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Yang Ming’s words left both An Rou and Su Jiang momentarily stunned.
Now, it was no longer a question of whether to leave or not.
Staying would still be dangerous.
Su Jiang frowned, thinking about what to do next.
Should he seek out Wang Xuelin and ask for the Wang family’s protection?
Su Jiang shook his head; he wasn’t comfortable entrusting An Rou to the Wang family.
The battle on the isolated island—he had to go.
“Yang Ming, can the Inspectorate spare anyone to protect An Rou?”
Su Jiang considered enlisting the help of the Inspectorate.
“No way, Su Jiang.” Yang Ming refused without even thinking: “First of all, we’re short on manpower ourselves, and what do you take the Inspectorate for?”
“We don’t take orders from you. The only reason we’re helping is because of Director Zheng’s orders.”
Damn it!
Su Jiang cursed silently. He didn’t know what else to do.
Could he only hope that An Mingjie would turn the tables?
That’s absurd. Though An Mingjie was indeed brave and cunning, he wasn’t a god.
“Forget it, I’ll contact you later.”
After hanging up on Yang Ming, Su Jiang hailed a cab and returned to the An family residence with An Rou.
Since it was uncertain when Lin Hui might make a move, returning to the An family home seemed like the safest option for now.
After all, the An family still had a few people left to protect them.
…
Two and a half hours later, at the An family home.
Su Jiang paced back and forth in the living room, deep in thought.
Given the current situation, he had to deal with Lin Hui first before he could go help An Mingjie.
But how long would it take to deal with Lin Hui? Could An Mingjie hold on?
Could the An family hold on?
“I’m sorry…”
An Rou sat on the sofa with her head lowered, her voice full of guilt.
She felt utterly useless.
She was just a burden, dragging down not only An Mingjie but also Su Jiang.
Now, because of her, Su Jiang was stuck in a difficult situation.
Hearing this, Su Jiang looked at An Rou. He realized that, at this moment, she was probably feeling the worst of all.
After a moment of contemplation, Su Jiang smiled and pulled An Rou into his arms, comforting her:
“It’s okay, I can handle this.”
An Rou leaned into Su Jiang’s embrace, silent, lost in her thoughts.
After a long while, An Rou finally spoke: “Su Jiang.”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“I’ve figured it out.”
“What?”
“I hate it when people sacrifice for me.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“And I also hate it when people give up for me.”
An Rou raised her head and stared intently at Su Jiang: “So, go do what you need to do. Don’t worry about me, and don’t change your plans because of me.”
“Whether it’s going to save my brother, staying to protect me, or even leaving without a word and ignoring the An family.”
“I will support you, no matter what.”
Su Jiang was stunned for a moment; he hadn’t expected An Rou to say something like this.
It was clear that An Rou had gradually changed—she was no longer the spoiled and willful An Rou of the past.
Su Jiang’s eyes flickered, and with a sudden flash of insight, he chuckled softly and pinched An Rou’s cheek.
“So, does this mean you’ll listen to everything I say now?”
“Yes!”
“You won’t stop me from going to save your brother?”
“Yes, I won’t stop you.”
“And if I leave the An family and cut ties, you’d agree to that too?”
“Yes, I agree.”
“If I ask you to be my girlfriend, you’d agree to that too?”
“Yes, I agree… Wait, what?”
Before An Rou could react, Su Jiang’s lips pressed against hers.
“Mmm—”
An Rou’s eyes widened in surprise. The sudden kiss caught her off guard, leaving her mind completely blank.
This was her first kiss!
Su Jiang caressed An Rou’s face with one hand while the other wrapped around her back, pulling her tightly into his embrace as their lips met.
Both of them closed their eyes, forgetting to think—or rather, there was no need to think—as they kissed each other deeply.
After what felt like an eternity, their lips finally parted. An Rou was slightly out of breath, her face flushed bright red as she looked at Su Jiang with a mix of embarrassment and anger.
