Love is Sweet – Chapter 23

Chapter 23 Photo Fiasco 照片风波 (3/4)

Author: Qi Zi

Translated by: lovexsweet

Translator’s Note: I’m sorry for the long absence, this kind of fell off the to-do list for me, so it wasn’t until recently that I made enough time to come back to it. I did finally finish watching Love is Sweet though, and there are still some parts that I like more from the drama but parts I like more from the novel, too. The Jiang Jun in the novel is just…spicier, lol.

This particular chapter and all of its parts were translated pretty quickly (meaning I spent a little less time really thinking about it) so if you have suggestions or see something that sounds weird or should be fixed, let me know! I’ll eventually go back for edits, but I’ve decided to prioritize translating more and trying to finish the book sooner, rather than making it perfect.  My goal is actually to finish before the end of this year, which means I’ve got a lot to go!

Also, just a reminder, this scene starts in the middle of the conversation that left off from the previous part!  A-Xiang and Jiang Jun are talking about what happened and the last thing he said is that he does sincerely want to be friends with her.  You can see from the long translator’s notes in the first paragraph why I ran out of energy to keep translating from the last part.  Too many references.

~ ~ ~

“All right, that’s enough.” Jiang Jun patted A-Xiang’s shoulder hard.  “You’ll only learn from making your own mistakes.*1  But don’t start thinking that you’re really Tang Seng*2 just because all the young women are surrounding you in a circle.  These female demons aren’t going to take one look at you, suddenly forget their original evil intentions, and decide that all they want to do is be together and grow old with their handsome immortal man.  Putting aside the power of your old man’s name, you’re now a pretty handsome Monkey King, and you won’t be at your wit’s end just from meeting a high level demoness.  Go shower and sleep, and start working hard tomorrow. After a few years, when you have your own world and possess millions of dollars, remember to take care of my business. When the time comes, I’ll help you dig a Pansi Cave*3, and then who wouldn’t you be able to get if you wanted to?”

[*T/N: 1. idiom that’s basically “fall into the ditch and you’ll be wiser next time.”  2. Tang Sangzhang or Tang Seng, a Tang dynasty Buddhist monk who is the main protagonist of the classic work Journey to the West, he’s portrayed as naïve and idealistically compassionate, so he falls for the demons’ disguises. In comparison, Sun Wukong (also known as the Monkey King) sees through them but gets punished for seemingly killing innocent people.    3. Pansi Cave is also from Journey to the West and was a cave covered in spider webs, occupied by spider spirits who had transformed into beautiful women.]

“Do you take yourself as Buddha then?” A-Xiang also laughed. “You’re the Monkey King, and Du is the Buddha.”

“I’m Monk Tang Seng, okay?” Jiang Jun tried to convince him, “You should leave Hong Kong. I heard that your father and sister have already gone to Canada. Nothing good will come of you staying here. The problem between you two isn’t the age gap, but rather, that she doesn’t really love you at all.”

“Will you guys take care of her? She’s already very pitiful.”

Jiang Jun sighed. “That’s a matter between Du and her; neither you nor I have the right to intervene. A-Xiang, I understand how you feel. Whether you believe it or not, I’ve experienced the same thing. The facts tell me that if she doesn’t love you, she just doesn’t love you. Even if you die for her, she still won’t love you. So go wash your face and shave your beard, and do what you should do.”

Jiang Jun had been around the block before and she had a profound understanding of one-sided love. No matter how complicated and poignant the story, no matter how deep and pitiful the love, it would all fall apart in the end. If you take him as a god and follow behind him, waiting on him hand and foot, all you’re actually doing is laying down under his feet and letting him trample all over you.  It wasn’t just that he won’t see you as oxygen, but that you positioned yourself as a fart, so how can other people respect you?

A-Xiang took a deep breath like he was venting his feelings in a roar, and then laughed. “I’m flying to the US next week. The jianghu is a dangerous place, but when I finally emerge from the mountains after finishing my cultivation, you had better be watch out.”

Jiang Jun secretly sighed in her heart. That simple warm smile might never appear on his face again. This was the price of growing up: there are no obstacles that cannot be overcome, but one can never return to the past.

After sending A-Xiang away, Jiang Jun put away the last trace of her pity and softheartedness, and then threw herself fully into the killing storm that she had created.

Jiang Jun was not concerned about how Du chose to handle his family affairs. She only cared about how some people in MH would take this opportunity to make trouble. After a few days of careful planning, Du finally settled on a final plan. He showed Jiang Jun the draft of the email he had written, which was a notice for her to transfer several existing cases to other people.

After reading it a few times, Jiang Jun was furious. “Why did you change it to these orders? Based on this accounting, I’ll be able to buy a few shops in Beijing and Wangfujing.* I won’t do it.”  [T/N *district in Beijing known for shopping]

“If you aren’t willing to sacrifice your kids, you won’t be able to bait the wolves. The greater the profit, the more attention they’ll give to it, and then we’ll have the opportunity to make our move against Bejia Petroleum.”

“Can you change a couple?” Jiang Jun really found it rather painful.

“No.” Du continued to work on improving the email and stopped answering her.

Jiang Jun calculated it painfully for a while and finally said, “Then give me the OCC Pharmaceuticals order that you’ve been working on yourself.”

