So, although this man could be quite sharp-tongued from time to time, he genuinely had the status and ability to back it up. No matter how she looked at it, marrying him did not seem like a bad deal…
Jiang Die blinked. Seeing that he had no intention of helping her up, she got to her feet herself, took two steps back, cleared her throat, and asked, “Why are you here?”
“Aren’t you the one who asked me to meet you?”
The meaning behind those words was simple enough. She had been the one to ask him to meet, but for some reason, perhaps because it was already late at night, Lu Liyan’s voice sounded unusually low and cold, yet carried a faintly lingering softness.
It took Jiang Die quite a while to recover. She realized that she had indeed forgotten to specify a meeting place, but why had he not even asked…
She was just about to speak when a glaring pair of headlights swept past. Jiang Die turned her head and immediately spotted the familiar license plate. She hurriedly grabbed Lu Liyan and pulled him into the darkness beyond the reach of the lights.
A gentle breeze stirred through the summer night.
Jiang Die pressed her back against the wall, bending slightly at the waist as though trying to hide herself. One hand was still clutching the man’s tie, and the two of them were so close that their toes were almost touching. His warm breath fell over her.
Everything had happened so suddenly that Lu Liyan had not expected the girl to react like this. He braced one hand against the wall to steady himself, lowering his gaze to her curled, delicate eyelashes.
The next second, he looked away, his Adam’s apple rolling slightly. Perhaps because he had been traveling around all day and was tired, his voice sounded somewhat hoarse.
“Jiang Die, what are you trying to do this time?”
“I think my grandmother may have come back.”
Jiang Die was completely focused on the car that Feng Youmei had taken that morning, which had suddenly appeared within her line of sight. Hadn’t she said she would not be back until the day after tomorrow?
The area was extremely dark, with only a single streetlamp nearby. Since they had deliberately avoided the light and hidden themselves in the darkness, the people inside the car naturally could not notice them.
After watching for a while and deciding that they would not be discovered, Jiang Die looked up, only for the man’s prominent Adam’s apple to fall directly into her line of sight.
She parted her lips and suddenly called his name.
“Lu Liyan.”
Lu Liyan lowered his eyes and met hers.
“I feel like the situation right now is actually quite suitable for saying those four words.”
The metal gate beside them opened and closed with a somewhat grating sound. Lu Liyan did not hear her clearly and slightly parted his thin lips.
“What?”
“The four words you said, ‘Marry me.’” Jiang Die released his tie. Her naturally light-colored eyes always made her look gentle, but the seriousness in them now added a vivid, striking beauty. “I agree.”
Since he had already made his intentions clear, she had no way of running anyway. Saying he was giving her time to think was merely another way of letting her digest the situation herself. It was better to agree quickly.
After saying it, she even felt rather cool about herself.
Now that was what it meant to have backbone!
Once she finished speaking, the surroundings suddenly became unnaturally quiet, as though even the wind had stopped.
Lu Liyan slowly straightened the suit that had become slightly wrinkled when they had hurriedly hidden themselves. The next moment, he replied in a detached, cool tone with six simple words.
“See you at the Civil Affairs Bureau tomorrow.”
“Wait, hold on.” Jiang Die immediately lost all her composure. “Although we both need something from this marriage, don’t you think you should at least tell me who actually asked you to give me the shares of Shengyi Company?”
She had not even thought to ask before.
That was only because Lu Liyan had given her too many shocks over the past few days, and she had nearly forgotten about it…
The more Jiang Die thought about it, the less imposing she felt, especially when the other man remained completely calm. Then she heard his indifferent answer.
“My grandfather.”
“He knew your parents before. He was also the one who instructed me to send you a betrothal gift that day.”
Lu Liyan told her the truth. His gaze seemed to be asking, “Anything else you want to know?”
Jiang Die pressed her lips together. Whenever people were embarrassed, they always seemed to suddenly find themselves very busy, so she reached up and fiddled with a loose strand of hair beside her ear.
“I mainly have one more condition. I don’t want Grandma to know your true identity. In everyone’s eyes at the Jiang family home, you’re simply someone from Shengyi Company and have nothing to do with the Lu family.”
Luckily, the share transfer agreement for Shengyi Company that he had given her was still with her, so she could use it to fabricate an identity for him.
Although, given Lu Liyan’s status and capabilities, even if he admitted in front of Feng Youmei that he came from the Lu family, he certainly would not let her gain even the slightest advantage from the Lu family. Still, Jiang Die had no intention of remaining in the Jiang family, a place that devoured people alive. She genuinely wanted to use her marriage to Lu Liyan as a way to leave.
Shengyi Company might appear to have considerable fame in S City, but as merely a clothing company, it could not provide the Jiang family with any substantial assistance.
She had expected Lu Liyan to be puzzled by her request, but to her surprise, he agreed without any particular reaction.
“I’ll arrange it.”
Sunlight filtered through the clouds.
At the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau, Jiang Die had tied her hair into a ponytail and was wearing a white shirt tucked neatly into her jeans. She looked youthful and full of vitality, her beautiful amber eyes bright and lively. Unlike the glaring sunlight around her, they carried a gentle warmth that resembled the lingering glow of a sunset.
Yet she was holding a still-warm marriage certificate in her hands, feeling as though she had just experienced a dream.
The man beside her, however, looked as though he had simply finished taking care of some ordinary business on a normal morning. He put the red booklet away without even looking at it and walked down the steps with his long legs.
Jiang Die followed him into the car. Through the rearview mirror, Xiang Yan glanced at the two people sitting on opposite sides, and the atmosphere suddenly became rather strange.
She had not expected them to obtain their marriage certificates so smoothly, nor had she expected Lu Liyan to resolve everything so quickly. After all, he had lived abroad for a long time before this and probably did not have much influence within the Lu family. On top of that, he was currently in the middle of a power struggle with his own father, so there should have been some matters beyond his control.
Who would have thought that after she told Feng Youmei about it that morning, Feng Youmei would immediately investigate the highest-ranking executive of Shengyi Company? The name was unfamiliar, but the face in the ID photo was unmistakably Lu Liyan.
After conducting a more thorough investigation, she naturally learned that Shengyi Company was connected to the Lu Group. After weighing the pros and cons, she said nothing, which was essentially her agreement.
Jiang Die looked at the message that had popped up on her phone and broke the silence.
“Grandma wants us to go back and have dinner together later.”
Lu Liyan gave a quiet “Mm” in response, then said in a low voice to the person in the driver’s seat, “Take me to the company first.”
“…”
The rest of the journey passed in silence.
Halfway there, Lu Liyan got out and returned to the company. Xiang Yan drove to the entrance of the Jiang family’s old residence. Jiang Die immediately pushed open the car door without saying a word, but Xiang Yan quickly called after her.
“Miss Jiang, wait a moment. President Lu prepared some things for you.”
Jiang Die looked puzzled. Xiang Yan got out as well, opened the trunk, and took out several high-end gift boxes.
“These were bought by President Lu.”
Jiang Die had not expected him to prepare so many things in advance. She took them from Xiang Yan and said, “I can carry them inside myself. Hurry back to the company and help your President Lu.”
Jiang Die walked into the front courtyard as the car sped away behind her. Just then, a pretty girl in a red plaid dress suddenly appeared in front of her.
Jiang Weiling wore a gentle smile, but there was unmistakable mockery hidden in her words.
“Sister, long time no see. I heard you just found someone and married him. Isn’t a marriage without any emotional foundation just ruining your own life?”
Although she said that, when she looked at Jiang Die’s beautiful face, she was gnashing her teeth with regret.