Unexpected (GL) - Chapter 32

A few days passed with constant worry. Then, Xie Jing suddenly received a message from her aunt. It said she had returned to the country because there were some problems with the company, and this time, she might have to stay for a while. After seeing the message, Xie Jing quietly started planning a trip back to China.

Shen Xinghe hadn’t been home in two full years. So she didn’t hesitate for a second—she packed her bags right away and boarded the plane with Xie Jing.

The day Xie Jing and Shen Xinghe arrived in Jiangcheng, there was a light rain falling from the sky. As soon as Shen Xinghe’s parents saw them walking out of the airport, they rushed over.

“Dad, Mom, long time no see,” Shen Xinghe said with a smile, waving at them.

Xie Jing politely followed behind and greeted them. “Hello, Uncle, Aunt.”

“You two finally decided to come back,” Shen’s mom said. Then she hugged Shen Xinghe tightly and burst into tears, drawing a lot of attention from people passing by.

“Mom, let’s go home first,” Shen Xinghe said. She was still holding her suitcase and nearly fell over from her mom’s sudden embrace.

“Alright, let’s all go home.”

Xie Jing politely declined their offer to take her home. She had already arranged for a driver before boarding the plane. Uncle Chen, the driver, was waiting to pick her up.

Standing by the roadside, Xie Jing watched the three of them walk away. Her eyes were filled with envy.

“Uncle Chen, let’s go home.”

The black Bentley moved slowly through the streets and crowds, heading toward the empty house.

After two years, stepping into the courtyard where she had lived for more than twenty years—so full of memories—Xie Jing couldn’t help but feel a sharp pain in her heart.

The car accident back then had come too suddenly. There was no time to fix anything—it was already too late. Later, the leukemia diagnosis was like the final blow, completely shaking her world.

Xie Jing walked through every corner of the house, trying to find some trace of her parents after two years. The floral curtains, the water-filled sink, the roses her mom had planted, the bonsai
pine her dad had brought home—these were once ordinary parts of life, but now they felt like rare treasures.

While she was lost in her memories, her phone suddenly buzzed in her pocket. She looked down. It was a call from her aunt.

“Xie Jing, Xinghe said you two are already back?”

Xie Jing: “?”

Did Shen Xinghe really sell her out that fast?

“Hm? Why aren’t you talking?” Her aunt’s voice sounded like she was ready to scold her. “You’re bold enough to sneak back home without telling your aunt, and now you’re playing dumb?”

“Auntie, I’m sorry…” Xie Jing said in a small voice.

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end. Then her aunt said helplessly, “Now that you’re back, stay at home and don’t run around.”

Xie Jing nodded obediently. “Okay.”

The call ended abruptly. Xie Jing stared at the phone in a daze, suddenly getting a strange feeling—

When did Shen Xinghe get so close with her aunt?

She thought about it for a while but couldn’t figure it out. So she pushed the thought aside and went into the house.

Xie Jing hadn’t forgotten the main reason for her return. She first asked Uncle Chen, the driver and housekeeper, about the current state of the Xie Group. Then she went online to check the news and
company data.

What she found shocked her.

Ever since her parents’ car accident two years ago, the company had been on a steady decline—bad decisions, failed investments, policy issues, broken cash flow, overdue debts, and insolvency…

Every word on the screen pointed to one thing: bankruptcy.

While Xie Jing had been abroad for treatment, her mother’s business partner and the company shareholders had struggled to keep the company alive for two years. But they just couldn’t hold on any
longer. The company had finally collapsed.

Her aunt, Miss Pei Anle, had become the legal representative of the Xie Group after her parents passed away two years ago. She had rushed back this time to handle the bankruptcy procedures.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me earlier?” Xie Jing was stunned. Uncle Chen glanced at her carefully. “You didn’t ask.”

She waved her hand tiredly and told him to leave.

After he left, she checked the local news and, sure enough, there were reports that the Xie Group was already in bankruptcy liquidation.

Wanting to know exactly how much debt the company had, Xie Jing secretly went to the company. As expected, her aunt caught her.

Pei Anle said, “You don’t need to worry about the company. I’m already looking for investors.”

Xie Jing glanced at the empty building and asked doubtfully, “Auntie, are you trying to take the company public? In this situation, will anyone even be willing to guarantee us?”

“That’s not something you should worry about.”

Ms. Pei handed her a cup of hot tea and gently pushed her down onto the office sofa.

