Translator: Xena
Editor: CYL0
Jiang Yao was so frightened that he even stumbled at the end of his sentence.
The room suddenly fell into an eerie silence.
Duan Zhuxian’s father, Duan Song, had seen a lot of storms after so long. Hence, he was the first to react and say with a smile, “Is it Xiao Jiang? He’s quite informal and seems to be an easygoing kid. ”
Haha, you have a really high EQ.
Jiang Yao forced himself to regain some rationality and squeeze out a stiff smile from his out-of-control expression.
The chaotic, dream-like night of shamefulness that had just attacked his mind in a flash was also forcibly suppressed by him.
He gritted his teeth and greeted Duan Song and the fashionable middle-aged woman beside him.`
Yuan Li didn’t expect Jiang Yao to know Duan Zhuxian and looked at him in surprise. “Zhuxian, you know our Yaoyao?”
“Yes, we are old acquaintances.”
Duan Zhuxian walked forward with a natural expression and personally invited the two elders to the dining table. He pulled out chairs for them in a gentlemanly manner and poured each a cup of freshly brewed Dahongpao1An expensive type of Oolong tea.
Upon learning that Jiang Yao and Duan Zhuxian already had friendly relations, the confusion that had lasted for many days on the faces of the Jiang couple eased a little.
Jiang Yao’s face was like the sky before a storm, visibly darkening.
After the elders sat down, Duan Zhuxian turned around and beckoned to Jiang Yao who was still standing at the door, “Come and sit.”
Jiang Yao had his hands in his trouser pockets, pretending to admire the flourishes of calligraphy hanging on the entrance wall. Upon hearing this, he turned his head and his gaze met Duan Zhuxian’s.
Duan Zhuxian was wearing a thin black suit today paired with a blue diagonal striped tie, his hair meticulously groomed. It seemed like he took his time to come here from the company.
The man sat next to the elders in a dignified manner. His every move was full of gentleness and elegance. Even the curve of his lips was probably calculated.
It was simply sycophantic and he behaved like a complete hypocrite.
Jiang Yao snorted softly, overcame the many obstacles in his heart, walked to the table, and found that the only seat left was next to Duan Zhuxian.
He hesitated for a while, then sat down under everyone’s gazes.
Before the dishes were served, the elders of the two families had already started talking about Huayan’s investment in Jiangli.
Duan Zhuxian made supplementary explanations on the side, expressing both the humility of a younger generation and the sophistication of a businessman. His way of conduct among other people was impeccable.
Only Jiang Yao sat upright as if he had been hit by a club. Occasionally, when his name was called, he would open his lips and respond dryly.
The presence of someone next to him was too strong. Jiang Yao wanted to divert his attention, so he glanced at the macadamia nuts on the table but couldn’t find the shelling tool. So he gave up and took out his mobile phone to start browsing.
He first perfunctorily replied to Chen Yiqi’s message that was asking about his blind date, then logged into his email and clicked on the work content he had not finished reading.
Suddenly, the tip of his nose felt a slight movement of air.
He raised his eyes slightly, and a distinctly jointed hand appeared in front of him, holding a small porcelain plate. With a slight tilt, a few peeled milky-white macadamia nuts rolled onto his plate.
“What are you doing?”
Jiang Yao moved his butt to the side as if he was pricked by a needle and stared at Duan Zhuxian with a wary look on his face.
Duan Zhuxian still had a calm expression. Taking advantage of the two middle-aged men, Duan Song and Jiang Qingtian, in loud conversation, he whispered, “It’s a formal occasion, let’s put aside personal grudges first.”
“You don’t need to tell me.”
Jiang Yao raised his eyelids and responded unhappily.
After that, he no longer tried to avoid Duan Zhuxian deliberately, but instead closed his shell even tighter like a clam while exuding the aura of “demons and monsters, stay away!”
The purpose of this dinner was to discuss the matter of being related through marriage, but the actual focus was on “related” rather than “marriage”.
From the conversation among the elders, Jiang Yao roughly understood the whole story.
Since its establishment, Huayan Group, run by the Duan family, has always focused its investments on commodities and real estate. As the founder, Duan Zhuxian’s grandfather had been in charge of the company’s affairs for many years, but his ideas are still advancing with time.
