Chapter 32
I enjoy watching her eat.
supermarket,
Xu pushed the shopping cart alongside Jiang Fengyi through the fresh produce section. Xu put all of Jiang Fengyi's favorite foods into the cart.
Do you want some carrots?
Jiang Fengyi shook her head: "I don't like to eat this."
“Then we won’t buy anything.” Xu Que’s shopping cart was already full of groceries. She suggested, “Let’s go to the snack section and see what you want to eat.”
Jiang Fengyi was helpless. She was past the age of loving snacks, but seeing that Xu was in high spirits, she didn't refuse and just indulged her.
Behind them, a mother and daughter were also browsing the fresh produce section. When the little girl heard Jiang Fengyi's words, she looked up at her mother and said, "Mom, I don't like carrots either. Can I not eat them?"
"No, you can't," the mother coldly refused. "Children shouldn't be picky eaters."
"Then why can the older sister not eat carrots?"
Xu, who was walking ahead, overheard their conversation and turned to the little girl, saying, "Because I'm an adult, when you grow up tall and strong, you won't have to eat carrots anymore."
"Really?" The little girl turned to look at her mother.
“Sister is right,” the young mother said gratefully, glancing at Xu Que. “When you grow up, you won’t have to eat whatever you don’t want.”
"Yay, I want to grow up quickly."
The little girl seemed to really like Xu Que, and kept pestering her, asking, "Sister, why are you so nice to the other sister?"
She asked innocently, "Mom only lets me choose my own snacks when I behave well."
"Is it because the other older sister behaved well? So as a reward, she can eat whatever snacks she wants." As she said this, the little girl visibly swallowed.
Xu bent down and patted the little girl's head with a smile.
"Because the other older sister is an excellent adult, and excellent adults have the right to choose their own snacks, and..."
The little girl's eyes sparkled with curiosity: "And what?"
"And I like watching her eat."
The love in Xu Que's eyes was like sunlight spilling onto the rippling surface of a lake, spreading outwards in circles, and soon reaching the corners of her mouth. She smiled, her smile more radiant than a blooming sunflower.
"I liked her so much that I couldn't help but put all the delicious food in front of her for her to choose from."
The little girl's eyes lit up, and she quickly used this example to ask her mother, "Mom, didn't you say I'm cute when I eat? Can you put all the delicious snacks in front of me like my sister does?"
She clenched her fist confidently: "I'm not picky, I want them all!"
“When I said I wasn’t a picky eater, I didn’t mean this kind of picky eating,” her mother said, rejecting her even more decisively.
Seeing her daughter's aggrieved expression because she didn't have any snacks, the mother started making promises: "When you grow up to be the same age as your sister, you can also ask people who like to watch you eat to buy you snacks."
The mother held her daughter's hand and continued forward, soon passing Jiang Fengyi and her companion.
"How long will it take for me to grow up to be as old as my sister?"
"Hmm... I guess I'm eighteen."
"How long do I have to wait until I'm eighteen?"
"It will take a very, very long time."
"If I eat two carrots in one meal, will I grow bigger tomorrow?"
"Growth doesn't happen that fast."
The conversation between mother and daughter faded into the distance, but the smile on Xu's face still lingered at the corners of her eyes. She straightened up and looked up to see Jiang Fengyi standing there, stunned.
Upon meeting Xu Que's gaze, Jiang Fengyi initially avoided eye contact, but quickly looked back at him, feigning composure as she asked a question.
"Why...why do you like watching me eat?" Her eyelashes blinked faster. "You've never told me this before."
Xu unconsciously tightened her grip on the stroller: "Watching you eat makes me feel healed." She clutched her chest, "It makes this place feel peaceful and serene."
“My mood will improve as well,” she said, her gaze lingering on Jiang Fengyi, her smile concealing a hidden sentiment.
Jiang Fengyi's ears, hidden beneath her long hair, secretly blushed. She quickly turned her head away, avoiding looking into the other person's eyes.
"Weren't we going to browse the snack section?"
She took the lead and walked forward, her steps somewhat hurried.
Xu smiled and pushed the cart behind her, acting as a dutiful follower.
After Jiang Fengyi waited until her ears stopped burning, she slowed down and waited for Xu Que to catch up. The two then walked side by side again.
"You always get along well with the children." This was true in the orphanage, and it is true here as well.
Xu thought about it carefully and realized it was true, but she didn't take it to heart: "Maybe my appearance is more popular with children?"
“It’s not because of your appearance,” Jiang Fengyi affirmed. “It’s because you show kindness to children that they all like to be around you.”
Jiang Fengyi thought to herself that if she had met an adult like Xu Que when she was a child, she would have been unable to resist moving closer to him.
Even now, I like it so much that I can't help but get close to it.
The two quickly arrived at the snack area.
Jiang Fengyi stared at the dazzling array of snacks on the shelf, completely at a loss. She turned to Xu Que and asked, "Do you have any favorite snacks? I'd like to try some."
Xu, however, was like a mouse that had fallen into a rice jar, putting snacks into the cart as he walked.
"This is delicious!"
"This is delicious too!"
You absolutely have to try this!
After a round of shopping, the shopping cart was completely full, and the two returned home laden with purchases.
I'm home.
Xu pushed Jiang Fengyi, who was about to help, out of the kitchen: "The dishes I'm going to make are very simple. You can just wait outside. Have some soda crackers to tide you over."
Wanting Jiang Fengyi to eat as soon as possible, Xu prepared two quick dishes: stir-fried beef with green peppers and blanched lettuce, both of which would be ready in no time. Only the yam and pork rib stew would take a little longer.
