For ten days, Tang Chuchu had been away from home, and no one from the Tang Family had bothered to look for her.
In the eyes of the family, Tang Chuchu was a disgrace to the Tangs and the laughingstock of Jiangzhong. Without her, the family business was destined to reach even greater heights.
As soon as Tang Chuchu recovered her appearance, she went to register her marriage with Jiang Chen, and then returned home.
Tang Tianlong had three sons:
The eldest was Tang Hai, the second was Tang Jie, and the youngest was Tang Bo.
Because of Tang Chuchu, Tang Bo was treated very poorly within the Tang Family, despite working conscientiously and contributing immensely to the family's development.
Yet his status in the family was extremely low, and he had no say in anything.
Although Tang Bo was a manager in the Tang Family enterprise, he owned no shares and received only a monthly salary without any dividends, which left his family living in strained circumstances.
Even though they had bought a home, they still had to pay off the mortgage every month.
"Chen, this is my home."
Tang Chuchu brought Jiang Chen back and pointed at the closed door, saying, "It's nothing compared to the palace you live in."
Jiang Chen held her hand and smiled. "With you here, anywhere is home."
A warmth washed over Tang Chuchu's heart. She stepped up to the door and knocked gently.
It was soon opened by her mother, He Yanmei.
Seeing a stunning beauty and an unfamiliar man standing at the entrance, she froze for a moment and asked, "Who are you two looking for?"
"Mom," Tang Chuchu said.
That single word stunned He Yanmei. She stared fixedly at the gorgeous and sexy beauty before her, unable to process what was happening for a moment.
"Mom, it's me, Chuchu. Tang Chuchu."
"Huh?"
He Yanmei looked in utter disbelief at the fairy-like woman standing before her, as if she had stepped out of a painting, and asked with a puzzled expression, "You—you're Chuchu?"
"Yes, Mom, I'm cured. My scars are gone."
"Mom," Jiang Chen also chimed in.
"You?" He Yanmei froze all over again.
Tang Chuchu pulled Jiang Chen forward. "Mom, this is the grandson-in-law Grandpa found for me."
Only then did He Yanmei snap back to reality. She instantly snatched Tang Chuchu away and said coldly, "I have never acknowledged any such son-in-law."
Then she touched Tang Chuchu's fair face. "Chuchu, is it really you? Your... your face, the scars on your body—what happened?"
"Mom, I've been getting treatment for the past ten days. I'm healed now, I'm completely healed, and I won't shame you anymore," Tang Chuchu said, her voice choking with sobs.
Ever since the accident, she had brought endless shame to the Tang Family, making them the laughingstock of Jiangzhong and leaving her parents unable to hold their heads up in front of outsiders.
"My daughter..." He Yanmei pulled Tang Chuchu into her arms and cried sorrowfully. "My child, it's Mom's fault. Mom neglected you in the past, let you suffer, and let you endure so much grievance. Come on, let's go inside."
She pulled Tang Chuchu into the house.
Now that her daughter had recovered her looks, He Yanmei's mind began to race with other ideas.
With her daughter's current beauty, she could easily marry a wealthy man, or even marry into a prominent family, instead of being saddled with a good-for-nothing parasite who only cared about comfort, lacked ambition, and was willing to marry into the family for money.
She cast a cold glance at Jiang Chen, who was sitting to the side, and pointed at the door. "Get out."
"Mom, what are you doing? This is my husband, and Grandpa personally chose him to be his grandson-in-law."
"Let's go. We're going home to the villa right now, and we'll have the old man cancel this marriage himself."
He Yanmei grabbed Tang Chuchu and tried to drag her away.
"Chen..."
Tang Chuchu turned around, a helpless look on her face.
Jiang Chen shrugged with an air of complete indifference and followed right behind them.
Inside the spacious hall of the Tang Family villa, the family members stared in utter disbelief at the stunning woman standing beside He Yanmei.
Could this really be Tang Chuchu?
Was this the Tang Chuchu who had been disfigured for ten years?
What on earth had happened? How could she have changed completely after just ten days out of sight?
"Chuchu, is that really you?"
"Chuchu, is it actually Chuchu? Did you go to Korea for plastic surgery? A full-body procedure? Has plastic surgery technology gotten this advanced nowadays?"
The Tang Family members were completely incredulous.
They refused to believe that the gorgeous woman before them was the same Tang Chuchu covered from head to toe in scars.
Had she taken some sort of immortal elixir?
He Yanmei cut straight to the point. "Dad, I don't approve of this marriage. With Chuchu's looks right now, she could easily marry into a wealthy upper-class family. How can she possibly marry a useless freeloader who married into our family?"
Tang Tianlong, sitting on the sofa and smoking a pipe, stared intently at Tang Chuchu.
He had no idea what had happened.
Why had Tang Chuchu, who had been disfigured all over, healed in a mere ten days?
Still, the current Tang Chuchu was undeniably a beauty. He nodded slightly and said, "Mm, what you're saying makes sense. Among the various prominent families in Jiangzhong, there are still many unmarried young men. I can use my connections to reach out to them and find Chuchu a good match."
"I don't agree."
Tang Chuchu stepped forward, tears in her eyes. "Grandpa, you were the one who decided to marry me off to Jiang Chen. Now that Jiang Chen has cured me, you want to go back on your word? What do you take me for?"
