Chapter 26: Compared To My Wife, You're Nothing

Bai Chuchu couldn’t believe what Qin Jiang just said to her.

It was only the two of them on the rooftop now, so there was no need to pretend in front of others or keep up her pure campus beauty image. Yet Qin Jiang actually dared to treat her like this.

But on second thought, she had said before that taking the research manuscript was to commemorate Qin Jiang’s love for her. But now it had become a tool to attack him.

Qin Jiang was by no means a fool.

She figured that he was now just pretending to be angry with her, hoping that she would become more caring toward him. That sounded reasonable.

“Qin Jiang, stop playing hard to get. I know you’re mad your research was handed to the director by Qianqian, but I had my reasons too…”

“Alright, don’t be angry. I’m willing to take you to a candlelit dinner tonight—will that do?”

Bai Chuchu presumptuously put on a gentle face and leaned in.

She had to admit that now that Qin Jiang changed his style and deliberately dressed up for her, he actually did possess a certain charm.

Unfortunately, he was just an unloved fallen young master of the Qin family.

He naturally couldn’t compare to Qin Yun, who had been raised in the Qin family with elite education and etiquette and had a better chance to inherit the family’s business.

She wasn’t being materialistic—she just wanted to fight for a good future ahead.

“Bai Chuchu, I already have a wife.”

“My wife is more beautiful than you, has a better figure and more charm, and she is richer and more powerful than you.”

“Compared to my wife, you’re so ugly—tell me why I should play hard to get with you?”

“Is it because you have thick skin, or because you’re just shameless?”

Qin Jiang showed Bai Chuchu no mercy. He had long seen through this bitch’s sly intentions.

Not doing anything to hurt her now was only because he was preparing a greater punishment for her in the future.

And there was also Qin Yun, hiding behind her and manipulating things.

“Qin Jiang, I don’t believe it!”

“You have to tell me why today! I’m so beautiful, I’m even Huajing University’s campus belle—are you blind?“

Bai Chuchu’s greatest pride was her looks.

She inherently believed she deserved to be surrounded and pursued by men.

All because of her face and charm.

Among the men utterly conquered by her charm, the one who fell for it the most had been Qin Jiang.

How could he not like her anymore?

That was impossible.

“Oh… compared to my wife, you’re worth nothing.”

Qin Jiang sneered, pushed Bai Chuchu away, gripped his phone tightly as he looked down nervously at the screen and explained to Yan Liang, “Yan… Yanyan, there’s nothing between Bai Chuchu and me. I’ve already sent her away. I swear from now on my heart belongs only to you—she’s not important anymore.”

Although he was explaining things carefully, Qin Jiang’s heart still rolled in waves of anxiety.

He knew Yan Liang’s pathological possessiveness all too well.

Just Bai Chuchu coming to see him might cause Yan Liang to imprison him yet again.

Yan Liang sat in the office chair, used her uninjured hand to press a key, and a location map instantly popped up on the computer screen.

The map pointed to Huajing University, and that red dot…unsurprisingly, was Qin Jiang’s location.

Yan Liang could allow him to have relative freedom, but that freedom was absolutely under her complete control.

She gripped the mouse and zoomed in. The satellite-like zoom brought the real-time image of the administration building’s rooftop into her computer.

The call wasn’t disconnected. Yan Liang’s gaze roamed over the two arguing people.

If Bai Chuchu dared to get close to Qin Jiang and they started pulling at each other!

She would stop at nothing. She would rush to Huajing University, tie her up in front of Qin Jiang, and make Qin Jiang personally cut off that little slut’s hand.

Hiss… blood would bloom and splash onto Qin Jiang’s fair face.

Jiang would probably cry, right?

The crimson and uncontrollable malicious gleam in Yan Liang’s eyes made Zhou Ning, standing in the now-frozen-office, fall apart mentally again and again…

Seriously, more than half of the allowance he earned each month was really Yan Liang subsidizing his emotional distress.

Zhou Ning was also afraid Qin Jiang would pull another stunt.

He tiptoed behind Yan Liang to watch the screen.

Only to see Qin Jiang raise a foot and kick that little wretch Bai Chuchu away.

Qin Jiang didn’t spare the wretch so much as an extra glance and immediately started placating the she-devil in his house.

Zhou Ning was nearly moved to tears.

Qin Jiang had finally stopped courting disaster. He was so excited he wanted to do a celebratory dance in front of Ms. Liang.

Qin Jiang was surprisingly obedient, which really surprised Yan Liang.

