It seems that everyone who knew about it thought Jiang Muwan was coming back to send herself to her death, but Gu Jiangnian simply did not believe it.
A girl capable of ruthlessly killing someone in her youth does not necessarily become a good person when she grows up.
Upon hearing Xiao Yanli's words, Gu Jiangnian didn't respond outwardly, but he thought to himself, "What if she's come back for revenge to kill Yang Shan?"
No, not what if.
It's a certainty.
Gu Jiangnian says Jiang Muwan is a coward, but is she really?
Not at all.
How could someone as scheming as Jiang Muwan come back with empty hands?
Regardless of whether the car accident was the doing of the Jiang Family or not, Jiang Muwan would make it the Jiang Family's doing, and would make the old man realize, what I want, you must give to me.
That morning, as the grandfather and granddaughter stood under the shade of a tree in silence for a long time, Jiang Muwan looked at the old man and simply said, "If the Jiang Family can neither give me everything I want nor protect me from those who wish me dead, then I might as well not bear the surname Jiang."
Having said that, she didn't linger, left her car, and turned to leave C City, heading back to the Capital.
The older generation finds it most unacceptable for their descendants to change their family lineage, and without a doubt, Jiang Muwan's words were a blunt declaration to the old man that changing one's lineage was not so difficult after all.
Jiang Muwan set a fire and then nonchalantly walked away, but the Jiang Family was thrown into turmoil.
No sooner had she left than the old man was admitted to the hospital.
As one entered and the other left, Jiang Lin, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, became anxious again, fearing that the old man would fall critically ill and Huazhong's stock would not withstand it.
All at once, the Jiang Family was thrown into chaos.
Jiang Wei stood outside the hospital room, cursing furiously. Though she didn't specify, her words left no doubt that they were pointed directly at Jiang Muwan.
She insinuated that it was Jiang Muwan who had caused the old man's illness.
Whether it was true or not didn't matter.
Gu Jiangnian called Jiang Muwan a coward, but whether she really was a coward remained to be seen.
By the end of March, Huazhong's stock underwent another round of ups and downs, accompanied by the news of Huazhong's Deputy General Manager being transferred from headquarters. This sparked widespread speculation.
The first thing the old man did after being discharged from the hospital was to ostentatiously examine the group's internal accounts. In this line of work, who doesn't have a bit of gray area? Once the investigation started, it would expose everyone involved.
That same evening, the old man threw a stack of documents in front of Jiang Lin, indicating it was his decision to make—a decision which surely everyone understood.
Although Yang Shan was furious, the reality of her own brother embezzling funds from the group was undeniable, leaving no room for rebuttal.
She had no choice but to acknowledge it.
The old man made himself clear with one sentence, "If it weren't for your face, Yang Shan, he should be in prison right now."
Once the old man had spoken so harshly, how could Yang Shan dare to say more?
For eleven whole days, Huazhong was thrown into a storm. During these days, some were caught in the eye of the storm, while others on the fringe enjoyed the drama, among them Jiang Muwan.
In early April, the old man attended Huazhong's quarterly meeting and brought with him the Deputy General Manager of Huazhong—Jiang Muwan.
Instantly, the vast conference room erupted into murmurs, with Jiang Wei and Jiang Lin being the most shocked of all.
Closely following came reports from all major financial newspapers in C City about the change of the Deputy General Manager of Huazhong.
Jiang Muwan assumed her position with great fanfare.
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In the meeting room, she greeted everyone with polished courtesy, and her self-introduction was impeccably smooth.
She made it glaringly clear that she was Jiang Lin's daughter, undoubtedly silencing Jiang Lin in the process.
If Jiang Lin showed any displeasure thereafter, people would only say that he couldn't even tolerate his own daughter.
The granddaughter of the chairman, the president's daughter parachuted in— who would dare to object? And even if there were objections, who would dare to voice them?
Within Jiang Lin's office, the air pressure plummeted, and ultimately, Jiang Lin could no longer contain himself, roaring at his father, "Why did you have to send Muwan into the group? Whose face are you slapping by doing this?"
After the divorce and following her mother, she should not have come back.
Not to mention the incident that happened back then.
An occasional visit to reconnect was fine, but if she's here to divide the inheritance, that's another matter.
How could the old patriarch not know Jiang Lin's thoughts?
But, knowing them, what could he do?
The descendants of the Jiang Family must return to the Jiang Family and acknowledge their lineage.
"My descendants should not be left to wander," the patriarch had said to Song Rong in the past, and now, the same applied to a different person.
Once this was said, Jiang Lin's surging anger was forcefully extinguished by half.
But the rage inside him still burned, "You can let her enter the group, but you shouldn't have let her take the position of Huazhong's vice president. What will Yang Shan think? Letting a green girl sit in such a high vice presidential seat, how am I to maintain respect? From now on, people will only say our Huazhong is carelessly managed."
With a click, the old patriarch placed the teacup on the coffee table with measured force, looking up at Jiang Lin with a hostile tone, "Can't I, who built this empire with my own hands, allow my granddaughter to join?"
That measured placement was an assertion of superior authority.
Jiang Lin was sharply rebuffed.
The anger surrounding him was nearly uncontainable.
As the old patriarch stood up to leave, he sternly reminded Jiang Lin, "Every child is flesh of your flesh. You already owe that mother and daughter, don't let your past be something that others can hold against you. If you don't want this daughter, just go and create one."
"Everyone in this world wishes for both sons and daughters. If you don't, I have nothing to say."
With everything laid out like this, no matter what, Jiang Lin would not say anything to Jiang Muwan.
Undoubtedly, the patriarch's words were an indirect way of telling Jiang Lin that letting Jiang Muwan return was all for his sake.
In another part of the building, inside the executive vice president's office of Huazhong, a woman paced back and forth in the spacious room. Her leisurely stroll resembled that of a conqueror surveying their empire. Muwan, dressed not too formally yet not casually—clad in a black suit with a light pink shirt underneath—displayed a subtle but deliberate flamboyance.
The tapping of her nude-colored high heels resonated on the floor.
An adult full of schemes knows exactly when to keep a low profile and when to show their sharp edges.
Jiang Muwan was undoubtedly a master of this art.
"This place will be your domain from now on," the woman leaning by the door watched as her fingertips slowly trailed across the solid wood desk, her words tinged with congratulations.
Jiang Muwan slowly walked around the desk, pausing momentarily, then her gaze fell on the nameplate in front of her. She hesitated for a moment, and then, with a clang, threw the solid wood nameplate bearing someone else's name into the trash can.
What followed was her bold declaration of dissatisfaction, "It's not enough."
Just the position of Huazhong's vice president was far from satisfying her ambitions.
If Jiang Muwan's aspirations were so modest, she should not have returned to the wolf's den of C City.
She meticulously plotted and pressured the patriarch into making a decision; if her vision was so short-sighted, wouldn't her schemes have been wasted?
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