Chapter 34: Wedding Gift

Shen Nanzhi wasn’t particularly clear on why Jiang Jinnian insisted that she stay in his study.

His study was on the third floor, just like her room.

What difference did it make where she stayed for a while?

Jiang Jinnian’s study was large, almost as big as the presidential office at the Tiansheng headquarters.

The decor inside was similarly cold and minimalist.

Shen Nanzhi glanced around the study briefly before obediently lowering her gaze, picking up her phone that Uncle Li had just delivered to scroll through videos to pass the time.

Jiang Jinnian opened his computer to reply to emails.

In the intervals between typing, he glanced over at the sofa in front.

Shen Nanzhi was sitting in a corner of the sofa, quietly watching videos on her phone, with the sound muted.

Jiang Jinnian was occupied with work for quite some time.

Shen Nanzhi watched the number in the corner of her phone change from 2:03 to 2:25.

Her back had been straight for a long time, gradually starting to feel sore.

She shifted her gaze from the screen, stole a glance at Jiang Jinnian, and seeing that all his attention was on his computer, she slowly turned to her side, leaning back a bit to find a more comfortable position. She draped her arm over the sofa back, resting her chin on her arm, and continued scrolling through her phone.

Although Jiang Jinnian was busy replying to emails, he still diverted some of his attention towards her.

After she turned away, his gaze lingered on her for a moment.

Then he picked up his phone and instructed the servant to bring in some drinks.

Shen Nanzhi was unaware of Jiang Jinnian’s instructions. When she snapped back to reality from her video, the servant had already knocked on the door and entered with several of her favorite drinks.

Since she had no classes that afternoon, Gu Qinghe, thinking of her best friend’s birthday, began messaging her on WeChat.

Gu Qinghe: [Baby, are you at home? I’m coming to celebrate your birthday!]

Shen Nanzhi took a sip of juice and opened the incoming message, typing in the reply box:

Zhizhi: [I’m at the old residence.]

Just as she sent the message, the read receipt popped up, and immediately afterward, a flurry of messages came pouring in:

Gu Qinghe: [Old residence? [Excited face]]

Gu Qinghe: [I heard from my brother that today is the Jiang family’s family banquet? Jiang Jinnian just returned from abroad; he should be attending, right?]

Gu Qinghe: [Are you two together? [Excited face]]

Shen Nanzhi looked at the series of messages flooding in and was about to type a reply when another message popped up with an auntie-like smile:

Gu Qinghe: [Baby, I’m not important; we see each other every day. Missing one day doesn’t matter, but you and Mr. Jiang meeting is too rare. Just focus on nurturing your relationship with your future husband, and strive to secure a long-term ticket! I’ll celebrate your birthday with you another day.]

After sending this, her eager friend, who was desperate for her to find a good match, quickly dashed off.

Gu Qinghe: [That’s it, don’t reply. Time is precious, Zhizhi, quickly focus on your lifelong affair, mua~~]

Shen Nanzhi: “…”

It was the first time she had seen the phrase “time is money” used in such a context.

At three o’clock.

Shen Nanzhi had been leaning over so long her body was becoming stiff, and only then did Jiang Jinnian finally finish his work.

As they came down from the third floor to the hall, a few uncles from the side family had already left, and Jiang Tingxu was not present. In the hall, only Jiang’s father and Jiang’s mother were sitting on the sofa, fiddling with their phones and tablets.

Seeing them come down, Mrs. Jiang quickly waved at Shen Nanzhi with a bright smile.

“Zhizhi, come here.”

“Just one more minute, sit here with me, and chat with me for a bit.”

Shen Nanzhi walked over, feeling suspicious at Mrs. Jiang’s mention of “one minute.” “Auntie, what’s the one minute for?”

Mrs. Jiang smiled widely, “You’ll know once you’re here, soon.”

Uncle Li brought over some juice.

Noticing Shen Nanzhi, he suddenly remembered that earlier Jiang Tingxu had knocked on her room door for quite a while before he came down, and he was about to tell Shen Nanzhi about it.

Before he could speak, Jiang Jinnian, who had been watching from a few steps behind, abruptly lifted his gaze, his heavy and profound stare landing on Uncle Li.

“Uncle Li.”

Uncle Li’s words caught in his throat.

Chi Zheng looked at Jiang Jinnian.

The man’s expression was unreadable. He had already taken off his suit jacket during the family dinner, and his long, slender fingers were holding the cuff of his shirt. He walked past Chi Zheng towards the sofa.

“——Have some water brought in.”

Manager Li was a bit slow to react. He looked at Miss Shen, who was talking to Mrs. Jiang, and then at Jiang Jinnian, who was sitting next to Miss Shen with a nonchalant air. It was then that he finally understood.

