CH 9

Jiang Jingtong could feel that ever since he frequently accompanied his Xuedi, a sophomore who had just met an accident, Shi Yuanbai in return, paid him more attention, much more than he was used to get.

As expected, Gu Siyuan’s strategy hit the bullseye!

Previously, he had shared his mind with Gu Siyuan, telling how Shi Yuanbai didn’t seem to like one of his good Xuedi. 

Unexpectedly Gu Siyuan suggested that, if the Xuedi didn’t mind, Jiang Jingtong should get close and have more contact with the said Xuedi. 

Sure enough, Shi Yuanbai really got jealous because of it.

As for the sophomore Xuedi himself, Jiang Jingtong knew what his hidden motives were. Nevertheless, it’s enough as long as he could be used to enhance and stimulate the relationship between him and Shi Yuanbai. He didn’t mind putting up his disgust to play some scene with this Xuedi.

If it was before when Shi Yuanbai just hang him with a lukewarm attitude, he could spare some kindness to this sophomore. Wasn’t it just helping to solve each other’s physiological needs? He wouldn’t have minded granting this superficial wish. However, now that his relationship with Shi Yuanbai had shown a bright future, there was no need to waste time on this sophomore.

Hiding the disgust in his eyes, Jiang Jingtong coaxed the sophomore, who was still sleeping on the hospital bed, to have a good rest.

“You must rest properly. Today’s visit is over, and I’ll have to go. Don’t worry, I’ll come and see you tomorrow.”

The sophomore, who was called Xiaoyou, was lying on the bed and watched Jiang Jingtong leave the ward calmly. 

Not long after, he took out his phone and dialed a contact, Chen Xuyao.

“I have done what you told me to do. The promise you said to give me protection won’t be a joke, right?”

“Naturally. As long as you continue to do your part in the deal appropriately, I can guarantee your safety. You don’t have to be afraid of a life-threatening accident as you had just before. I can keep your family safe as well.”

Hearing what Chen Xuyao ​​said, Xiaoyou’s complexion went paler in shock.

“What, what are you talking about! What did you do to my family?”

Chen Xuyao calmly replied. “It’s not what I did, but what other people may plan to do to your family.”

Felling incredulous, Xiaoyou interjected, “How is it possible? It’s a clear criminal act. Surely such a law violation, is not something everyone will easily do, right?”

“It is easy, and they will dare. As long as they have the mind to do it, you won’t even find any evidence.” Chen Xuyao was telling the truth, based on his experience.

“Then…please, please help me,” Xiaoyou said weakly in the end.

Right now, the young man was engulfed in despair, feeling as if his the sky had fallen.

Obviously, it was Jiang Jingtong who went to find him first and treated him ambiguously, giving him the illusion of love. 

How much had Jiang Jingtong told him sweet nothings? What kind of promise, saying he’d like to fulfill and realize whatever Xiaoyou wanted as long as they were together. Most importantly, Jiang Jingtong clearly told him that he was actually single!

It turned out everything was a lie. Every sweet talk, every tender act, was false. In Jiang Jingtong’s heart, there was, and had always been one person, Shi Yuanbai.

If so, then what was he? He, who was in a relationship with Jiang Jingtong first…

Chen Xuyao had sent him the surveillance record of the nearby scene where he got beaten out by some thugs that day. It turned out Jiang Jingtong didn’t come late, he was there the whole time. 

He watched him being beaten without doing anything! 

As for the reason,

It was evident, to use his injuries as an excuse to take care of him and make Shi Yuanbai jealous.

Xiaoyou laughed out loud. His expression was indescribable, switching between laughing and crying. 

After calming down his complicated mood, he said to Chen Xuyao, who hadn’t shut down their call and had been silent on the phone for a long time, 

“I will help you. My only wish is for you to keep the promise, to ensure my safety as well as my family’s safety.”

“That goes without saying. Please rest assured, I have sent people to protect your parents. In a few days, I will let them change to a new job, they won’t be able to locate your parents thereafter. As for you, you have your own saying.”

Xiaoyou whispered. “I understand. Thank you.”

***

Xiaoyou was found by Wu Siyuan in advance because he had appeared in the original plot.

He was originally one of Jiang Jingtong’s lovers. Even after Jiang Jingtong married Gu Siyuan, they still maintained their relationship. But in the original plot, Xiaoyou was actually working under Shi Yuanbai. He was deliberately placed to monitor Jiang Jingtong. 

That being said, after the righteous master, the legitimate Protagonist Shou decided to finally accept the throne beside the Protagonist Gong, Xiaoyou’s ending was no better than Gu Siyuan who was framed and murdered.

