Reborn Aristocrat: Return of the Vicious Heiress

Regardless of the chaos, the Xiao Family members were in a somber mood. Xiao Zhiyuan’s face had contorted into a grimace and he no longer looked as calm and refined as he used to. Staring at the news reports on the newspapers with his eyes wide open, it was as if he could bear a hole in the papers with his intense gaze. His hands trembled uncontrollably and he abruptly scrunched the newspapers into a ball before throwing it at the wall.

He could not help but feel exasperated at the thought of the failure of his plans to acquire the Ai Shang Group even after investing a large sum of money. Filled with frustration, he tugged his tie forcefully and messed it up.

“Zhiyuan, here’s some ginseng chicken broth that I spent the entire afternoon brewing. Give it a try and tell me how it tastes,” said Madam Xiao, whose maiden name was Lin Yuechan. She sat down beside him with a bowl of yellow-colored ginseng chicken broth.

The fragrant chicken broth looked extremely delicious. Yet, Xiao Zhiyuan found it to be overly greasy and disgusting. He flew into a rage and pushed the soup away before hollering. “Get lost. Can’t you see how angry I already am? Are you bent on making me feel disgusted?”

Lin Yuechan shrieked in terror and let go of the bowl, causing it to land onto the ground with a loud thud. The boiling hot soup then splashed all over Lin Yuechan’s hands.

“Why are you making such a din?” Old Mr. Xiao questioned sternly with a sullen expression on his face.

Xiao Zhiyuan’s anger vanished instantly and he stared at Lin Yuechan, whose hands were red and scalded by the boiling soup. Overwhelmed with guilt and regret, he immediately exclaimed, “Yuechan, are you alright!?! Hurry and soak your hands in iced water for five minutes. I’ll call the family doctor to come here and look at your condition.”

“I’m alright, don’t worry,” said Lin Yuechan, who had turned pale from the excruciating pain in her hands. She hurriedly scurried towards the washroom to soak her hands in cold water.

After Lin Yuechan left, the servants immediately rushed forward to clean up the mess.

Xiao Zhiyuan looked at his father with a sullen expression on his face. “Father, I was just…” he said awkwardly.

Old Mr. Xiao interrupted him coldly and said, “You’re just angry and acting irrationally because you failed to acquire the Ai Shang Group and gave the Wen Corporation a chance.”

Xiao Zhiyuan looked down and clenched his fists tightly to show his anger.

Old Mr. Xiao sighed and said, “Zhiyuan, I told you this umpteenth times before. Stay calm and keep your cool regardless of what happens. Winning and losing is all part and parcel of doing business. You might just win what you lose today come tomorrow.”

“I understand, Father,” said Xiao Zhiyuan, the frown on his forehead easing up. However, his fingers had stiffened and dejection was written all over his face.

Staring at him, Old Mr. Xiao said, “We’re no longer as competent now that we’re older, and the older generation will have to pass the business on to the next generation. I have more offspring than that Old Mr. Wen. I have a son, grandsons, granddaughters, all of whom are very outstanding. Yet, the Wen Family only has one heir who’s incompetent and mediocre. Their family bloodline will cease sooner or later. We’ve got plenty of time to deal with them. Don’t bother about winning now.”

Xiao Zhiyuan released the tension in his muscles and said, “Father, you have foresight, indeed. This time, we did incur a hefty loss that will need a long time to be recouped. I really detest the Jiang family. Jiang Shaofeng is a fickle-minded and despicable person. If he didn’t backstab me, I would have been able to acquire the Ai Shang Group even if it were at a loss. We wouldn’t have lost everything that we put in and gave the Wen Family a chance.”

Old Mr. Xiao sighed and said, “It was my mistake this time. I forgot to consider the fact that the Jiang family are fickle-minded ingrates.”

“Damn it,” Xiao Zhiyuan muttered under his breath.

Old Mr. Xiao said with a sullen expression, “I just received some news. I was told that the reason why we failed to acquire Ai Shang Group this time is that someone purchased the Ai Shang Group stocks in bulk.”

Xiao Zhiyuan asked in astonishment, “How could that be? Before we acquired Ai Shang Group, I had already sent some people to check on the Ai Shang Group’s stock market. Everything seemed normal.”

Old Mr. Xiao said coldly, “I’ve looked into it. The stocks were accumulated by the person who bought all the loose stocks off the market. That’s why you didn’t find anything suspicious.”

Xiao Zhiyuan asked in bewilderment, “Who’s that person?”

A frown creased Old Mr. Xiao’s forehead and he said, “The leads trace back to Wen Zhihang’s granddaughter Wen Xinya.”

Xiao Zhiyuan stared at him in disbelief and asked, “Father, are you serious? Is it really that gangster Wen Xinya?”

When Wen Xinya reunited with the Wen Family, he had already sent people to do a background check on her, only to discover that she used to be a hooligan. He thought that she would bring nothing but shame to the Wen Family and would not be enough of a threat to the Xiao Family.

Old Mr. Wen nodded solemnly and said, “Yes, it’s her. I’ve already checked it again and again. I didn’t find any traces of cash flow in the Wen Corporation’s fund. Hence, the Wen Corporation wasn’t the one who went against us in the stock market.”

Old Mr. Xiao recalled the time when he saw Wen Xinya on the night of her return. All of a sudden, she seemed to have become a whole new person within just three months. Hence, he could not help but keep his guard up around her. However, he did not think too much of her since she was just a teenager.

However, what she supposedly did to the Xiao Corporation did seem a lot like something Old Mr. Wen would do. But Wen Zhihang wouldn’t resort to such lowly tricks. Could Wen Xinya really be the one who did it, then?

It’s… impossible! She’s just an underage teenager. She wouldn’t know that much about business.

Even my outstanding grandson isn’t capable of that.

Xiao Zhiyuan did not protest to his father’s words for he completely trusted him. “How could Wen Xinya know that the Xiao Corporation was planning to acquire Ai Shang Group and start accumulating their stocks at such an early timing? Where did she get so much money to go against us on the stock market? Could it be that there’s a snitch in the corporation?”

Xiao Zhiyuan greatly suspected that there was a snitch in the company.

Having understood his son very well, Old Mr. Xiao said, “Don’t jump to conclusions and panic too early. We have to slowly find out just what’s going on.”