C1 The Shattering of a Peaceful Life

"Young Master Qi, are you really going to refuse the old master's invitation?"

"My surname is not Qi. It is Lin."

"Even so, you nevertheless have the blood of the Qi family flowing through your veins."

"From the moment they chased me and my mother out of the Qi Family, I have already made the resolve to sever my ties with them."

In that afternoon, a black Bentley was parked in the bustling streets of Qingyun City along the river. Standing out like a crane among chickens, it attracted the attention of all the pedestrians walking by.

In front of a small barbecue vendor, a young man with a delicate face was packing up the barbecue tools and pushing the cart.

The old man in black who got off the Bentley was now bowing respectfully in front of the barbecue stall as if he was requesting something from the young man.

"Young Master, you also know that the old master was forced to do so back then. Although he had certainly wronged Madam, he never intended to chase you two away..."

"More than a year ago, the old master suffered a serious illness and asked us to look for you for an entire year. We used countless resources and connections to search through more than half of Dragon Country. It was not easy for us to find you."

"Would you rather be the son-in-law of a lowly family like the Zhang Family and suffer all kinds of humiliation than return to the Qi Family? At this moment, you are the only person who possesses the blood of the Qi Family in this generation..."

Lin Yin said indifferently, "There's no need for the Qi Family to delve into my personal affairs, and I don't want to hear about the Qi Family's matters either. I hope that you will not be disturbing me anytime in the future."

After packing everything up, he turned around and left Riverside Street.

Looking at Lin Yin's leaving figure, the old man in black could only sigh as he stood in place.

"Qi Family, ha..."

As Lin Yin walked out of Riverside Street, he revealed a bitter smile as if he had recalled a painful memory from his past.

The Qi Family of Imperial City was a renowned aristocratic family in the entire Dragon Country. Countless people wanted to build a connection with the Qi Family as they would then have the chance to ascend the peak of the country.

To Lin Yin, on the other hand, the Qi Family existed as an ineradicable, painful memory in his heart.

Lin Yin was born into the Qi Family of the Imperial City as the first grandson of the old master. It could be said that he was born to live in splendor and to be respected. However, when he became eight years old, his biological father, Qi Hetu, was infatuated with another woman. In addition to fighting for the position of successor with a few uncles, he divorced his wife, Lin Shuqing, who went through the hardships of poverty with him at one point in their lives together, and married the daughter of another wealthy family in Imperial City.

Although Lin Shuqin came from an ordinary family, she was nevertheless a strong woman. As such, she refused to accept any sort of compensation from the Qi Family and left the house alone. Since Lin Yin did not want to be separated from his mother, he ignored the Qi Family's obstructions and left Imperial City with her. Having disappeared from the Qi Family's line of sight ever since then, the two of them had been living a decent life together as mother and child.

Since he decided to follow his mother, he ended up changing his surname to Lin.

It had been a whole ten years since that day, and his mother had also passed away three years ago due to an illness. Initially, he thought that he would never need to remember that painful memory ever again in his life. However, he never expected the people of the Qi Family to discover his whereabouts so soon.

After smoking a cigarette at the corner of the street, Lin Yin decided to stop thinking about the matter. Instead, he called for a taxi and went straight to Linlang Hotel.

Today was the wedding day of the daughter of the eldest son in the Zhang Family, Zhang Hongjun, and the young master of the Sunn Family, the most influential family in Qingyun City. Since it was a grand celebration, they invited all the big shots of the business world from all over Qingyun City, as well as all the members of the Zhang Family.

Otherwise, with Lin Yin's status as the son-in-law of the Zhang Family, he would never dream of stepping foot into Linlang Hotel in his entire life.

Twenty minutes later, the taxi finally arrived outside Linlang Hotel.

In front of the grand and luxurious manor door, a beautiful, slender woman dressed in a light blue dress was looking at Lin Yin with an indifferent expression.

This beautiful woman was Lin Yin's wife, Zhang Qimo.

Two years ago, Lin Yin married into the Zhang Family under the request of the founder of Zhang's Jewelry Group, Old Master Zhang Dingding.

At that time, this incident caused a huge commotion in the social circle of the aristocratic families in Qingyun City. They all laughed at Old Master Zhang for being senile and marrying his daughter to an orphan without money or power.

One should know that Zhang Qimo was known as a famous beauty throughout the entire Qingyun City. At that time, there were countless outstanding aristocratic men who chased after her for her beauty alone.

However, she was actually married to the irrelevant and ordinary Lin Yin according to Old Master Zhang's request.

At that time, only Lin Yin and Zhang Dingding knew the reason behind the marriage.

Since Zhang Dingding passed away a year ago, Lin Yin was now the only one left who knew the secret behind it.

As for his wife, Zhang Qimo, she had never agreed to the marriage from the beginning to the end. While the two of them did indeed get married, they never saw each other as husband and wife.

Along with the death of Zhang Dingding, the Zhang's Jewelry Group experienced a drastic change in power and authority. Since Lin Yin's father-in-law was immediately kicked out of the central power of the group during this storm, he did not end up receiving any shares. As the background and influence of his family worsened, he lived in the Zhang Family while being looked down upon.

His father-in-law and mother-in-law blamed Lin Yin for being useless. Without any family background or money saved up, he simply could not compare to the other sons-in-law of the Zhang Family.

As such, Lin Yin was also looked down upon by everyone in the Zhang Family.

