All the other guests were whispering and discussing the farce.

Sheng Jiaoyang did not even spare a glance at Sheng s.h.i.+yun. To her, Sheng s.h.i.+yun was just a clown.

When Cao Jian walked up to her, Sheng Jiaoyang squinted her eyes and asked, “What is it? Does Uncle Cao still want to plead for Sheng s.h.i.+yun?”

“No.” Cao Jian replied ashamedly.

“Since you"re not here to plead for her, then what do you want to talk to me about?”

Cao Jian was someone who adapted to circ.u.mstances, he took the chance to apologize. “Ms. Xu, I"m very sorry. I acted without clarifying and understanding the situation earlier. Since CEO Shen has already given all his a.s.sets to you, it shows that he has absolute trust in you. In the future, I will also follow your leaders.h.i.+p.”

Sheng Jiaoyang raised her brows slightly. “I accept your apology.”

Cao Jian then added while stammering, “T-There"s one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“I wasn"t informed beforehand that there was a will, and I believed Sheng Yi when he said that he would be succeeding as the Chairman. Hence, I did not refuse him when he asked for the company seal. Earlier…” Cao Jian took a deep breath before continuing, “When I called the company, the finance department said that Sheng Yi transferred 10 million dollars to another account for an investment project, but we have no contacts with the investment company that he specified at all.”

Sheng Jiaoyang remained silent, as if she was digesting the message.

“I am greatly responsible for this incident happening. You may punish me however you like after this incident is over, but right now we must figure out a way to get back this sum of money,” Cao Jian said with complete sincerity.

Sheng Jiaoyang looked at the Sheng elders and Sheng Yi"s wife, and came to realize the meaning of the phrase: "To make trouble out of nothing". Was Sheng Yi trying to test her patience? Did Sheng Yi think that she would not pursue the matter since they were all family?

Haha!

This was the so-called: "helping others achieve their success". Since Sheng Yi was bent on courting death, it would be better to help him achieve his goals.

“Alright, I got it.”

Cao Jian opened his mouth. That"s it? What does “I got it” mean? Is he to report to the police or communicate with Sheng Yi and his family? She should have given some sort of direction as to how they would be getting back that sum of money!

“Let"s wait until the funeral ends.” Sheng Jiaoyang said as she looked at Cao Jian, who was rooted to his spot.

Cao Jian turned around to look at Sheng Xun"s portrait, before quietly returning to Lawyer Song"s side.

“What happened?” Lawyer Song looked at Cao Jian.

“She said she would handle it after the funeral.”

“Oh.”

“That"s ten million, not a thousand. How can she be so calm?” Cao Jian could not understand how the new boss could remain so calm. Did she not put any importance on money? Or could it be that, since they are relatives, she was going to let Sheng Yi off this time?

“If you knew that Sheng Xun"s father-in-law appointed her as his heir, you wouldn"t be surprised,” Lawyer Song said calmly.

Cao Jian was speechless.

Of course, he knew who Sheng Xun"s father-in-law was. It wasn"t Sheng s.h.i.+yun"s grandfather, but the famous Mr. Yang Wenting. His net worth was over a billion dollars!

“What is her background? Doesn"t Mr. Yang already have descendants?” Cao Jian was quite puzzled.

Could it be that Mr. Yang had another child outside? But was Xu Jiaojiao not Sheng Xun"s illegitimate daughter? Did Mr. Yang have an illegitimate daughter, who had a child with Sheng Xun…

Cao Jian"s eyes suddenly widened, and he felt that he had just discovered a remarkable truth.

However, Sheng Jiaoyang, who was appreciating the peace and quiet from chasing Sheng s.h.i.+yun away, was not aware that somebody had a magically imaginative mind, and that he had imagined and came up with an unreasonable story.

It was almost time for the cremation. Everyone present walked around the crystal coffin once more and mourned in silence.

Sheng Jiaoyang looked at Sheng Xun, and said in her heart, Rest in peace. I will have you buried together with mom. I hope that both of you will never have to be separated in your next life.

When they arrived at the crematorium, they watched as the flames swallowed him whole. Sobs could be heard in the background.

Grandmother Sheng had already burst into tears.

Sheng Jiaoyang did not go over to comfort Grandmother Sheng, and her expression in comparison was much calmer, as if the person being cremated was someone totally unrelated to her. She just stood her ground and watched silently as the flames danced around.

Shen Zhining stood beside her, and wrapped his arms around her shoulder, giving her silent support and consolation.

As the cremation process was long, the crowd slowly thinned out, and even the number of relatives present had decreased.

Grandfather Yang"s health was not good, thus he left the place early. As Sheng Xun"s parents were also getting on in their years, the eldest brother"s family decided to take them home. The second eldest brother"s family was also quite exhausted, but since they had to leave a favorable impression, they decided to hang around.

“A dead man is just a pile of ashes,” Sheng Jiaoyang said in a hoa.r.s.e voice as she looked at the fire that was rapidly dimming.

Shen Zhining held her hand tightly. “That"s why we must cherish the present.”

