Chapter 23 Our wedding announcement will cause…
Cheng Yan wanted to make a voice call to Jiang Shiyuan, but thinking of Huo Lan's methods, she didn't dare to call.
She also considered whether Jiang Shiyuan's phone might be under surveillance, so she replied with an ambiguous message.
Congratulations! Is there anything I can do for you?
Jiang Shiyuan immediately understood her meaning and replied: "My uncle and aunt will soon know about my marriage to Huo Lan."
Cheng Yan replied very quickly.
I understand, I will share the good news with them.
Cheng Yan was always on her side, and even this one sentence gave her peace of mind. So she sent over her uncle and aunt's addresses and asked for Cheng Yan's private account information.
Why would they need my account information? Is it for a souvenir?
Cheng Yan sent her account information without thinking too much.
Not long after, she received a message on her mobile banking app that 5 million yuan had been deposited into her account, followed by a risk control text message from the bank.
Cheng Yan's fingers went numb as she opened her account and started counting zeros, then suddenly realized she was about to win big.
After regaining his senses, he sent a message to Jiang Shiyuan.
【You really are my best friend, I love you to death! Don't worry! I'll definitely be at your wedding!】
Jiang Shiyuan replied with two little hearts and then ended the chat with Cheng Yan.
To outsiders, their chat history was just Jiang Shiyuan informing her old classmates about her wedding. Even though she said she didn't want to get married, it didn't change anything.
Soon the day Huo Lan and she had agreed upon arrived.
Huo Lan has been very excited these past two days. He asked Shi Teng a lot of questions and also asked her a lot of questions.
He asked Shi Teng what gifts his new son-in-law should prepare when he visited, and how he should behave to be polite. He also asked Jiang Shiyuan about the customs in their area and whether there were any special rules.
After making all the preparations, he took Jiang Shiyuan's hand and left Lingdang Xiaozhu, getting into a rather unassuming blue Bugatti.
The car was filled with high-end jewelry and silks that he had selected for her family. In addition, he had specially chosen a riverside villa on the banks of the Luohuai River in the main urban area for her uncle.
He rarely does something in such a high-profile manner.
But this time, in order to let her uncle and aunt know that she had married a good man, she tried her best to please a stranger to them.
But Jiang Shiyuan had no time to be moved.
She only hoped that Cheng Yan could understand her meaning and that she had successfully completed the task.
The eye-catching sports car drove into the narrow alley. The neighbors rarely saw such a scene, and almost every household ran out of their homes to watch the excitement.
Jiang Shiyuan's palms were already sweaty as she sat in the car. She suddenly realized that even if she let her uncle and his family leave in advance, when they returned, these neighbors would still describe the situation to them in great detail. They would know sooner or later that she was getting married, they just wouldn't know who the other person was.
She never expected Huo Lan to come to the place where she lived as a child in such a high-profile manner.
If she had known this would happen, she would definitely have stopped Huo Lan and would never have let him bring her back.
Jiang Shiyuan's city is the old city of Wancheng. The buildings here are not as prosperous as those in the new city, but they are full of Wancheng's local customs and traditions.
As soon as she got out of the car, the old man sitting at the door enjoying the cool air recognized her at a glance and was overjoyed.
"Is that Xiao Shiyuan? Xiao Shiyuan is back!"
After saying that, he started calling to the other family members in the yard.
Jiang Shiyuan had no choice but to greet them one by one.
Huo Lan followed behind Jiang Shiyuan, while Shi Teng and another Huo family employee were responsible for unloading the gifts from the car and delivering them all to their yard.
The neighbors in the alley watched Huo Lan with smiles. Seeing his elegant and dignified demeanor, and his tight grip on Jiang Shiyuan's hand without letting go for a moment, they began to gossip about their relationship.
A feisty auntie started shouting from the second floor, "Shiyuan, who's this handsome guy next to you? Is he your boyfriend?"
Before Jiang Shiyuan could answer, she started spreading the news to the other neighbors in Wancheng dialect: "Oh my god, Xiaoyuan hasn't been home for so many years, and she brought back such a handsome boyfriend!"
Jiang Shiyuan's ears turned redder as she listened, and she quickly pulled Huo Lan into the depths of the alley.
Huo Lan smiled and said, "Why run so fast? Let them say what they want to say."
Jiang Shiyuan frowned, her voice soft and gentle as she replied, "These aunties love to gossip. Who knows what they'll say about our relationship!"
"What else can I say? We are husband and wife."
Jiang Shiyuan felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing this, but she didn't argue. She pulled him along, almost running, all the way to the front door of her house.
Huo Lan, being tall and long-legged, had no trouble exerting himself, while Jiang Shiyuan was somewhat out of breath.
However, when they arrived at their doorstep, they found the gate to the yard locked and no one was home.
Jiang Shiyuan breathed a sigh of relief.
She feigned disappointment and told Huo Lan, "It seems I've come at the wrong time; Uncle isn't home."
Huo Lan had already noticed the sigh of relief she had secretly let out, but he just chuckled and called Shi Teng over to whisper a few words to him.
Jiang Shiyuan couldn't hear her, so she quickly asked, "What did you say to Butler Shi?"
Before Huo Lan could reply, she saw several more people get out of the car following them at the alley entrance and start handing out red envelopes to the neighbors with Shi Teng.
The once bustling alley became even more crowded. Huo Lan put his arm around Jiang Shiyuan and stepped back, his smile growing wider.
Shi Teng began to inform everyone of Jiang Shiyuan and Huo Lan's wedding date, and also explained the amount of money in the red envelopes.
