As soon as the words left his mouth, Jin Chonglin immediately felt lighter. It felt good to admit aloud that he no longer wanted to marry his fiancée. However, he still couldn't stop the feeling of guilt because after all he was the one who proposed to Fan Luo in the first place.
He had no idea why his brother was suddenly asking him this. Jin Liwei was cold and bossy, so for a rebel like Jin Chonglin who refused to work for the company and carved his own path in showbiz instead, it may appear to others that the brothers didn't get along. Their five-year age gap also fueled this speculation even further.
Contrary to what others thought, the brothers actually got along well. Although it was true that they didn't interact much in recent years, it was only because Jin Liwei had to abruptly succeed as head of Jin Corporation during his mid-twenties after their father died due to heart failure. Jin Liwei became too busy with stabilizing the company after their father's death and also in establishing his own position.
Jin Chonglin could still remember when they were children that his older brother always looked out for him. Even then, Jin Liwei already had a cold and indifferent personality but he cared for the people important to him.
He always held great respect for his older brother because he knew that he could never be as firm or reliable as Jin Liwei. Jin Chonglin could be as wild and unfettered as he wanted because he knew that his older brother would always be there to clean up his mess and balance things out.
However, at the end of the day, he was still a member of the Jin family. He knew that there were some limits that he couldn't cross. If there was no Fan family attached to his fiancée, he would've broken up with her long ago. To make matters more complicated was that his mother treated the Fans as family and adored Fan Luo like her own daughter.
Jin Chonglin was a rebel but he wasn't heartless. He could forsake the Jins and perhaps even his older brother, but never would he dare hurt his mother.
So in this matter with Fan Luo, he felt torn. He knew that his brother prioritized the good of the family. Jin Chonglin honestly didn't know how Jin Liwei would react to his admission.
Finally, Jin Liwei replied. "Good. You shouldn't marry that kind of insane woman."
"Eh?" Jin Chonglin was taken aback. Did his brother just refer to Fan Luo as an insane woman?
"Now listen to what I'm going to say," Jin Liwei continued, oblivious to his brother's surprise. "We're going to plan your breakup in a way that minimizes the impact on both families, especially on Mother."
"Ah? What?" Jin Chonglin was too stunned to make sense of what his brother was saying.
"The Fans are very ambitious and had clung to their connection to us Jins in order to reach their current status. They won't allow you to escape their clutches that easily. I'm already starting to distance Jin Corporation from them, but if your marriage with their daughter continued as planned, I'm sure they will find various ways to worm inside the company."
"Why the sudden aversion to the Fans? Did they do something against you?"
Jin Liwei didn't answer immediately.
"Not to me personally," he eventually said. "But to someone important to me. Now I'm regretting my connection to the Fans. I wish I didn't directly involve myself in their matters, even though my intention was to protect our family."
"Someone important to you? Who?" Jin Chonglin was confused. Was it their mother? But their mother was still close to the Fans as ever. Who else was close to his brother? Was it his four best friends? But those guys could take care of themselves. Or was it him?
"Never mind about that for now. You'll eventually find out."
"Alright. So what's your plan, Big Bro?"
"You can't breakup with Fan Luo for now because she'll most likely go crazy. Just distance yourself from her and avoid any interactions with her as much as possible. If she or her family starts harassing you or asks our mother to intervene, call me immediately. I'll send some of my subordinates to guard you if you need them."
Jin Chonglin listened attentively as Jin Liwei gave more specific instructions. Afterwards, he couldn't help but sigh. "I know that the situation is serious but I didn't realize that it's this serious. It won't be very easy for us to disentangle ourselves from the Fans, especially with Mom involved. I wish I didn't do what I did. I'm regretting it so badly now. I didn't think that I would change my mind and feelings like this when I made that decision in the past."
"Yeah. Me too," Jin Liwei also said with a deep sigh. "But what's past is already in the past. All we can do is change ourselves in the present and work for a different future."
Jin Chonglin didn't know why his brother said these words but he decided not to comment. The brothers discussed their plans some more. Now Jin Chonglin felt less indecisive and a little more confident. He wished he talked to his older brother sooner. Jin Liwei always solved things.
"Thanks, Big Bro," he said.
"We're brothers," Jin Liwei's calm voice replied.
"Yeah, we're brothers."