Chapter 57: Transforming into Ning Wanwan's Shape
The crumpled red supermarket plastic bag stood out starkly against the otherwise serious black wooden desk laden with documents and valuable ornaments.
As far as Jiang Chengran knew, the personal assistant would never make the mistake of buying supermarket goods for President Jiang.
So what exactly is inside?
Before Jiang Yuyuan could answer, Jiang Chengran curiously picked it up and saw that the bag contained opened pickled vegetables and chili sauce.
Jiang Chengran: "Brother, did Assistant Li eat this?"
Assistant Li, who was standing nearby, coughed violently.
Jiang Chengran didn't get what Assistant Li meant and was still examining the plastic bag.
"There's also an empty food bag here, and it says... Soft and sweet steamed buns. I'm dying of laughter, what brand is this?!"
"Assistant Li, didn't my brother pay you a salary? Is this what you're eating?"
Assistant Li finally stopped coughing and hinted, "...Young Master Jiang, this is not for me."
If it wasn't Assistant Li who ate it, then who else could it be? Jiang Chengran was confused for a moment, and then her incredulous gaze slowly turned to her cold, workaholic older brother.
No way!
But there seems to be no other possibility. Thinking about it, apart from Jiang Yuyuan himself, there shouldn't be anyone else who would put something like pickled vegetables on his desk.
Jiang Chengran felt as if his worldview had collapsed and was being rebuilt. He couldn't connect steamed buns and pickled vegetables with his own brother who had been in power in the Jiang family for almost ten years.
As the one being stared at, Jiang Yuyuan didn't even flinch, remaining completely calm as if he wasn't the one being talked about at all.
His expression remained completely unchanged. He turned a page of the document, his cold demeanor rivaling that of the jade statue beside him.
"Is there anything else?" Jiang Yuyuan asked casually, looking up when he saw that Jiang Chengran hadn't left yet.
Jiang Chengran hesitated for a rare moment, then squeezed out a sentence after a long pause: "Brother, if the Jiang family is in financial trouble and about to go bankrupt, you don't have to hide it from me, you must remember to tell me."
Jiang Yuyuan finally stopped looking at the documents, looked up and frowned as he sized up his not-so-bright, foolish younger brother, as if he were examining his intelligence.
Despite the chill emanating from his older brother, Jiang Chengran insisted on continuing, "Really, if the Jiang family goes bankrupt, it won't be your fault, brother."
Jiang Yuyuan: "..."
Jiang Yuyuan: "It didn't go bankrupt."
Jiang Yuyuan: "Get up and go to school right now."
You should really work on your brain.
...
"So, my brother really ate steamed buns and pickled vegetables?" Even after being kicked out of the office, Jiang Chengran still couldn't believe it.
Although he knew that his older brother didn't care much about food and only cared about his career, each meal was specially designed by a senior nutritionist. Surely he wouldn't suddenly drop to the level of eating roadside steamed buns and pickled vegetables?
Assistant Li smiled awkwardly but politely. Her boss's younger brother was too blunt and didn't understand the art of conversation at all.
"President Jiang has his reasons for doing this..."
Jiang Chengran raised an eyebrow: "What's the reason?"
Assistant Li hesitated for a moment: "..."
You can't exactly say that your boss, Mr. Jiang, has taken a liking to a girl from the same school, maybe even the same grade and class as you!
Knowing that this situation was not suitable to be disclosed, Assistant Li maintained a smile and said, "The specifics are a bit complicated, or you could ask Mr. Jiang directly, Young Master Jiang."
Jiang Chengran, who had just been kicked out of the office by her own brother, said: "...Never mind, I'm too lazy to know."
Despite his pride, Jiang Chengran listened to his older brother's advice and decided to go to school to improve his mental abilities.
As he thought about it along the way, Jiang Chengran felt a little unconvinced again.
"My brother even looked down on me. What's so despicable about that? That look of his was so disdainful! All I said was that the Jiang family went bankrupt. That was a reasonable guess!"
"Still eating steamed buns and pickled vegetables... What complicated reason could there be for eating them? They're what they are. I'd rather jump off this cliff than eat a single bite like him!"
The more Jiang Chengran thought about it, the angrier she became. When she walked into the classroom and saw the breakfast that someone had left on her desk, her impatience reached its peak.
"Who put this here?" Jiang Chengran looked around and clicked his tongue. "I'll count to three. Whoever put it here, hurry up and take it away!"
After counting to three, it was clear that no one intended to admit it.
