Song Ci had thought that she was wrong.
“Is it really you?” She came over. “Have you resigned? I heard from the headmaster that you took a long vacation.”
Ah Zi was terrified, immediately sitting up and staring at Chen Chen. She planned to take action as soon as Chen Chen looked somewhat confused.
Chen Chen blinked her eyes. “Miss Song, long time no see.”
“Phew.” Thankfully, she remembered what had happened at school…
“I heard that you were ill. Are you okay now?” Song Ci looked Chen Chen up and down and found that she looked well.
Chen Chen was about to say that she was not ill, when she heard Jiang Rui say coldly, “She is not sick, she just doesn’t want to teach.”
As soon as Song Ci looked up, she was stunned. “Jiang… Jiang Rui?” She covered her chest and looked more carefully in order to make sure that she saw him clearly. She had seen Jiang Rui from a distance. It really was Jiang Rui!
“Chief Jiang!” Song Ci immediately greeted him. “I didn’t expect to encounter you. What are you…?”
Jiang Rui glanced at her. “I’m eating with my wife. If you have nothing to say, please leave us alone!”
Song Ci was confounded, and she looked at Chen Chen, finding that she did not look at her with her head down. So she smiled wisely and said, “My greeting is very abrupt. Mrs. Chen, although we’re not going to work together in the future, can we have dinner together sometime?”
“Oh!” Chen Chen looked up, and upon seeing Song Ci looking at her with a smile, she felt embarra.s.sed and nodded. “OK, keep in touch.”
Song Ci left, but before leaving, she stared at Bear for a long time. Bear also smiled at her, and when he offered to send her out, she didn’t even refuse him actually.
“Ah Zi, you have eaten up all the chicken wings. Why didn’t you leave one for Bear?” Chen Chen saw Ah Zi continue to eat.
Jiang Rui frowned and asked Xiao Si to order a few more chicken wings. “Don’t worry. Help yourself.”
“Exactly. Don’t worry about him. Maybe he went to eat with the beautiful woman.” Ah Zi picked up another one.
Bear heard her words when he came back and got upset. He just clearly told Song Ci not to have a big mouth, instead of eating with her. But he couldn’t explain that in front of Chen Chen, so he got close to Ah Zi with a smile.
“How about I grill a fish for you? The fish here are very delicious!”
Ah Zi ignored him, while Tuan Zi raised an oily hand. “I want one!”
Song Ci didn’t sleep well all night. The next day, she deliberately asked for leave to find Song Meiyu.
“Meiyu, haven’t you gone to see Jiang Rui recently?”
Song Meiyu was looking at herself in the mirror and cutting her nose hair. On hearing her words, she said angrily, “Song Chunli hasn’t been coming to see me for a long time. I have no chance to go see my cousin.
“But why do you suddenly care about me?” Song Meiyu glanced at her immediately. “Do you also want to lay hands on Jiang Rui?”
“What’s wrong with you?” Song Ci’s face clouded over. “I know you like him. And even if you didn’t like him, he is not the kind of man that I like.” She continued more gently, “It’s said that his wife seemed to be seriously ill.”
Song Meiyu gave her a mean look. “You know nothing about the truth. His wife is not ill at all. I heard from my dad that when Cousin Jiang performed a task, that stupid woman went along and got accidentally shot in the head.”
“Head?” Song Ci remembered what Chen Chen had looked like last night. She could not see it.
“Yes, I heard that it had the side effects of memory loss.”
Song Ci thought that it was nonsense. Yesterday, Chen Chen clearly greeted her, but it was a good reason. She thought about it and laughed. “Isn’t this a good opportunity? How could you sit still?”
“What do you mean?”
Song Ci sat down in front of her. “If I were you, I would go to Song Chunli and inquire about what happened. Maybe his wife has even forgotten him.”
“You mean… the woman surnamed Chen doesn’t remember Jiang Rui?” Song Meiyu stood up excitedly.
“I never said that. But I mean it’s possible.” Song Ci grabbed her. “So I advise you to ask the old woman!”
Jiang Rui had been Song Meiyu’s dream all her life, so even if she could not marry him, she had to make herself his woman. Therefore, she didn’t hesitate to go to the Jiang family’s residence that night.
“Don’t mention that woman.” Song Chunli’s face clouded over after Song Meiyu finished her words.
A few months ago, Jiang Qianren had told her that Chen Chen had been wounded in the head accidentally, and then they found that she was the daughter of Boss Wan.
“A soldier actually married the daughter of a great munitions merchant. Our Jiang family does not have such a grandson.” Song Chunli said while getting angrier, “Don’t tell me that you’ll find your cousin again, because he is not my grandson anymore.”
Song Meiyu quickly poured her a cup of tea. “Great Aunt, if you leave him alone, wouldn’t it just fulfill that woman’s wishes?” She tried to persuade her while giving her a back rub to make her breath smooth. “Now we have better reasons to make my cousin divorce that woman. Furthermore, if there is really something wrong with her brain so that she has forgotten my cousin, will she…”
Song Chunli glanced at her. “Just say it.”
“Will she cheat on Cousin Jiang?” Song Meiyu saw the old woman look gloomy immediately, then hurriedly said, “Great Aunt, don’t be angry. It’s just a casual remark. Otherwise…”
“No, you’re right!” Song Chunli’s eyes lit up. “Jiang Rui won’t divorce the woman according to my instructions. But what if Chen Chen does something to embarra.s.s him?”
