CH 131

Jiang Nian looked at Xiao Zheng, who was leaning against the door with his hands folded over his chest.

Of course she won’t stay in the Xiao family forever. She has a plan. Now that the Xiao Group is in Xiao Zheng’s hands, the current situation has stabilized. With her shares in the Xiao family, the annual dividends are enough to support her wandering and wealth gathering. It’ll be the perfect life for her.

But before that, some accounts still have to be settled. In the previous life, the original owner suffered a very miserable experience.

Jiang Nian asked, “Can’t I stay at Xiao’s house?”

Xiao Zheng’s expression didn’t change, but his eyes became more serious.

Jiang Nian smiled, “The noodles are ready, let’s eat quickly.”

Xiao Zheng went to the living room outside with his face hidden between his bangs. Jiang Nian sat down in front of him and watched him burying his head and eating noodles.

Jiang Nian still remembered that when she first transmigrated, the Xiao family was in a bad condition, and her own condition was even worse.

At that time, she had just been deceived by Jiang’s father to return to Jiang’s house on the grounds that he was seriously ill. Who would have guessed that she would be locked up and not allowed to return to Xiao’s house.

Shortly after Xiao Yi’s death, the original owner’s parents came to Xiao’s family to take her back. In the eyes of the Jiang family, the original owner Jiang Nian and Xiao Yi were originally in a business marriage. Now that Xiao Yi is dead, Xiao Yunshan and Chen Mei were also not spared, the Xiao family was left with a 70-year-old old lady and a 17-year-old little boy. Under the external and internal troubles, the property belonging to the Xiao family would definitely be swallowed up.

The interests of the Jiang family come first. After thinking about it for a long time, they ordered her to leave the Xiao family immediately with her inheritance and draw a clear line between her and the Xiao family. You can’t get married in vain and get nothing, right? For this reason, Jiang’s father even threatened to sever the father-daughter relationship if she disobeyed his orders.

Not only that, but he also introduced her to Yang Hai from Jinke Electronics. Yang Hai is forty-five, widowed, has sons and daughters, his wife died of breast cancer, his son and daughter are 20 years old, and they are still in college. Jiang Nian is not too young, so this match is considered decent. The original owner was naturally unwilling, but unfortunately, no matter how she refused and protested, she could not make father Jiang change his mind.

When Jiang Nian arrived, the original owner had been on a hunger strike for three days.

She was not the original owner, so the first thing she did was to eat first,  wait for Jiang’s father to come back from work and fulfill his “severing the father-daughter relationship”, then leave the Jiang family decisively.

At that time, she was also in a hurry to go back to guard the gold and silver mountains of the Xiao family. She didn’t have to spend so much time in the Jiang family. Now that she has more time, some accounts can be settled slowly.

Xiao Zheng put down his chopsticks, looked at the woman sitting in front of him resting her cheeks on her hands, and asked, “Sister-in-law, have you been happy all these years?”

Jiang Nian answered, surprised, “I am very happy, why ask this?”

Xiao Zheng looked at her with distress and guilt and tightened his fingers, suffocating slightly in his heart.

He was not as smart as his elder brother since he was a child. From childhood to adulthood, everyone said that his elder brother was the only genius in the family, but he knew that he was the one who was not up to par. Xiao Yi completed his college courses by himself in high school, he had already finished his Master at the age of 20, then he joined the company and was able to silence those old foxes by himself. He is different. He does not have the talent and ability of his elder brother. What his elder brother only needs to browse, he needs to learn for a long time. He is very stupid.

After the car accident, he thought countless times that if he was the one to die instead of his elder brother, the Xiao family would not be in trouble, grandma would not worry to the point of washing her face with tears all day, and sister-in-law would not stand in front of them and shoulder heavy responsibilities. He even remembered that when Jiang Nianchu went to the company, some deliberately made things difficult for her, and they’d pressure her to drink multiple cups…

“Sister-in-law, you have paid so much for our family. Since the death of my eldest brother, you stayed single, taking care of my grandmother, and me, and dealing with these ill-intentioned people around me. Now I can protect you and grandma. I hope you think about yourself, don’t wrong yourself.”

Jiang Nian thought it was no big deal, and she reassured him with a smile: “Don’t worry, I will definitely not wrong myself.”

Xiao Zheng squinted and smiled, his appearance losing the maturity he portrayed most of the time, but instead showed the childish and cute side of his childhood.

After Xiao Zheng finished eating the longevity noodles, Jiang Nian went back to her room to rest while Xiao Zheng went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. At this moment, his face was no longer as harmless as before. His face was heavy. After cleaning the dishes, he looked at the rushing water and suddenly pressed the tap.

He suddenly received a call, the caller: Yun Shu.

He picked it up expressionlessly, and said coldly, “I told you to ask my assistant.”

Yun Shu, who was on the other end of the phone, was so frightened that she hurriedly explained, “I’m sorry, I just wanted to thank you…”

“If you want to thank me, just remember what I said, stay away from Jiang Nian, and don’t tell her anything about me.”

