Chapter 3, 003: "What you see is only what I want you to see..."
I can't figure it out.
I just can't figure it out.
Ji Yunshu intentionally punished her by locking her up for two days and one night without food or water. Jiang Ling'er lay on the couch, staring blankly at the diamond pattern on the ceiling for two days and one night.
Memories flashed through her mind like a revolving lantern. Her father often said that although she was a girl, she was more carefree and rough than many rough men. She disagreed. She was the only daughter of Old Master Jiang, the young master of the number one escort agency in the world. Naturally, she didn't have to be like ordinary daughters who rarely left their homes. She was always surrounded by noise and a group of people. When she was happy, she would scatter a bunch of gold leaves; when she was unhappy, she would lash out with a whip. There were too many novel and fun things in the world. She rarely... no, it should be said that she never would and never would have the leisure to reminisce about the past.
This is the first time.
She forced herself to remember every single detail, leaving no stone unturned, to recall everything that had happened between her and Ji Yunshu from their first meeting to their six years of marriage. A person can pretend for ten days, half a month, or even a year or two, but they can't pretend forever. She must have missed something; she must have overlooked some clue.
must.
Coincidentally, Ji Yunshu appeared just when Jiang Ling'er was becoming increasingly impatient with her father's pressure to get married. That year, she was eighteen. While most girls married at fourteen and had two chubby sons by eighteen, she was still mingling with a group of sweaty, burly men, traveling the country escorting goods and having fun, showing no signs of being a proper young lady. Old Chief Escort Jiang, though worried, never pressured her. His daughter, Jiang Leilong's daughter, the future head of the number one escort agency in the land, naturally didn't need to worry about her future. But everything changed after Jiang Ling'er's eighteenth birthday.
That year, as always, Old Escort Jiang escorted a shipment, rushing back day and night for her birthday. He was three days late, practically covered in blood. Of the fifty skilled escorts, only Old Escort Jiang returned alive. Among the dead was Jiang Ling'er's fourth uncle, Zhao Ji, the leader of the White Tiger Hall. Jiang Ling'er had never been so close to death before; she was terrified. But Old Escort Jiang wouldn't utter a word about this strange shipment; instead, he immediately started arranging a marriage for her.
How could Jiang Ling'er tolerate this? There was absolutely no way she would hastily marry someone, let alone cook and raise a big, fat son for some unknown scoundrel!
At the height of her arguments with Old Escort Jiang, they could go for half a year without saying a word. She thought the stalemate would continue indefinitely, but a turning point came with a bowl of steaming hot wontons.
She was willing to ignore her father for more than half a year, not seeing him or listening to a single nagging word, but Old Escort Jiang was not.
Since that escort mission where almost the entire force was wiped out, Old Chief Escort Jiang rarely went out. The rare time he did go out was when he exhausted his horse just to bring her a bowl of famous wontons from a neighboring town before dawn. It was her favorite food when she was a child, but she had long forgotten about it after eating so many delicacies. Unexpectedly, Old Chief Escort still remembered.
However, it was still lumpy when it was served to her. She didn't like it, but she didn't dare to offend her father. Besides, who in the world would dare not give Old Master Jiang some face? So she took small sips and nibbled at it.
She was happy, but the old镖头 (bodyguard/escort) shed tears of heroism.
At first, they chatted and laughed as they reminisced about his deceased wife and Jiang Ling'er's mother who had died young. But later, as they became emotional, large tears inexplicably fell into the soup, and he said in a hoarse voice:
"My dear, what will you do after your father dies? Who will take care of you?"
Jiang Ling'er buried her face in the soup bowl, not daring to look. After the old镖头 left, she slapped herself, cried, and ate all the wontons without leaving a single drop of soup.
From then on, she obediently followed the old镖头 (bodyguard) Jiang's advice and began seemingly endless blind dates with talented young men from all over the world. It was during this time that Ji Yunshu appeared.
Inside the "Number One Escort Mission," she had just dealt with a young man who was bald but claimed to be the best in the Western Regions when she brushed past Ji Yunshu. That glance was truly breathtaking.
After seeing so many ugly people in the past three months, seeing Ji Yunshu was like seeing a celestial being. Of course, he really was very handsome. So handsome that eighteen-year-old Jiang Ling'er thought she had met a fairy who had stepped out of a painting. However, this fairy was really poor, and his blue robe was faded from washing.
She easily found out the man's name and where he lived. Even though Jiang Ling'er knew that there was no shortage of poor people in the world, she was still shocked by Ji Yunshu's background. He was very poor. He had appeared at the World's Number One Escort Agency that day to find a job doing hard labor. He and his mother, a widow and orphan, lived in a cave dwelling outside Jinling City, if that could be called a home.