The old man examined the current situation and saw that Internet technology has developed by leaps and bounds in recent years, and artificial intelligence was ready to take off. Those who got a taste of it made copious money, so he also wanted to get a piece of the pie. After much research, he set his sights on their company, but his parents were determined not to give up the controlling stake, so it eventually turned into a marriage.
The twists and turns were quite complicated, but in short, marriage could maximize the interests of both parties.
The beautiful woman who came with Duan Song was called He Lu, Duan Zhuxian’s stepmother. Her pair of narrow and long phoenix eyes would glance at the two juniors from time to time.
Seeing Duan Zhuxian pour Jiang Yao a glass of water after he was burned by the spicy crayfish, she was all smiles as she said, “Zhuxian and Young Master Jiang have a really good relationship.”
Auntie, blindness is a disease and needs to be treated.
Jiang Yao looked at her with a smile, shifted his butt, and put some distance between himself and Duan Zhuxian again.
Seeing that neither Jiang Yao nor Duan Zhuxian said anything, He Lu continued speaking with a gentle expression, “No wonder when Old Duan wanted to arrange for Feiyi to marry Young Master Jiang, Zhuxian tried his best to stop it and even recommended himself.”
Duan Feiyi was born to He Lu and was Duan Zhuxian’s half-brother. It was said that he was only half a year younger than Duan Zhuxian. There was no need to guess how he came to be.
Seeing He Lu trying her best to maintain her elegance but unable to conceal her secret joy several times, Jiang Yao roughly figured out the underlying relationship between Duan Zhuxian and his stepmother.
But he was too lazy to delve into these grudges and calculations.
What he cared about was He Lu’s last sentence.
During the meal, the parents of both parties had half-jokingly and half-seriously discussed the time to get the marriage certificate and choosing an auspicious day to hold the wedding so that their in-law statuses could be confirmed to the outside world.
After finishing dinner, the two pairs of elders prepared to move to the tea room to chat more.
Jiang Yao suddenly stood up and smiled at the people at the table who turned to look at him.
“Excuse me, everyone, Duan Zhuxian and I will be leaving for a while.”
He spoke very politely, then grabbed Duan Zhuxian’s wrist, pulled him up from his seat, and rushed to the small garden outside the private room at lightning speed. He pushed the other party into the corner fiercely, the sharpness in his eyes completely unconcealed.
“Explain, what did your stepmother mean?”
“Take it literally.”
His indifferent tone made Jiang Yao want to beat someone up.
He frowned, took a small step forward on one leg, pressed his knee against the side of Duan Zhuxian’s leg, and lowered his voice. “You know I don’t have much patience with you.”
Duan Zhuxian said, “I forgot that you’ve never been good at Chinese since you were young.”
Jiang Yao glared at him. “Will you die if you don’t confront me?”
Duan Zhuxian lowered his eyes and stared at him without making any comments.
After a few seconds of a face-to-face stalemate, Jiang Yao stepped two meters back, turned around irritably, and kicked the edge of a flower bed.
He accidentally used too much force, causing his toes to hurt so much they were trembling.
“You should have understood clearly at the dinner table earlier. Given my grandfather’s attitude, he needed to choose one of the eligible juniors to marry you.”
Just as Jiang Yao curled up his toes and hissed secretly, Duan Zhuxian behind him suddenly started to explain.
“When my uncles heard about this, they all tried to shirk the responsibility, fearing that the heavy responsibility would fall on their own children. Only my father was different. He wanted to use this opportunity to please the old man. As the eldest son, I took the initiative to help my father solve his problems. What’s wrong with that?”
“What bullshit logic! You’re a filial son and grandson, so you sacrificed me in the process?”
Jiang Yao turned around and glared at him. He noticed that Duan Zhuxian’s expression had become indifferent at some point.
“Even if it’s not me, you’ll still marry someone else.” Duan Zhuxian’s expression remained unchanged, but his tone became even colder.
Jiang Yao was stunned for a few seconds, then laughed. “What the hell does it have to do with you if I marry someone else?”
Upon hearing this, Duan Zhuxian walked slowly toward Jiang Yao and stood in front of him, with a dark and unfathomable gaze kept beneath his brows.
“At least we know each other well and are a good match.”
Jiang Yao: “?”
His Chinese grades were indeed not as good as Duan Zhuxian’s, but are the words “good match” used this way?
【 The author has something to say】
Jiang Yao: Someone who is good at Chinese can come explain it to me.
