Chapter 72 You can still leave now...
Chapter 72
Jin Ran was woken up by hunger.
When she opened her eyes, dusk had already filled the entire room. She fumbled to turn on her phone screen, which showed 7:30. No wonder she had been dreaming about the aroma of Chef Wang's cooking.
The room was unusually quiet, with only the sound of the sea breeze rattling the curtains against the glass. She turned to look at the other side of the bed, where Jiang Mingxu was still in the same sleeping position, without even turning over, his brows slightly furrowed, as if there was some knot that couldn't be untied.
Jin Ran originally wanted to wake him up, but seeing this, she changed her mind.
She got up quietly, first closing the window that was rattling loudly in the sea breeze, then tiptoed into the bathroom, changed her clothes, and left alone.
Hearing the commotion next door, Jiang Xuli immediately came out and glanced behind her: "Where's my dad?"
Jin Ran closed the door and whispered, "He's still sleeping. I thought he was too tired, so I didn't wake him. We'll just bring him some food later."
Jiang Xuli had no objection.
He could also tell that his father looked very tired.
The two walked out of the hotel one after the other.
The town closest to Pingcun is called Xihai Town, named so because it is located on the west side of the sea.
The nights in small towns may not be as brightly lit as those in big cities, but they have their own unique liveliness. Light bulbs are strung along the streets, and wooden tables and chairs are set up. Groups of people sit there, eating skewers and drinking, and discussing family and national affairs. When the atmosphere is right, their voices can be heard loudly for several streets.
It was late at night, and it was really not good to eat greasy food, so Jin Ran and Jiang Xuli went into a noodle shop.
Jiang Xuli ordered two bowls of ramen and ate them while the electric fan was blowing, and she was sweating profusely. She was probably really hungry. After finishing the ramen, she still felt unsatisfied, so she ordered a bowl of fried rice.
Jin Ran regretted drinking the noodle soup. In just a short while, her back was damp, and she felt suffocated, as if her breath was trapped inside a suffocating atmosphere. Seeing that Jiang Xuli wouldn't finish eating anytime soon, she put down her chopsticks and went outside for some fresh air, reminding him to pack a plate of fried rice before leaving.
Soup noodles are difficult to carry because of the broth, and they tend to clump together over time. Fried rice, on the other hand, is much more convenient.
Jiang Xuli nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "Don't go too far, or you won't be able to find it later."
"I know, you're even more long-winded than your dad."
Jiang Xuli: "..."
It turned into a pufferfish.
After teasing the angry high school student, Jin Ran left the noodle shop. The outdoor air was cooler than the indoor air after the rain, and a gust of cold wind made her feel refreshed.
She had no destination in mind, so she wandered around the neighborhood. The streets were lined with people enjoying the cool evening air and bustling night market stalls, so there was no need to worry about safety. Occasionally, someone would greet her, and Jin Ran would smile and wave back. In this summer night, strangers exchanged simple warmth.
Wang Cuihua came out of the pharmacy carrying her things.
That bitch Lin He is infuriating. Last time, we agreed to cooperate to blackmail Jiang Mingxu, but when she arrived, the other party suddenly changed her mind. Not only did she deny what she had said, but she also made outrageous demands, asking her for 20,000 yuan as hush money.
Wang Cuihua was naturally unwilling.
Lin He then clamored to expose the whole truth to Jiang Mingxu, claiming that the two sides had colluded in the past. Wang Cuihua panicked upon hearing this and followed suit with her unrestrained words, cursing that if she hadn't run away because she was greedy for money, Jiang Mingxu wouldn't have suppressed them.
Putting aside other things, don't think she doesn't know that Jiang Haikuo's seafood processing plant was set up with the help of Jiang Mingsu. Other villagers in Pingcun can work there, but their family is the only one who can't.
Thinking this way, Wang Cuihua subconsciously overlooked the fact that her family considered themselves to be of high status and were unwilling to work for others.
