Chapter Thirty-One: The World is Full of Eavesdroppers
A clear morning after the rain always invigorates people. Luo Yan woke up early, rolled around on the soft bed a few times, stretched, and raised her hand to shield her eyes from the sunlight.
I slept so well.
The wound on her palm had healed, but her ankle was still a little sore. She sat up, wondering whether to pretend nothing had happened and slip out, or to say goodbye to Jiang Sui before leaving, when the doorbell suddenly rang.
It's only eight o'clock, so early? Who is it?
Immediately following were the sounds of Jiang Sui walking to open the door and the door opening.
Then, a deep and authoritative middle-aged male voice suddenly broke in. The voice wasn't loud, but it was clear enough to make Luo Yan in the guest room hold her breath instantly.
"Why did it take so long to open the door?"
Luo Yan felt a pang of panic. This tone wasn't from the property management, nor from a food delivery person.
She subconsciously pricked up her ears, and barefoot, she quietly moved to the door, peering through the crack. Unfortunately, the angle was awkward, and she could only see Jiang Sui's straight back in the entryway, and a pair of gleaming men's leather shoes.
"Why have you come?" Jiang Sui's voice was devoid of emotion.
Jiang Qiming glanced around the room: "I was just passing by and came up to take a look. You still treat this place like a showroom, it has no human touch at all."
Jiang Sui didn't respond to that: "Just say what you need to say."
"Can't you come see my son if there's nothing wrong?" Jiang Qiming's tone was calm, but it carried an inherent sense of pressure. His sharp gaze swept across the entire room and settled on the half-open guest room door.
It turns out it was Jiang Sui's father!
Luo Yan hurriedly closed the door, her head buzzing. Why did she feel guilty, like she'd been caught in the act? They were completely innocent; nothing had happened between them.
Her first thought was: If this gets seen, I'll never be able to clear my name! Will Jiang Sui get his legs broken by his father? No, the main concern is whether she can keep her job!
Luo Yan dared not open the door again, so she pressed her ear against the door panel, trying to hear what they were saying.
Is this soundproof? Or is it because we're too far away? Why can't I hear anything?
Jiang Qiming's gaze didn't linger, and he looked at Jiang Sui: "Regarding the smart tourism project, President Hua is interested in cooperating with Feiyang, and they can contribute 60% of the funding."
"You should know that although I am the project leader, I cannot make the decisions. If President Hua is sincere, he should talk to President Luo." Jiang Sui's voice sounded as indifferent as usual. "Besides, I don't know what benefit Ming Sheng can gain from you helping President Hua to share Feiyang's pie?"
"In business, you don't have to do everything to make a profit."
Why doesn't Ming Sheng come directly to discuss cooperation?
"I don't need to explain my actions to you."
Jiang Qiming's tone was firm, seemingly unwilling to get entangled with Jiang Sui on this issue any further: "Luo Muyang trusts you, and I think you are the most suitable person to be this middleman."
"Are you suggesting I betray my boss?"
"What backstabbing? It's just doing Hua Zong a favor. It won't hurt you or Fei Yang."
"I'm sorry, I can't agree to that."
Seeing Jiang Sui's resolute attitude, Jiang Qiming simply smiled and didn't say anything more. Instead, he walked around the room a few times and stopped two steps away from the guest room door.
"Luo Muyang is more lucky than capable, and he has the airs of a nouveau riche. I won't stop you from staying at Feiyang, but you have to be careful. I don't care what your relationship is with his daughter. You can play around, but if you want to have a serious relationship, anyone but her is fine."
This time, Luo Yan finally heard it clearly, every single word, and a series of question marks popped up in her head.
No, old man, are you alright? You're launching into a personal attack right off the bat? Did I eat your rice?! Am I that bad? I'm good-looking, have good values, passed the civil service exam honestly, am loved by everyone, lively and adorable!
Jiang Sui's voice remained calm: "I know what I'm doing, you don't need to worry about it."
"It's good that you know." Jiang Qiming seemed to have taken a few steps, and his footsteps seemed to get closer.
Luo Yan's heart leaped into her throat, terrified that Jiang Qiming would burst through the guest room door to inspect the cleanliness at any moment. She frantically looked around, trying to hide behind a wardrobe or curtains, her inner monologue screaming: "Jiang Sui, get him out of here! Otherwise, I'll jump out the window! This is the seventeenth floor, for crying out loud! I'm not Batman!"
Fortunately, Jiang Sui's voice rang out in time, "I have a video conference at 8:30, so I won't see you off."
Jiang Qiming was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly asked, "This scarf doesn't seem like your style."
Luo Yan looked down and felt a chill in her heart. Last night, she felt cold after taking a shower, but luckily she had a scarf in her bag, so she just took it out and put it on. Later, she left it on the sofa armrest. It was a rose-red scarf with a slight fuzz, which was really out of place with the black, white and gray minimalist style of the room.
Outside the door, Jiang Sui calmly lied: "A friend left it behind."
"Friends? Women? That's rare. I haven't seen you bring a woman home since Xingyao left. Good, you've learned to look forward." Jiang Qiming snorted and didn't press further. His footsteps led towards the door.
The door closed, and the world fell silent.