Wasn’t he so obsessed with Bai Chuchu before?

Could it be that he knew a tracking chip had been implanted in his body and that satellites could locate him in real time?

But still, she was quite pleased.

“Mm.”

“I’ll wait for you to come home.”

Yan Liang lifted an eyebrow, relaxed lazily into the leather seat, and her red lips curved into a faint tender smile.

The ruthlessness in her eyes seemed to vanish instantly. She calmly looked at the bloodied hand, then used the blood on her fingertip to smear her lips, the red as striking as a bewitching seal.

Qin Jiang nodded, listening to his wife’s gentle admonitions and her words about waiting for him to come home.

Warmth rose in his chest despite himself.

Come home?

He no longer had a home, but his Yanyan was giving him a new one.

He absolutely could not disappoint her.

…

After hanging up, Qin Jiang returned to the meeting room, where the tables and chairs had been left in disarray from the earlier fight.

When Qin Jiang went up to break up the fight, he accidentally injured a few of the underlings who, along with Li Yunxiang, had blocked his way.

They were only superficial wounds. The school doctor came and bandaged them up.

But Li Hao and Li Yunxiang’s injuries were serious—both had fractures and severe facial wounds.

The school doctor originally planned to take them away.

Li Hao insisted on staying. That bastard dared to frame him—he wanted to watch Qin Jiang’s downfall with his own eyes.

As soon as Qin Jiang walked into the meeting room, the department head slammed the table, fury written all over his face, “Qin Jiang, stop sowing discord here—one rotten apple spoils the whole barrel!”

“Whether you can make up that $20,000 or not, the school must punish your misdeeds immediately.”

“All the evidence points to you appropriating Qin Yun’s honor and flouting university rules to take the blame for others—do you still consider yourself a student of Huajing University?”

“I’m officially notifying you now: Qin Jiang, you’re expelled!”

After the two other boys started fighting, Qin Jiang tried to break it up, but the more he intervened, the more injuries appeared on the two men’s faces.

The department head saw through the scheme.

This Qin Jiang was clearly using others’ authority and stealthy tactics to take private revenge on Li Hao and Li Yunxiang.

But Qin Jiang had joined in with plausible reasons.

There was nothing more he could say.

This humiliation… no one had dared pull off something like that under his nose for years!

He was determined to give this kid the harshest lesson.

“Director, don’t be in such a hurry! The Huajing University research gold prize rightly belongs to me, it’s just that the manuscript had some issues and it wasn’t with me.”

“Now, the one who should be here to confront me and clear things up, Qin Yun, is absent, so whatever others say holds sway—the situation is very unfavorable to me.”

“But Huajing University is a century-old prestigious school—if such a scandal about me were to seriously damage the university’s reputation, it would also make me lose sleep and eat poorly.”

Qin Jiang spoke as he walked to the center of the meeting room. Clearly he was the one being publicly judged for the incident.

But at this moment, he strolled as if on a leisurely walk in his own yard.

Seeing this, Li Hao—who had been beaten until his face was swollen—fumed, “Qin Jiang, stop trying to wriggle your way out of this with these roundabout speeches.”

“The university committee’s decision has already been made—so get the hell out of here!”

Qin Jiang paused, his gaze casually falling on Li Hao’s face, a faint smile lifting one corner of his mouth.

Li Hao shut up immediately, then cursed himself, damn! Did he just chicken out? Did he just allow this unwanted loser to frighten him??

He must be going mad!

“Director, anyway, even if the committee’s documents are issued, there’s a three-day approval process.”

“And if I recall correctly, in three days it’s the National University Student Research Competition. Isn’t our internal Huajing University research contest designed to evaluate and reserve talent for that national competition?”

“As everyone knows, Huajing University is a comprehensive university full of top students in the country.”

“But the university we usually compare ourselves to, Huake University, is science-focused. In terms of research, their talents are clearly stronger. In other words, Huake has a better chance than Huajing at the national competition.“

“Our school was trampled by Huake in the physics competition a month ago—I believe both the top management of the school and the students are still angry about losing.”

“If Huake tramples us again in this national research competition, our school’s face and prestige would be… tsk tsk…”

As the saying goes, catch the snake by the seventh inch—in his previous life, Qin Jiang had heard that Huajing only got second place in the national student research competition and was mocked by Huake. The principal was frantic but had to swallow his anger.

Given how abruptly Huajing organized the internal research contest, it was clear the school wanted to test its students’ level.

This showed how much the school valued the national research competition.

