Secret Past (2)
Three months before Yan Ming's death, at Yan's house.
Early in the morning, Jiang Shuiying was standing in the kitchen in her pajamas, supervising the servants as they cooked porridge, urging them from time to time.
"Hurry up, Yan Ming is about to wake up."
"Don't put chopped green onions, he doesn't like it."
"Also, tomorrow is the maintenance day for his clothes. You two will go with me later to take inventory of the clothes to be delivered..."
The servants gathered around her and answered respectfully:
"Yes, ma'am."
In the past few years of marriage, Jiang Shuiying has already figured out Yan Ming's preferences and knows exactly what he likes to eat and wear.
Before the servant took the porridge away, Jiang Shuiying checked it and confirmed it again and again before entering the restaurant. Jiang Shuiying was at home every day and had a good relationship with the servants. Some of the bolder ones would joke with her from time to time.
"Madam and Master are truly in love."
Jiang Shuiying laughed happily when she heard that. She covered her mouth with her hands, and her eyes curved into crescents, hiding her expression.
"Of course, my husband loves me, and of course I love him too."
Yan Ming, who had just entered the restaurant, overheard this, but his hungover brain was in a state of chaos, and he didn't react. He didn't even pay attention to Jiang Shuiying's words while she was holding his arm, and only hummed twice as a response.
Jiang Shuiying didn't get angry either, and sat down beside Yan Ming obediently, and the two began to have breakfast. Jiang Shuiying was very considerate, and even knew what Yan Ming was reaching for, and helped him get it first.
"Honey, this is your favorite fish porridge. I asked Auntie to make it for you. Come and try it."
"...Um."
Although Yan Ming seldom eats at home, Jiang Shuiying will always accompany him whenever he is at home, and Yan Ming has gotten used to it.
The two were eating when suddenly there was a noise in the reception room.
The butler hurriedly pulled the man in front of him, looking nervous.
"Second Young Master, Madam and Master are having dinner. Can you please come in later?! Second Young Master?!"
Yan Ying's face flashed with ferocity. He grabbed his clothes and shouted, "This is my brother's house. I can come whenever I want!"
"You're just a servant, why do you care about me?!"
Yan Ying pushed open the door of the restaurant, and the gold-foiled door hit the wall with a loud noise, which scared Jiang Shuiying so much that she trembled, and the servants immediately lowered their heads.
But Yan Ming drank his porridge slowly, as if he didn't hear Yan Ying's voice.
"Brother! Why don't you let me into the company?"
"I want to do something too. Why don't you let me get involved in the company's business?!"
Yan Ying was furious and pointed at Jiang Shuiying and yelled:
"Is it you? Are you the one who sowed discord?! Why on earth did you bewitch my brother..."
"Bang!"
Yan Ming threw the bowl in his hand onto the table, and the sound of the bowl and chopsticks breaking directly interrupted Yan Ying's roar.
"Have some respect for me! She's your sister-in-law! What's all the fuss about?!"
After saying this, he turned to Jiang Shuiying and slowed down his voice:
"You go up first and come down later."
Jiang Shuiying bit her lip and nodded, her panicked eyes like a fawn. When her figure disappeared around the corner of the stairs, Yan Ming's face returned to its previous irritability.
"Your sister-in-law is right. How long have you been doing nothing? I don't feel comfortable leaving the company's business to you."
"At most I can give you a title, but if you want something practical, it's impossible. Either start from the bottom or get out."
Yan Ming stood up and walked to Yan Ying's side, his voice low:
"Things are no longer like before, Yan Ying."
"If you want to be the second young master for life, you'd better be more attentive to Director Guo. Without him, those things will be exposed sooner or later."
"This is the only thing you can do. As for the rest, don't even think about it."
After Yan Ming finished speaking, he turned and went into the bathroom, tidied himself in front of the mirror, and took out his cell phone to ask his secretary how his new singer was doing.
As for Yan Ying and Jiang Shuiying, he was too lazy to care about them.
Yan Ying has been lazy for many years and has no achievements, let alone Jiang Shuiying.
What could go wrong with a gentle, generous, and considerate wife?
