Chaрtеr 13: Таking thе Blame fоr Yоu.
Duan Tiаnhua was rudеlу аwаkеnеd by Jiаng Siуе.
Нer skin would рuff up if she didn’t sleeр wеll: “Arе уоu trуing tо kill me?!”
Jiаng Siуе spokе mаtter-оf-factly: “Dо yоu want me to hеlp уou wаsh уour faсe, or brush yоur tееth?”
“……” Duаn Tianhuа snаррed, “What timе do уou think it is?”
Jiang Siуe glanсed at thе time: “Four ten.”
Duаn Тiаnhua: “I dоn’t gеt up until six!”
Jiang Siуe sееmed to sсoff.
“You gеt up аt siх,” hе moсked, “and уou makе mу wifе get up at four to wait on yоu?”
Duаn Tianhua frozе: “Whо told her to gеt uр at four…”
Jiang Siye: “Don’t tell me you never set that rule for her?”
Impossible.
Judging by how skillfully He Yang had prepared the items earlier, it was clear this wasn’t the first or second time.
Duan Tianhua, embarrassed and angry, retorted: “Did she complain to you?”
“If she had complained to me,” Jiang Siye bit out each word, “she wouldn’t have been trained so well by you!”
Duan Tianhua was annoyed with him: “Alright, alright, it was only a few times when you weren’t home…”
Jiang Siye: “How many times?”
Duan Tianhua: “How am I supposed to remember?”
Jiang Siye stared coldly at her for over ten seconds: “Fine. Starting today, I’ll serve you at four every morning. You’ll get up whether you want to or not, until the debt is repaid.”
“……” Duan Tianhua trembled with anger, “You little brat!”
Jiang Siye didn’t stop at just getting up himself; he made sure everyone else in the villa was roused too.
Including Jiang Sanyun.
If he was up at four, no one else was allowed to sleep.
Except for He Yang.
The door to the master bedroom on the second floor was tightly shut. Jiang Siye dressed and went downstairs holding his breath, moving as quietly as possible.
After five days in a row, Jiang Sanyun was at her breaking point: “Mom, I have dark circles now!”
Duan Tianhua was also exhausted: “If he refuses to move out, what can I do?”
Jiang Sanyun: “Make He Yang move then.”
Duan Tianhua: “Don’t you dare provoke her. If she keeps acting like this, Jiang Si will get tired of her soon. Just bear with it.”
As soon as she finished speaking, He Yang rushed in, flustered, and stammered: “Mom…”
Then she raised her hand.
In it, she held the branch of a peony that Duan Tianhua had cultivated at great expense.
Duan Tianhua shot to her feet: “You dug it up?”
“I didn’t mean to,” He Yang said guiltily, “I thought it was a weed. Coming from a humble background, I can’t tell the difference between weeds and peonies…”
“Shut up!” Duan Tianhua felt dizzy, “Just this one, right?”
He Yang glanced at her and didn’t say a word.
Duan Tianhua was thunderstruck. Without even putting on her shoes, she hurried anxiously to the flower bed.
All the peony plants in the garden were lying there.
Not a single one remained.
Dug up with such precision.
Duan Tianhua lost her composure and shouted angrily: “He Yang!!”
He Yang held a phone in her hand, looking as if she was about to cry from regret: “Husband, I’ve made a huge mistake. You need to come back right away…”
Duan Tianhua: “”
Jiang Siye’s life had never been so chaotic.
During a morning meeting, he listened with his eyes closed the entire time.
He was so damn tired.
At night, he had to wait until He Yang fell asleep in the studio, then carry her back to the bedroom.
In the morning, he still had to get up at four. If he was even a minute late, He Yang would get up on her own.
Jiang Siye would rather be the one to get up.
He managed only about an hour of restless sleep each day and drank coffee like water at the office.
The executives exchanged glances but didn’t dare to ask.
After the meeting, the secretary brought him coffee as usual. Jiang Siye rubbed his temples: “Who’s here to see me?”
The secretary cleared his throat softly: “Young Master Xi and Young Master Cao.”
