Part 4
Jiang Mingxun was old, but his gray hair didn’t affect his imposing manner. If it weren’t for an accidental fracture a few months ago that required rest, no one would see him sitting in a wheelchair.
“Grandpa,” Jiang Shulu said.
Although he had arrived in a rush, Jiang Shulu didn’t look travel-worn at all. Jiang Mingxun looked at his eldest grandson in the mirror, still unable to find a single flaw.
“You’ve read what the news is saying?” Jiang Mingxun asked.
“I have,” Jiang Shulu replied.
He pointed to the e-ink screen on the side table, which displayed news interfaces.
The Jiang family had businesses both on the mainland and overseas. Having weathered a century of storms, they cared deeply about their reputation.
“It was written like this when you went to become a celebrity back then,” Jiang Mingxun said.
“I know.”
“When we talked back then, besides those overseas projects, what else was there?”
“That I would live according to the plan.”
Jiang Mingxun turned his wheelchair around and moved forward, stopping in front of Jiang Shulu. “Is this your plan?”
“I believe I’ve done enough for the Jiang family.”
In five years, Jiang Shulu’s resume and reputation had updated rapidly. If he weren’t the heir, any other company would fight tooth and nail to keep him.
“Do you remember your identity?” Jiang Mingxun asked.
“Which identity?”
His voice remained neither humble nor arrogant. “Jiang Shulu, or Zhou Chou?”
A cane swung toward him, but Jiang Shulu dodged it.
His expression didn’t change; he even smiled. “If Jiang Jinan wants to take over, I have no objections.”
“He’s not as good as you,” Jiang Mingxun said.
“He would be a more obedient grandson than me, as long as you’re willing to hand it over.”
If not for that broken rule about prioritizing the eldest son and grandson.
Jiang Shulu stood straight. Even though Jiang Kaicheng and Zhu Qiong had hidden it well, they couldn’t hide it from Jiang Mingxun, who cared about his eldest grandson.
He had handed the inheritance rights to Jiang Kaicheng. If the couple didn’t have a son, he would naturally transfer them elsewhere.
But Jiang Mingxun hadn’t expected that when he saw his grandson again, the boy had turned into a tombstone for a pet dog.
Although Jiang Kaicheng lacked ability, he had a hard heart, capable of letting an illegitimate son replace the legitimate one and having his wife cover for him.
Few knew Jiang Shulu’s true identity, but that also meant he had no leverage.
From the moment he was brought back to the Jiang family, his life was a fruit forced into a mold, waiting to grow into the shape everyone expected.
“Are you challenging me?” Jiang Mingxun asked.
Even with regular maintenance, Jiang Mingxun’s age was undeniable. At this moment, his stare at Jiang Shulu was cloudy but menacing.
Jiang Shulu had been frightened by Jiang Mingxun the first time they met.
Because this grandfather had mercilessly exposed his identity, Jiang Kaicheng and Zhu Qiong talked with the old man for a long time afterward.
Jiang Shulu still remembered the atmosphere of that day.
Staring at the pendulum clock in the living room, swinging back and forth, wondering when he could go home.
That small attic with his mother—even if it was hot and humid in the summer, or cold and dry in the winter—still felt comfortable to him.
Unlike this house, spacious and bright, yet suffocating.
Now Jiang Mingxun was old, and Jiang Shulu had grown from a child who needed to look up to him into a man who could look down at him.
Jiang Shulu smiled. “How could I, Grandpa?”
Just like back then, seemingly tamed into a completely obedient molded person. In Jiang Mingxun’s eyes, he was far more malleable than that failure, Jiang He.
“When you get married, I’ll hand over everything in the family to you,” Jiang Mingxun said.
He patted Jiang Shulu’s shoulder. “You don’t have to marry someone you like; someone suitable is enough. Once you have a child, it doesn’t matter if you go back to that man.”
Jiang Shulu smiled.
Is the one I like not suitable?
He was determined to be with Tang Yue. Not for a child, but because of the craving he felt instinctively when he embraced Tang Yue.
The home Tang Yue wanted was also what Jiang Shulu needed.
Tang Yue returned to S City at ten o’clock at night and temporarily stayed at Liang Yi’s house.
The relationship between Jiang Xiujun and Liang Yi didn’t seem like a traditional married couple; sometimes intimate, sometimes distant.
And it wasn’t Tang Yue’s imagination; he felt Jiang Xiujun acted more like a dog than the greyhound Liang Yi raised.
