The Mafia King's First Love

In the Cheng residence, Mrs. Zhang brought a bowl of hot chicken soup for Jiang Ruiling as she rested in her room.

She sat beside her and smiled. "Here. You will feel better by drinking some soup."

She paused but took the bowl from her eventually. Her stomach growled in hunger, and her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

"Don't be shy, dear. Drink it all up."

"Thank you…"

Her mood was much better now that Xian Xue or Cheng Xinyue wasn't here. She felt if she heard him badmouthing Shen Yang one more time, she would definitely kill him.

She stared at Mrs. Zhang, trying to study the woman. Never in a million years did she think that Lihua's neighbor, who looked like a simple housewife and a grandmother of cute Bobo, would turn out to have connections with the Cheng family.

"...Can I ask you something?"

Mrs. Zhang warmly smiled. "Yes, dear. You can ask me anything."

"You...So, did you know about cousin Wei when he came to live as sister-in-law's neighbor?"

"Yes. When she said that he was Jiang Wei, I naturally knew his identity as the Mafia King too. To be honest, it came as a real shock to me. The last time we heard about him was when he killed Song Wuying and Song Lan. And then they met again years later. I wondered if it was a coincidence or fate."

"And when they began to get closer, you didn't oppose it?"

"I didn't see any reason not to. To us, Wei was Lihua's savior. If they fell in love, we had no objections to it. When I informed Mei about this, she didn't raise any objections either."

"And when sister-in-law suddenly disappeared…"

"Naturally, I had investigated and came to know that she married Wei and was already at the Jiang villa as the daughter-in-law," she sighed. "Can you imagine my shock? I remember things were a little rocky between them because of Shi Ruomei. Then I saw Wei taking her somewhere one night, and after that night, she never came back."

"Wait, so you didn't know that he killed Song Jia?"

"No. Jia was a cop. Cops go on missions all the time. I remotely didn't have a clue that she went undercover to investigate Wei and take revenge for her parents' murder. If I knew about it, I would have told her the truth. It was when Lihua disappeared that I wondered why Wei would suddenly take her away in such a manner. I dug more about it and found out that he killed Jia."

She pressed her brows. "I couldn't believe it at all. I was so stunned and heartbroken. No matter how Song Wuying and Song Lan betrayed us, Jia was a sweet child. But Wei killed her…"

Tears filled in her eyes as she thought of Jia. The two sisters had become the apple of her eye. And with Bobo, they became even closer.

"I... still don't know what to think about it. When I got the news, I realized why Wei must have killed her. He must have got to know somehow that Jia was Lihua's sister. As long as she was alive, how could Wei and Lihua be together? If Jia told her that Wei killed her parents, Lihua wouldn't even look at him, much less fall in love with him. He was just too scared. But even so...Wei did the wrong thing. He cannot kill an innocent person just to hide his secret…"

She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "At first, I thought that Wei must have lied something to her to make her marry him. So, I waited for Lihua to come back. But she never did. I thought she would share her marriage news in a few days. But she just didn't return. I tried to reach her, but I couldn't because Wei strictly monitored and took care that she wouldn't meet any people that she knew. I wondered why. That was when we decided to send Xue to investigate. He joined Wei's Underworld team."

Jiang Ruiling remembered that. Jiang Li had said once that a new and capable man had joined their gang through some connections.

"So he joined to know about his sister?"

"Yes. He never met her in the villa or during her stay in that house because he absolutely didn't want anybody to have even a whiff about his real relationship with her. To be honest, the timing was already glaring and suspicious. He joined just after Lihua entered the Jiang villa. It was highly possible that Jiang Shan might figure out somehow that the Chengs were still alive. But that was a risk we were willing to take. She is the beloved daughter of the Cheng family, after all. We didn't want to be in the dark if it was about her."

Mrs. Zhang wanted especially from Shen Yang, but she left it for now.

"That and we figured it was a good chance to get some intel on Jiang Shan too. Xue quickly understood what had happened. We were horrified to learn that he had erased Lihua's memories. She didn't remember anything about herself or her past. I couldn't believe that Wei would go this far to protect his secret. Naturally, it became a really serious issue here. Xue was even ready to take Lihua away from Wei. But Mei stopped him and told him to just observe them for now."

"Observe?"

She sighed. "Yes. Since he went this far, it was already clear how much he loved Lihua. Not that his methods were right in any sense, but still we came to know about the extent of his feelings for her. So, Xue simply observed their interactions, and how Wei treated her."

Mrs. Zhang smiled. "And he treated her like a Queen. So much so that Xue felt sick of all the flowers blooming around Wei and with the lovey-dovey atmosphere around them."

Jiang Ruiling choked.

"He said he wanted to be out because he couldn't bear to see such a doting Mafia King anymore."

She grimaced. "He should be happy that his sister is doted upon so preciously."

"His brain doesn't work that way. His love is tough and fierce, not sweet. Lihua then started to get involved more and more in your family matters, and Wei supported her in every step of the way. Xue saw his love for Lihua and the threat for anyone who dared to hurt her.. Seeing this, Mei declared one day that she approved their marriage."