Chapter 11, 'Ineffective Discipline'

At noon, the press conference officially began. Reporters from various financial, fashion, and entertainment media outlets arrived early and received press release packages at the registration table. These packages contained press releases and exquisite small gifts. Although they were called small gifts, each one was worth more than 20,000 yuan, with a total value exceeding 8 million yuan. The gifts were selected by the Jiang family, and Wen Lingshuang was unaware of this. She only knew that there were gifts, but did not know what they were.

Tan Zhu brought a gift into the house, and Wen Lingshuang realized that in addition to brand-name cosmetics and a men's razor, there was also a photocard of her and Jiang An.

The photo is the oil painting of me at eighteen years old that hangs on the second-floor wall.

A steady stream...

This love will never end...

Wen Lingshuang's heart trembled. She turned to look at Tan Zhu, "Why didn't anyone tell me this was the gift?"

"You've been having a blast this week," Tan Zhu said with a smile. "Either you're attending fashion shows in Paris or shopping for clothes in Milan. Would you care about something as trivial as a gift?"

Wen Lingshuang felt a little guilty: "If you had told me, I definitely would have checked it out..."

"Don't give me that." Tan Zhu took the card. "I know you too well."

As soon as she finished speaking, a classical melody drifted from the hall. It was only five minutes until noon. Wen Lingshuang looked at Jiang An and saw him stand up. She then stood up as well, gathered her skirt, and gently placed her large hand on his palm.

Her small hand was enveloped in a large, gentle, and warm palm.

He led her to the door.

She hadn't walked two steps when she heard the host's speech, which was nothing more than saying nice things about the marriage between the two families. Wen Lingshuang's thoughts drifted away, and she didn't know what she was thinking.

Seeing that she was silent, Jiang An looked down and found that she was holding a small card in her left hand, her fingertips stroking the surface of the card.

Are you dissatisfied with the image you chose?

He bent down slightly to reach her height and said in a low voice, "I don't have much time to choose a card, so I can only take this one."

"Not many pictures of me?" Wen Lingshuang blinked. "How many do you have?"

"Three hundred and twenty-one."

"Three hundred...twenty...one?" Wen Lingshuang uttered each word slowly, staring at him in disbelief. "Where did you get so many?"

Half of it was given by the Wen family.

Half of them were downloaded from the internet.

Only one percent of the remaining photos were taken secretly.

Jiang An didn't intend to tell the truth; angering her at such a crucial moment would only cause more headaches.

"Given by my uncle and aunt."

"Fine." Wen Lingshuang put one hand on her hip. "You've kept it all from me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang An squeezed her hand and led her into the hall.

The blinding light fell on his face, stopping him from saying what he was about to say. His steps were unsteady, his mind blank, as if he had handed over all control to the other person.

There were so many people at the scene, so many media and guests, that it made her panic and scared. She subconsciously gripped Jiang An's hand tightly.

Jiang An noticed her subtle change and slowed his pace to match her.

Countless cameras and lenses were pointed at the two of them, and no matter how they were photographed, they looked beautiful. Wen Lingshuang wore a bright red strapless floor-length dress, which made her look as beautiful as a flower. The man beside her was tall and handsome, and his understated and mature black suit fit his figure perfectly. Walking together, they were an extremely pleasing sight.

Some media outlets didn't even use any editing; they published the original images directly.

After everyone was seated, the host began his speech, outlining the relationship between the Wen and Jiang families, their strategic cooperation plan, and future development direction. This was followed by speeches from the guests, which were all long and tedious. Wen Lingshuang, bored, played with her hands under the table. Jiang An noticed that all ten of her fair fingers had beautiful manicures, each one different, some with princess designs and others with prince designs.

How can someone be so engrossed in playing with their fingers?

Jiang An took a velvet box out of his suit pocket and handed it to Wen Lingshuang.

Wen Lingshuang looked down, pouted, and shook her head at him.

Hers was a pure pigeon blood red, ten carats, while Jiang An's was plain white gold with no diamonds set in it; he offered her his hand, indicating that she could play with it.

Wen Lingshuang pouted, gently took his hand, and compared it to her own.

I only noticed it after covering it up like this.

The two not only differed greatly in size, but their hands were also twice the size of each other.

She examined it closely.

One can't help but be amazed.

This man even has beautiful, perfect fingers.

But how did that scar get there?

After caressing his fingertips for a moment, she gently leaned close to his ear and uttered the word "you." Immediately, she heard a chorus of screams from the audience, with Tan Zhu's scream being the loudest!

