"I don't……"
"You wouldn't want your eldest grandson to go hungry, would you?"
Xue He's words put Cheng's mother in her place, leaving her both angry and helpless as she sat down on a small stool and began picking vegetables.
Looking in the direction where her daughter and son-in-law had disappeared, Xue He shook her head. This tangled mess was endless, always going on and on, whether outside or at home. When would this ever end?
Meanwhile, Jiang Wanqing and Cheng Ran returned to their room. The first thing she did was take out the document. She couldn't examine it closely at the restaurant, but now that she was home, she could read it word by word.
Cheng Ran moved the desk lamp in front of her: "I'll get you a glass of water."
"No need, you can stay here with me."
She shook her head, looked up at him, and said that she was full from eating and drinking at the restaurant and didn't want to eat anything now.
"OK."
He agreed and sat down beside her, watching her turn the pages of the document one by one. The first few pages were still legible; although the ink had smudged, the handwriting was still relatively intact, and they contained trivial matters, so she quickly turned over them.
But the further I turned the page, the more something seemed wrong. The later text was even more blurred than the earlier text, with patches of it and the characters completely distorted, making it impossible to read the content!
Jiang Wanqing lightly touched the paper with her slender fingers. The ink was dry. If it was dry, how could it have spread like this?
Filled with doubt, Jiang Wanqing turned to look at Cheng Ran.
"Can you take a look at this for me?" She pushed the document over. "I think this ink stain is wrong."
"Um?"
"This doesn't look like it got wet today."
She had written and received many letters, so she was quite knowledgeable in this area. Finding it strange, she brought it up.
Cheng Ran leaned closer to take a look, reached out to touch it, frowned slightly, and nodded.
"Something's not right. The ink and water stains don't look like they were just applied... Didn't you see the back of the restaurant?"
"No, I didn't have time to turn over the back at the time. I only realized it after I poured the soup. I didn't think much about it at the time."
Her tone was somewhat somber, but in her heart she hoped she was just being a conspiracy theorist. If Yang Chang really didn't want her to know what was happening at the factory, he could have simply not come to deliver the documents to her today.
She then added, "There are still some that are watchable; I'll try to discern the content first."
"Okay, I'll take a look for you too."
Cheng Ran knew about the recent cooperation with the Northwest Group, so he also knew what Jiang Wanqing was looking for.
She took some papers out of the folder and gave them to him, keeping some for herself to identify.
The room quieted down, the atmosphere became calm, and the two of them focused on their own tasks. Jiang Wanqing carefully read and deciphered the contents of the document, word by word.
She actually found the words "Northwest," but... that wasn't all.
She thought about it carefully, and then Cheng Ran reminded her, "Is the cooperation here... the one you mentioned?"
His information was also incomplete, so he could only guess. Jiang Wanqing glanced at it and exchanged hers with his.
Let's look at each other.
He nodded slightly. After examining the documents, the two were still unsure whether it was information about a collaboration between the Northwest Group and the factory. Jiang Wanqing put down the documents, closed her eyes, and gently pinched her brow.
"How is it?" he asked.
"I'm not sure, I think... I should still call and ask."
"Alright."
Jiang Wanqing changed her clothes, washed her hands, and lay down to rest under Cheng Ran's care.
In the factory—
Yang often smoked in his office. The door was a crack open, the light inside was dim, and the ashtray in front of him was already full of cigarette butts.
"Knock knock knock..."
The knocking brought him back to his senses, and he stubbed out his cigarette.
"Enter!"
The male secretary, Zhang Jin, walked in and closed the door behind him.
"Director Yang, the cooperation proposal from the Northwest Group has been sent via fax, and their representative will arrive tomorrow. Please give us your instructions regarding the reception arrangements."
Zhang Jin had followed Yang Chang for a long time, from Beixin to the Jiang family, and knew him very well. He knew that his superior appeared gentle and refined, but in reality, he had his own ideas and was a very controlling person.
"Come with me to the train station to pick someone up."
Yang Chang gave him a piece of advice, and after Zhang Jin listened, he nodded, swallowed, and then asked another question.
"Director Yang, what about Comrade Jiang...?"
Upon hearing this question, Yang Chang narrowed his eyes and looked up.
"Do I need to teach you? You'd better keep this a secret!"
"Yes...I'll arrange it right away..."
Zhang Jin immediately agreed and then went out. Yang Chang took out a matchbox from his pocket, lit it, lit a cigarette, squinted his eyes, took a deep drag, and exhaled a smoke ring.
"Comrade Jiang, please don't blame me... Now that we have no rivals, you are my rival..."
...
"yawn!"
The next morning, Jiang Wan sneezed loudly after waking up. She felt a little dizzy and got up while holding onto the bed frame.
Cheng Ran brought in breakfast and went to help her.
"Slower."
"What time is it now? The newsstand must be open by now, right?"
"Eat something first, then I'll go with you to take a look."
He was more concerned about her health, so he picked up the porridge and fed it to her spoonful by spoonful.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Jiang Wanqing took a bite of her congee, frowned, and said, "I want to contact the Northwest Group as soon as possible to confirm the truth of the matter..."
"Don't worry. If it hasn't happened yet, then your worry is unnecessary. If it has already happened, this short mealtime won't change anything. You can handle the Du family and Su Su, so why can't you handle Yang Chang, whom you know so well?"
"Really... Do I know him?"
Jiang Wanqing twitched the corners of her mouth, but she didn't really think so. She still didn't understand Yang Chang very well, otherwise how could she not guess what he wanted to do?
“You are Jiang Wanqing, everything will be under your control, and deviation is a low-probability event,” Cheng Ran said.
She remained noncommittal. She was human, not a god. If she could truly control everything, then she would be the one looking down on the world, and she would be in control of other people's lives and deaths!
After dinner, she used the excuse of going for a walk with Cheng Ran to go out together.
Cheng's mother originally wanted to stop them, but she was staring at Jiang Wanqing's belly more intently than anything else.
However, they said they were just going to the nearby newsstand and would be back soon. If she insisted on stopping them, she would be even more worried about them sneaking out.
The newsstand was only about 200 meters from their house, and Cheng's mother could see it as soon as she went out. Seeing how determined they were, she let them out with some skepticism.
"Fifteen minutes! I'm only giving you fifteen minutes. If you don't come back by then, no matter what happens, I'll come and get you! No one is allowed to harm my grandson!" Mother Cheng said sternly.
Cheng Ran shook his head and helped Jiang Wanqing up: "Let's go."
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