Chapter 42 He seemed a little unhappy.
Chapter 42
In fact, everyone noticed Jiang Mingxu the moment he appeared.
The reason is simple: the man's appearance is truly outstanding, with a high nose bridge, deep-set features, and a sharp, three-dimensional jawline.
He was probably around thirty years old, with a handsome and relaxed appearance. He was also exceptionally tall with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs. In the middle of summer, he wore a well-fitting white shirt with the cuffs rolled up twice, exuding a strong sex appeal.
Upon seeing the person, Jiang Xuli was so startled that she swallowed the food she had just put in her mouth whole, but accidentally choked and started coughing while bending over. Jin Ran silently handed her a glass of mineral water, then stood up from the picnic mat and walked briskly to meet her.
"How did you get here so fast?" she asked, somewhat surprised, as it had taken her two hours to climb.
Jiang Mingxu looked down at her: "Taking the cable car is faster."
Then he turned to the group of people sitting there stiffly, his gaze lingering on Jiang Xuli, who was still coughing, for a moment, and nodded politely: "Hello, my surname is Jiang, and I am Jin Ran's husband."
Everyone: ? ? ?
Sir? Is it the sir they're thinking of?
Xu Zhen was stunned, and Wang Chen was even more dumbfounded, because Jin Ran had never mentioned having a boyfriend, and she spent every weekend preparing for the teacher recruitment exam, so they had always assumed that Jin Ran was single, let alone married at a young age.
Upon hearing the man identify himself, Wang Chen dropped the bottled water he was holding and it fell to the ground.
His reaction was so intense that Jiang Mingxu turned his head to look at him, and Jin Ran introduced him with a smile: "This is Teacher Wang from our school. He's the one who helped me get the job through internal referral."
Jiang Mingxu nodded to Wang Chen, who stiffly tugged at the corners of his mouth, trying to appear normal: "Everyone, please make way for this... Mr. Jiang."
When no one was watching, Jiang Xuli quietly moved to a corner; he didn't want to sit with his father.
Jin Ran thanked everyone, and then naturally pulled Jiang Mingxu to sit next to her.
A subtle tension hung in the air, and the atmosphere was somewhat awkward. Even Xu Zhen didn't dare to speak easily, after all, Jin Ran's husband's dignified demeanor was quite different from that of the teachers who spent their days at school.
And whether it was just her imagination or not, she felt that the other person looked somewhat familiar.
Instead, Jiang Mingxu reached out and picked up the playing cards from the ground, his rolled-up sleeves revealing his bulging wrists and a silver-black mechanical watch on his wrist.
Some of the male teachers in the club noticed the watch and were slightly taken aback.
He then shook his head, thinking it was probably fake. After all, a real watch is worth eight figures and is priceless; it's not something an ordinary person could afford.
Although Jin Ran's husband is well-dressed and has an outstanding temperament, Jin Ran is just a middle school teacher, so her husband must be a small business owner.
"Teacher Jin said you were playing a game, but I don't know what you were playing?"
Jiang Mingxu took the initiative to speak.
He offered a way out, and after a brief silence, everyone followed suit: "We played Truth or Dare."
"Yes, Mr. Jin was the one who lost that last round."
Upon learning that Jin Ran was married, the usually enthusiastic Wang Chen fell silent. But now, hearing everyone's conversation, he suddenly looked up and invited, "Mr. Jiang, would you like to join us?"
As he said this, he looked straight at Jiang Mingxu, his eyes seemingly suppressing some kind of unwillingness.
But there was nothing he could do. He had no status, no reason. The couple was deeply in love, and Jin Ran had never shown him any romantic feelings. It was all just wishful thinking on his part.
Therefore, they can only express their dissatisfaction through such boring and childish behavior.
Jiang Mingxu looked back, his calm and composed demeanor making Wang Chen clench his fist involuntarily.
"Can."
The man nodded in agreement.
Xu Zhen coughed a few times and raised her hand: "Then I'll be the referee."
No one objected, and the female classmate who had been in the previous position switched places with Xu Zhen and joined the game in her place.
Once seated in the third-person perspective, Xu Zhen slowly recovered from the shock of discovering that her "girlfriend with whom she usually ate dinners was already married."
His eyes darted from one person to another, gleaming with intense light, his gossip instincts almost uncontrollable.
Unlike Wang Chen, who was still holding a grudge, Xu Zhen quickly adjusted her mindset. After all, she had only wanted to matchmake her cousin and Jin Ran at first. Now that she knew Jin Ran was married, there was no need to play matchmaker anymore.
She began to secretly observe the somewhat familiar-looking man.
The more I observed, the more I realized how absurd my initial thought was—a delicate and beautiful woman like Jin Ran deserves such a tall, handsome, and dignified man.
At this moment, the two were arm in arm, their posture intimate and harmonious, like a match made in heaven. No one knew what Jin Ran said, but Jiang Mingxu turned his head slightly, his gaze focused and ardent, the deep affection in his peach blossom eyes almost drowning one.
Ahhh!
Perfect match! Delicious food! Let's eat!
Xu Zhen screamed inwardly. Seeing the two of them standing together, she even felt that her cousin, who was originally quite handsome, had become a bit ugly. Well, extremely irritating.
Jin Ran appeared quite nervous in the crowd.
She tugged at Jiang Mingxu: "If the stone happens to fall right later, you can't pass the card to me!"
Jiang Mingxu: "Huh? Why?"
"I don't want it."
Jiang Mingxu looked at Jiang Xuli, who sat to her left: "You can give it to Xiaoli."
Hearing his father mention his name, Jiang Xuli immediately became alert: "Don't try to trick me, I don't want to."
Jin Ran, with an expression that said "the child has grown up and is no longer obedient," started to act unreasonably: "Oh, just tell me if you agree or not."