“You really have the nerve to ask for it, huh? All right, it’s a deal!” Du demonstrated his generosity with an OK gesture. “This email will be sent before the meeting tomorrow morning, so surprise me then.”

~ ~ ~

At the meeting the next day, Jiang Jun sat at Du’s right hand side, her gaze steady and with a solemn expression. Towards the end, Du announced in front of everyone, “All work must be handed over within a week.”

Seeing that he was about to leave, Jiang Jun stood up and stopped him. “Du.”

“We’ll talk after the relevant personnel arrive.” Du walked out of the conference room without even looking at her.

Jiang Jun hurriedly followed, but unexpectedly was so worked up that she tripped on the carpet. Hearing the snickers from the others nearby really aggravated her, and Du’s office door became the object of her attack. Jiang Jun opened the door forcefully. “I need an explanation!”

“There’s no explanation, just do it.” Du casually leaned on the back of the chair, pulled off his tie, dangled his cigar, and threw it all into a mess. “You don’t have to accept it, but you should already know the consequences.”

The desk in Du’s office had been replaced not long ago with antique red sandalwood furniture. Jiang Jun pounded on it so violently that her hands hurt for a long time. Du saw her about to break and thus exploded first, criticizing her severely over her working methods and team management.

The door was not closed tightly. During the argument, Jiang Jun saw one of the new employees through the full-length mirror that was behind Du. The coworker was standing beside Du’s secretary and his expression was really quite funny.

As for stirring up excitement, Jiang Jun casually picked up a cup. Du grabbed her arm, yanked her abruptly, and whispered, “This is pretty much enough.”

Jiang Jun thought about and agreed, so she ended her performance with the harsh sound of a shattering cup.

“Get the hell out!”

By everyone’s estimation, Du really couldn’t stand Jiang Jun’s violent behavior any more. After all, not only did he directly issue an eviction order and smash the ashtray, he rarely used profanity. 

The news quickly spread within the company. Jiang Jun believed that within the week, the entire investment banking circle would be discussing the reports of how MH’s Du and Juno had a huge falling out.

It took time and space to do bad deeds. Now that she had been beaten into the cold palace* by Du, what she did have was some time and energy, which was perfect for taking over the dirty work of backstabbing. [T/N *like the banishment of consorts who have fallen out of favor with the Emperor)

Du would soon be leaving for the United States and after his debriefing, would follow up by taking his annual leave. It was supposedly to relax, but in fact, he was actually going to go lobby the board of directors. That was the site of the real main battlefield.

Before leaving, Du met with Jiang Jun for a meal, still choosing that shoddy old restaurant.

“I’ll be leaving tomorrow.” Du poured a glass of wine for her. “You might have some miserable times ahead of you. Be very careful.”

“You better not go down and let me suffer in vain.”

“Wait for my good news. By the way, the cup you broke was a limited edition Moser that I’ve used for many years. Think of a way to find an identical one, I want to see it when I come back.”

“Who told you to replace your desk with something so sturdy? My hands still hurt.”

“Very soon that office will belong to you, so you might as well take this opportunity to get familiar with it first.” Du put the key to his office on the table and admonished, “Remember to water my plants and don’t touch my golf clubs.”

Jiang Jun pretended not to hear and engrossed herself in eating the food.

Du toasted her. “Good luck to us.”

~ ~ ~

For the next two months, Jiang Jun seemed to have returned to the days when she had first joined MH. In the face of ostracism and cold eyes from all sides, she no longer believed in anyone and did everything herself. She personally laid off the subordinates who had been with her for many years and set up traps that caused heavy losses to her people’s projects. After clients were repeatedly lost, she then in a confident and self-righteous way poured all the dirty water onto them, throwing them under the bus. With the formal resignation of the former president of MH and the appointment of the new president, MH’s high-level personnel changes within the past year came to an end, and Du rose to be the leader of the Asia-Pacific region as he had wished. He only said to Jiang Jun that he had worked hard, not caring how heavy the cost had been to keep this base in the Asia-Pacific region. Jiang Jun lost five of her right-hand men, but Du said that it was good as long as they won, and the process itself was not important. 

With Du taking the top spot in the Asia-Pacific region, Jiang Junshun was naturally promoted to the boss of the IBD department, and Yin Zhe replaced Sally as her assistant. He was no longer the boy he used to be, having grown rapidly in these days, and there was the suggestion of Du’s style in his gestures.

The civil war that had lasted for the greater part of the year had almost exhausted Jiang Jun’s body. She hadn’t been this tired in a long time and every cell seemed to have stopped functioning. As she was speaking at an executive conference, her stomach contracted violently and suddenly, the pain so strong that she almost fainted. A salty liquid flooded her mouth uncontrollably. When Jiang Jun fell to the ground with a pallid face, her last thought surprisingly turned out to be: I finally have a good reason to have a proper rest.

When she woke up, a wan scene filled her view. What she saw was not her surroundings, but rather only faces—Du’s and Yin Zhe’s.

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T/N: Sorry to leave you guys here but I will do my absolute best to post the last part of this chapter in the next couple of days.  Thank you all again for all the comments, I can’t say enough how encouraging it is to know that there are people reading and following this translation.