Chapter 12 Old Jiang and Jiang Lao Er
The next day, the sky was clear and the air was crisp in the foreign land.
Jiang Miaomiao, who was adrift alone, slowly walked out of the school gates alone, carrying her suitcase. Just as she was leaving the school, a white dove flew overhead, cooing. She stopped and looked back at the quiet and secluded school.
The life I had planned before is now obsolete.
Now that she's taken this step, starting all over again, she doesn't know what she'll face, but she thinks to herself: it doesn't matter.
Jiang Miaomiao put on her headphones and dragged her luggage toward the airport. Sixteen hours later, the dreamlike and colorful night view of the port city was right below the plane.
I'm back.
The huge airport was bustling with people.
Jiang Zhengye didn't send anyone to pick her up at the airport, but Jiang Si took the initiative to check her flight itinerary and waited outside the airport early in a black van.
As soon as Jiang Miaomiao got on the bus, she chose the most comfortable spot, resting her left forearm on the side armrest, her eyelids slightly closed, her gaze lowered, her posture even more relaxed and languid than Jiang Si's. She showed absolutely no interest in the fashionable scenery rushing past outside the bus.
Jiang Si asked doubtfully, "I remember you left Hong Kong five years ago."
"Then what?"
"After five years, you've lost interest in seeing what the port city has become?"
Jiang Miaomiao lazily lifted her eyelids. "Isn't it just skyscrapers and shopping malls?"
Jiang Si smiled without saying a word, "Then you should rest." She didn't even mention the time she caused a scene at her ex-boyfriend's wedding.
...
The people who live here are far more than just ordinary wealthy people.
Jiang Zhengye is now the chairman of Dajiang Group. He has served in the position for many years and has extensive connections and wealth.
He had four sons: his eldest daughter Jiang Miaomiao, and his three sons Jiang Bainian, Jiang Zhongming, and Jiang Jiezhi.
Jiang Miaomiao's mother was his first wife. She was beautiful and came from a decent family, but she died during a difficult childbirth and underwent a cesarean section. At Jiang Zhengye's request, the doctor performed a cesarean section to remove her first and then Jiang Bainian, so she was deliberately chosen to be the older sister.
Then, Jiang Zhengye, who had lost his wife, felt that taking care of two children at once was too tiring, so he simply left her with her grandparents in the suburbs to raise, while Jiang Bainian was brought to the city to live with him.
However, just three years later, he remarried and had a daughter named Jiang Zhongming.
However, he remained a womanizer for four years, and his second wife divorced him in anger. He then married a beautiful woman and had a child with Jiang Jiezhi.
Seventeen years have passed since then. Fortune has turned, and this beautiful wife, in league with her lover, broke into Jiang Zhengye's safe, took all the gold bars and US dollars, and eloped.
In conclusion, all three sons lived with Jiang Zhengye, except for Jiang Miaomiao.
She had never been here before, and Jiang Zhengye, his stepmothers, and his brothers had never appeared in the first half of her life.
On what grounds?!
***
Jiang Si knew that Jiang Miaomiao had never been here before and was afraid that she would get lost, so she personally escorted her to her home.
The villa is a detached three-story house, with a total of seven people: a housekeeper, three nannies, a cook, a driver, and a gardener.
Apart from Butler Lin, no one else knew that there was a young lady in this family.
But Butler Lin's attitude towards Jiang Miaomiao was not friendly either. If it weren't for Jiang Si accompanying her, he probably wouldn't have opened the door to let Jiang Miaomiao in. After all, he had served Jiang Zhengye for many years and knew that the master favored sons over daughters. If it weren't for the need for a marriage alliance due to company management issues, he probably wouldn't have thought of this biological daughter.
Jiang Si noticed the contempt in Butler Lin's eyes, but she was too lazy to reprimand him and simply left it to Jiang Miaomiao to deal with at her own pace.
As soon as she left, the servants who had been respectfully surrounding Jiang Miaomiao immediately dispersed.
Jiang Miaomiao raised an eyebrow and saw that Butler Lin was also turning to leave as if he didn't see her, so she pushed her suitcase away forcefully.
"Ah!" Butler Lin was suddenly bumped from behind and almost fell over.
He turned around somewhat angrily, only to see Jiang Miaomiao's leisurely back and her hand waving at him, "Please put it in my room for me."