The neighbors were thrilled to hear this and began praising the Huo family for their generosity.
Because each red envelope contained not cash, but a custom-made bank card exclusively for the Huo family, with 10,000 yuan in each card.
Before long, those who received the red envelopes began to offer auspicious wishes, hoping that she and Mr. Huo would have a long and happy marriage.
After almost everyone had received a red envelope from the Huo family, Huo Lan finally left the alley with Jiang Shiyuan, satisfied, and took her to a Rolls-Royce with excellent privacy.
The joyous congratulations were shut out of the car window. Jiang Shiyuan realized that the game she and Huo Lan were playing was like a childish cat-and-mouse game, and it was obvious that he had always been the cat watching her from the open.
Are you monitoring my phone?
Huo Lan knew Jiang Shiyuan would ask that question, and he wasn't surprised. He simply shook his head.
“That’s your privacy, I won’t look at it. I only care about what you did, who you were with, and where you went.”
Jiang Shiyuan felt as if she were in an ice cellar, a feeling that had almost never subsided ever since Huo Lan decided to marry her.
But Huo Lan never lied to her; if he said he hadn't looked at it, he wouldn't have.
Seeing that Jiang Shiyuan didn't speak, Huo Lan took her hand and intertwined their fingers, only to find that her fingers were icy cold.
His initial joy gradually faded as her temperature dropped, turning him increasingly gloomy.
"I understand what you're thinking."
Yesterday, five million yuan was transferred from Jiang Shiyuan's account. She had just communicated with her VIP bank account manager when the transfer information was sent to Huo Lan.
Jiang Shiyuan wasn't afraid that Huo Lan would find out about her transfer information, because ever since she started dating him in college, she had often bought gifts for Cheng Yan or even transferred money directly to her, although the amount of the previous gifts wasn't that huge.
She had just returned to Wancheng and it happened to be her wedding day. Since she didn't have many friends, it was natural for her to think of Cheng Yan and give her best friend a sum of money.
Therefore, Huo Lan didn't pay much attention to Jiang Shiyuan transferring money to Cheng Yan. He was just subconsciously certain that Jiang Shiyuan didn't want her family to know about his relationship with her.
Since that's the case, he will definitely go to her house in a grand manner, so that everyone in her family and even everyone in her alley will know that Jiang Shiyuan is about to become the mistress of the Huo family.
He was forcing her to marry him in a way that was neither refusal nor resistance.
"Did you arrange with Cheng Yan beforehand to have her leave with your uncle and aunt's family?"
Jiang Shiyuan was dejected as Huo Lan guessed her right again, especially the feeling of being manipulated by him, which made her feel even more suffocated.
Jiang Shiyuan was too lazy to coax Huo Lan anymore, so she simply nodded and admitted it.
"I don't want them to know, and I don't want the studio to know about our relationship."
"But our wedding announcement will be published in various media outlets and newspapers in a few days. The reports on various new media and online platforms, including the topic of our wedding announcement, are already prepared and could ignite the entire Wancheng at any time."
Huo Lan looked at Jiang Shiyuan with feigned innocence, "How would I know that you don't want anyone to know that we're getting married?"
His hands were still intertwined with Jiang Shiyuan's, but when he squeezed back hard, she didn't respond at all.
Jiang Shiyuan just looked at her coldly, not even daring to show him an angry expression.
Huo Lan tried hard to suppress the gloom in his eyes and raised the partition inside the car.
Before Jiang Shiyuan could react, he scooped her up onto his lap and grabbed her chin.
A punitive kiss landed, and he used his tongue to pry open her teeth, teasing and entangled her. When he saw that she refused to respond, he had no choice but to withdraw and slowly bite her lips, but he didn't dare to use force.
Their breaths mingled in a chaotic entanglement. Huo Lan's fingers rested on her slender neck, his thumb slowly pressing against her delicate throat, making her feel even more suffocated during the kiss.
"Ugh..." Jiang Shiyuan dodged his attacks, hurriedly searching for a breath of air, "Huo Lan!"
Jiang Shiyuan gripped his arm tightly, trying to push him away, but her strength was like that of an ant in front of him.
He ignored her, only seeking her breath and sweetness.
That hand began to slowly move down her neck, caressing her collarbone and then probing deeper to knead it.
Only when he realized that Jiang Shiyuan was no longer resisting did the sinister look in Huo Lan's eyes gradually fade.
He wiped the drool from her mouth that had spilled from her struggles and straightened the collar of her dress. Then, without saying another word, he quietly pulled her into his arms.
The car drove away from the bustling alley. The hometown, which he had not returned to for a long time, no longer had the familiar atmosphere, but some street scenes that carried the memories of the city still stood, piecing together Jiang Shiyuan's fragmented memories.
Where are you taking me?
“Let’s go to Guoya Elementary School, the place where we first met. Then we’ll go to your junior high and high school, and I’ll tell you what I’ve seen and done all these years.”
The ostentatious Bugatti and convoy of luxury cars parked at the school gate were enough to cause quite a stir.
Huo Lan helped Jiang Shiyuan out of the Rolls-Royce, half forcing and half pulling her to the grand hall of Guoya.
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Author's note: What an over-the-top novel, hahaha!
It's fine to only write stories about wealthy families, but why is it so exaggerated to have people from wealthy families interacting with ordinary people? [laughing and crying with face covered]
I want to travel to the alley to get a 10,000 yuan red envelope, and I also want to travel to Cheng Yan's body to be the female lead's best friend.
This family romance novel is getting better and better! [Thumbs up]
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