Translator: Xena
Editor: tart
Jiang Yao is the youngest in the family, born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Later, as he grew up, his edges gradually smoothed out a little. Now, he can disguise himself as a mature adult without any effort.
However, it seemed that he could never outgrow some memories related to Duan Zhuxian. Whenever those come to mind, they carry with them the freshest and most impulsive teenage emotions.
The streetscape outside the car window receded into a blur. Jiang Yao curled up his fingers and pressed them against his forehead. His brows were gloomy as he stared outside for a while.
When the unpleasant feeling subsided a little, he received a notification to add a friend.
He pressed yes, and the other party quickly sent a self-introduction: [Hello, Mr. Jiang. My last name is Lin, and I am President Duan’s personal assistant.]
Jiang Yao raised his eyebrows slightly, paused, and asked: [Why did you add me?]
Lin Zhu: [It was Mr. Duan who ordered it.]
Seeing that Jiang Yao didn’t reply for a long time, the other party added: [Mr. Jiang, can you please accommodate me? (Crying emoji) x3]
Looking at the three yellow pea men crying at the same time, Jiang Yao slightly narrowed his eyes. The image of the other party’s anxious and miserable appearance emerged in his mind.
Now that a natural loner like Duan Zhuxian was a leader, he must be a dictator and would definitely not be kind to his employees.
A sense of revolutionary sympathy and hatred for a common enemy ignited in Jiang Yao’s heart.
Forget it, it’d be good to keep him as a mouthpiece.
Jiang Yao lowered his eyes and replied lazily, “Oh.”
*
On another road, a business car was speeding towards the financial conference venue west of the city. Assistant Lin in the back seat stared at the screen of his mobile phone with bated breath, nerves extremely tense.
A few minutes ago, President Duan gave him a WeChat account and asked him to find a way to add it.
“He has a bad temper.”
President Duan reminded him like this.
There was no trace of annoyance in his tone, but rather a hint of indulgence. Even his cold expression softened a little.
Lin Zhu intuitively felt that the other party was very important and he could not afford to be negligent in the slightest.
So he took on a serious and responsible attitude and asked in advance, “Is this Mr. Jiang your client?”
Duan Zhuxian spoke softly, “He’s my fiancée.”
Lin Zhu was shocked. The burden on his shoulders, which was already heavy to begin with, suddenly weighed as much as a thousand pounds and almost crushed him.
While he was adding the other party, Duan Zhuxian had been resting with his eyes closed, tapping the central armrest slowly with his index finger. The sound was not loud, but to Lin Zhu’s ears, it sounded like a death warrant.
After exchanging a few words with Jiang Yao, Lin Zhu waited anxiously for about ten minutes, then tentatively sent a “thank you for your understanding (hands clasped together)”. He found that he was not blocked.
“President Duan, it’s done!” He was pleasantly surprised and couldn’t help but sigh, “Mr. Jiang is quite amiable.”
Duan Zhuxian opened his eyes. His sleepless gaze swept across the corner of his eyes and stopped at the chat history on Lin Zhu’s mobile phone screen.
Jiang Yao had sent a message not long ago: [It’s okay.]
Quite amiable indeed.
Duan Zhuxian paused and asked, “He bought it?”
Lin Zhu uttered an ambiguous “ah” and pushed his glasses up tactically, choosing to avoid the question.
When talking to his subordinates, Duan Zhuxian usually used declarative expressions, and it was rare for Lin Zhu to hear genuine doubts in his words.
Lin Zhu had a strong feeling that although he completed the task successfully, his boss did not seem very happy.
*
After the marriage was initially agreed upon, Hua Yan quickly injected the first batch of funds into Jiang Li and transferred experts from headquarters to assist Jiang Li in establishing contact with various connections.
The sadness that had been shrouding Jiang Qingtian and Yuan Li’s faces had mostly dissipated.
The project that Jiang Yao was working on was finally set into motion.
At the end of last year, he took over a music software company that had just been launched on the market from his brother. In order to increase the popularity of the platform, Jiang Yao planned to look for suitable promoters. However, the company encountered problems and the plan was shelved for a long time.
After convening a morning meeting with the project team and making arrangements for the upcoming work, Jiang Yao walked out of the meeting room with his sleeves rolled up. When he passed the public balcony, he heard someone talking on the phone.
“The company’s situation has stabilized, and there‘ll be no layoffs for the time being… I’m not lying, our CEO Jiang announced a new project today… Mm, don’t worry about Mom’s surgery fee… I’m not tired, so you can focus on preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam. Don’t skip dinner to save money. If you need money, ask your sister for it…”
The woman’s voice was hoarse and tired, but her tone could not hide her excitement, which was very touching.
Jiang Yao sighed and continued walking forward.
Not mentioning Jiang Li being the result of his parents’ life’s work and simply looking at the current situation, how many people rely on his family’s company to support their families? If screws fell from Jiang Li after being tossed about by the wind and rain, who would be the mountain for anyone to lean on?
