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Mr. Jiang had been in Jiang Jinnian’s study for a long time.
By the time he came out, the sky was already nearing dusk.
Shen Nanzhi had no idea what had transpired at the Jiang family residence that afternoon.
When she returned, the sky was completely dark.
Butler Li and the others were no longer in the hall.
Shen Nanzhi quickly walked toward the staircase, not turning on the lights, and ascended the stairs in the dark.
Just as she reached the third floor, the last step still unstepped, she saw Jiang Jinnian standing by the window with a wine glass in hand.
He noticed her before she saw him, having turned his head to look over as soon as her gaze fell in his direction.
“Just back?”
The third-floor corridor was divided into left and right sides by the staircase.
Jiang Jinnian’s bedroom was the third room on the left side of the stairs.
And her bedroom was the furthest room on the right.
However, Jiang Jinnian was currently standing in the middle of the corridor, directly in the path to her bedroom.
Shen Nanzhi stepped onto the stairs, walked a few steps forward, and stopped.
Years of accumulated apprehension towards Jiang Jinnian caused her to subconsciously answer his question:
“There were a lot of fireworks being set off by the Linjiang Bridge; I watched them for a while.”
Jiang Jinnian hadn’t drunk his wine.
But the night breeze blew in from the window behind him, and as it passed Shen Nanzhi, she still smelled a faint trace of alcohol.
Jiang Jinnian’s gaze remained fixed on her. “Have you eaten?”
Shen Nanzhi nodded, her demeanor just as it had been yesterday when she was with him—still obedient but also still distant.
“I’ve eaten.”
As soon as she spoke, the atmosphere became somewhat silent.
Shen Nanzhi didn’t know how to handle the engagement matter, nor did she know how to interact with Jiang Jinnian.
She instinctively wanted to retreat, just like before.
She bit her lip, searching for an excuse to return to her room.
“I… I’m a bit tired, so I’ll head back to my room first.”
With that, she took a few steps forward.
But just as she was about to pass by Jiang Jinnian, her wrist was suddenly caught by him.
“Nanzhi.”
Shen Nanzhi’s back stiffened.
The grip he had on her wrist wasn’t particularly strong.
But it was just enough to prevent her from pulling away.
“Are you avoiding me?”
Shen Nanzhi instinctively denied it. “I… I’m not…”
In matters concerning her, Jiang Jinnian had never pressured her.
But today was a bit different.
Her thoughts were as transparent to him as if they were written on paper.
The moment her denial left her lips, he asked, “Really? You don’t plan on leaving tomorrow?”
Jiang Jinnian thought that if it weren’t for her countless research projects still sitting on the computer at the old residence, she probably wouldn’t have come back tonight at all.
She was like an ostrich, her intention to escape so obvious that it was practically written on her face.
Shen Nanzhi’s fingertips curled tightly, her wrist instinctively struggling twice, but she couldn’t break free from his grip.
She stopped moving, no longer trying.
After a moment of thought, she said:
“It’s not that I’m avoiding you. I have something at school tomorrow, and I need to go back early.”
Jiang Jinnian didn’t let go of her.
His dark gaze remained fixed on her.
A slight smile played on his lips, his voice slow and deliberate.
“It’s Mid-Autumn Festival tomorrow. Going back early?”
Shen Nanzhi felt a little uneasy under his gaze, so she silently looked away and nodded vaguely. “…I’m pursuing a double major, so I have more classes than others.”
Jiang Jinnian looked at her deeply for a few moments.
He didn’t press her further, loosening his grip, allowing the delicate porcelain wrist in his palm to quickly slip away.
The next morning.
Before seven o’clock, Shen Nanzhi quietly slipped out of the Jiang family villa with her computer in her arms.
Jiang Jinnian stood at the top of the stairs on the third floor.
Watching the figure slip away without looking back.
Zhou Lin, Jiang Jinnian’s assistant, came to confirm the day’s online meeting. Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived at the villa, before he could even speak, he saw this scene.
He quietly glanced at his boss’s expression.
Suppressing his embarrassment, he touched his nose and cleared his throat.
He softly asked Jiang Jinnian:
“Mr. Jiang, should I go stop Miss Shen?”
