Chapter 120: The Beauty Returns
"I've never seen President Jiang bring a female companion to an event before!"
"You may not know yet, but Mr. Jiang is married."
"The person next to him is most likely Mrs. Jiang."
"Why did they get married suddenly? I haven't heard any news, and the Jiang family hasn't announced their identities to the public. What about the wedding?"
"That's unclear, but Mr. Jiang has personally admitted that there is a Mrs. Jiang."
"Do you know which family Mrs. Jiang is from?"
"The Jiang family is tight-lipped and hasn't revealed any information."
"But why do I feel that the young lady is not Mrs. Jiang? Don't you think there is a distance between them?"
The banquet under the guise of an exchange meeting was a disguised arena of fame and fortune. As the person in charge of the Jiang Group, Jiang Shibai held a very important position. As soon as he stepped into the banquet hall, many people noticed them and they attracted a lot of attention.
The man was wearing a hand-made black suit. The well-fitting suit highlighted his broad shoulders and narrow waist, showing off his superior figure. His cold and aloof face made him look out of place in the lively banquet hall.
Even the indifferent attitude could not stop others from being driven by interests and bravely approaching to start a conversation.
A handsome man and a beautiful woman appeared at the same time. The woman next to him had her hair tied up with a sparkling silver hairpin. She wore a silver fishtail skirt with the hem blooming at her ankles, swaying gracefully and calmly.
The light-colored shawl on the arms covers the upper body, which makes her look gentle, beautiful, restrained and unobtrusive.
Xu Xian's slender white arm gently held Jiang Shibai's arm, and the distance between them was just right, making it difficult to guess the relationship between the two for a moment.
Who can not smile at his wife?
The bright light from the luxurious crystal lamp fell on the two expressionless people. Jiang Shibai followed Xu Xian's request, with a cold face, his thin lips slightly parted, and a low and slow voice poured into her ears.
"How was it? Mr. Jiang's acting was pretty good, right?"
Xu Xian raised a decent smile, the smile on the corner of his lips remained unchanged, as if it was a fake smile.
She calmly pinched the flesh clinging to Jiang Shibai's arm, her red lips moving slightly, "Not bad, keep up the good work, don't let yourself be fooled."
As soon as he finished speaking, the waiter passed by. Xu Xian naturally withdrew his hand, picked up two glasses of champagne, and handed one to Jiang Shibai.
Jiang Shibai's eyes were cold, he lowered his eyes and glanced at her, his slender fingers pinching the champagne glass, as if accidentally touching her warm fingertips.
"As a secretary, shouldn't you be blocking the wine for me? Giving me a glass of champagne, what's that?"
Xu Xian choked, and the smile on the corner of his lips froze for a moment, then immediately returned to normal. His hair was tied up in a bun, shiny black, which complemented the snow-white skin at his collarbone, making it glowing white.
She held the goblet, her slender wrist bones moving her hand to swing, and the mellow wine swayed in the glass. "Mr. Jiang, this is really ungentlemanly. After all, I stayed with you all night last night. How could you turn your face against me when you woke up?"
When Jiang Shibai heard this, he remembered that they slept alone under the quilt last night, and he was speechless for a moment.
It’s not certain who will sleep with whom.
"I'm only gentlemanly to Mrs. Jiang. As for Secretary Xu, it's better for him to go to the gentleman at home." Jiang Shibai brought his wine glass closer, and the two glasses made a crisp clinking sound. "Cheers, Secretary Xu."
After saying that, he took a sip slowly, with a gentle smile, and the alienated look on his face dissipated a little.
After drinking, the two stopped talking, because the people who had been eager to make friends with Jiang Shibai came over.
We are all colleagues who have met each other a few times. We are not strangers and there is no need to re-establish contact.
One of them was a long-term supplier of Jiang Corporation, about the same age as Jiang Shibai, and he was not serious when joking around. "Boss Jiang is a very busy man. He hasn't been to any of the recent gatherings. I heard he got a beautiful woman."
There have been some small-scale banquets in the industry recently. Jiang Shibai used to attend them depending on his mood, but he seemed to have disappeared in the past few months.
If they hadn't met at work, he would have suspected that the Jiang Group had changed hands.