Marrying someone was like delivering all living creatures from their suffering.
If I don’t go to hell, who will?
For a moment, Jiang Yao felt as if he was extremely sacred, with lotus flowers blooming with every step he took and Buddha’s light emanating from his whole body.
Back in the office, Jiang Yao took out his cell phone and opened the family group chat.
His parents and his brother have chatted enthusiastically over hundreds of messages. The content mainly revolved around his brother and his sister-in-law.
Ever since his brother was forced into marriage, he has had conflicts with his wife every now and then. His sister-in-law was a swift and decisive female chairman. She went back to her house in a fit of rage half a month ago and has not yet returned.
His parents criticized his brother in the group chat for not being able to take care of his own small family, bringing up how he would be able to manage the entire business in the future. They ordered his brother to go in person to apologize and pick her up.
His brother was not convinced and argued in the group chat: [It’s already not easy for me to be as respectful as I am in the outside world compared to in a marriage without emotional foundation. Why should I be the first to bow my head every time?]
When encountering such things in the past, Jiang Yao could still watch the fun and tease his brother a few times, but looking at the mess right now, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of grief for a like-minded person in distress.
He scrolled down for a long time but didn’t see anything related to him, so he put down his phone and asked his secretary to come over and report the meeting summary.
In the afternoon, Jiang Yao met with several big data analysts from outside the company. In the evening, he took them to the restaurant on the top floor of the office building for a light meal and to enjoy the beautiful city view of Lingbei.
After the meal, Jiang Yao stretched lazily as he walked into the elevator. It was already late outside the transparent glass.
The moment the sun set, the pale sky was splashed with all kinds of brilliant colors. Some of them fell on the unbuilt skyscraper opposite and were cut into fine gold powder by the reflector panels in the construction site, like flashes of inspiration falling from the sky.
Jiang Yao stood in the elevator, looking at the pile of exposed steel and iron bars. He unconsciously added bricks and tiles to them in his mind, constructing its flesh and blood, until his view was blocked by the wall.
There was a “ding” sound behind him, indicating that he reached the first floor.
After walking out of the building, Jiang Yao did not see the car that was to pick him up. There was only a black Bentley, parked domineeringly on the open space.
It was obviously unfamiliar, but ineffably irksome.
Jiang Yao glanced in that direction several times and was about to take out his cell phone to call the driver when the rear window of the Bentley slowly lowered, revealing a cold and arrogant face.
Who else could be so pretentious but Duan Zhuxian?
It was rare to have an evening with a beautiful sunset, but enemies have met on a narrow road.
How unlucky.
Jiang Yao rolled his eyes and was about to take a detour when he suddenly heard Duan Zhuxian call him.
Standing three meters away, he placed his hands in his pockets, turned his head, and asked, “What?”
Duan Zhuxian replied, “Get in.”
Jiang Yao said, “Do I not have a car?”
Duan Zhuxian’s expression remained unchanged. “I’ve greeted your driver.”
Jiang Yao was stunned for a moment, then he laughed out loud at Duan Zhuxian’s controlling attitude.
He took a few steps forward, leaned over neatly, propped onto the window sill with one hand, and asked the man in a suit inside the car. “What did President Duan call me out for this time?”
A beautiful face painted by the setting sun suddenly approached without any warning. The young man’s lips were curved in a provocative arc, and a refreshing citrus scent followed his wind-blown hair which passed through Duan Zhuxian’s nose.
Duan Zhuxian’s calm-as-water eyes stirred a little and his Adam’s apple rolled back and forth. He said indifferently, “My grandfather wants us to stay in the north of the city tonight.”
Jiang Yao: “?”
Duan Zhuxian was talking about the matrimonial house that Grandpa Duan had prepared for them, a garden villa located north of the city. It was said to have been handed down from the Republic of China period1Year 1912-1949. At that time, it was almost set by the government to be a small tourist attraction. Later on, Hua Yan invested in it and built a group of villas around it.
He’d originally thought it was just decoration for good luck, he didn’t expect that they intended to lock him in that golden cage.
Jiang Yao was puzzled. “The agreement has been signed, why is the old man in such a hurry?”
Duan Zhuxian’s expression remained unchanged. He dialed a number from his phone and handed it to Jiang Yao. “You can ask him yourself.”
Jiang Yao didn’t answer.
In this situation where neither he nor Duan Zhuxian could get any good results, he did not doubt that Duan Zhuxian would lie to him.
He said nonchalantly, “The old man won’t know whether I’ll really live there or not.”
Duan Zhuxian said, “He has plenty of eyes.”
Jiang Yao was speechless, his eyes fell on Assistant Lin who was driving in front.
Assistant Lin felt a chill down his spine, as if he had been shot in the back by an arrow.
【 The author has something to say】
Planning section: Put a sack on your wife and take her to live with you first.