“I-I didn’t say anything important, really…Miss Jiang only asked how long we have been dating. I said three months, nothing else.”

“Don’t call me in the future.”

He hung up, his voice sounding very dissatisfied.

Yun Shu was a little flustered, she wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and looked back at her mother lying on the hospital bed. She and her mother depended on each other for life, but cancer that her mother was diagnosed with two months ago had already used up all the family’s savings. If it wasn’t for her chance encounter with Xiao Zheng, they would have been kicked out of the hospital long ago.

Although Xiao Zheng was very indifferent and seemed inhumane, even a little gloomy, she was very grateful to him.

She just had to help him by pretending to be his girlfriend. Naturally, she won’t refuse such a simple thing.

In her eyes, Xiao Zheng is a good person, a very good person.

…

Early the next morning, Xiao Zheng went downstairs and saw the old lady having breakfast. Jiang Nian was not there. She was probably running in the yard.

He was indifferent, even looking a little apathetic.

“Grandma, good morning.”

“Well, good morning.”

He took a bun and took a mouthful of porridge. The old lady glanced at him and saw that he went straight to the company after breakfast. The old lady was leaning on crutches and walked in the yard. Seeing Xiao Zheng’s black car driving away, she turned back to the house.

Xiao Zheng glanced back and quickly retracted his gaze.

In the past, he could still meet Jiang Nian at the company, but now she stopped going and retreated completely. Even if he said he believed her, he couldn’t keep her. Xiao Zheng thought that he should find a way to persuade Jiang Nian to return to the company.

Jiang Nian was really busy. Seeing that the Xiao family was getting better and better, the Jiang family, who had been quiet for a long time, finally started to move again, calling her from time to time, hoping that she could go home. The things that happened back then were unpleasant, but with how many years have passed, what’s an overnight feud between father and daughter?

But this is not an overnight feud, but a lifetime feud.

The original owner in the previous life was not doing well. If she hadn’t crossed over, the original owner would be forced to marry Yang Hai soon. After the original owner married Yang Hai, the old lady who heard the news suffered from a stroke and was hospitalized. Xiao Zheng tried painstakingly to turn the tide and keep the Xiao family’s position, but unfortunately, one is too old and the other is too young, and faced with old foxes filled with malice… In the end, of course, they couldn’t keep the propriety safe.

The old lady died of anxiety not long after, leaving only Xiao Zheng, who had just turned seventeen, in the Xiao family.

Xiao Zheng was young and incompetent, so he naturally lost control of the Xiao family. Then there were relatives vying for his guardianship, just to occupy the inheritance in his hands. On the surface they loved him, but in fact they selfishly hindered and cornered him.

It had been a long time since the original owner heard the news. At that time, she never understood why her biological father persecuted her like this. Later, she learned from Yang Haikou that Jiang’s father thought of marriage for one billion as a “cooperation fee”.

After hearing this, the original owner was heartbroken. She tried to run away countless times, but because the villa was full of people loyal to Yang Hai, she was being watched even when she walked in the yard. She thought of countless ways, pretending to accept her fate. Once, when Yang Hai took her out to socialize, she used the excuse to go to the bathroom and ran away. However, fate did not favor her. She was hit and killed on the spot by a passing car because she ran in a panic.

She may not understand until she dies, why all this befell her.

Jiang Nian knew that all of this was because of a woman, Guo Xiuyu, the step-wife who was brought home by Jiang’s father after her biological mother died.

Yang Hai and Guo Xiuyu had known each other for a long time in private, and it was Yang Hai who introduced Guo Xiuyu to Jiang’s father. Guo Xiuyu wanted to deal with Jiang Nian, and Yang Hai would naturally help to watch her and would not give her a chance to escape.

Jiang Nian will not let any of these people go.

This day, Guo Xiuyu called again, telling her how her father had missed her over the years, saying that her father had already regretted it and that he did it back then for her own good, nothing else.

Jiang Nian also said with emotion: “Yeah, for my sake, just lock me up and give me to an old man 20 years older than me, thank you so much. I didn’t expect your kindness to be like this, and my eyes are truly open now.”

“Niannian, when Xiao Yi, Xiao Yunshan, and Chen Mei just died, everyone was saying that you were an unknown person, that you killed your husband’s family, and we have been in harmony with you and Yang Hai. Did it hurt you?”

“I also had a relationship with you and my mother, did you kill my mother?”

“…”

The call naturally ended in unhappiness.

Guo Xiuyu frowned, always feeling that the gap between the current situation and her previous life is too big. She obviously made a lot of stumbling blocks for Xiao Zheng and Jiang Nian over the years, but Xiao Zheng was able to take control of the Xiao family three years earlier. Because of the rise of the Xiao family again, and because the Jiang family has been sitting idly by all these years, unable to benefit from Xiao Zheng, Jiang Tao has recently become restless, and even has some resentment towards her.

Of course, that man was selfish and arrogant, brave and easy to take advantage of. She could settle him in a previous life, and naturally she also can in this life. What made her care was that Xiao Zheng liked Jiang Nian.