“Qin Jiang, you do have a bit of cleverness.”

“But what does that have to do with you? You, a bad student who got the campus research gold prize by substituting someone else’s work—do you think you deserve to participate in the national competition?”

“Is your brain fried, or is mine?”

The department head held a prejudice against Qin Jiang’s recent tactic of using leverage.

This kid did have a bit of cunning.

But in terms of actual ability, he was a mess.

“Director, the top three in the national competition get $200,000 yuan, and fortunate winners may be recommended by the famous Professor Liu as protégés.”

“If I can place in the top three, would I still need to substitute another’s work for the campus contest?”

Qin Jiang calmly laid out the conditions.

Now it was time to play psychological warfare—he currently had the committee’s need to showcase itself by the throat.

So, talent was the asset they had to retain.

He knew his reputation was already that of a rat in the street—it was only normal that the committee didn’t trust him.

But at Huajing University, he was confident there was one person who would definitely believe him.

Director Xu Rongguang looked at Qin Jiang—though he had angrily berated Qin Jiang at first like a disappointed mentor.

But after some time he found Qin Jiang meticulous and bold yet careful—if Qin Jiang really intended to steal Qin Yun’s gold prize, how could he have left so many loose ends?

Moreover, why would Qin Yun’s manuscript be left with Bai Chuchu?

According to campus gossip, Qin Jiang and Bai Chuchu were the ones getting close, not Qin Yun. Also, Qin Jiang was almost always obedient to Bai Chuchu.

Under such circumstances, the person who would unconditionally trust Bai Chuchu with the manuscript was far more likely to be Qin Jiang.

These were all details that didn’t add up logically.

Director Xu pondered and was about to speak.

But just then, a figure burst into the meeting room, out of breath—it was Lei Ming, the finance major counsellor to the sophomores.

“Director, Qin Jiang is a student in my class. I know his ability, and I also trust his character.”

“I’ve heard about the gold prize appropriation rumor, but Qin Jiang has the capability to win the gold prize—there’s no need for him to steal someone else’s.”

“As for Qin Yun, who is always sick and even needs others to fill his registration forms—does he really have the energy to produce the research results in that manuscript?”

Mr. Lei, the sophomore finance counselor, was famously protective of his students.

Qin Jiang had been ostracized in his class before for dressing and behaving differently.

The next day, Lei Ming pulled the whole department into the multimedia room for a class meeting.

The topic: a lecture on “Don’t judge people by appearances.”

At Huajing University, Mr. Lei wasn’t especially fond of Qin Jiang—he was simply a good person by nature.

He was wholeheartedly a counselor who trusted his students.

When Qin Qianyun heard this counsellor suddenly speaking up for Qin Jiang, she couldn’t believe it. Was this a conspiracy against her younger brother?

To her, Qin Yun was talented, kind and gentle—if Qin Jiang hadn’t turned out to be a curse against him, why would he be sick every day?

Qin Qianyun’s face immediately clouded. She angrily snapped, “Sir, please show some respect to my brother.”

“My brother Yun is kind and clever—illness doesn’t stop his studies, and he can still produce high-intensity research results. He’s much better than those who only talk big and lie.”

“A $200,000 prize? Qin Jiang, you’re doing all this because you want that money, isn’t it?”

“I know you’re short on money. If you come with me to the hospital now to save Yun, I’ll give you $200,000 right away!!”

Qin Qianyun knew the situation was urgent—she had already delayed too long at the school.

Qin Jiang raised an eyebrow—he knew Qin Qianyun could pay a high price for her brother Qin Yun.

She would never have given him a single cent directly.

But for Qin Yun, no amount was too much.

He had experienced this contrast too many times and was long used to it.

Qin Jiang didn’t answer immediately. He walked over to Counselor Lei. There was no need to elaborate on the bond between men—Lei Ming gave him a heavy pat on the shoulder: “Kid, I trust you.”

Then Lei Ming looked at the director: “I’m willing to vouch for my student.”

“If he can’t make the top three in the national competition, I’ll resign as counselor!”

The university committee was appalled.

Had Lei Ming gone mad?

Using his own future to vouch for a scandal-plagued bad student?

Qin Jiang nodded—he would not let Mr. Lei down.

But he turned and gave Qin Qianyun a cold, scornful smile and said, “Fine, I’ll go to the hospital with you.”

Qin Qianyun frowned—she felt something was off.

But she quickly smirked after that. Qin Jiang, you’re still the same bootlicker as before!