My Alleged Husband

Chapter 15: Chapter 15 Unwelcome Visitor_1

Zhang Zhentian left the café and called Old Master Zhang to tell him to come home, and told Old Master Zhang that he had gone to see Xia Jing himself, asking Xia Jing to get involved and help investigate the matter, hoping that after Xia Jing had cleared up the issue, Old Master Zhang could agree to let him be with Xia Jing.

At the Zhang Family home.

Old Master Zhang and Zhang Zhentian were discussing the financial crisis facing the company when Li Haixiao brought his daughter, Li Jiayuan, for a visit.

Ding-dong, ding-dong...

”Who is it?” Old Master Zhang asked, but with no one responding, he called for Zhang Zhentian to open the door. It was better when Zhang Zhentian didn’t open the door; as soon as he did, he was in for a shock.

”What are you doing here?” Zhang Zhentian, upon seeing Li Jiayuan and Li Haixiao outside the door, asked with an unkind tone before even letting them in.

Li Haixiao, detecting the reluctance in Zhang Zhentian’s tone, also felt a little displeased and was about to speak when Li Jiayuan beat him to it.

”Zhentian, don’t be so fierce, okay? No matter what, we are guests here, why speak with such a tone?” Li Jiayuan walked over and hooked her arm around Zhang Zhentian’s, speaking to him in a coquettish voice with a smile. Zhang Zhentian almost threw up when he heard her coquettish voice. He thought to himself, ”My goodness, thank goodness this woman isn’t my wife. If a woman who speaks so coyly were to be my wife, Zhang Zhentian, and be by my side day and night, I’d either go mad or die. I’m truly grateful I didn’t listen to my dad back then and get together with her; otherwise, just hearing her voice would make me vomit to death.” Zhang Zhentian silently broke out in a cold sweat for himself.

Elder Zhang wasn’t eager to have Li Haixiao and Li Jiayuan over at his house either, but since they were visitors, he still had Zhang Zhentian invite Li Haixiao and his daughter in.

”Zhentian, please let President Li and Miss Li in,” Old Master Zhang called out from the living room to Zhang Zhentian at the door.

Seeing that his father had said so, Zhang Zhentian found it difficult to refuse Li Haixiao and Li Jiayuan entry. He pried Li Jiayuan’s arm off his and quickly shut the door to run inside.

Old Master Zhang knew that Li Haixiao came with bad intentions, but still let Li Haixiao and Li Jiayuan take a seat.

”May I know what brings President Li to my doorstep today?” Old Master Zhang asked directly, without any pleasantries.

”Don’t put it like that, President Zhang. Today, I’ve brought my daughter to your home, intending to ask you a few questions. May I know if President Zhang could enlighten me?” Li Haixiao, playing with the sandalwood beads in his hand, asked Elder Zhang without even looking up.

Elder Zhang thought it was strange, ”What good could come from Li Haixiao, this old fox, wondering about my affairs? Couldn’t be about the company, right?” Old Master Zhang’s intuition was indeed sharp, as Li Haixiao was here precisely because of matters concerning the company as well as regarding Li Jiayuan.

”President Li, I’m not sure what you wish to ask me, but feel free to do so!” Old Master Zhang politely smiled at Li Haixiao.

”Since President Zhang has said so, I won’t stand on ceremony,” Li Haixiao said to Old Master Zhang, ”I’m here for two matters today.”

”Please, speak.”

”The first matter is, I would like to inquire why, after the investors Shen Yang and Deng Chao withdrew their capital from Zhang Corporation, creating a huge gap in funds, it was the mercenary commander Xia Jing who came out to resolve the issue?”

As expected, it was about the company.

”What do you mean by that, President Li? Xia Jing is my son Zhentian’s wife. How could she not contribute money to help save her own company?” Old Master Zhang said this without blushing, even though he had been dissatisfied with Xia Jing from the start and was dead set against Zhentian being with her. It’s baffling how he could now claim Xia Jing as Zhentian’s wife and that she should save the company.

Li Haixiao was taken aback for a moment when Old Master Zhang referred to Xia Jing as Zhentian’s wife, but he was no newcomer to the business world and quickly regained his composure.

