Chapter 198: A thousand‑mile dike collapses from an ant hole

Early in the morning, Jiang Lai heard Great Virtue Little Shepherd barking.

No matter how she was called, Father Shen stood stiffly at the door, calmly telling the bodyguard, 'Let Jiang Lai come out to see me.'

He was full of airs.

The bodyguards certainly wouldn't pass on the message; their duty was to prevent any Shen family member from entering the gates of Villa No. 9.

Hearing the commotion, Mo Yi came out and, seeing Father Shen's face, recognized him as Shen Xun's father; father and son looked very alike.

'Never ending.' Mo Yi stormed out angrily and shouted, 'Are you Shen family people leeches? When Miss Jiang was your daughter-in-law, you all pointed at her to serve you; now that Miss Jiang has left your home, your son neither eats nor drinks yet still expects her to serve? You've sucked blood to this extent—don't your consciences hurt?'

'Oh, I forgot that every one of you Shen family lacks conscience.'

Father Shen looked at Mo Yi with disdain: 'You're just a maid who serves tea and water, yet you act superior.'

'Serving tea and water isn't shameful; what's shameful is being old and only knowing how to belittle others by your job.' Mo Yi likewise looked at him with contempt: 'Like father, like son—you're both worthless, and yet you want our Miss Jiang to come out and see you? I spit.'

'How many people want to see our Miss Jiang have to come in person—where do you get the nerve? Relying on this old face nobody knows?'

Father Shen's face flushed liver-colored with anger.

'I have no time to argue with a maid like you here—call Jiang Lai out.'

'I think you have plenty of time, coming here at dawn to stand guard—if you really want a security job, you should go to the property management.'

As Jiang Lai walked out, she happened to see Father Shen's face turning pale and then flushed from Mo Yi's anger.

'Mo Yi, have the bodyguards drive him away.'

'Understood!' Mo Yi immediately signaled the bodyguards to drag him away.

Just as the bodyguard's hand was about to touch Father Shen, he shouted loudly, 'Jiang Lai, I have always been your elder—have you learned filial piety only to feed a dog? You are now a well-known public figure; doing this, aren't you afraid it will directly affect your project with the Ke Clan?'

'You can go out and say it—better yet, let this blow up big, so we can see whose reputation ends up ruined, mine or your son's.' Jiang Lai stared at him unblinking.

Father Shen was momentarily speechless.

It was the Shen family who first wronged Jiang Lai, and it was his son who first wronged her.

The next second, Father Shen softened his tone: 'You and Shen Xun were husband and wife; he's ill now—go see him.'

Jiang Lai didn't understand: 'What does his illness have to do with me?'

Father Shen: 'He's ill because of you, because you divorced him!'

Jiang Lai chuckled lightly: 'Reversing black and white.'

'His illness isn't because of me; it's because of himself. He merely feels pain from losing something useful to himself, and the loss stems from his own moral failings and bad nature—he cannot accept his own shortcomings and failure.'

Father Shen stiffened his neck.

'You were husband and wife with Shen Xun for four years—how can you be so ruthless?' He decided to appeal to emotion: 'He can't bear to part with you; I don't believe you can bear to part with him.'

Jiang Lai indeed could not bear to let go at first.

She could not bear to let go of this hard-won affection, a feeling distinct from that given by Dean Mom, her mentor, and her mentor's wife—a sentiment that had never blossomed in her girlhood.

She could not bear to let go of the 'home' she had finally obtained; having a home made her feel whole.

People are born unfinished, so they always cling to the pursuit of self-completion.

Clinging to self-completion is also a way of mending inner brokenness.

As a child, Jiang Lai mended her own clothes; as an adult, she mended her own life.

Only when the rift of Shen Xun's infidelity lay before her, growing ever clearer, did she suddenly realize that instead of patching and mending, she should discard it.

Because this 'garment' was never worn on her to begin with, discarding it is no loss.

Jiang Lai looked at Father Shen: 'What do I have to regret? For four years, I've done right by every member of the Shen family; it's the Shen family who have wronged me.'

'What truly broke this marriage wasn't just infidelity—it was Shen Xun's inaction, his collusion with evil, and your family's excessive bullying.'

'A thousand-mile dike collapses from an ant hole.' Jiang Lai coldly looked at the elderly Father Shen, 'Understand?'

Father Shen was once again speechless.

At this moment, he believed Jiang Lai had no reluctance and was resolute.

Losing Jiang Lai was not only his son's regret; it seemed it would also become a regret for the Shen family.

Jiang Lai: 'No need to come again as a messenger for Shen Xun; while I was cleaning up that home, I also cleared my own heart.'

'Rather than having me come here to see Shen Xun, you'd better take him to the hospital for a full checkup.'

She had said all she needed to.

Father Shen also left, faring a little better than Mother Shen—he wasn't chased off by the dog.

After the person left.

Mo Yi sighed inwardly; she had originally wanted to drain the Shen family's wallet to compensate Miss Jiang, but now it turned out the opposite—this leech-like family had moved in and openly harassed Miss Jiang.

'We need to move out quickly.' Mo Yi muttered.

Jiang Lai said: 'I've urged them over there.'

Constantly hiding isn't a solution, and a permanent fix seems difficult—unless she and the Shen family were on opposite ends of the earth.

Jiang Lai also didn't understand: the more this group had previously despised her, the harder they are to deal with now.

Mo Yi is right—like leeches, they cling on and make one feel nauseated.

After breakfast, Ke Zhongyu's driver had already arrived at the gate to wait for her.

The car door opened, but Ke Zhongyu was not inside.

The driver said: 'Boss Ke received an overseas call in the middle of the night and flew abroad at five a. m.; he didn't tell Miss Jiang lest he disturb her rest.'

'Boss Ke instructed that if Miss Jiang has any upcoming schedule, just contact me—I'll handle her pick‑up and drop‑off.'

Jiang Lai nodded, got into the car, and through the window glass watched the passersby on the roadside, each bundled up heavily.

The weather grew colder and colder.

Mo Yi said it would snow soon, though she didn't know which day.

She idly pondered.

The driver glanced at her through the rearview mirror, feeling that Miss Jiang seemed a bit absent-minded, wondering if she was thinking about Mr. Ke.

Jiang Lai, on her way to the Research and Development Center, ran into Assistant Zhou, who should have been on paid leave.

Assistant Zhou saw Jiang Lai's doubt and explained: "The overseas merger deal has run into a problem, stuck in the antitrust review; the other side hinted that Mr. Ke needs to go there in person to talk, otherwise it's likely to be vetoed. Mr. Ke and Secretary Qin flew there overnight, leaving only Secretary Guan here; I'm worried she can't handle it."

After leaving the position of Ke Zhongyu's secretary, Jiang Lai once again felt the reality of Ke Zhongyu's overwhelming workload.

"So this merger deal is currently in the approval stage?"

Assistant Zhou nodded: "Foreign investment review is relatively sensitive; Mr. Ke left in a hurry, and I don't know when he'll be back. Miss Jiang, if you have any issues during this period, contact me directly."

Jiang Lai noticed that Assistant Zhou emphasized the two words "any".

"Any?"

Assistant Zhou smiled slightly: "Yes, whether it's public affairs of the Three Regions or your private matters, Miss Jiang, you can contact me, and I will handle everything properly for you."

In just a short morning, Jiang Lai heard similar words from both Ke Zhongyu's driver and Ke Zhongyu's assistant, all aimed at serving her, and a strange feeling rose in her heart.

"Assistant Zhou, you are Ke Zhongyu's assistant."

Assistant Zhou smiled without saying a word.

Jiang Lai's hanging fingers curled slightly.