There were already rumors before and the fact that Zhong Jing had directly fired the women who beat up Jiang Yuan from the company for Jiang Yuan’s sake made a huge commotion. The matter was not small and soon the Zhong family knew about Jiang Yuan’s existence.
Father Zhong who was traveling around the world with his wife called Zhong Jing.
“Ajing, what’s the matter with that woman? Who is she?”
Zhong Jing raised his hand and pressed his brow which was sore because he had been sitting at the desk for too long and sighed that his father asked him even though he already knew what was going on.
He understood what he meant and he replied, “Just a small staff I have been playing around with.”
Father Zhong seemed relieved and he instructed him: “I don’t care how you play but don’t be like your brother and tempted by a lowly born woman. Look at what happened to your brother, he became what he is now because of that woman! You can see clearly that she does not have any guilt and pity for your brother. Born from a lowly background, they are destined to have a narrow vision and they just want to become a Phoenix, they love your money far more than they love you. After your brother’s accident, I have put all my hopes on you, don’t let me and your mother be disappointed again.”
“Dad, I know.”
” By the way, we happened to meet that Xuan Lu child in Switzerland last time when she also came to play. She is indeed a child from a big family. She speaks and behaves well and looks good. Both your mother and I think you two are a good match. In this way, you can sort out the messy things and this time we will settle the affairs of the two of you when we return from the trip. There is already a lot of cooperation between the two families and a marriage will bring even greater benefits, what do you think?”
Zhong Jing paused for a few seconds then said, “Okay.”
After hearing his answer, Father Zhong’s mood became much lighter, “That’s settled then.”
“Yeah.”
Zhong Jing hung up the phone and closed his eyes then held his forehead and pinched his temples.
If he did not agree, his father would not feel at ease and might find someone to deal with Jiang Yuan.
Besides, he really never thought of marrying Jiang Yuan.
The person who he married might be Xuan Lu, Zhang Lu or Li Lu but it would never be Jiang Yuan.
It was just that he had a feeling of reluctance in his heart that he had to say goodbye to her now.
——After finishing his work at night, Zhong Jing was waiting for Jiang Yuan in the parking lot. After she came, he walked over from the driver’s seat to help her open the car door.
“Did you wait for a long time?”
“No, I came down too early.” Zhong Jing said, “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah, a little.”
“Let’s go out to eat today.” Zhong Jing said while starting the car.
Jiang Yuan was stunned. They had never eaten out since they were together. Why would we make an exception today?
Thinking about it, it’s probably because their relationship had been exposed anyway so there was no need to hide from others.
“Oh, okay.”
They went to a high-end western restaurant.
Zhong Jing should be a frequent visitor there. The waiter diligently led him to his usual seat, “Mr. Zhong, this lady, our main dish today is foie gras, would you like to try it?”
Zhong Jing nodded. He picked up the menu and skillfully ordered the dishes including Jiang Yuan’s one, which he also helped order.
Before the dishes were served, the two chatted casually, as Zhong Jing drank water, he asked her, “Is anyone else bothering you?”
Jiang Yuan shook her head with a smile on her lips, “No, no one dares to.”
She didn’t expect that after she was beaten, he would do that for her. The effect of making an example was very good that those who were jealous of her now only dared to talk behind their backs but no one dared to point fingers in front of her.
He stood up for her and she was naturally moved in her heart and she was sweetly and carefully guessing whether their relationship had become a normal couple relationship now?
Zhong Jing smiled and put down the water glass, “That’s good.”
Jiang Yuan’s hand which was white and delicate with small palms and long fingers looked very cute and beautiful on the tabletop covered with dark tablecloth that he couldn’t help but grab it and play with it.
Jiang Yuan blushed and looked away trying to retract it.
Zhong Jing didn’t let her hide and quipped: “You have very pretty hands.”
He stroked the smooth and delicate skin on the back of her hand with his thumb and he asked casually, “Do you have any maintenance for it?”
Jiang Yuan let him hold it. He said, “I don’t do much work.”
“My parents dote on me since I was a child and din’t let me do anything. My mother is a good cook and I didn’t even get to wash the dishes at home. It was only when I started to work that I started to cook for myself but I din’t do much. I ate at the company at noon and it’s easy to cook for one person when I get home from work at night.”
She babbled, “My mother said that it’s enough for one person at home to have rough hands. She wants me to have me a pair of beautiful hands. She said that in the life of a woman, doing housework well does not necessarily make her happy and the more you do, the less happy you may be.”
The man playing with her hands didn’t seem to listen carefully but fell into some kind of contemplation not knowing what he was thinking.
“…Ah, Ajing?” Jiang Yuan called him.
It was the first time she called him that. She didn’t know how to call him. It didn’t seem appropriate to call him Mr Zhong in private but it was also too condescending to call him by his first and last name but wouldn’t calling him Ajing be too intimate, would he accept it?
She felt so pitiful for herself that she had to be so careful when calling the name of the person she liked.
Sure enough, love would make people humble, not to mention that the person was Zhong Jing, who was a man of high status.
Zhong Jing came back to his senses but didn’t reject her calling him that, “Sorry, I just remembered something about the company.”
In fact, what he just thought was that the woman in front of him was so well-behaved and obedient that if he asked her to be his lover for the rest of his life, she would obey, right?
“Oh, it’s fine.” Jiang Yuan smiled.
Later, the dishes came and the two began to eat.
The two people seemed to be close to each other sitting across the table for a meal but in fact, they have completely different expectations for the future.
–
Three days later,in the early morning
Jiang Yuan and Zhong Jing spent the night in the small villa. They were sleeping soundly when Jiang Yuan’s cell phone rang suddenly waking her up.
She quickly answered the phone and got out of bed and hid on the balcony to answer the call for fear of waking up Zhong Jing.
“Hey, Mom, what’s the matter?”
“Where are you? Why aren’t you at home?”, came the mother’s anxious voice on the phone.
“…” Jiang Yuan couldn’t answer for a while, she turned to her mother, “Mom, what happened? Why did you go to the apartment to find me so early?”
Her mother’s voice was full of tears, “Your dad, your dad was arrested, woo woo…”
Jiang Yuan was extremely shocked but she still had to calm down and comfort her mother: “Mom, don’t cry, first tell me what happened.”
Zhang Rong explained the story.
It turned out that her father, Jiang Nian, had been hooked on gambling for the past six months. In addition to taking 20,000 yuan from Jiang Yuan on the pretext that the fruit shop needed capital turnover, he also borrowed from relatives and friends building up debts and later borrowed from loan sharks. The profit was as high as hundreds of thousands.
The previous night, someone came to collect debts and smashed their fruit shop. Jiang Nian picked up a fruit knife and chopped people in a fit of anger.
After talking on the phone with her mother, Jiang Yuan came into the room and looked at the man who was still sleeping. She didn’t wake him up but get dressed quickly and went out of the room.