When Jiang Kaiwei regained his senses, Xia Nanze was no longer in the office.

He did not know how long he had slept, but the sunlight outside the window was still bright. It should not be time to get off work. He slowly got up, patted the dust off his body, and picked up the scattered papers on the ground piece by piece.

Looking at the papers in his hand, his heart stabbed. Then he staggered and fell to the ground again.

That child was a wound deep in his heart. He never mentioned it. He had been deceiving himself, thinking that he had forgotten it. But how could he forget it? The wound was faintly aching all the time, reminding him of the pain and shame he had once felt.

So he hated Xia Xiaowan and hated her for letting him suffer such torment.

He never mentioned that child. He didn’t want to do it at all. But he had no choice but to gamble. As expected, Xia Nanze’s reaction was more intense than he had imagined.

Back then, when he was at odds with Xia Xiaowan, Xia Nanze even stood on his side. Xia Nanze even urged Xia Xiaowan not to pester Jiang Kaiwei. However, after Xia Xiaowan went abroad, Xia Nanze’s attitude towards him changed. When seeing Jiang Kaiwei, Xia Nanze either glared at him angrily or just ignored him. Xia Nanze had never said a word to him again since then.

At that time, Jiang Kaiwei was in the green. How could he bear this? But he did not pay attention to this. He thought that Xia Nanze was eager to protect his younger sister and wanted to cut off the relationship with him. Jiang Kaiwei surely did not care about it. From then on, he had put on an attitude of not contacting each other anymore.

But now, he began to suspect that what had happened in the past was not as simple as he had imagined. It was just a matter of breakup. How could she get into a sanatorium and even stay there for a few years? How much of a shock had Xia Xiaowan suffered? Was it because of him? Or was it because of Gu Nianbin?

Xia Nanze’s reaction made him have a terrible idea. The truth seemed to be on the verge of coming out. No, it was impossible. He shook his head in panic. It was absolutely impossible. It was not like that. It must not be like that…

Someone gently pushed open the door but did not come in. It was the secretary who stood respectfully by the door and spoke to him, “Mr. Jiang, are you feeling better? Do you want your driver to come here?”

He shook his head and slowly got up. His face was pale and blood was seeping out of the corner of his mouth. There was a bruise below his eye and he looked a little embarrassed. However, the expression in his eyes was cold, making people shiver.

He put the documents into the briefcase and asked coldly, “Where is Xia Nanze?”

“The president is off work. He left you a message.” The secretary stood there as if he was in a difficult situation.

“Say.”

That short word, accompanied by a cold gaze, made the secretary tremble, and his voice lost its confidence. “The president said that you shouldn’t come. Otherwise, he will beat you again.” At the end of his speech, his voice was almost inaudible.

But Jiang Kaiwei smiled and raised his hand to wipe his lips. He didn’t say anything and strode out.

When Jiang Kaiwei was downstairs, the driver was shocked as he saw his boss’s appearance like this. Who was so bold as to hit the richest man in City G?

“Boss, who did this? Should we call the police? No, you should go to the hospital first.”

Jiang Kaiwei said coldly, “It’s just a minor wound. Don’t worry, send me home.”

Seeing that Jiang Kaiwei’s expression was not right, the driver swallowed the words he was about to say and obediently drove to the Jiang Mansion.

Jiang Kaiwei leaned back in the seat. He pinched the space between his eyebrows and closed his eyes tiredly. If there were no accidents, he would be able to take down the Gu Group in half a month at most. He would like to see what Gu Nianbin would have to marry Xia Xiaowan at that time. He did not believe that the Xia family could bear to get Xia Xiaowan into trouble. As for Xia Nanze’s shares in the Jiang Group mentioned by Shen Li, he felt that it was unreliable. The Xia family was the second largest shareholder of the Jiang Group, and the number of shares in Xia Nanze’s hands was astronomical. He did not believe that Xia Nanze would be willing to give them out.

They were all businessmen and always considered gains and losses as the most important thing. Even if the Gu and Xia families were to form a marriage alliance, as long as their fundamental benefits were involved, they would still give a second thought to it and would even break off the engagement when necessary. Shen Li was completely worrying for nothing.

After a few more days, there was no news of Gu Nianbin obtaining the Jiang Group’s shares. Jiang Kaiwei knew that what he had guessed was right. Xia Nanze was not willing to give up such a large sum of wealth.

Gu Nianbin was still struggling. It was as if he had gone crazy. He was using a kind of tenacity that Jiang Kaiwei could not understand to do stupid and futile resistance. This kind of resistance would only make him collapse faster. Since that was the case, Jiang Kaiwei sneered and decided to grant him his wish!

Jiang Kaiwei had even asked someone to prepare the champagne to celebrate the victory, but he didn’t have the fortune to enjoy it.

On the sixth day of his victory countdown, the price of the Jiang Group’s shares in the New York Stock Exchange in the United States fell sharply suddenly. At first, Jiang Kaiwei did not take it to heart, but it continued to fall sharply in the following three days, causing a series of panic. It was obvious that this was manipulated by someone behind the scenes.

Jiang Kaiwei never expected that Gu Nianbin would be able to stay calm and collected and drew his attention to the domestic market. Gu Nianbin even watched him encroach on the Gu Group without revealing any flaws. What Gu Nianbin tried to do was to make a disturbance behind Jiang Kaiwei’s back and give him a fatal blow.

It was indeed a fatal blow. Unlike their tug-of-war in the domestic market, Gu Nianbin and his allies quickly seized Jiang Kaiwei’s shares in the overseas market with lightning speed.

