Recalling the look on Ye Zhen’s face when he’d been turned away at the door, as though he wanted nothing more than to tear himself apart, Jiang Xiaoyi still found herself savoring the memory even after waking up the next morning.
So the next day at work, she carried that good mood with her, even finding Eunuch Li more tolerable to look at than usual—
Li You’ai wasn’t working on his reports that morning; instead, he was handing out wedding invitations, grinning from ear to ear.
Jiang Xiaoyi watched smugly as he went around distributing invitations to everyone in the company… only to skip right past her?
Jiang Xiaoyi called out to him. “Director Li, handing out invitations? How come you didn’t give me one?”
Eunuch Li froze for a moment, then quickly broke into a wide, chrysanthemum-like smile as he pulled out an invitation and stuffed it into Jiang Xiaoyi’s hands. “Oh, President Jiang, you’re so funny—why would you need to ask me for an invitation? I was thinking, since we’re practically family, there was no need to bother with formalities like that.”
If you wanted to skip me, just say so—and don’t call us family!
Jiang Xiaoyi had only asked out of idle curiosity; she had no intention of actually attending. She took the invitation with mild disinterest. “Don’t worry, the gift money will come, but I’m busy, so I won’t be able to make it.”
To her surprise, Eunuch Li broke into an exaggerated, obsequious grin. “President Jiang, joking again? You’re the one getting married—how can the wedding happen without you?”
Looking at Eunuch Li’s fawning expression, Jiang Xiaoyi suddenly had a terrible feeling.
That feeling was confirmed the moment she opened the red invitation—
On the bride’s line was written, unmistakably, “Jiang Xiaoyi.” And on the groom’s line…
Who else could it be but Eunuch Li’s nephew, Li Yongjian?
“I’m marrying your nephew?!”
“Yes, yes indeed. Our Yongjian has been virtuous and filial since childhood, gentle, considerate, and well-mannered. Of course, being chosen by President Jiang and marrying into the Jiang family is a blessing our Yongjian earned in a past life.”
Eunuch Li continued flattering Jiang Xiaoyi, but she felt as though she’d been struck by lightning, her vision going black.
She really had celebrated too soon!
There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world!
No matter how she calculated it, she never imagined that in this parallel world, she was already engaged to Li Yongjian!
But then why hadn’t she seen him at all since falling off the cruise ship?
She was utterly unwilling to accept this fiancé who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere!
As though sensing exactly what Jiang Xiaoyi was thinking, Eunuch Li put on a sheepish expression and explained, “Last time, after you fell overboard on the cruise, Yongjian was so devastated out of love for you that he fainted on the spot from the shock. He was hospitalized for emergency treatment for several days. Afterward, though he regained consciousness, he was worried that the unlucky aura of his illness might affect you, so he never came to see you.”
What utter nonsense! Clearly, Li Yongjian had bolted the moment danger appeared!
But Eunuch Li continued shamelessly. “But it’s fine now. The wedding is next month, which will actually help drive away his bad luck. He’s exercising and doing dietary therapy at home every day now. He even quit his job and is focused entirely on balancing his body’s acidity and alkalinity, just hoping that after the wedding, you two will conceive a daughter right away. He wants to be a devoted stay-at-home husband, giving you, President Jiang, a stable home front to rely on…”
Thinking of Li Yongjian only brought back the terror of being surrounded by cheap fast food and electric scooters.
This simply wouldn’t do! There was absolutely no way she would go through with this wedding! Now that she was this wealthy, why on earth would she get married?
But Jiang Xiaoyi hadn’t expected that her attempt to smoothly call off the engagement would be met with fierce resistance from Mother Jiang—
“Yongjian is quite good. Sure, he’s not the most handsome, but he’s decent-looking enough. Those overly handsome men out there are all conniving playboys. A man like Yongjian is clearly well-behaved and steady, exactly the kind who’d make a good, dutiful family man!”
Jiang Xiaoyi grew anxious. “But I’ve suddenly stopped liking him! I don’t want to marry him!”
