"Time to eat, Jiangg Yao."
Jiangg Ning called out toward the spare bedroom. She took off her apron, brought over the chopsticks and tableware, then untied the hair tie from her wrist to retie her slightly messy hair.
Her low ponytail rested on the nape of her smooth, jade-like neck. Jiangg Ning lifted the lid of the soup pot, letting a plume of steam drift out. She ladled a small bowlful and placed it at the spot where Jiangg Yao usually liked to sit.
These habits were practically second nature.
Unexpectedly, the first person to emerge from the spare bedroom wasn’t Jiangg Yao, but Chen Yuan.
"I’m starving! The food’s finally ready," he said, poking his head out. He pulled over a small stool and sat down at the coffee table. "Quite a spread. You even made braised ribs."
"None for you. Go home and eat," Jiangg Ning said without even looking up.
"? What? All I have at home is instant noodles. You made a full meal and you’re telling me to go home and eat instant noodles?"
"Is there a problem with that? Besides, we don’t have any tableware for you."
"What do you mean, ’no’..." Chen Yuan muttered as he went to the kitchen to look. Previously, Jiangg Yao had bought several cute, color-coded sets of tableware, and he had his own dedicated set, but he couldn’t find it anywhere. "Where’s my tableware?"
"Threw it out," Jiangg Ning said coolly, picking up her bowl and taking small bites of food.
"Then I’ll use yours."
"I won’t let you."
"Then I’ll use Yaoyao’s! I’ll use my girlfriend’s, is that okay with you?!"
Chen Yuan deliberately enunciated the word "girlfriend" with extra force. It made Jiangg Ning’s grip on her chopsticks tighten, and she had to take several deep breaths to calm herself down.
"I made this food. Why should I let you eat it?"
"No matter how you look at it, we’re basically family. Even if you don’t acknowledge me as her boyfriend, I’m still your brother-in-law."
"You’re getting more and more shameless. Wait until you’ve actually married Yaoyao, then you can talk like that."
"You don’t need to worry about that. Besides, I’m also your superior."
"I’m off the clock right now."
"It’s in your contract. The chairman’s secretary isn’t like any other position. Since you’re receiving such a high salary, you should show more concern for the chairman’s health and well-being, and make decisions in his best interest. I’m just trying to have a meal. Why be so stingy?"
Chen Yuan ignored her. No matter how harsh Jiangg Ning’s words were, they couldn’t hurt him now.
He was the living embodiment of the word "shameless." When Jiangg Yao came out, he sat right next to her in front of Jiangg Ning, and even attentively passed her a bowl and chopsticks.
Jiangg Ning saw it all.
"You can only threaten me with this for another ten months. Once the contract is over, I will win back my freedom."
After saying this, she spoke no more. She silently lowered her head and continued to eat in small bites, her gaze no longer drifting in their direction, as if Chen Yuan were nothing but air.
No one noticed that Jiangg Yao, who was usually talkative even when unhappy, had no desire to join in on the tense, passive-aggressive atmosphere today. Instead, she kept zoning out while picking at her food, her thoughts seemingly miles away.
...
It was the beautiful season described in the poem, "When the mountain temple’s peach blossoms begin to bloom." April was ending, May was beginning, and spring was about to give way to summer.
And yet, a cloud of sorrow seemed to hang over everyone’s hearts, because the two sisters weren’t the only ones whose lives had fallen into chaos.
In a high-rise office building standing in a bustling district of Mingzhu City, Jiangg Ruxue was staring blankly at a photo frame on her desk.
The photo in the frame was rather old, taken when the two sisters were still minors. In an amusement park in Mingzhu City, they were dressed in simple skirts, nestled against Jiangg Ruxue’s sides. The image captured one of the few moments the three of them—mother and daughters—actually looked like a family.
Truthfully, when Jiangg Ruxue didn’t show her venomous side, she was still quite charming, even though the prime of her youth had long since faded from her face.
Seeing her staring off like that, if Chen Yuan were present, he would have been surprised to find that her face held features that at times resembled Jiangg Ning, and at other times, Jiangg Yao.
After a long while, Jiangg Ruxue let out a sigh.
Her birthday was coming up. It was on May ninth every year, not long after the Labor Day holiday. She was about to turn another year older. After this birthday, she would be forty-six.
However, what truly troubled her wasn’t her aging body, but the increasingly dismal state of her company’s business, which left her with no mood to even celebrate her birthday.
If her two daughters had a mind to come back, perhaps she would be a little happier. After all, it’s normal to miss one’s family as one gets older.
But Jiangg Ning and Jiangg Yao hadn’t called home in a long time. She supposed this year, once again, she would be spending it alone.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—
There was a knock on the door.
After receiving permission, her young assistant hurried into the office.
"President Jiangg, the project team is pressing us for payment again. The initial investment has been completely spent. Someone’s been waiting in the reception room all afternoon—they haven’t even gone for lunch. What should we do...?"
"I know," Jiangg Ruxue said, standing up. Her high heels clicked against the floor beneath her fair ankles. "Get the car ready. I’m going to the bank."
"Okay, I’ll arrange it right away."
"Wait. Just tell the driver to leave the car downstairs. I’ll drive over myself."
Jiangg Ruxue suddenly called out, stopping the assistant just as she was walking out the door.
"Huh? President Jiangg, you’re going by yourself? Let me go with you."
"No need. I’ll be back soon. Wait for my call."
With that, Jiangg Ruxue went to the elevator by herself, leaving the young assistant standing there in a daze.
After she left.
The assistant’s gaze gradually turned cold. She glanced back at the empty office.
Her previous respectful demeanor was completely gone. She walked over to the boss’s chair and plopped down casually.
It was obvious.
She was not as simple as she appeared.
This young assistant had been with Jiangg Ruxue’s company for over two years and was deeply trusted. At the same time, she had a complicated, ambiguous relationship with Jiangg Ruxue—a fact that was an open secret in the company.
But what no one knew was that she actually had another boss.
RING. RING. RING. After the sound of a number being dialed, Assistant Qin pressed the phone to her ear.
"President Li, Jiangg Ruxue went to the bank again. She must be using her own money to cover the project’s deficit again, just to keep it moving forward. This is the third time. If she still can’t fill the hole this time, her company is pretty much finished."
Another woman’s voice came from the other end of the line: "The inheritance that bastard Liu left her is quite substantial. She’s been filling holes for so many years and still hasn’t used it all up. Did you go with her this time?"
"No, she went alone," the assistant replied.
"I understand. I’ve also verified the documents you sent me last time. If the evidence is solid, it means all the other company shareholders have been kept in the dark by her. When this story breaks, I’ll turn her into a drowning dog! We’ll see if she can still act as high and mighty as before."
"Understood. I await your instructions."
The call ended.
Assistant Qin couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smirk, already picturing the miserable sight of Jiangg Ruxue’s company going bankrupt and her being dragged to court by creditors.