"You reckless girl, what are you saying? Smack—" He Yanmei lashed out with the back of her hand, striking Tang Chuchu across her fair cheek, and scolded, "What good is there in staying with this poor loser?"
Tang Chuchu covered her stinging cheek with her hand, grabbed a fruit knife from the table, and held it against her own face. "If you force me any further, I'll disfigure myself again!"
"You—" He Yanmei trembled all over with rage.
"Enough!" Tang Tianlong roared, barking out an order, "What kind of behavior is this? Tang Chuchu, Grandpa is only doing this for your own good. With your looks now, marrying into a wealthy family will be a breeze. Why wouldn't you want to enjoy a life of luxury and wealth? Why must you insist on clinging to some penniless nobody?"
At that moment, Jiang Chen, who had remained silent the entire time, stepped forward. He looked around at the assembled Tang Family members and said calmly, "I, Jiang Chen, am not desperate to be a live-in son-in-law for the Tang Family. But this is a matter between Chuchu and me, and we have already registered our marriage. If she agrees to a divorce, I won't say another word. But if she doesn't agree, no one will force her."
"Puny brat, do you even have the right to speak here?"
Tang Lei, the eldest grandson of the Tang Family, stepped forward, pointed a finger right at Jiang Chen's nose, and cursed, "You're just a good-for-nothing who married into the Tang Family as a parasite. You have no right to speak here. If the Tang Family tells you to scram, you scram."
Jiang Chen reached out, grabbed Tang Lei's pointing finger, and bent it backward with a cold expression. "No one has ever dared to point fingers at me."
"Ah! It hurts!"
Tang Lei instantly shrieked in agony, doubling over in pain as a grimace twisted his features, and he quickly begged, "I—I was wrong! Let—let go first!"
Jiang Chen released him.
Tang Lei gasped heavily for breath. Glaring at the cold-faced Jiang Chen with a surge of fury, he snatched an ashtray from the table, intending to smash it over Jiang Chen's head.
"What do you think you're doing?" Tang Tianlong reprimanded sternly. "Have you forgotten all family discipline? Put that down."
Tang Lei turned to look at Tang Tianlong with a crying face. "Grandpa, this brat is going way too far! You have to stand up for me!"
"Enough." Tang Tianlong took a puff of his pipe, waved his hand slightly, and then looked at Jiang Chen standing before him. "I'll give you five hundred thousand. Divorce Chuchu, and from now on you will have nothing to do with her."
"I won't!" Tang Chuchu shouted out.
"Have you all lost your minds?!" Tang Tianlong slammed his palm down hard on the table and bellowed, "I'm not dead yet! I am still the head of the Tang Family, and I have the final say in family matters!"
Jiang Chen had no desire to watch Tang Chuchu's relationship with her family completely rupture.
His return this time served two purposes: to repay a favor, and to exact revenge.
He did not want his repayment of a favor to put Tang Chuchu in a difficult position or cause a permanent split between her and her family.
"Grandpa, please give me a chance to prove that I, Jiang Chen, am no worse than anyone else."
"A chance?" Tang Lei immediately sneered. "Jiang Chen, your background records show that you're nothing more than an orphan who grew up in an orphanage and spent a few years in the army. How could you possibly be worthy of the current Chuchu? If you want a chance, fine. Do you know about Qianjun Group? Our Tang Family has always wanted to partner with them, but we've never been able to make the connection. If you can secure a partnership between Qianjun Group and the Tang Family, then we'll consider acknowledging you as a Tang Family son-in-law."
Tang Lei had detested Jiang Chen from the very beginning. A discharged veteran with neither money nor power—what was he acting so arrogant for?
He had thought of a way to make things difficult for Jiang Chen and force him to back down in defeat.
In his heart, he already had a suitable candidate in mind for his sister's husband: Xiao Chen of the Xiao family, hailing from the head of the Four Great Families.
"Grandpa, just send Jiang Chen to Qianjun Group to secure an order. If he manages to get an order from Qianjun Group, we'll accept him. If he fails, he gets the hell out."
Tang Tianlong puffed on his pipe and said, "Mm, that sounds feasible. The Tang Family's core business is pharmaceutical processing. Recently, Qianjun Group has been expanding production and has released a large number of orders, with countless pharmaceutical processing companies fighting tooth and nail to secure them. As long as you can pull off a thirty-million-yuan order from Qianjun, I will acknowledge you as the Tang Family's son-in-law. I'll give you ten days..."
"Ten days won't be necessary. I'll get you the order tomorrow."
With that, Jiang Chen took Tang Chuchu by the hand and walked away.
"This punk is arrogant beyond belief. Qianjun is the absolute leader in the pharmaceutical industry with a market value in the hundreds of billions. Trying to secure an order from them is nothing short of a pipe dream," Tang Lei said with a look of utter disdain.
He Yanmei pleaded, "Dad, you can't go soft on this! What is a thirty-million-yuan order anyway? With Chuchu's looks right now, she can easily marry into the Four Great Families!"
Tang Tianlong waved his hand dismissively. "We can't push things too hard. Qianjun's orders are all controlled by the Four Great Families and aren't that easy to get. Let this kid hit a wall and retreat on his own. When that happens, we'll find another way to marry Chuchu into a wealthy elite family. As long as we can forge a marriage alliance with one of the Four Great Families, our Tang Family will rise rapidly in Jiangzhong."