Just like the young man before her, he was a ruthless character that even the Cheng Family couldn't afford to offend.
Zhang Hongmei panicked instantly.
At this moment, her mind was filled with the thought of making Lin Weiwei apologize to Jiang Cheng as quickly as possible.
Her voice trembled, "You unfilial daughter, quick! Apologize to Mr. Jiang immediately!"
Seeing this, Lin Weiwei felt a surge of panic. She hurriedly lowered her head, not daring to meet Jiang Cheng's eyes again.
At the same time, she said in a slightly trembling voice, "I'm... I'm sorry. I was wrong, I really know I was wrong. I shouldn't have talked back to you, and even more so, I shouldn't have spoken ill of you... Please forgive me."
Seeing her daughter being so humble and admitting her mistake, Zhang Hongmei's heart softened slightly.
With a hint of a sob in her voice, she turned to Jiang Cheng and said almost pleadingly, "Mr. Jiang, it's all my daughter's fault for offending you. Please don't be angry. I beg you to show mercy and give us a break; don't push things to the absolute limit. I will have Weiwei bring a generous gift to apologize to you..."
Lin Weiwei stood there, feeling a pang of sorrow as she watched her mother acting so submissively.
If she had known that Jiang Cheng would act so quickly against her family, she would have certainly seized the opportunity yesterday to sincerely ask for his forgiveness.
However, it was too late for any of that now.
Her gaze fell back onto Jiang Cheng's indifferent profile.
She sniffled deeply, trying hard to hold back her tears.
She slowly shuffled forward a small step and then said in a voice as quiet as a mosquito, "I beg you... please don't let my parents go to jail..."
Staring at Lin Weiwei's regretful expression, Jiang Cheng didn't feel the slightest bit of sympathy.
He gave a cold snort, "The person you should be apologizing to isn't me."
Lin Weiwei's face instantly turned as pale as paper; she immediately understood who Jiang Cheng was referring to.
Seeing the Twin Sisters looking at her, her fingers involuntarily gripped the hem of her clothes tightly, her heart filled with hesitation.
Seeing this, Zhang Hongmei's heart skipped a beat.
She instantly realized what was going on.
So her daughter had bullied these two girls in front of them, right??
Zhang Hongmei hurriedly stepped forward and gave Lin Weiwei a shove, her voice laced with obvious urgency, "Did you bully these two sisters before? Quick! Apologize to them immediately!"
Although Lin Weiwei was somewhat reluctant to apologize to Jiang Cheng, she didn't dare to openly resist.
However, when it came to apologizing to Si Nian and Si Qing, Lin Weiwei suddenly felt it was a difficult hurdle to overcome in her heart.
After all, she was used to lording it over the Twin Sisters.
Lin Weiwei shrank back, her voice weak and her face full of reluctance.
Reluctantly turning toward Si Nian and Si Qing, she hummed like a mosquito, "I'm sorry."
Si Nian and Si Qing held Jiang Cheng's hands and quietly glanced at each other.
Si Nian lowered her eyes; the anger from Lin Weiwei's earlier insults had dissipated somewhat.
Both of them were inherently quite kind-hearted.
Although seeing Lin Weiwei reduced to this state brought them a fair amount of satisfaction.
But as soon as she apologized, the two girls subconsciously wanted to let the matter drop.
However, before they could speak, Jiang Cheng's gaze turned cold first.
His tone carried a sense of pressure, "Is this your attitude for an apology? You two don't think that after bullying someone, you can just bow and apologize and it'll all be over, do you?? If it were that easy, then it would be too simple. I could find people in Shanghai to watch you every day, throw all sorts of things at you, or 'accidentally' bump into you somewhere, and then apologize to you afterward... How would you like that?"
Jiang Cheng spoke these words lightly, but Zhang Hongmei's heart tightened with fear.
Zhang Hongmei only had one daughter, Lin Weiwei.
Jiang Cheng had been able to take down their family shop so quickly.
As someone who had struggled and survived in society, Zhang Hongmei felt that Jiang Cheng's words definitely meant more than just a simple 'bump'.
If he spent money to hire someone to hit Lin Weiwei with a car, wouldn't their family line end right there?
Zhang Hongmei hurriedly took a step forward, putting on a forced smile for Jiang Cheng, "Mr. Jiang, please don't be angry. This child is immature; I'll apologize to the two young ladies on her behalf."
As she spoke, she looked at Si Nian and Si Qing again, her posture extremely low, "Young ladies, it's Weiwei's fault. I offer you my apologies. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."
Seeing that Jiang Cheng's expression still hadn't improved, Zhang Hongmei grit her teeth. As if making a hard decision, she suddenly pulled a black bank card from her bag.
She held it out with both hands, "Mr. Jiang, this is compensation for the mental distress caused to the two young ladies. This card has no password. It was originally intended as a birthday gift for Weiwei; it has 500,000 in it. What do you think..."