“What are you talking about, child? Yongjian is Li You’ai’s nephew—we know his whole background inside and out. In the future, he can help Li You’ai support you in your work. Haven’t you two been dating for a while now? You’re of the right age now to take over the company and carry on the family line. There’s plenty to manage at home too—you need a man to handle it. If your father hadn’t taken care of raising you back then, how could I have built this whole empire?”
“Men these days aren’t like your father was back in his time—handsome and also honest and kind. These days, any man with even a hint of decent looks is calculating and cunning. It’s much safer to find a simple, unpretentious one to keep at home!”
Once Mother Jiang finished, Father Jiang, standing to the side, leaned affectionately against her like a devoted bird. “Honey, thank you. Even though I’m the one who married into your family, I never expected you’d let our daughter take my surname…”
After the two exchanged a loving glance, Mother Jiang delivered her final ultimatum—
“In any case, calling off this wedding is out of the question. The invitations have already gone out. We’re the Jiang family, a family of standing—there’s absolutely no way we’re calling off a wedding at the last minute!” She spoke with worldly confidence. “I know, we women have a vast sky ahead of us, and we’re not naturally inclined toward the constraints of marriage—I understand that, as your mother. So don’t try telling me you’ve suddenly stopped liking Yongjian. You’re just experiencing pre-wedding jitters. Go relax a bit, and you’ll be fine.”
Jiang Xiaoyi made one last desperate attempt. “No! I really don’t like him anymore! I like someone else! There’s absolutely no way I’m going through with this wedding!”
But Mother Jiang remained utterly unmoved. “Don’t talk nonsense. When has there ever been another man around you besides Yongjian? Go on, then, tell me—who is this ‘someone else’ you like?”
As luck would have it, just as Jiang Xiaoyi was about to make up some fictional man on the spot, a male voice suddenly called out from the mansion’s front door—
“Anna! No—Jiang Xiaoyi! Open the door!”
Who else in this parallel world would dare address her so brazenly by her full name but Ye Zhen?
“It’s him!” Jiang Xiaoyi, struck by sudden inspiration, immediately pointed at the door. “Mom, it’s him! He’s the one I’ve fallen for now!”
Mother Jiang looked toward the door with suspicion.
Ye Zhen was still pounding on the door. “Jiang Xiaoyi! I don’t know a soul in this godforsaken place! You need to take responsibility! I’m not done with you over this!”
Who would have thought—at this critical moment, she’d actually need Ye Zhen to save her hide!
Jiang Xiaoyi seized the moment. “Mom, listen, he’s saying I need to take responsibility for him!”
Worried that Mother Jiang might grow more suspicious, Jiang Xiaoyi immediately opened the door and ushered in the sour-faced Ye Zhen, shooting him a “shut up” glare while quickly speaking first. “Mom, this is Ye Zhen. He’s a poor, pitiful man—if I abandon him, he’ll have absolutely nothing left!”
Jiang Xiaoyi’s acting reached full intensity in that moment, nearly to the point of tears. “If I abandon him, he might go hang a banner outside Ruiyi’s building, or he might cause a huge scene at my wedding, or he might even hang himself right outside our mansion gate! He loves me so much—if he loses me, he’ll surely die!”
“Jiang—”
Ye Zhen, frowning, was about to demand what exactly Jiang Xiaoyi thought she was doing, but she cut him off, pinching him hard with a syrupy-sweet smile. She used every ounce of strength she had, and, sure enough, Ye Zhen was in so much pain his eyes nearly welled up with tears.
Now, having endured this brutal treatment after crossing over, Ye Zhen—though his looks remained as striking as ever—no longer carried the air of a wealthy young lord in his current attire. His face, twisted in pain from the pinch, made him look every bit the pathetic, penniless soul.
But Mother Jiang quickly delivered a decisive counter-move. “Ye Zhen? How much money do you want? I’ll give you five million to leave my daughter alone.”
Oh no…
Please don’t take it!
Jiang Xiaoyi desperately signaled to Ye Zhen with her eyes, hoping he’d catch her hint. After all, they’d come from the same world—saving a life was worth more than building a seven-story pagoda. She swore to herself she’d never be so petty as to seek revenge on Ye Zhen again; this time, she would definitely return the favor!
Fortunately, Ye Zhen didn’t disappoint her. He frowned and immediately refused Mother Jiang’s offer. “No.”
