Chapter 26: Darkness

Tao Siran felt numb on one side of her body, and said coquettishly, "Others are watching..."

Jiang Jingyan suddenly withdrew his hand, "Your makeup is smudged, go fix it."

"Really?" She lifted up her skirt and pushed the door of the lounge. "Then wait for me a moment."

There was no one at the other end of the corridor. Jiang Jingyan turned around, stopped a hostess, and asked her to reply to Mrs. Jiang.

Mrs. Chiang was playing cards with several other ladies in the lounge. She was in a good mood because of her good luck today, so she didn't show any dissatisfaction after hearing the story.

"Where are the others?"

Miss Etiquette replied without missing a word, "Mr. Jiang said he had a work call and couldn't come for the time being. You can have fun and he will pay for it."

The wife of the bank president at the same table laughed, "Mr. Jiang is so stylish, he treats his own mother like his girlfriend."

Jiang Jingyan has a high prestige in the circle. Only a few people of high status can call him "Mr. Jiang". Others who come to flatter the Jiang family all respectfully call him "Mr. Jiang". These ladies are on good terms with Mrs. Jiang on the surface and are considered elders, so they are casual about such small matters.

The other person at the table was the wife of a big shot in the financial circle. She had just caught her mistress not long ago, and the next day she teamed up with the mistress to catch her fourth mistress. She was currently in the process of getting a divorce, which was causing a lot of controversy. However, she did not care and attended various occasions in a high-profile manner, saying that this was the man's scandal, not hers.

She stacked the cards and echoed the praise, "Mr. Jiang is a good man. He's handsome, has the capital to be a playboy but doesn't do anything reckless. He's much better than the average man."

The bank president's wife threw down a small piece of paper and teased her, "What do you mean by 'ordinary people'? How many men have you seen? In the past twenty years, there has only been one man like him in your family. How dare you compare yourself with Mr. Jiang? Madam Jiang, I heard you're engaged to the Tao family?"

"No." Mrs. Jiang touched the cards and pretended to be unhappy. "Where did you hear that? I walked in today and three or four people have asked me."

"Maybe someone has seen it." The president's wife winked.

The wife of the financial tycoon came to the rescue, "Yes, it seems that Mr. Jiang was taking Miss Tao shopping in the mall and was run into."

They explained carefully, but Mrs. Jiang didn't care much and slowed down her tone, "We were in contact, but it was Jingyan's own business. I didn't ask about it."

In fact, the news was spread by Mrs. Chiang herself.

The Tao family is a clean family and is a good match for the Jiang family. Tao Siran's father is likely to be promoted within three years, and then Jiang Zhongyi can retire with peace of mind.

She was eager to take the next step with the Tao family, but her son was dull and had not made any move. The Jiang family did not want to be too proactive, as it would appear that they were giving too much away, which would be detrimental to their status. So she had to let the circle know about it first.

If this matter fails, the Tao family's status will not be high enough, and as the woman, she will always suffer a loss in the rumors.

Mrs. Jiang's plan not only restrained Jiang Jingyan but also controlled the Tao family, killing two birds with one stone.

…

When Chen Qing changed her clothes in the lounge and was about to put on makeup, the person in charge suddenly pushed the door open and said, "Chen Qing, come to Lounge No. 3."

Room 3 is the leader's lounge, and the other people in the band looked at her with a slightly subtle look.

Yuan Hui held the violin case and raised an eyebrow, "Go ahead, I'll watch over it for you."

The backstage disputes were as exciting as the palace fights. When Yuan Hui was a freshman, she participated in a performance and someone secretly tampered with her qin, causing her to suffer losses. She came along today not just to join in the fun.

Chen Qing nodded at her gratefully.

Number 3 was some distance away, so she trotted over and knocked on the door.

No one answered.

After a while, the door opened from the inside. Chen Qing hesitated for a moment and looked around.

There are staff and surveillance cameras in the corridor, so nothing should happen.

She took a step forward and just as she entered, someone grabbed her arm.

The door locked behind him.

Jiang Jingyan held her waist, held her in his arms, and lowered his voice deliberately, "What are you doing here?"

Chen Qing twisted his body awkwardly, "...Didn't you ask the person in charge to call me here?"

She spoke in a harsh tone. The man paused, frowning in dissatisfaction, "Did I ask you that?"

"Master Cui wrote a letter of recommendation and there's a performance tonight."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Chen Qing shrank back at the heat of his breath, "You said you were busy..."

Jiang Jingyan easily held her in his arms and bent slightly, "When you were clinging to me as a child, did you ever care whether I was busy or not?"

She instantly turned red from head to toe.

That was all during her adolescence. When she first arrived at the Luo family, she couldn't adapt psychologically and pretended to be sick to skip classes. When Jiang Jingyan heard the news and went home, he almost saw through her little trick at a glance, but didn't expose her.

Chen Qing saw that this trick was effective and tried it repeatedly. The result was that it almost caused Jiang Jingyan to be criticized, so he became obedient after that.

"I was ignorant when I was little." She pressed her cheek against the man's stubble, feeling an itch, but she suppressed it. "Mr. Jiang has company today, so it wouldn't be nice if they saw us."

This sentence is so bittersweet.

Jiang Jingyan curled the corners of his lips imperceptibly, and his warm fingers caressed the back of her waist. "You've grown up and become more sensible."

He did not refute, but instead agreed with what he said. Chen Qing remained silent.

The performance costume was issued by the troupe. The top was a black velvet with a large V-neck and a faint lace in the narrow slit.

Jiang Jingyan bit that spot with his teeth and stretched it outward with evil intent.

"Don't..." Chen Qing covered his hand hurriedly.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

"Chen Qing? Are you in there?"

Chen Qing recognized Qi Kai's voice and didn't bother to think about why he was there. He pushed the person in front of him and said, "You... go in."

"Where to go in?"

"Inside, hide behind the screen."

"Why should I hide?"

Chen Qing's nose was sweating. She was angry. If she didn't hide, would she show it to others openly?

Jiang Jingyan's eyes were dark at this moment.

They were standing just a few feet away from the door, so there was no obstruction to any movement.

"Chen Qing?" Qi Kai hadn't left yet.

Chen Qing was just about to say something to get rid of him when Jiang Jingyan lifted her hands, pressed her against the door panel, and kissed her deeply inch by inch.