This jerk! How could he take advantage of her when she was feeling sad and vulnerable like this?
Couldn’t he have picked a better moment?
Su Jiang’s lips curled into a small smile. In his mind, this was the best way to alleviate An Rou’s negative emotions.
He had no ulterior motives; it was purely for An Rou’s sake.
“You just agreed to be my girlfriend, didn’t you?”
“I did not!” An Rou retorted stubbornly.
“Mmm—”
Su Jiang kissed her again, starting to enjoy this sensation. Soft and tender, it felt like eating jelly.
“Do you agree or not?”
“Su Jiang, you jerk… Mmm!”
“Do you agree or not?” Su Jiang asked again before kissing her once more.
An Rou’s eyes widened in shock. Su Jiang, you jerk!
“I didn’t even get to answer this time!”
An Rou struggled and finally managed to push Su Jiang away, immediately shouting, “I agree, I agree!”
“You agree? Then give me a kiss!”
“Get lost!”
An Rou was exasperated. The heavy atmosphere and emotions that had weighed on her earlier were completely swept away by Su Jiang’s antics.
Just as the two were holding each other tightly, the door quietly creaked open.
A figure stepped inside, walking towards them.
An Rou, still in Su Jiang’s arms, froze when she saw the person. Her mind went blank, and her eyes widened in shock as she exclaimed,
“Dad?”
What?!
Su Jiang was startled and immediately turned around.
He saw a disheveled man with messy hair and a scruffy beard, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, looking at him and An Rou in shock. It was none other than An Rou’s father, An Xingchang.
The two of them locked eyes, and the atmosphere became awkwardly silent.
“H-hello, Uncle?” Su Jiang greeted, forcing a polite smile. After all, he had to be respectful, right?
“Dad! It’s not what you think!” An Rou’s face turned bright red. She had no idea why her father suddenly returned, but the immediate priority was to explain her relationship with Su Jiang.
However, An Xingchang was faster. Before she could say more, he swiftly pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of the two of them.
“Click!”
After taking the photo, An Xingchang excitedly turned around, already dialing a number as he walked out.
“Hello, honey?”
“Holy crap, you won’t believe what I just saw when I got home!”
“Turns out what Mingjie said was true—Rou Rou really has a boyfriend!”
“Of course I took a picture! Just wait a second, I’ll send it to you right now…”
Su Jiang stood there, completely dumbfounded. Now he understood why the An family had such an unusual dynamic. It seemed the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
“Moments like this make you realize where the family gets its quirky nature from,” he thought to himself.
“Dad!” An Rou panicked, immediately rushing over to grab onto An Xingchang’s sleeve.
“You’re not allowed to send that to Mom!”
“Sorry, too late. I already sent it.”
“You—!”
An Rou was fuming, pointing a finger at An Xingchang as she caught her breath. “Aside from my mom, you’re not allowed to send it to anyone else!”
“Uh… I just sent it to our family group chat,” An Xingchang admitted sheepishly.
“What?!” An Rou couldn’t believe it. She quickly pulled out her phone to check.
Sure enough, it was posted in the family group chat!
And the picture was perfectly timed, capturing An Rou and Su Jiang standing close together, with An Rou’s face flushed and both of them looking bewildered at the camera.
In the An family group chat:
An Xingchang: “[Image]”
Azuo Ayou: “Holy crap!”
Butler Xu: “Holy crap!”
Other An family members: “Holy crap!”
Ling Cai: “Holy crap!”
Wait, Lingcai, weren’t you injured?!
And aren’t you supposed to be on the isolated island? How do you even have a signal?
Oh, someone else must have used his phone to send the message. Okay, that makes sense.
As An Rou scrolled through the rapidly increasing messages in the group, her fingers trembled with anger. It was too late to delete the photo now—those scoundrels had definitely saved it.
She gritted her teeth and finally let out a sharp scream.
“Stupid Dad!!!”