Song Meiyu nodded excitedly. “Yeah. In this way, Cousin Jiang will have no other way. Will he forgive a woman who has cheated on him?” But then, Song Meiyu began to worry. “But what if there is nothing wrong with her brain?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Song Chunli sneered. “My purpose is to get her away from Jiang Rui. By the way, I heard that she quit teaching and opened a store. I will find out where her store is in a few days. You can spare some time to visit Jiang Rui and see if her brain is okay.”
Song Meiyu certainly wanted to visit Jiang Rui, but she was also afraid of Jiang Rui. So she thought of Song Ci.
“Okay, I will leave school by myself this Friday. Let’s meet at Jiang Rui’s house.” Song Ci promised straightforward on the phone.
“I’ll pick you up at school. I’ll go along with you.” Song Meiyu still didn’t dare to go see Jiang Rui alone.
Song Ci knew that Song Meiyu had always been proud and especially looked down on her relatives like her, and then she laughed at her. “What are you afraid of? You are the most beautiful girl in our Song family. Doesn’t Song Chunli always say that you look like she did when she was young? If you cannot even deal with Cousin Jiang, how dare you boast that you are better than me!”
“I am afraid? No,” Song Meiyu shouted. “I’ll go there by myself. Let’s meet at Cousin Jiang’s house.”
Hanging up the phone, Song Ci laughed sarcastically. “What a fool! With such a low IQ, you can only be favored by Song Chunli, who is a self-opinionated old lady.”
Chen Chen didn’t know what these women were thinking. These days, she had been surfing the Internet at home to determine the goods with the suppliers in Yunnan. She had to discuss with them every day, and send the product pictures from the suppliers to Xin Qing, who would give advice and make some changes so that the goods could be more attractive for people in major cities.
“I didn’t expect that I would wear CK jewelry someday!” Ah Zi touched the necklace around her neck. It was not for sale; it was a gift given to her by Xin Qing.
Chen Chen said jokingly, “If you became a daughter-in-law of the Ying family, you wouldn’t have to worry about jewelry for the rest of your life.”
“No way. Ying Cheng is like a young boy, not for me!”
“He has another elder brother!” Chen Chen suddenly opened her eyes widely. “Maybe I can introduce you to Brother w.a.n.gw.a.n.g. He is very powerful and President of Ying Enterprises.”
Ah Zi thought for a while. “Is he handsome? At least, he must be as handsome as the G.o.d of War!”
“He’s the best-looking man in the Ying family!” Chen Chen said jealously. “More beautiful than me.”
“We are not really beautiful.” Ah Zi gave her a psychological blow. “We are pretty at best!”
Jiang Rui came in holding a plate of cookies. “Don’t compare yourself with Liuliu. She is more beautiful than anyone else.”
“Bah…” Ah Zi stood up. “When did you come back?”
“When you were saying that w.a.n.gw.a.n.g was the best-looking person of the Ying family.” Jiang Rui sat beside Chen Chen. “w.a.n.gw.a.n.g looks like a woman, not good-looking at all.”
Chen Chen ate the cookies with her head down. These days, Jiang Rui would come back in the afternoon and bring her snacks.
Ah Zi rolled her eyes and said, “I’m leaving!”
“You can leave after dinner.” Chen Chen pulled her. She didn’t want to be left alone with him at home. Tuan Zi went to see Hei Zi, and Chen Chen did not know when she would come back.
“I’m busy today.” Ah Zi patted her on the hand to remove it from herself. “I’ve been playing a game on the Internet lately. I’m going to fight today!”
Chen Chen curled her lips and asked, “Is it fun? I also want to play.”
Immediately, Jiang Rui looked gloomy and waited for Ah Zi’s answer. The latter quickly said, “No way. There are lots of hoodlums and frauds, and I even pretend to be a male player. You are so naive that you will definitely have a miserable end in the game.”
Chen Chen did not give up and still wanted to ask, when Ah Zi stood up and ran away. “Well, I’m leaving now. Tomorrow is the weekend, and I’ll come to eat dinner!”
“Do you really want to play that game?” Jiang Rui saw her pouting.
“Not really…” Chen Chen whispered, “I don’t like to play games. It was just a casual remark.”
Jiang Rui smiled and said, “The decoration will be done next week. You will be busy at that time.”
“Really?” Chen Chen looked up. “Didn’t you say that it could be opened on National Day?”
“That was before. At that time, I thought you wouldn’t come back with me until September. Now, the store can go into operation next month if your goods can arrive in time!”
Chen Chen nodded. “Yes, they will! I’ll tell the suppliers to deliver the goods by the end of the month.”
“That should do it. After Tuan Zi takes the entrance exam next month, let’s open the shop, OK?” He wanted to reach out and touch Chen Chen’s head, but gave up and smiled when seeing his lady look at him warily. “So, don’t think you’ll have nothing to do. This is your first business. Ying Cheng will laugh at you if you lose money!”
“I won’t!” Chen Chen clenched her fist. “I will do my best!” Suddenly, something flashed through her eyes. “How… how much does the store cost? I will pay you back.”
Jiang Rui said seriously, “Just take it as my share.”
On the weekend, Bear was considering how to follow Jiang Rui home for dinner. He hadn’t seen Ah Zi for several days.
“h.e.l.lo!”
Turning around, he saw Song Ci waving at him with a smile.
“Why are you here?” Frowning, Bear looked around. “Are you looking for someone in the army?”
“Yeah! I came to visit my cla.s.smate, but he is performing a task elsewhere.” Song Ci pointed to the guard who had just left. “You soldiers are highly disciplined. That young soldier kept following me until I came out.”
Seeing that he opened the car door, Song Ci hurriedly asked, “Can you drive me to Chief Jiang’s house? I have an appointment with my cousin to see her there.”
“Chief Jiang’s house?” Bear was pleased to hear that. What a coincidence…