Butler Lin, holding his breath, said sarcastically, "There isn't a room for you here yet. I have to ask the master first."
Jiang Miaomiao turned and sat down on the sofa, looking at him with a half-smile: "There's no room for me now. Do you think asking him will conjure up a room out of thin air?"
Butler Lin choked up for a moment, "Master didn't say you were coming today."
Jiang Miaomiao said playfully, "So just because he didn't tell you to get lost, you really don't have to leave?"
Butler Lin frowned, sensing that this young lady was hiding a knife behind her smile, but with the enemy still unclear, it was better to avoid trouble. He reluctantly picked up his suitcase and went upstairs to tidy up the guest rooms.
Jiang Miaomiao instantly withdrew her sneer.
I noticed a pile of Hong Kong newspapers under the coffee table, so I reached out and pulled them out to take a look.
Just as she was flipping through the newspaper, Jiang Zhengye returned, a cigar dangling from his lips. Dressed in haute couture and designer brands, with his hair slicked back, his sideburns jet black, his chin completely stubble-free, and his skin smooth and supple, he was indeed quite charming even as he approached fifty.
"Where did everyone go? Quickly pour me a cup of tea." He shouted as soon as he entered the door, then took off his coat and walked towards the living room. He glanced at the person sitting in the living room, paused, and couldn't help but lean closer for a few more looks: "Hey, you didn't use any beauty filters when you video-called me earlier?"
Jiang Miaomiao silently and slowly raised her eyes.
A striking and dazzling beauty emanated from her, unlike anything Jiang Zhengye had ever seen in all his years of gardening.
His first thought was, "He truly is Lao Tzu's son!"
She's prettier and more imposing than those videos where the beauty filters are so heavy that even her own mother wouldn't recognize her!
But the glance Jiang Miaomiao gave him was one of blatant disdain.
There was also a chilling aura about her, which made Jiang Zhengye shiver. His gaze moved down to see her flipping through various gossip articles about herself. The cover featured a rising starlet, so young and innocent… Hmm, this kind of woman is the most attractive to men!
"When did you arrive?" Jiang Zhengye asked casually as he sat down next to her.
Jiang Miaomiao said calmly, "I sent you a message yesterday."
Jiang Zhengye pulled out his phone in confusion. He had dozens of unread messages from beautiful women just today. How could he care about yesterday?
He casually said "Oh," and was about to continue speaking while chewing on his cigar, but Jiang Miaomiao spoke up first: "You smell too strongly of smoke and perfume. Sit away from me."
"Speak to your father face-to-face, be polite!" Jiang Zhengye tried to regain the upper hand from their first meeting and began to adopt a fatherly demeanor.
But Jiang Miaomiao wasn't interested in his explanation and simply asked, "What about my three younger brothers?"
"The second and third children usually come back very late, and the youngest is a boarding high school student. We'll see him the day after tomorrow, which is the weekend."
Jiang Miaomiao hummed in agreement, pointing to the two stacks of newspapers in front of her, one on the left and the other on the right, with Jiang Zhengye and Jiang Bainian on the right. "Do you two ever meet the same woman?"
Jiang Zhengye said firmly, "Impossible. It may be fun, but for father and son to go into battle together is a disgrace."
These newspapers were purely a hobby of Jiang Bainian's, like collecting stamps.
However, he finally realized a problem: "Have you not called me 'Dad' even once since you came in?"
Jiang Miaomiao succinctly said, "I feel too embarrassed to call you that."
"Me? Ashamed? Your dad is handsome and rich, with excellent genes. Look how beautiful you and your three younger brothers are."
"I don't think so. Your genes are so bad that your sons are all dumber than the last. Take this one in high school, for example, his grades are so bad that we need to call his parents in?"
Jiang Zhengye waved his hand casually: "Impossible, the youngest son is number one in his class every year! Although I'm too busy to attend his parent-teacher conferences, he always brings me his midterm and final exam papers to sign, and he gets full marks on every single one. He's the smartest kid in our Jiang family."
Jiang Miaomiao pulled out a letter from the school from the pile of newspapers. It stated that Jiang Jiezhi was skipping classes, fighting, and had consistently ranked at the bottom of his class. The school had been unable to contact his parents for a long time and decided to conduct a home visit this week.
Jiang Zhengye was momentarily distracted and unintentionally let go of his mouth, causing the cigar to fall and burn him so badly that he cried out in pain.
