Chapter 18: She Hasn’t Grown Up Yet, But He’s Getting Married

Jiang You: “…And I’ve been bullied, too. Uncle Fu must be heartbroken for me.”

When it came to talking about what happened last night, Wen Nian was even angrier, cursing Bai Hao’s ancestors, before finally sighing: “Uncle really cares about you. I’ve never seen him so angry. I suspect you’re his real niece instead of me.”

Jiang You replied proudly: “What can I say? I’m just that well-behaved.”

This wasn’t untrue.

No one was more proper than Jiang You in front of the elders, while Wen Nian was completely the opposite—she was a troublemaker who couldn’t stay out of mischief.

When they were nine years old, Fu Qihai had a small box of tea leaves. The tea trees were no longer allowed to be harvested, so they were rare and could not be bought, no matter how much money one had. Fu Qihai spent thousands to get it from a friend, and he cherished it dearly, even inviting the best local tea master to brew it.

Wen Nian’s weekend homework was to write an essay on filial piety, so she decided to make her grandfather some tea to show her respect. She stubbornly followed the tea master to learn.

However, instead of presenting the tea properly, she tripped and spilled the entire pot of tea into the fish tank, where a stingray was swimming. Fu Qihai was so angry that he couldn’t eat for three days, and his body ached as if it were falling apart.

Because of this, her grandfather didn’t speak to his granddaughter for an entire month, waiting for her to apologize. But she ate and drank well, gaining weight, and completely forgot about the incident. Eventually, it was her grandfather who had to lower his pride and apologize to her.

In the end, someone was always there to spoil her.

If Jiang You said she wasn’t envious, that would be a lie.

Because no one ever supported her, she learned to be observant and relied on being obedient to get along.

But when it came to Fu Jin, everything was different.

When she was ten, Wen Nian had a birthday party at the Qixia Mountain Villa.

A room full of high-society young ladies and daughters of wealthy families, and Jiang You felt completely out of place, so she stayed in the kitchen.

At the time, Ruan Guixia wasn’t feeling well and was resting upstairs. The servants treated Jiang You like one of their own and asked her to deliver a bowl of bird’s nest soup to her.

Jiang You carefully carried the tray upstairs and was startled when she ran into Fu Jin, who was heading downstairs.

She didn’t notice him at first, focusing entirely on the tray, but as soon as she saw him, she was so surprised that she slipped, and the bowl shattered into pieces.

The sound of the break quickly drew attention from the others. The servants immediately started complaining, saying the bowl was an antique.

Everyone blamed Jiang You, including the servant who had instructed her to deliver the bird’s nest. Only Aunt Zhang defended her.

She had never seen this kind of treatment before and was filled with dread, her mind racing, wondering how her mom would react.

Fu Jin quickly took the blame, saying he had bumped into her, and that was why the bowl broke.

It was the first time Jiang You “took the fall” for something she couldn’t afford to pay for.

Two days later, Fu Jin was sent to Africa for an investigation, and it was only after three months that he returned to China and reconciled with Ruan Guixia.

Later, she found out that apart from Aunt Zhang, all the other servants involved had been quietly dismissed and replaced by new ones.

She once thanked Fu Jin for stepping in, but he just brushed it off, saying it was no big deal.

She had always known there was a distance between her and Fu Jin, but this was the first time she saw that distance so clearly.

What she thought was a huge favor to her, to him, was nothing more than a casual gesture.

“Yoyo? Yoyo?”

The voice on the other end of the phone snapped Jiang You out of her memories.

Cough cough—Wen Nian sounded as if she were interrogating her, “Come on, admit it.”

Jiang You: “Admit what?”

Wen Nian: “You’re hiding something! No, someone!”

Jiang You’s heart skipped a beat: “No.”

Wen Nian rattled off all the abnormal things Jiang You had been doing.

Including, when did Jiang You start listening to him?

“Before, I didn’t argue with you for the sake of the college entrance exam, but now that I have all the time in the world, you better tell me, who have you been with?!”

Thinking of her dear little friend soon being taken by some horrible man made Wen Nian seethe with anger.

This was a rare gem, one of a kind!

Jiang You hesitated before Wen Nian ground her teeth and asked: “Is it that Xu Chaoyang?”

“No!”

Wen Nian didn’t expect such a quick denial.

Jiang You explained: “I don’t have any feelings for Brother Chaoyang. I just think he’s amazing. I admire him, but there’s no romantic feelings involved.”

Xu Chaoyang came from a poor family, but he was extremely smart and had skipped several grades, eventually entering Beicheng Medical University to major in cardiac surgery. After graduating, he worked alongside Jiang You’s mother.

Jiang You’s grandmother died of heart disease, and despite her mother’s best efforts, she couldn’t save her. That was a deep pain Jiang You’s mother would never get over.

Later, Xu Chaoyang moved into the house opposite hers and had been looking out for her, which made him a special person in her life.

Plus, Xu Chaoyang was quite handsome, so it wasn’t surprising that Wen Nian misunderstood.

“I really just admire Brother Chaoyang because of my grandmother.”

Wen Nian thought for a moment before unwillingly asking: “But last year on the Qixi Festival, you were going to confess to him, right? You even prepared a gift!”

The previous Qixi Festival…

Jiang You’s mind went back to last year. She had indeed prepared a gift and was ready to confess, but… it wasn’t for Xu Chaoyang.

It was for Fu Jin.

At the time, Fu Jin had only been back in the country for a month. She heard from Wen Nian that the Fu family wanted Fu Jin to have an arranged marriage because Fu Qihai’s health was deteriorating, and they wanted him to have children soon.

She panicked. She wasn’t ready to grow up, but that person was already thinking about marriage.

She had to try, no matter what.

With the Qixi Festival approaching, she prepared the gift, but Wen Nian saw it when she came over to her house.

Wen Nian asked who the gift was for, and she couldn’t find the right words.

Back then, she wasn’t as bold as she was now, and it was her first time having feelings for someone—someone she’d known since childhood, but who was now a grown man. She felt more shy than anything else.

Later, Wen Nian kept asking about people, starting with Xu Chaoyang, but Jiang You denied it.

Wen Nian then went through a list of her classmates and denied every name one by one.

Wen Nian thought hard before finally saying, “Then you don’t have anyone else around you! It’s not my little uncle, is it? He is your Uncle Fu!”

She felt like a cat that had been stepped on, quickly denying it: “How could that be?”

Then, she added, “You guessed it, I was lying to you!”

Wen Nian grinned slyly, “I knew it! It’s Xu Chaoyang!”

Jiang You didn’t deny it anymore. After all, the day after Qixi was Xu Chaoyang’s birthday, so it made sense for her to give him a gift.

What she didn’t expect was that before she could even make the move to ask Xu Chaoyang out, she learned from Wen Nian that Fu Jin was going to have an arranged marriage on the Qixi Festival.

As a family member, Wen Nian attended the dinner, and to satisfy her curiosity, she even FaceTimed her, giving her a live broadcast of the event.

Most of the time, the camera was facing the table, but Jiang You could still catch glimpses of what was happening from the flashes of movement and the clear sound of laughter.

The result was simple: Both of them were very satisfied, and their families were also happy.

After the meal, Fu Jin went with the woman to a party.

It was happening so quickly.