Chapter 18 Chapter 18 What We Want

Jiang Yongting has never been considered a qualified father, and his marriage to Li Junfu was only based on considerations of interests.

Jiang Yongting is an extreme egoist. He does not love Li Junfu, but Li Junfu is in love with him.

In order to get help from the Li family, he accepted the marriage.

After marriage, Jiang Yongting stayed away from home for work all year round. The couple lived a cold and indifferent life, and Li Junfu almost felt like a widow.

In the third year of her marriage, Li Junfu fell ill.

When Jiang Xun and Jiang Ling were seven years old, the various forces in the military were suddenly reshuffled. Many people died that year. Li Heqing, the then deputy chief of the First Military Region, who was also Li Junfu's father, was also affected. He resigned from the post of deputy chief of the military region and took a sinecure for retirement, thus withdrawing from the center of power.

In the same year, Li Junfu died of illness.

The following year, in order to gain support from the Zhang Group and the Beta Equal Rights Organization, Jiang Yongting married Zhang Lingyi, the second daughter of the Zhang Group's Beta group, who is now Mrs. Jiang, who has been claiming to be ill and has not left her house.

Even Jiang Xun and Jiang Ling had only seen her from a distance at the wedding. Covered by the white veil, they couldn't even see their stepmother's face clearly.

So at this time, Jiang Yongting's concern for them was like expired arsenic, which was not only inedible but also highly poisonous.

The moment the call was connected, a middle-aged man in formal attire, looking slightly tired, appeared on the holographic screen.

They bear some resemblance to Jiang Xun and Jiang Ling in their features, but the two brothers actually look more like their mother.

"Jiang Xun, Jiang Ling." The man was silent for a moment before continuing, "I heard your school was attacked."

"We were attacked. Are you disappointed we didn't die?"

Jiang Ling was playing games with headphones on and sneered without even looking up.

"Jiang Ling!" The man on the other side of the video immediately frowned. "Is that how you talk to your father? Where are your manners?!"

"Education?" Jiang Ling heard this and raised his eyes, putting the game console aside, a little angry: "You're talking to me about education? Director Jiang, are you so busy with work that you're confused and asking me for education? Have you educated him? Have you raised him?"

The man was so angry that his hair stood on end. He frowned and shouted sternly, "Jiang Ling, I am your father! You can never deny this!"

"You haven't been since the day my mother left!" Jiang Ling stared fiercely into his father's eyes like an enraged wolf cub.

"You didn't come home when my mom was seriously ill! You only came back for one day for my mom's funeral! And where were you when Jiang Xun and I were repeatedly bullied by that bastard from the Zhou family? Do you deserve it?"

"..." The man's lips trembled, and after a while he said, "I did it for this family."

Jiang Xun, who had been silent the whole time, put down the half-peeled apple in his hand, looked up at his father, and said calmly, "Just lie to yourself about this. You're only doing this for your career."

It was at this time that Jiang Yongting noticed the bandage wrapped around his son's thigh and his pupils shrank slightly.

"You are injured, Jiang Xun? Why didn't you tell me?"

"You won't die." Jiang Xun said indifferently: "What's the point of saying it? Will you come back?"

The other side fell silent just as Jiang Xun expected.

Jiang Xun lowered his eyes and chuckled: "Nothing else, I'm hanging up...Father."

After saying that, he pressed the hang-up button without waiting for the other party to answer.

There was a silence in the air.

But the next moment, Jiang Xun received a text message about a large transfer.

From Jiang Yongting.

There was another sentence in the notes: I won’t be able to go home for a few months, you two can spend it first, and tell dad if you need money.

Jiang Ling looked at the text message and almost laughed out loud.

Over the years, Jiang Yongting has not learned how to be a good father.

The only thing he knows how to do is transfer money.

But are they short of money?

All the personal property left by their mother is under their name, including the house they live in now.

In addition, grandpa gave each of the two brothers a bank card and transferred money into it every month.

Neither of them touched a single cent of the money Jiang Yongting gave them.

Jiang Yongting will never understand what they want, just as he will never know how much his mother loved him.

As for Chen Luan.

Chen Luan is not on the list of Jiang Yongting's family members.

Chen Luan was just a tool for him to get votes.

Jiang Yongting believed that he had fulfilled his obligations by paying for him to attend an expensive private school, providing him with 5,000 yuan a month in living expenses until he reached adulthood, allowing him to call himself Jiang Luan and enjoy the benefits of being the Jiang family's adopted son, and allowing him to live in the Jiang residence.

In addition to the savings from the previous few years, Chen Luan earned all his university tuition and living expenses by working part-time as a tutor.

Otherwise, Chen Luan might not be able to afford to go to college.

This is also the reason why Chen Luan, despite being the adopted son of a wealthy family, is so poor.

After that day, Jiang Yongting never called again, and Director Jiang's figure only occasionally appeared in the news.

Jiang Xun and Jiang Ling were used to this.

And their attitude towards Chen Luan has also changed a lot since then.

At least, on the surface, they actually looked a bit like brothers.

However, as for the true thoughts in their hearts, I am afraid only Gemini knows it.

On the day Jiang Xun and Jiang Ling had their winter break, Chen Luan turned down his colleagues' invitation to dinner and drove to pick up his younger brothers from school himself.

In the past few months, he took the driving test and used his salary to take out an installment loan to buy a very ordinary black SUV.

