Chapter 20 There's no escaping it...

Jiang An had chosen Yun Ding, one of the top restaurants in the country. Around seven o'clock, the car stopped in the restaurant's parking lot, and Jiang An took Wen Ling Shuang's hand and walked towards the restaurant.

He took long strides, deliberately slowing his pace to wait for her.

Upon entering the restaurant, staff led them to the open-air balcony, where they could look up and see a sky full of stars.

Jiang An gentlemanly pulled out a seat for her.

After taking her seat, Wen Lingshuang suddenly remembered something and said, "Oh, right, there's an elegant gathering and banquet next week that I'm going to attend. Jiang Xu and Jiang Qi will also be there. You..."

She looked him up and down. "It seems like you've never been there before."

She had attended several gatherings and banquets, but had only met Jiang Xu and Jiang Qi, never Jiang An.

Jiang An rarely participates in banquets or gatherings within the entertainment circle, not just elegant gatherings and dinners. It was quite rare for him to run into someone at a banquet like this last time.

Jiang An picked up his teacup, took a sip, and asked, "You sent me an invitation, so it must be a social dinner?" He paused, "I don't usually attend these kinds of dinners."

Wen Lingshuang pouted.

He thought to himself that this made sense; everyone else was eager to curry favor with him, so these kinds of social dinners didn't really have much effect on him.

But she loves attending these events. She has so many friends in the industry, and banquets and parties always manage to bring them together. Although the things they talk about are often trivial, and sometimes even their gossip gets overheard...

She glanced at Jiang An guiltily, then tentatively asked, "Jiang An."

"Um?"

Do you remember that dinner party from before?

Which one?

"It's the one who talked badly about you." She blinked her beautiful eyes. "You haven't forgotten, have you?"

How could I forget?

Even through the wall, he could clearly hear what she said to him. Her voice was soft and sweet, completely different from everyone else's. It seemed as if she was born for him, able to reach his ears directly through everyone else. At that moment, he wondered what the owner of such a beautiful voice looked like.

Later she came out and stood there looking at him with captivating charm.

That day she wore a long, classic Chinese-style dress, looking gentle and beautiful.

Actually, "beautiful" isn't quite accurate.

She is far more beautiful than pretty.

Jiang An leaned back slightly and said, "I haven't forgotten. I remember you saying my methods were very clever."

Wen Lingshuang: "..."

At that time, I didn't know him. People in the industry said that he climbed to the top by stepping on Jiang Xu and Jiang Qi. You should know that Jiang Xu and Jiang Qi were raised by the Jiang family since they were young, and the Jiang family has always raised them as heirs. In comparison, Jiang An was living somewhere at that time. The gap in learning resources, vision and connections is insurmountable. How could he compete with Jiang Xu and Jiang Qi?

To rise above all others and become the head of the Jiang family, one must have had the means to do so.

The phone placed next to me lit up.

I glanced at my head and saw that it was a message from Tan Zhu.

It was full of details about her and Jiang An's compatibility based on their birth dates, including information about their children, their lives in old age, and even the year they had their arguments... It was like a novel, with three long posts. Just as Wen Lingshuang was about to open it, she saw Jiang An get up and walk towards her, and she was so frightened that she immediately turned off her phone.

"It's windy." He took a blanket and covered her shoulders. "Don't catch a cold."

Wen Lingshuang felt a little guilty, but the message from Tan Zhu made her restless and eager.

I only read the first line.

It seems to be some kind of information about children.

Are there two men and one woman?

Three children... what's the difference between that and taking her life?

Having so many children ruined her perfect figure.

Why don't we just let Jiang An get a tubal ligation? She doesn't want to get married and have children.

"I need to take this call." She stood up. "Please have a seat."

After saying that, without waiting for Jiang An's response, he took his phone and walked out.

Jiang An watched her retreating figure, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Wen Lingshuang walked to the restaurant entrance, and after confirming that no one was around, she opened her phone. A long string of messages immediately appeared before her eyes. Of course, she didn't understand the professional terms like "male chart," "female chart," "day master," and "five elements," but she did understand the following: [For a woman, the Eating God star indicates a daughter; for a man, the Official Star indicates a son. When the two are in harmony, Yin and Yang are balanced, and Heaven and Earth correspond. After marriage, there will surely be many offspring.]

Wen Lingshuang felt a chill run down her spine.

I texted Tan Zhu to ask her what she meant.

Tan Zhu replied: [Many children, many blessings! You have a lot of kids.]

Wen Lingshuang: [...]

She only asked her to watch because she didn't want so many children, but she ended up watching more than the elders combined.

No, no...

She doesn't want to.

Furious, she deleted all the messages Tan Zhu had sent, as if looking at them for even a second would give birth to another child. When she finished deleting them and was about to walk inside, she spotted a familiar figure in the distance: the Jiang brothers, Jiang Xu and Jiang Qi, and Chen Xuanhe.

