Zhao Qian waited and waited, right up until the moment before boarding the plane, but no report from the journalist ever appeared.
What was going on? He had taken the money and then done nothing.
“What are you daydreaming about? Move forward. It is almost our turn for security.”
Zhao Dong urged his sister.
Zhao Qian dared not tell the truth. She stammered a complaint. “Big Brother, international flights take so long. Why did you not buy first-class tickets?”
Zhao Qian had never queued for security in the economy channel before. The line was long and noisy. She had to shuffle forward bit by bit, and she found it deeply uncomfortable.
Zhao Dong replied coldly, “Why do you think I did not buy first-class?”
Those accustomed to luxury suffered more when it was suddenly withdrawn than those who had never known it.
There was only one reason for not buying first-class tickets: lack of money.
Heaven seemed intent on tormenting Zhao Dong. As the siblings queued, a middle-aged man with flowing long hair and snow-white clothing approached, surrounded by attendants. Zhao Dong’s eyes met his, and both looked surprised.
“Well, if it is not Mr Zhao.”
Song Foxiang spoke in a pinched, sarcastic tone. “Mr Zhao is so wealthy. How is it that you are queuing for security here?”
In the past, Song Foxiang had been a hired gun paid by Zhao Dong.
Zhao Dong despised so-called literary integrity. A little money was enough to make Song Foxiang bend.
Now, whether Song Foxiang possessed literary integrity was debatable, but he certainly had acquired airs and graces.
Not only could he fly first-class abroad, but several assistants carried his luggage for him.
Compared to Song Foxiang, the Zhao siblings’ travel appeared rather shabby. They had no one with them except the driver they had previously hired, who was helping with the suitcases.
Zhao Dong turned his head away and sneered, “A pauper suddenly rich knows neither heaven nor earth.”
Song Foxiang was not annoyed at all. He was proud of his newfound wealth. “At least the money I earn is through my own ability. When I have it, I spend more. When I do not, I spend less. I earn without compromising my conscience, and I sleep soundly at night.”
The Zhaos were different. They made money either by living off others or by selling products that harmed people. Could they sleep soundly?
Zhao Dong could not be bothered to argue with Song Foxiang. He pressed his lips tightly together.
Song Foxiang passed swiftly through the first-class security channel, leaving Zhao Dong with a triumphant back view. Zhao Dong clenched his fists in the shadows.
The queue inched forward. At last it was the Zhao siblings’ turn for security.
The driver handed the suitcases to Zhao Dong. “Mr Zhao, I can only see you off this far. Take care.”
Zhao Dong’s expression softened a little. “What are your plans for the future… Never mind, no need to say. If I ever return to China, I will certainly hire you again.”
The driver bowed to Zhao Dong.
Zhao Dong was in low spirits. He waved his hand to dismiss the driver.
None of the “friends” who had once laughed and chatted with Zhao Dong had come to see him off. Only the driver hired from Rongcheng had remained loyal to the end.
Though Zhao Dong himself was bankrupt, the Zhao family was not. Supporting one driver posed no difficulty. The driver simply did not wish to work abroad, so Zhao Dong had paid him severance.
The driver left. Zhao Dong urged Zhao Qian forward.
Zhao Qian wanted to complain again. Zhao Dong snapped irritably, “If you want to fly first-class in future, you will have to earn it yourself. Spending money without earning it will empty even a mountain of gold.”
Zhao Qian felt wronged. The one who had squandered the family fortune was clearly her elder brother Zhao Dong. What did it have to do with her?
She could only spend, but one person’s spending could hardly compare to the losses from a failed business. Never mind. She could not be bothered to argue with her brother.
Zhao Qian gritted her teeth and said venomously, “She knew perfectly well I was leaving today, yet Zhuo Yue did not even come to see me off. She pretended to be busy with something. What could she possibly have to do?”
The Zhao family was not yet bankrupt. For Zhuo Yue, an illegitimate daughter rejected by her father’s clan, to slight her was truly hateful.
Zhao Dong said gravely, “Without money there is no friendship. Zhuo Yue is clearer-headed than you.”
Zhao Dong knew what the Zhuo family were like.
The hypocritically aloof Zhuo Chen.
The arrogant and selfish Sara Zhuo.
The young but deeply scheming Zhuo Yue.
Silan had collapsed. Zhao Dong himself was bankrupt. Yet the Zhao family still stood.
Zhao Dong believed the Zhuo family’s future circumstances would be worse than his own.
Though Xie Jinghu had never said it outright, only after Silan’s complete exposure did Zhao Dong have time to ponder Xie Jinghu’s attitude seriously. He suspected Xie Jinghu knew something. Zhao Dong felt a chill of fear. He worried that lingering in China might lead to assassination by Xie Jinghu. He preferred to settle debts swiftly and leave quickly.
Until Xie Jinghu met misfortune, Zhao Dong dared not return to China for a single day.
At this thought, Zhao Dong felt both melancholy and lost. As he passed through security, his back view carried a touch of desolation.
China was a place he could never return to.
The Zhao family had struck gold abroad. Yet when Zhao Dong returned to China to start a business, he had ended in total defeat. Even he could not understand how he had reached this point.
…
Zhao Dong’s former driver emerged from the airport.
With his boss bankrupt, the driver now faced finding new employment.
A car stopped in front of him. The window lowered, revealing an exceptionally handsome profile.
“Mr Zhao has already left.”
The driver opened the door and got in.
Xie Qian smiled. “Yes, Zhao Dong is gone. You do not trust me, do you? You still personally saw the Zhao siblings onto the plane.”
The driver candidly admitted his concern.
“Mr Zhao was certainly no good man, but he committed no great evil either. Your car accident had nothing to do with him.”
Clinging to the powerful or living off others was hardly praiseworthy.
Zhao Dong had often tripped Xie Qian up.
But that was all.
Xie Qian had ruined Silan. Zhao Dong was bankrupt and slunk away from China in disgrace. To the driver, this was already retribution.
The driver felt he might have been small-minded.
Yet if Xie Qian truly wished not to spare Zhao Dong, with Xie Qian’s intellect, Zhao Dong would surely suffer an “accident”, would he not?
If planned personally by Xie Qian, the “accident” would leave no trace.
In the driver’s eyes, brilliant mind combined with flawless execution gave Xie Qian the potential to be a devil.
Xie Qian did not mind in the least being regarded by the driver as a potential criminal. “Of course I know the car accident was unrelated to Zhao Dong. That is why he could leave China safely. I no longer care about Zhao Dong now. I am more concerned with your future plans. You need a new job, do you not? Have you considered working for me?”
Ah, Young Master Xie wanted to hire Zhao Dong’s driver?
Yang the driver, who had been acting as an invisible man, grew somewhat anxious, fearing he might be replaced by Zhao Dong’s former driver.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Dong’s former driver refused Xie Qian’s offer outright. “…No, thank you. I will find other work.”
With Zhao Dong barely gone, the driver would be working for Xie Qian immediately after.
Outsiders who did not know the truth might think the driver had betrayed Zhao Dong long ago.
In fact, the driver had long accepted Zhao Dong as his boss. After following Zhao Dong to Shanghai, he had never leaked any further information.
The only thing the driver could do for Xie Qian was to continue investigating evidence about the car accident.
“The family of that small lorry driver has been quarrelling constantly lately. It is probably about money.”