Jiang Siye lifted his eyelids: “Not seeing them.””……” The secretary hesitated. “I told you, but Young Master Cao forced his way in. Several of us couldn’t stop him.”
Jiang Siye: “The other one.”
He didn’t want to see Xi Shang.
Before he could finish speaking, the door to the CEO’s office was kicked open with a bang.
Immediately after, Cao Yingjun’s rough, loud voice boomed: “Jiang Siye, are you even a brother? Blocking Xi Shang is one thing, but why block me?”
Xi Shang crossed his arms: “Then why did you drag me here?”
Cao Yingjun choked: “At least let me see him first. Only after I see him can I plead your case, right?”
“Get out and talk,” Jiang Siye said impatiently. “Don’t discuss strategies against me right in front of me.”
“……”
Xi Shang leaned against the doorframe.
Cao Yingjun barged in: “Enough already. It’s just some petty issue. You two haven’t spoken for three years—do you know how awkward it is for me stuck in the middle?”
Jiang Siye already had a headache, and Cao Yingjun’s deafening voice made his temples throb even more.
“What’s wrong with you?” Cao Yingjun scrutinized him. “Skin and bones, dark circles under your eyes…”
Jiang Siye: “Get out.”
Cao Yingjun: “No. If you two don’t make up today, I’ll die right here.”
“……”
“Shang Shang, you’re more at fault,” Cao Yingjun ordered. “Apologize first. This guy’s delicate.”
Xi Shang: “Did you just call me Shang Shang?”
Cao Yingjun: “Are you apologizing or not?”
Xi Shang looked at someone: “I believe we simply have different stances—there’s no right or wrong. But I’m willing to apologize first.”
Cao Yingjun: “……”
You might as well not apologize.
Jiang Siye scoffed: “Since our stances differ, there’s no need to reconcile.”
Cao Yingjun: “……”
Are you two children?
Xi Shang paused briefly: “Did you have a fight with your wife?”
“……” Jiang Siye stopped the coffee cup halfway to his lips. “Come in and talk.”
Cao Yingjun: “……”
Makes me look like a clown.
Xi Shang said calmly: “Go on.”
Jiang Siye: “She keeps telling me to kill her.”
Xi Shang: “……”
“I know about this,” Cao Yingjun cut in. “She doesn’t want to live.”
Jiang Siye threw a mouse at him.
Sensing his foul mood, Cao Yingjun caught the mouse and silently shut up.
Neither he nor Xi Shang had ever met Jiang Siye’s wife.
Cao Yingjun had been abroad for the past few years, struggling through his Ph.D., while Xi Shang, after scheming against Jiang Siye, had been forced by Jiang Siye to wander in another province for three years.
Only when Cao Yingjun, their mutual childhood friend, returned to the country did Xi Shang come back.
Having never met his wife and knowing nothing about her name or personality, it wasn’t appropriate to comment.
Xi Shang remained calmer than him: “She’s planning to confront you.”
Jiang Siye raised his thin, shallow eyelids: “Confront me about what?”
Xi Shang: “You should ask yourself. What aren’t you letting her do?”
Jiang Siye: “What haven’t I let her do?”
Xi Shang: “You should ask yourself.”
Jiang Siye: “Don’t pretend to understand when you don’t.”
Xi Shang: “Don’t pretend not to understand when you do.”
“……” Cao Yingjun looked utterly confused. “Both of you, shut up. I’m the only one who understands. After all this talk, treat me to a meal.”
The phone on the desk rang.
Jiang Siye raised his brow bone, as if proving a point, and turned the caller ID toward them: “See? My wife’s calling.”
What nonsense about her wanting to confront him.
His wife was so obedient.
As soon as he answered, He Yang’s panicked and aggrieved voice immediately came through: “I mistook Mom’s peonies for weeds and dug them up. You told me to weed the flowerbed, right? Hurry up and explain to Mom.”
Jiang Siye closed his eyes.Resigned to fate.
He rose with practiced ease, walked out, and calmly said, “Yes, it’s me. I’ll go back now and take the blame… accept the punishment for you.”