The room full of men couldn’t help but be surprised. Since when had Shang Jie ever been so obedient to a woman?
However, these men were seasoned veterans of the social scene. They knew better than to show too much interest in Shang Jie’s private life. They dimmed the lights and resumed the lively atmosphere—drinking, singing, and keeping the party going—while leaving the two of them in the shadows of a quiet corner.
Jiang Xingxing sat beside Shang Jie and playfully bent his curled index finger. “You came to pick me up earlier.”
“I didn’t,” Shang Jie replied, pulling his hand back with an air of restraint.
“I saw your car,” Jiang Xingxing said as she placed her hand on his knee. “Shen Chuyan was just giving me a ride home, that’s all.”
“That’s all? What else were you planning?”
“I’m not someone who changes their mind easily. I’m already married.”
“At least you still remember you’re married.”
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Kkydt Dkdtmkdt, jdsokdt bkp flyzswpu pvlxxle qasx nyakdt ycswv bla, prsjl tldvzu vs pssvbl bkx. “Psd’v cl xye yduxsal.”
Tl naspple bkp zltp yde vwadle pzktbvzu yoyu.
Mbl vawvb oyp, Fbydt Kkl’p ydtla bye xspvzu ekppkryvle vbl xsxldv bl pyo bla oyzj kd. Ju oyzjkdt kd ps cszezu, pbl bye lppldvkyzzu yddswdnle vblka alzyvksdpbkr vs lhlausdl ralpldv.
Fbydt Kkl eked’v xkde xyjkdt vblka alzyvksdpbkr rwczkn. Ebyv nsdnladle bkx oyp vbl rsvldvkyz kxrynv sd bla nyalla.
Jwv Kkydt Dkdtmkdt bye nsxl vs vbl dktbvnzwc vs rlapsdyzzu vyjl bkx bsxl, obknb nzlyazu pbsole vbyv, nsxryale vs bla nyalla, bla blyav zlydle xsal vsoyae bkx.
Idsokdt bso xwnb pbl zshle ynvkdt, Fbydt Kkl alyzkgle vbyv, kd bla xkde, bl dso blze y talyvla olktbv.
Ekvb vbyv vbswtbv, obyv oyp zlqv vs cl ydtau ycswv?
Tl oyp sdzu jllrkdt y pvayktbv qynl vs xyjl bla nsym bkx y ckv xsal.
Jiang Xingxing, of course, was patient and gentle. She tugged on his arm. When he didn’t resist, she leaned closer and pinched his jaw playfully. “Let’s go home. I cooked for you today—your favorite dishes.”
Shang Jie grabbed her chin and kissed her, his tongue invading her mouth with an intensity that left her breathless. After nibbling on her gently as a reprimand, he said, “Don’t let it happen again.”
“Mm, it won’t happen again.”
Satisfied, Shang Jie stood, wrapped his arm around Jiang Xingxing, and led her out. The men around them quickly stood to see them off, but Shang Jie stopped them. “Tonight’s expenses are on me.”
“Thank you, Mr. Shang! Safe travels, Mr. Shang and Miss Jiang.”
After they left, Lin Chuan shut the door and turned to the others. “About tonight…”
“Rest assured, Assistant Lin. We won’t breathe a word of what happened tonight.”
Lin Chuan nodded. “That’s for the best.”
When they got home, Jiang Xingxing gave Shang Jie a hangover remedy and had the servants reheat the food. They ate dinner together.
Earlier, out of consideration for Shang Jie’s reputation in front of his business associates, Jiang Xingxing had held back her thoughts and gone along with him. Now that they were home…
She calmly stirred her rice with her chopsticks and said, “A married man going on a blind date with someone else—doesn’t that count as cheating?”
Shang Jie’s chopsticks paused slightly, his expression turning a bit awkward. He turned and shot a sharp glare at Lin Chuan.
Lin Chuan looked desperate. He hadn’t said a word!
Jiang Xingxing looked up at Lin Chuan. “Lin Chuan, tell me—don’t you think people who do that are the worst?”
Lin Chuan, suddenly put on the spot, hesitated. But he quickly deciphered the situation from Shang Jie’s silent expression.
In this household, everything Jiang Xingxing said was law, so he must stand by her side.
“I think it’s absolutely wrong,” Lin Chuan declared righteously. “No matter the reason, hiding it from one’s wife to meet another woman is despicable behavior!”
Jiang Xingxing nodded. “Well said.”
Watching the two of them team up, Shang Jie sighed and explained, “Yes, I did have dinner with Shen Nian, but it was solely out of consideration for the Shen family and my mother. And I made it very clear to her that I wasn’t interested.”
