Chapter Thirty-Six: Never Covet Your Friend’s Wife
If he did not know Yan Jin’s character, Chu Ge would have really thought that the chairman was joking.
How could Fan Xiaoge suddenly become Yan Jin’s fiancée after breaking up with him for less than a week? Moreover, even though he did not date Fan Xiaoge for too long, she was one of the women that he had got along with best. If all of that was just a scheme, then did it meant that she had plotted everything half a year beforehand? Wasn’t that a little too scary?
And most importantly, the Nan family’s daughter – that tyrannical princess Nan Chan whom everyone doted on, who shocked the entire social circle by declaring that she would only marry Yan Jin in her entire lifetime – would that Nan Chan agree to such a thing?
Secondly, regarding Fan Xiaoge and the Fan family, no matter which angle you took to evaluate the situation, those two elements were incomparable to Nan Chan. Why would the Yan family end up with such a stupid decision?
Chu Ge expressed his suspicions to Yan Jin.
Unfortunately, Yan Jin could not directly answer those questions.
It was not that Yan Jin did not know the answers. Ironically, even if he did not want to admit it, deep in his heart, Yan Jin knew exactly what the reasons were.
However, now was not the time to tell Chu Ge yet – perhaps that day would never come, even in the future.
Some things were suffocating enough for a person to deal with alone, so why would he drag a concerning friend into the picture?
The real sadness would not decrease if it were shared with another person. In fact, there would be double the sadness.
Yan Jin rarely deceived anyone, which was why it was hard to uncover his lies.
“This marriage was just a pretense. You know my situation well – the Yan family is merely looking for an excuse, so it’s best to find someone that they can control. Compared to Nan Chan, Fan Xiaoge is obviously a better choice.”
Xiao Yu nibbled on Yan Jin’s cuff as he perked his ears and listened to the conversation.
As he continued listening, he noticed something strange.
Why would they need an excuse? With Yan Jin’s condition, there was absolutely no need for a commercial marriage; wasn’t that the case? He initially thought the reason Yan Jin was single was because he simply did not want to get married. But as Xiao Yu listened on, it seemed like there was something too embarra.s.sing to mention, which was why Yan Jin could not get married?
Something that was too embarra.s.sing for a man, that made him unable to get married…
Xiao Yu’s cheeks instantly flushed red.
C-could it be, impotency?
That suspicion was like a bomb, instantly exploding within Xiao Yu’s mind. Xiao Yu was momentarily overwhelmed by the fireworks that filled his head.
Some things were just unexpected. The more he thought, the more convincing it became.
Why did Yan Jin like to keep his hands clean? Why did Yan Jin not have any scandals? Why was Yan Jin infatuated with keeping small pets? How did anyone not succeed at confessing to Yan Jin? Why would Yan Jin rarely attend any parties? Why did Yan Jin have such few best friends around him?
Because he had a Earth-shaking! Big! Secret!
Xiao Yu raised his head. Due to his body size, he could only see Yan Jin’s chin.
But that did not stop the overflowing pity and sympathy that was boiling in his heart.
Look at this man born with a golden spoon; he had the looks that would be an instant hit in the entertainment industry, and yet he insisted on wasting that once-every-millennium gifted talent on the business industry; attaining his dual master’s degree from an overseas renown university at a young age; just when everyone was at the start of their lives, this man was already at the finis.h.i.+ng line that everyone dreamed of.
But, life is fair. After giving that person so much preferential treatment, mother nature took away his dignity as a man!
Xiao Yu looked towards the sky as he laughed aloud – silently.
The hamster in Yan Jin’s hand was squirming around nonstop, but he did not mind it. However, when the hamster suddenly stopped moving, Yan Jin looked down and happened to see Xiao Yu’s weird posture of opening his mouth as he looked upwards.
Those two sharp teeth in Xiao Yu’s mouth was directly in his view.
A hamster’s teeth were in fact powerful. They could even easily pry open a walnut; if anyone were bit by them, it would surely be painful.
Yan Jin was just bitten not long ago, and did not seem to fear it. Seeing that it was a good opportunity, he immediately used his other fingers that were not wrapped in gauze to pinch Xiao Yu’s pointy teeth.
Xiao Yu: Meow??
Yan Jin pinched one tooth for a bit, and then s.h.i.+fted to pinch the other tooth.
While Yan Jin did that, Xiao Yu had no choice but to keep his mouth wide open. Just when he thought his jaws were starting to ache, Yan Jin finally let go of his teeth.
Xiao Yu immediately snapped his mouth back as he watched Yan Jin cautiously, experiencing lingering fears after the action.
Yan Jin nodded his head as he completed the checks. He declared in content: “Good, the teeth don’t seem to be hurt, and they don’t seem to be loose either.”
Chu Ge simply couldn’t listen on: “What should I say about you? Checking whether his teeth hurt or not when you’re the one that got bit? Aren’t you prioritizing Fishy too much?”
“Naturally.” Yan Jin admitted it without abstaining at all.
“Ehhh, don’t change the topic.” Chu Ge reminded, “We’re still talking about Fan Xiaoge. Can’t you be more concerned about yourself?”
Chu Ge wasn’t even aware that Yan Jin was forced to attend that arranged marriage meeting. Obviously, Yan Jin was not planning on telling anyone in the first place as he was prepared to settle the matter himself. Who would have guessed that there would be an unexpected factor like Fan Xiaoge, leaving Yan Jin with no other choice but to reveal his current situation?
However, in Chu Ge’s opinion, compared to getting dumped by his girlfriend and subsequently being two-timed by Yan Jin, knowing that Yan Jin was forced into the marriage agreement was obviously the more important subject, wasn’t it?
