Chapter 17: The Heiress of the Jiang Family

Just as Jiang Li spread her arms, ready to jump off the building, a hoarse voice echoed.

“Miss Jiang Li, I’ve finally found you!”

Startled by the voice, Jiang Li turned around in a daze.

Her pale face was smeared with dirt, tears mingling with the grime, blurring her features.

She gazed blankly at the man behind her, who appeared to be about fifty years old.

“Are you calling me?” Jiang Li pointed at her nose, expressionless.

The butler cautiously took two steps forward and nodded before speaking, “Yes, Miss Jiang Li. I am Zhang Cheng, the butler of the Jiang family, the wealthiest family in Jiang City. I have been entrusted by the late Chairman Jiang Zhenting to bring you home to inherit the Jiang family conglomerate.”

Jiang Li shook her head, doubting her sanity as if she were hallucinating uncontrollably.

She swayed, dizzy and nearly falling off the edge.

Butler Zhang quickly caught her.

“Miss, please come down and listen to me first, alright?”

Held by the butler, Jiang Li looked at him skeptically. “Sir, you must have mistaken me for someone else. I am homeless, a failure who couldn’t even protect my own daughter. Jiang Li?” She pointed to her nose again. “Are you sure you’re looking for me?”

Zhang the butler nodded solemnly. “Yes, Miss. I’m certain it’s you. I’ve been searching for you for days. I also sent Xiao Chen to fetch your mother, Mrs. Xie Yun.”

Jiang Li frowned. “You went to get my mother?”

Zhang nodded. “Yes. If you don’t believe me, you should trust Secretary Xie. She was President Jiang Jinxi’s first secretary. They worked together for nearly ten years.”

“Secretary Xie? You mean my mother, Xie Yun?” Jiang Li asked.

Zhang nodded again. “Yes, Miss.”

At that moment, a breathless head appeared from the rooftop—it was Xie Yun.

“Xiao Li, don’t scare your mother,” Xie Yun said, her legs weak with worry when she learned her daughter was on the rooftop. Despite her own disheveled state and bloodstains, she had rushed to the hospital as soon as Zhang’s people rescued her.

Seeing her mother, Jiang Li broke down in tears. “Mom, mom, I finally see you. Ma—I don’t want to live anymore. Youyou, Youyou was killed by Chen Shaojie. He donated her kidney to Jiang Xue and Qin Mu’s son, and they even sold her body. Sob, Mom, I can’t find Youyou. I really don’t want to live!”

Watching Jiang Li’s agony, Xie Yun and her daughter clung to each other, weeping bitterly.

“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. I couldn’t protect Youyou. It’s all my fault,” Xie Yun sobbed.

Moved but hesitant, Butler Zhang interrupted softly, “Secretary Xie, I’ve finally found you. The chairman instructed me to bring you and Miss Jiang Li back to inherit the family business. Please—”

He glanced at the two tear-streaked women and found it hard to continue.

Wiping her tears, Xie Yun said, “Butler Zhang, may I ask a favor? Please help me find my granddaughter Youyou, even if it’s just her body. I want to give her a proper burial.”

Jiang Li wiped her tears and spoke resolutely, “Youyou isn’t dead. Butler Zhang, please help me find her. And Chen Shaojie—I want him to pay for his crimes with his blood.”

Zhang nodded. “Very well. I will have someone check the hospital’s surveillance footage to locate Miss Youyou. Also, Secretary Xie, there are things you must tell Miss Jiang Li.”

Xie Yun nodded. “Alright, Xiao Li, don’t get too upset. Listen to your mother, okay?”

Jiang Li was dazed. “Mom, Butler Zhang said you were Jiang Jinxi’s secretary, and I am the eldest daughter of the Jiang family?”

Xie Yun nodded heavily. “Yes, Xiao Li. I’m sorry. Your biological father is Jiang Jinxi, and your grandfather is Jiang Zhenting, chairman of the Jiang Group. You are the illegitimate daughter of the Jiang family. I hid your shameful birth from you. It was my fault.”

Kneeling on the ground, Jiang Li looked at her mother in disbelief. “No, that’s impossible. I saw the news report—the Jiang family president Jiang Jinxi, his wife Lin Dan, and their son Jiang Che all died in a plane crash.”

Xie Yun nodded. “Yes. You feared you would never see him again. I’m sorry, Xiao Li.”

Jiang Li still couldn’t accept it, shaking her head. “But you, and Jiang Xue and the others, all said my father was just an employee of the Jiang family who died from a workplace injury due to improper treatment, and the Jiang family even compensated you. Mom, what really happened?”

Xie Yun was overcome with sobs. “Twenty-four years ago, I was just your father Jiang Jinxi’s secretary. He was kind to me. I knew he loved his childhood fiancée Lin Dan very much. But at a banquet, your father was maliciously drugged by a client. Lin Dan was abroad, so I saved him. That night, I became pregnant with you. Two months later, I dared not tell President Jiang but told your grandfather Jiang Zhenting instead. The chairman feared my pregnancy would disgrace the family and ruin your father’s relationship with Lin Dan, so he gave me money to leave.”

Xie Yun’s words left Jiang Li wide-eyed in disbelief. Her fate seemed so intertwined with her mother’s.

Yet the Jiang family conglomerate was the wealthiest family in the city!

Jiang Xue belonged to a distant branch of the Jiang family and took pride in it. Could Jiang Li truly become the eldest daughter and heir of the Jiang family?

Jiang Li shook her head in disbelief. “No, it can’t be. The news said the memorial service is underway. President Jiang and the others must have been laid to rest already.”

Butler Zhang approached with a heavy expression. “Yes, Miss. I will take you and Madam back to the Jiang family now.”

Jiang Li looked at the silver-haired elder in utter disbelief, shaking her head vigorously. “No, no. I have to find my daughter Youyou. I must find her.”

She struggled to stand and search for Youyou, but dizziness overcame her, and she fainted into her mother Xie Yun’s arms.

“Xiao Li! Butler Zhang, get my daughter to the emergency room immediately!”

Exhausted from continuous anxiety and fatigue, compounded by digging all night to escape the villa, Jiang Li was physically drained.

The devastating news about Youyou caused her to develop a high fever and slip into unconsciousness.

After emergency treatment, the doctor administered an IV drip. Seeing slight improvement, Butler Zhang instructed someone to carry Jiang Li onto a motorhome.

The vehicle sped toward Jiang City through the night.

Meanwhile, Jiang Xue looked at Qin Jinchen lying in bed, casually reapplying her lipstick.

With a sneer, she picked up her phone—it was a call from Qin Mu.

Feigning a sickly tone, Jiang Xue answered, “Hello, Brother Qin Mu. I have good news. Our son’s kidney transplant is complete. The surgery was very successful, with no rejection. He’s out of danger and has been moved to a regular ward.”

From the other end came a magnetic yet joyful voice, “What did you say? Jinchen’s surgery is done? Weren’t you waiting for me to return before proceeding?”

Qin Mu felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing the success of his son’s surgery and recalling Jiang Li’s words.

His voice deepened as Jiang Xue’s voice rose again, “The doctor said missing the optimal time would be bad. Since you’re in Jiang City, I took the initiative.”