen with its smell.
As Mother Zhou walked around, she suddenly raised her arm, and quickly wiped her face.
Lin Jingzhe sighed and hugged her from behind.
"Go away, your hands are dirty, you'll sully the food." Mother Zhou sniffed, turned her face away, trying to hide her red-rimmed eyes.
Lin Jingzhe shamelessly held onto her, and stuck to her like a baby koala. Not only did he not obey, but Lin Jingzhe also put his chin on her shoulder.
Mother Zhou fell silent for a moment, then suddenly turned her head and gave him a glare. Her eyes were red, it was hard to tell how long she had been quietly crying for.
"Brat." She scolded and gritted her teeth, "I thought you were the most obedient, more tactful than two little rascals. Seems you were the biggest troublemaker!"
Faced with such a genuine accusation, Lin Jingzhe didn't display any hint of guilt, and even laughed, "I just followed their footsteps."
"Go away." Mother Zhou pushed him, "Your mouth is stained with oil, how dirty."
Although her words were full of thorns, Mother Zhou barely put any strength in her hands. Lin Jingzhe allowed her to vent for a while, and calmly threw out a shocking news——
"I found my dad."
Mother Zhou stopped immediately. She stared blankly in shock, it took her a while to come to herself as she put down the spatula and questioned, "Really?"
"Really." Lin Jingzhe confirmed, "He is a professor at Hanhai University. He’s also remarried, has a daughter, and is doing well. He came to find me on his own initiative."
"What the f*ck!" Mother Zhou cursed angrily, "He still has the galls to meet you? What rights does he have to see you? Where was he when you needed him most back then? Now that you’re promising, he comes to knock on your doors? No—"
The more she spoke, the angrier she got; Mother Zhou untied her apron and demanded, "Give me his contact information, I must scold him to death!"
Lin Jingzhe hurriedly pressed her hand down and laughed. In terms of Lin Runsheng’s personality, if Mother Zhou really were to scold him, then he would most definitely start to cry after a couple sentences. By then, the violently scolding Mother Zhou would surely be terrified. Thinking of this, he laughed even harder.
His attitude displeased Mother Zhou. "Take this seriously! Listen to me, he’s behaving very irresponsibly!"
"I know." Lin Jingzhe coaxed her after laughing, "It's quite a complicated and long story. Forget it, I get along well with him now, and the family he got married to is also pretty good. I now have a very obedient and lovely younger sister. For my sister's sake, let the past be bygone."
Mother Zhou took a deep breath, suppressing her anger with great difficulty. The released spatula collided with the edge of the pot and clanged loudly.
The two feel silence for a moment. After Mother Zhou finally regained her composure, she remembered another thing. "By the way, the matter about your prospective partner..."
She stopped abruptly, and couldn't help recalling the information Lin Jingzhe had previously told her. ‘1.92 meter’... She didn’t know where to even begin .
Lin Jingzhe was oblivious to her entanglement as he nodded very naturally. "Mhm. What is it?"
Mother Zhou asked after some hesitation, "Are you still with them?"
"Uh...um." Lin Jingzhe thought about it and told the truth in the end, "My dad and their family have already met, we’re considering getting married."
"Married?!??!" Mother Zhou was shocked by the news, her mind was a mess, and she didn’t know how to react. Countless doubts and questions weighed on her; she had countless words to say. However after seeing Lin Jingzhe, who was still munching goose leg meat, she just sighed and resigned to her fate.
Mother Zhou looked at the ingredients being cooked in the pot and said, "Forget it, as long as you’re happy."
Edit: I realized this was the last chapter posted before the new years, so happy new year everyone! Good health and fortune, wishing happiness and prosperity to you all!