Yan Ying stood in the messy restaurant, glaring fiercely at the place upstairs where Jiang Shuiying disappeared.
This damn woman actually dared to cut off my source of income!
Jiang Shuiying stood in the dark of the stairs. Seeing that the two brothers had parted ways unhappily, she felt in a good mood and turned to go into the cloakroom.
She changed into a black dress and got into the nanny car and went out shortly after Yan Ming left.
When Jiang Shuiying stepped out of the car again in her black mid-heel shoes, the nanny car had already arrived in the suburbs and stopped in front of a building called Sunshine Orphanage. She greeted the staff with ease and walked in alone with bags in her hands.
In the orphanage, Jiang Shuiying looked at the children as usual, then went into the women's restroom on the first floor with a normal expression.
In the innermost cubicle of the women's restroom, below the water pump, there was a small piece of tile that was a little loose. Jiang Shuiying reached out and gently pinched the edge and gently bent it outwards, revealing a secret compartment.
There was a piece of paper in the secret compartment, and a small bottle with only one pill in it. She unfolded the paper and saw the words:
"Only by identifying the source of the allergy can we prescribe the right medicine and achieve a cure."
Jiang Shuiying tore the paper into small pieces and flushed them down the drain. She then put the small bottle back into her bag, took out new pieces of paper and put them back into the secret compartment. After doing all this, she returned to Yan's house.
In the evening, Yan Ming unexpectedly did not go out for social events, but sat at the dining table and had dinner with Jiang Shuiying.
Jiang Shuiying sent the servants away, and only she and Yan Ming were left in the huge restaurant.
Yan Ming doesn't like Western food. Usually, the dishes in Yan's house are mainly Chinese food, which is known to everyone.
But on the table that day, there was a salad, a steak, and a glass of orange juice in front of Yan Ming.
Yan Ming frowned, his tone displeased.
"I finally come back once, and this is what I eat?"
Jiang Shuiying knew Yan Ming didn't like it, so she hugged his arm and acted coquettishly: "Oh, it's because you finally had dinner at home tonight that I asked the chef to make this. The beef was airlifted in this afternoon, and so was the salad. Why don't you try it..."
"Just eat with me once."
Jiang Shuiying raised her voice and looked sincere. Yan Ming struggled for a while, but finally picked up a piece of beef and put it in his mouth.
The steak was only three-quarters rare, with blood-red liquid oozing from the pink meat. Yan Ming really couldn't get used to it, but finally, under Jiang Shuiying's gaze, he forced himself to swallow the beef with a sip of orange juice.
"How about it?"
Yan Ming didn't answer, but just took another sip of orange juice to dilute the bloody taste in his mouth.
"Try the salad again?"
The salad was served on a white porcelain plate, with kale, carrots, arugula, etc. mixed together and drizzled with olive oil. Regardless of the taste, it at least looked healthy.
Yan Ming hesitated and took a bite.
The fragrance of vegetables mixed with oil exploded in his mouth, and the strange taste made Yan Ming feel like vomiting.
He had never eaten anything like it before.
Yan Ming likes Chinese food and never eats raw or cold food, let alone salad. Jiang Shuiying had been with him for so long, she had noticed this a long time ago.
Jiang Shuiying handed Yan Ming orange juice at the exact moment when he frowned.
"What's wrong? Is it not tasty?"
Jiang Shuiying also took two bites and there was nothing wrong with her expression.
"It's very fresh and delicious, don't you like it?"
Yan Ming drank the orange juice in one gulp, and the strange feeling in his mouth was slightly relieved.
"I don't like it. Don't eat this kind of thing anymore."
After saying that, Yan Ming got up and left the Yan residence. Jiang Shuiying stared at the empty glass of orange juice. She didn't return to the bedroom until she heard the sound of a car leaving outside the building.
***
One month before Yan Ming's death, Yan's family.
Yan Ming always receives a strange message recently.
"do you remember me?"
"Playing tricks."
Yan Ming deleted the text message and called his secretary to investigate the source of the text message, but the answer he got was that the other party used a virtual number, which had disappeared completely when he tracked it down.
The male secretary looked nervous. Yan Ming rubbed his brows, let him go, and changed the subject.