The teasing didn't change Jiang Shibai's expression at all. He was always calm, but a distant smile hung on the corner of his lips. He spoke without any modesty, "Indeed, I have won the beauty."
As he spoke, he inadvertently glanced at Xu Xian beside him. His cold voice concealed a hint of doting and tenderness, and one could tell from his obvious good mood.
Xu Xian met those meaningful eyes head-on and almost dropped the champagne glass.
He really tells everything.
As soon as these words were spoken, the people around were stunned. They were all experienced business people and could tell at a glance whether the words were true or false.
They clearly remembered that Mr. Jiang used to be a humble person and never participated in discussions on such private family matters.
Can marriage really change a person's temperament?
The supplier came back to his senses and turned his gaze towards Xu Xian, who had been quietly smiling beside him, with a hint of doubt in his eyes.
According to the rules of their circle, if the person in front of them was really the rumored Mrs. Jiang, seeing Mr. Jiang's satisfied expression, they would definitely take the initiative to introduce her identity from the beginning.
But they chatted for most of the day and he didn't mention it. Could it be that it wasn't Mrs. Jiang?
He was so curious that he couldn't help but ask, "Who is this beautiful lady next to Mr. Jiang? Why don't you introduce her to us?"
Jiang Shibai's eyes fell on her, his gaze burning, and he opened his thin lips slightly, "This is Jiang..."
He paused deliberately to arouse people's imagination.
Seeing this, Xu Xian wanted to step on him, because he knew that he would not play by the rules.
Amidst her anxious heartbeat, the man didn't keep her in suspense any longer. His voice was deep and magnetic, "Miss Xu Xian, an employee of Jiang's and also my secretary."
After hearing the word "secretary", everyone nodded in understanding and stopped staring at Xu Xian with inquiring eyes. After all, it was normal to bring a secretary to a business dinner.
However, it was extremely rare for Jiang Shibai to bring his female secretary to a dinner party after his marriage. It was also the first time.
Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but have many guesses in their minds.
Seeing that President Jiang was extremely satisfied with Mrs. Jiang, and yet he brought his beautiful secretary to the dinner, he really had the best of both worlds.
Keeping a mistress is not surprising in the circle and is common. Few people dare to say that they have never had other women around them.
If Jiang Shibai had not always presented himself as a man who was not interested in women and a flower of the high mountain, they would not have paid too much attention to this matter.
However, the other party did not admit it, and the two of them seemed to have an ordinary relationship between superiors and subordinates, so it was not good to speculate too much, and the matter of Xu Xian's identity was simply left unaddressed.
After talking for more than half an hour, Xu Xian, who was wearing high heels, frowned slightly and kept changing her feet frequently to support her weight.
She has been wearing high heels for many years, so standing for more than half an hour should be no problem for her. However, this new pair of shoes today was particularly rubbing against her feet. She felt her skin getting hot after walking for just a while.
Jiang Shibai was multitasking and immediately noticed something was wrong with her.
"Are your feet uncomfortable?" he asked in a low voice while they were talking.
Several people were discussing their views on the current market situation. It was the perfect time for a lively discussion. Xu Xian was afraid that Jiang Shibai would leave the table, so he endured the pain in his heel and said, "It's okay, you continue."
She always kept her eyes down when she lied. Jiang Shibai accidentally discovered this little habit. He glanced at the high heels under her skirt calmly.
These were a new pair of high heels, and the heels had not been broken in yet. When she went out, he saw that she had stuck a piece of transparent paper on the back.
Jiang Shibai didn't care whether the two were behaving intimately or not. He turned his head slightly and whispered, "Go to the lounge upstairs first and be obedient."
This villa is specially designed for entertaining guests, and there is a private lounge area on the second floor.
Xu Xian hesitated for a moment and did not force herself to hold on. She was afraid that the longer she stood, the more her heels would be worn out. For some reason, these shoes felt a bit painful after wearing them for a long time.
"Then I'll go first." Xu Xian left the table quietly.
The heating in the villa was very sufficient. As soon as she entered the villa, she took off the fur coat she was wearing. Her thin back was snow-white, and her butterfly bones were faintly visible. Her back was very beautiful.
