Way back to Our Past

28. An Infertile Woman

Translator: Snowball

As soon as Jiang Zhendong returned home, Qin Surong immediately prepared him a cup of tea while Jiang Xinyue massaging his shoulders by the sofa.

“Dad, what the hell is wrong with the project of the old town renovation?”

Jiang Zhendong paused when he was about to drink tea. “What do you mean?”

Qin Surong was aware that her daughter was quick-tempered, so she hurried to explain, “Zhendong, Mubai had been preparing for this project for a long time, and when the Lings learned that he failed in the bid, they all came to Xinyue for information. Xinyue was anxious, so she blurted it out.”

With a snort, Jiang Zhendong put down the teacup on the table. “Humph! They wanted you to explain it to them? They should know it was the leaders of the municipal government who were in charge of the bid of this project. Why didn’t they go to the municipal office and ask them in person, but tried to get information from you?”

As Jiang Zhendong had a prejudice against the Lings and he had just come back from Qu Wan’s place, he felt irritated when he heard his wife mention them in front of him, and he was grumpy when he spoke.

Seeing that Jiang Xinyue was tongue-tied at her father’s words, Qin Surong immediately chimed in, “The Lings must have thought that you were familiar with the municipal leadership, so they wanted some inside information from you.”

“The whole process of the bidding was open and transparent. If the Lings have any question about the result, they should go to the municipal office and raise it with the relative person, rather than ask you privately!”

Jiang Zhendong was clear about the Lings’ intention. They wanted Xinyue to marry Mubai not because they were fond of Xinyue, but because he was the mayor.

Xinyue had been Ling Mubai’s girlfriend for three years, but Ling Mubai had never given any indication of marrying her, so it was obvious that he didn’t like her at all!

If the two families hadn’t met in haste and discussed their wedding at Sun Lan’s urging, nobody could tell when Ling Mubai would propose to Xinyue!

Jiang Zhendong got angry every time he thought of this. If it weren’t for the fact that Xinyue had conceived Ling Mubai’s child three years ago and she was desperate to marry him, Jiang Zhendong would by no means have consented to their engagement.

Ling Mubai had ruined one of his daughters! Was he going to ruin the other one?

Moreover, without Jiang Zhendong’s help, the Lings wouldn’t have grown so quickly that they had a monopoly on almost all the important projects in the city!

“They have reaped great benefits but they’re still not content! Are they thinking that the whole city of Jiangcheng belongs to their family?”

“Calm down! I shouldn’t have mentioned it.” Seeing Jiang Zhendong lose his temper, Qin Surong shifted the topic at once. “Zhendong, is something bothering you at work?”

“No!” Picking up the teacup and taking a sip of tea, Jiang Zhendong softened his tone. “Xinyue, Sun Lan was so mean to Wanwan, so I’m sure she won’t treat you better! Ling Mubai is only a scumbag! If he’s marrying you just for profit, I’m going to call off the engagement between you two. After all, there are still many outstanding young men in the world!”

“Dad, Mubai didn’t complain to me. I was shocked by this piece of news and I wanted to know what happened.”

“Mubai is nice to Xinyue. Zhendong, they are going to get married soon. Don’t take things so badly!” Qin Surong said in response to her daughter’s words.

“How can you be so numb?” Jiang Zhendong sneered. “Hasn’t it ever occurred to you that if Ling Mubai marries Xinyue only for the power I have, Xinyue will be kicked out of Ling’s house just like Wanwan when I’m no longer a mayor one day?”

The rich cared about nothing but benefit! As far as Sun Lan was concerned, Jiang Xinyue was a cash cow. However, Jiang Zhendong couldn’t be in high places all his life.

Jiang Xinyue lowered her head without a word. “Zhendong, no worries! Wanwan divorced because she was infertile, but Xinyue has no such problems. Nobody will pick on her as long as she has a baby with Mubai after their marriage. What’s more, they get along well with each other, so you don’t have to worry about it,” Qin Surong added.

Jiang Zhendong let out a sigh. It was true that Ling Mubai divorced Qu Wan because they didn’t have a child. If Qu Wan could give birth to a baby for the Lings, things would be different.

Thinking of this, he shifted his gaze to Jiang Xinyue. If it weren’t for this daughter of his, he wouldn’t have married Qin Surong and Qu Wan wouldn’t have suffered so much!

It was this child who bounded him with Qin Surong, so he hoped that Ling Mubai would be as nice to Xinyue as he was to Qin Surong after they had a baby, and never abandon her.

Feeling so wronged, Jiang Xinyue burst into tears as soon as she went back to her own room.

“Mom, it has been over ten years since Qu Wan left our house, but why does dad still only care about her? He has never put himself in my shoes! I don’t even know how to explain to Auntie Sun.”

“You really let me down!” Qin Surong shot her daughter a glare before she continued, “Do you still remember what I said? If a woman wants to stand out, she has to swallow the grievance. How could you cry over such a trifle!”

“Mom, dad never cares how we feel. I don’t understand why he always stands on Qu Wan’s side!”

“Xinyue, if you can’t bear even such a little grievance, I advise you not to marry Ling Mubai. Otherwise, you’re bound to be thrown out by the Lings!” Qin Surong said, raising her voice.

“Mom, even you don’t wanna help me?”

“You should know how merciless they were to Qu Wan. If you can’t even bear to hear a few words of criticism from your dad, you can’t get used to living under the same roof with those devils!”

“I…” Jiang Xinyue was rendered speechless. Compared with Sun Lan’s ruthlessness and aggressiveness, it was no big deal to be criticized by her father.

“Xinyue, just tell her as your father said—for the sake of attracting investment, the municipal government decided to put the Wang family in charge of this project.”

“But Auntie Sun won’t believe it.” Jiang Xinyue still didn’t feel assured.

“Even so, she has to accept the result! As long as your dad is still the mayor, she won’t dare do anything to you. Do you know what I mean?”

“Yes!” Jiang Xinyue nodded. She was clear that Auntie Sun had chosen her as her daughter-in-law wasn’t because she liked her, but because she was Mayor Jiang’s daughter.

“Mom, I still feel worried. Qu Wan is back. Do you think she’s gonna get back together with Mubai?”

“I don’t think that will happen. Let’s wait and see! I’ll go over to Ling’s house to explain about the bidding result and urge Sun Lan to fix the date of your wedding asap.”

Qin Surong had always taken Qu Wan as a thorn in her eyes. Though she was comforting her daughter, she hadn’t figured out a way to deal with Qu Wan yet.

As Qin Surong had expected, although Sun Lan didn’t believe what she said, she didn’t lose her temper in her face. Anyway, she dared not make a scene in front of a mayor’s wife.

Though they failed in this bid, the Lings still needed Jiang Zhendong’s help in the future, so Sun Lan managed to look gentle and patient before Qin Surong left.

At noon, Sun Lan called her son, asking him to meet her at a restaurant. However, as soon as she arrived at the restaurant and sat down, she saw Qu Wan.

She was clear that Qu Wan had nothing with her when she had left Ling’s house and to support her, Qu Jianguo had even done some rough work on construction sites.

Given her current situation, Qu Wan should live on a shoestring, so Sun Lan had never thought that she would have run into her in such a fancy restaurant.

As it wasn’t a place for ordinary people, she couldn’t help but cast a few more looks at Qu Wan.

“Did she marry another rich man after divorcing Mubai?”

“As a pretty woman, Qu Wan can arouse men’s attention easily. But those rich men won’t marry an infertile woman. Even if she married into a wealthy family, without a son, she couldn’t gain a foothold.”

“Or maybe she has become someone’s… sugar baby?” These two words suddenly popped into her mind.