Chapter 42: Chapter 42: The light boat has already collided with a huge iceberg; the boat will sink when it reaches the bridge. Chapter 42: Chapter 42: The light boat has already collided with a huge iceberg; the boat will sink when it reaches the bridge. Jiang Nanshu’s first thought was of Ji Ze, that frail young boy with red-rimmed eyes calling her “sister,” as if hoping she would look back at him.
For some reason, this blue diamond necklace also made Jiang Nanshu lose interest. She had never actually visited her foster parents’ home, but the memory of that two-story red brick house covered in wisteria was exceptionally clear.
She was an outsider in this world, so what would visiting these parents change?
Did they expect her to display filial piety?
Jiang Nanshu slightly closed her eyes. She had grown up only to have personally sent her parents to hell, never having duly honored them.
She lifted her head and sneered, “I won’t go.”
“Jiang Leyi, don’t think you can command me just because you give me gifts. I won’t go back to that wretched place.”
Jiang Leyi’s expression turned cold, her hand at her side clenched tight, “Why, you know Xiaoze, he…”
“Stop.” Jiang Nanshu raised her hand, cutting off what she was about to say: “Ji Ze is your brother, not mine! You saw it yourself—how much he detested me that day. Aren’t you afraid I’d anger your parents to death if I returned?”
“Don’t bother persuading me any further; he surely doesn’t want a sister like me either. It’d be distressing to meet.”
Jiang Nanshu was annoyed; for some reason, she was afraid of seeing Ji Ze and his family.
Jiang Leyi’s lips parted slightly, and finally, she sighed. She wanted to say things were not as Jiang Nanshu had seen, but Jiang Nanshu was very resistant, and Jiang Leyi was also afraid; if Jiang Nanshu changed her mind about visiting Ji Ze’s home…
This matter could only be postponed until she was ready to face it.
After finishing the crispy pork, braised pork knuckle, and crab roe vermicelli rolls, Jiang Nanshu leaned back in her chair, content and belching. Jiang Yunchuan went to the gym, and since Jiang Leyi had an acting job tomorrow, she wouldn’t stay overnight at the villa and left after eating. Jiang Nanshu stared blankly at the ceiling.
“The Jiang Family’s cook is really skilled; I wish I could bring them to school so I could order dishes every day.”
Mr. Jiang came downstairs, just in time to hear.
Glancing at the leftovers on the table, he asked seemingly offhandedly, “Nannan, is the food at home better or the food at school?”
Jiang Nanshu smacked her lips, “Home is better, I adore coming home.”
“Cough, if you like it, I’ll replace all the cooks at Jing University for you, how about that?” Mr. Jiang looked at Jiang Nanshu with an unexpectedly hopeful gaze.
Jiang Nanshu’s expression immediately became serious, “Dad, are you feverish?”
Mr. Jiang: “…”
All he wanted was to be kinder to Jiang Nanshu and make up for the affection he’d neglected to give her over the years; why was that so difficult?!
This girl was impenetrable!
Frustrated, he rubbed his forehead, “I was just joking.”
“Oh, okay then.”
“Ha, I knew it. How could the old man be so kind-hearted? If he really wanted to do it, why bother asking me? Fishing for a reaction?”
Mr. Jiang: “…”
What’s the deal, allergic to your own family?
Change! Next week, I must replace the chefs in the entire school, scare her to death!
Jiang Nanshu stood up, asking perfunctorily, “Where are Mom and Fourth Brother? Aren’t they having dinner?”
Mr. Jiang replied, “Your mother has a headache and went to sleep; your Fourth Brother’s food is prepared separately, and a servant will take it up.”
“Alright, tell Mom and Fourth Brother to get plenty of rest. I ate too much, I’m going out for a walk.”
“Absolutely not caring, yay, off to play.”