Seeing her figure disappear around the corner of the spiral staircase, Jiang Shibai silently withdrew his gaze, stopped a waiter, whispered a few words to him, and then found an excuse to end the topic.
"Sorry everyone, I just remembered something. Please continue chatting."
Having said that, he turned and left the scene, walking out of the villa, completely opposite to the direction Xu Xian left.
Xu Xian was brought into the lounge by a waiter. The luxurious and low-key interior was fully equipped with sofas, TVs, drinks, desserts, and even a large soft bed in the middle.
As soon as her butt touched the sofa, there were three regular knocks on the lounge door.
"Come in."
The waiter came in from outside carrying a tray with iodine, gauze, ointment and other items for treating wounds placed in the middle of the tray.
Seeing this, Xu Xian looked up in confusion. It seemed that she didn't ask them to take anything.
The waiter obviously noticed her confusion. He placed the tray on the small table and said with a smile, "Mr. Jiang asked me to bring it to you."
"Okay, thank you." After Xu Xian thanked the waiter, he left the lounge.
She took off her high heels and in the bright light she could see that her fair feet were all red. In addition to the redness and swelling at the heel, the little toe was also slightly red from being rubbed. If it stayed on for a while longer, the skin might even peel off.
The woman's feet were kept in shoes all year round, never seeing the sun. They were as white as snow, with very bony insteps and blue veins spreading across them. The glaring red color was particularly conspicuous on them.
After checking one foot, she immediately looked at the other one. The situation was similar, with no signs of broken skin. Xu Xian breathed a sigh of relief.
She hates getting hurt the most. Not only does it hurt, but she also has to recover, which makes it inconvenient to do anything.
Glancing at the iodine and gauze on the tray, Xu Xian didn't think Jiang Shibai was making a fuss. Instead, he felt warm in his heart.
Isn’t this a kind of care and concern?
She reached out and picked up the unopened tube of erythromycin ointment from the tray, tore off the aluminum foil, squeezed a little white ointment onto her fingertips, and gently applied it to the red and swollen area.
It only took Jiang Shibai one foot to push open the door of the lounge and come in. His tall figure almost blocked the entire door.
His hair, which had been carefully gelled, was a little messy, and his breath was a little unstable, as if he had just been through strenuous exercise.
His sharp brows softened a little when they met the person on the sofa who was concentrating on applying ointment.
When Xu Xian heard the sound of the door opening, his eyelids lifted slightly, and his watery eyes unexpectedly met the man's deep pupils. Their eyes met in mid-air, and an unknown feeling spread.
"Are you done?" She was the first to break the silence, her expression slightly strange.
He ended the conversation just ten minutes after she went upstairs?
Jiang Shibai closed the door with his backhand, his thick eyebrows slightly raised, and a smile on his lips was unclear, "What's with that expression, dear? Are you disappointed that I showed up?"
Xu Xian remained curled up, holding her own feet with one hand. Upon hearing this, she shook her head, "No, I just felt that if you left the table, if someone saw you and I in the same room, it would be hard to explain."
There was a large bed in the lounge. According to the identities that the two had publicly announced, it was hard not to think too much when a single man and woman entered the same room.
"Then there's no need to explain. Our relationship is legal anyway, and no one can say a word." Jiang Shibai's face was frank, and his cold eyes were filled with a smile.
He wished that their relationship as husband and wife was known to everyone.
Xu Xian didn't particularly care and shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm just a nobody anyway. It's others who are talking, but it's you who's ruining your reputation."
"You little heartless kid." Jiang Shibai cursed helplessly with a smile, his worried eyes falling on the pair of porcelain-white feet. "How are your feet? Are the skin broken?"
After saying that, he kept getting closer to Xu Xian.
Xu Xian then noticed that he was holding a pair of shoe boxes in his hands. She pursed her red lips and explained, "It's okay, it's just a little red from being rubbed. I applied ointment."
Jiang Shibai stood in front of her, squatted down calmly, and held her bony ankle with his big, bony hands, carefully examining the condition of her foot.
As she said, the heel and little toe were slightly red and swollen. After applying the ointment, it was like a layer of transparent water, reflecting a faint glow under the bright light.
After confirming that there were no other injured parts of his feet, Jiang Shibai opened the shoe box next to him and took out a pair of brown slippers from it. They were a summer style with a circle of soft fur around them.