Luo Yan leaned against the door, her legs weak, and let out a long sigh of relief, feeling as if she had survived a disaster.
There were two soft knocks on the guest room door.
"Come out, let's go."
Luo Yan furtively opened the door a crack, revealing half her face, and whispered, "You scared me to death! Why did your dad suddenly come? Did he find out something? That scarf..."
"It's alright." Jiang Sui interrupted her, his gaze sweeping over her still-shaken face. "How's your foot? Can you walk?"
"Yes, yes, yes! I can leave right now!" Luo Yan nodded hurriedly, afraid that Jiang Qiming would turn around and catch her red-handed. She only wanted to escape this place of trouble as soon as possible.
She quickly changed into the clothes she had dried the night before, and before leaving, she didn't forget to take the scarf from the sofa with her.
Jiang drove her to the subway station, and the two remained silent the whole way.
Luo Yan had a bellyful of questions, such as why her father said those things about her and Luo Muyang? Was her father being too controlling? But when she saw Jiang Sui's face, which was full of "keep away" expressions, and remembered that he had said his father had hated him for many years, she wondered what deep-seated hatred the father and son could have. After thinking about it, she swallowed all the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
Forget it, one should have some boundaries and not pry into other people's family affairs.
Two nights later, Zeng Rong invited Luo Yan to dinner, ostensibly for a "heart-to-heart talk between sisters," but in reality, she wanted to show off the new bag her husband, Mr. Fang, had brought back for her from his business trip.
"Look at this leather, this stitching! Lao Fang said it suits me perfectly at first glance!" Zeng Rong slung his new bag over his shoulder and twirled halfway around in the restaurant lights.
Luo Yan, biting her straw, absentmindedly murmured, "It's beautiful, it's beautiful..."
"You weren't even looking properly! What's wrong? You've been completely distracted all night." Zeng Rong finally noticed her unusual behavior and leaned closer to ask in a low voice, "Did you run into Wu Yuzhou and his wife again? What kind of trouble are they causing this time?"
“Ever since Yang Xin caused trouble last time, they’ve been relatively quiet. I’ve deleted them from WeChat, so I can’t see what kind of trouble they’re up to. Maybe Wu Yuzhou got the legal counsel contract and is in a good mood, so he’s keeping an eye on Yang Xin and not letting her out. Otherwise, hmph, who knows!” Luo Yan sighed heavily, stirring the ice cubes in her glass. “It’s just… you’ve been trying so hard to prove yourself, but people reject you just because of your background. What do you do?”
"Who rejected you? President Luo? Sister Fei? That can't be!"
"No..." Luo Yan scratched her hair in frustration, "Oh well, never mind, let's not talk about it."
Zeng Rong blinked, then suddenly said mysteriously, "Hey, you're not interested in the bag, but you'll definitely be interested in this next one!"
"Oh? Tell me about it?"
"There are new rumors circulating in the company these past few days, about General Manager Jiang..."
Luo Yan's heart skipped a beat, a sense of foreboding washing over her: "About Jiang Sui... what rumors?"
"Let me state this beforehand, it's just a rumor, not officially confirmed..." Zeng Rong looked around warily, then deliberately lowered his voice, "I heard that a couple of days ago, on the night of the heavy rain, someone saw President Jiang with a woman in his car, and he even took her home for the night!"
Luo Yan nearly sprayed a mouthful of ice water onto Zeng Rong's face, choking and coughing, her face instantly turning red.
"Wh...what? A woman...did they say...who it is?"
"No, not at all. They said it was just a fleeting glimpse and they didn't see clearly, only that it was a long-haired woman, and the direction was definitely towards President Jiang's house." Zeng Rong held Luo Yan's trembling hands, like a neighborhood committee auntie comforting a woman whose husband had cheated, "Don't be sad, Yan Yan, it must be a misunderstanding. Although President Jiang looks like a scumbag, everyone in the company knows he's always been clean-living. It was raining so hard that day, maybe he just saw it wrong? Please don't take it to heart, okay!"
Luo Yan grabbed a tissue to cover her mouth and waved her hands repeatedly, trying to remain calm. "No, do all the people in your company have nothing better to do than spread these baseless rumors? Jiang Sui may be handsome, but he has a terrible personality and a sharp tongue. His life is all about work, it's so boring!"
She became more and more agitated as she spoke, her voice unconsciously rising a few decibels as she tried to cover up her unease with a sarcastic remark: "Maybe his housekeeper went to clean, or maybe his angelic ex-girlfriend came back. Even if it's none of those, what does it have to do with me? I've long since left the dating scene, how could I possibly have feelings for him?!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Zeng Rong's expression suddenly turned strange. His eyes darted frantically behind her, and his lips twitched as if he wanted to say something.
"Is your face twitching?"
Luo Yan felt a cold gaze piercing her back and quickly turned around.
Jiang Sui was standing in the aisle next to the booth, with several people beside her, who looked like customers.
He remained expressionless, his gaze sweeping over her indifferently as if she were an unimportant stranger. Then he nodded slightly to the customers and walked straight past their table.
Luo Yan froze instantly, and the straw fell into the cup with a thud.
He...heard that?!
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