Sheng Jiaoyang laid her head on his shoulder and said in a low voice, “Grandfather"s health has been deteriorating too.”

Inexplicable panic filled her heart when she had the fearful thought that her closest relatives would leave her one by one, and eventually, she would be left all alone in the world.

“No matter what, I will accompany you. You will never be alone,” Shen Zhining rea.s.sured her.

“Mhmm,” Sheng Jiaoyang responded lightly.

The second brother"s family could not hear what Shen Zhining was discussing with Sheng Jiaoyang, but they could see them snuggle close to each other. They seemed quite lovey-dovey and happy.

The Sheng Family"s second brother couldn"t help but say to his daughter, “Jiajia, you must find a reliable boyfriend like him. Look at how happy they are!”

Zhou Hong then said, “Of course, our Jiajia is so pretty. She would look like a celebrity if she dolls up a little. She will definitely be able to find her Mr. Right.”

Sheng Jia envied the couple who was snuggling, and she thought to herself: How could I find such a person so easily? Xu Jiaojiao is just too fortunate. Not only was she able to get her uncle to give her all his a.s.sets, but she could also get such a perfect boyfriend.

By the time the ashes had been collected and placed into an urn, the sky was already turning dark.

Sheng Jiaoyang took the box that held the urn herself and said to the three families, “You guys can leave first, you"ve all worked hard today.”

“Not at all. It"s our duty,” Zhou Hong quickly replied.

Sheng Jiaoyang nodded and left with Shen Zhining.

“Xu Jiaojiao was quite similar to Sheng Jiaoyang in a few aspects. She doesn"t have Sheng s.h.i.+yun"s childish manners,” the Sheng Family"s second eldest brother said as he watched them leave.

Zhou Hong s.h.i.+vered, “Stop mentioning that name, I feel strangely chilly.”

Sheng Jia looked around the surroundings and s.h.i.+vered. Then, she hurriedly asked her parents to leave.

The process of conducting a burial was different from the process of a cremation. Holding the burial on a suitable day was very important. Thus, after cremation, the ashes could not be buried immediately. They had to choose an auspicious day and have the gravestone engraved first.

They got a Feng Shui master to make some calculations, and the earliest auspicious day was the day after.

Sheng Jiaoyang never went anywhere, but stayed at home to rest the whole day.

Within the day, she appeared on the top searches list again. This time, her name was accompanied by the phrase: "illegitimate daughter".

The public originally had high interest in a celebrity"s life, and now, with such personal information being disclosed, the netizens were all excited.

The account that had disclosed the information initially got popular as well, as she had claimed that she was the original couple"s daughter. But because of Xu Jiaojiao, her parents had gotten a divorce and she was chased out of the house. Eventually, her father had left all his a.s.sets for Xu Jiaojiao before his death.

What a hot issue it was!

A video was uploaded as proof. In it, it showed a poor daughter being chased out of her own father"s funeral by an illegitimate daughter, before ending with her crying outside the funeral parlor. Such a scene enraged many netizens, and the poor lady evoked feelings of sympathy from many.

That was not all. Another "victim" had come out to claim that Jiaojiao was actually her husband"s daughter. The "victim" even disclosed the DNA report.

Now the question was, who exactly was Xu Jiaojiao"s biological father?

The incident became extremely complicated and confusing in a flash.

But the onlookers definitely loved these types of dramas. It was interesting, intriguing, and tantalizing enough for people to desire the truth.

Naturally, Sheng Jiaoyang knew about the opinions online. Even if she did not watch the entertainment news personally, there was always bound to be someone who would notify her about news related to her.

Xu Ping was not surprised that her own artist was mostly on the headlines or top searches list, and every time they had these negative incidents, she would find them very troublesome. As it turned out, the issues would only become more and more troublesome. They would soon encounter more difficult situations, similar to this one.

Xu Ping rushed to Sheng Jiaoyang"s house as soon as she learnt about the incident, as there were some things that could not be explained clearly over the phone.

However, when she reached Sheng Jiaoyang"s house, she found the latter with an exceptionally calm expression.

“Jiaojiao, you knew about the situation already?” Even if she had known about it, people would usually be quite anxious in such a difficult situation.

Sheng Jiaoyang was in no hurry, and she continued to paint patiently and calmly as she casually replied, “I did not know that something like this happened, but I had already expected it.”

Xu Ping was momentarily stunned before she recalled that Jiaojiao had mentioned a storm was brewing amidst the public. As she did not hear of any incidents in the few days after she received the message, she had nearly forgotten about it.

“Jiaojiao, were you the one who hired the Internet Water Army?” Xu Ping sounded her out.

However, as soon as she asked that question, she instantly denied it in her heart. Even if Jiaojiao wanted to hire them, how could she not have gone through her? Moreover, Jiaojiao would not bother spending money on them as she had her own army.

“Haha, I"m joking,” Xu Ping hurriedly explained, “How should we deal with this, then?”

Sheng Jiaoyang added the last stroke on her painting before she put down the brush and palette. Then, she stepped back to admire her flame oil painting before opening her mouth and said, “Arrange for a press conference on the day after tomorrow.”Previous ChapterNext Chapter