Chapter 71.2: It would be great if I could meet Ji Lin sooner.

“The Ji Xin Pharmaceuticals incident caused a big stir and attracted a lot of attention. But even then, these executives were still thinking about eating their fill of blood-soaked bread. They spread rumors about Ji Xin Pharmaceuticals in an aggressive way. At that time, Uncle Ji was too busy dealing with the crisis and had no time or energy to sue them for defamation. And what did they do? They used this opportunity to promote their new company. As a result of their ‘self-righteous’ accusations, they managed to secure a small amount of venture capital and started their own business. But Uncle Ji, because of their malice and covert operations, was pushed step by step into the abyss.”

Rong Sheng glanced at Bai Duandan and said, “These five executives know the internal situation of Jixin very well, and outsiders are not clear about the truth. It is easy to believe their so-called ‘inside information.’ When they stood up to accuse Jixin Pharmaceutical, it was a time of internal and external difficulties, and Uncle Ji was unable to defend himself.”

………….

In terms of both logic and detail, Rong Sheng’s version is more credible, especially since he is not a stakeholder in this matter and has no need to embellish or falsify. Bai Duandan’s rational mind tells her that he is telling the truth, but emotionally, she still finds it difficult to accept Lin Hui’s role in this matter, especially since there are some details that she finds hard to understand.

“But Lin Hui is a lawyer. He is not like these executives who are the ultimate beneficiaries. He cannot directly risk telling them to destroy written contracts, create chaos and destroy evidence of the sale of second-hand equipment, or even incite employees to cause trouble. He has always been very cautious about professional risks and it is unlikely that he would do such things.”

“True, he didn’t do it himself, but he was always aware of what his client was doing. Although he did not explicitly tell those executives how to handle things, he did give them such advice when he learned what they were planning to do. He guided them step by step and, as later revealed in Ji Lin’s investigation, it was Lin Hui who incited the employees to protest and spread panic, ultimately leading to over a thousand employees collectively demanding their rights.”

Rong Sheng smiled: “Besides, how is he not related to the interests? The collective rights protection of a thousand employees, he did it. Calculate the amount of this target, and besides money, this case is a watershed for Lin Hui’s rise to fame. Who was Lin Hui before? He was really unknown in the legal circle, but after the Jixin case, Lin Hui became a rising star in the later period, he’s only in his twenties and already successful.”

Rong Sheng sneered, “This case is so famous that the executives wanted to take advantage of the situation to promote their new company, and our lawyer Lin also wanted to use the influence of this case to launch his first career.”

Bai DuanDuan did know that Lin Hui had handled a big case and became famous in his early twenties, but Lin Hui never talked about it. Initially, Bai DuanDuan was not particularly interested in Lin Hui’s past, and Lin Hui’s deliberate avoidance made her gradually lose interest in finding out. It was only at this moment that she realized, belatedly, that this case, which had made Lin Hui famous in the legal circle and changed his fate, had also changed Ji Lin’s fate in a completely different way.

Rong Sheng was afraid that Bai DuanDuan would not believe it and said, “At that time, Ji Lin had someone investigate, and there were also a few employees who, after Uncle Ji’s suicide, felt uneasy in their conscience. They were driven by irrational group consciousness to attack the company without thinking rationally. Afterwards, they felt ashamed and told Ji Lin the truth. Some even wrote anonymous confession letters to Ji Lin, and he kept all of them.”

“And do you know how miserable Ji Lin was back then?” Rong Sheng had no idea about the relationship between Ji Lin and Bai DuanDuan, and still felt that Bai DuanDuan and Lin Hui had a relationship in the past. He was afraid that Bai DuanDuan still favored Lin Hui emotionally, so he decided to sell Ji Lin’s misery even harder. “Uncle Ji was someone who had always had a smooth-sailing life. Because of this, he was too optimistic and lost money in his investments. He was too sentimental, and missed the opportunity to deal with those executives. He was too stubborn and proud. Ji Xin Pharmaceutical had its financial chain completely broken due to internal and external troubles, and even selling houses couldn’t remedy the situation. The public misunderstood and insulted him, and he couldn’t accept the fact that all his efforts had gone to waste. He couldn’t face himself and his family because of his pride, and chose to end his life.”

