The Fake Daughter Want to Be Villainess - Chapter 24

The conditions in the Small Fishing Village are actually quite favorable. Nestled between the mountains and the sea, and with activities like bungee jumping and fishing, it could easily transform into a nice resort with just a bit of development.

After becoming a resort, as long as the promotion is done well, the economy of the Small Fishing Village will surely thrive, creating more job opportunities, and more villagers might choose to stay.

Jiang Shu looked expectantly at Father Jiang.

“A resort?” Father Jiang glanced at her, then leaned back against the sofa, slowly breaking into a smile, “Can you guess why your program chose this location?”

Father Jiang proudly stated, “This Small Fishing Village is a project that the Jiang family is collaborating on with the government.”

His initial investment in “Let’s Get Back Together” was specifically to designate a filming location to promote the resort.

Jiang Shu’s eyes widened in surprise as she exclaimed softly, “Is it already being developed?”

She then connected the dots, “Is that bungee jumping part of the development plan? There’s a row of new houses over in the Small Fishing Village that aren’t for villagers but for homestays?”

Jiang Shu wanted to ask more, but Jiang Tingyuan raised his hand and pressed it against her forehead, sheepishly replying, “You guessed it all right.”

In reality, he hadn’t paid much attention to what had been developed in the Small Fishing Village; these small projects were submitted after being approved by lower departments, and he basically just had to sign off on them. If it weren’t for the collaboration with the government, he wouldn’t have bothered to pay attention to such projects.

Jiang Shu was unaware of this. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Jiang Tingyuan, “Then, Dad, can I take a look at the plan for the Small Fishing Village?”

Jiang Tingyuan was a bit surprised, “Why do you suddenly want to know about this?”

Jiang Shu had never shown much interest in the company’s affairs; this was the first time she had expressed a desire to see the project plan.

Father Jiang felt a surge of satisfaction, “Sure, then how about you come with me to the company tomorrow?”

Jiang Shu agreed to this plan. She set an alarm and woke up early, going with Father Jiang to the headquarters of the group.

The group had its own independent building, with Father Jiang’s office almost occupying an entire floor, except for a small secretary’s room near the elevator.

By the time they arrived, the assistants and secretaries were mostly already there. Father Jiang waved at one of them, “Find the previous development plan for the Small Fishing Village and take it to my office.”

That secretary stood up nervously, “Okay.”

She watched as Father Jiang and Jiang Shu entered the president’s office, and then hurried off to the document room, retrieving the file and bringing it back to the office.

The secretary knocked on the door and carefully placed the plan on Jiang Tingyuan’s desk, tentatively asking, “President Jiang, is there something wrong with the proposal?”

The development of the Small Fishing Village had always been managed by the lower departments. Even if there was a problem, it would be reported from below.

Now, with no news from below and President Jiang directly asking for the plan, it indicated there must have been a significant oversight—

“Here is the document you requested.” Jiang Tingyuan took the plan and handed it over to Jiang Shu.

He lowered his gaze and asked, “Would Shushu like something to drink?”

Jiang Shu waved her hand. She sat on the sofa by the window with the plan, flipping through the pages. Remembering something, she raised her head and smiled at Jiang Tingyuan, “Thank you, Dad.”

This was a livelihood project led by the local government, with most of the profit points given to the local residents.

Jiang Shu leaned forward, curious, and asked, “Dad, how does the group make money from this project?”

Jiang Tingyuan smiled, “We earn a good reputation.”

Not just a public reputation, but more importantly, earning a good standing within the government.

Jiang Tingyuan didn’t delve deeper into this matter. He glanced at Jiang Shu, “Is Shushu interested in the resort because she wants to help that old grandmother?”

Jiang Shu felt a bit embarrassed by his question and stammered, “It’s not that—”

Father Jiang turned his head slightly, winking at her behind the secretary’s back, “Dad understands.”

He intuitively sensed this was a good opportunity for Jiang Shu to take on some company duties. After a moment of thought, he asked, “The company also has its own foundation, which does charitable work every year. Would you like to take a look?”

Jiang Shu hesitated for a moment, then gripping the plan, leaned forward and asked, “Really?”

“Why would Dad lie to you?” Jiang Tingyuan waved to the secretary, “Please take Shushu to the foundation to have a look around.”

The foundation was located on the eighteenth floor of the building. The secretary took her up in the elevator and briefly introduced the structure of the foundation. Then he approached an electronic display board and explained, “The company’s foundation was established eighteen years ago.”

“In these years, the foundation has donated to numerous public welfare projects.” He pulled up an album, showing Jiang Shu photos of donations made over the years. “In addition to financial contributions, the company has two long-term projects that have been ongoing.”

He pointed on the screen and turned to the next set of photos, “One is the ‘Seedling Plan,’ aimed at revitalizing rural education through building schools, ensuring proper nutrition, and providing one-on-one support.”

The album featured photos of schools and meals, and some awards for outstanding students.

“When it first started, this album included pictures of the students being helped, but President Jiang saw it and had us remove those pictures, replacing them with the awards instead.”

