Chapter 23: I’ll Cover for You in Any Trouble

In the fountain garden, Meng Shijin and her two small companions were about to comfort her when they heard footsteps approaching again from behind.

Chen Le Yi was the first to see Jiang Tingxu, “Second Young Master Jiang?”

Meng Shijin frowned.

Turning around, she saw Jiang Tingxu’s expression was unreadable. He ignored the fawning Chen Le Yi and Song Luo Shu, stopping only in front of Meng Shijin.

With a slight smirk, as if casually stating a fact, he said:

“I heard the Meng family is preparing to enter the entertainment industry?”

Just having been warned by Jiang Jinnian, Meng Shijin instinctively felt on guard against members of the Jiang family.

But then she thought about how the news of Shen Nanzhi’s falling out with Jiang Tingxu had spread throughout Huaihai City.

Jiang Tingxu had even tacitly accepted the trending video of Su Wu, so he likely would not protect Shen Nanzhi anymore.

With this in mind, just as Meng Shijin was about to nod in agreement, she heard Jiang Tingxu leisurely continue:

“—Please inform your esteemed family that the entertainment industry in Huaihai City is saturated, and they should consider other investment directions.”

Meng Shijin couldn’t catch her breath, nearly biting her teeth in frustration. She blurted out, “Why should we!”

Jiang Tingxu’s eyes were frosty as he looked at Meng Shijin with disdain.

“Just because you dared to lay a hand on someone from the Jiang family.”

After saying this, Jiang Tingxu ignored her, turning to leave in the direction where Jiang Jinnian and Shen Nanzhi had gone.

……

Outside the villa area, in the black limited edition Maybach.

Shen Nanzhi sat in the passenger seat with her head down.

Jiang Jinnian had his wrist resting on the steering wheel, glancing at her.

He asked knowingly, “Did you get into a fight?”

Shen Nanzhi pressed her lips together, not responding.

He continued, “You fought well.”

“?” Shen Nanzhi looked up at him.

Instead of the usual admonitions about being cautious and avoiding disputes, she heard Jiang Jinnian say—

“If it happens again, just fight.”

“I’ll cover for you in any trouble.”

Shen Nanzhi was genuinely surprised this time.

She never expected that the self-disciplined and reserved Jiang Jinnian, known for his decorum, would say such things after she had a conflict with someone.

In her astonishment, she unconsciously asked, “What if I cause a big mess?”

Honestly, after hitting Meng Shijin, she felt a bit of regret. After all, it was Gu Qinghe and Gu Wenchuan’s birthday banquet, and causing a scene among the numerous influential guests there was not a trivial matter; it could ruin her friend’s annual celebration.

But at that moment, she had been provoked by Meng Shijin and her companions’ disparaging remarks about her mother, and she lost control of her rationality.

“Even if you brought down the sky in Huaihai City, I can handle it.”

Jiang Jiannan’s voice remained calm and gentle.

Meeting her gaze, he spoke to her in a regular tone:

“Nanzhi, you just need to remember that in the Jiang family, there’s no need to endure humiliation.”

“—Including you.”

As the car began to move, Jiang Jiannan steered out of the parking lot. In the darkening sky, he asked:

“Back to the apartment?”

Shen Nanzhi nodded.

When Jiang Tingxu came out of the banquet villa, the limited-edition Maybach that Jiang Jinnian had driven that day had just left the parking area.

Seeing him emerge, the driver waiting in the car got out and opened the back door, asking Jiang Tingxu:

“Young Master Jiang, are you heading back to the old residence?”

These past few days, some issues had arisen at Guangying Media, and Jiang Tingxu had been traveling back and forth to Nancheng City, rarely staying at the company for more than a few days. Even for the Gu family’s birthday banquet, he had rushed back from Nancheng City that day.

On the way to the Gu family’s residence, the driver had overheard Mrs. Jiang repeatedly calling Jiang Tingxu, urging him to return home. Therefore, upon seeing Jiang Tingxu, the driver assumed he was hurrying back to the old residence to appease his mother and that’s why he left the banquet villa so quickly.

Jiang Tingxu didn’t respond to the driver’s question.

He didn’t get into the back seat but went straight to the driver’s seat.

“I’ll drive myself. You can go back.”

The driver closed the back door and immediately nodded in agreement.

Jiang Tingxu followed Jiang Jinnian and Shen Nanzhi all the way to the apartment near Huaihai University.

When he arrived, Jiang Jinnian and Shen Nanzhi had just entered the apartment building.

Watching them enter the apartment floor one after another, Jiang Tingxu got out of the car, leaning against it and looking up at the apartment building, which was hidden in the hazy night.

He rarely came to Shen Nanzhi’s apartment.

Since Shen Nanzhi moved out of the Jiang family’s old residence, they often went 1 or half a month without seeing each other.

But he knew which floor Shen Nanzhi lived on in this building.

Jiang Tingxu stared intently at the floor where Shen Nanzhi lived until the lights came on.

He couldn’t help but take out a cigarette.

He wanted to use the stimulation of the smoke to dull the suffocating emotions rising in his chest.

But as the night grew darker, and cigarette butts scattered at his feet, the suffocating anxiety in his chest didn’t subside; instead, it intensified.

It gathered in his chest, surging back and forth.

It felt like it would accumulate to the extreme, breaking through the precarious restraint and becoming uncontrollable.

Jiang Tingxu’s pupils were extremely dark.

His eyes flickered uncertainly.

The burning cigarette reached his fingertips, the burning sensation touching his skin. He lowered his eyelashes, releasing the cigarette, his jaw tightening in the night. Unable to bear it any longer, he took out his phone and dialed a number.

The call was answered quickly.

Chen Feng’s voice came through the phone:

“Young Master Jiang?”

Jiang Tingxu lowered his eyes, looking at the scattered cigarette ash on the ground, his jaw clenched, and asked Chen Feng:

“Last weekend, where did Nanzhi stay?”

Chen Feng was taken aback.

He hadn’t expected Jiang Tingxu to suddenly ask this question.

After a moment’s thought, he cautiously replied:

“It seems… Yu Shan Mansion.”

As soon as the words “Yu Shan Mansion” were uttered, Jiang Tingxu’s eyes darkened, and his hand clenched into a fist.

Chen Feng didn’t hear another question. When he tried to speak again, the call had already been hung up.

Jiang Tingxu’s veins bulged on the back of his hand.

As he looked up, the words Jiang Jinnian had said to him under the thunderstorm last weekend echoed uncontrollably in his mind:

“[If you’ve chosen not to accept this engagement, then step back and stay in your place.]”

Jiang Tingxu’s knuckles tightened, and the suffocating feeling in his heart turned into a sharp, stinging pain.

He didn’t linger there, turning to get back in his car. He floored the gas pedal and sped back to the old residence.