Just as Jiang Xiaoyi was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she heard Ye Zhen continue—
“Ten million. Give me ten million, and I’ll leave her.”
“…”
Mother Jiang was overjoyed. “Deal! What a straightforward man! I’ll have my lawyer take you to the bank right away to transfer the funds!”
After saying this, she turned to Jiang Xiaoyi and began scolding her. “See, I told you—a man with looks that flirtatious can’t possibly be a decent man! He’s nothing but a gold digger!”
“You think he’s true love? He’s only after your money! And a man who looks like that, kept at home, won’t stay content—he might waste your fortune, or worse, cheat on you! Besides, a man capable of being a gold digger has nothing going for him but his face—no ability, no education, no character, no refinement whatsoever…”
Ye Zhen had gotten his ten million with no effort at all, and had already turned to leave. But just as Jiang Xiaoyi thought all was lost, Ye Zhen suddenly spun back around, his face dark with fury.
His eyes burned with the outrage of a man deeply insulted, and he unleashed a barrage of soul-searching questions at Mother Jiang—
“Who are you calling worthless?”
“I, Ye Zhen, have lived over twenty years, and no one has ever dared say I’m worthless to my face!”
“How dare you insult me as improper! I’ll get a lawyer and sue you!”
“You think ten million is enough to insult my character?!”
Oh great, Ye Zhen’s old boss-syndrome had kicked back in.
Mother Jiang had never encountered such an arrogant man before, and her face registered pure disbelief. “You’re a man, and you dare speak to me like that? Didn’t your parents ever teach you the rule that when a woman is speaking, a man shouldn’t interrupt?”
“So what if I say you’re worthless? What’s so great about you? Just look at the way you walk—so flirtatious. You train your backside to be that shapely just to seduce women, don’t you? I bet you get groped plenty on the subway.”
The mention of his subway groping ordeal nearly sent Ye Zhen into apoplexy. “I do that for my own health and to manage my image!”
His expression made Mother Jiang understand at once. “It’s exactly because you carry yourself with that flirtatious air that people grope you!” she said disdainfully. “Cheap and gaudy—how could you possibly be worthy of my daughter?”
Ye Zhen’s fighting spirit was fully ignited now. “What’s wrong with Jiang Xiaoyi? Where am I not good enough for her?!”
“Do you have a proper job? Can you play music, write, paint, or practice calligraphy? Are you gentle and considerate? Setting all that aside—just going by that backside of yours that’s been groped by so many people, it’s already unclean, impure. How could that possibly be worthy of our Xiaoyi?”
Ignoring Ye Zhen’s expression, which looked ready to ascend straight to heaven from sheer fury, Mother Jiang turned to Jiang Xiaoyi with heartfelt sincerity. “Daughter, I understand there’s a generation gap between us. Your generation can’t be expected to stick to one partner for life anymore. Nowadays, every successful woman probably has one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight men behind her. You’ve simply made the same mistake every woman in the world makes at some point. Your mother doesn’t blame you—I understand completely.”
“But don’t worry, I’ve talked to Yongjian, and he’s very understanding. As long as whoever you keep on the side doesn’t come around interfering with the family, he’ll turn a blind eye. You see? This is exactly the kind of man you should marry! Generous-spirited and obedient!”
“As for this Ye Zhen character—just have your fun with him and that’s it! Look at that jealous-husband face he’s making—he must be narrow-minded. If you settled down with him, how could you ever enjoy a marriage where your flag flies forever unchallenged and every banner waves free?”
Mother Jiang glanced at Ye Zhen with contempt. “And besides, all this man’s essence went straight into his face. By the law of conservation of matter, there can’t be much left for his brain. Bad genetics too. Not worth keeping.”
Ye Zhen was practically driven to madness. “I’m not worth keeping?! How am I not worth keeping? When I went to job interviews, wealthy women were lining up to try to seduce me into being their kept man!”
“See, look at you—now you’re telling the truth, aren’t you? All you think about all day is latching onto some rich woman!” Mother Jiang was thoroughly enraged now. “With that attitude, and you still want ten million?! I won’t give you a single cent! With an attitude like yours, there’s no way in hell you’re ever marrying into our Jiang family!”
…