CH 9

Jiang Nian has certainly not forgotten what Ms. Yao Shuqin had said. After all, that five million has always been on her mind. She has spent countless hours making the “how to squander five million” plan. She even had dreams of swimming in a pile of money.

“Jiang Nian, you and Shen Ming were too conspicuous this time, even my husband has heard of it. It is still okay now, as I am the only who has come to persuade you. If it were Shen Ming’s father, he wouldn’t talk to you as peacefully as I am. By then, it would be too late for you to regret.”

“Jiang Nian, you have to understand that you and Shen Ming have no future together. It’s better to make sensible decisions now to eliminate pains in the future. This is better for you.”

Jiang Nian walked to the balcony with the phone. She was quiet for a while, said: “You try to buy me and threaten me to make me leave Shen Ming, then have you considered what Shen Ming wants? If he chooses to break up with me on his own, then you won’t have to do anything, I will leave him willingly.”

Yao Shuqin smiled and said: “We know what to do. You just have to leave him.”

Shen Ming was a very precocious little child. He has always had a strong self-discipline, he never does anything without proper deliberation and so, his family never had to worry about him. Shen Ming’s father, Shen Chongshan, was always busy with work so they are not close.

Yao Shuqin was of course very busy as well. Her son was smart and sensible. She never had to worry about him. She has always felt gratified. Only, by the time she wanted to be closer to her son, she suddenly discovered that her son had already grown up. The feelings that have to be cultivated with time could not grow overnight. Thus, they were never as close as other mothers and their children.

She wanted to bridge the gap between them. However, Shen Ming had chosen the strictest boarding school, which only let them visit home once a month. He had been busy studying, competing in school competitions and attending institutes that teach foreign languages.

Later, Shen Ming graduated from A university and went abroad for further studies. After returning, he started working at Shen.

He is at an age where he does not need or care for her teachings. He is now a man who is better than his father so she does not dare to impose those teachings onto him.

Then, he got a girlfriend which had been opposed by the whole family. When she told him that the girl was not suitable for him, he straightforwardly said: “Jiang Nian is my girlfriend. I choose her. Even if you are not satisfied with her family’s background, please, at least respect her.”

Yao Shuqin had always known that she could not control Shen Ming’s decisions. Thus, she can only start with Jiang Nian.

Yao Shuqin: “Jiang Nian, hurry up and decide. Don’t delay it any longer… Even if you marry into our Shen family, I’m afraid it won’t get any better. Both my husband and father-in-law will never accept you.”

Jiang Nian hesitated for a moment, and then seriously said: “…Ms. Yao Shuqin, Shen Ming and I are simply dating, I haven’t said that I will marry him.”  

Yao Shuqin: “…”

Ms. Yao Shuqin was stunned into silence.

Finally, she said that Jiang Nian should decide to leave Shen Ming as soon as possible and then hung up. Jiang Nian was worriedly holding her mobile phone.

Lin Xiaoyue came out and looked at her strangely: “What happened to you? Your face looks so bad. Tell me what happened.”

Jiang Nian shook her head: “Nothing.”

“Why do you look so anxious?”

” ……”

Of course it is because Ms. Yao Shuqin did not mention that whole five million!! She is afraid that her five million will fly away !!!

At five o’clock in the General Assembly on Sunday, Li Mei led three of her friends to the podium where they publicly apologised to Jiang Nian in front of all 300 students in their finance department.

Teacher Zheng also stressed that Jiang Nian and her boyfriend have a normal relationship. There is no money transaction involved in any way. As adults, they should not listen to rumours that may damage a classmate’s reputation because of a few vague photos.

Jiang Nian sat on the first row in front of the stage and watched Li Mei read the report on the podium in front of hundreds of people.

Her face was red and her voice trembled. Her hands were tightly clenching the papers, while her entire body was visibly shaking. Just that it wasn’t clear whether it was because of shame or anger.

When she finished reading, she went back to her seat and cried there very miserably.  

There were too many people watching and whispering. Jiang Nian did not move. The person who did the wrong thing is not her. She doesn’t need to be embarrassed.

Just after the end of the General Assembly, Jiang Nian and Lin Xiaoyue were going to eat at a street vendor nearby when Xue Hao came over.

Xue Hao had a very handsome face and was also a well-known schoolmaster[1], it wasn’t a surprise that Li Mei liked him.

“Jiang Nian, I want to talk to you. Do you have time?”

“What do you want to talk about?”

Xue Hao hesitantly said: “What happened to you in these recent days was wrong. You shouldn’t let it make you sad. People who believe these rumours don’t know who you really are. You just shouldn’t take them seriously.”

Jiang Nian nodded and said: “Thank you but I am not sad. There is nothing to be sad about. If there isn’t anything else, then I am going to eat with Lin Xiaoyue.”

Xue Hao stared at Jiang Nian’s face. She had a faint smile, her eyes were soft and her pale blue dress made her look like a little fairy, very beautiful. She even looked better than before.

He stopped himself from talking more, his eyes were deeply affectionate.

Jiang Nian smiled politely and said: “I will go first then.”

After that, she no longer looked at Xue Hao and left with Lin Xiaoyue.

Lin Xiaoyue looked back at Xue Hao’s lost appearance. She couldn’t help but whisper: “That guy, Xue Hao, sincerely cares for you and yet, you are still so indifferent.”

“What else am I supposed to do?”

“Ah, that is true. It’s better than leading him on.”

What’s more, she and Xue Hao had nothing more to say.

