Chapter 951: Used (5)

“I had thought that Ruan Zeyan was just another rich playboy, just like Gu Zhiqian. I thought that he would be someone who only knew how to play, have fun and waste away his family’s money like a scoundrel. I quickly realized that I was wrong. Ruan Zeyan was cautious and reserved. He was willing to work hard and bear the pain. No matter how tough the training got, he would persist and prevail. Even when I was at the brink of my capacity, he would force himself to continue and bite the bullet. However, he wasn’t someone who opened his heart to someone else easily. He seemed to be living in his own world. He was cold, so cold you might think he was mean. He was so young, but he already looked like he had so many secrets.”

“I found out later on that he was carrying a lot of responsibilities and burdens as the successor to the Ruan family. There were so many pairs of eyes fixed on him, people who watched his every move, people who wished him dead. He had to be outstanding, strong and resilient. Watching Ruan Zeyan made me feel ashamed of my own weaknesses. I had to toughen up and train harder as well in order to keep up with him. I had to be of use when he needed me. I had to be good enough to protect Ruan Zeyan. I wanted to be a good shadow.”

“Just like that, Ruan Zeyan and I spent days together. We were training every day, and we finally became brothers who talked about anything under the sun, although he was still a reserved and quiet man of course. When we grew up, Ruan Zeyan met you, and you two fell in love. Although I felt miserable, I was happy for the two of you. One was my brother and one was the first woman I had ever fallen for. I was happy as long as both of you were happy.”

“Not long after, I discovered a letter that my mother had written in our old house. It was a farewell letter she had written years earlier. She had hidden it well, behind the picture frame of our family portrait. I might have never have discovered it if I hadn’t broken the frame by accident.”

Ling Tianya held her breathe at this point. She knew that this was the climax of the story, the story of w.a.n.g Manpeng.

“In the letter, she detailed how exactly my father had died. It turned out that Ruan Qishan knew my father when he was alive. They had the same kind of relations.h.i.+p as Ruan Zeyan and I. They were good brothers. Brothers are supposed to have each other’s backs; well, being Ruan Qishan’s brother meant that he would stab you in the back!”

“Back then, before Ruan Qishan took over Yuan Teng Corporation, he used to do some business with my father. My father trusted Ruan Qishan greatly, and he took out his life savings to start a business with Ruan Qishan. However, when they barely started to make a return, Ruan Qishan told him that he wanted out, and he didn’t want to do it anymore. My father refused and Ruan Qishan was bent on withdrawing despite my father’s pleadings. He even hired people to sabotage the factory and ruined all the stock they had in the warehouse. He said he didn’t want to have anything to do with my father from then on.”

w.a.n.g Manpeng was getting agitated now. His eyes were furious, and his fists were clenched as if he was about to break something. “My father was going to just sit by and watch his efforts go down the drain, so he went to find Ruan Qishan to reason with him. Ruan Qishan threatened to call the police and have him arrested! The Ruan family was powerful and rich, so the police would side with him for sure. My father was sent to jail for a day and night. He was only released on bail the second day. When he came back, he didn’t say anything, and he jumped out of the window and took his own life!”

“My father was gone, just like that. My mother joined him soon after. The grief was too much for her to bear. My family was ruined, all because of Ruan Qishan. He continued going about his own life, taking over the family corporation and became the master of the Ruan family!”