Chapter 101: The Deputy-Mayor Who Could Bend and Rise at Will  

Shangguan Zheng was appalled, seeing his wife’s condition.

By now, he was completely certain that their inability to check into the resort at N City must have been the doing of the man who was with Shangguan Ning. How dare he offend Shangguan Zheng’s family again?

None of the hospitals at A City were willing to begin treatment for Yang Wenshu’s burns.

Who on earth was this man? How powerful was he, to have such a hold over all of A City!

Shangguan Zheng was the Deputy-Mayor of the city, and he still had no idea who this man was.

He decided to call Shangguan Ning over. Yang Wenshu was like her mother, if not her real mother. She had taken care of Shangguan Ning since Ning was ten years old. But Shangguan Ning was so ungrateful. How could she make her suffer in this way? How did she have the heart to scald her with boiling hot water?

The man in question was extremely fond of Shangguan Ning. Surely, he’d be more than willing to give in to Ning, if she were to request him to ensure that Yang Wenshu’s treatment was taken care of. The man would see to it that a good hospital treated her burns.

Any further delay in this regard,would ruin his wife’s face forever. Even if a hospital were to start with her treatment immediately, she would have to live with a scarred face and body, all her life.

Shangguan Zheng and Shangguan Rouxue tried in vain to call Ning a number of times but she rejected all their calls.

Shangguan Zheng was so furious that he almost smashed his phone.

This girl had gotten too big for her boots. How dare she reject his call. Back in the day, she wouldn’t dare to disobey anything he said. She even agreed to live a compromised life by getting engaged with Xie Zhuojun, even though he was in a coma. The same girl, today, didn’t care about her father.

Shangguan Zheng forced himself to calm down and think rationally. He could do anything to salvage his political career. What he needed to do was to make an unconditional apology to his daughter, so as to win her back. It cost nothing.

He couldn’t tolerate the loneliness and disappointment that came with loss of power. If he lost the position of Deputy-Mayor, then the same people who hailed him as a hero, would not think twice before treating him like trash.

He was aware that once he became the Mayor, it was only the beginning. It would provide him with a chance to even more power and glory. He would not have to answer to anyone in the city and his days of reporting to someone else would be over.

He was eager to become the Mayor, because only by becoming the Mayor will he get even bigger power and glory.

He had been the scapegoat for Mayor Ji Minyu too many times. He had had enough.

Shangguan Zheng got into his car and drove to Compound Landscape, following the directions and address given to him by Shangguan Rouxue.

The security guard of the Compound stopped him at the gate itself, refusing to let him in.

The guard rolled his eyes when Shangguan Zheng introduced himself as the deputy mayor of the city.

He said “Those who live at our compound are high profile individuals. Even if the Mayor were to visit, he would need a permit to enter the compound. If there’s someone who has invited you here, you could ask them to call our property management or to come and fetch you, in person. That should solve the problem.”

The previous security guard at Landscape Compound had made the mistake of letting Shangguan Ning’s aunt in, the last time, so this one was well aware of the chain of events that followed. Jing Yichen had complained to the property management and had the whole team sacked. No strangers were allowed to enter the premises without a permit. The security guard did not want to risk losing his job.

Shangguan Zheng was livid. He had no choice but to wait at the gate, like a commoner.

No one would come and pick him up at the gate if Shangguan Ning refused to answer his calls.

Luckily, he was fortunate enough to bump into Shangguan Ning soon.

Shangguan Ning, who was seated on the passenger’s seat of Jing Yichen’s car, had already noticed Shangguan Zheng’s car from a distance.

In order to show the world that he lived a life well within his means, Shangguan Zheng always made sure to use the black Audi A6, which was given to him by the government, as a perk of his job. The car wasn’t new and had an ordinary number plate. Even then, Shangguan Ning recognized it immediately.

As their car approached, Shangguan Zheng had already noticed Shangguan Ning, so he stepped out of his car.

Jing Yichen fumed at the sight of him.

He had always thought that his own father, Jing Zhongxiu, was not a good father. What he didn’t expect was that Shangguan Ning’s father would turn out to be a hundred times worse than Jing Zhongxiu.

At least Jing Zhongxiu lived by certain principles. If Jingsheng Enterprise were to go bankrupt the following day, he would never sell out his two sons.

Shangguan Zheng, on the other hand, didn’t hesitate for a minute before using Shangguan Ning as bait, for the sake of furthering his political ambitions. Not once but twice.

He had no idea how Shangguan Ning managed to get live her life with such a family, for the past two decades.

Shangguan Zheng was always used to receiving attention and adulation wherever he went. He simmered with anger, when Shangguan Ning and Jing Yichen looked at him with indifference.

It didn’t matter how they behaved with him as long as he got what he wanted. He had been in the political circles for too long now and had become thick skinned.

He went up to Shangguan Ning and smiled amiably, as he said to her. “Ning, I am here to speak with you.”

Shangguan Ning was surprised to see her father smile. He hardly ever smiled. In fact, ever since her mother passed away, he had never smiled at her. He was always angry or unhappy whenever they met. She was used to him scolding her and siding with Shangguan Rouxue.

Somehow, she knew that her father was upto no good at the moment.

Although she hated him for not caring about her enough and for scheming with Jing Yiran to drug her, she was not as ruthless as he was.

He was, after all, her father. He had given her life and taken care of her for all those years.

Shangguan Ning opened the door of the car and got off.

She hadn’t called him “Daddy” for many years now.

She asked him casually, “What are you doing here?”

“I...” For a moment, Shangguan Zheng was speechless. He had no idea what to say to his daughter. He found it so strange that he had to make small talk with his own daughter.

He was still thinking of what to say, when Jing Yichen opened the car door and stepped out.

There was his chance. He said, “When did you get a boyfriend? Why didn’t you tell the family?”

Seeing Jing Yichen who come and stood by her side protectively, Shangguan Ning became more confident. She hesitated for a moment and then introduced the two. “This is Jing Yichen, my husband. Yichen, this is my... father!”

Standing next to Shangguan Ning, Jing Yichen realised that the red patch on her face hadn’t gone away completely. He said to Shangguan Zheng politely, “How do you do, Deputy-Mayor Shangguan? Your wife threw hot coffee on Ning’s face. She’s still recovering, so I don’t think it’s wise for her to stand here, exposed to the sunlight, for so long. We should be going in now. If there’s anything that you need, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.”

Shangguan Zheng heard nothing of what he said. What Shangguan Ning had said was enough to zone out everything else. “What did you say, Ning? Your husband? You are... married?”

“Hang on! Wait! What did you say his name was? Jing Yichen? The Jing Yichen. He who is the President of Jingsheng Enterprise?”