Chapter 8: Being with President Jiang, tsk—must be quite something!

After leaving the Jiang family’s old residence, Shen Nanzhi holed up in her small apartment like a quail for two whole days.

 
In the meantime, Mrs. Jiang, worried that she might not be taking good care of herself, even called to have Butler Li bring her some things. However, Shen Nanzhi declined, using the excuse that she was busy at the university.

 After spending two days and nights in her apartment with her sleep schedule completely messed up, Shen Nanzhi grabbed Gu Qinghe’s USB drive and left just in time to make it to Huaihai University on the first day of the new semester after the holiday.

Affected by the sudden changes in her engagement, Shen Nanzhi was somewhat distracted throughout the entire class.

Fortunately, during the summer break, in order to keep herself occupied and avoid returning to the Jiang family, she had already completed all the coursework for this class in advance. So even if she didn’t listen to a single word now, it wouldn’t matter.

Sitting next to her, Gu Qinghe, who had been confined at home for three days, was unaware of what had happened during the Mid-Autumn Festival. She assumed Shen Nanzhi’s absent-mindedness was due to Jiang Tingxu’s influence.

During the short break between classes, Gu Qinghe scooted over to Shen Nanzhi and, patting her chest, spoke with a sense of loyalty:

“Nanzhi, if you’re feeling upset, just say it out loud. Don’t keep it bottled up inside. I’ll help you figure it out.”

Shen Nanzhi didn’t quite catch on and tilted her head, asking, “What are you talking about?”

Gu Qinghe glanced at her, wearing an expression that said, “You think you can hide it from me, but I already know.”

“It’s about Jiang Tingxu,” she whispered, sounding indignant. “I’ve never thought being well-behaved was a flaw, but in Jiang Tingxu’s mouth, being well-behaved somehow became boring!”

Shen Nanzhi finally caught on. It seemed the young lady had heard about what Jiang Tingxu had said that night at “Sheng Ye.”

Shen Nanzhi, however, didn’t feel much about it.

What was troubling her now wasn’t even this matter.

Just as Shen Nanzhi was about to explain, she noticed Gu Qinghe leaning in mysteriously, her eyes scanning Shen Nanzhi up and down. In the softest voice, she said:

“Alright, my dear Nanzhi, tonight, change into something nice, and I’ll take you to a bar. Forget about being ‘well-behaved’ or not. Once you meet a few more people, you won’t let Jiang Tingxu affect your mood anymore.”

Shen Nanzhi gave her a long, quiet look.

Pushing her away, she said, “My dear, have you forgotten the lesson from being grounded for three days?”

On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, Gu Qinghe had rebelled against her family’s arranged marriage by going to “Sheng Ye” to hire male escorts, only to be caught midway by her older brother, Gu Wenchan, and locked up at the Gu residence for a full three days of lecturing.

Mentioning this, Gu Qinghe gritted her teeth in frustration, but her tone was nonchalant and rebellious:

“There are so many bars in Huaihai City. We can just avoid ‘Sheng Ye,’ where my brother and his friends usually go. Easy.”

“So, my dear Nanzhi, how about it? Want to go wild for a bit?”

Shen Nanzhi averted her gaze and casually flipped through the PPT on her laptop. “My dear, stop causing trouble. I really don’t want to see you get grounded again for days.”

Seeing that Shen Nanzhi wasn’t willing to go, Gu Qinghe gave up on the idea.

She slumped on the table, rubbing her cheeks, and stared at her friend’s excessively beautiful face.

When Shen Nanzhi noticed she hadn’t said anything for a while, she glanced over suspiciously, only to find her mischievous friend gazing at her thoughtfully.

“Gu Qinghe,” Shen Nanzhi waved her hand in front of her eyes, “has your soul been stolen? What are you looking at?”

Gu Qinghe grabbed her hand, pulled her closer, and took out her phone. She flipped to a photo of Jiang Jinnian being interviewed on a financial channel. Her eyes sparkled as she suppressed the excitement in her voice and brought up her absurd idea again.

“Little Nanzhi, I really think you and President Jiang are a perfect match.”

“Look,” she pointed at the photo, then back at her friend’s face, and said eagerly, “Don’t you think your faces and figures are just perfectly matched?”

“Listen to me,” Gu Qinghe pressed close to Shen Nanzhi, her eyes shining brightly, her lips curving into a mischievous grin:

“If you and President Jiang got together, tsk—it would definitely be thrilling!”

“By then… mmm!” Shen Nanzhi covered her mouth with one hand and quickly flipped her phone face down on the table with the other.

“It’s broad daylight. Clear out whatever nonsense is in your head!”

Gu Qinghe blinked, looking at Shen Nanzhi with an innocent expression. She pulled down Shen Nanzhi’s hand and whispered in protest:

“I think it’s totally possible.” She counted on her fingers as she explained to Shen Nanzhi: “Think about it carefully. You have an engagement with the Jiang family, not specifically with Jiang Tingxu. Why can’t you switch?”