For just two days, Tang Yue didn’t bring many clothes.
Jiang Xiujun, holding the rather large greyhound, arranged a room for Tang Yue. Seeing Tang Yue’s expression of wanting to speak but stopping, he let out an “oh.” “Did I not tell you how your sister and I met?”
Tang Yue hummed.
Liang Yi’s house was luxurious, decorated in a French style, possibly related to her wandering days abroad as a girl.
“I started out as her dog walker,” Jiang Xiujun said frankly. “Just walking the dog every day, eight thousand a month, room and board included, plus all benefits. I also had time to paint.”
Tang Yue: “…”
That sounds tempting even to me.
“But I didn’t offer myself up on a platter,” Jiang Xiujun continued. “Your sister was just satisfied with my youth.”
With that, the young man sighed, touching his face mournfully. “But I’m already worried about losing favor as I age. Xiao Yue, you’re a celebrity, teach me how to maintain my looks sometime.”
Tang Yue replied seriously, “I don’t really understand it either.”
“You’ll have a team later anyway; passing on experience is fine.”
Tang Yue said “oh.”
Jiang Xiujun and Tang Yue were the same age, but their thought processes were probably different from ordinary people, so they could surprisingly chat together.
When Liang Yi came out from her bath, she found Tang Yue had changed into pajamas and was playing video games with Jiang Xiujun in the living room.
“Tang Yue, aren’t you going to sleep early? We have to get styling done tomorrow morning,” Liang Yi said.
Tang Yue nodded. Before he could stand up, his phone rang.
It was past midnight. Jiang Shulu had returned to his own place and finished a meeting. He tentatively called Tang Yue.
Yao Lixin had posted on his Moments, saying that taking care of kids was painful. The two kids slept from seven to twelve and were now awake wanting to play Ludo.
Tang Yue wasn’t in the picture, but the two kids were.
Tang Yue took games like this very seriously, to the point of getting angry at himself, so he usually just watched from the side.
Jiang Shulu guessed Tang Yue wasn’t asleep either.
Jiang Shulu had made a video call, and Tang Yue ran off as if his pants were on fire.
Liang Yi saw the game Tang Yue and Jiang Xiujun were playing.
8K8K Dress Up Game: Perfect Little Princess Edition.
Liang Yi: “…”
She asked Jiang Xiujun, “Don’t forget you’re coming with me tomorrow too.”
Jiang Xiujun hummed. “Can I use tomorrow’s banquet as material for my next murder mystery?”
“Suit yourself.”
She glanced upstairs. Tang Yue had just run into his room. The sound of the door closing conveyed his urgency.
“The younger brother and sister-in-law have a good relationship. I’m so envious,” Jiang Xiujun said.
Perhaps finding the idea of Jiang Shulu being the “sister-in-law” too hilarious, Liang Yi laughed out loud.
Tang Yue answered the video call as he rushed into the bathroom, splashing water on his face in the process.
As soon as it connected, Jiang Shulu saw Tang Yue with a wet face and hair. “Did you… just shower?”
Tang Yue was really bad at lying; he usually used silence as a cover.
Now, in a state of extreme urgency, Tang Yue stammered, his mouth moving faster than his brain—
“I want to wash with you.”
Jiang Shulu froze for a moment, looking at Tang Yue’s flushed face. “Why?”
“I-I-I just… so… so…”
He didn’t even know what he was saying, finally squeezing out, “I miss sleeping with you so much.”
Jiang Shulu had been dealing with work just a second ago. Now, hit by this direct flirtation, he felt a little dizzy too. He pursed his lips and asked in a low voice, “Which kind?”
Tang Yue put his phone on the sink and washed his face again. The sound of water mixed with his mumbling was enough to make the air feel hot to Jiang Shulu.
“The kind where we… make another baby.”
—”Absurd Question”
Tang Dayue: You can really give birth? That’s amazing!
Tang Yue: It’s nothing special. Some men on our planet are just like that.
Tang Dayue: Does the kid drink formula?
Tang Yue: Occasionally.
Tang Dayue wanted to ask something else, but the boss interrupted him: You think everyone is like you?
Tang Dayue: Get lost. Fire me then.
Boss: No reason to fire you.
(They fought again.)
(Tang Yue thinks it’s to the degree of __ __)
Fill in the blank -> Guess the idiom
Non-standard theater / Do not connect to reality
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