Lihua blushed hard and quickly said, "Wait, Fai Fai! Don't leave!"

Jiang Fai glared at her. "You want an underage teenager to witness...*cough* such a scene? At least, lock the door damn it!"

Lihua averted her gaze, feeling shy. "I-I remember I had to talk to Assistant Fu! Bye!"

"Hey, you wait! I have to things to say-"

Lihua already dashed away like the wind.

Sweat formed on his head as he realized that he was alone with his cousin in his office. He had never talked to him before.

There was complete silence. Wei was staring daggers at Jiang Fai for breaking his romantic time with Lihua.

Jiang Fai wanted to cry but lacked tears to shed.

"Haha...I-I will leave too...I am really sorry about disturbing you!"

He turned but he soon felt a hand on his shoulder, making him shudder. A gulp passed down his throat.

"Wait."

His impassive voice felt too oppressive to him. He slowly turned and awkwardly smiled. "C-cousin..."

Ah, he will kill me now! I am dead! I disturbed him. He is mad at me!

Wei stared at him and slowly said, "Lixue trusts you."

He blinked his eyes and looked at him in confusion. "Ah?"

"Lixue trusts your abilities. I will too. Do your best and don't disappoint her. She is relying on you to win this."

Jiang Fai looked at him in disbelief.

He-he talked to me...and he even said such a nice thing to me.

Cousin believes in me...

He never thought that Wei was capable of being that sensitive and encourage him. He was always cold and distant. He was feared by everybody, and Jiang Fai wasn't an exception. He felt fuzzy and warm in his chest by his trust.

Guess cousin is not that scary after all...

"If she didn't win, you will have to pay the price," Wei plainly said, but his dry voice carried an imminent threat. "I will show you how my base looks like."

"..."

A shiver ran through his spine.

I take my words back! Cousin is scary as hell!

---

When Li Tingzhe learned this news, he felt utterly humiliated. "That Fai! What is he doing? When the hell he became an artist? That is so embarrassing. For such a huge project, he will do what? Paint pictures like school kids?"

Kang Hongqi smirked. "What else can we expect from him, Dad? He is a wuss."

Kang Yuming acted like a caring mother who glared at him. "Hongqi, enough! Jiang Fai is still your brother."

Inwardly, she was satisfied to see Li Tingzhe angry at him. After that incident in school, they had to suffer a lot of humiliation. Kang Hongqi and Kang Meifen were still unable to get admission to a decent school.

Kang Meifen snorted. "He is such a fool. This is called digging your own grave."

Li Tingzhe shook his head. "I have already more than enough lost my face! I cannot bear it anymore!"

---

Jiang Xiurang was dusting her son's room when she got a call. As she checked the incoming number, she froze. Her hands trembled and tears pooled in her eyes.

Why is he calling me? He never called me before in all these years...

Her heart raced as she picked it. Suddenly, she heard a furious voice that made her feel as if she would go deaf.

"Jiang Xiurang! Tell Fai to withdraw from the project right now!"

She staggered. "W-what?"

"Didn't you hear me? What the hell are you doing? How can you make him a freaking artist? An artist?"

She was clueless about what was happening. "I don't understand-"

He laughed. "You don't? Your son has an interest in drawing like a fucking school kid and you allow him to do that? And now, he is poking into Jiang business's affairs with his childish stuff? How much more will you humiliate me?"

Jiang Xiurang was in a daze.

"You... called me after so many years and this is what you have to say to me?"

"What else should I say? Praise Fai for being so pathetic?"

Jiang Xiurang clenched her fist. "D-Don't call Fai pathetic."

"He is! I will not tolerate this. If this came out in the open, do you know how much people will mock me?"

"Why do you care!? You didn't care about him for all these years, so why do you care now? Don't you have your mistress and her kids? Take care of them. You don't need to worry about Fai."

"You...how dare you talk to me like that! Even if I hate it, Fai is still my son. Everybody knows this, so if everyone knows what he is up to, it will ruin my reputation!"

Jiang Xiurang wanted to say a lot of things, but she felt so choked up that words failed to escape her lips.

Even if I hate it...

The fact that he hated Jiang Fai so much clenched her heart in pain. He was his son, yet he was so cruel.

Her lack of response made him feel as if he was right and he grew more confident. "That is why, you will stop Fai from doing this nonsense!"

Jiang Xiurang was about to say something when somebody snatched the phone from her. She looked at Lihua in surprise.

Lihua raised her hand and nodded. She smiled. "Mr. Li, the disgusting cheater. You say about reputation, but when was that thought when you cheated on your wife? You had an affair and had illegitimate children, so you didn't think that 'that' will affect your reputation?"

On the other end, Li Tingzhe widened his eyes. "Y-you are..."

"Great that you recognize me. Now listen to me very carefully, you bastard. You lost all your right to be a husband to Aunt Xiurang and a father to Fai Fai the moment you slept with that homewrecker. You gave her a place in your house by snatching that away from Aunt. For eleven years, you didn't even bother to call her much less apologize. So shut your fucking mouth."

"How dare you-"

"Fai Fai will not withdraw from this proposal," she narrowed her eyes. "So don't bother to call back again. If you tried anything funny to threaten Aunt or Fai Fai, then trust me, you will suffer a lot."

Her voice was so frightening that he almost pissed in his pants.

"On second thought, I think it's good that you called. Because I want to give you a message."

"Message?"

She smiled. "Yes. Be ready, Mr. Li, the cheater. One month from now, the results will be out. I believe Fai Fai will definitely win. So, don't forget to call your lawyer on that day because once Fai Fai wins, Aunt Xiurang will give you divorce then and there!"