Jing family was one of the four prominent families in Ruby City, known for their wide range of businesses and strong ties with the government. Actually, their clan heads had been elected city mayor at least once in their lives. It was as if they were a political dynasty of the city.Apart from their clan heads, the other important members were holding high positions in the office, and people were not questioning them because they trust in them. In everyone"s eyes, all surnamed Jings were responsible and really care for the welfare of the citizens.
Of course, what"s going on outside their offices and duties was a different matter altogether. Like the other big and rich families, the Jings had their own internal issues. Some were small and not worth the ma.s.ses" attention, the others were big deals and could be the whole city"s gossip for days to come.
One of those belonging to the latter was how the younger brother of the previous head allegedly got misled by a common woman. The result of that was a son born out of wedlock, which the Jings only found out two years later, when the woman who had become an escort left the two-year-old child at the gate of their mansion together with a DNA test result and other ident.i.ty doc.u.ments.
Truth be told, it was one of the issues that gave the city mayor"s family some headaches. They would not have accepted him into the family if not for the several paparazzi always loitering around the premise. Those nasty and persistent people captured photos of both the baby and the small stack of doc.u.ments next to him, leaving them, reputation lover, with no choice but ushered the baby in and raised him.
However, as an illegitimate child, what kind of life would he get from people who don"t truly want to acknowledge his existence? The Jing family doesn"t treat the unwanted him kindly of course. He grew up like an orphan, with both parents alive yet never willing to see him. Ooops, no, his father was actually at least seeing him from time to time, whenever he wanted somebody to beat up and lash out at.
From childhood to teenage years, he was always looked down upon and mistreated. The insults and injuries he got throughout his life were the real deal compared to those he got from the students earlier.
Yup. Jiang Li"s current ident.i.ty in this world was indeed as the male lead said. He was Jing Mo, that illegitimate and unacknowledged son of the Jings, someone who grew up protecting himself from the harshness of the world by b.u.t.tering up to the strong and using the weak. This was his way of survival. Because the environment around him dictated that this was only how he could adapt to his situation.
In all honesty, the battering and abuse he saw in the school were stuff he had been experiencing since he was young. If he had not learned to bootlick those princesses, princes and some privileged people from the main branch and other influential families, he would have still been having a more difficult time, beaten up and discriminated against.
His situation only got better through his efforts and wits. Now, even though the emotional scars kept increasing, at least, his body"s injuries were lesser and he could get education and food. This all probably helped him gain some sense of victory in his heart, against life and fate. He wanted to live and be independent soon so he was fighting.
Unfortunately, he was always an eyesore in some people"s eyes so in the end, he ended up sent to the disciplinary school. His half-brother and father who thought he was a stain that should be removed from the family orchestrated everything. And without a doubt, they were hoping for him to die there and no longer go back.
Not sure if it was for better or worse, but Jing Mo had long developed a skin thicker than the city walls from Jiang Li"s previous life so he survived. He was observant and knew at a glance how he should adapt. As a result, while the others were feeling like they were thrown into h.e.l.l, he was having a rather easy time in that place. He only suffered for a few days and then he instantly knew how he would have a more bearable life. If Jiang Li did not take over, he would have been the small villain there, ensuring that no one would escape and threaten the status quo.
Jing Mo, the one thought as a public enemy of the students, was truly wicked in some ways. But it had to be remembered that n.o.body was truly born evil. Yet the more unfortunate thing was that not many would bother knowing why a villain ended up walking down a stray path.
Sometimes, in stories, they were given the most tragic backstories to bait some readers to sympathize, but amongst those in the same world as him, how many knew of his pain and how many among tried to reach out a hand? None. Because everyone was busy thinking that their pain was already the most, or simply lamenting that he was beyond saving.
How ironic that in the end, this same person couldn"t truly become a modern demon king. His heart still retained some light in it which made him wish for those students to be able to escape with him. He even wished to lead an honest life after that. There was nothing wrong with that of course. It was just hard not to sigh at his story.
"Jing Mo... is as r.e.t.a.r.ded as He Chen. Now that I think about it, first and third Originals are sane people while second and fourth is a bunch of indescribable people. Is this some sort of pattern?"
"I was framed by my brother and ended up getting an undeserved punishment from my parents. How about you?"
In the middle of the night, two figures were incessantly moving in the woods with no source of light whatsoever. One of them was attempting to chase away the unsettling atmosphere and eeriness by chatting with the other. However, the other party seemed to have turned into a mute, probably in a bad mood due to what the group did to him... The male lead was unaware that Jiang Li was simply recalling the memories of the original Jing Mo.