“Besides, I heard from my brother that President Jiang has never had any women around him all these years. If you were to agree to this engagement with President Jiang—”

Shen Nanzhi rubbed her temples, seeing that her mischievous friend was rambling on. She unwrapped a piece of candy and stuffed it into Gu Qinghe’s mouth. “Eat the candy and stop talking.”

Gu Qinghe, now chewing on the chocolate-flavored candy: “…”

With the noise around her finally quieting down, Shen Nanzhi continued to revise her PowerPoint. However, within a minute or two, a faint commotion arose from the hallway outside.

Shortly after, Gu Qinghe, who was chewing on her candy and resting her chin on her hand as she gazed out the window, let out a soft “tsk” and remarked with an ambiguous tone:

“Probably that kind of person is what Jiang Tingxu means by ‘not well-behaved.'”

Shen Nanzhi looked up and followed Gu Qinghe’s gaze.

Her eyes immediately landed on Su Wu, the belle of the Fine Arts Department, walking down the hallway surrounded by her assistant and a group of fans.

Jiang Tingxu, resistant to a life of control, had refused to join Tiansheng Group after graduation and showed no interest in the company or the business world. Instead, despite his parents’ objections, he had heavily invested in the entertainment industry and founded Guangying Media and Film Company.

And Su Wu, the belle of the Fine Arts Department, happened to be the artist Jiang Tingxu had personally promoted over the past two years.

Shen Nanzhi looked out just as Su Wu turned to look in her direction.

The other woman was dressed in a long red dress, her face adorned with delicate and alluring makeup. At first glance, she appeared friendly and harmless, but the moment her eyes met Shen Nanzhi’s, a hint of clear provocation flickered in them.

Gu Qinghe loathed such hypocrisy.

Especially someone like Su Wu, who, believing she had risen to fame in the entertainment industry thanks to Jiang Tingxu, had become arrogant and forgotten her place.

She didn’t notice the provocative look Su Wu had cast her way, but seeing Su Wu, a mere small-time star, acting like she was above everyone else, Gu Qinghe found it irritating.

She was even more disgusted by the group of irrational “fans” trailing behind her.

 
“A bunch of rabbles,” she muttered.

As Su Wu disappeared down the corridor, the commotion subsided.

Hearing Gu Qinghe’s assessment, Shen Nanzhi’s thoughts drifted back to a memory from the past.

Although she was not familiar with Su Wu, this was not their first encounter.

The first time Shen Nanzhi met Su Wu was during a physical education class two years ago.

She had gone to the equipment room to fetch some supplies while substituting for a classmate. Having just entered A University, she was unfamiliar with the North Campus and misjudged the door to the equipment room, accidentally pushing open the door to the adjacent lounge.

There were no supplies in the lounge, and halfway through opening the door, she realized she had entered the wrong place. Just as she was about to close the door and leave, her gaze inadvertently caught sight of the far end of the empty lounge. There, Su Wu stood with her trench coat half slipped off, one shoulder exposed, her high heels clicking as she leaned almost entirely against Jiang Tingxu, tilting her head to initiate a kiss.

At that moment, Shen Nanzhi realized she hadn’t seen Jiang Tingxu in months.

To be precise, it had been since the day after her college entrance exams that Shen Nanzhi had seen Jiang Tingxu very rarely.

Their relationship had begun to grow significantly distant right after her exams.

At that time, she still didn’t understand why their previously close bond had suddenly shifted.

So, when she saw that scene in the lounge, Shen Nanzhi felt completely frozen.

Outside, the sun shone brightly, and the heat scorched the skin, but Shen Nanzhi only felt a chilling cold throughout her body.

The first to notice her was Jiang Tingxu, leaning lazily against the wall.

He neither accepted Su Wu’s advances nor pushed her away.

Like an outsider, he wore a relaxed smile at the corners of his lips, remaining indifferent and detached from the situation.

Even when he heard the sound of the door opening and glanced her way, his expression remained that of indifference.

There was no hint of panic in his eyes or at the corners of his brows when she caught him off guard.

In fact, there were no other emotions at all.

He simply looked past Su Wu’s figure and quietly gazed in her direction.

It wasn’t until Su Wu’s lips were about to touch his that he nonchalantly pushed her away.

Throughout all his movements, his gaze was entirely fixed on Shen Nanzhi at the door.

That day, she had so many questions she wanted to ask him.

For instance, why had he started coming home less frequently?

Why was he beginning to avoid her?

Why had they grown increasingly distant?

But upon witnessing that scene, all those questions vanished from Shen Nanzhi’s mind.

In a state of panic, she almost let go of the cold doorknob and turned to run.

Just as she made her move, Jiang Tingxu called out to her in a calm and unhurried voice.

There were no explanations, no arguments.

He simply looked at her and asked,

“Nanzhi.”

“They all say that once you turn twenty, we will get married. What do you think?”

Many things didn’t need to be spelled out so clearly.

Just like the matter of their arranged marriage.

With that one question, Jiang Tingxu made it clear enough for Shen Nanzhi to understand that he did not accept the family arrangement, nor the engagement set by their elders.

So, after that day, she quickly moved out of the Jiang family’s old residence and no longer sought him out.

Their relationship, from that moment on, became like a kite with a severed string—growing more distant and fading further away.