“Exactly! A-Yong is still young. Making a few mistakes is only human,” the Third Uncle chimed in hastily. “You were even more of a hell-raiser when you were young, weren’t you? Didn’t the family still tolerate you and clean up that mess for you?”
Chen Yang felt a surge of fury at his retort. She admitted she was in the wrong back then, but the person who had actually settled the matter wasn’t any of them—it was her own sister, Chen Luoru. These relatives acted as if they had moved mountains, when all they had done was come up with the rotten idea of forcing her eighteen-year-old sister to marry Meng Jianchen in her stead.
Chen Yang never believed this arranged marriage was “politically correct” in any absolute sense. She and Meng Jianchen had zero chemistry and couldn’t stand the sight of each other; even if they had married, the eventual divorce would have been an ugly spectacle.
When the entire Chen clan was tricking Chen Luoru into the marriage, Chen Yang was the sole dissenter. She didn’t believe a man like Meng Jianchen could provide a good home for her sister. Besides, Luoru was far too young—she had just graduated high school. Where was the sense in that?
But none of the other sisters in the Chen family had the status to match Meng Jianchen. As the eldest grandson of the Meng family’s primary branch, the Mengs would never have agreed to a daughter from a collateral branch.
Chen Yang had insisted on breaking the engagement entirely, but the family refused to budge. She argued that since the two families had already established a business partnership, why add legs to a painted snake by forcing a marriage that existed in name only?
But they insisted it wasn’t “adding legs to a snake”; they called it “adding flowers to a brocade.” Only through marriage could the two families truly share the same fate and weather the storms together.
Unable to convince them, Chen Yang figured Meng Jianchen would never agree to such an absurd arrangement anyway. An eighteen-year-old girl who was also the younger sister of his ex-fiancée? Even if the Chens were willing to give her away, Meng Jianchen surely wouldn’t have the audacity to take her.
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Chen Yang’s perspective had shifted compared to four years ago. After taking over the family business, she realized just how much the Jinghong Group had benefited Lingsheng. Over these four years, Meng Jianchen had never shortchanged the Chen family in matters big or small. Under his watch, Lingsheng successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, its business flourished nationwide, and it joined the ranks of the “hundred-billion-yuan club.”
Jinghong’s treatment of Lingsheng went far beyond a mere strategic partnership. Meng Jianchen put in genuine effort, helping them whenever possible. This softened Chen Yang’s stance toward him; from a family interest perspective, he had been a stalwart protector.
As for how he treated her sister, Chen Yang wasn’t entirely sure. A good son-in-law wasn’t necessarily a good husband, but looking at Luoru’s state, she seemed to be living quite comfortably.
Because Chen Yang had briefly “dated” Meng Jianchen, she understood him better than most. He treated Chen Luoru more than just a little bit better than he had treated her—he practically held her in the palm of his hand. Even the way he looked at Luoru held a trace of tenderness. A person’s eyes rarely lie, and a man like Meng Jianchen seldom showed such an expression.
A woman’s intuition told Chen Yang that Meng Jianchen liked Luoru, and it wasn’t a recent development. But when did it start? Chen Yang couldn’t figure it out.
The only memory that stood out was from a day four or five years ago. She had received a frantic call from Chen Luoru: “Sis, it’s bad! He’s here again today!”
Chen Yang had a pounding headache. Had Meng Jianchen taken the wrong medicine? Why was he coming to the Chen house every single day lately? Was he ever going to let her go out clubbing? God, I hope he hasn’t actually fallen for me, she thought. She couldn’t stand his type.
“Sis, hurry back! He says he won’t leave until he sees you!” Luoru sounded more anxious than she did.
“Help me stall him for a bit. I’ll try to get back as early as I can,” Chen Yang said.
“When exactly?”
“Ten tonight? Actually, let’s say nine.”
“Sis, it’s only one in the afternoon! How am I supposed to stall him that long?” Luoru was baffled.
Chen Yang asked, “What did you tell him I was doing?”
“I said you went to the dentist,” Luoru answered honestly.
“Chen Luoru, are you crazy?” Chen Yang felt dizzy. She had “seen” a surgeon the day before yesterday and an internist yesterday. “Can’t you think of a more creative excuse?”
“But he didn’t seem suspicious at all,” Luoru said innocently. “He even asked if your health was feeling any better.”
“Heh.” Chen Yang sneered. Meng Jianchen was certainly being “attentive” and “caring.” He was probably mocking her. “Fine, just stall as long as you can. I’ll try to be back by six.”
“Then you better hurry. I can’t help you for too long.” Luoru hung up.
After finishing a game of Pai Gow with her friends, Chen Yang arrived home exactly at 6:00 PM. The sky had darkened. As she parked, before she could even turn off her headlights, she saw two figures by the artificial lake—one tall, one small.
Chen Luoru was in a sweater and a short skirt; Meng Jianchen was in a jacket and trousers. He stood by the lakeside while Luoru crouched beside him, one hand on her cheek and the other feeding a swan with a piece of cucumber.
A light breeze blew, lifting Luoru’s long hair. She got distracted for a second, and the swan pecked her hand. She jerked back like she’d been electrocuted, and Meng Jianchen immediately knelt down. Their heads were close together as they spoke. Chen Yang saw Meng Jianchen turn Luoru’s palm over to check the injury.
Meng Jianchen was a man who valued personal space; he disliked physical contact, a fact Chen Yang knew well. But at the time, she didn’t think much of it. She simply thought that since Luoru was hurt, it was only natural for him to show concern.
Once he confirmed Luoru was fine, the two of them stood up and walked toward the house. Only then did Chen Yang get out of the car to join them. When Meng Jianchen saw her, his attitude was lukewarm—there was no sign of the “surprise” or “relief” one might expect after waiting so long.
Chen Yang didn’t care; she wasn’t happy about his visit either. But looking back now, she realized that even then, Meng Jianchen had already begun treating Chen Luoru differently.
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Hi translator, I hope you are doing fine?
I don’t know what to think about the ml. It was a man that don’t believe in love but it fell for his fiance’s sister morally speaking it’s wrong but the fiancee wasn’t doing anything good. Sleeping around when you will marry someone soon. …..well the more sad is that our FL knew nothing
Hi Mel. I’m doing good. Thanks for asking. I hope you’re well too. It’s more like the ML has been brought up with the expectations for his marriage so he didn’t really think about love before falling for his fiancee’s sister.