He wished he could slap himself for being so slow.

Miss Shen had already gotten her marriage certificate with Jiang Jinnian. What was he doing reporting to Miss Shen that the Second Young Master had specially gone to see her before leaving the family dinner?

Thinking this through, and recalling the stern gaze Jiang Jinnian had given him earlier, Manager Li’s forehead was covered in cold sweat.

He didn’t dare delay. He immediately agreed, his heart pounding, and quickly left the hall to have someone bring in a tray of water.

Shen Nanzhi didn’t notice what was happening between Jiang Jinnian and Chi Zheng.

Her attention was entirely on Mr. and Mrs. Jiang.

A minute passed, and before Shen Nanzhi could ask what was going on, a row of top-tier saleswomen, each holding a jewelry tray, entered the hall, all dressed in uniform. They lined up in front of the guest sofa.

Shen Nanzhi’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Aunt, what is this…?”

“It’s a gift from your aunt for your marriage certificate, Nanzhi. Take a look, do you like it?”

“Marriage… certificate gift?” Shen Nanzhi glanced at Jiang Jinnian, who was sitting beside her.

He was holding a water glass, his legs crossed casually, leaning back on the sofa. Noticing her gaze, he simply said in a low voice:

“My parents’ gesture.”

Mrs. Jiang’s smiling voice followed.

She urged Shen Nanzhi to look at the high-end luxury items and see if she liked them.

Each piece of luxury jewelry was covered with a red cloth. The saleswomen lifted the red cloths one by one, then lowered their jewelry trays to a forty-five-degree angle, allowing Shen Nanzhi to see everything at a glance.

Shen Nanzhi, who came from the Shen family and was used to seeing luxury brands since childhood, just glanced at them and could tell that each piece of luxury was worth at least eight figures.

Especially this whole row in front of her, stretching from the sofa to the entrance of the hall, there were at least twenty or thirty pieces.

Shen Nanzhi knew that Mr. and Mrs. Jiang were generous, but to this extent, it really shocked her.

Mr. and Mrs. Jiang didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.

To them, sending these things was still afraid of being unfair to their daughter-in-law.

Jiang Jinnian and Shen Nanzhi had gotten their marriage certificate in a hurry. If it weren’t for the son mentioning the marriage certificate at the family dinner, she and Jiang Feng wouldn’t have known about it.

After getting the marriage certificate, the in-laws naturally had to give a welcome gift.

But the time was too tight, and they didn’t have time to properly prepare a marriage certificate gift, so they could only have people rush to send all the styles that a twenty-year-old girl would like from the most expensive luxury brands in Huaihai City.

These gifts, although seemingly extravagant.

But Mrs. Jiang wasn’t satisfied.

It was only the first day after getting the marriage certificate, and she couldn’t give her daughter-in-law less. She could only use these to make up the number for now.

She planned to go to major auctions in China and abroad from tomorrow onwards, to choose some truly valuable and meaningful gifts for her daughter-in-law.

And those items she had collected in her storage room also needed to be carefully selected, to see if there were any that their little girl would like.

Mrs. Jiang was racking her brains to think of ways to not let down her daughter-in-law, whom she had waited twenty years to welcome back, while Shen Nanzhi looked at the dazzling array of luxury items and twitched her lips.

“Aunt, these things are… “

“Why not?” Mrs. Jiang came to her senses and immediately instructed the servants to send the items upstairs. “Mom gave them to you, just take them. And…”

Her smile became even more loving. “Nanzhi, shouldn’t you call me something different now?”

Jiang Jinnian and Jiang Feng, who were watching this scene with amusement, also looked over.

Their eyes fell on her.

Shen Nanzhi tightened her fingers.

She called out to Mr. and Mrs. Jiang, “Dad, Mom.”

Satisfied with hearing this address, Mrs. Jiang stood up and took Shen Nanzhi out. “The marriage certificate gift is done, but there’s also Nanzhi’s 20th birthday gift.”

“Aunt has arranged a small birthday party for you, in the guest hall of the villa next to the old house. It’s open all afternoon today.”

The birthday party had been prepared by Mrs. Jiang since early this morning, but with the family dinner in the morning, the birthday party could only start in the afternoon.

The birthday party Mrs. Jiang had prepared was mainly for Shen Nanzhi to have fun. The guests were all friends of the same age in the circle, not so many influential figures who came for the sake of power and profit.

The only regret was that Gu Qinghe, who had just received the news and was about to go out, was urgently called back by her father and couldn’t come over anymore.

By the time the excitement subsided, it was already dark.