Jiang Chengran lowered his brows, and after seeing the sticky note with a simple smiley face drawn on it, he scoffed disdainfully, picked it up and was about to throw it into the trash can at the back of the classroom.
Zhou Yanyao, who was sitting some distance away from Jiang Chengran, was carefully eating his breakfast, bite by bite.
She grinned broadly and said to Qi Lin, "Wanwan bought this for me this morning!"
Qi Lin couldn't stand it anymore; he felt that the smug and boastful expression was particularly irritating and made him want to punch him.
"It's just breakfast, look at how capable you are." Qi Lin said indifferently, glancing at the breakfast that he was almost finished eating.
It's just an ordinary thing, why get so excited?
Qi Lin ignored the inexplicable discomfort in his heart.
Zhou Yanyao just thought his good brother was annoyed by his own love-struck behavior.
He chuckled, savoring the last bite, and mumbled, "This isn't just any ordinary breakfast; this is a breakfast of great significance!"
Qi Lin: "Heh."
Zhou Yanyao finished eating and finally looked in Jiang Chengran's direction. He stroked his chin and casually chuckled as he muttered to Qi Lin, "Jiang Chengran's been incredibly popular lately. How many times has this happened?"
Qi Lin scribbled a few lines on the draft paper, wrote the answer to the question, and without even looking up, said, "I don't know."
Zhou Yanyao thought to himself, "This is different from the pile of love letters and gifts that others sent before. They actually sent breakfast, which is quite similar to what I expected..."
All those things before were lavishly packaged gifts or exquisite love letters, nothing compared to this bag of breakfast on Jiang Chengran's desk, so simple and unpretentious...
Wait, that bag looks familiar.
The breakfast combinations inside also seem quite familiar.
Zhou Yanyao stood up abruptly! He strode towards Jiang Chengran and snatched the item away just as Jiang was about to throw it away!
Jiang Chengran frowned, looking at Zhou Yanyao with surprise: "What, you couldn't have put it here yourself?"
“I didn’t put it there.” Zhou Yanyao’s expression was equally unpleasant. “But you can’t throw it away.”
Jiang Chengran crossed his arms and glanced at him, seemingly having figured something out. He sneered, "What, you know the person who put this thing on my desk?"
Zhou Yanyao's lips were almost pressed into a straight line, and he, who always had a smile on his face, showed no smile at this moment.
The atmosphere froze for a moment, and everyone in the class, whether openly or subtly, looked over to observe the sudden conflict.
Qi Lin frowned. He knew Zhou Yanyao seemed innocent, but he wasn't impulsive. Why would he suddenly confront Jiang Chengran directly?
Meanwhile, Zhou Yanyao was still staring at Jiang Chengran defiantly, clutching tightly the breakfast that Jiang Chengran was about to throw away.
Jiang Chengran looked at his tense expression, then at the bag of breakfast that she had discarded like trash.
This seems interesting.
"Fine, take it if you want." Jiang Chengran chuckled and let go of Zhou Yanyao's hand, too lazy to argue about this matter.
Anyway, it's something I don't want.
Jiang Chengran went straight back to his seat and sat down.
Zhou Yanyao, his face ashen, took the breakfast bag and returned to his seat.
With the conflict resolved, the atmosphere in the classroom finally relaxed. Some people whispered among themselves, and it was easy to guess that they were discussing why Zhou Yanyao and Jiang Chengran had clashed.
Jiang Chengran is a member of the Jiang family. He has a bad temper that makes people avoid him, but he comes from an outstanding family. Zhou Yanyao is very popular and capable, and is very popular at school.
They're all very eye-catching people. It's impossible not to talk about them.
"Brother Zhou, why did you go up against Jiang Chengran? He's not someone to mess with. I was worried you two would fight." A boy asked Zhou Yanyao in a low voice, despite the pressure.
Zhou Yanyao: "Don't worry, what I want is what he's going to throw away. There's a high chance we won't fight. Do I look like someone who would cause trouble?"
Boy: "There's a high probability they won't fight, but isn't there still a small chance? Zhou, do you really know the person who delivers breakfast?"
Zhou Yanyao remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.
The boy, confused, continued, "You know Jiang Chengran's temper. Even if someone likes Jiang Chengran, it's normal to be rejected. Why are you bothering Jiang over something so trivial..."
The other person suddenly stopped mid-sentence, "Zhou, Brother Zhou, you look terrible!"