”Oh? Since when did Xia Jing become President Zhang’s daughter-in-law? How come we weren’t aware? Didn’t you disagree with Xia Jing being with your son? You even wanted my precious daughter Jiayuan to be with Zhentian. How come you’re now saying Xia Jing is your son’s wife?” Li Haixiao asked nonchalantly.

Seeing the questions that Li Haixiao was posing, Old Master Zhang knew Li Haixiao had come with bad intentions, looking for trouble. Although Old Master Zhang was unhappy inside, he still maintained a benevolent expression on his face.

”President Li, is this any of your business? My son can marry whoever he wants. Are you saying you object to that?” Old Master Zhang retorted without mincing words.

Li Haixiao had come to stir up trouble; how could he let Old Master Zhang have his way? How could he not take the opportunity to slap Old Master Zhang in the face?

”President Zhang, you couldn’t be agreeing to this just because Xia Jing stepped in to save Zhang Corporation during its crisis, and you want to profit from it, could you?” What seemed like a casual remark from Li Haixiao didn’t sound so innocent to Old Master Zhang.

”President Li, how can you say that? Didn’t the divestment from Zhang Corporation’s investors happen because of your instructions? Please don’t tell me you didn’t know about this,” Old Master Zhang started to fight back. Both Li Jiayuan and Zhentian standing by felt speechless, listening to their fathers’ conversation without saying a word.

Li Haixiao felt that it was pointless to keep arguing with Old Master Zhang: ”Alright, let’s get straight to the point!” Li Haixiao said to Old Master Zhang.

”President Zhang, I’m quite curious to hear that there are allegations about your company being involved in tax evasion, embezzlement, among other issues. I wonder if you’re planning on having Xia Jing help resolve these problems again?” Li Haixiao raised his eyebrow suggestively at Old Master Zhang.

”What difference does it make if she does or doesn’t? Does it have anything to do with Li Corporation?” Old Master Zhang, growing increasingly irate with each question from Li Haixiao, was no longer polite.

”Indeed, it’s none of Li Corporation’s business. My main purpose today is to ask Old Master Zhang about your previous statement regarding getting Zhentian and my daughter Jiayuan married—is it still valid?” Li Haixiao finally got to his main point.

When Old Master Zhang heard Li Haixiao’s question, he knew that Li Haixiao was up to no good. Elder Zhang thought to himself, ”If Li Haixiao’s daughter truly wanted to be with Zhentian, why would she stand by and do nothing while Zhang Corporation faced a crisis? Considering how I treated Xia Jing before and how she stepped in without holding grudges during a critical moment, I definitely chose the right daughter-in-law.”

”To tell the truth, I really do hope your daughter can be with my son!” Old Master Zhang expressed his true feelings.

”If that’s the case, why did you have Xia Jing send someone to assassinate my daughter Jiayuan?” Li Haixiao’s anger flared as he yelled at Old Master Zhang.

Li Jiayuan stood there calmly, while Zhentian was somewhat dazed. When did Xia Jing send someone to kill Li Jiayuan? He was clueless. Not only was Zhentian confused, but even Old Master Zhang was taken aback. Just a few days ago, Old Master Zhang had asked Zhentian if Xia Jing had ever killed anyone, and Zhentian had assured him she hadn’t; now what was all this about? Old Master Zhang turned to look at Zhentian, who also felt helpless. Seeing Old Master Zhang and Zhentian exchanging looks, Li Haixiao was even more infuriated.

”You two better give me an answer. What’s going on here? Why would Xia Jing send someone to kill my daughter?”

Zhentian couldn’t believe Xia Jing would do such a thing and asked Li Haixiao, ”You say Xia Jing sent someone to kill your daughter, may I ask, what is the name of this person?”

”Hah, that person’s name is Xiao Wei, Xia Jing’s right-hand man,” Li Haixiao shouted at Zhentian.

”Rest assured, I will give you an explanation. I will clear this up with Xia Jing,” Zhentian decided he should clarify the matter with Xia Jing. The visit from Li Haixiao had left Old Master Zhang in a mess, so he let Li Jiayuan and her father leave first.