Wen Lingshuang knew that the Jiang family had business dealings with many families and companies in the industry, but she didn't know that they also had a good relationship with Chen Xuanhe. She glanced at them a few times and was about to go inside when she saw them walking this way.

The night was dark and shadowy, and as they chatted, they most likely didn't see her. In addition, the restaurant was located in a relatively remote and quiet area, so the content of their conversation could be easily overheard.

Jiang Xu, smoking a cigarette, said with a cold expression, "If you have a way to negotiate with the partners and cut off Jiang An's project, we will naturally have a way to ruin the marriage alliance."

Chen Xuanhe remained silent, his expression grave.

The press conference has been held, and everyone knows that the Jiang family and the Wen family have reached a strategic cooperation plan and are a community of interests. Under such circumstances, unless there is a major mistake, the two families cannot easily break up. Moreover, judging from the scene at the press conference that day, Wen Lingshuang is very satisfied with Jiang An and does not rule out marriage.

Seeing that Chen Xuanhe remained silent, Jiang Xu said, "It's okay if you don't want to do it. Anyway, they'll get married on New Year's Day next year."

“You probably don’t know, Jiang An is cold and heartless. He’s so cruel to our family, let alone Wen Lingshuang. He’s pretending to be gentle and gentlemanly in front of her now, but he’s actually full of bad intentions. Once they get married, she’ll suffer. If you don’t help her now, no one else can.”

Jiang Qi patted Chen Xuanhe on the shoulder, "Are you really willing to watch her fall into the wolf's den?"

I can't bear to part with it.

Of course, I'm reluctant to part with it.

But what could he do if he couldn't bear to part with her? The Chen family wasn't under his control, and the Wen family was eager to arrange a marriage alliance...

"I'll have a good talk with Ling Shuang again," Chen Xuanhe said. "Jiang An is not good enough for her."

Jiang Xu and Jiang Qi exchanged a glance.

They both saw a hint of mockery and disdain in each other's eyes.

Chen Xuanhe is truly an incompetent fool. He secretly loves Wen Lingshuang but doesn't even have the courage to step forward and stop it. Expecting him to step in and cut off this marriage is as difficult as climbing to heaven.

Jiang Xu lost interest and said indifferently, "It's already September."

Jiang Qi scoffed and echoed, "Miss Wen had a smooth and successful first half of her life, but she's going to be trapped in hell for the second half. What a pity."

Hearing them say this, Chen Xuanhe frowned and said, "Chairman Wen will not see Ling Shuang end up like this!"

“Wen Jinye only cares about interests. Do you think he loves Wen Lingshuang that much? If he really loved her, why would he be willing to marry her off to an illegitimate child?” Jiang Xu patted Chen Xuanhe’s shoulder, about to continue.

"Jiang Xu, I haven't offended you, have I?"

The voice sounded familiar.

Jiang Xu and Jiang Qi looked up and saw Wen Lingshuang walking towards them in high heels, her face cold. "Do you have to curse me like that behind my back?"

His eyes darted around, then landed on Chen Xuanhe. "And you, Chen Xuanhe, have you lost your mind hanging out with them? Two bastards are playing you for a fool, and you don't even realize it?"

Wen Lingshuang knew that Jiang Xu, Jiang Qi, and the Jiang family disliked Jiang An, but she only knew this through some minor incidents and had never witnessed the real conflict firsthand.

Until now...

She abandoned her usual arrogance and affectation, adopting an overbearing demeanor, and haughtily raised her chin to look at them, "You dare not speak to my face, but you gossip behind my back. Even a long-tongued woman is not as good as you. If you are so disgusted with this marriage, where were you before the press conference? Where were you when you came to my house to propose marriage? When you came to my house to worship our ancestors and have a feast, you called your younger brother and sister-in-law quite nicely."

Wen Lingshuang spoke wittily and eloquently, delivering a rapid-fire speech that left Jiang Xu and Jiang Qi with livid faces.

Wen Lingshuang is notoriously pretentious in the industry. Aside from attending exhibitions and shows and spending money extravagantly, she is a pampered and difficult-to-cultivate rich flower. Who would have thought that she could be so fluent in cursing?

"Now you're all instigating Chen Xuanhe to ruin the marriage alliance, are you secretly in love with me? You're unhappy that I married Jiang An, but you can't bear to see me fall into a wolf's den, oh my god." She covered her mouth dramatically, "You love me to death, don't you? If you love me so much, why didn't you propose before the marriage alliance?"

Jiang Xu: "..."

Jiang Qi: "..."

Wen Lingshuang: "Now you want to interfere? Fine, all three of you can come at me together. Next month, no, next year, whoever gets the family's support and becomes the designated leader, I won't need you to lift a finger. I'll just kick Jiang An out and be with you. Third sister-in-law becomes second sister-in-law, or eldest sister-in-law, or Mrs. Chen. I'd be happy for you all."

Everyone could tell she was being sarcastic.

Moreover, they specifically targeted their weakest points.