"I'm going to see Zhu Zhi tonight. Do you know what to do?"
"Yes, Mr. Yan, I will arrange it."
The secretary agreed and was about to go out to make arrangements, but was stopped when she turned around.
"By the way, Zhu Zhi seems to like drinking fruit and vegetable juice recently. Can you help me order a few cups and send them to the hotel?"
"Also, if Jiang Shuiying asks me what I've been doing recently, you know how to answer."
The male secretary's eyes flickered imperceptibly, and returned to normal when Yan Ming noticed it.
"Yes, I understand."
In the evening, Yan Ming was about to leave for the hotel, but was stopped by his male secretary before leaving.
"Mr. Yan, the owner of the land you looked at earlier has just agreed to demolish it. I need you to sign this agreement."
Yan Ming was thinking about where to go for dinner after meeting Zhu Zhi, and was suddenly interrupted, which made him look a little unhappy.
"So anxious?"
The male secretary lowered his head and said respectfully, "After you sign now, I will go through the procedures. If everything goes well, we can get the land next month."
"And I heard that other companies have also taken a fancy to this piece of land. If there are any delays in the process, it may fall into the hands of others. Please consider this."
The male secretary's argument was well-reasoned. Yan Ming frowned and took the agreement.
There was still some warmth left on the two pieces of paper, and the ink on them seemed to be slightly lighter than before.
"Why is the ink so pale? Is the company so broke?"
Cold sweat began to seep out of the male secretary's forehead, but his tone remained calm.
"The printer's ink cartridge is almost out. If you mind, I'll print another one."
As he spoke, the male secretary reached out to take the agreement, but Yan Ming pulled it away.
"Forget it, I'm too lazy to wait."
Yan Ming signed his name and fingerprint at the end of the agreement quickly, then handed it to the male secretary with a dark look in his eyes.
"Why are you a little irritable lately?"
"I hired you because you were steady, so why are you going backwards as you get older?"
The male secretary held the agreement in his hand, his hands shaking slightly.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Yan, I haven't been in a good state recently. I will adjust as soon as possible in the next few days, and it will definitely not affect my work!"
The two of them were in a stalemate in the silent office, and finally Yan Ming shook his head and let him go.
"Forget it, you're on your own. You know the company doesn't keep idle people."
"Don't bother me tonight if you have nothing to do."
"yes."
The male secretary stood upstairs, waiting for Yan Ming's car to leave the company, and then worked overtime for a while. At nearly ten o'clock, he was the only one left on the entire floor. He held a coffee cup in his hand and pushed open the door to the tea room.
There was no surveillance in the tea room. The male secretary closed the door, took out a piece of paper folded into a square from his pocket, and placed it in the gap between the cabinet and the wall.
The next day, Jiang Shuiying came to the company unexpectedly in the morning. She was carrying two cardboard boxes in her hands, which scared the receptionist.
"Madam, why are you here so suddenly?"
"I came to see Yan Ming. He didn't come home last night. He said he was working overtime at the company."
"Husband, Madam, Mr. Yan has gone out and hasn't come back yet..."
"Would you like to wait a moment?"
Jiang Shuiying didn't care about that and came straight to Yan Ming's office with the cardboard box, which startled the employees. She didn't calm down until she was sure that Yan Ming was really not there.
"Oh, why aren't you here?"
Jiang Shuiying looked at the receptionist who was panting, and then looked at the cardboard box in her hand.
"Then the cake I made would be wasted, wouldn't it?"
She tapped her chin with her finger, as if thinking.
"Forget it, he doesn't have the good fortune to eat it. I'll give it to you guys. Where is the tea room?"
"Madam! Wait! This kind of thing still makes me..."
Jiang Shuiying ignored the obstruction, found the tea room by herself, and kept everyone out.
"I can put it away by myself, you guys go get to work!"
After saying that, she slammed the door shut, leaned against it and let out a long breath.
She put the cake away, squatted down behind the cupboard, and touched the paper. She unfolded the paper, and the ink on it had disappeared, leaving only Yan Ming's signature and handprint at the end.
Jiang Shuiying put the paper in the inside pocket of her coat, and the stone in her heart fell to the ground at this moment.
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