Regardless of whether it was an important or trivial issue, Yan Jin always refused to seek help from them – that was what really contributed to Chu Ge’s headache.
He owed Yan Jin many favors. That was also the reason why aside from his regular occupation, he even risked exposing his ident.i.ty to become the Yan’s family doctor.
Despite their friends.h.i.+p, it seemed like Yan Jin had always been supporting him (them) one-sidedly all along. However, every time they wanted to lend a helping hand to Yan Jin, that man would always push them away without a trace. That made Chu Ge really, really upset.
A person like Yan Jin knew how to get on in the world without revealing any weaknesses in the rapidly changing business industry. Compared to his unique investment methods, this truly was his most terrifying talent.
When dealing with his opponents and enemies, Yan Jin would smile as he took away the things that he wanted and he would even put the person in the wrong. Yet when it came to dealing with his limited number of friends, he ended up utilizing that exceptional ability to appropriately reject them.
In Yan Jin’s world, there was only one circle – he would be standing inside that loop, while the rest of the world would be outside it.
Chu Ge spent nearly twenty years, but he was merely standing on the borderline, unable to get any closer.
“I have a way to deal with Fan Xiaoge. Regardless of whether it was an exchange of benefits, I would never use marriage for any sort of deal.”
Chu Ge had guessed long ago that Yan Jin would hint to him not to interfere with that matter. But when he heard it himself, Chu Ge couldn’t help but sigh dejectedly.
Fine, how else would it be?
No matter how he pledged his loyalty, if Yan Jin did not accept his help, then there would be no other way to go about it.
Chu Ge couldn’t help but ridicule himself; otherwise he might end up being frustrated to death by Yan Jin.
Suddenly, the phone rang.
Yan Jin was surprised that someone would call his home phone. This was the villa that his grandfather had left behind. For the sake of commemorating the elder, he did not order any ma.s.sive renovations for this villa and even kept the landline.
That phone was located in the corridor near the bedroom on the first floor. Yan Jin went to pick up the call and ended it in less than two minutes.
Chu Ge curiously asked, “Who’s that? What era are we in to be calling through a landline, an ancient antique?”
Yan Jin shot Chu Ge a glance. What kind of gaze was that? Chu Ge found it hard to describe. In any case, it was a gaze that sent gooseb.u.mps all over his body.
“What tricks do you have up your sleeve?” Chu Ge jumped up from the sofa.
Yan Jin replied, “Fan Xiaoge is coming. She said my mom made her come over to discuss the details of our wedding.”
“What the h.e.l.l? When is she coming?” The moment Chu Ge thought of Fan Xiaoge, it made him feel uncomfortable. It was not the same feeling as getting dumped, but it was like wanting to slap his past self for not seeing through a person.
“She’s already at the door.”
“DAFUGGG!!!”
Chu Ge, who just sat down, really leapt up from the sofa this time and immediately covered his mouth that wanted to spout more vulgarities.
After calming down for three seconds, Chu Ge’s barely functioning brain sensed something weird: “Strange, how did she know that you’re living here? And she even knows the number to the landline?”
Yan Jin had a mysterious smile as he looked at Chu Ge: “She surely would have gotten such personal information from a person who has close contact with me. For example… my family doctor?”
“Don’t go on.” Chu Ge covered his own eyes: “I can’t look at you anymore.”
“Fine, hurry up and get to the second floor. I’ll get the door.”
After he settled everything with Chu Ge, Yan Jin wanted to put Xiao Yu back into his cage, yet he was strongly rejected by the hamster. Hence, with no other choice, he put Xiao Yu onto the coffee table and went to open the door.
The chairman did not seem to mind that the other person was exposed to the cold weather for a few minutes. It was not that Yan Jin had issues with dealing with house guests – Instead, it was because he never treated people who came without invitations as guests.
When he opened the door, Fan Xiaoge was standing there in a simple white dress with her long hair trailing over her shoulders as she carried a white Persian in her arms – she looked like a pure and perfect angel.
“I heard that Mr. Yan likes keeping pets too, so I brought Faye over.” Fan Xiaoge raised the Persian’s white paw: “Come on, Faye, say h.e.l.lo to Mr. Yan.”
Faye obediently meowed back.
The supposed “heard of” was probably another piece of information from Chu Ge.
The man who was hiding on the second level had already mentally cursed and berated Fan Xiaoge nonstop when he overheard the conversation.
Yan Jin’s remained expressionless with that unreasonable look. He stepped aside and walked towards the living room without turning back: “You may enter, Miss Fan.”
The lady who was prepared to be left outside the Yan family’s door was overjoyed – she had made the right move.
So long as he was a human, he would have some hobbies. Hobbies were like armor, and they were weaknesses.
See, a normal-looking white cat granted her a chance to step through the Yan family’s door.
Fan Xiaoge cautiously entered the living room. In that instance, she felt her soul tremble.
The moment she took this step, she would surely be able to become the Yan family’s mistress!
“Wait.” Yan Jin suddenly turned around: “Leave your cat outside.”
Yan Jin didn’t even mention “Faye”. He simply used “your cat” as an obvious choice of words to express his displeasure.
Fan Xiaoge stared blankly as she asked rigidly, “H-how come? Did Faye upset you?”
“Fishy would be scared.” Yan Jin walked towards the coffee table without even turning back.
Fan Xiaoge followed Yan Jin’s direction and saw that grey, mouse-like living creature. It was standing on that coffee table, looking at her with intrigue.
Don’t ask her how she could see that a mouse was watching her with intrigue.
At this moment, she only wanted to scream.