Jiang Mingzuo raised his eyes.
He was sitting, while she stood before him. From his vantage point looking up, their heated breaths mingled in the air.
His gaze rested at eye level on her slender waist, then drifted past it, finally settling on those bright eyes.
The atmosphere held a subtle ambiguity.
After a long moment, Jiang Mingzuo spoke. “Won’t that be a bit too far to the side?”
The study had two windows. One was beside Jiang Mingzuo’s own desk, and he didn’t think she was implying he should move.
He had noticed long ago that sometimes, she was bold and unrestrained, like a curious deer, carefully testing his boundaries with her antler-like inquiries. But at other times, she was full of vigilance. At the slightest hint of trouble, she would swiftly retreat back to her safety line.
“Not at all, not at all!”
Hearing this, Jin Ran quickly waved her hands. She was going in there to study, so of course comfort was paramount. She had taken a tour of the study earlier that day after getting up and found the space by the window was large and well-lit.
Opening the window, outside was a large, lush magnolia tree. Its abundant leaves rustled in the summer breeze, and occasional birdsong filtered through the branches—it was full of natural charm.
Most importantly, that area didn’t have any of Jiang Mingzuo’s things, so she could arrange it however she liked.
Later, she could add a few potted plants. Her efficiency in solving practice problems would definitely improve!
Mentally making all sorts of plans, she couldn’t say that out loud. Instead, she adopted a considerate tone. “As long as I can have a little spot, that’s fine. I mustn’t disturb your work.”
“It wouldn’t be a disturbance.”
“That won’t do. The child and I are counting on you to make money.”
Jin Ran blinked playfully.
Even though that money didn’t belong to her, the family’s daily living expenses all relied on the CEO’s income.
Whether she could prepare well for the teacher qualification exam depended on whether the tycoon’s income could remain stable.
Hearing the words “the child and I,” Jiang Mingzuo’s fingers, which had been stroking his teacup, paused. He then gave her a deep look and agreed. “Let the butler help you move things in.”
And so the matter was settled.
Finding a few extra desks in the villa wasn’t a problem. However, since it concerned Jin Ran, the butler definitely wouldn’t handle it carelessly.
He inquired in detail about Jin Ran’s requirements and purpose. Upon learning it was for studying, he called the merchant they frequently collaborated with and had them deliver a two-meter-long desk to the house.
After that, he arranged for several servants to clean the study.
Since the work wasn’t heavy, the servants could chat while they worked, speculating about their employers. “Our Madam’s ideas are really unusual.”
“Right? But isn’t Madam a university graduate? Why does she still need to study?”
“Hmph! If you ask me, it’s just being difficult. There are so many places to read. She insists on having everyone specially set up a desk for her in the study. Isn’t that just ordering people around on purpose?”
The speaker was Aunt Zhang, a helper from the kitchen. Already of an age to be a mother-in-law, she looked down on daughters-in-law like Jin Ran. “And all that talk about studying is actually just to get close to Mr. Jiang. I heard our Madam used some tricks to marry in. Otherwise, why do you think they sleep in separate rooms?”
The others were somewhat skeptical. “Didn’t the butler say it’s because Mr. Jiang is a light sleeper? And I saw Mr. Jiang is actually quite nice to Madam since he came back this time.”
“It’s all for appearances. If he truly liked her, why hasn’t there been any movement in the baby department after all this time?”
Aunt Zhang’s words were clearly an exaggeration. After all, by any calculation, Jin Ran had only been married in for a month.
The others gradually caught on, and their expressions turned subtle.
The Jiang family was decent; working here as servants was easier than elsewhere. That’s why they had the leisure to gather and chat. But it was just idle talk. Being as gossipy and stirring up trouble as Aunt Zhang was somewhat shameful.
If she didn’t change, she would cause trouble sooner or later.
The others exchanged glances. They didn’t say anything out loud, but they had already decided to quietly distance themselves.
Aunt Zhang, unaware of her colleagues’ private thoughts, opened her mouth to gossip some more when suddenly, an impatient voice came from behind. “What are you talking about?”
Unnoticed, Jiang Xuli had appeared at the study door. His gaze as he looked at them was somewhat unfriendly.
Aunt Zhang, being older and too engrossed earlier, was almost frightened out of her wits by the voice. Collecting herself, she said awkwardly, “Young Master, we women were just talking about everyday trivialities. You surely wouldn’t be interested.”
Jiang Xuli narrowed his eyes. “I thought I heard you mention something about ‘Madam’?”
Aunt Zhang’s eyes shifted. “It’s about Madam wanting to put a desk in the study. We were just saying Madam loves to study.”