"Lin Yin, don't talk too much during the banquet later," Zhang Qimo said with a serious expression. "Today's matter is very important. I brought a big gift to ask Sister Ning for a favor. Whether the factory managed by Dad can survive the crisis will depend on whether Brother-in-law is willing to help us."

"I know." Lin Yin nodded.

Upon entering Linlang Hotel, it could be seen just how much effort the staff put into decorating the place. With jadeite decorations all over the place, a pond could also be seen outside in the garden. All these items were properties of the Old Master of the Zhang Family.

Furthermore, rows of luxurious cars were parked outside the hotel, including Maseraties, Porche 911s, Porche Cayennes, and even Audis.

"Hey, Sister Qi, did you come here by taxi? Why didn't you call me to pick you up? I would have sent a car to pick you up. Since today is such an important occasion, what were you thinking by doing so? Isn't it just a disgrace for the Zhang Family?"

At that moment, a young man wearing sunglasses suddenly walked out of the Porsche 911. He then took off his sunglasses and stared at Zhang Qimo and Lin Yin with a playful expression.

Zhang Qimo bit her lips and did not utter a single word.

Lin Yin's father-in-law, Zhang Xiufeng, was one of the members with the weakest influence amongst the older generation of the Zhang Family. Having been suppressed by a few of his brothers in the Zhang Group in the early years, he was then kicked out later. In the end, he was only assigned to a small jewelry processing factory that was on the verge of bankruptcy and barely managed to keep it running for a year.

With the family's financial situation, it was impossible to buy a car for Zhang Qimo's personal use.

"Sister Qi. If you had listened to my advice when I asked you to divorce this good-for-nothing and introduced you to the third brother of the Sunn Family, would you have ended up in such a dire situation?" The more the young man spoke, the more arrogant his words became. As he revealed his proud expression, it felt as if he did not care one bit about Lin Yin's existence at all. "Of course, it's still not too late to change your mind. If you want to rich again, come find me, for I will be willing to introduce you to another suitable partner!"

Saying these words in front of Lin Yin displayed the man's full-fledged arrogance.

"Zhang Tianhai, have you said enough yet?" Zhang Qimo said coldly as her face turned ashen with anger.

"Ah, as your elder brother, isn't natural for me to feel sorry for you? After all, you are married to such a piece of trash. I was simply showing my kindness by giving you advice and showing you the way. If you still refuse to listen, then you deserve to be poor for the rest of your life!" Zhang Tianhai said in a provocative tone.

After he finished speaking, Zhang Tianhai looked at Lin Yin with a mocking expression.

"Lin Yin, how do you even have the face to attend Sister Ning's wedding?" Zhang Tianhai said sarcastically. "Oh, you're right. I heard about how the funding of your father-in-law's factory will soon be cut off. Furthermore, he couldn't even afford to pay the wages of his employees, and the factory will soon be closing down. Thus, you want to curry favor with Brother-in-law and ask him to lend you money to help you get through these tough times, right?"

Lin Yin simply looked at Zhang Tianhai and did not say anything.

Zhang Qimo's father, Zhang Xiufeng, was kicked out of the Zhang Group by Zhang Tianhai's father, the third eldest son of the Zhang Family, Zhang Hongxuan. In fact, Zhang Hongxuan was the one behind all the serious problems that the factory was facing right now.

Zhang Qimo took a deep breath and suppressed her anger before saying to Lin Yin, "Just bear with it and ignore him. I am here to discuss some serious business today."

Lin Yin nodded as the two of them turned back and walked into the main hall of the villa.

"Well, let's see how long you can hold it in." Zhang Tianhai said as he looked at Lin Yin's leaving figure. Turning her head around, the corner of his mouth then curled up into a mocking smile.

The banquet hall occupied a large area in the western-style building. Not only was the hall decorated luxuriously, but the floor was even covered with a layer of red carpet.

At this moment, the noble guests from the Zhang Family had already walked in one after another to take their seats.

Zhang Qimo carried an exquisite gift box and walked in front of the bride. She then said with a bright smile, "Sister Ning, I wish you a happy wedding today. May you live a long and happy life together."

Zhang Zining's facial features were extremely delicate. Possessing glabrous skin as fair as snow, she also held an arrogant temperament fitting of her status. Compared to Zhang Qimo, however, she was still far inferior.

She looked at Zhang Qimo indifferently and said, "Place the gift over there."

"Sister Ning, allow me to accompany you for a walk," Zhang Qimo said with a smile.

"There's no need for you to curry favor with me, for I already know what your main purpose from coming here. My family is not willing to assist with your father's matters," Zhang Zining said coldly with any display of mercy.

At that moment, Zhang Qimo's smile froze and was suddenly replaced with an unconcealable grievance.

Clenching her fists tightly, her delicate body trembled helplessly.

Before she married Lin Yin, she was always doted upon by her grandfather and existed as the shining pearl of the Zhang Family. Remembering how kind Sister Zining acted towards her back then, she could not understand why she had suddenly turned so cold towards her now.

Today, Sister Zining will be married to the eldest young master of Sunn Family, a first-class family in Qingyun City. As such, all the guests came to the wedding to celebrate the grand occasion — certainly an honorable and dignified occasion.

As for her...

Zhang Qimo remained silent for a while. When she thought about her father's current predicament, however, she forced out another smile on her face and followed Zhang Zining's footsteps.

When Lin Yin saw this scene from his seat, he felt an indescribable feeling from the bottom of his heart.