Chapter 42. Jiang Jiaoming, a paragon of male virtue. ...
The entire crew finished filming in the evening, just before dusk. A cold wind howled across the fields. The male photographer, wearing a black windbreaker, rubbed his hands and arms and stood at the front, using a megaphone to direct their positions, trying to ensure everyone was in the shot.
Hundreds of people were crammed together, chatting and laughing.
With a click, the image freezes.
In the photo, Liang Kongxiang stands in the center, holding a bouquet of flowers, with a serene smile. To her left is Cao Lengyu, and to her right is Jiang Jiaoming. Looking closer, you can see two distinct fingers standing upright on top of Liang Kongxiang's head, like rabbit ears.
"How am I supposed to post this if you do this?" Liang Kongxiang pointed helplessly at the picture. "There are already rumors about us circulating online."
“It’s not a rumor,” Jiang Jiaoming corrected earnestly, “it’s a fact.” Seeing her somewhat dissatisfied look, he asked in return, “Rabbit ears won’t do, do you prefer pig ears?”
“Jiang Jiaoming,” Liang Kongxiang said in a flat tone.
Alright. Jiang Jiaoming raised his hands in surrender and shut up.
Only Liang Kongxiang and Jiang Jiaoming were in the waiting room. Liang Kongxiang had originally wanted to stay an extra day in Xisa Port, but Wang Jianbai had booked the celebration banquet for tomorrow night. She was the lead actress, and Jiang Jiaoming was the producer; it wouldn't be right for either of them not to attend. Luckily, she hadn't mentioned canceling their tickets to Jiang Jiaoming beforehand so they could spend some time alone in Xisa Port; otherwise, he would definitely have made Wang Jianbai reschedule.
She browsed through the photos taken during this period in her album, lost in thought about her plans after filming wrapped. A vacation was too much of a luxury for her, and Jiang Jiaoming was incredibly clingy when it came to relationships; sometimes it gave her a headache—why was he acting like a dog?
"Haven't chosen yet?" Jiang Jiaoming put his long arm around her shoulder, pressing her head against his shoulder, and glanced down at her photo album. It was better not to look at it at all; a quick glance revealed a photo of her with that "Brian," which immediately reminded him of Louis.
"Hmm." Liang Kongxiang's gaze fell on the group photo that marked the end of filming. Just as she was hesitating, Jiang Jiaoming poked her with his index finger and checked the box for her.
"What's there to worry about? We'll find out eventually anyway," Jiang Jiaoming said calmly. "You don't rely entirely on popularity to get resources, so your relationship isn't exactly negative news."
"I know." She turned off her phone and leaned on Jiang Jiaoming's shoulder, tilting her head slightly. Seeing that his expression wasn't very good, she smiled and said, "What's wrong? Are you unhappy?"
Jiang Jiaoming hummed in agreement, then lowered his head and kissed her forehead: "To coax me."
Liang Kongxiang took his fingers and squeezed them gently, comforting him: "Don't be upset. I just think it's too cruel to the fans, and announcing our relationship to the public will also bring you trouble."
Jiang Jiaoming felt much relieved when Liang Kongxiang was willing to explain and comfort him, and asked knowingly, "What trouble?"
Liang Kongxiang gave an example: "It affects your market value in the dating market."
"Oh, so that's the problem." Jiang Jiaoming pinched Liang Kongxiang's cheek. "That is indeed a problem. What if my wife finds out I've dated female celebrities and dislikes me? Hmm?"
Liang Kongxiang didn't reply, slapped his hand away and stood up: "It's time to board the plane."
"Hmm?" Jiang Jiaoming followed, raising his eyebrows with a smug smile, asking all the way, "What will my wife do if she finds out?"
Liang Kongxiang helplessly covered her ears and half of her face, her exposed ear tips turning bright red, and ignored Jiang Jiaoming.
As I stepped into the cabin, the people behind me stopped.
As the plane taxied and leaped over the ground, Liang Kongxiang felt a lightness in her body and soared into the clouds.
They arrived empty-handed, but left laden with gifts.
...
I was half asleep when I vaguely remembered an announcement that I was about to land in Gongtai City. A faint men's scent wafted into my nostrils, like the smell of Chiang Chiao-ming.