Even though the young master of this villa grew up without a mother and had a tense relationship with his father, the servants still didn’t dare to neglect him—after all, no matter how strained the relationship, the blood flowing in his veins was that of the Jiang family.
In other words, it was a classic case of bullying the weak and fearing the strong.
In her view, Jiang Xuli, as Jiang Mingzuo’s biological son, was the master of the villa. The newly married Madam Jin Ran was barely an outsider. Watching an outsider throwing her weight around these days, directing the head chef in the kitchen, nitpicking the saltiness of dishes, Aunt Zhang had built up a nameless fire in her heart.
A woman should properly tend to her husband and children, stay home obediently and know her place. To be stricter, she shouldn’t be allowed to eat at the table and must serve her man tea and wash his feet at night.
Nothing like Jin Ran, who only cared about eating whatever she wanted every day and even had Mr. Jiang staying in a side room.
What, you ask who made these rules?
Customs passed down by our ancestors! It’s been like this since ancient times!
Jin Ran probably never imagined that, despite her marriage partner having no parents, she would still “gain” a mother-in-law figure.
Otherwise, she would definitely say: “What absolute nonsense!”
At this moment, Aunt Zhang looked at Jiang Xuli at the door with such a worried expression that one might think she was Jiang Xuli’s stepmother.
“Why don’t you also tell the Master, Young Master, and ask for a desk in the study too?”
Jiang Xuli was utterly baffled. “I have my own study.”
His father hardly ever went to the third floor. The previous Jin Ran would go, but the current one seemed to want to avoid him at all costs, let alone seek him out. So the entire third floor was Jiang Xuli’s domain.
Why would he give up his perfectly good, independent space to come squeeze into his father’s study?
Aunt Zhang thought this child was truly foolish. “Young Master, if you don’t keep a close eye, what if Madam whispers in the Master’s ear?!”
Jiang Xuli was now completely bewildered: ???
Keep a close eye? What whispers?
Leaving aside whether his father would listen to others, hadn’t she already done plenty of that?
Thinking about how the woman had exposed him in front of his father yesterday, the young man felt a complex mix of emotions.
He didn’t like making a fuss about things he did because, even if he said something, no one paid attention. But when Jin Ran had stated the truth in a tone devoid of any judgment, he suddenly realized he wasn’t as indifferent as he thought.
And that feeling of being seen had left him somewhat dazed.
Even… a bit secretly pleased.
The young man had insomnia.
Tossing and turning all night, he finally managed to fall asleep, only to wake up very early in the morning. Jiang Xuli simply got out of bed.
Passing the second floor, he saw the study door open. Out of curiosity, he came over to look, never expecting to stumble upon servants gossiping behind someone’s back.
He wondered what expression that woman, who usually treated servants quite well, would have upon finding out.
Jiang Xuli snapped back to reality. Hearing Aunt Zhang accusing Jin Ran of having ulterior motives, he couldn’t help but sneer. “She’s the woman my dad married. She’s the mistress of this villa. Of course she can go wherever she wants.”
“Oh dear, Young Master, you must be careful. A stepmother will never be good to the child from the first marriage.”
“I don’t care. I don’t need her to be good to me.”
Moreover, they had already reached an agreement to act like strangers in public.
On a normal day, Jiang Xuli probably wouldn’t have paid attention to an Aunt Zhang or Aunt Li. But he was in a bad mood right now and had no patience for more of this idiotic nonsense.
So he raised his voice, ensuring everyone present could hear. “Given that you’ve worked in this villa for many years, I’ll have Butler Cheng settle your wages for you.”
“But if you say anything else…” His face turned cold, his voice icy as if laced with shards of ice. “I wouldn’t mind calling the police.”
Aunt Zhang’s face instantly paled.
She didn’t understand. She was clearly doing this for Jiang Xuli’s own good. Why was she getting fired instead?
…
Jiang Xuli had originally intended to go downstairs.
But the incident with Aunt Zhang had truly given him a lesson.
Even though he personally had no particular issue with Jin Ran—at most, it was indifference—in the eyes of outsiders, they were inevitably a stepmother and stepson destined to be adversaries. There would always be foolish busybodies, jumping around under the banner of “doing it for his own good.”
A wave of sarcasm rose in Jiang Xuli’s heart. He didn’t know if Jin Ran had encountered similar situations, which was why she had treated him the way she did at the beginning.
Clearly, the significant changes in Jin Ran recently hadn’t gone unnoticed, not just by Jiang Mingzuo, but also by Jiang Xuli.
Laughter from a woman drifted up from the first floor. After a while, it was followed by his father’s low, deep response.