So in this life, Wu Siyuan quickly contacted Xiaoyou when he got the news of Shi Yuanbai sending the thugs to beat him up.

It was really unexpected for Shi Yuanbai to show his ruthless side this early. Shouldn’t he still maintain the character of a pure innocent flower at this point in time?

But perhaps this incident actually was the unmentioned part in the original plot? If it were to flow according to the plot, maybe after beating him up Shi Yuanbai would seize Xiaoyou’s family and use it to threaten him. Originally, Wu Siyuan guessed Shi Yuanbai had given Xiaoyou a lot of money to work for him in the plot. But it seemed, this guess could be reexamined.

Wu Siyuan was just tentatively trying to probe Xiaoyou’s situation previously. To his surprise, the gain was more than he had expected. A deal had been smoothly achieved.

It was also thanked to Chen Xuyao, the people under him were fast enough to quickly monitor Xiaoyou’s parents, otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to save them.

Not long after Chen Xuyao sent his men to pick up Xiaoyou’s parents, a group of people actually came to look for them. They looked like an illegal loan sharks. If Chen Xuyao’s men were one step late, the parents would have been forced to sign some kind of unfavorable contract. 

***

As of now, Xiaoyou had officially boarded the same boat as Wu Siyuan and his group of friends. Though they didn’t plan to involve him for a long time. As long as their plan was achieved, Wu Siyuan could care less about his choices in the future. 

They were well prepared to make Jiang Jingtong feel dissatisfied with Xiaoyou. As a result, it didn’t take long for Jiang Jingtong to start showing his impatience. Really, he was someone who could shamelessly seduce others when he wanted to, and also decisively abandon them when he felt like it.

It’s always a wonder how Shi Yuanbai actually unaware that Jiang Jingtong was sowing peach blossoms[1]everywhere.

Both of them were people who pretended to be pure and innocent in front of each other, but were completely different once they turned their heads around. In Shi Yuanbai’s perception, it was others who jumped into Jiang Jingtong’s arms and seduced him. 

Meanwhile, the reality was, Jiang Jingtong had always been the first to be ambiguous to others.  Similar to how The Sea King, Shi Yuanbai hung all his Fishes, Jiang Jingtong also refused to be clear with his lovers. Though compared to the fully-aware Shi Yuanbai, Jiang Jingtong thought he was keeping his heart pure and his love was only meant for his White Moonlight. In the end, he was also someone who could pay a group of people and silenced his lovers to maintain his affectionate and loyal image.

Wu Siyuan wondered, did Jiang Jingtong really ignorant, unaware that it was Shi Yuanbai’s hand behind Xiaoyou’s accident?

[Jiang Xuege, It struck me as odd, our college area has always been safe, how could Xiaoyou Xuege get ambushed and beaten?]

Wu Siyuan pretended to be unclear and sent such a question to Jiang Jingtong.

Jiang Jingtong’s reply came quickly. In all honesty, Wu Siyuan was very satisfied with Jiang Jingtong’s response speed. It was as if he was idle all day holding his mobile phone, thus able to reply directly once a new message came in.

[This, I also have no idea. When I came, Xiaoyou was lying on the ground. It was me who asked him to go out. I must be responsible for his misfortune.]

[p.s; Don’t misunderstand it. I am sincere to your Shi Xuege. I asked Xiaoyou to meet because he helped me with some things before and I wanted to express my gratitude to him. I didn’t expect such a mishap to happen. I’m really a little guilty now.]

Wu Siyuan sneered at Jiang Jingtong’s hypocritical reply. His fingers quickly typed another message on his phone screen.

[Ah, so it was like that. Even so, it’s not an accident no matter how you look at it. Didn’t Xuege call the police at that time?]

[I did, but to no avail. The group had fled, they were all wearing masks, and there was nothing that could be inferred from the nearby surveillance. I just know it was a premeditated ambush. After Yuanbai found out, he volunteered to help find the clues as well.  It was really hard for him. Even though he was not feeling well, he was willing to help.]

Jiang Jingtong shamelessly showed off to Wu Siyuan that Shi Yuanbai had been especially attentive to him recently.

On the other hand, Wu Siyuan did know that as long as they sped up cleaning up the Fishes in Shi Yuanbai’s fish pond, it was only a matter of time for JiangShi romance to see the light of dawn.

***

The first step to bringing the two Protagonists together had been completed.

Now he could start moving on to the next step.

It had not been a long time since Wu Siyuan came to this world. Today, however, the original body’s initial assets had doubled several times. Due to the recent investment they did together, whether it was Chen Xuyao, Gao Min, or Feng Jiazhen, they all recognized Wu Siyuan’s seriousness to go into the business field. The dormitory friends had officially become a group of friends who make money together.