Before Jiang Xingxing could retort, Shang Jie cut her off. “As a married man, participating in such a meeting with clear matchmaking intentions was a mistake. I admit it and apologize to you.”
Jiang Xingxing snorted. “You’re only apologizing because you got caught.”
Shang Jie: …
He lightly patted the back of her head, more affectionate than reproachful. Over the past six months, he’d spoiled her so much that she often had the upper hand in their arguments.
Lin Chuan, the sole outsider present, chimed in neutrally, “Boss met with Shen Nian, and Madam had Shen Chuyan drive her home. That seems like a fair trade-off.”
“What trade-off?”
“There’s no trade-off.”
Both Shang Jie and Jiang Xingxing spoke simultaneously, glaring at each other afterward.
Lin Chuan: …
I think it’s time for me to excuse myself.
Shang Jie, clearly displeased, said, “You’d better keep your distance from Shen Chuyan. The way he looks at you is far from what you’d call a ‘normal friend.’ A normal friend wouldn’t look at you like that.”
Jiang Xingxing understood now. Shang Jie wasn’t upset that Shen Chuyan had given her a ride. He was upset about the way Shen Chuyan looked at her.
She defended herself. “Shen Chuyan wouldn’t. He knows I have a boyfriend. He even suggested we all go out for a meal together.”
“A meal?” Shang Jie scoffed coldly. “Why would your boyfriend have a meal with him? Who do you think you are to him that he’d care so much?”
“He said I’m like a younger sister to him.”
“Why would he need another sister when he already has one?”
These words caused Shang Jie to pause suddenly.
Indeed, why would someone with a sister already need to treat Jiang Xingxing as one? Shang Jie turned to her again, his hand slowly reaching out to trace her brow bone, her cheek, and down to her lips, pressing gently.
People often said they looked somewhat alike, but Shang Jie had never dwelled on the thought before.
Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning piercing through the fog, a revelation dawned on him, bringing clarity to his thoughts.
Jiang Xingxing noticed his intense gaze and looked at the hand holding her chin. “What… are you doing?”
Without a word, Shang Jie pulled her closer, cupping her face in his hands, examining her closely. He brushed back her dark hair, tucking it behind her ear, exposing her smooth forehead where a faint pink scar was visible.
Feeling his focused attention, Jiang Xingxing lowered her head in embarrassment, instinctively reaching up to cover the scar.
Shang Jie intercepted her hand, running his coarse fingertips gently over the scar, his heart aching as though pricked by needles. In a soft voice, he asked, “How did you get this scar?”
“I told you before, didn’t I? I can’t remember. Maybe I got it from being a mischievous child and falling,” she replied lightly.
“This isn’t a scar from a fall,” he said firmly. “Only something sharp could have caused such an injury, leaving a mark like this.”
“I really don’t remember,” she insisted. “It must’ve happened when I was very young.”
“Are you an orphan?”
“You already knew that. Why ask again?”
“Do you know who your parents are?”
“If I did, would I still be an orphan?”
Jiang Xingxing thought Shang Jie’s intelligence seemed a bit off today. Could it be because of the alcohol?
“Have you ever considered looking for them all these years?”
“They didn’t want me back then, so why should I bother?” she muttered. “If they didn’t want me before, they still wouldn’t want me now. I won’t look for them.”
“How can you be so sure you were abandoned?”
A flicker of confusion crossed Jiang Xingxing’s eyes. “If I wasn’t abandoned, why haven’t they found me after all these years? If they were looking, they would’ve found me.”
“Maybe they didn’t know they’d lost their daughter.”
“What kind of parents would be so careless as to lose a child and not know?”
At this moment, Lin Chuan interjected, “Boss, there are still many things that need to be verified. Right now…”
Shang Jie immediately cut him off.
Lin Chuan was right. Without concrete evidence, there was no point in letting her know prematurely. If it turned out to be a false alarm, it would only trouble her unnecessarily.
After hastily finishing his meal, Shang Jie called Lin Chuan into the study for a private discussion.
Jiang Xingxing looked at the table full of uneaten dishes and pouted. “So wasteful! What kind of ‘important matters’ make you rush off before finishing dinner?”
In the brightly lit study, Shang Jie sat, leaning back in his chair, holding a photo of Jiang Xingxing. In the picture, she wore a simple T-shirt and denim shorts, holding a hose as she bathed a golden retriever. The dog, shaking itself dry, splashed her with water. Her laughter in the photo was carefree, like that of a child.
Shang Jie had taken this picture from the second-floor balcony. He had kept it hidden as a cherished treasure in his wallet.
