Reborn as a Good Child

69. Hypothesis

"A normal human being wouldn't use such a sinister plot. Only an evil mind would do something so extreme," JingYuan said. "Rich, powerful, scheming, impulsive with a grudge against the Bai family. There aren't many who can tick off all these boxes."

Immediately, FuRen, Yan and XueQing spoke up, "The Qi family." The three looked at each other, their faces as black as a pot's.

"The Qi family?" JingYuan asked.

"You might not know about this," Yan said. "The current head of the Qi family is Qi MingYang. His father, Qi Kun, is in the same generation as Father. When they were young, they were rivals.  Fierce competitors. No one really had a firm upper hand. Until they reached their thirties and forties. Father mellowed out. He stopped fighting with Qi Kun. That made the other think Father was afraid of him. He grew arrogant. It made him think he was so much stronger than Father.

"Then, about seven or eight years ago, in a business stand-off, Father didn't hold back. He put in his all for the company. Qi Kun was defeated. The Qi Group suffered a tremendous loss.

"This man was a capable man, but he was proud. He could only accept victory. He always thought he was the smartest man in the world. His life had been mostly smooth sailing. The many years Father spent ignoring him made him let his guard down. It made him look down on others. He couldn't deal with the mental blow reality dealt. His body had some issues in the first place. Usually, they're not worth mentioning but he was so angry, so aggravated, that he had a stroke.

"He thought of himself as a genius in business. With a single heart stroke, he was bedridden and dependant on other people to survive. One can imagine just how much hate was boiling in him. As for his son, Qi MingYang, not only did he inherit his father's brains, he perfectly inherited his father's arrogance and narrow-mindedness. Most of all, he has always worshipped his father. He thinks the misfortune that befell on the Qi family was all our father's fault. He's very hostile to the Bai family.

After MingYang took over the company, he went after us a few times, but he never benefited much. He even suffered some losses. Perhaps because he knew he was no match for us, he's been quiet for the past two years."

"I didn't think he'd be lying in wait for us here! He's really gotten shadier. His schemes so much more unscrupulous now!" XueQing growled.

(Qi MingYang: I'm innocent! It's really not me this time!)

JingYuan's lashes lowered. There was no way to tell what he was feeling from his voice. "Qi MingYang? He did get in contact with me a few times just to test out what I thought of the Bai family, explicitly and implicitly. I should've been more on alert," he said.

FuRen turned around and walked over to JingYuan. "No one can predict the future. He was just testing the waters. Who would've thought he'd do something like this? As for HanHan, you've done your very best," he said with a pat on JingYuan's shoulder.

JingYuan pursed his lips. "No," he said in a low tone. "It's still far from my best. If I really did my best, HanHan wouldn't have suffered!"

There was nothing FuRen can say to that. "Actually, if you have to blame someone, only I, HanHan's father, is to blame here. This whole grudge started because of me. If I had dealt with it properly, HanHan wouldn't be dragged into this," he said as he sat down across from JingYuan.

"Who would've thought he'd use such a despicable method?" Yan spat through gritted teeth. "Even black-market dealers would refrain from harming the other's wife and children. He's gone too far. If this was a proper challenge to our face, none of us would be afraid to hit back!"

"It's because there's no way he'd win if it was a head-on challenge," XueQing said, a frosty look on her elegant face. "That's why he targeted our little brother. But I will make him regret it!"

"That's all just a hypothesis for now," JingYuan calmly said. "While it is the most possible option, we have no proof. We can't act on it. We've got to clarify things. See if our enemy has any other plans. What if we're mistaken? What if there's some other mastermind? HanHan would be in even more danger then."