Back then, the fact that the younger brother-in-law wanted to marry the widowed sister-in-law was widely spread in the circle!

She knew Xiao Zheng’s methods, so when she came back from the rebirth, she would blow Jiang Tao’s ear to let him marry Jiang Nian to Yang Hai, but unfortunately, it fell short in the end.

…

Xiao Zheng got off work earlier that night. The family of three had dinner together. Xiao Zheng’s mood was light.

When he was young, he couldn’t hide his emotions at all. When faced with the difficult and frivolous words of the board of directors and relatives, he would get angry, and he even ruined some of Jiang Nian’s plans.

Xiao Zheng studied for a long time and endured it for a long time. Every time he was punished, he would kneel in the ancestral hall. He would not eat when his aunt secretly brought him food. He would also hold the old lady’s leg to wipe his tears, promising to never do it again.

He will never do it again.

By now, she became an old lady, and many of them still don’t quite understand her grandson.

Xiao Er Shao, who was pampered and sunny, looked like an irritable little leopard.

He had clear grievances and clear emotions, and couldn’t do anything fake.

Of course, he had suffered a lot because of this. Jiang Nian had told him many times, and even fined him not to eat dinner because of this, just to make him remember.

When facing the enemy, once your emotions are seen through, you have already lost half of the war.

The old lady looked at Xiao Zheng, then at Jiang Nian, and said with a smile, “Ah Zheng, take your girlfriend home for dinner tomorrow, it’s the weekend anyway.”

“Grandma, maybe not tomorrow.”

“Huh?”

“There is something going on at Yunshu School. I don’t have time.”

The old lady said, “I’m just inviting her for dinner. It won’t take much time. No matter how busy you are, you still have to eat. How can young people not pay attention to their health.”

Xiao Zheng smiled helplessly and complied, “Okay. Okay, I’ll ask her.”

The old lady was satisfied, and then said, “Niannian, are you okay with dining here tomorrow?”

Jiang Nian replied, “Yes, I’m free.”

The old lady was happy, “Well, our family will have a meal together.”

Xiao Zheng tightened his hand holding the chopsticks, but when the two women looked up, they couldn’t see anything unusual.

After dinner, Jiang Nian went for a run as usual. She used to run with Xiao Zheng, but he has been lazy recently, and he doesn’t run with Jiang Nian very much. Instead, he reads in the study.

Standing in the study, he lifted the curtains a little, and he could clearly see Jiang Nian running in the yard. She was wearing simple sports clothes, with a hat covering her head, so he could only see a thin figure.

He watched for a while, then the study door was knocked. The old lady was at the door: “Ah Zheng?”

Xiao Zheng lowered the curtains and walked to open the door.

“What’s wrong, grandma?”

“Come and see you.”

The old lady stood in the study and suggested, “Why don’t you open the curtains, the room is pitch black.”

Xiao Zheng replied, “It’s quieter, I still have a lot of documents to read.”

The old lady smiled with satisfaction, “Look at you, so hard and so serious. I am relieved, after so many years, the Xiao propriety has finally returned to the hands of our Xiao family, you have to keep our Xiao family’s reputation, but also our Xiao family status! Understood?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I won’t bother you, you can do it. By the way, remember to bring Yun Shu back tomorrow.”

“Ok.”

He said afterward that Yun Shu had to catch up with the papers, so she really can’t come. The old lady didn’t say anything, but was disappointed, “I have prepared a large table of dishes, what a pity.”

Jiang Nian was actually a little puzzled, the old lady clearly told her that she didn’t like Yun Shu, and felt that Yun Shu was not suitable for the role of Xiao Zheng’s wife, but now it seems that she likes her quite a bit?

She said, “Grandma, it doesn’t matter, there is still a chance.”

The old lady hummed helplessly and glanced at Xiao Zheng.

Xiao Zheng’s attitude was sincere and flattered: “Grandma, I will definitely bring Yun Shu next time.”

It was quite a hearty meal because Auntie’s craftsmanship was very good. Jiang Nian had a round stomach, and the old lady was satiated as well.  Xiao Zheng was in the study on the second floor. He lit a cigarette, but none of the documents spread out on the table came into his eyes.

Sure enough, it didn’t take long for the old lady to come again. She was not as talkative as yesterday, and looked very serious: “Ah Zheng, why didn’t you bring Yunshu back for dinner today?”

“Yunshu can’t come because of something.”

“That’s an excuse. ”

“It isn’t.”

“Have you not given up on Jiang Nian? Did you ask Yun Shu to lie to me?”

“No.”

“She’s your elder sister-in-law, even if your elder brother dies, she is your elder sister-in-law, if you don’t put away your little thoughts, we will never be able to keep her in this family!”

The author has something to say:

the male protagonist should be Xiao Zheng.

The translator has something to say:

I’m sorry for the late update (again) QAQ. I was really sick and wasn’t really in the mood for anything.

Important notice: chapters 88-90 were deleted by the previous translator. I talked with our administrator and decided to translate those first. I’ll try to speed things up so please bear with me TwT!