Xie Jing still couldn’t relax. She opened her contacts list, hoping to find someone her parents had known who might be able to help. But two years ago, when her phone got destroyed, those
connections were lost too.

After all this time, other than Shen Xinghe, she realized she had no one left to turn to.

She opened WeChat and, after a while, managed to log into her old account.

The first pinned contact made her heart skip a beat.

Qin Ning.

She stared at the name, then, without really knowing why, clicked into their chat.

The screen was blank. The chat history was gone with the phone.

For some reason, Xie Jing felt a strange emptiness in her heart.

“What’s wrong, Xie Jing?” Pei Anle had just finished reading a document. When she looked up and saw Xie Jing staring blankly, she asked with concern.

“Nothing.” Xie Jing quickly exited the chat with Qin Ning and kept scrolling down her contacts. But no matter how hard she searched, she couldn’t find anyone who could help her through this crisis.

She sighed. “Auntie, it’s stuffy in here. I want to take a walk.”

“Okay. Be back before six,” Ms. Pei said before diving back into her files.

Xie Jing agreed and left the office.

She found her aunt’s assistant and asked some questions about the company. When she learned that everything—including the Xie family’s assets—was about to be auctioned off, her heart dropped.

It was over.

She was going to be broke.

Xie Jing had lived smoothly for the first twenty years of her life. She never imagined the family company would go bankrupt one day. She couldn’t lift heavy things, couldn’t fight—how was she supposed to survive?

Because of her illness, she hadn’t finished her master’s degree. Could she even find a decent job with just a bachelor’s?

Would she even make enough to buy her medicine?

For the first time in her life, Xie Jing was worried about making a living.

Soon it was six o’clock. Pei Anle drove her away from the company, but they didn’t go home.

Xie Jing bit her lip and asked carefully, “Auntie, are we losing our house? Are we going to rent a place now?”

“What nonsense is that?” Pei Anle chuckled. “We’re just going to have dinner with Shen Xinghe. Don’t scare yourself.”

“Oh…” Xie Jing held onto the seatbelt obediently, but her mind was still on what the assistant said. Everything they had was going to be used to pay off debts. What were they going to do?

To thank Shen Xinghe for taking care of Xie Jing recently, Pei Anle had invited her entire family out for dinner. During the meal, Xie Jing was too anxious to eat and put her chopsticks down after
just a few bites.

Shen Xinghe had heard about the Xie Group’s bankruptcy and wanted to help, but she couldn’t do much. Her family’s business wasn’t even half the size of Xie Jing’s.

Still, she whispered to Xie Jing, “It’s okay. If your family really goes bankrupt, I’ll take care of you.”

Xie Jing looked at her, then at her aunt, and finally shook her head. She gently refused.

“But Xie Jing,” Shen Xinghe leaned in mysteriously, “remember Qin Ning? She’s doing really, really well now. If you just… explain what happened before, maybe she’ll remember the good times and help
you out.”

Shen Xinghe had found out by chance—Fang Corporation, where Qin Ning now worked, was a major publicly listed company in Jinghai. If they got Qin Ning’s support, the Xie Group might survive this
crisis. They might even rise again.

The only problem was… Qin Ning.

It might be hard for Xie Jing. After all, they didn’t part on good terms.

But there really weren’t any other options left.

After dinner, Xie Jing went home with her aunt. That night, lying in bed, she kept thinking about what Shen Xinghe said.

If she really asked Qin Ning for help, would Qin Ning get angry and throw her out of the office with a broom?

Probably.

Who asks their ex for money two years after breaking up? That’s crazy.

Qin Ning probably had a new girlfriend already. If Xie Jing really went, wouldn’t that just be asking to be laughed at?

She thought about it all night. Just before dawn, she finally fell asleep.

She slept straight until two in the afternoon. When she woke up, she felt dizzy.

She hadn’t had any signs of rejection for a while—was she catching a cold?

Before she could figure it out, Uncle Chen came in with a tray of light food.

“Thank you, Uncle Chen.”

After she finished eating, she wandered around the yard for a bit. Then, suddenly, she made a bold decision.

She would go find Qin Ning.

Xie Jing didn’t want to lose the house her parents left behind.

Whatever happened, she’d give it her all. If Qin Ning was willing to help, she’d do anything. Getting hit with a broom? Fine. Even being her servant for a year or two—Xie Jing could live with that.