"Where did you get these shoes?" Xu Xian looked at the slippers on the floor in surprise.
In just ten minutes, it is impossible to ask the driver to buy it outside, and ordering takeout is also unrealistic.
Jiang Shibai was afraid that the ointment was not applied evenly, so he squeezed out a little more ointment and carefully applied it to the red and swollen areas.
The man's hands were cold, carrying a chill from the outdoors. The icy temperature touched Xu Xian's warm feet, causing her pink toes to shrink slightly.
After applying the ointment again out of concern, Jiang Shibai sat down beside her slowly, resting her legs on his knees, waiting for the ointment to dry.
He wiped the ointment off his fingertips with a wet tissue, his voice gentle, as if he was explaining something very ordinary.
"I prepared this for you before and have kept it in the car. However, the slippers in this car are not warm enough, so wear them for now. There will be heating in the car later."
She has been in the habit of wearing high heels for many years. This is her habit or hobby. He will not deprive her of it in the name of love. All he can do is prepare a pair of slippers in every car at home in case of emergency.
If your new pair of high heels rubs your feet today, you can replace them in time instead of enduring the pain.
The familiar and doting tone, the plain way of narration, made Xu Xian's eyes suddenly warm up, and his heart, which had been calm before, began to beat louder and louder.
She swallowed helplessly, trying to ease the surging emotions, her fingers curled into a ball, and her body trembled slightly.
Without hearing her voice, Jiang Shibai raised his eyes and met those fox eyes filled with mist. A layer of water light covered his eyes, rippling the water, looking pitiful.
"Why are you crying? Is it in pain?" Jiang Shibai was confused and panicked for a moment. He subconsciously reached out and pinched her slightly red nose, trying to cheer her up.
The slender white knuckles fell on the pink nose, pinching it from time to time without any warning.
Xu Xian rarely slapped his rebellious hand away. With a slightly nasal tone, he said stubbornly, "Who said I cried? I didn't cry. It must be sand in my eyes."
This lame excuse is hard to believe. The lounge is spotlessly clean, so where did the sand come from?
Seeing that she didn't seem genuinely sad, Jiang Shibai regained his composure, thought for a moment, and guessed why she was crying.
"Then I'll blow on Guaibao's eyes."
As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting for Xu Xian's consent, Jiang Shibai hugged her soft waist, clasped the back of her head with his big hands, and put his thin lips in front of her hazy eyes.
The cool breeze blew against her eyes, the breath was warm and it felt very comfortable. Xu Xian couldn't help but squint her eyes, and the tears that had been swirling in her eyes slid down from the corners of her eyes.
Beads of teardrops slid down the corners of her eyes, flowed across her lightly made-up cheeks, leaving a tiny trace.
Jiang Shibai did not close his eyes the whole time, and clearly saw the crystal clear teardrop sliding down, and his slightly calloused fingertips stopped it halfway.
Tears burst on the fingertips and turned into a pool of sticky water.
Jiang Shibai stopped blowing, but did not look away from her eyes. His voice was slightly hoarse, with a lingering and coaxing tone.
"Are you touched, dear?"
"I didn't." Xu Xian curled his lips, maintaining his usual stubborn attitude and refusing to admit it.
The light from above shone down on her beautiful and delicate face. Her curled eyelashes kept trembling, like a small curved fan fanning the breeze, betraying her uneasy heart.
Jiang Shibai forced a silent smile, showing his good mood. His palm naturally touched the smooth cheek and gently held it.
The two looked at each other from a distance, their breaths intertwined, their eyes drawn.
Xu Xian's eyes were shining, and he was inexplicably moved closer to the face favored by God, and his lips painted with pink lipstick pressed against his thin crimson lips.
The hormones of a mature man completely enveloped her, and the elegant gardenia scent combined with woody notes created sparks in the quiet room.
The fragrance is lingering and the figures are entangled.
After the kiss, Xu Xian took out a small mirror and lipstick from her purse to touch up her makeup. Jiang Shibai stuffed her feet into slippers and put the high heels into the shoe box.
After they had packed up, they walked out of the lounge one after the other.
Turning around, she saw a middle-aged man and woman walking hand in hand not far away. Before Xu Xian could react, Jiang Shibai suddenly held her fingers tightly.