The boy dared not continue speaking.
Zhou Yanyao sat down, placed the still-warm breakfast on the table, stared at the smiley face sticky note on it for a few seconds, then opened the bag and took out the breakfast. As he did so, he became increasingly listless.
Qi Lin watched his changes throughout, and finally asked calmly, "What's wrong with you? Have you lost your mind?"
Zhou Yanyao said dejectedly, "Stop talking, Lao Qi, let me have some peace and quiet."
Qi Lin raised an eyebrow. Since his friend didn't want to talk about it, he would ignore it for now and continue working on his problems.
Qi Lin remained silent, but Zhou Yanyao, after pondering for a while, couldn't help himself and started muttering to Qi Lin.
"Old Qi, I'm heartbroken."
"I never expected that this breakfast wasn't just for me, but for other people as well."
"And they even brought it to their table and put it there themselves! They even had an extra sticky note compared to mine!"
"Why? I was here first..."
Qi Lin paused, the pen in his hand about to write down the answer, finally unable to bear listening to this aggrieved and resentful speech any longer.
He looked up at Zhou Yanyao, paused for a few seconds, and said, "Look at yourself now, you're not much different from a resentful woman."
Zhou Yanyao listened to his good brother's venomous and hurtful words without caring, and continued to wail miserably.
But at least she still had some sense and knew to keep her voice low: "I'll accept being a complaining woman! But how is he any better than me! How could Wanwan possibly stand his awful temper..."
Qi Lin paused, then finally asked the question that had been weighing on his mind: "You mean, that breakfast was sent to him by you... that 'love at first sight' guy?"
Qi Lin originally intended to say "your," but he inadvertently blurred the word.
"It's probably too complicated to describe it like this," Qi Lin thought.
Zhou Yanyao's face showed a mixture of reluctance and a desire to deny, yet also an unwillingness to admit it: "Yes. I really don't understand why Wanwan would give it to him..."
Qi Lin automatically ignored the nonsense he uttered afterward.
"How did you determine that? There's no name written on it, is there? Aren't all breakfast items pretty much the same?" he asked, frowning slightly.
Zhou Yanyao didn't notice the purpose of Qi Lin's probing question, simply dismissing it as his good friend being overly cautious. He said with absolute certainty, "Of course I can be sure!"
"Look at this bag, the knot is exactly the same as the one Wanwan gave me! You know, the shop owner there never ties knots in their bags!"
"Look at the kinds of breakfast items in this bag, they're exactly the same! Even the milk is the same!"
"And this sticky note, with the smiley face drawn on it." Zhou Yanyao held the thin sticky note, confidently stating, "It's obviously drawn by Wanwan!"
Qi Lin picked up the sticky note and looked at it; no matter how he looked at it, he could only see that it was a simple smiley face.
Qi Lin: "...How can you be so sure that even handwriting can't be identified from a smiley face that can be drawn in three strokes?"
“What do you know?” Zhou Yanyao scoffed, his face serious. “Although I’ve never seen Wanwan’s handwriting, look at this smiley face. Even though it’s drawn in the middle, it’s small, very upright, and a little reserved. The curve isn’t very big either.”
"Looking closer, you can even see the slightly trembling finishing stroke."
"This was definitely drawn by Wanwan!"
Qi Lin: "..."
Then, following Zhou Yanyao's advice, I looked at the sticky notes in my hand, and sure enough, I gleaned quite a bit from them.
The style of drawing this little smiley face... Qi Lin actually managed to match the timid girl who had kept her head down the time they met before.
However, even with a special effort, Qi Lin could only barely make out the slight trembling in the strokes.
Zhou Yanyao must have been clinging to the top of the mountain to have been able to see that far in advance!
To discover these details, one must have a profound understanding of the personality of the person they "fell in love with at first sight."
"See? My analysis was correct." Seeing that Qi Lin did not refute, Zhou Yanyao's grief had not disappeared, but he even felt a strange sense of pride.
Qi Lin snapped out of his daze and looked at Zhou Yanyao with a complicated expression.
"Yes, that's right. Your observations are very sharp, and your analysis seems quite logical and organized, but..."
But haven't you noticed that you're almost turning into Ning Wanwan's shape?
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Author's Note: Wanwan isn't in this chapter, but her traces are everywhere.
Hehehehe
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 14:00:12 on January 11, 2024 and 10:27:03 on January 12, 2024!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: MUCHA (10 bottles); and Shiju (not tangerine) (2 bottles).
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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