Startled by the screams, Wen Lingshuang turned around abruptly and saw everyone taking pictures of them with their phones and cameras.

During that time, I heard someone shout, "So sweet!"

"..."

Wen Lingshuang was utterly speechless.

I don't understand how these people can interpret it this way.

She was just saying a few words to him.

It wasn't a kiss.

kiss……

When those two words popped into Wen Lingshuang's mind, she inexplicably recalled everything that had just happened in the car...

Jiang An lowered his eyes to look at her. Her light red blush had turned into a deep red, and her earlobes were glowing with a rosy red. Especially when she heard the terrifying screams, her body suddenly stiffened, like a child who had been caught doing something wrong.

Seeing that the atmosphere had become lively, the host shifted the topic from strategic cooperation to marriage. This process had been discussed the previous day, involving mostly polite conversation. Jiang An briefly mentioned Xining Group's five-year strategic plan and market layout before quickly steering the conversation back to the marriage, using the phrase "a match made in heaven."

Suppressing her turbulent emotions, Wen Lingshuang took the microphone and said, "[We are mutually attracted.]"

They then exchanged tokens of affection.

The two put on matching rings for each other.

The press conference ended amidst thunderous applause.

After the press conference, Jiang An led Wen Lingshuang to the lounge to rest, while he went out to deal with guests and media interviews.

He had just stepped out the door when someone came in, tilting their head and hiding behind the door to look at Wen Lingshuang.

I became completely absorbed in watching it.

This is even more beautiful than the legends!

It feels like every strand of my hair is glowing!

They must have been discovered, because the person behind the door hesitated for a long time before finally coming out. He walked towards her in a daze, as if he were drunk, staring at her as he went.

The little devil has a handsome appearance, and his features resemble Jiang An somewhat.

I saw him sitting on the Jiang family's side in the venue earlier; he must be a member of Jiang An's family.

She slightly sat up to look at him.

Before she could speak, the other person said, "Third Sister-in-law."

"?"

Wen Lingshuang was speechless. "Who are you?"

"I am the younger brother of the third brother."

nonsense.

Wen Lingshuang was utterly speechless. "Which younger brother?"

"Cousin."

Oh, so he's the son of my uncle and aunt?

She lay back down on the sofa, smoothing her long hair. "Is something the matter?"

"Third sister-in-law, after today, will you marry my third brother?"

Wen Lingshuang looked at the young man in front of her and said, "Not necessarily. Anything can happen if you don't have a marriage certificate."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ting's expression changed drastically. As if genuinely worried about Jiang An, she clenched her hands and said, "My third brother is a very good person. Don't listen to the nonsense those people outside are spouting. It's all news that Jiang Xu and Jiang Qi deliberately spread to suppress him. They are really bad; they've bullied my third brother since he was a child!"

Wen Lingshuang frowned, her beautiful brows furrowing. "What do you mean? What do you mean the news outside was leaked by Jiang Xu and Jiang Qi?"

"It means exactly what it says!" Jiang Ting said angrily. "I've advised them so many times, but they won't listen. If it were just some trivial gossip, that would be one thing—every family has that. But they always spread rumors that Third Brother is ungrateful, scheming, and deliberately set a trap to seize the Jiang family's assets... And all these years, they've said he climbed up by stepping on them. It's clearly their own incompetence that's the problem..."

Wen Lingshuang suddenly remembered what Tan Zhu had told her before: Jiang An was brought back to the Jiang family only when he was almost dead.

My thoughts are in turmoil.

Jiang Ting's phone rang. He took out his phone and saw that it was a call from a friend, who was asking him if he had taken any recent photos of Wen Lingshuang.

joke.

How could it not have been captured on camera!

Third Sister-in-law's recent photos are stunning; no wonder Third Brother is so infatuated with her.

He hung up his friend's call, opened the chat page, sent an 'OK', then said he needed to use the restroom, and turned to walk towards the door.

As he reached the door, he saw Jiang An walking towards him and quickly went up to him, calling out, "Brother!"

Jiang An watched him run towards them at a brisk pace and said, "Slow down, what's wrong?"

As he ran closer, Jiang Ting, panting heavily, patted his chest and said, "Brother..."

"Tell me slowly," Jiang An patted his back. "What happened?"

Jiang Ting paused for a while before saying, "You, you need to be aware of the crisis. Don't think that just because the news of the marriage has been made public, you're fearless. Third Sister-in-law... Third Sister-in-law said... as long as we don't get the marriage certificate, she might change her mind at any time."