Like dogs fighting, they knew each other inside and out, and every word they uttered hit home. Without a doubt, the two women ended up fighting.
Wang Cuihua was a skilled fighter in her youth, but as she got older, she lost her strength and was caught off guard when Lin He ripped out a large patch of her hair.
So, I had no choice but to go to the pharmacy to buy ointment, feeling utterly miserable.
But she never expected to meet Jin Ran, who had "left long ago".
Thinking about Lin He's situation, Wang Cuihua's eyes darted around, and suddenly an idea came to her.
...
At the hotel entrance, Jin Ran looked at Wang Cuihua, who had appeared before her, with a slight thought, but she didn't show it on her face: "Aunt? What brings you to town?"
Wang Cuihua smiled and said, "I came to town to buy some things. Didn't you say you were leaving? Why are you still here?"
"The flight was canceled and rescheduled for tomorrow." Jin Ran smiled. "If I had known you were coming to town, I should have let you ride with us."
Wang Cuihua shuddered involuntarily, then cautiously inquired, "Mingxu is here too?"
"He's here," Jin Ran said apologetically, "but he's too tired and has already rested, so he probably can't see you today."
"It's alright, it's alright."
Wang Cuihua waved her hands repeatedly.
It's better that Jiang Mingxu isn't here; if he were, some things would be harder to do.
Thinking this, she deliberately put on a troubled expression and hesitated before saying, "There's something I don't know whether I should tell you, my niece-in-law."
If it were someone else, they might actually be fooled by her act.
Unfortunately, Jin Ran had been on guard from the beginning, and seeing Wang Cuihua's appearance now, she had a premonition that "it's true." She raised an eyebrow and said softly, "If you shouldn't say it, then don't say it."
Wang Cuihua choked. She had intended to put the other woman in her place, but instead, she was outmaneuvered: "...Actually, I came to town today to see Xu Li's mother."
Upon hearing this, Jin Ran looked up in surprise.
Jiang Xuli's biological mother, and Jiang Mingxu's ex-wife whom I've never heard of?
She was indeed curious, and even sensed from the attitudes of the Jiang father and son that something must have happened to lead to the current situation.
However, she still did not speak up.
Curiosity is human nature, but it's inappropriate to pry. Not to mention that she and Jiang Mingxu are still in an ambiguous stage, even close couples need to give each other space for the past if they want the relationship to last.
Fearing Jin Ran might say something shocking again, Wang Cuihua simply started talking to herself: "These past few years, Xu Li's mother has had a very hard time. In the end, it's all because our Jiang family owes her. A perfectly good young woman, not only was she beaten and divorced by her husband, but she also ended up with nothing. Now she can only make a living by selling fried dough sticks and soy milk at a stall."
She stole a glance at Jin Ran's reaction and saw her frown. She was secretly pleased: "Last time I saw my niece-in-law, I was wondering, how did such a pretty girl like you end up with Ming Su?"
"What's the meaning?"
"Hey! Mingxu is my nephew, but he's no good. You don't know, he's been a troublemaker since he was little. He hangs out with street thugs all the time, and fighting is a regular occurrence for him. He almost killed someone. Do you remember the arson case more than ten years ago? Mingxu was arrested and detained by the police for several days back then!"
“No matter how bad he is, he’s still a child of the Jiang family. We can’t just ignore him. His uncle and I originally thought he would be more restrained after he got married, so we found him a wife. Who knew he would even beat his own wife? Lin He was the one he beat away…”
Wang Cuihua became more and more excited as she spoke, describing Jiang Mingxu as an utterly wicked scoundrel.
She acted out of good intentions, choosing to sacrifice her own family for the greater good, standing on the moral high ground.
Jin Ran unconsciously clenched her fists.
At that moment, she thought to herself—so these are Jiang Mingxu's relatives.
They slander him, defame him, and wish they could keep everyone away from his "family."
Jin Ran prided herself on having a good temper and rarely getting angry with others, but now, she felt as if a small beast was imprisoned in her chest, rampaging wildly and causing a raging fire to burn in her internal organs.