Now, holding it alongside an old photo of himself with a young Shen Nian-nian, he asked Lin Chuan, “Do they look like the same person to you?”
Lin Chuan carefully compared the photos. Compared to Shen Nian-nian’s current appearance, Jiang Xingxing did indeed resemble the younger Shen Nian-nian more closely.
“Boss, it’s hard to say. Children’s features change as they grow up. Based on these photos alone, I can’t be sure.”
Shang Jie understood the risks of making decisions based on assumptions. Rash conclusions were the bane of sound judgment.
He carefully placed the photos back in his wallet and instructed Lin Chuan, “In addition to what I’ve asked you to investigate earlier, also look into Madam’s background.”
“Understood.”
Descending the stairs, Lin Chuan saw Jiang Xingxing sitting on a recliner in the backyard, enjoying the cool evening breeze, with the golden retriever lying at her feet.
When the dog saw Lin Chuan, it barked a few times.
Jiang Xingxing glanced at him. “You and your boss are like two peas in a pod, always glued together. Why don’t you just pair up and leave everyone else out of it?”
Lin Chuan: …
So, after being jealous of Shen Nian-nian, the boss’s wife was now jealous of him?
Jiang Xingxing kicked off her shoes, resting her fair feet lightly on the dog’s belly. The golden retriever rolled over, exposing its belly to play with her.
“What kind of ‘national secrets’ are you two discussing?” she teased.
Lin Chuan remained silent.
“Keeping it a secret, huh?”
“It’s confidential.”
“Afraid I’ll sell you out as a corporate spy?”
“That’s not entirely impossible,” Lin Chuan replied with a rare smile.
Jiang Xingxing noticed for the first time that his smile was quite pleasant, like a cool summer breeze.
“Come sit with me for a while.”
She patted the spot beside her, and Lin Chuan walked over, taking a seat. The golden retriever, seeing this, excitedly jumped onto his lap.
Lin Chuan: …
“Get off! Hey, what’s with your dog!”
Jiang Xingxing laughed heartily. “Damao, he’s a guy. Stop doing that.”
Lin Chuan pushed the big dog away and frowned. “Your dog is way too shameless.”
“It likes you.”
“Well, I should thank it, then.”
Jiang Xingxing kept laughing, and Lin Chuan, watching her gentle and radiant expression, felt a warm sense of comfort in his heart.
“Lin Chuan, do you miss your parents?”
A faint chill appeared in Lin Chuan’s eyes. “My mother always treated me like a bargaining chip for dividing the family assets, and my father… he never truly considered me his son, not for a single day. When others bullied me, he turned a blind eye—just because I’m an illegitimate child, I’m supposed to be worth less? What kind of twisted logic is that?”
Jiang Xingxing patted him on the shoulder. “Be good, my son. From now on, Damao is your brother.”
Lin Chuan chuckled, not taking her words to heart, but he added, “If you want, the boss can help you find your biological parents.”
A trace of uncertainty appeared on Jiang Xingxing’s face. “I’d rather not. I’ve been fine without them.”
“Aren’t you curious at all?”
“I’m more curious about why they didn’t want me. When I was little, I used to ask myself all the time—why don’t Mom and Dad want me when I’ve been so good?”
“Maybe they had their reasons.”
“Who knows? Maybe they already have another daughter by now.”
Lin Chuan was left speechless.
…
After Lin Chuan left, Jiang Xingxing looked up to see the man standing on the second-floor balcony, gazing down at her from above.
Their eyes met briefly, and a ripple of emotion flickered in the depths of his profound gaze.
“Come back inside and sleep,” he called.
“Okay.”
That night, Jiang Xingxing distinctly sensed something off about him. He was uncharacteristically gentle—so gentle it felt unprecedented. His kisses lingered softly on her face, as if trying to heal every scar she carried.
So light, so slow…
When a man pours out his deepest tenderness and affection, it can overwhelm a woman.
Jiang Xingxing could feel the profound emotion buried in the depths of his heart—so fervent, so sincere—through his kisses.
“Shang… Shang Jie.” She tilted her chin up, and the moment his name slipped from her tongue, even her toes curled from the intensity.
The man bent over her, giving his all, his very soul trembling with the effort.
“Hmm?”
“Do you love me?”
“What do you think?”
Sansukini: Verbally saying “I love you” is a must in a relationship. It gives a better sense of security to the other person. But, of course, you also needs to be sincere.
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Weird..they are rich..why doesn’t he just do a DNA test then. That would have been easier.
She has good relationship with Shen Shaoye, he could jsut agree to the meal appointment and try to get his sample during meal, so simple.
Or he can even try to find way to.het his sample during shooting. It’s rather easy as he always have to be styled and get make up on.