"This little brat, were you lying to me all along?"
"If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too."
"Who said that? Don't you still have me? I remember you were number one in your class every year in the US and it was even in the newspapers! That can't be fake, right? Our Jiang family genes are still excellent!" Jiang Zhengye proudly crossed his legs and started smoking again, feeling smug about his successful attempt to save face.
Jiang Miaomiao said expressionlessly, "I am a genetic mutation."
Jiang Zhengye, feeling hurt: "..."
Jiang Miaomiao stood up: "It's late, I'm going back to my room to sleep."
"No! The nightlife in Hong Kong hasn't even started yet at 10:30. You should keep your dad company and talk to him. You unfilial daughter! Are you really leaving?"
Jiang Miaomiao walked up the stairs without looking back, brushing past Butler Lin who was about to come downstairs. Butler Lin knew that the master had returned and rushed downstairs to stir up trouble, but Jiang Zhengye spoke first, asking, "By the way, which room does the unfilial daughter sleep in?"
"Second-floor guest rooms."
"Is there soundproofing at the back of the guest room?"
Not yet.
Jiang Zhengye hurriedly chased after her up the stairs: "You unfilial daughter, how's your sleep quality? Do you want to take a sleeping pill or sleep in another room?"
"Bang!"
His answer was a heavily locked door.
...
The clock points to three o'clock.
However, it was 3 a.m.
Suddenly, a sharp engine screech sounded outside the villa, and several sports cars chased each other around the Jiang family villa.
Jiang Miaomiao was immediately woken up by the noise in the guest room, which had no soundproofing.
Even though she huddled under the covers and covered her ears, the noise still made her dizzy. More than ten minutes passed, and she endured it again and again until she could no longer bear it and was about to go out when the noise stopped.
Just a moment later, the silence was shattered by the roar of other sports car engines.
This time, it was the drunk Jiang Bainian who brought his female companion home. The car happened to be parked downstairs in the guest room, right in front of Jiang Miaomiao's window. Not only was the car engine very noisy, but the music was also blasting out loud.
Jiang Miaomiao took a deep breath and finally wrapped herself in her coat before leaving the room.
She glanced suspiciously at the master bedroom on the second floor and the maid's room on the first floor, but no one came out. ...So they're just used to being too lazy to come out? Or did they not hear her and that's why they didn't come out?
"Hey, who are you? Did the old man bring you back?"
I glanced up and saw someone standing on the stairs. The drunk man pushed aside his female companion's support, staggered over, rubbed the wall, and pressed a switch. The dark living room instantly became brightly lit.
He hugged the stair railing, looking up at her: "Wow, so beautiful?"
The woman who had been pushed aside immediately protested, rushing forward to hug him and pouting, "Young Master Jiang, how could you praise another woman in front of me?"
"But she is indeed much prettier than you, and your work doesn't look natural enough!" The drunken young man spoke the truth.
Then, forgetting he was suspended in mid-air, he kicked his legs haphazardly a few times but found he couldn't move. The beautiful woman remained high above him, and he immediately shouted in displeasure, "Hey, get down here right now..."
Jiang Miaomiao actually went downstairs.
The female companion looked at her warily and tried to help the young man away: "Young Master Jiang, let me help you back to your room to rest. We agreed that I would keep you company tonight."
"No, the old man doesn't allow outsiders to stay overnight. You'd better leave now!" The young man muttered, shaking his head, clearly having certain rules ingrained in his bones.
Her female companion initially tried to coax him, but seeing that the drunk man still wouldn't budge, she became quite angry and embarrassed: "And what about her? Why is she here?"
"How should I know?" The young man became increasingly dizzy and lightheaded from her shaking. He felt a tightness in his chest and suddenly vomited.
Because they were too close, both the female companion and Jiang Miaomiao, who had just come downstairs, suffered.
Jiang Miaomiao: "..."
She looked down at the vomit on her trouser leg, and her already grumpy face became even more unpleasant. To make matters worse, the drunk man tried to grope her, his reeking of alcohol emanating from him.
She spoke each word, almost squeezing them out from between her teeth: "Jiang, Bai, Nian!"
"Hmm, you know me? Oh right, who don't I know?" Jiang Bainian looked at her with a grin, but, "...You look familiar? Which one of the old man's wives are you? Why don't you choose me? I'm younger than him, and I'm more willing to spend money than him!"
A note from the author:
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