She raised her hand and lifted the blindfold, and something seemed to slide down through the blanket in front of her.
When she opened her eyes, she met Jiang Jiaoming's gaze as he knelt in front of her. He was only wearing a shirt, his elbows propped on his lap, and he had been staring at her for who knows how long.
"Awake?" Jiang Jiaoming picked up his coat, which had slipped to the ground, and draped it over her lap. Then he reached out and brushed the stray strands of hair that were falling across her face, gently rubbing her slightly flushed cheek with his fingers, and teased her, "You got off the plane, you little monkey."
Just woken up, Liang Kongxiang's thoughts were still in her dream. The warmth of Jiang Jiaoming's hand made her unconsciously press her hand against his palm. Her voice was gentle: "Why did it take you so long to wake me up?"
In fact, they had just landed and all the passengers had just disembarked; Jiang Jiaoming and his group were the last group.
"Why didn't you call out?" He began to imitate Liang Kongxiang's serious, old-fashioned demeanor, deliberately lying to her: "Someone mumbled something like, 'Don't touch me. My husband is Jiang Jiaoming.'"
He put on a serious expression, spread his hands, and shrugged his broad shoulders: "There's nothing I can do. You're so clingy, so I had to apologize to the flight attendant."
Liang Kongxiang looked down at him as he lied without batting an eye, so convincingly that she smiled and lifted the blanket.
Jiang Jiaoming stood up and draped his coat over her shoulders. While she was still dazed, he kissed her face as she woke up and led her outside.
The temperature outside the cabin was very low. It was the chilly spring season in Gongtai City. The familiar smells came into view, and Liang Kongxiang finally felt the ground beneath her feet.
A Maybach was parked not far away, probably arranged by Jiang Jiaoming. She hadn't had a chance to tell him about her plans for the next two days on the plane, and now he probably wanted to spend time with her. She thought absently that she should be able to see him during breaks in the activities, and besides, Jiang Jiaoming would likely be attending the event a week later.
The driver was waiting for them in front of the car. Jiang Jiaoming opened the car door and let Liang Kongxiang get in first, then he also got in.
"Mr. Jiang, are we going back to Jiayuan?" the driver asked.
Jiang Jiaoming didn't answer, but looked at Liang Kongxiang first. This was a way of asking for her opinion.
“I’m going home,” Liang Kongxiang told the driver an address, and then said to Jiang Jiaoming, “I told my grandma before I went to Xisa Port that I would go home for two days after filming is finished.”
"Two days?" Jiang Jiaoming frowned, not very satisfied, as if a well-thought-out plan had suddenly fallen apart. "Then when will you come with me?"
"Aren't we going to meet tomorrow night?" Liang Kongxiang's eyes crinkled into a smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed. "If you're this dissatisfied now, what will you do when I join the crew?"
"When will you join the team?" Jiang Jiaoming put his arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head. "Send me the project proposal. If necessary, I can co-invest."
By "necessary," he meant that other production companies might insert their own artists, completely altering the script, or using Liang Kongxiang to promote their own company's artists. These are all common practices.
"Not for now, I know what I'm doing."
"Um."
After she said that, Jiang Jiaoming believed she was capable of handling the situation and didn't continue discussing the topic.
As the car drew closer to its destination, two women appeared downstairs. The shorter one was dressed in bulky clothes, while the taller, thinner woman wore only a long coat.
“My mom and grandma,” Liang Kongxiang said. Even though they deliberately said their landing time was an hour late, they still went downstairs to wait.
"Your mother and your grandmother?" Jiang Jiaoming frowned. Her mother and her grandmother, what about him?
"Hmm. Are you getting off?" Just as the car stopped and Liang Kongxiang was about to open the car door, a hand grabbed her arm and looked at her. She withdrew her hand from the car door and asked with amusement, "What's wrong?"
Do your mother and grandmother know me?
Before Liang Kongxiang could answer, someone knocked on the driver's side window. The driver rolled down the window, and Jiang Jiaoming instinctively looked over.
An aged face was peeking through the window crack, its eyes darting back and forth between Jiang Jiaoming and Liang Kongxiang before finally settling on Liang Kongxiang: "Why haven't you come down yet?"