She didn't spend much time; she made her decision in the time it takes to burn half an incense stick. Since she was going to marry, she would marry the most handsome man!
She didn't manage to catch Ji Yunshu at the "Number One Escort Agency" again, because he was dismissed that very day for being too weak to even kill a chicken. Jiang Ling'er thought, "Good riddance! How can we let such a beauty do such menial work? It would be too much of a spoilsport."
So she went to his house to wait for him.
It's certainly shameful for a young woman to spend her days like a playboy, waiting for men, but that's for the sake of her future. So what if she's shameful! It's shameful if she can't win him over!
Within three days, the entire city of Jinling knew that the young master of the world's number one镖师 (bodyguard/escort) who was eager to get married had taken a fancy to the pretty boy living in the cave dwelling, but the pretty boy himself was completely unaware of it.
Jiang Ling'er was initially embarrassed and reserved, but perhaps due to the encouragement of others, and also because of her innate competitive nature, she had always been able to get whatever she wanted or didn't want since birth, without exception, unless he was really an immortal. He was neither an immortal nor an immortal, but just a person who lived in a cave and could fill his stomach with only one steamed bun a day. She couldn't think of any reason why he would refuse her.
He can play dumb, but she doesn't have time to play dumb with him.
She started using any means necessary, but actually... she wasn't really that ruthless. She came up with things openly and honestly because dealing with poor people was too easy; all she needed was money.
And she has no shortage of money.
On her first day, she bribed all the shops, big and small, in Jinling City, so that no one was allowed to hire her. They didn't even deserve to.
The next day, she sent a bag full of gold leaves to Ji Yunshu's mother. Sure enough, the mother of a beauty is also a beauty. Everyone loves beauty, and perhaps it was love for the house that extended to the house that led to the gift. Jiang Ling'er gave her another bag of gold leaves.
Sure enough, within three days, he was able to speak with Ji Yunshu.
The young man, seemingly unable to bear it any longer, called her aside. His incomparably handsome face was expressionless, and every word he uttered exuded a chilling aura:
Are you humiliating me?
Jiang Ling'er protested, "I didn't! I meant it..."
The young man interrupted her calmly:
"See you at midnight."
After saying that, he threw the two bags of gold leaves at her feet and went back into the cave.
Jiang Ling'er stared at the two bags of gold leaves on the ground for a long time before finally picking them up and putting them in her bosom. That night at midnight, she indeed saw Ji Yunshu, but not only Ji Yunshu, but also a portly man.
They started arguing and then got into a fight. Ji Yunshu was knocked to the ground in no time, so fast that Jiang Ling'er didn't even have time to help. Then, the man hooked Ji Yunshu's chin with his fingertips and caressed it intimately. Jiang Ling'er immediately flew into a rage and lashed out with her whip!
One lash wasn't enough. She beat this fat, rotten man with the ferocity of someone beating a master with a flurry of punches. In fact, since she started learning martial arts, she rarely fought like this, like a childish brawl. It was neither pretty nor proper, and it was full of flaws from head to toe. If Uncle He Yong saw this, he would definitely punish her. Luckily, she encountered this good-for-nothing, otherwise she would have been the one beaten to the ground.
While she was beating the fat pig, Ji Yunshu watched silently from the side, only stopping her when she felt it was about time.
"He's a customer after all, don't kill him, I want him to pay back the money."
Jiang Ling'er had naturally heard every word of their argument. It was difficult for her to say, but she had already found out that the widow and her son relied entirely on her mother's prostitution for survival. However, Ji Yunshu remained calm, as if discussing the weather, making Jiang Ling'er seem like she was worrying unnecessarily.
The man dropped a handful of copper coins and ran away, trembling. Ji Yunshu bent down and picked them up one by one. Jiang Ling'er frowned as she watched, finally unable to bear it any longer, and grabbed his wrist:
"You don't want my gold leaf, but you want this dirty money? Don't bother picking it up."
Her hand was immediately brushed away: "This is money my mother earned, it's not dirty at all, and not a penny less."
Jiang Ling'er felt a little embarrassed and stood up awkwardly. She felt that... she should apologize? But then she felt that she hadn't done anything wrong. She had even helped him teach the bad guys a lesson. If it weren't for her tonight, who knows what would have happened! He should be thanking her, and he should probably repay her with his body!
She certainly wouldn't say it so bluntly, and while she was inwardly grumbling, she suddenly heard Ji Yunshu say:
"What you see is only what I want you to see."
