Chapter 756

By all logic, Chen Yuchong had been tracking and investigating Jiang Ning for years, and most of the information he gathered was authentic. Although many details remained inaccessible due to her high rank, from what they did have, Jiang Ning’s corruption seemed like a sure thing. Otherwise, where did all those luxury homes come from? They had investigated Jiang Ning’s background thoroughly—she was a woman who came from a tiny rural village, with absolutely no backing.

That left only one possibility: this woman was just that powerful. Something this big had been squashed without making even a ripple.

And soon enough, even the people pulling strings behind the scenes were silenced.

The internet was always buzzing with new scandals to bury the old ones. So when this matter quietly faded into nothingness, it made people even more careful about what they said. If before this incident, “She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” was just a mocking, sarcastic title whispered in dark corners, then after this, her name truly became unspeakable. Even those large, once-fiery group chats quieted down.

However, unknown to the public, someone quietly released more detailed background information on Jiang Ning before her entry into the workforce. It was done discreetly—if someone truly wanted to dig, they could find it, but the average person, not actively searching, would never come across it.

In the alumni group for Peking University graduates—a group largely made up of high-income, socially influential individuals—not long after the online buzz had died down, the group admin silently posted a link.

The link contained far more comprehensive information about Jiang Ning. It even included her scores and photos from her time at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). Of course, it didn’t go so far as to list every source of her income or every real estate asset in detail. It mentioned the two frequently discussed villas online, but clarified that one was purchased during her high school years, and the other was a self-built house in her hometown, which had long been run as a well-known boutique guesthouse. It didn’t even state definitively that it belonged to Jiang Ning.

What it did focus on was the fact that before she even started working, Jiang Ning had published multiple best-selling books, each selling in the millions. Some of these works were later adapted into movies and TV series.2 million USD—an astronomical sum at the time—and her donation of substantial materials for disaster relief in 1998, when she went straight to the front lines.

Each of these events was accompanied by photos taken at the time.

Chapter 291

Jiang Ning didn’t begin preparing for pregnancy until she was forty and her career had fully stabilized. Luckily, her physical condition was excellent, and the pregnancy went smoothly.

She had already told Song Peifeng this long before they got married, “I probably won’t want children before forty.”

For her, career always came first. She had no intention of bringing a life into the world before she was ready—before she had the time, energy, and emotional space to care for him or her. She refused to repeat her own childhood’s mistakes.

Even though she was certain she would never be the kind of mother her own mother had been, and Song Peifeng was definitely not a father like hers who just muddled through everything, she still wanted to get every aspect of her own life in order before considering bringing a child into this world. If she couldn’t do that, she’d rather not have a child at all.

Her child would be born through her, to experience life—to feel the world: the sunshine and rain, the sweetness and bitterness, the changes of seasons, and the joys and sorrows of humanity.

If she wasn’t ready to love and care for him or her, she didn’t want to bring them into the world hastily.

Back when their careers were just starting, both she and Song Peifeng were incredibly busy. Father Song was also rising in his own field, as well as his wife—there was no need for them to even mention it—she had her own life and career. Her life wasn’t meant to be spent raising their child.

Jiang Ning believed that self-love and self-respect meant also respecting others’ time and lives.

At the time, Song Peifeng was still young, and after giving it serious thought, he realized he wasn’t that passionate about the whole “passing on the family name” thing. Sure, having a child would be nice, but if they didn’t, well… After deep reflection, he found that his life goals and dreams aligned with Jiang Ning’s. Compared to having children, he cared more about the journey with the like-minded partner beside him.

Plus, they really were busy.

Truthfully, forty was still the prime of both their lives. It was their peak in energy and career—but by then, she was already steady, already secure.

She thought, maybe now… now she finally had the time and capacity to love and accompany this child.

Everything just fell into place naturally.

Perhaps it was also a matter of the heart finally reaching that point. Not only Jiang Ning, but Song Peifeng too was completely prepared to welcome this child—maybe even more excited than she was.

After all, she had been ready to live her whole life without children, while Song Peifeng had only accepted that possibility. So the arrival of this child felt like a surprise gift from life itself—unexpected and joyful. Even during their busiest days, he was carefully picking her up from work every day, more nervous than she was. After all, at her age…

No matter how one looked at it, Jiang Ning was a high-risk, “advanced maternal age” mother now—and she was someone who always put her career first.

But Jiang Ning wasn’t quite the workaholic everyone thought she was. Work was work. Life was life. Since she had already made the decision to have a child, she would, of course, take full responsibility—for both the child and herself. And the first step in that responsibility was safeguarding their health.

And in this matter, the stark difference between Jiang Ning’s and Song Peifeng’s personalities really showed.

After the pregnancy stabilized, Song Peifeng—while outwardly composed—was so overwhelmed with joy that he called his father, mother, and every relative in the Song family to share the news.

His parents had actually been urging them for years. But their son and daughter-in-law had been wholly focused on their careers and weren’t interested in having children. Eventually, the elders had stopped pushing. After all, they themselves had once experienced the chaos of raising kids during hectic career years. And both of them had their own pursuits, didn’t live together, and weren’t even in the same province.

Did they not have their own lives? Their own friends?

It was actually Father Jiang who was the most eager in the beginning.

After learning about Song Peifeng’s family background, Father Jiang felt a bit inferior. He knew the Jiang family was no match for the Song family—in fact, Jiang Ning marrying into the Song family was considered marrying up. Especially as Father Song’s political career flourished later on, Father Jiang began urging Jiang Ning to hurry up and have a child, to secure her position.

“You two are still young. Even if you don’t have time to raise the child, it doesn’t matter.”

Father Jiang had full confidence in his parenting skills—he was really looking forward to it.

He had three sons. The eldest was fine—he had two kids, raised mostly by Father Jiang and Mother. But Jiang Bai? After getting married, he might as well have become a live-in son-in-law. The granddaughter he had? Not even considered part of the Jiang family. She stayed in Shanghai, raised entirely by her maternal grandparents, and didn’t even come back for visits most of the year.

Her grandmother even hinted at having another child with her surname. Jiang Bai, ever more decisive than his in-laws, said,

“Just let Zhenzhen take Lili’s surname.”

Xu Xiuli, his wife, had a rather delicate constitution. She suffered terribly during pregnancy—morning sickness and all kinds of symptoms made her miserable. Jiang Bai himself didn’t have much of a desire for children. Having grown up under the one-child policy, he’d long been set on having just one.

That wasn’t a decision formed in adulthood—it had been rooted in him since childhood.

Even when he was very young, Jiang Bai used to wonder, “When Mom and Dad already had my elder brother, why did they need to have me and my sister? If they hadn’t… wouldn’t they have been happier?”