A hint of a smile flashed across Jiang Mingxu's eyes: "Alright then."
Sometimes, misunderstandings arise from this.
Through Xu Zhen's underhanded manipulation and someone's coercion and enticement, the cards ultimately ended up in Jiang Mingxu's hands.
Seeing this, Jin Ran smiled and her eyes crinkled. She immediately gave Jiang Xuli a look, intending for the young man to ask any questions he might have, but Wang Chen spoke first: "Mr. Jiang, do you like Teacher Jin?"
Upon hearing the question, everyone was taken aback for a moment, and then became somewhat dissatisfied: "Old Wang, if you don't know how to ask a question, then don't ask one."
"That's right, what a waste of an opportunity. Mr. Jiang is Ms. Jin's husband, how could he not like Ms. Jin?"
No matter what others said, Wang Chen stubbornly stared at Jiang Mingxu.
He'd heard that many wealthy people appeared respectable on the surface but actually lived a very extravagant life in private. If there were hidden secrets, did he... still have a chance?
Upon hearing this, Jiang Mingxu gave a half-smile.
Men often understand men better than women. It's an instinctive sense of territoriality that repels men of the same sex. Even though it was their first meeting, he sensed Wang Chen's thoughts.
Realizing this, the man's lips curled into a smile.
If anyone familiar with Jiang Mingxu were present, they would surely notice the rage emanating from him; his dark eyes were filled with an overwhelming sense of malevolence.
Under Wang Chen's expectant gaze, he spoke slowly and deliberately, but what he said ruthlessly shattered the young man's pitiful hopes: "Of course I love my wife. What, do you think my wife doesn't deserve to be loved?"
Wang Chen choked, realizing that admitting or denying the issue was both impossible, and stiffly replied, "That's not what I meant..."
“My wife is exceptionally intelligent. Marrying her is a blessing I earned in my past life. I think I wouldn’t divorce her if it weren’t for her wishes.”
Jin Ran blushed from the praise, and even though she knew Jiang Mingxu was just acting, she couldn't help but smile.
Wow, she's just that amazing.
Wang Chen's face turned pale: "I'm sorry, I misspoke..."
Seeing that things were not going well, Xu Zhen quickly stepped in to change the subject, thus preventing the farce from continuing.
As the sun set, the club's hiking activity came to a successful conclusion.
Jin Ran said goodbye to her friends in advance, and the family of three took the cable car down the mountain.
As the cable car slowly glides through the valley, through the glass windows, one can glimpse the verdant peaks gilded by the setting sun, and flocks of birds hovering at the bottom of the valley.
As soon as Jiang Xuli got on the cable car, he took out his phone to play games. Jin Ran and Jiang Mingxu sat side by side, their eyes gazing at the scenery outside the window. However, the space was small, and the distance between the two was inevitably close, so close that she could smell the faint tobacco scent on him.
Jin Ran knew Jiang Mingxu smoked, but she rarely saw him smoke. The tobacco smell lingering around her nose at this moment was not as strong and pungent as that of an old smoker. Instead, it had a hint of the crispness of cedar, clean and sensual.
Even so, she still keenly sensed the man's low mood. He seemed a little unhappy, his slender fingers unconsciously tapping his knees, his thin lips tightly pursed.
Why? Because of the game we just played?
Jin Ran thought about it for a while and didn't find anything wrong. Although Wang Chen's question was a bit unexpected, she felt that someone like Jiang Mingxu wouldn't get angry over a question.
Since she couldn't figure it out, she decided to stop dwelling on it and followed his gaze to the window—although climbing a mountain is a long process, the magnificent view of "all the mountains below" after reaching the summit is enough to offset all fatigue.
The blurred reflections blend with the lush mountain scenery, creating a flowing picture: "Why did I suddenly want to climb a mountain?"
At that moment, someone next to me suddenly asked.
Jin Ran came to her senses: "It wasn't exactly sudden. Wang Chen invited me. Xu Zhen wanted to come, so I went with her. Then I saw that Xiao Li was home alone, so I decided to bring him along too."
She suddenly remembered that he had said he was there for work: "By the way, will this delay affect your work?"
Jiang Mingxu: "Don't worry, the work has been discussed, all that's left is the dinner."
Since he was able to come out, he must have already made arrangements with others.
Jin Ran understood, and then asked, "Should we go back?"
After a day of hiking, even though she was full of energy, she was a little tired and just wanted to get back to the villa as soon as possible, take a hot bath with rose petals, and collapse onto her two-and-a-half-meter-long bed.
Jiang Mingxu nodded this time: "Assistant Wang is at the foot of the mountain, we'll go straight back then."
Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, Jiang Mingxu called his assistant, Wang, to bring the car over. The three of them prepared to rest on a bench by the roadside, but unexpectedly stumbled upon a farce.
"Ya Ya, I mean it!" The man's drunken voice was particularly jarring.
On another path, a man and a woman were seen pulling at each other with their backs to the mountain road. They were so engrossed in their argument that they didn't notice that there were other people around.
Jiang Mingxu suddenly stopped and subconsciously looked at Jin Ran.
The latter remained calm, but when he heard the girl repeatedly refuse but the man still persisted, he couldn't help but frown: "What kind of person is he? In public, what's the difference between this and being a hooligan? Xiao Li, you can't learn from him in the future."
Jiang Xuli: "...What made you think I would do this?"
Jin Ran blinked: "Oh, I just said it casually."
"..."
Hearing the two joking around, Jiang Mingxu's tense expression relaxed, and after a while, he suddenly laughed.
His smile was like a spring breeze melting snow, instantly dispelling the oppressive atmosphere around him. He loosened his tie, a meaningful glint in his eyes.
That was your ex-boyfriend.
He looked at her and kindly explained.
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