Chapter 20: As Long as She Is Not Dead, It Doesn’t Matter How You Play With Her!

Even though North-South Pharmaceutical was recently pushed to the edge of public opinion, Jian Ansheng still managed to invite many powerful and renowned people with his wide connections. Jian Jianan used to hate attending these cocktail receptions in her past life. She thought them boring and uninteresting. Now, for the sake of the company, her father, and also herself, she was determined to spend a greater effort in accustoming herself to these social events. Qi Xiuli held Jian Ansheng’s arm as they entered the event hall at the hotel hosting the cocktail reception. Following behind them were Jian Jianan and Qi Xiaorou, the ‘inseparable siblings’ but each with their own mind. Mr. Victor was stunned when he saw Jian Jianan. “Oh, Nannan, you suit this type of clothing very much. You look gorgeous today!” Jian Jianan donned a strapless emerald blue cotton dress, with little tassels decorating her waist. Her soft, long hair was worn up into a twisting tendril, unveiling a look of capability, coupled with an adorable and innocent youth. Jian Jianan was naturally born beautiful, and attracted gazes from everyone in attendance the moment she entered. “Mr. Victor, thank you for your compliment! This is my father, Jian Ansheng, the chairman of North-South Pharmaceutical!” “Mr. Victor, I have heard a lot about you!” “Mr. Jian, you are lucky to have such a smart and very impressive daughter. I am starting to be envious of you!” Both of them smiled as they shook their hands. On the side, assessing the situation, Qi Xiuli quickly pulled Qi Xiaorou to the front of Mr. Victor. “Mr. Victor, my daughter Xiaorou, is an admirer of yours. She was so excited about meeting you today, she didn’t sleep at all last night!” Qi Xiaorou then addressed Mr. Victor, appearing obedient and pretending to be excited about meeting him. After a quick glance at Qi Xiaorou, Mr. Victor told Jian Ansheng. “Mr. Jian, I am getting even more envious of you for having two beautiful daughters and a capable wife!” Jian Ansheng grinned widely. This was what he was most proud of. At this moment, a waiter walked over carrying five glasses of wine. He poured two glasses of grape wine and three glasses of champagne. Noticing the look from Qi Xiuli, Qi Xiaorou nodded her head lightly, signaling that she had made all the necessary arrangements. Qi Xiaorou took a glass of champagne and passed it to her mother. She herself took one, and the remaining one would automatically be Jian Jianan’s. “Mr. Victor, cheers to our partnership!” All five raised their glasses simultaneously. A cunning smile formed at the edge of Qi Xiaorou’s mouth when she saw Jian Jianan sip her glass of champagne. Once the drug’s effects kick in, Jian Jianan would be dancing topless in front of the elites, the wealthy, and the powerful people who came from all walks of life - not to mention the media. It would be interesting to see her dying to pounce on every man in sight. When it does kick in, not only will she become notorious, Mr. Victor would also be unwilling to continue partnering with North-South Pharmaceutical. In the end, Jian Ansheng would still have to depend on her mother and the support of the Li Yao Group. She wanted Jian Jianan’s whole life destroyed! When Jian Jianan sipped her champagne, she could feel a secretly-pleased stare, full of resentment and cruelty, fixated on her. When she traced the gaze, she could only see Qi Xiaorou lowering her head to sip the champagne, her usual fake smile plastered on her face, refusing to look at Jian Jianan. ‘Was she overthinking it?’ she thought. Just at the moment, Jian Ansheng called Jian Jianan, hoping to introduce some prestigious people to Jian Jianan. Jian Jianan went over to her father, dismissing the strange feeling she had. Even though everyone was aware that the partnership with the Li Yao Group and Mr. Victor was sealed by Jian Jianan, her reputation in the elite and business circles was still egregious. It was not due to just her suicide and her breaking off the engagement with the Gu family. It was also because of the rumors that she was a person with indecent character, playing around with men while she was a minor, on top of being rude, capricious, unruly, arrogant, and always bullying weaker students while she was in school. Because of that, everyone pretended to be friendly to her, but despised Jian Jianan deep in their minds and hearts! Jian Jianan saw through their pretenses but did not want to state the obvious. They were just pretending. Anyone could pretend! Then, Jian Jianan caught a glimpse of Shen Linfeng, who was happily socializing with some CEOs from afar. Shen Linfeng seemed to notice her as well, excused himself from the CEOs, and strolled towards her. Jian Jianan subconsciously searched among the guests and felt slightly disappointed when she could not find Gu Mocheng. Earlier, his father sent an invitation to the Gu Family, but none of them were coming. She knew it was because of the whole suicide and engagement debacle. It would have been odd if the Gu family came at all! “You don’t need to comb through the crowd - Mocheng is not coming! I didn’t expect you to secure this partnership deal with Mr. Victor. Are you satisfied with yourself? Even without the support of the Gu Family, you were still able to obtain such an important collaboration!” Jian Jianan played with her hair and chuckled, “I won with my capabilities. Why can’t I be satisfied? I’m grateful for your appearance today though. I know you don’t like me, but I suggest you change that. After all, I do intend on becoming the one and only wife of Gu Mocheng. If you continue to remain this way, I’m afraid I won’t be accountable how awkward it’ll be next time!” It was the first time in his life Shen Linfeng was verbally attacked by a girl to the point of speechlessness. ‘This girl, isn’t she a little overconfident? Hoping to be Gu Mocheng’s wife, even after that incident! ‘Hmph! If it weren’t for Gu Mocheng telling him not to cause any trouble for Jian Jianan, he would teach this girl a lesson!’ he thought to himself. But, towards Jian Jianan, Gu Mocheng was really…’ After a while, the time finally came for the main topic of the event: the contract signing ceremony. Jian Jianan stepped onto the stage as the host of the cocktail reception. Shen Linfeng looked at Jian Jianan on the stage, suddenly thinking of something. He immediately made a video call to Gu Mocheng! “Hi, everyone, I am Jian Jianan. First of all, I thank everyone here for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend our humble cocktail party-cum-contract signing ceremony today…” “Secondly, I would like to thank Mr. Victor…” Halfway through her sentence, Jian Jianan faltered, feeling her body heating up all of a sudden. A foreign sensation flooded her senses, flowing down to the lower parts of body, making her flustered. Her cheeks blushed, and in that instant, she felt thirsty. ‘What happened? Why was it so hot when the hotel’s air-conditioners were blowing full force? And this uncomfortable burning feeling came so suddenly!’ she thought. Below the stage, Qi Xiaorou and Qi Xiuli smiled, exchanging knowing glances, once they saw Jian Jianan’s expression on the stage, the edges of their mouths curving up with secret pleasure at the results. Their eyes brimmed with hate. ‘Jian Jianan, we’ll see how long you can continue to be so full of yourself!’ The others also noticed Jian Jianan’s change in expression. As Jian Jianan started to blush the moment she mentioned Mr. Victor, the faces of the women in the room were marred with disdain, now knowing that the deal with Mr. Victor and North-South Pharmaceutical was, as they expected, not ‘clean’. When the men in the room saw Jian Jianan’s blushed cheeks, her seductive demeanor, and bewitching, innocent eyes, each of them subconsciously gulped. Even though Jian Jianan had yet to do anything, their lower bodies started to react with just a glance from her. ‘Isn’t this girl only eighteen years old? How could she be so attractive? I wonder what it would feel like to have thrusting hard into her lower body?’ ‘Hot… Very hot!’ Jian Jianan screamed in her mind. Right now, Jian Jianan felt like she had been left stranded in a scorching, blazing desert, her body burning and becoming feverish. From the heat, she shifted herself uneasily on the stage, rearranged her dress, her upper back coated with a sheen of perspiration. Coincidentally catching a glimpse of the wicked smile it disappeared from the faces of Qi Xiaorou and Qi Xiuli, she suddenly recalled the glass of champagne. ‘So, her sense that she was being watched was not an illusion!’ Damn it, she was too careless. At first, she thought they would not dare try anything bad in public - so she did not think they would come up with such a dirty trick. ‘They want to see her make a fool of herself in front of so many people and spoil her reputation? ‘Hah! She would not give them the satisfaction.’ she thought. Tightly clenching her fists, the fingernails - freshly manicured just that morning - deeply cut into her palms. The pain kept her slightly awake. Suppressing the strong discomfort arising in her body, she continued to smile, “Thank you, Mr. Victor, for his willingness to partner with North-South Pharmaceutical. North-South Pharmaceutical will not disappoint you! Next! Let’s give a round of applause to my father and Mr. Victor, who will proceed with the contract signing ceremony!” She was on the verge of a breakdown. To keep her from looking like a fool and to deny the satisfaction from Qi Xiaorou and Qi Xiuli, Jian Jianan pulled herself together and dragged her shivering body from the stage. She must leave the stage while she was still conscious and return to the crowd awake, and quickly. Otherwise, if the effects of the drug became stronger, even she did not know what she would do! As she considered this, Jian Jianan stumbled towards the washroom. Qi Xiaorou was fuming. She added three times the usual amount of drugs into Jian Jianan’s champagne glass. If it had been consumed by other people, they would have already taken off all their clothes and danced around, pouncing on people. She did not expect Jian Jianan to be able to withstand the drug’s effects! Luckily, she had a back-up plan! Qi Xiaorou found Jian Jianan at the entrance of the women’s bathroom, breathing heavily and leaning on the wall. Her mouth creased with a wicked smile. She jogged to Jian Jianan’s side and held her arms. Faking a concerned and attentive tone, “Sister, what happened? Are you unwell?” Hearing Qi Xiaorou’s voice, Jian Jianan raised her head and shot her a cold glare through bleary eyes. She was on the edge of falling into unconsciousness. ‘If it weren’t for this mother-and-daughter duo, she wouldn’t be in this mess! Her pretending to be concerned was revolting!’ Jian Jianan thought. The hatred in Jian Jianan’s eyes made Qi Xiaorou shiver with involuntarily fear. ‘Why was this happening? Why did she have a feeling that Jian Jianan was seeing right through her?’ she thought to herself. ‘No! Jian Jianan could not even know that there was a drug in her glass of champagne. This must just be an illusion!’ “Sister, you look pale. Let me hold you and bring you somewhere to rest for a bit!” While she spoke, Qi Xiaorou held Jian Jianan and half-dragged her to a hotel room nearby. Now, Jian Jianan was completely weak and without an ounce of energy left from suppressing her burning desires. An unfamiliar and strangely wave of heat hit her again and again, overwhelming all her senses, dissolving her resolve and reason piece by piece. She barely had the energy to fight back. Stepping into the hotel room, Qi Xiaorou put Jian Jianan on the bed. Watching Jian Jianan shut her eyes, face blushing red with a look of invitation on her expression, Qi Xiaorou’s petite face was now distorted by a wicked smile that did not match her age, “Rest well, sister!” ‘A few more moments, and all the headlines in the city’s news would be about you!’ she thought. Qi Xiaorou smiled wickedly, pleased with herself, and then walked quietly out of the room. Standing in front of the hotel room door, she immediately withdrew her mobile phone and placed a call, “Hey, the target is already in Room 2302. The five of you, please make sure you ‘take care’ of her. All of you can play however you want with her, as long as she doesn’t die! Once the reporters get here, you’ll all know what you need to say, won’t you?”