CH 132

Although Xiao Zheng was not as much of a genius as Xiao Yi, he was smart after all. He was no longer the young man who could only stand behind Jiang Nian. Those reckless, impulsive, and ignorant impulses had long since been restrained, and he knew more clearly than anyone that once his feelings were discovered, the old lady wouldn’t accept it, Jiang Nian maybe even less, and the current situation of the three of them would dwindle into an irremediable state.

So he hid his feelings very deeply, if it wasn’t for…

If the old lady hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, the fact that Xiao Zheng liked Jiang Nian would still be a secret buried in his heart. He would still get along with her like before, exercising together in the morning, watching TV or dealing with official business together in the evening, instead of being so restrained and distant from her, forced to go on blind dates constantly and threatened with his secret being spilled to Jiang Nian, all constraining him to make a deal with Yun Shu to deceive the old lady.

It happened a few months ago. At that time, he and Jiang Nian were making final preparations for the company’s board of directors. It was very late in the study that day. He couldn’t remember exactly, but he saw Jiang Nian lying tired, asleep on the desk peacefully. Instead of waking her up, he unknowingly stood by and watched her for a long time.

Only when there was no one around could he carefully reveal a little bit of his long-hidden secret.

But when he looked up, he saw the shocked old lady standing at the door of the study.

She didn’t say anything and turned to go out.

Xiao Zheng knew that this matter was not over.

The next day, he was called over by the old lady, who seemed to have not gotten a wink of sleep all night and was exhausted.

He knelt beside her bed.

“How long?”

“I don’t know.”

“Does Jiang Nian know?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you know what you’re doing?”

“…I know.”

“Know? What do you know? I don’t think you know!” The old lady was as stern as when he was young: “You are wrong, you are very wrong about this! You must put your thoughts away, remember your identity!”

Of course Xiao Zheng knew what his identity was, he was her brother-in-law, and she was the favorite woman of his most respected eldest brother.

“I see, grandma.”

However, after that, the old lady didn’t seem to feel at ease. She began to arrange blind dates for Xiao Zheng and let him meet more girls. She thought that it was only because Xiao Zheng had been relying on and staying beside Jiang Nian too much over the years that he developed such improper thoughts.

Xiao Zheng was raised on by her and Jiang Nian. After the car accident, the Xiao family was in chaos. Xiao Zheng lost his father, mother, and brother, and also lost a lot of happiness and freedom. He studied at school during the day and went home at night to study business. Following Jiang Nian to learn to handle official business, he was not as smart as Xiao Yi, so he could only spend more and more time studying, repeatedly reading the papers over and over again…

He didn’t have any friends, and naturally he didn’t have time to meet other girls. As far as she knew, he had never dated anyone over the years, and she had never seen any woman around him.

The old lady was very strict with Xiao Zheng. She hoped desperately that Xiao Zheng could grow up and support the Xiao family, so much that she did not expect Xiao Zheng would have ideas toward Jiang Nian.

Jiang Nian was a good girl, and the girl Xiao Yi liked would naturally not be bad. She saw everything she did after the Xiao family accident. For so many years, Jiang Nian had guarded the old lady and taught Xiao Zheng everything she knew. It’s all in the eyes, a woman’s good years were buried in the Xiao family. The old lady was not hard-hearted and took Jiang Nian’s efforts into her eyes, of course, she will not object to her remarriage, and will bless her, the Xiao family will be her eternal backing, but the person she’ll be wedded to must not be Xiao Zheng.

What’s more, there have been a lot of rumors outside over the past few years. If there is anything concrete, the situation will be even more unpleasant outside. When the time comes, Xiao Yi, who is already dead, will talked about out and he’ll be pointed at. And what about the reputation of the Xiao family, even Jiang Nian will be forced to leave the Xiao family in order to avoid suspicion.

The old lady could only let Xiao Zheng contact other girls, but she didn’t expect Xiao Zheng to be submissive on the surface and brought Yun Shu to lie to her!

“Xiao Zheng, don’t try to lie to me, you brought Yun Shu back for the first time to appease me, lest I introduce you to girls from different families. Those ladies from aristocratic families are not easy to control. You are afraid that things will exceed your expectations. It will ruin your affairs, and you are also afraid that Jiang Nian will contact those young ladies and cause unnecessary misunderstandings. After that, you will not bring Yun Shu back because you have never given up Jiang Nian in your heart. You are afraid of being misunderstood by her, aren’t you? This is not giving up!”

Xiao Zheng explained: “Grandma, I brought Yun Shu back to reassure you, but I didn’t bring Yun Shu back today because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to marry her, so there was no need for too much contact with the family, wasting everyone’s time.”

He said it very seriously, with a little helplessness. It really didn’t look like he was lying, but instead, it made the old lady suspicious, thinking that maybe she got it wrong: “You mean it?”

“Really.”

“You are like this, I think it’s the best, that Yun Shu is really not suitable for you, just seeing her makes me terrified. If you want her to face the board of directors, I’m afraid she will be so scared that she’d fall to the ground.”

“Well, I’m measured, grandma, you go back and rest.”

“Remember your identity.”

“I understand.”

After the old lady left, Xiao Zheng’s face turned gloomy. He leaned on the seat, closed his eyes and pinched the space between his brows.

It’s hard to get the old lady to accept that he likes Jiang Nian. The old woman’s thoughts are stubborn and paranoid, and it’s hard to make her change her mind. Not to mention the old lady, even when he found out that the woman he was thinking of was his own When he was sister-in-law, even he was also taken aback.

