Chapter 259: Chapter 259: Third Brother Falls in Love
Chen Qian looked at her in terror.
Her instinct told her that Jiang Nanshu would really break her bones.
She trembled violently, tears flowing unconsciously as she curled up, “What do I need to do for you to let me go, can I leave Beijing?”
Jiang Nanshu looked down at her from above, with a small smirk, “Help me do something, then get out of Beijing and never appear before me again, and I’ll let you go.”
Chen Qian’s eyes brightened.
She quickly nodded her head, fearing Jiang Nanshu would change her mind the next second.
“You say it; as long as I can do it, I will.”
“You have a good relationship with Chu Muxi, right? She wanted you to monitor me, so report everything you learn from me to her, focusing solely on the news about my third brother Jian Hemian. Let her realize that she is trivial in front of my brother and provoke her resentment toward Jian Hemian at the right time,” Jiang Nanshu said with a smile. “This task is simple, isn’t it? Can you do it?”
Chen Qian felt a chill in her scalp.
Jiang Nanshu wanted her to distort facts and sow discord in front of Chu Muxi.
Her throat felt dry, wanting to ask wasn’t Jian Hemian her own brother? The original Jiang Nanshu sought the recognition of the Jiang Family; how could she possibly do something that would make her family hate her?
What good did it do Chu Muxi to hate Jian Hemian?
But when she met Jiang Nanshu’s smiling eyes, she could only nod meekly, “Okay…”
“Qianqian, by no later than next week; I’ll be waiting for the good news.”
Jiang Nanshu spoke dominantly as she helped Chen Qian sit properly in the wheelchair, straightened her disheveled clothes, then pushed the wheelchair toward the school gate.
Throughout, Chen Qian remained stiff, not daring to move.
When they reached the school gate.
Chen Qian shivered, “I—it’s okay. Chu Muxi’s people will pick me up at the school gate. I’ll accomplish what you’ve asked and leave Beijing myself. I just want to stay alive.”
Jiang Nanshu smiled slightly, “Qianqian, take care of yourself.”
Chen Qian dazedly looked back at her.
Jiang Nanshu’s vicious aura vanished, and she smiled warmly, just like many years ago.
Their encounter three years ago was an accident, and she knew Jiang Nanshu even before that.
Both came from impoverished villages, but only she had secured the top position in the provincial high school exams.
She attended the best high school and was exempted from tuition fees; she heard the school even awarded her ten-thousand yuan annually.
While she could only envy those naturally gifted, having to retake a year to enter a school better than Sheng Yi Middle School.
She had fought her way into Beijing’s best private high school, only to find out that the once exceptional student god also attended this school; however, compared to her previous halo, she had become just another insignificant speck of dust, obscured by her family’s wealth, rendering her into an absurd joke.
Chen Qian’s academics were her proud capital when dealing with the haughty Jiang Nanshu.
When Jiang Nanshu saved her from being bullied, she felt grateful.
But this gratitude dulled amidst the superiority that transcended and dominated her.
So what if she once had good grades? So what if she came from a good family?
When it came to exams, didn’t she still anxiously wait for Jiang Nanshu to pass her the answers?
Gradually, their friendship with Jiang Nanshu soured.
Half of it was her greed that made her agree to Chu Muxi’s proposal to embezzle funds and coax Jiang Nanshu to spend money on her, only to end up trying to ruin her.
Chen Qian’s lips quivered as she said with difficulty, “Nanshu…” “If… if I had not done these things to hurt you, would we have been the best of friends?”
Jiang Nanshu paused.
She met Chen Qian’s eyes.
The eyes that used to contain resentment were now clear.
And they held a hint of expectation.
She found it somewhat amusing; how could someone who harms others turn around and ask such a question?
Moreover, the deceived one was not her.
It was the transcender; Chen Qian should be asking that transcender, not her.
Jiang Nanshu’s smile was gentle, “I can’t answer your question. In this world, there are no ‘what ifs,’ so it’s not valid.”
Chen Qian’s gaze dimmed instantly, “I see.”
She waved at Jiang Nanshu and pushed her wheelchair out.
Soon, someone came to wheel her away.
Not far away, Chu Muxi sat in a luxury car.
Due to illness, her complexion was even paler than normal.
Now on her wrist hung a string of cinnabar-red sandalwood beads. The string was long and the beads were small; she had wrapped it several times to barely wear it.
Her brows indicated irritation, and her eyes showed fatigue.
“Miss, Chen Qian has arrived.”
In front of Chen Qian, Chu Muxi’s demeanor changed from the gentleness she showed others. Her delicate face now looked somewhat somber, “What exactly is going on with you and Jiang Nanshu? Didn’t you say she had broken it off with you? Why are you together again today?”
Compared to Jiang Nanshu, Chu Muxi’s oppressive presence inexplicably lessened significantly.
Chen Qian lowered her eyes, maintaining her usual composure in front of Chu Muxi, “I thought of something and reconciled with her. The task you’ve given me, if I’m not by her side, how could I find out about her recent situations with Lu Qingyan…”
Chu Muxi eyed her suspiciously, “Is she really that easy to talk to? Didn’t you say your injuries were caused by her? Are you lying to me, Chen Qian?”
Chen Qian scoffed, her eyes brimming with resentment, “Yes, she did it, so I had to act pitiful to gain her sympathy. Jiang Nanshu is quite foolish; I just cry a little, and she lets it go. She sees me as pitiful and doesn’t mind the bad things I did to her before. Besides, I repaid all the money I borrowed from her; we’re even now. What more does she have to complain about? After all, our past friendship was genuine.”
Seeing this, Chu Muxi’s suspicion slightly eased, “Well, she has been acting strange lately. Don’t let her notice anything odd. I’ll lessen our contacts during this period and try to find a way to make her break up with Lu Qingyan. We’re being pushed on that end.”
As for who “that end” referred to, it was the person assigning the task to her.
Chen Qian didn’t know who was behind Chu Muxi; she just followed Chu Muxi’s orders.
Chen Qian responded softly, “Okay.”
Then following Jiang Nanshu’s direction: “I reconciled with her today, and she shared quite a few personal things with me.”
Chu Muxi frowned, looking at her, “She talked to you about these things?”
Chen Qian smiled, “It’s not really something important. When my relationship with Jiang Nanshu was good, I was very clear about the situations of her several brothers at home, and this time she mentioned her third brother, Jian Hemian…”
Chu Muxi’s hand subconsciously tightened on the dangling cinnabar-red sandalwood beads, her expression tense, “What about her third brother?”
Chen Qian secretly observed Chu Muxi’s expression before slowly saying, “Jiang Nanshu’s third brother is in love.”