The secretary flipped to the next page, “The other is the ‘Flame Plan,’ aimed at helping missing children return to their families. We collected information on missing children and, with their parents’ consent, displayed this information on our products.”

The photo showed a paper bag with a half-body shot of a little boy printed on it; beneath the image was a line of small text, but it couldn’t be clearly seen due to the thumbnails.

“This is a photo of our product,” the secretary briefly introduced, preparing to flip to the next page, but Jiang Shu suddenly grabbed his wrist, “Wait.”

Jiang Shu said softly, “Can this photo be enlarged?”

The secretary looked a bit puzzled but didn’t question her further; he simply nodded and tapped the display a couple of times to bring up the larger image.The boy in the photo looked around six or seven years old and still had a bit of baby fat on his cheeks. He was turned slightly to the side, seemingly called by someone, his head turned around, and he gazed at the camera with a pair of innocent peach blossom eyes.

Jiang Shu shifted her gaze slightly downward, landing on the description.

[Pei Wang, male, was seven years old when he went missing in June 2003. If you have any clues, please contact——]

It felt as if something heavy had descended, and Jiang Shu exhaled gently, making a pause gesture: “I’d like to take a break.”

She moved to a nearby sofa and accepted the warm water the secretary handed her.

Pei Wang had spent a year in an orphanage between going missing and being adopted by Mother Pei.

The Jiang family’s products could be seen all over the country, but until Mother Pei adopted him, no one had contacted Father Jiang—

So was Pei Wang in an orphanage abroad?

Jiang Shu furrowed her brows in suspicion.

How could he end up abroad after going missing?

Pei Wang sat on the Jiang family’s sofa.

Mother Jiang was sitting opposite him, her hands resting on her knees, sitting upright like a primary school student: “Xiao Wang, are you here to see Dad and Mom?”

Pei Wang’s visit was sudden; at that time, she was discussing with her friends about going to a beauty salon in the afternoon, when the doorbell rang. She saw Pei Wang’s figure on the monitor and was so startled that she hurriedly canceled her plans before opening the door to welcome him in.

The nanny brought in fruits and snacks, and Mother Jiang leaned forward a little, exasperated, “If I had known you were coming today, I wouldn’t have let your dad go to the company.”

Pei Wang smiled gently: “It’s alright.”

He handed over a gift bag that he had brought with him: “I forgot to bring a gift last time I visited, so I came to make up for it.”

Mother Jiang hid her hands behind her back, somewhat unwilling: “You come here to visit home; why bring gifts?”

Pei Wang didn’t respond; he lowered his head, unwrapping the packaging, and pulled out a silver box from inside.

The box was intricately engraved, and the lid featured a three-dimensional phoenix. Pei Wang opened the lid and took out what was inside.

It was a jade bracelet.

Leaning slightly forward, Pei Wang placed the bracelet beside Mother Jiang’s hand, then looked up, his peach blossom eyes curving with a hint of a smile: “To make Mom love me a little more.”

Mother Jiang’s heart instantly bloomed with joy. She put the bracelet on her wrist, tilted her head to admire it for a moment, and then extended her hand to show Pei Wang: “It’s really beautiful.”

The bracelet was indeed stunning, its green translucent and its color bright, almost dew-like in its vibrancy.

Song Shiyu recognized the jade; Jiang Tingyuan had mentioned in casual conversations that a piece of glass-like imperial green raw stone recently fetched an astronomical price at an auction, made from this material.

“And also for Dad and Jiang Shu.”

Pei Wang took out the other two gift boxes as well. His gaze lightly flicked upstairs: “Is Shu Shu not home?”

Mother Jiang shook her head, a bit regretful: “Shu Shu went to the company with her dad today.”

Suddenly, she seemed to remember something, looking at Pei Wang expectantly: “Are you going to wait for them to come back?”

In some ways, Mother Jiang resembled Jiang Shu, and Pei Wang felt a pang of guilt under that gaze. He lowered his head and agreed: “Okay.”

Mother Jiang quickly took out her phone: “I’ll urge them to come back right now.”

Pei Wang didn’t refuse.

Deep down, he still wanted to see Jiang Shu today; Pei Songyu’s condition couldn’t afford to be delayed, and he even worried she might not hold on until he had enough points.

After chatting with Mother Jiang for a little longer, he heard the sound of a car approaching outside.Mother Jiang stood up from the sofa, craning her neck to look out the window: “They’re back.”

Pei Wang responded, “I’ll go open the door.”

He walked to the entrance and had just pushed the door open when he heard a surprised voice exclaim, “Pei Wang?”

Jiang Shu was standing at the door, wearing a sun hat, her hand lifted as if she was about to open it.

She looked at him in confusion for a moment, then averted her gaze first, peeking into the room: “You came to see Mom?”

Jiang Shu tried to push past his arm to enter, but as her gaze fell slightly downward, she hesitated, fixing her eyes on him: “What happened to your hand?”

Pei Wang followed her gaze and looked down.

The effect of the pill seemed to have worn off at some point; the small cut on the back of his hand had reappeared, slowly oozing blood.

Jiang Shu cautiously took a step back, releasing her grip, standing on the lower step and looking up at him with suspicion: “Don’t try to pull a fast one.”