Jiang Kaiwei was forced to withdraw most of his funds and distribute the chips back to the market. Moreover, he had to travel alone to the other side of the earth to deal with the knotty problem.

Gu Nianbin did not stop. Instead, he took advantage of the situation and continued the fight. In just a few days, he had taken back the lost shares.

Although Jiang Kaiwei was aware of this, he had no time to deal with it. His subordinates did not know his intentions and did not dare to act rashly. They could only watch helplessly as the shares they obtained were taken back by Gu Nianbin.

This radical change made everyone stunned. Before they could figure out what was going on, the Gu Group had suddenly had a rebirth in a desperate situation.

When Xia Nanze received the news, he sat in the office for a long time before calling Xia Xiaowan. “Gu Nianbin’s crisis has been temporarily resolved. I don’t know if he will agree to marry you.”

Seeing Gu Nianbin turning the tables, Xia Xiaowan was naturally overjoyed. After hearing Xia Nanze’s words, she was even happier. Not getting married was exactly what she wanted. She said in a relaxed tone, “Well, it surely depends on Brother Nianbin. If he really wants to go back on his word, then…”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“Then there’s nothing I can do!” Being afraid that Xia Nanze would find out something, she pretended to be helpless.

Xia Nanze sighed on the other end of the phone. “Fortunately, I didn’t give my shares to him. Otherwise, it would have been a big loss.”

Xia Xiaowan couldn’t help but laugh. “Brother, why are you acting like an old miser?”

“Why are you laughing?” Xia Nanze said, “If Gu Nianbin really breaks off the engagement, can you still laugh?”

“Anyway, I am happy that Brother Nianbin has won.” Xia Xiaowan said, “I will treat him to dinner tonight and congratulate him. I can also talk about the marriage then. Since the crisis is over, the wedding can be postponed. I don’t want to marry myself in such a hurry.”

“Alright, let’s see what he will say.” Just as Xia Nanze was about to hang up the phone, he hesitated and said, “Xiaowan, there’s something else.”

“What is it?” Xia Xiaowan asked in a good mood. “What good news is there?”

“It’s not good news.” Xia Nanze paused for a moment before saying, “It’s about Jiang Kaiwei…”

“Why are you bringing him up all of a sudden? It’s disappointing.” Xia Xiaowan said angrily, “If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”

“He came to see me.” Xia Nanze finished in one breath, “He seems to have known a little about what happened back then. I’m afraid he will bother you. Be careful.”

“Don’t worry, brother. I am not the Xia Xiaowan in the past. He can’t hurt me.”

“Alright, if he dares to come to you, tell me. This time, I will break his legs.”

Xia Xiaowan heard something wrong and frowned. “Brother, did you fight? Didn’t I tell you to ignore him? He is a madman. Why are you fighting with him? Just avoid and don’t see him! It will dirty your hands if you beat him. Besides, he is skillful, can you beat him?”

“Why can’t I beat him? Last time, I beat the crap out of him. Besides, he came to me first. If he dares to come to you, I will beat him again.”

“Alright, ignore him.” Xia Xiaowan warned him, “Did you hear that? Don’t fight with him anymore. If he hurts you, I’ll have to fight him again.”

Xia Nanze felt a lump in his throat. He swallowed the words he was about to say and put down the phone.

Xia Xiaowan sat on the windowsill in a daze. The magnolias under the window had already bloomed. Big white flowers on the branches fluttered in the wind like white jade cups. It was beautiful and pure. Many years ago, she stood under a magnolia tree. A tall and mighty boy walked over and brushed his hand over her hair. He seemed to be indifferent. “You look like this flower.”

In fact, his words could only count as half a sentence. He did not finish the sentence, and she was too shy to ask.

It was Jiang Kaiwei who took her to the botanical garden to see the flowers of the magnolia trees. At first, she didn’t know where they were going. When she asked him in the car, he felt annoying. But when she got there and saw the sea of fragrant white flowers, she was immediately stunned. She looked at him stupidly and laughed.

There were so many magnolia trees as if there was no end in sight. White flowers shone like waves and a sea of clouds. It was extremely magnificent, and waves of fragrance refreshed the mind. She stood there, lingering.

The bright boy and the pretty girl were at the most beautiful age, staying in the most beautiful scenery. Being surprised, she stared blankly. Jiang Kaiwei walked over, reached out and brushed her hair. He said casually, “You look like this flower,” Before he said the following sentence, he hurriedly walked away.

However, she stood there and got stunned. She could only hear her own heartbeat. “Bang…”

The heartbeat hit her chest one after another. All the noise receded as if only she and he were left in the world, as well as those magnolia trees.

The boy stood far away under another tree. He was tall and his clothes were as white as snow. He still had a casual look on his face, but he averted his eyes as if he was shy.

In the end, she slowly walked over and took the initiative to hold his hand. He did not speak or look at her. Instead, he raised his head to look at the scenery in the distance and held her hand in his palm. His palm was very hot like a soldering iron, making her hand warm up. Gradually, the hands began to sweat.

Both of their hands were covered in sweat. They felt smooth and slippery, but they were unwilling to let go. They walked on like this and looked at the sea of flowers as if they were looking at it seriously. But in fact, he was indifferent, and she was absent-minded. All of their attention was on the hands that they were holding…

They walked aimlessly, walking to the end and then turning back. She did not remember how many times they walked back and forth that day. The sea of flowers seemed endless, but they reached its end in just a while of walking…

Time passed quickly. It was only when night fell and the park was about to be closed that they reluctantly came out.

In memory of that beautiful afternoon, she asked someone to plant a magnolia tree under the window. But by the time it blossomed, she and Jiang Kaiwei no longer stayed in the same relationship as before.