Mr. Jiang: “…”
Jiang Nanshu, like a wild horse that had broken free, dashed out quickly, and Housekeeper Qian, holding a thermos, stood at the door and sighed sentimentally, “It’s great to be young. The breeze from her rushing past almost gave me a cold.”
“…”
Mr. Jiang sat on the sofa, and a servant poured him a cup of Calming Tea. After taking a sip, he asked, “Old Qian, how did your investigation go?”
Housekeeper Qian then walked in, respectfully reporting, “Sir, Young Master Lu still intends to break off the engagement with the Second Miss and plans to do so at Old Sir Lu’s seventieth birthday banquet. This will be a blow to the Second Miss.”
“Hmph.” Mr. Jiang snorted coldly. “Who isn’t worthy of my daughter? If not for that fortune-telling at some temple Young Master Lu visited years ago, claiming that Nannan could bless the Lu Family, enabling his grandson to live a long life of a hundred years and age peacefully, it would all be superstitious nonsense!”
Housekeeper Qian drank slowly from the thermos in silence, then spoke, “But Sir, you still agreed to it.”
Mr. Jiang: “…”
“In the Beijing Circle, the wealthy families are ranked, and the Lu Family is at the very top. Families are nearly breaking down the Lu Family’s door looking to marry in. If our Jiang Family’s status was just a bit higher, I would have slapped the marriage agreement right on that boy’s face!” Mr. Jiang said with some frustration. “But what can I do when Nannan is infatuated with his face and agreed immediately? Alas, it’s a sin.”
Housekeeper Qian tightened the thermos lid, “What will you do now, sir? Wait for half a month?”
“It would be good if the engagement could be called off. The Lu Family’s affairs are too messy…once involved, it’s like a fishy smell you can’t get rid of. I’m worried Nannan, being her character, would be wronged. Look at her chasing after Lu Qingyan. That young man is indifferent, which is playing with her feelings, isn’t it?”
Housekeeper Qian’s brows twitched involuntarily, struck by the sudden glow of paternal compassion from Mr. Jiang, but he found it unfamiliar.
But then… when it comes to Jiang Nanshu’s temperament, she’s probably only fierce within her own home.
“Don’t worry, sir. After all, a small boat has already crashed into a big iceberg. Let nature take its course, there’s no use in hurrying,” Housekeeper Qian said calmly and serenely, as if realizing the sudden clarity of life.
Mr. Jiang: “…” “Well said, but don’t say it again next time.”
“Understood.”
Mr. Jiang continued to worry about Jiang Nanshu’s marriage matters, of which she remained unaware.
At the moment, she was observing the villa next door, which had an even larger footprint than her house, with a wall on the lawn serving as a dividing line.
The villa seemed empty, no lights were on; it was probably uninhabited.
Jiang Nanshu merely wandered around before returning to her own room.
In the evening, she skillfully opened a story saved on her phone’s resource library and smiled a self-satisfied, matronly smile.
To think she, a girl in the bloom of youth, hadn’t even touched a man’s abs yet. She smacked her lips.
With eight hundred thousand in her account, she wondered if Lu Qingyan had bothered to check Liang Ciqiu.
After all, with solely a half-decent face, even an idiot would do some checking, wouldn’t they?
Jiang Nanshu thought for a moment, stroked her chin, and muttered softly, “It’s time to indulge in some male models again. I have been accumulating good deeds; I deserve this.”
Da Shachun appeared: “Host, are you sure you are ‘accumulating good deeds’ and not doing mostly harm?”
Jiang Nanshu crossed her legs arrogantly and retorted, “What do you know? Those who deserve to die are dead, preventing further harm in this world. I am doing a good deed.”
Da Shachun: “…”
It stared at Jiang Nanshu’s profile, which had only one note: “Danger level: Five stars (recommend elimination).”
Yes, she was to be eliminated.
How on earth did it get bound to her by accident!
Da Shachun was on the verge of tears; Jiang Nanshu was clearly so charmingly naive with a bright and rich inner world. How could she have a danger level of five stars?!