My Alleged Husband

Chapter 6: Chapter 6 Fury on Fire_1

Li Jiayuan hadn’t been home long before she began cooking, waiting for Li Haixiao to come home for dinner. The dishes Li Jiayuan prepared were all Li Haixiao’s favorites.

In the evening, when Li Haixiao arrived home, he saw a full table of dishes and Li Jiayuan coming out of the kitchen in an apron, just as Li Haixiao got home.

”Dad, you’re back, go wash your hands, then come and try the food your daughter made, is it still the same as before!”

Before she went abroad, Li Jiayuan was a true lady of wealth, just like the princesses and consorts of ancient times, she never lifted a finger to do manual work. The food she had cooked before was inedible, even her doting dad said it tasted bad.

After washing his hands, Li Haixiao sat at the dining table and began to eat with Li Jiayuan.

”Mmm~, Jiayuan, your cooking skills have improved a lot, it’s worlds apart from the food you used to make. Before, your old dad here was too scared to eat it. I didn’t expect that after you went abroad and came back, not only have you become more beautiful, but your cooking skills have improved greatly too, I’m very pleased.” After tasting a bite, Li Haixiao asked Li Jiayuan, ”By the way, Jiayuan, when you went to the company to find me this afternoon, you mentioned that Old Master Zhang wanted to arrange a marriage between you and his son, Zhang Zhentian. What’s this all about?”

”Dad, you should know why Old Master Zhang wants his son to marry me, right?”

”Of course, that old man wants his good-for-nothing son to marry you just to boost the stock price of the company, right? And to prevent further damage to the company’s reputation? But he’s dreaming if he thinks he can bypass me and go straight to you, expecting me to so easily marry off my precious daughter to his worthless son!”

”Dad, this afternoon at the company you also mentioned Old Master Zhang, Zhang Zhentian, and that mercenary woman. Can you explain a little more?”

”Speaking of Xia Jing, you don’t know how much Old Master Zhang detests her. Not long ago, the affair between Zhang Zhentian and Xia Jing caused a huge stir throughout the city, everybody knew about it. Old Master Zhang said that Xia Jing was with Zhang Zhentian only for the assets of Zhang Corporation, and because of her relationship with Zhang Zhentian, the stock price of Zhang Corporation plummeted, almost causing Old Master Zhang to kick his son out of the house. He told Zhang Zhentian that if he ever affected the company’s image by associating with Xia Jing again, he would disown him as his son. But Zhang Zhentian did the opposite of what Old Master Zhang said; he was even more brazen, appearing with Xia Jing at the company, which almost gave Old Master Zhang a stroke. Later, I don’t know how Old Master Zhang managed to drive Xia Jing away, but for a while, Zhang Zhentian looked everywhere and couldn’t find her.”

Li Jiayuan was quite curious if the person who had come to kill her that day was sent by Xia Jing.

”Dad, you said Xia Jing is a mercenary, right?”

Li Haixiao, seeing his daughter so curious, and also a little curious himself as to why his darling daughter would ask so clearly, naturally didn’t hold back any information.

”That’s right, Xia Jing is indeed a mercenary, and not just any mercenary but the leader of a Mercenary Group. Jiayuan, why do you ask these questions?” Li Haixiao curiously looked at his daughter.

”Dad, it’s nothing. By the way, Dad, since Xia Jing is the leader of a Mercenary Group, does she have a lot of subordinates? Does she have one named Xiao Wei?”

Hmm? What’s gotten into Jiayuan today? She’s only been back a few days; how does she know about someone named Xiao Wei under that woman Xia Jing?

Seeing that her dad hadn’t answered, Li Jiayuan held his arm and shook it back and forth.

”Dad, what’s wrong? Why won’t you answer your daughter? You know, don’t you?”

”That’s right. She indeed has a lot of subordinates, and there is indeed one named Xiao Wei, who is her trusted aide and deeply trusted by her. Any major task that comes up is entrusted to him.”

”Dad, do her subordinates generally call Xia Jing ’Elder Sister Xia’?”

”Eh, Jiayuan, how did you know? Logically, you should not be aware of the internal affairs of the Mercenary Group since you only returned not long ago. But how come you know so much about the insides in such a short time?”

”So it turns out, the person who came to kill me really was sent by Xia Jing.”

Li Jiayuan muttered to herself, finally understanding why that day the man kept saying she should never have offended ’Elder Sister Xia’.

Hearing about the assassination, Li Haixiao immediately grabbed Li Jiayuan’s hand and asked her what happened.

”Jiayuan, clarify for me, what ’killing you’? And what do you mean ’she sent someone’?”

”Dad, I’ll just tell the truth. The day after Old Master Zhang saw me, a man in black came to kill me. He said his name was Xiao Wei. I was quite perplexed at the time. I had just returned; who could I have possibly offended to the extent that she would stop at nothing to kill me? I asked him why he wanted to kill me, and that Xiao Wei kept saying that I shouldn’t have messed with his Elder Sister Xia. I was baffled—who is Elder Sister Xia? I don’t even know an Elder Sister Xia, so how could I have offended her? Later, for some reason, Xiao Wei didn’t kill me; he just left.”

Li Jiayuan recounted the assassination attempt by Xiao Wei to Li Haixiao, and Li Haixiao instantly became furious. If anger could be measured, you would see his rage soaring right through the roof. He was truly enraged now; even when their company was nearly bankrupt due to sabotage, he had not been this angry. Of course, who could compare to his beloved daughter? The daughter he coddled in his palms for fear of dropping her, the daughter he cherished in his mouth for fear she’d melt, the daughter he couldn’t even bring himself to scold, nearly assassinated...

”Dad, Old Master Zhang begged me for Zhentian’s sake to pretend to have an affair with him, then let Xia Jing see it so she would leave of her own accord. Perhaps it’s for this reason that Xia Jing sent Xiao Wei to kill me,” Li Jiayuan said with a wry smile.

”Jiayuan, I am quite curious. Xiao Wei followed Xia Jing’s command to kill you, but he didn’t do it in the end. So, how did he explain himself to Xia Jing when he returned?”

”Dad, explain himself? What do you mean by that?” Li Jiayuan looked puzzledly at her father.

”Don’t you know? It’s a rule within the Mercenary Group that once a superior issues a mission, the person sent to carry it out must complete it, or else they’ll be punished according to the group’s regulations upon return.”

”There are such rules? I really didn’t know. What kind of punishment is it for not completing a mission?”

”If it’s a subordinate deeply trusted by a superior, the punishment for failure upon return is, at the least, self-amputation of an arm, or in severe cases, suicide.”

”Old Master Zhang dared to use you; this isn’t over!” Li Haixiao slammed his fist on the table, breaking it.