Chapter 131: Only a Fool Wouldn’t Take Free Money
His tone was as calm and indifferent as Jiang Su remembered.
But Jiang Su couldn’t shake the feeling that he heard a hint of urgency in the second half of Huo Qingyan’s sentence, as if he was afraid of being misunderstood.
They hadn’t seen each other in three months, and this sudden encounter left Jiang Su at a loss for words.
Jiang Ying’s voice came from inside the room. “Little Seven, what are you and Third Brother dawdling at the door for?”
Jiang Su had only opened the door halfway when he saw Huo Qingyan, so the people inside hadn’t seen who was standing outside.
“You’re delivering wine to my older brothers?” Jiang Su came back to his senses, latching onto the key phrase in Huo Qingyan’s sentence.
Huo Qingyan explained, “I’ve been collaborating with your older brother on some business recently.”
Jiang Su: “Collaborating?”
“President Huo?” Jiang Zhaoyu had walked over at some point.
Seeing him, Jiang Su opened the private room door a little wider.
Now, Jiang Ying and Jiang Licuan saw Huo Qingyan as well.
“I have a dinner party here tonight as well. I heard you had booked a room, so I came to drop off a bottle of wine,” Huo Qingyan said, handing over the bottle he was holding.
Jiang Su: “???”
Was he really just dropping off wine?
His eldest brother would never accept wine from Huo Qingyan.
“Well, I won’t be polite then.” Jiang Zhaoyu reached out and took the bottle. “Tonight is a family dinner, so I won’t ask you to stay, President Huo.”
Huo Qingyan remained as aloof as ever. “If you need anything, just let the staff know.”
Jiang Zhaoyu gave a slight nod in response.
Jiang Su didn’t understand.
It was one thing for Huo Qingyan to come and drop off a bottle of wine.
But the key point was that his eldest brother had actually accepted it!
“What kind of wine is it?” Jiang Licuan, spotting the bottle, came scampering over.
Jiang Zhaoyu turned and handed the bottle to Jiang Licuan. “Coming from President Huo, of course it’s a good wine.”
Before Jiang Su could figure out what was happening, a deep male voice sounded by his ear. “Congratulations on wrapping up your shoot.”
Jiang Su turned his head. Huo Qingyan had already taken a step back, his dark eyes deep and seemingly touched with a hint of a smile.
“I’ll be going now.”
Huo Qingyan was tall with long legs, and his figure quickly disappeared around the corner.
He came and went in a flash, as if he had really only come to drop off a bottle of wine.
“Holy crap!”
Jiang Licuan’s exclamation pulled Jiang Su back to reality.
Jiang Licuan was hugging the wine bottle, his face ecstatic. “No wonder I couldn’t find this wine anywhere, even when I offered a high price! So it was in Huo Qingyan’s hands! Big Brother, let me take this back to be the centerpiece of my bar!”
This kind of famous wine, long out of production, was priceless. Putting it on display in his bar, Wangchuan, would be incredibly impressive.
Jiang Zhaoyu took the bottle back. “In your dreams! We’re celebrating Little Seven’s first drama since his comeback wrapping up. Of course, we have to open a good bottle!”
Jiang Licuan: “Big Brother, I’m begging you…”
Jiang Su, who was already confused, now felt even more so.
Every time Jiang Licuan saw Huo Qingyan, he would scowl and look down his nose at him.
Why wasn’t he giving him a hard time today?
“Little Seven!”
Jiang Su looked up to see Jiang Zhishen rushing toward him for a bear hug.
“Cough—” Jiang Su was nearly crushed. “Third Brother, if you still consider me a brother, you’ll let go right now…”
Jiang Zhishen chuckled and released him. “I’ve brought your third sister-in-law.”
Third sister-in-law…
“Ah Jin.” Jiang Zhishen instantly calmed down, turning with a smile to extend a hand to the person behind him.
When Jiang Zhishen had suddenly rushed over, Jiang Su hadn’t paid attention to who was behind him.
Only now did he clearly see that the person standing behind Jiang Zhishen was Fu Jin.
“Teacher Fu.” Jiang Su wasn’t surprised; he had a feeling it was “as expected.”
Everyone said his third brother had the personality of a straight man.
But when a straight man put his mind to it, few could resist.
Fu Jin ignored Jiang Zhishen’s outstretched hand and walked straight to Jiang Su. “Long time no see.”
Jiang Zhishen came over and took Fu Jin’s hand. “This is my younger brother, Jiang Su. You know him, so I won’t bother with introductions.”
“Younger brother?” Fu Jin said, secretly trying to pull his hand free from Jiang Zhishen’s grasp.
When he couldn’t, he shot Jiang Zhishen a look: So many people are watching, what does this look like?
Jiang Zhishen lifted his chin: I’ll do as I please.
Fu Jin: …
Jiang Su, taking in their little exchange, smiled without a word. “A cousin. I’m the seventh in the Jiang family.”
To win Fu Jin back this time, Jiang Zhishen had laid all his cards on the table, from how many people were in his family down to how many little red flowers he’d earned in kindergarten.
Naturally, he had also told Fu Jin that Jiang Su was his cousin.
But hearing Jiang Su admit it himself still came as a shock to Fu Jin.
It was unexpected, yet it also made perfect sense.
The kind of aura and confidence that Jiang Su naturally exuded could only have been cultivated by a family like the Jiangs.
“And over here…” Jiang Zhishen pulled Fu Jin to greet Jiang Licuan and the others.
The remaining three had already lined up.
The first to step forward was Jiang Zhaoyu. “I’m Zhishen’s eldest brother, Jiang Zhaoyu.”
Next was Jiang Ying. “I’m his second sister, Jiang Ying.”
Jiang Licuan grinned. “I’m the sixth, Jiang Licuan. Come to Wangchuan for a drink sometime, it’s on me.”
Fu Jin: “Thank you.”
These were all legendary figures. Fu Jin had only met Jiang Ying once at an event; it was the first time he’d met the other two.
To this day, he still found it hard to believe that the young man who had once looked so destitute, surviving on a single bag of steamed buns for a week, came from such an illustrious family.
…
Jiang Zhaoyu had someone open the bottle of wine Huo Qingyan had brought.
Jiang Licuan watched, his heart aching. He held out his glass with a mournful sigh. “Fill it up.”
After one sip, Jiang Licuan sighed, “Delicious.”
Jiang Su couldn’t hold back any longer and carefully asked, “You guys… don’t seem to hate Huo Qingyan as much as you used to?”
Jiang Licuan: “Mature and stable people know how to separate their personal and professional lives.”
Jiang Ying burst out laughing. “You’re only so ‘professional’ because all of Huo Qingyan’s business partners now patronize your establishment.”
Jiang Su: “???” Huo Qingyan was sending people to support Jiang Licuan’s business?
Jiang Licuan smiled without changing his expression. “Huo Qingyan has invested quite a bit in your company’s new project.”
Jiang Su: “???” Huo Qingyan invested in Second Sister’s project?
Jiang Ying rubbed her nose and glanced at Jiang Zhaoyu. “Didn’t Big Brother also sign some strategic cooperation agreement with Huo Qingyan…”
Jiang Su: “???” Big Brother was also working with Huo Qingyan?
Jiang Zhaoyu took a light sip of wine and said nonchalantly, “Third Brother’s new lab was funded by Huo Qingyan.”
Jiang Zhishen was last, with no one left to pass the buck to, so he just went for broke.
“It’d be foolish not to take free money. Besides, Huo Qingyan and Little Seven are already divorced.”
Fu Jin, who had been as quiet as a mouse, blurted out, “What?”
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