"500,000?" Jiang Cheng scoffed, his eyes full of mockery. "Do you think I look like someone who lacks 500,000?"
Zhang Hongmei's face instantly turned deathly pale.
She dealt in luxury goods, so how could she not recognize the outfit Jiang Cheng was wearing?
In a place like Shanghai, anyone with a bit of status could buy high-end luxury clothes.
But the Richard Mille on his wrist was something else entirely.
In Guangzhou, you could get knock-offs of this kind of watch for a few hundred, or even one or two hundred.
But Jiang Cheng's was clearly not a high-quality imitation.
Someone with a famous watch worth thirty million naturally wouldn't care about such a small amount of money.
Zhang Hongmei's hands began to shake as she hurriedly added, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! This money was originally meant to be Weiwei's birthday gift; I was inconsiderate! This bit of compensation is certainly far from enough. I'll message the bank manager right now and add another 1.5 million to it to make it an even two million as an apology to them. Please be magnanimous and don't hold it against us!"
She spoke while pulling out her phone to send the message, terrified that Jiang Cheng wouldn't agree.
When Zhang Hongmei stuffed the black card into Lin Weiwei's hand, her fingers were still shaking. She turned and dialed the bank manager, her voice cracking with urgency, "Manager Wang! I'm sending you a WeChat message right now, look at it! Immediately transfer 1.5 million into the black card ending in XXXX! It must arrive instantly!"
Jiang Cheng didn't even glance at the bank card. His gaze fell back onto Lin Weiwei, his tone firm and brook no refusal, "An apology requires the right attitude. How did Cheng Xiao Dong apologize to me?"
Zhang Hongmei's movements jerked to a halt, and she instantly understood what he meant.
He wanted Lin Weiwei to kneel.
After hanging up the phone, she saw that Jiang Cheng didn't speak to stop her, so she breathed a slight sigh of relief and turned to glare at Lin Weiwei.
At this moment, Lin Weiwei was clutching the card and frowning, her eyes full of heartache for the money.
The 500,000 in this card was the birthday gift she had been looking forward to for a long time.
Now, she actually had to give these two people two million.
Seeing her like this, Zhang Hongmei's anger flared up instantly.
Her voice was sharp and fierce, "What are you still standing there for? Your father and I have worked hard for over half our lives, and it's all going to be ruined by your hands!"
She hurriedly shoved the bank card into Lin Weiwei's hand and pushed her toward Si Nian and Si Qing, "Quick! Take the card and go over there! Do as Mr. Jiang says!"
"Mom, there are so many people here, and some are even filming..."
"What does it matter if there are many people? Is this the time to worry about your pride?" Zhang Hongmei's voice carried a sob, her hand gripping Lin Weiwei's arm so hard her knuckles turned white.
She practically shoved her in front of Jiang Cheng, "Apologize quickly! Tell Mr. Jiang you were wrong! That you shouldn't have spoken out of turn, and you shouldn't have made him angry!"
Lin Weiwei was pushed and stumbled, her gaze sweeping over the phone lenses of the surrounding crowd.
Her face turned bright red, and she shrank back, her voice carrying a panicked stubbornness, "Mom! I'm scared..."
"Scared of what?" Zhang Hongmei interrupted her sharply, her voice suddenly rising, then she quickly lowered it, afraid of displeasing Jiang Cheng.
But she couldn't hide the despair in her eyes. "Those high-quality imitation bags in your father's warehouse that he didn't have time to mix with the genuine ones! Based on the purchase orders in the hands of the Industry and Commerce Bureau and the customer complaint letters! These are all real! If we're really taken down, not only will your father go to jail, but I'll go too! Do you want to see both of us finished??"
Zhang Hongmei was so angry her chest hurt. She reached out to pinch her daughter's arm.
She pushed her forward once again.
"Do you have any idea what the consequences are for the crime of'selling goods with counterfeit registered trademarks'? If the amount is high enough, it's a prison sentence! If your father and I go in, what will happen to you? Do you think you'll still be able to be a young lady? If we don't let this blow up, we can still apply for a lighter punishment—pay four times the price for the fakes. At most, I'll lose all the money I've earned over the years, but at least your father and I won't have to go to jail..."
These words hit Lin Weiwei's heart like a heavy hammer.
Although she didn't know every detail of the family business.
When she was in Guangzhou, she had grown up in the OEM factories for high-quality imitation bags.
Now, thinking about it, she knew their shop really was selling fakes.
She looked at her mother's pale face, then at Jiang Cheng's cold, emotionless eyes.
Fear crawled up her spine, and her voice began to go hoarse, "Mom... what do we do now? Will you really go bankrupt?? What will I do if we're bankrupt... I won't have any money left... I don't want that..."