Another notable change was Zhang Lianyue’s relationship with him. Due to Shi Yuanbai’s previous fiasco, she had been in contact with him recently. They both were keeping attention to Shi Yuanbai’s actions.

Because of this, Wu Siyuan became familiar with Zhang Lianyue’s twin brother, Zhang Lianze.

He became another person Wu Siyuan could ask and exchange experience and advice regarding investments and business management. This truly helped Wu Siyuan to understand the situation of his own company, and later gave the insights gained to his father, Gu Yingzhuo, to further analyze and implement.

Wu Siyuan was not complacent. Their company was still an upstart.

No matter how smooth the recent development was, it was still not the opponent of Jiang Jingtong or other upper-class businesses.

***

On Xiaoyou’s side, things proceeded according to the plan devised.

Xiaoyou was indeed, quite a formidable character. After he reached a deal with Chen Xuyao and Wu Siyuan, and confirmed that his family was safe and sound, he immediately launched his real acting skills.

Lately, Jiang Jingtong came to the hospital to spend more and more time with him.

Jiang Jingtong kept insisting that he had no feelings for Xiaoyou. As a result, on the basis that Xiaoyou was hurt because of him, Jiang Jingtong took him to live in one of his house located near their college. He said it was for Xiaoyou’s convenience so that he could take care of Xiayou better. 

From taking care of injuries, to finally embarking on a ride[2]. Jiang Jingtong said he didn’t like him in his mouth, there was no love in his eyes, but his body was very honest.

All of this happened behind Shi Yuanbai’s back.

Jiang Jingtong confessed to Xiaoyou that he didn’t love Xiaoyou. There would be no clear future in their relationship. The only one he loved was Shi Yuanbai, but if Xiaoyou were willing to be together with him regardless, he would not treat him badly.

His reason to establish such a relationship was, because Shi Yuanbai had never let him touch him in any way, and refused to have any intimate contact. His needs could not be vented, so he had to resort to this relationship.

Hearing such an excuse even from the third perspective in Xiaoyou’s retelling, Wu Siyuan and Chen Xuyao ​​were about to throw up.

How many people had he provoked and seduced, how could it become Shi Yuanbai’s fault now?

Then, If one day he was finally able to go forward with Shi Yuanbai, what excuse would he use to have a ride with Xiaoyou?

Would he say, his needs were unable to be satisfied by one person?

‘Well, perhaps this is Jiang Jingtong’s perception of love.’

***

On Shi Yuanbai’s side, the situation seemed to be in a calm state.

He seemed to have stopped his career as the Sea King these days. But instead, focusing his attention to maintain stable communication with Jiang Jingtong, as well as one mysterious figure.

The popular Idol Fish, Wen Yongliang, apparently no longer contacted Shi Yuanbai after the 4 roommate buddies kindly informed him about JiangShi CP at the banquet.

Whilst the mysterious figure, appeared to be someone from abroad. Though that’s not a problem. Shi Yuanbai spent a lot of time video chatting and studying with him every day.

Shi Yuanbai’s coming of age was 2 months later, while Jiang Jingtong’s was 1 month later. Wu Siyuan had calculated carefully, after they officially became an adult and reached the age of marriage, it must be time to finally get a certificate at the Marriage Bureau!

To accomplish it, those little fish and shrimps remaining in Shi Yuanbai’s pond were no big deal. Even the mysterious foreign fish, as long as he stayed abroad, would not make any difference. 

However, to make the marriage happen, it could only be when Shi Yuanbai face great pressure. So far, losing his Big Fishes had no considerable impact on him. It was not enough to make him have the urgency of marrying Jiang Jingtong.

There was a need for new triggers.

Recently, Chen Xuyao ​​and his family’s affiliates had begun to nibble on the Jiang Family’s business. It didn’t seem to have any impact on the surface, but when the time came, it would be the key to toppling the Business Giant.

As for Wu Siyuan, he had quietly contacted Shi Yuze.

That’s right, it’s Shi Yuanbai’s older brother, the super cannon fodder in the original plot.

The only scene he appeared was when he got drugged and framed in a scandal along with Gu Siyuan, and got his leg broken in a car accident. He became depressed because his family doubted his ability as the President. Finally, he was pushed off a stair to his death. 

Wu Siyuan directly sent a screenshot to Shi Yuze. It was a picture of some kind of drug information. He attached a sentence after,

[Do you know? This is the reason why you often feel like you were in poor health.]

After an unknown amount of time, Shi Yuze eventually replied to Wu Siyuan.

[Why should I trust you?]

[The one you should trust is your daily food lab check.]