He picked up twelve copper coins, then put the rest away without a second glance, and turned to look at her.
Jiang Ling'er straightened her back, knowing that the real focus of the night was yet to come.
As expected, Ji Yunshu began to speak calmly, delivering a long speech that had clearly been carefully crafted over a long period of time, without a single pause or breath:
“Promise me three things and I will marry you. First, my mother is ill, and I need lots and lots of money. Second, I want you to do what you did tonight and make those who bullied my mother pay back all the money they owe her, not a single penny less. Finally, I want to go back to Sun and Moon Fortress. The lord of Sun and Moon Fortress is the one who bullied my mother the most, and I want him to pay back everything he owes my mother and everything he owes me.”
Jiang Ling'er showed no expression upon hearing the first two conditions, considering them trivial matters. However, she was genuinely surprised by the third. It wasn't that the conditions were difficult, but rather that she hadn't expected him to know about something she had only discovered by using all of the top镖师 (bodyguard/escort) in the world.
Ji Liangcheng, the lord of Sun and Moon Fortress, has always been a womanizer, and he is probably no better than that fat pig from earlier. He goes around incognito, leaving behind women and children, and Ji Yunshu is one of his unborn children.
Seeing that she didn't respond, the young man frowned, the first expression she had ever seen him with since she met him.
It turns out he wasn't ice and stone; he was a living, breathing person with emotions.
Is it difficult?
Jiang Ling'er only replied with two words:
"Wait."
The first two things were easy to handle; she didn't even need to get involved, just send Yuan Zao. The difficult one was the third. At the cost of being severely beaten by her father, she finally managed to get Old Master Jiang to intervene. Jiang Liangcheng had no choice but to give Old Master Jiang face, partly to establish a marriage alliance with the number one镖师 (bodyguard/escort) in the world, because they got married just one month later.
--
"I don't like owing favors, this is all I do."
Having reached adulthood, he still possessed considerable strength. Ji Yunshu grasped Jiang Ling'er's waist and slammed her onto the table. He then removed his outer robe, leaving only his undergarments, knelt on one knee, and lowered his head between Jiang Ling'er's legs…
Jiang Ling'er quickly braced herself against his shoulder, stammering and unable to speak properly:
"What...what are you doing?"
“I’ve seen how my mother does it, and I’ll make you very comfortable.” After saying that, as if remembering something, she solemnly added, “Don’t worry, I’ve never done that to anyone, nor have I ever been with anyone… What you saw that night was just an accident.”
Jiang Ling'er pursed her lips and didn't answer, subconsciously holding her breath until her face turned red before she managed to utter a sentence:
"I...I didn't think that."
The young man looked up at her, his expression indifferent, devoid of any other emotion.
"Can we continue?"
Jiang Ling'er: "..."
Seeing the young man bend down again, Jiang Ling'er bit her lower lip hard, even tasting a faint, metallic sweetness on her tongue, and her hands clenched tightly together...
Are you hungry?
Suddenly, a familiar, clear voice pierced through some kind of illusion like a knife, instantly pulling Jiang Ling'er down from the vast, boundless sea of mortal life!
Pulling back to the diamond-shaped pattern before my eyes, the pale moonlight shone through the window frame; this was reality.
She was panting as if she had survived a disaster. The newcomer glanced at her.
"Did you have a nightmare?"
Ji Yunshu carried the food into the room and saw Jiang Ling'er staring at him blankly, her chest heaving violently, her face pale, and her forehead covered with fine beads of sweat.
He frowned slightly, casually placing the food on the table—all her favorites—and fixed his deep, dark, almond-shaped eyes on her.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Are you upset that I locked you up for two days?"
Jiang Ling'er stared at him blankly, murmuring:
"What you see is only what I want you to see..."
Jiang Ling'er's voice was too soft for Ji Yunshu to hear clearly. However, her reaction at this moment was too abnormal. He had thought that she might do things other than whipping the furnishings in the room to pieces or cursing him with the most disgusted words. He had thought of all kinds of reactions she might have, but he never thought it would be like this.
Her brows furrowed even more as she strode to the bedside. Finally, she heard clearly that instead of cursing or showing the expected anger, she laughed.
"Ugh... I'm so stupid. There can't be that many coincidences."
Jiang Ling'er chuckled softly, the laughter growing louder and louder, it was unclear whether she was laughing at herself or at him. It took her a long time to stop laughing. She gazed intently at him, speaking each word carefully:
"I thought you didn't want anything... but actually you want everything, don't you?"
A note from the author:
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See you tomorrow night at 9 PM!
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