Seeing that Lin Weiwei's first thought wasn't fear for them being sent to jail, but fear for herself.
Zhang Hongmei instantly felt a chill in her heart...
She had taken so many risks over the years, thinking every day about moving up the social ladder.
From a common migrant worker in Guangdong, she had fought her way to where she was today, putting in immense effort and sweat.
Everything she did was simply in the hope that her precious daughter could have better living conditions and wouldn't have to work as hard as she did back then.
But now that disaster had struck, her daughter showed no concern for her at all, which made her feel incredibly disheartened.
It couldn't be ruled out that many children from wealthy families were well-taught.
After all, the resources were there.
But there was always a failure half of the time.
Otherwise, why would there be those Second-generation rich who, after an argument with their family, would angrily floor the gas pedal and plow into people on the sidewalk, then get out of the car and throw cash around?
Someone like Lin Weiwei could only be considered a minor show-off.
Her misfortune was simply crossing paths with Jiang Cheng...
The affection in Zhang Hongmei's heart vanished completely.
She rushed forward in a few strides and slapped Lin Weiwei hard on the shoulder.
Then she pressed down on Lin Weiwei's shoulders with all her might, forcing her down while shouting incessantly, "Kneel! Apologize to these two girls, right now! Immediately!"
However, Lin Weiwei was like a piece of wood, standing stiffly in place. No matter how much force Zhang Hongmei used, she refused to bend her knees and kneel.
Seeing this, Zhang Hongmei's anxiety intensified. She raised her hand and gave Lin Weiwei another fierce slap, screaming hysterically, "I told you to kneel! Didn't you hear me?"
This slap was even heavier than the previous one. Lin Weiwei felt a stinging pain on her face, and her legs seemed to suddenly lose their support, buckling involuntarily.
With a muffled "thump," she finally fell to her knees in front of Si Nian and Si Qing.
Lin Weiwei bit her lip hard, tears welling in her eyes, a sob escaping her throat.
She spoke with difficulty, "Si Nian, Si Qing, everything before was my fault. I shouldn't have bullied you. I'm really sorry..."
The two girls looked at Jiang Cheng, seeing that he hadn't spoken yet.
After exchanging a glance, they sensibly and silently stood to the side without making a sound.
They were waiting for Jiang Cheng to make the decision.
Jiang Cheng took the bank card and then stuffed it into Si Qing's hand.
He spoke, "This compensation for mental distress is what you should pay. However, I don't accept the apology. A wrongdoer can turn over a new leaf, can reform themselves, can cast aside the past and start a new life. But for those who were bullied, the blows they suffered might take a lifetime to heal..."
Hearing Jiang Cheng's words about "the wrongdoer can turn back, but the victim's wounds take a lifetime to heal," the two sisters' hands clearly tightened on Jiang Cheng's arm again.
Their fingertips turned slightly white, as if they had been struck by a moment of past grievance.
Sensing the emotions of the two girls.
Jiang Cheng didn't look at Lin Weiwei and her mother; he just lowered his head and said softly to the sisters, "Don't be afraid."
Only then did he look up at Zhang Hongmei, his voice remaining cold, "You won't be able to escape the responsibility you should bear. This matter will be left to the law and the police. But as for her, I'll put it this way: as long as I, Jiang Cheng, am here, don't even think about ever stepping foot in Shanghai again..."
Zhang Hongmei breathed an instant sigh of relief upon hearing this.
As long as Jiang Cheng didn't intervene further, they still had some room to breathe.
Although after this incident, these three shops would definitely be closed down.
They would even face massive fines, losing everything down to their underwear.
But it was still better than Jiang Cheng applying pressure, forcing them to pay fines and go to jail.
Zhang Hongmei quickly agreed.
"Rest assured, Young Master Jiang. I'll handle her withdrawal from school immediately and have her return to Guangzhou. She won't appear before you again."
Hearing this, Lin Weiwei cried out to Zhang Hongmei with a look of agony, "Mom..."
Lin Yang, who was standing to the side, had remained silent throughout.
But because he had been watching, he had figured out the whole story.
So his coming to investigate this shop today was also because of Jiang Cheng.
Lin Yang's hand holding the baton unconsciously loosened slightly.
From the very beginning when he took on the case related to Hao Liang at the school, Lin Yang had discovered that Jiang Cheng was a man of unfathomable depth.
Otherwise, the matter with Hao Liang couldn't have just disappeared like that.
Lin Yang even secretly suspected if the other party had used his power to take wanton revenge, leading to the man's death.
Then there was the handling of Wang Hao's incident.
At that time, the Mingsheng Group had been mobilized, and big shots in Shanghai had personally called, further confirming to Lin Yang the power behind Jiang Cheng.
And then there was Chen Tie's case.
As he sorted through these cases one by one...