He had thought that it was an illusion, but let him hide it again and pretend that nothing happened, so that he could deceive others but not himself.

He looked at the pale ceiling, he liked Jiang Nian, he liked her so much that he couldn’t give up on her at all.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, Xiao Zheng sat up straight, the gloom on his face had long since disappeared, and he looked indifferent again.

At this time, only Jiang Nian will come knocking on the door.

He got up and went to open the door. Sure enough, he saw Jiang Nian who had just returned from running. She had her ponytail tied up, her cheeks were flushed, and a few strands were stuck to her cheeks. Because of the heat, he seemed to be able to smell a faint sweet smell, which was very familiar to him. It’s her scent.

She also held a glass of milk in her hand: “Here, I brought it to you along the way.”

Xiao Zheng smiled and said thank you, and took it with one hand.

“Sister-in-law, are you really not going to go back to the company?”

“No, I still have some things to do. I can’t sleep well when I’m busy with work. It’s better to be a freeloader and relax.” Jiang Nian waved her hand, she really didn’t want to go back.

Xiao Zheng lowered his eyes and said helplessly: “Sister-in-law, you are not here, I’m not used to many things, and it is very difficult for me to deal with them.”

Jiang Nian snorted: “Don’t you have people in your hands?”

“But you are the only one I really trust. ”

Jiang Nian wanted to pat him on the shoulder like she used to, but found that he was so tall that she couldn’t pat him at all, so she could only pat his arm and encouraged: “You will get used to it, don’t worry, you have been doing well all these years.”

Xiao Zheng looked at her and shook his head stubbornly.

“Sister-in-law, you can go and rest.”

“…Okay.” Jiang Nian said, “You also have a rest early, don’t be too busy.”

“Well, good night, sister-in-law.”

Xiao Zheng watched Jiang Nian return to the bedroom and turned back to the study.

He lowered his head, looked at the milk in his hand, and rubbed his fingertips as if a little soft warmth still remained there.

…

In the next few days, Jiang Nian was really busy. She often couldn’t see anyone, and she left early and returned late. Xiao Zheng only found out later, learning that the Jiang family had been in contact more frequently in recent days, and sent a few posts asking for a visit. Their intention was already obvious.

The old lady was very disdainful: “At that time, our family’s situation was so difficult, but I didn’t see them help, even Jiang Nian didn’t get even an ounce of help, but now, they think about coming over to get in touch. Yes. Sure enough, if your father marries a stepmother, you will have a stepfather. I think this Jiang Tao is old and confused!”

The matter of the Jiang family was spread everywhere, and the movement of Jiang Nian to leave the Jiang family made a lot of noise. At that time, Jiang Tao shouted at the door that he would cut off the relationship between father and daughter and drove her away. They hadn’t exchanged even a word at festivals since then, and even if they met on some necessary occasions, they acted as if they didn’t know each other. In recent years, the Xiao family had slowly gotten up, and the Jiang family reached out instead, especially recently, they were even more attentive.

Auntie said, “Jiang Tao is Madam’s father after all. Madam has been away from home for nearly nine years and has resigned from the company. Does she have any plans?”

The old lady thought for a while, then sighed helplessly, “What we think doesn’t matter, she and Jiang Tao are related by blood after all, I’ll ask Niannian’s plan when I have a chance.”

Later, when the old lady and Jiang Nian were chatting in the sun in the yard, the old lady heard Jiang Nian say, “Some things are really hard to give up.”

Seeing that Jiang Nian had plans to contact Jiang Tao, the old lady said: “No matter what you decide, the Xiao family is your home.”

Jiang Nian smiled: “Yeah. ”

It doesn’t matter if Jiang Nian is not at home or not, now that the Xiao family’s situation has stabilized, there is no need for her to stay, as long as there is a small amount of money, the world is home.

The old lady told Xiao Zheng what Jiang Nian meant, and he was suffocated. Does she plan to go back to Jiang’s house?

Jiang Tao’s mentality was not right. He was able to tie Jiang Nian to Yang Hai back then. At first glance, it was not something that a father could do. Now, seeing his attitude, it looked like a weasel greeting the chicken for the New Year… No, Jiang Nian would not be so stupid. From what he knew about Jiang Nian, she wouldn’t be fooled enough to be deceived by Jiang Tao, and the possibility of returning to Jiang’s house was even less.

He had been with Jiang Nian for many years and understood her temperament, which could only mean that Jiang Nian had other plans.

Xiao Zheng had seen Jiang Nian holding information about Jiang Tao and Guo Xiuyu in her study before. At that time, he wondered why Jiang Nian was investigating Jiang Tao, and he was still wondering if she was homesick, so he… Later, when he saw Jiang Nian reading information about Yang Hai, he vaguely felt that Jiang Nian might be after the Jiang family to take revenge.

Xiao Zheng naturally didn’t want Jiang Nian to leave, because whether she was in the Xiao family or not, it was not an obstacle to prevent him from being with her. Instead, it was better for her to stay under his nose, always in his presence.

Surprise surprise! No, I didn’t finish translating chapters 88 and 89, so why’d I post chapter 132 you ask? ‘Cause I discovered that chapters 92-65 are missing as well! I swear they were present when I picked this novel up! It’s like I gotta retranslate the apocalypse arc in its entirety QAQ. And since it’s gonna take quite some time, Imma try to update this arc as well, so as not to make you too impatient. Wish me luck TwT!