When she finished preparing a light dinner and was about to call Jiang Fengyi to start eating, she found that he was not in the living room.
Xu searched the dressing room, the balcony, the toilet, and finally went to the room, where he indeed heard the familiar voice.
Jiang Fengyi sat in front of the dressing table, exuding an aloofness that kept strangers at bay. She looked at herself in the mirror, her lips pressed into a straight line.
Xu walked up behind her and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Upon seeing Xu Que's arrival, Jiang Fengyi's indifference diminished considerably, and her body unconsciously shifted towards Xu Que.
The two figures in the dressing mirror overlapped.
"I don't feel uncomfortable anywhere." Recalling what she had just seen, Jiang Fengyi frowned again. "It's just that some people are just too annoying."
Xu pondered for a moment: "The Zhao family?"
Jiang Fengyi nodded, and couldn't help but ask, "How did you know?"
"I guessed it." Xu skillfully rubbed Jiang Fengyi's temples. "Besides your mother, the only other family that can make you frown is the Zhao family."
"What kind of difficult problem have they given you this time?"
Seeing that Jiang Fengyi was about to frown again, Xu stopped the conversation: "If you don't want to talk about it, then don't. Dinner is ready, let's go eat first."
"I'm always here whenever you're ready to confide in me."
It wasn't until Jiang Fengyi sat down at the dining table that Xu turned off the fire that was simmering the soup on the stove and served her a bowl of freshly cooked yam soup.
"Be careful, it's hot."
Jiang Fengyi stared at the milky white broth in the bowl and slowly said, "Old Madam Zhao personally came to request that my mother be taken out of the sanatorium."
“She used her position as an elder to exert pressure, and together with my mother’s former business partner, demanded that she be transferred to another hospital for treatment.”
“If my mother really gets transferred to the sanatorium under the Zhao family’s name, then her mental illness certificate will really become a piece of waste paper, and she can continue to live the same life as before, doing whatever she wants.”
What will happen if I don't agree?
"If the Zhao family contacts the media to make this public, the company's stock price will be affected."
"Have they completely broken ties with you?"
“The Zhao family has always stood with the Jiang family under Jiang Xuan’s rule, not the Jiang family I came to power with. Now that I’ve shut down their allies, it’s no wonder they’re in a hurry to make their move.”
"So we'd rather break off relations than not get them out of there."
"So what do you plan to do?" Xu knew Jiang Fengyi well; she would never compromise.
Jiang Fengyi lowered her head and took a sip of soup. The warm and soft yam filled the void in her stomach, and the heat spread from her abdomen outwards, quickly warming her entire body.
"The Zhao family can contact the media, and our Jiang family also has acquaintances and friends in the media."
Jiang Fengyi acted swiftly and decisively, immediately instructing Wu Qi: "Notify the mainstream media that I will be holding a press conference next Monday."
"It is natural for me, as her biological daughter, to tell the story about my mother."
She turned to Xu Que and said, "Go contact the styling team and have them prepare the outfits needed for the press conference. They need to be low-key and black."
Xu immediately carried out the order, but was stopped by Jiang Fengyi just as he was about to get off the table.
"There's no rush. Let's eat first and then go."
After saying that, she picked up a piece of beef with green peppers with her chopsticks. The beef, coated with starch, was tender and smooth, and paired with the sweet green peppers cut into strips, the two flavors intertwined in her mouth.
"This dish goes very well with rice."
Jiang Fengyi ate half a bowl more rice than usual, which made her feel dizzy while sitting on the sofa assigning tasks to her assistant, and her eyelids kept closing involuntarily.
Xu then used her words to persuade her: "There's no rush. The press conference is next week, so it's not too late for you to arrange these tasks tomorrow."
She pushed him toward the bathroom: "Why don't you take a shower early tonight and get a good night's sleep so you can recharge and have the energy to plan for tomorrow?"
Jiang Fengyi yawned and, following Xu Que's advice, prepared to get her pajamas and take a shower.
Xu had just pushed the person into the bathroom when the person started walking out. Her tone immediately fell: "Are you planning to work overtime for free again?"
Jiang Fengyi chuckled: "I'm the boss, who would make me work overtime for free?"
"I'm going to get my pajamas. Didn't you tell me to get some rest?" She walked past Xu Que, who was blocking the bathroom door. "The boss has decided to obey his subordinate's orders. I'll go take a shower."
Xu grabbed Jiang Fengyi and blurted out without thinking, "You go wash up, I'll get you your pajamas and underwear..."
Before they could say a word, their faces turned as red as boiled shrimp.
She quickly withdrew her hand, laughing awkwardly twice: "I suddenly remembered that the dishes in the dishwasher hadn't been washed yet, so I went to take them out and wash them."
Xu left awkwardly, and Jiang Fengyi chuckled as she watched her retreating figure.
the next day,
The two rode in the same car to the company, but Xu habitually got into the back seat, with Jiang Fengyi sitting right next to her.
The air inside the carriage was thin, and she didn't need to smell carefully to detect the fragrance of Jiang Fengyi's shampoo from the previous night.
Not only that, Xu felt that the rear seat space of the car seemed to have shrunk overnight, and she pressed her entire arm tightly against Jiang Fengyi's body.
In the summer, the clothing is thin, and she can easily feel the body heat from the other person.
Xu remained stiff and silent, only swallowing repeatedly.
As soon as the car drove out of the residential area, an inconspicuous gray van that had been waiting by the roadside followed it.
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