"?" Jiang An frowned.

Seeing that he didn't believe her, Jiang Ting exaggerated, "In short, you must go along with her, you must coax her, and marry her first."

What does it mean to marry someone first and then talk about other things?

It's like buying groceries.

Wen Lingshuang isn't a vegetable; she's a young lady from a wealthy family.

Jiang An couldn't understand the young people's thinking in Jiang Ting. It was normal for them to change their minds at any time if they didn't get a marriage certificate, and it was also normal for them to change their minds after getting a certificate.

He can't possibly use that to coax people anytime, anywhere.

He straightened Jiang Ting's slightly disheveled clothes and said, "I know. Your dad is going home. Go see him off."

"oh."

Jiang Ting nodded, then turned and ran towards the end of the corridor.

*

When Jiang An entered the lounge, Wen Lingshuang was already fast asleep on the chaise lounge, completely unconcerned about her image. The doctor had prescribed a strong medicine, and it was already quite good that she could hold on until the press conference was over. At this moment, she didn't care about anything else, hugging her pillow and sleeping soundly. In her dream, she dreamed of the tea garden from her childhood, with mountains upon mountains and a bunch of friends of the same age.

There was a skinny little boy who kept chasing after her.

Call her Yangyang.

Don't call her Miss.

Damn it.

Is that what he calls Yangyang?

"Vast and magnificent".

The little boy's voice echoed in my ears, gradually overlapping with the deep, mature male voice, rising and falling in pitch.

In her dazed state, she could no longer tell whether it was the little boy calling her or another man.

Gradually, the tone changed again.

I'm not calling her Yangyang anymore.

Instead, he called out, "Mrs. Jiang."

She woke up abruptly, her eyes meeting a pair of deep, dark eyes, with such smooth, sharp lines in his profile, and handsome yet gentle features…

My heart was pounding incredibly fast. I slowly sat up and said, "Why are you shouting so loudly?"

"Shout?" Jiang An chuckled. "I didn't shout at you; you were the one talking in your sleep."

"Am I talking in my sleep?"

"Um."

Jiang An nodded. "You said, Jiang An, you should call me Mrs. Jiang."

"..."

That's outrageous.

Is this something she would actually say?

Wen Lingshuang's face was stiff.

A moment later, she said confidently, "Isn't that right!?"

There's nothing wrong with that.

But he made it all up just now.

She simply called his name.

It's light and airy, and sounds lovely.

Jiang An took her arm and said, "Let's go, I'll take you home."

He straightened his trailing skirt.

"Wait, I haven't spoken to your parents yet." Her voice carried a sleepy, coquettish quality. Realizing her mistake, she patted her red lips. "Wrong, wrong, it's your dad and Ms. Yao."

"..."

Jiang An looked at her in surprise.

Ms. Yao.

It's true that you can't have two kinds of people sleeping in the same bed.

Seeing his strange look, Wen Lingshuang cleared her throat and said, "Why are you looking at me like that? You've already called her Ms. Yao, so I can't just call her Auntie or Mom, right? It would make it seem like I'm on their side and not on yours."

"It's okay, you can call me whatever you like." Jiang An helped her up. "Auntie told me you didn't rest well yesterday, so you should go home early."

"It's not that I didn't rest well, it's that I have a fever."

"fever?"

“Yes, because of you.” Wen Lingshuang looked up at him. “I hate press conferences the most. If you hadn’t insisted on holding one.”

Hearing her sweet and delicate voice, Jiang An really couldn't do anything about it.

The decision to hold the press conference was made by both companies, and when we told her, she didn't say she disliked or was unwilling.

Jiang An decided to admit his 'crime' and nodded, saying, "I understand, it's my problem."

"Then help me to see your dad quickly. I'll chat for a bit before I leave, otherwise it'll seem really rude of me." She naturally ordered Jiang An around. "I'll only talk to your dad, okay? I won't talk to the other relatives. I'm exhausted, and I need to get some beauty sleep tonight to make up for it."

Following the press conference.

She's become even more delicate.

Is it because the arranged marriage was made public to everyone?

Jiang An seemed to be thinking, "Actually, you don't have to say anything. There are a lot of them, and they're going to hold an ancestral worship ceremony next week, so you'll inevitably have to nag them a bit when you go over."

Wen Lingshuang blinked and turned to look at him.

What can I do if I don't go?

Jiang An: "Nothing much, they'll just say I 'have poor discipline'."

Wen Lingshuang: "..."