As soon as Jiang Xun and Jiang Ling walked out of the school gate, they saw Chen Luan lazily leaning against the outside of a brand new black SUV, wearing a white scarf and a bright orange windbreaker, waving at them.

There was a lollipop in his mouth.

The person is very good-looking and stands out, and the car is also very cheap among the luxury cars.

"Why did you think of picking us up? Did you get your driver's license?" Jiang Xun walked over quickly and naturally reached out to help Chen Luan tidy up her wind-blown scarf. Then he touched the car's shiny new paint and asked, "You bought a new car?"

"Your brother and I can even drive mechas. Of course, I got all A's on my little driver's license." Chen Luan reached out and ruffled Jiang Xun's hair. "It's such a big happy occasion during the winter vacation, so of course I have to come pick you up in person. It's cold outside, get in the car quickly."

"Aren't all the nice cars in the basement at home enough for you to drive?" Jiang Ling, who was following behind, threw her schoolbag into the trunk. She smelled the pungent smell of low-quality leather in the car, which was unique to cheap new cars, and wrinkled her nose.

"Or do you have some special fetish for this kind of broken car?"

"It's different." Chen Luan chewed the candy in his mouth and swallowed it, then took out two bags. He handed one to Jiang Ling, who frowned and looked very reluctant but still sat in the back seat of the car, and handed the other to Jiang Xun, who sat in the passenger seat. "You're frozen like a quail. I brought thick clothes, put them on."

It was already winter, and the school's winter uniforms were a bit thin. The two incredibly handsome boys had their noses and ears frozen red, and the hot air they exhaled turned into a white mist.

Chen Luan watched the two sit down, fasten their seatbelts, close the door, and turn up the heater. He then took out two cups of steaming hot milk tea from the storage compartment and waved them in front of Jiang Xun and Jiang Ling. "Hello, are you starving? Takeout here~ Please check your milk tea."

"It's something only kids would like to drink, childish." Jiang Ling's words were harsh, but her hand honestly took the milk tea, inserted the straw, took a sip, and smacked her lips. "But it tastes good, so I reluctantly give you a five-star rating."

"Just a five-star review?" Chen Luan turned around and leaned in front of Jiang Ling, smiling. He propped up his chin and reached out to tap Jiang Ling's forehead: "No reward? Like... calling me brother?"

Chen Luan seemed to have a strange obsession with getting Jiang Ling to call him brother.

"No reward. Forget it." Jiang Ling leaned back in the chair with her arms folded across her chest, her long legs crossed. She tilted her head slightly to look into Chen Luan's eyes, her lips curled up: "But do you want a gift?"

"?" Chen Luan was stunned for a moment: "Gift? What..."

"Happy birthday, brother."

"Happy birthday, Chen Luan."

Chen Luan saw his two younger brothers each take out an exquisite gift box and open it in front of Chen Luan.

Two identical red velvet square boxes.

In the box in Jiang Xun's hand lay a watch. The dial was deep blue and inlaid with star-like diamonds.

In Jiang Ling's box was a necklace with a sapphire heart held in a hand.

Looks like two sets from the same series.

Jiang Ling looked at Chen Luan, who was clearly still confused, and waved her hand in front of him with amusement, "Hey, you didn't forget that today is your birthday, did you?"

Jiang Xun didn't say anything, but from his eyes, it seemed that his thoughts were no different from Jiang Ling's.

Chen Luan touched his nose.

He did forget.

After Jiang Mingming died, no one remembered Chen Luan’s birthday anymore, so no one celebrated his birthday anymore.

Even he himself no longer cared about this matter.

If it weren't for today, he wouldn't have realized that Jiang Luan's birthday was on the same day as his.

"Forget it, come here." Jiang Ling hooked his finger at Chen Luan.

"What?" Chen Luan asked in confusion.

"Tsk, just come over here because I told you to. Why are you talking so much nonsense?" Jiang Ling put his legs down and leaned forward. He put his arm around the back of Chen Luan's neck, exerted a little force, and pulled Chen Luan directly in front of him.

Chen Luan's body was shaken by the pulling, and his center of gravity was unstable, so he had to put his hand on Jiang Ling's shoulder.

The boy's body has become slender and his shoulders have become strong due to regular exercise. Under Chen Luan's palm, he can feel a very tough layer of muscle through his clothes.

He felt Jiang Ling's breath just a few feet away from him, and the clean scent of a young man on his body almost drowned him.

Too close.

Chen Luan couldn't help but want to retreat.

But the boy still held him with his warm hand on the back of his neck: "Don't move."

Jiang Ling took out the necklace from the box with her other hand, put her arms around Chen Luan's neck, and was about to put it on him.

On the other side, Chen Luan felt that his wrist was also held by Jiang Xun.

The cold metal texture touched the warm skin of the wrist, and Chen Luan shivered, but Jiang Xun held him more tightly.

For a moment, Chen Luan was surrounded by the aura of the two people, and in a trance he actually had a feeling...

He had the illusion that he was being imprisoned by both Jiang Xun and Jiang Ling.

Jiang Xun lowered his eyes to look at Chen Luan's wrist which was in his control. Blue veins were winding under the fair skin.

When the silver metal watchband was firmly fastened on that wrist, Jiang Xun would feel,

He caught him.

If that beautiful metallic spot wasn't a watch strap, but something else...

Jiang Xun held Chen Luan's hand tightly in his palm, feeling Chen Luan's beating pulse under his fingertips, and his eyes gradually became stained with an imperceptible dark color.

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