Who exactly said she's carefree because of her large breasts...?

His words were so vicious they were almost intoxicating.

Seeing that the three of them were speechless, and that Jiang Xu's hands were bulging with veins, making him look like he wanted to fight her, Wen Lingshuang was not intimidated at all and continued, "Really? You can't even do this? Then what makes you think Jiang An is so great? Is it so hard to admit that he is excellent?"

Jiang Qi clenched his fists.

Previously, because he was not familiar with Wen Lingshuang and the two families were united by marriage, he respected her to some extent. But now, after hearing her string of words, he could no longer hold back and tore down the pretense of peace between the two families, saying, "You don't understand Jiang An. If speaking up for you is considered wrong, then there must be no right thing in the world."

"I may not know Jiang An, but listen carefully, I'm going to marry him, I'm going to marry into your Jiang family, and oppress you until you can't breathe." Wen Lingshuang stared straight at Jiang Qi, still remembering the small words he wrote on the group photo, her eyes icy cold. "You'd better not mess with me then, because I have a terrible temper. Anyone who dares to give me a hard time, I'll beat them up. Anyone who dares to make me unhappy, I'll kill them. Especially you brothers, if you dare to speak ill of Jiang An like you did today, and spread rumors, see if I dare to kill you."

shrewish and domineering.

Such vicious words coming from such a beautiful mouth completely changed their previous impression of her.

This isn't a delicate dodder vine; it's clearly a biting rabbit.

They still wanted to bite Jiang An.

Jiang Qi couldn't resist taking action. He took a step forward, his aura fierce, and a dark shadow pressed down, silently blocking Wen Ling Shuang's path.

With his tall figure, powerful aura, and deep, sharp eyes, who else could it be but Jiang An?

He stood in front of her, his sheer size completely obscuring her figure, instantly changing the atmosphere to one word: oppressive and cold.

This oppressive and cold demeanor was Jiang An's innate intimidating power. He didn't even need to speak; his mere presence or a glance was enough to instill fear.

Chen Xuanhe knew about Jiang An, but he had never seen this side of him before.

Its intimidating power was so great that he unconsciously stepped back.

Jiang Xu and Jiang Qi were used to Jiang An's tense and confrontational nature. Although they were used to it, they were still intimidated by his aura every time they met.

No one spoke anymore.

It was as if anyone uttering another word would turn into a silent battle, igniting the already simmering tension.

Jiang Xu reached behind him and patted Jiang Qi's lower back, signaling him to leave.

Jiang Qi, however, was unwilling.

On what grounds?

Why should they always give in to him? They've been giving in to him ever since he entered the Jiang family. He's clearly the most insignificant illegitimate son, and he should be trampled under their feet and never see the light of day again.

Seeing that Jiang Qi refused to back down, Jiang Xu feared that further confrontation would lead to a bigger conflict.

They don't yet have the confidence to break ties with him.

"Let's go." He lowered his voice and whispered a few words in Jiang Qi's ear.

After saying something, Jiang Qi's expression changed, and then he met Jiang An's gaze and said, "Grandpa told us to go back, so let's go first."

Finally, he called out meaningfully, "Little brother."

In the darkness, the three began to retreat, and after a few steps, they left in tacit agreement.

Jiang An watched their departing figures, his dark eyes deep and complex, but he did not respond.

When Wen Lingshuang heard footsteps, she tilted her head slightly and looked over. When she saw that all three of them had left, her eyes widened in surprise.

They haven't had enough of cursing yet.

Why did they leave?

She also wanted to curse Jiang Xu and Jiang Qi for being cerebellious, no wonder the Jiang family chose Jiang An instead of them.

Serves them right.

A bunch of bastards.

After cursing in my heart, I felt extremely relieved.

She hid behind Jiang An, her small hands unconsciously grabbing his shirt, making the originally silky shirt wrinkled.

Before she could even react, a powerful force wrapped around her slender waist, and hot breath brushed against her earlobe. It felt like being under the blazing sun, her whole body bathed in its warmth, making her head spin. The fabric of her suit trousers slid between her legs, sending a tingling, itchy sensation through her...

She looked up and met Jiang An's dark eyes.

As if on purpose, he used his long legs to push her knees apart, his cool suit trousers covering her legs.

Wen Lingshuang blinked, her eyes reflecting his image.

Jiang An felt that some things were beyond his control.

Eyes, mood, subconscious actions...

Just like now, he really wanted to try what those red lips tasted like, how they could say such sharp words, and how they could say such sweet and coquettish things to please him.

Is it sweet?

I guess so.

It might be as sweet as cherries.

He was getting closer and closer to her.

Wen Lingshuang wanted to escape but there was no way to escape; his slender waist was tightly held by her.

There's no escaping it.

There's no escaping it...

She thought.

She pressed her hands against his chest, sobbing as his hot breath enveloped her.

Unexpected.

It is soft.

Moreover, the desire made her feel numb all over.