Jiang Jinnian stood at the top of the stairs without saying a word.
It wasn’t until that figure completely disappeared from view that he spoke.
“No need.” He withdrew his gaze and turned to head toward the study. “Let’s start the meeting.”
—
To avoid the arranged marriage, Jiang Tingxu had stayed in Nancheng for a full three days.
On the last day of the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, a few good friends from his circle came over.
Seeing the scattered wine bottles on the coffee table and the strong smell of alcohol permeating the suite, Fang Zhiling and the others couldn’t help but frown.
“What’s going on? Everyone else is celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival with their families, and here you are, getting drunk and dreaming alone?”
Fang Zhiling glanced at Jiang Tingxu, who remained silent on the sofa.
He used his elbow to nudge Feng Zimo, who was closest to him, signaling him to open the curtains and windows to air out the room.
Then Fang Zhiling dialed the hotel’s internal line to have some tea sent over.
Jiang Tingxu wasn’t drunk, but he had had a bit too much to drink, and his temples throbbed.
He pressed his temples, put down his wine glass, and looked at Fang Zhiling and the others, who had come all the way from Huaihai City.
“Why did you come?”
Fang Zhiling sat on the leather sofa with his legs crossed, scrutinizing Jiang Tingxu, whose temperament had been erratic for the past six months.
“Your mother even called me. Jiang Tingxu, are you serious this time?”
“Serious or not serious about what?” Jiang Tingxu’s voice was as casual as ever.
Fang Zhiling clicked his tongue. “What else could it be? The engagement.”
“I’m just asking, are you really going to refuse the marriage alliance with the Shen family?”
The corner of Jiang Tingxu’s mouth curled up slightly, in an ambiguous expression between a smile and not a smile.
His tone didn’t sound like he cared one way or the other.
“There’s no affection involved, so why can’t I refuse?”
Fang Zhiling didn’t believe him. “You grew up together; that doesn’t count as affection?”
Jiang Tingxu crossed his legs, leaning back on the sofa. “Just because we grew up together, does that mean we have to have romantic feelings?”
“I’ve heard her call me ‘brother’ for so many years; do you really think I don’t consider her my sister?”
Fang Zhiling was speechless.
Before he could speak again, Feng Zimo, who had remained silent, added, rather inopportunely:
“Tingxu, don’t blame us for not reminding you.”
“The Jiang family doesn’t only have you as a candidate for marriage. The engagement between the Jiang and Shen families is known throughout the circles; it’s a marriage between two families. There was never any specific mention of who would marry whom. It’s just that you and Nanzhi are of similar age, so everyone tacitly favored the two of you.”
“But if you insist on rejecting the engagement and your brother agrees to marry Nanzhi, it would be understandable. Just don’t regret it later.”
Jiang Tingxu’s eyes darkened for a moment.
Then, quickly, he shrugged it off with a careless laugh.
“What’s there to regret? If my brother is willing to take on this engagement, wouldn’t that be a win-win situation?”
The marriage alliance between the two families would proceed smoothly, and he could finally escape his mother’s constant nagging about marriage.
Only…
His brother is away from the country for most of the year and has very little contact with Nanzhi. More importantly, his brother is cold and aloof, and never shows any interest in women. In the past few years, he rejected countless arranged marriages, so it’s unlikely he would accept this one with the Shen family.
But Feng Zimo didn’t think so.
He’s the youngest in his family and spends most of his time eating, drinking, and playing with other wealthy young masters.
He knows very little about Jiang Jinnian, the true head of the Jiang family, who is usually overseas and rarely comes back, only appearing occasionally in financial magazines.
But his older brother, Feng Lin, took over the family business many years ago and had close business dealings with Jiang Jinnian’s E.R Group and Tian Sheng headquarters.
Yesterday, he heard from his brother that the E.R Group was relocating to China.
If the headquarters of the E.R Group moves back, Jiang Jinnian will likely not spend as much time abroad.
If Jiang Tingxu still firmly opposes the marriage with the Shen family, then given Jiang Jinnian’s self-disciplined and proper nature, he probably would accept the marriage alliance for the sake of the bigger picture.