He didn’t know what the two were talking about, but the atmosphere seemed quite harmonious.
The young man’s footsteps halted. He turned around and returned to his room.
Coincidentally, his buddy Chen Xunliang sent a message: [Bro Li, I found out! The new math teacher is a woman!]
Seeing this made him even more despondent. Irritated, he opened a game and immersed himself in the virtual world.
…
What happened in the study went unnoticed.
Meanwhile, the entrusted Butler Cheng acted swiftly. In just two hours, he had set up a new work area in the upper-left corner of the study.
“Madam, please take a look. Is there anything else you’d like changed?”
Jin Ran indeed inspected carefully. The new desk was spacious and sturdy, in a light wood tone that matched the popular natural wood style online. The butler had also bought some matching stationery and decorations. Combined, it was simple yet comfortable.
She felt Butler Cheng’s aesthetic sense was far superior to her own and couldn’t help but give a thumbs up. “Perfect! There’s nothing I need to change!”
The butler smiled, his eyes crinkling. “Then shall we help Madam move all your things over?”
“No need.”
Jin Ran shook her head. She didn’t have many things. Moreover, some of her books had small notes with her problem-solving thoughts tucked inside. She was afraid they might get lost with too many people handling them.
Thinking this, Jin Ran clearly hadn’t grasped the severity of the situation. Only when, ten minutes later, she prepared to move things herself and faced the three tall, thick mountains of books did she realize something was off.
Wait, had she bought that many study materials?!
After carefully recalling, well, yes, she had indeed bought them all.
No one preparing for a civil service exam could resist the temptation of buying new materials! Let’s be clear—no one at all! If the exam weren’t next month and she genuinely couldn’t finish them, she might have bought even more!
The path you choose yourself, you must follow even on your knees. Jin Ran sighed. Between going back on her word and doing it herself, she ultimately resigned herself to moving the books.
Jiang Mingzuo sat before his computer, listening to reports on work arrangements from various departments.
Not long after, he caught a glimpse of a figure in his peripheral vision.
A few seconds later, the person tiptoed away.
Another half minute passed, and the person opened the door and came in again.
“…”
Jiang Mingzuo had always been highly focused. In his student days, he could seize every second to study in a noisy, chaotic marketplace filled with hawking, bargaining, and shouting.
Later, when his career took off, he could still calmly write code on a moving bus or pinpoint the opponent’s weaknesses at the negotiation table for a counterattack.
But at this moment, he admitted he was distracted.
Or rather… he was distracted by his own heart.
Realizing this, Jiang Mingzuo hesitated for an instant, but he quickly accepted it calmly and allowed himself to watch openly.
The woman moved in and out like a busy bee. Heavy books were piled in the crook of her arm, the spines pressing against her slender, fair arms, leaving faint red marks.
Her breathing gradually shifted from steady to hurried. Her rosy lips became dry, with tiny bits of dead skin peeling at the edges. When slightly parted, one could occasionally catch a fleeting glimpse of her tongue and teeth.
The air conditioning in the study was set very low, but at certain moments, it seemed ineffective. After several trips, fine beads of sweat appeared on Jin Ran’s smooth forehead.
Even so, she showed no intention of asking for help.
Jiang Mingzuo analyzed calmly.
She had probably experienced a long period of living alone, getting used to doing everything herself.
Jiang Mingzuo watched for a bit too long—long enough for the others in the meeting to notice something was amiss.
Everyone maintained serious expressions on the surface, but privately, messages flew in group chats: [Prize quiz: what is CEO Jiang looking at?]
[Probably at the trophy. Mingji Tech just won the industry leadership award last month. If it were me, I’d look at it every day.]
[Oh my, do you all think CEO Jiang’s gaze is one of appreciation? Why do I only feel nervous!]
[Exactly. I had the honor of being looked at like that by CEO Jiang once. Afterwards, I worked overtime for three days and three nights revising the proposal.]
Someone else joked: [Maybe he’s looking at a beauty!]
And was unanimously ignored by everyone.
What a joke! Their CEO Jiang was famously impartial towards men and women. It wasn’t that he was indifferent to feminine charms, but rather that whether male or female charm, in front of him, it wasn’t worth a glance because it held no value!
Once, a young actress from the entertainment industry who had just won a film award didn’t believe it. She deliberately spilled something on her clothes at a banquet, hoping to climb up. Not only did she fa il to gain CEO Jiang’s favor, she was completely blacklisted.
At this moment, Mingji Tech’s employees belatedly felt a curiosity about their unseen, never-met boss’s wife.
What kind of woman could possibly capture their proud and aloof CEO Jiang?