"They're here." Liang Kongxiang saw that the old lady's nose and ears were red, but she didn't think much of it and led Jiang Jiaoming out of the car.
He was being pulled along by Liang Kongxiang, and the words of refusal were barely on the tip of his tongue when he was already standing in front of the old lady and Liang Kongxiang's mother. His eyes met theirs, and for a moment he didn't know who to look at.
"...Hello, Auntie. Hello, Grandma." Jiang Jiaoming, a young master who had lived for nearly thirty years, was experiencing this for the first time. He forced himself to greet them, only to receive two brief responses.
Liang Kongxiang's mother: "Mm."
Liang Kongxiang's maternal grandmother: "Ah!"
“I am Jiang Jiaoming,” he said again.
"Okay." Liang Kongxiang's mother nodded, "I understand."
"Alright, let's go up." Liang Kongxiang smiled, holding Jiang Jiaoming's hand with one hand and supporting her grandmother's arm with the other.
As soon as they entered the elevator, Jiang Jiaoming instinctively squeezed himself into a corner, took Liang Kongxiang's hand, and gently squeezed her fingers, as if trying to exchange a secret signal. He had come unprepared for this trip, and was caught off guard by meeting his mother-in-law. When he greeted her, he only received two brief responses. If word got out, he would be the laughingstock of everyone.
Liang Kongxiang's fingertips were suddenly pinched, and she turned around.
Grandma heard the noise and turned around as well.
Four pairs of eyes were fixed on him. Jiang Jiaoming cleared his throat: "...It's nothing."
With a ding, the elevator doors finally opened.
Jiang Jiaoming pulled two suitcases with his other hand, both belonging to Liang Kongxiang. He had the face of an unreliable scumbag, so he had no intention of staying overnight. If her family misunderstood him as a dissolute and unrefined man, he'd be in deep trouble.
"Change your shoes first." As soon as the door opened, Liang Kongxiang's mother handed Jiang Jiaoming a pair of slippers and reached out to him to take his luggage: "Give them to me."
Jiang Jiaoming had little experience interacting with female elders who were like family to him. His mind raced, but after a long time, he could only manage a dry, "It's okay, the box isn't heavy."
"Mom, let him do it." Liang Kongxiang noticed that her fingers were red and knew that she was prone to chilblains, so she turned up the temperature in the living room and handed her a cup of hot water: "Warm your hands first."
As she spoke, she went to the door to help Jiang Jiaoming and led him to the dressing room.
With Liang Kongxiang's mother and grandmother gone, Jiang Jiaoming breathed a sigh of relief and asked the question that every son-in-law asks when he visits his daughter's home: "Does your mother not like me very much?"
"Huh?" Liang Kongxiang turned around in surprise and smiled, "How could that be?"
"Oh. I know no one can dislike me." His tone became arrogant again, his long legs crossed, his lower back leaning against the cabinet, and he pointed at her: "Aren't you the best example? After all these years, you're still infatuated with me."
“President Jiang, speaking too absolutely can easily backfire,” Liang Kongxiang said, opening the closet and directing him to hand her the clothes from the suitcase.
Jiang Jiaoming stood up, hugged her waist from behind, rested his head on her head, and sighed, "What if they don't like me?"
"Why wouldn't they like you?" Seeing that he seemed genuinely concerned, Liang Kongxiang turned around and said, "I like you, and they will like you too."
Although it was a vague answer, Jiang Jiaoming was quite pleased. He quickly helped her hang up her clothes and said as he closed the closet, "I'll come pick you up at 5:30 tomorrow afternoon."
"Hmm." It will take at least forty minutes to drive there, around 5:30.
There was a knock at the door. Liang Kongxiang guessed it was her grandmother, and when she opened the door, it was indeed her.
She was holding a bowl of sliced apples when she saw Liang Kongxiang open the door. Her eyes were filled with obvious disappointment. "Why haven't you come out yet?" she asked, leaning out as she looked inside. Her eyes lit up when she saw Jiang Jiaoming inside. She greeted him, "Hey, Xiao Jiang, come and have some fruit. Come to our house, don't be shy."
