"Mom, you actually never wanted me as your daughter, right?"
These words came out calmly from Jiang Li's mouth, as if they had nothing to do with her, yet they were enough to make her shed tears.
She didn't hear what was said on the other end of the phone.
Suddenly, a buzzing sound rang in her ears, and she couldn't understand a single word the other person said.
"Don't worry. I won't let Jiang Yi out of prison," Jiang Li murmured. She felt that she must look extremely cold at the moment.
However, two streams of hot tears still slid uncontrollably from her wide - open eyes into the corners of her mouth.
They were salty and unbearably bitter.
Just like her life.
"Good for you, Jiang Li! You're really something!"
Seeing that persuasion was useless, Zhou Ningyun immediately roared into the phone, "I don't care! The court hearing is coming soon. If Jiang Yi can't be released from prison smoothly, I'll sever the mother - daughter relationship with you! From now on, there's no place for you in the Jiang family!"
After leaving this harsh threat, she hung up the phone, leaving no chance for Jiang Li to continue speaking.
It was not until the beeping busy tone came from the other end of the phone that her tense emotions finally found release.
Jiang Li gasped continuously, tears streaming down, her eyes tightly closed, and her lips still trembling.
She could feel that something was starting to peel away from her body, being torn apart from her forcefully.
Bloody and mangled.
...
As the victim of this case, Jiang Li was required to return to Beicheng on time in three days.
She needed to appear in court as a witness according to the law, testify that Jiang Yi's actions were true, and confirm the amount of extortion to help determine his sentence.
Jiang Li submitted a one - week leave application to the company, which was quickly approved.
Sister Chen also bought her the plane ticket and packed her luggage. Before she left, Sister Chen told her to eat and rest on time. She didn't ask about other things, just told her not to have too much psychological burden.
It would be hard for anyone to testify against their own younger brother in court.
But she had to face it. There was no chance to escape.
Huacheng was a tourist city, but since it was the off - season, there were few passengers at the airport.
Jiang Li dragged a small suitcase and was fully armed with a mask, sunglasses, and a hat. She walked in a hurry through the security check, waited for boarding, and successfully got on the flight to Beicheng.
When she found her seat, she lifted her sunglasses slightly and casually glanced at the person sitting next to her.
The man was sitting calmly in the economy - class seat, with a laptop on the small table in front of him.
His wrist accidentally revealed the watch that Jiang Li had given him, as well as a small part of the white shirt cuff.
It was really beneath such a noble and elegant man to be here.
"Mr. Xiao, I really didn't expect to see you in this cabin," Jiang Li said with a half - smile, her expression extremely fake. "Did you sit in the wrong seat?"
The man didn't even lift his head. His gaze remained on the computer, and his thin lips parted slightly. "Stupid."
This single word made Jiang Li roll her eyes silently in her heart. Since he didn't appreciate her kindness anyway, she was too lazy to continue smiling at him. She plopped down beside him.
The two said nothing.
Before the plane took off, Xiao Yanzhi closed his computer and finally looked at Jiang Li.
Seemingly extremely bored, he propped his chin with his hand. "Why don't you ask me why I'm going back to Beicheng?"
Jiang Li turned her head and met his dark eyes.
"Mr. Xiao is always busy with business. I don't have the qualification to inquire about your itinerary," Jiang Li said with pursed lips. "Besides, it has nothing to do with me."
Xiao Yanzhi scrutinized her, trying to read something from her eyes, but he failed.
There was nothing in her eyes but frankness and calmness.
"I'm going back to see Su Jialan. The doctor said her condition has improved, and there are signs of her waking up," he said calmly. Then he paused for a moment, as if hinting, "The doctor said that finding someone with nursing experience might help her recover faster."
"Oh," Jiang Li listened patiently and then directly pulled down the eye mask she had brought with her, covering most of her face. "I hope Mr. Xiao can find a suitable nurse soon, and I also wish Mrs. Su a speedy recovery."
Xiao Yanzhi: ...
This woman's coldness exceeded his imagination.
Well, he didn't bring up this topic for this reason anyway. He just wanted to chat with her.
But her unwillingness to talk was also very obvious.
She had stuffed the eye mask into her pocket casually before going out. She thought she wouldn't need it during the four - hour flight, but unexpectedly, it came in very handy now.
For example, she could use it to pretend to be asleep and avoid chatting with someone.
After pretending for a while, she really fell asleep. It was not until the plane was about to land that the loud rumbling sound hurt her ears, and she reached up to take off the eye mask.
Looking down, she saw that she was covered with the man's suit, which had a very clean smell.
She was stunned for a couple of seconds, and then Xiao Yanzhi reached out and took the coat from her body and put it on himself. "There's nowhere to hang it after taking it off. I just put it on you for a while."
Jiang Li pursed her lips and reminded him, "There are special coat hangers in first class."
If he wanted more space, he should go back to first class. Was he just being idle and trying to recall the hard times in economy class?
Moreover, he had never really experienced any hardships.
"Xue An booked late. There were no tickets left," Xiao Yanzhi replied calmly. Then he looked out of the window and said briefly, "It's time to get off."
Jiang Li got up and hurriedly followed him off the plane. After leaving the airport, she was inexplicably dragged by him into the same car.
The reason was that they were on the same route.
What a joke.
The airport was in the suburbs, and it would take more than two hours to drive to the city center of Beicheng.
The two were sitting in the car. Jiang Li yawned and pretended to talk to herself. "Oh, I'm so sleepy."
As she said this, she reached for the eye mask she had just put in her pocket.
However, the man was quicker than her. He snatched the eye mask directly from her hand and stared at her for a long time.
"Jiang Li, do you really not want to talk to me?"
His direct question caught Jiang Li off guard. There was a flash of evasion in her eyes, and then she pretended to be honest and looked confused. "Mr. Xiao, are you overthinking? I'm just too sleepy."
"Sleep when you get home," his eyes were sharp. "Now you can only choose to chat with me."
Jiang Li thought he was crazy.
"Okay. It's ten thousand yuan per hour," Jiang Li closed her eyes and randomly set a price. "It takes two hours to drive from the airport to the city center of Beicheng. You need to pay twenty thousand yuan."
The man sneered and quickly took out his phone.
In less than ten seconds, Jiang Li's phone in her pocket vibrated. She took it out and saw that 50,000 yuan had been transferred to her account.
"You gave too much," Jiang Li looked at the number and swallowed a few times. She was just joking, but she didn't expect him to be serious. "You gave 30,000 yuan more. I'll transfer it back to you."
"No need," Xiao Yanzhi interrupted her. He took her phone and stuffed it back into her bag. His tone was brief and to the point. "Can we talk now?"