All the doubts I had before were answered.
No wonder no relatives from my hometown ever come to visit, no wonder the servants at the villa are so secretive about that ex-wife—an uncle arranging a marriage for his nephew? How? What's the proper way to do it?
Although she was unaware of many inside stories, she trusted Jiang Mingxu's character.
He's not the kind of man who hits women.
Taking a deep breath, Jin Ran barely managed to suppress her turbulent emotions. While Wang Cuihua wasn't looking, she quietly pressed the record button on her phone.
A look of surprise and anger crossed his face: "You're talking nonsense, Mingxu isn't that kind of person!"
Wang Cuihua: "Oh dear, I'm not making this up. Ming Su is rich and powerful now, and he's ruthless in dealing with people. He even locked up his own uncle!"
There was such a side story.
Jin Ran sneered inwardly, continuing to guide her to utter more "slanders." Once she confirmed that the evidence was sufficient, she couldn't be bothered to look at the other person's face any longer and said stiffly, "I have something to do, I'll be leaving now."
On the other side, Wang Cuihua didn't react in time before Jin Ran turned and left. She could only shout after her back, "You'd better think carefully about what I said today. It was all for your own good!"
Ahead, Jin Ran walked faster and faster, until finally she started running.
The wind blew against her face, cutting her skin like a knife. She felt as if an invisible ribbon was tightly choking her, almost suffocating her.
It's for your own good.
What a convenient excuse for not caring about your own well-being.
Perhaps all those things that were inflicted on Jiang Mingxu were done under the guise of "for your own good."
Jin Ran found it absurd.
She thought of her parents from her past life, and the excuses they made for her own good during their arguments.
I opened the factory so that she could have a better life.
The purpose of blindly investing was to get her into a good school.
So even though the investment failed and the factory went bankrupt, my determination not to divorce her was because it was for her own good.
Do they really think that family ties can cover up all malice?
No, it won't.
At least not with Jin Ran.
Her throat became dry and sore from the exercise. She didn't know how far she had run before she finally stopped and gradually calmed down.
Why let others cause you internal conflict? You can't control what others do; just stick to your own principles.
At this moment, Jin Ran remembered Jiang Xuli, who was still at the noodle shop, so she prepared to return the way she came. But as she turned around, she suddenly saw Jiang Mingxu standing under a tree smoking.
A scarlet dot flickered in the night, illuminating the man's sharply defined profile.
Jin Ran subconsciously gripped the recording pen in her hand, and the bitterness she had just suppressed surged up again.
I don't know if it's for him or for myself.
Or perhaps both.
A few seconds later, she lifted her foot and walked towards him.
Jiang Mingxu stared at her intently, without blinking.
He didn't move an inch from beginning to end, leaning against the tree trunk with cigarette smoke curling between his fingers. His posture was casual and unrestrained, completely different from his usual formal appearance in a suit and tie, yet it seemed as if this was his most authentic self.
Jin Ran wanted to get a little closer, but the pungent smell of smoke made her stop in her tracks.
"When did you wake up? Do you want dinner? I asked Xiao Li to pack some fried rice for you, or you can have something else if you want." She spoke to him as usual.
Jiang Mingxu interrupted her, his voice hoarse from smoking: "You heard everything just now."
Jin Ran paused, then asked, "What?"
He chuckled, his tone tinged with self-mockery: "You heard what my aunt said, didn't you?"
“I don’t believe what she said,” Jin Ran shook her head, her tone serious.
Is it disbelief or indifference?
Jiang Mingxu was very smart, even cunning. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to get into university in just two years, complete four years of university courses in two years, and then have a lot of free time to start his own business.
However, even a simple question made him feel exhausted.
He didn't want to think about it, so he flicked the cigarette between his fingers, the ember falling to the ground and turning to ashes: "She's right, I'm not a good person, so..."
He turned to look at her, his gaze deep and unfathomable: "You can still leave now."
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