Jiang Jing thought the conversation would end there, but unexpectedly, Zhou Shijing suddenly sent a message: 【Are you and your best friend very close?】
Jiang Jing: “…”
She replied: 【We’re called best friends for a reason—how could we not be close?】
On the other end, Zhou Shijing wore only a bathrobe, his hair still dripping wet. Water droplets slid down his handsome features, tracing a path all the way to his delicate collarbone.
Unaware of this, he frowned in thought for a moment before slowly typing a few words: 【Who transferred the ten million to her?】
Jiang Jing: “…”
She replied: 【Didn’t I just ask you to help me look into it? You said you couldn’t find out.】
Zhou Shijing: 【I meant, did your best friend tell you who transferred the ten million to her?】
Jiang Jing: 【She said it was from her ex-boyfriend.】
Under the dim yellow light, the man’s lips curved almost imperceptibly, but the smile was fleeting, quickly swallowed by the perpetual ice in his eyes.
Zhou Shijing: 【So, does she have a new boyfriend now?】
Jiang Jing was puzzled by her brother’s detailed questioning but still answered: 【Yes.】
Everything Zhou Shijing had asked so far was merely a lead-up to his next question.
His fingers were slightly damp, and a thin layer of condensation had formed on the cold screen of his phone.
Through the mist, he sent a message: 【Are she and her boyfriend in a good relationship?】
Jiang Jing was filled with suspicion.
Since when had her brother become so gossipy?
She replied: 【It’s hard to say.】
Zhou Shijing: 【Hard to say?】
Jiang Jing took a deep breath and began venting nonstop: 【Ugh, it’s just that her boyfriend is as rotten as a pile of dog shit, but she actually thinks he’s great. Sometimes I don’t know what’s going on in her head.】
Zhou Shijing’s eyes swept indifferently over these words before he placed his phone on the table with a “thud,” his expression inscrutable.
No one could guess what he was thinking.
After a while, Jiang Jing sent another message: 【Brother, do you know my best friend?】
Zhou Shijing lit a cigarette.
Smoke unfurled in the beam of light, drifting past the man’s cold, stern face. He stared at the message on his phone and typed three icy words: 【I don’t.】
Wen Xuxue had studied law abroad and, upon returning to China, only wanted to become a lawyer.
The Wen family was in the construction business, which had been declining in recent years. With no support from her family, she had to search for jobs like any ordinary graduate, sending out resumes and attending interviews.
One day, as Wen Xuxue was carrying her backpack and navigating the scorching sun, she received a phone call.
She answered, calling out, “Mom.”
Su Lishu said, “Xiao Xue, where are you now?”
Wen Xuxue replied while crossing the street at a traffic light, “I’m on my way to an interview.”
Su Lishu suddenly stood up from the sofa, frowning as she said, “Listen, you should stop looking for a job. What can you do with a few thousand yuan a month? You’d be better off spending more time with Xiao Sui, building your relationship so you can get married in the future.”
“Or, I can sign you up for a class to learn how to be a good housewife. Xiao Sui is the only son in his family, and I only have you as my daughter. The assets of both families will be yours in the future, so you need to learn how to manage them.”
Wen Xuxue felt a headache coming on whenever she heard these things.
She had no desire to spend time with Zhao Sui at all.
Moreover, did she go abroad and work so hard to earn a master’s degree just to come back and become a housewife?
If it weren’t for her desire to further her studies, she wouldn’t have gone abroad, nor would she have… with Zhou Shijing.
Wen Xuxue sighed and tried to persuade her mother in another way: “Mom, Zhao Sui is also busy, how would he have time to accompany me?”
“That’s right,” Su Lishu said. “Then Mom will enroll you in a class, and you can learn how to be a full-time wife.”
“Mom!” Wen Xuxue helplessly called out. “Do you really want your daughter, who worked so hard studying for so many years, to become someone else’s wife?”
Su Lishu was also helpless and said: “You’re just young and don’t understand anything. Isn’t it good to be like Mom? Clothes come ready to wear, meals come ready to eat, every day you just think about what to wear, what bags and cosmetics to buy, where to go eat with your girlfriends. Being a lawyer like you, without any connections at home, you’ll suffer a lot, you know?”
Wen Xuxue said: “Mom, you can be so happy because Dad loves you and is willing to spend all his money on you.”
Su Lishu frowned: “What? Doesn’t Xiao Sui love you?”
Wen Xuxue dared not tell the truth; saying it would only make her parents worry.
They raised her so well with good food and comforts for so many years, and now only a marriage alliance could save her father’s business.
She felt she could still sacrifice a bit for the family.
Seeing her silence, Su Lishu added: “Alright, alright, just three days. After you face setbacks outside for these three days, come back and attend the class Mom enrolled you in.”
Wen Xuxue hung up the phone, feeling upset, and called Jiang Jing again.
“Baby Xiao Xue, what’s wrong?”
Wen Xuxue heard her voice and suddenly felt like crying.
She had always been like this since childhood, easily shedding tears, and even as she grew up, it seemed she hadn’t matured much.
She sniffled and said: “Are you free after work? Let’s go eat, I’ll treat you.”
Jiang Jing said: “Okay, six o’clock, meet at the usual place.”
Wen Xuxue agreed and hung up the phone, then carried her heavy bag and embarked on the path of job interviews.
The interviews were not successful.
Wen Xuxue was criticized for being too young and lacking work experience.
Her academic qualifications weren’t particularly outstanding either.
She felt discouraged.
Dejected, she went to the restaurant first to wait.
She arrived half an hour earlier than the agreed time.
When Jiang Jing arrived, she was holding a small cake with green grape flavor.
Wen Xuxue instructed the waiter to serve the dishes, her fair little face looking listless, and said: “Why did you suddenly want to eat cake?”
Jiang Jing opened the box and pushed the cake toward her, saying: “I bought it for you.”
Wen Xuxue’s eyes widened slightly.
Jiang Jing said: “When we talked on the phone, I could tell you weren’t in a good mood. Eat it, what happened?”
Wen Xuxue suddenly stood up.
Jiang Jing looked up at her, confused.
At that moment, the phone screen on the table lit up and began vibrating.
Jiang Jing noticed and looked down.
It was a call.
The caller’s note: Brother.
Jiang Jing reached out, swiped the screen, and answered the call.
Meanwhile, Wen Xuxue ran over and threw herself into Jiang Jing’s embrace, murmuring: “I like you, I love you, can I marry you?”
The atmosphere suddenly froze.
Not because of the two girls’ situation, but because of Zhou Shijing on the other end of the phone.
At that moment, he was fiddling with the Buddhist beads in his hand. Hearing those words, two beads suddenly collided and slowly pressed together.
The veins on his hand protruded slightly, blood surging and roaring within them.
When he was with her before, no matter how much he cherished and pampered her, he never heard her say such words to him.
At this moment, Zhou Shijing suddenly felt a murderous intent toward his unfamiliar younger sister.