She was too distracted thinking about the five million. She will really cry if she missed the chance to get it. She made so many money squandering plans… The feeling of her dreams shattering made her feel like she had fallen into Hell.

Li Mei did not appear in class on Monday. Lin Xiaoyue said that she heard that Li Mei took a sick leave after Shen Ming appeared in the office. After Jiang Nian was proven innocent, Li Mei and the other girls had a huge fight in their dorm room. The three other girls usually get along more together so they began to isolate Li Mei after that fight.

She also heard that the reason that incident occurred is because Li Mei likes Xue Hao who likes Jiang Nian. This led to Li Mei hating Jiang Nian. She was the one who took the pictures and posted them on the school forum. She even personally sent the photos to the councillor by herself. All of this was done by Li Mei alone and had nothing to do with them.

This pot[2] was being pushed onto Li Mei.

Jiang Nian was quite surprised. After all, these people were always seen together everywhere not long ago. They have started acting like enemies so fast.

“Was the photo really taken by Li Mei?”

“Not her. Zhang Yao accidentally took it.”

Lin Xiaoyue said with some lingering fear: “Fortunately, my relationship with them was not very close. Who knows when I would have been stabbed in the back?!”

Jiang Nian nodded. For the first time, she felt like Lin Xiaoyue said something reasonable.

In the evening, she and Shen Ming had dinner together. At that time, she told him what happened in school. He reacted flatly. He used the knife and fork to cut the steak gracefully. He lifted his eyes and faintly said: “They still have some self-awareness. If they dare to talk nonsense again, you don’t need to be polite.”

Jiang Nian held her cheek and said, “Now no one dares to slander me. Instead, they spend all their energy guessing who my boyfriend is.”

Shen Ming raised his eyebrows…

Jiang Nian: “But no one guessed that it could be you! Are they too unknown to look at me?”

Shen Ming: “…”

He looked vacantly at Jiang Nian and could feel a headache coming: “Eat.”

“OK.”

Ever since the short fat old man with a beer belly transformed into a super-rich and handsome third generation, they get a lot of people overtly or covertly peeping at them whenever Shen Ming drops her off. Before, Jiang Nian could stay with Shen Ming in the car for a long time. Now, she stays inside for a little while longer and people start assuming that she won’t be coming back for the entire night.

Therefore, Jiang Nian can only get out of the car and run to the dormitory quickly. Shen Ming also changed his car to one with tinted windows to conserve his mysterious identity to the fullest. The outsiders couldn’t even see a corner of his clothes. However, new pictures of Jiang Nian being dropped off get posted on the school forum from time to time.

There are no bad comments about her this time. Most of it is about how envious they are or guessing who her mysterious boyfriend is.

Xue Hao is also very curious. Why would Jiang Nian choose give him up.

“Okay, you should stop reading these comments. This person’s identity is very high. It is not surprising that Jiang Nian would choose him. Instead, we should be spending our time wondering why he would choose her!”

The roommate talking is Yang Kaiqi, a local citizen of A. He is also a rich second generation.

Xue Hao immediately asked: “Do you know him?!”

Yang Kaiqi said: “How can I have the ability to know him? It is my father. I took the photo of the car and showed it to my dad. My dad identified the owner of the car from just seeing the car. The man is so amazing! There is no other like him.”

Xue Hao was puzzled. He knows that Jiang Nian’s boyfriend should be a rich second generation. He may be a bit powerful, but surely this is an exaggeration?

He asked again: “Who is it?”

Yang Kaiqi touched his chin and whispered: “Actually, we know that Jiang Nian’s boyfriend could be a lot of people. After all, there are a lot of people with money and identity. Not to mention that he personally went to the office… Li Mei and Zhang Yao also know who it is, but no one dares to really reveal it. Why do you think that is?”

Because the other party is too powerful, no one dares to offend him.

Xue Hao was a little disheartened. Yang Kaiqi patted him on the shoulder: “So don’t think too much about Jiang Nian. There is no chance.”

Xue Hao did not give up: “So, who is that person? I really can’t just give up unless you tell me.”

Yang Kaiqi thought about it. He could only whisper the name in his ear. Xue Hao was horrified. How could it possibly be him? He never thought that Jiang Nian’s boyfriend would be him?

“You should give up before you get into trouble. You won’t be able to blame me for not reminding you. What’s more, Jiang Nian clearly doesn’t like you.”

Xue Hao is in a complicated mood. He really likes Jiang Nian. But he really can’t compare to Shen Ming. The man, who graduated so many years ago but still gets mentioned from time to time because he is that much of a legend.  

Jiang Nian was having a leisurely day.

It is a pity that Ms. Yao Shuqin’s call did not come again. Instead, there was something happening at home.

In recent days, when she called, it was obvious that something was not right with her parents. She kept asking again and again, until her mother said the truth. Jiang Nian’s father had to retire early.

Jiang Nian was surprised: “How come he has to suddenly retire?”

Jiang Daddy is only fifty, and he still has several years till retirement!  

Jiang mother said that they did not know why but the news came suddenly. They said that it was because Jiang’s father was getting old and his body was not as good as before, so he was being forced to retire early.

Jiang Dad is very fond of teaching. He has good health and does not have to retire early! So he has been in a bad mood recently. He wanted to hide it from Jiang Nian but it was still discovered by her.   

[1] Schoolmaster: A nerd. But like in a cool way, I think. In Chinese novels, almost all nerds are attractive somehow ._.

[2] Pot: Blame.