"You--" Her eyes were filled with fear. Opposite her was a man and a woman, holding hands in an overly intimate and bold manner.
Jiang Shibai obviously also saw the person across the corridor, and said calmly: "Shh! Don't be afraid."
Under her puzzled gaze, he took her hand and walked forward, and the four of them met in the middle of the corridor.
The slightly overweight middle-aged man opposite spoke first: "Shi Bai, long time no see! How have you been lately?"
"Thank you for your concern, Uncle Zhai. I've been doing well lately." Faced with the middle-aged man's enthusiasm, Jiang Shibai seemed a little distant, but maintained his usual composure.
After he finished speaking, he turned his head to Xu Xian and introduced the two people, "This is the chairman of Zhai Lin Group, and next to him is his wife."
Then he turned to Zhai's father and mother in front of him and said, "She is my wife, Xu Xian."
When Xu Xian met Jiang Shibai for the first time, he was keen to introduce other people to her.
My originally confused thoughts suddenly became clear, and I suddenly understood his behavior just now.
As a junior, Xu Xian smiled appropriately and was the first to greet them: "Hello, Uncle Zhai, Aunt Zhai. I often hear Shi Bai mention you, saying that you were neighbors when you were little."
Father Zhai was a little surprised, his eyes slightly brightening, "Really? I still remember that my Jinjin used to run to the next door all the time! There was no way to stop her."
The Zhailin Group is no match for the Jiang Group. If he hadn't relied on their previous relationship as neighbors and had some private contact, he wouldn't have dared to get close to Jiang Shibai and call him by his name.
Compared to Zhai's father's happiness, Zhai's mother just maintained her original smile, looked at Xu Xian in front of her calmly, and secretly evaluated her.
She looked quite graceful, but was still far inferior to her well-behaved and sensible daughter.
The news of Jiang Shibai's marriage was no secret in their upper-class circle, but no one knew his wife's identity and background.
The Jiang family members kept their mouths shut, and the rich ladies who usually played cards and went shopping with Mrs. Jiang were unable to get anything out of her, and all they gave were ambiguous answers.
Thinking of this, Zhai's mother smiled and said, "I've heard that Shi Bai married a beautiful wife. Seeing her today, I can see that her reputation is well-deserved. I wonder which family she is from to raise such a beautiful and well-behaved daughter."
"Thank you for the compliment, Aunt Zhai." Regardless of whether she meant it or not, Xu Xian responded with a smile, not hiding his background at all. "I'm not from a wealthy family, just an ordinary family."
Zhai's mother was slightly surprised. She could tell there was no modesty in her words, so she was probably from an ordinary family.
She didn't expect that the person in charge of Jiang Group would give up marrying a well-dressed socialite in the circle and end up marrying a woman from an ordinary family.
For a moment, she had a different view of Xu Xian, and her eyes were filled with a hint of inquiry.
Seeing this, Jiang Shibai opened his thin lips slightly, interrupting her thoughts of continuing to explore Xu Xian's identity, "My wife and I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."
As soon as he finished speaking, he pulled Xu Xian around the two people in front of him.
How could Father Zhai dare to say no? He watched the two of them walk away hand in hand intimately and disappear around the corner. Only then did the affectionate smile on his face fade.
More than twenty years ago, the Zhai and Lin families married each other, and the two companies merged into one enterprise. It grew and developed rapidly in a short period of time, and also had a certain status in Hai City.
But no matter how much they expand, they can't compare to the Jiang family, an old Shanghai family. It is said that their ancestors were a medical family, and many famous doctors came out in every dynasty and generation.
Today, Jiang Group is a leading enterprise in the domestic medical device industry, and its international status cannot be underestimated.
Under the leadership of Jiang Shibai, the Jiang family leaped forward step by step. The two families were originally neighbors, but later the gap between them became larger and larger, and now they can only look at the back of the Jiang family.
Time flies, leaving only the old people sighing.
"Alas! The gap between our family and the Jiang family is really getting bigger and bigger."
Mother Zhai echoed from the side, "Who says it's not true! I originally wanted Jinjin to marry Jiang Shibai, so that she would have a capable relative, but now they are already married."
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