As soon as Jiang Jiaoming heard her grandmother's voice, she went over. Her grandmother was holding a bowl of fruit and was about to hand it to her, so Jiang Jiaoming had no choice but to accept it, saying, "Thank you, Grandma."
"Oh, don't be so polite. Come out and have dinner. Kong Xiang's mother is cooking noodles for you."
Jiang Jiaoming glanced at Liang Kongxiang and said, "Okay."
Just as I lifted my foot to follow them to the living room, I suddenly stopped, as if remembering something.
He stared thoughtfully at Liang Kongxiang's retreating figure. Before he could come up with anything, Feng Yidong brought out a bowl of noodles and placed it on the table. The sound of the ceramic bowl hitting the marble tabletop interrupted his thoughts.
"Thank you, Auntie." He saw Liang Kongxiang sit down out of the corner of his eye, so he sat down next to her as well.
The warm yellow light shone on the gray-white long table, making the soup noodles look delicious and steaming hot.
"Eat up, don't be shy." Seeing that he wasn't touching his chopsticks, Grandma called out again, asking, "Would you like some drinks or milk?"
"No, thank you."
"Oh dear, it's enough to have two little mute girls at home, Xiang and her mother. Why do you talk so little too?"
"Grandma," Liang Kongxiang called out helplessly, "Let him eat first."
"Okay, okay." Grandma readily agreed, propped her chin on her hand, looked left and right, and after a couple of seconds spoke again: "What does Xiao Jiang's family do?"
"I own a company," Jiang Jiaoming said succinctly.
"Oh, what kind of work is it?"
"In the film and television industry."
"Film and television?" Grandma looked at Liang Kongxiang and deliberately said, "Film and television are quite good, then you have the same hobby as our Kongxiang."
"Grandma," Liang Kongxiang sighed, "Let him eat his noodles first, or they'll get soggy."
Grandma clapped her hands with delight, laughing twice, her face full of wrinkles. She looked at Jiang Jiaoming and chuckled, "You really know how to handle things. This little old-fashioned guy usually doesn't say a word while eating, he's so boring. This is the first time he's ever talked to me."
Jiang Jiaoming glanced at Liang Kongxiang and slowly raised his eyebrows: "...Oh?"
"Why don't you sleep here tonight? There are plenty of rooms in the house, enough room for everyone." Grandma knew when to back down, but her little scheme was already on her mind.
"No, the driver is still waiting for me downstairs. Thank you, Grandma." Jiang Jiaoming thought to himself, this grandma might be testing his male virtues. If he stayed here now, wouldn't all his efforts be in vain?
"Oh, I see..." Grandma said with disappointment, and was about to say something when she was interrupted by another voice.
"Stay for one night, it's the middle of the night, don't bother with all that," Feng Yidong said.
Jiang Jiaoming looked over with some surprise, able to tell that she meant it sincerely, not just being polite. People like Feng Yidong are different from Liang Kongxiang's grandmother; she's like a carbon copy of Liang Kongxiang, one old-fashioned and the other old-fashioned. Seeing that it was her who spoke, Jiang Jiaoming couldn't refuse any longer and agreed, "Okay."
The room assigned to him was not far from Liang Kongxiang's. It was already late at night. After washing up, he sat listlessly at the foot of the bed and sent a message to Liang Kongxiang.
Are you asleep?
Liang Kongxiang was taking a shower when her phone rang. Not many people would text her at this hour.
She sat up in the bathtub, her arm still dripping wet, and reached out to unlock her phone. Sure enough, it was Jiang Jiaoming. He asked if she was asleep.
The usually unruly young master Jiang was like a clumsy, honest man in her house. Liang Kongxiang smiled when she thought of how he was embarrassed, and suddenly felt sorry for him. She was willing to chat with him about trivial things.
Not yet, what's wrong?
There were no further messages from them.
Just as she was wondering about it, a few seconds later, she seemed to hear some noise outside the bathroom.
Immediately afterwards, a tall, dark figure appeared outside the door.
Jiang Jiaoming, who was a model of male virtue, sneaked into Liang Kongxiang's bedroom late at night.
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Author's Note: Jiang Jiaoming: On the topic of male virtue.
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