“Maybe you know from the media reports that his body was only discovered by his family the next day, but you may not know that the one who found him was Ji Lin, who was only thirteen years old at the time. He went to wake up his dad as usual, but when he touched Uncle Ji, he was already cold, stiff, and completely dead.”

It was only then that Bai DuanDuan began to feel a dull pain, as she gradually realized what Ji Lin had gone through at the age of thirteen, something that he should never have experienced.

“The Ji Xin Pharmaceutical incident was almost like a well-known drama, and besides the financial news section, many small newspapers and magazines desperately reported on it for the sake of circulation. Some even disguised themselves as parents of students and rushed to the school, almost shoving their microphones in Ji Lin’s face, competing to ask how he discovered that his father had died, what his feelings were at that moment…”

At this point, Bai DuanDuan couldn’t bear it anymore. She could even imagine how little Ji Lin tried to remain strong and calm amidst his grief, pushing through the crowd with a blank expression. However, he was too young and couldn’t resist the chaotic adult world. He couldn’t push away the reporters surrounding him, nor could he express his pain through tears.

“Ji Lin was good-looking, did well in his studies, came from a wealthy family, and had a good personality. Although he wasn’t very passionate, he was very gentle and polite. He was the kind of rich kid who looked very refined and cultured, and many little girls liked him. However, because of this, after something happened, some jealous little boys ostracized him and called him the son of a swindler, saying that his father was a murderer who researched fake medicine for money. They cursed his father, saying that he deserved to die and that he should have died a long time ago…”

Often times, children do not have the clear three views (i.e. world outlook, outlook on life, and values) of adults, and they do not understand what could cause harm to others. Children can be very naive, but also very cruel. If they feel that you have made them unhappy in the past, they will take the opportunity to make you unhappy and vent their negative emotions. And often, campus bullying and ostracism are acts of following the crowd… “

Sure enough, the words from Rong Sheng completely verified Bai DuanDuan’s view: “At first, there were only a few children like that. Ji Lin was already very sad after losing his father, but he just ignored these few people. However, later on, they became even more ruthless when they saw that Ji Lin didn’t resist. More and more people began to isolate and bully Ji Lin. Ji Lin couldn’t bear it anymore and finally fought back, but they had more people and greater strength, and Ji Lin often ended up with bruises and injuries. However, every time, the other children’s parents would come to the school to defend them and accuse Ji Lin. But Ji Lin had nothing. After Uncle Ji passed away, Aunt Meng was under a lot of stress and her mental and physical health suffered for a while. She was bedridden for a long time.”

Rong Sheng sighed and said, “I still remember that scene. At that time, in the head teacher’s office, the little kid who provoked and fought with Ji Lin had a smug look on his face, as if he had a powerful backing. He listened to his family members scold Ji Lin and sarcastically said that a kid without fatherly discipline really had no manners. Our school had many students whose parents were either rich or influential, and the head teacher was afraid of offending them. He just wanted to settle the matter quietly. Knowing that Ji Lin’s family had lost their power, he had no desire to protect Ji Lin. Ji Lin could only lower his head and clench his fists while being verbally abused.”

It was at this moment that Bai Duan finally understood the meaning of Ji Lin’s words. He had said, “Is it really so pitiful for your best friend to start working at sixteen? But I started working at thirteen. Why didn’t you care about me?”

Initially, Bai Duan had thought that Ji Lin’s words were just spoken in anger. However, now that she knew everything, she understood the grievances and pain behind those words.

If only she had met Ji Lin earlier, if only she could have accompanied him, stood by his side, and held his hand, would he not have suffered so much?

[Small Theatre]

After getting married, every time Ji Lin made Bai DuanDuan unhappy, or had some “unreasonable” demands for the night, he would repeatedly tell Bai DuanDuan about his miserable teenage years…

Bai DuanDuan listened and was moved to tears: she felt sorry for her husband.

Ji Lin said: “If you really feel sorry for me, show me some sincerity at night and let me see if your concern for me is genuine.”

Bai DuanDuan: …..