The meeting ended, and it was almost noon.
Xu Jingshuang returned to her office, feeling as if her soul had been drained. There was still a large pile of documents on her desk, and dozens of unread emails in her computer.
She finally understood why her grandfather had chosen to retire in Switzerland rather than come back after stepping down.
Exhausting. Too exhausting!
The office door was knocked on again: “Come in.”
The door opened, and her secretary Keke walked in with a smile on her face: “President Xu, Miss Ding is here.”
Hearing that name, the woman who had been half-dead moments ago instantly perked up, her eyes lighting up. “Quick, let her in!”
The sound of high heels rang out, and Ding Ding walked into the office wearing a Chanel suit.
Xu Jingshuang sprang up from her office chair, pounced over, and threw her arms around Ding Ding’s neck, hanging her entire body on her best friend.
She buried her face in Ding Ding’s shoulder, pouting her lips and whining pitifully.
“Wuwuwu… Dingbao.”
Ding Ding was knocked back a step by the impact, wrapping one arm around her: “What’s wrong? Not used to the new position? Or did your Mr. Rong bully you?”
Xu Jingshuang let go of Ding Ding, cupping her own face and speaking weakly: “Work is really so tiring. I feel like my skin has aged just from this morning.”
Ding Ding looked at that face—fair with a rosy glow, as tender and smooth as a peeled egg—and couldn’t help but laugh. She reached out and pinched her cheek.
“No way, you’re still so fresh and dewy, so delicate it looks like it might break.” She then studied her more carefully, and suddenly narrowed her eyes: “Hm?”
Xu Jingshuang hadn’t caught on yet: “What’s wrong?”
Ding Ding stared at her collar, her gaze growing more and more meaningful, teasing with a hint of suggestiveness: “Married life is pretty intense, huh.”
Xu Jingshuang blinked: “What?” Following her gaze, she looked down. On that fair skin were a few faint reddish marks—not obvious, but visible upon closer inspection.
Xu Jingshuang immediately pulled her bow collar up, trying to cover those marks, her ears beginning to burn.
“What are you talking about? I have no idea what you mean.” She turned and walked over to the sofa, grabbing the tea from the coffee table and taking a big gulp.
Ding Ding chuckled, following her over and casually placing the sushi she’d brought on the coffee table.
“Still pretending? I saw them.”
Xu Jingshuang lowered her head to break apart her chopsticks, pretending to be busy: “Saw what? I don’t know anything.”
“Oh…” Ding Ding dragged out the word, “Then I guess my eyes were playing tricks on me. Maybe they weren’t hickeys—perhaps they were mosquito bites.”
Xu Jingshuang: “…”
Sometimes having a too-perceptive best friend wasn’t a good thing.
The sushi box opened, and the aroma instantly wafted out. The morning meeting had consumed too many brain cells, and she was genuinely hungry. She ate while trying to change the subject: “You don’t have work today?”
“Day off.” Ding Ding sat down on the sofa, propping her chin on her hand and watching her. After a moment, she remarked with a sigh, “Your luck—I don’t know whether to call it good or bad. Such a huge mix-up, and yet it still worked out in the end. And the way it worked out was you marrying the person who actually calls the shots in the Rong family. From Rong Anmin’s fiancée to his fifth uncle’s wife.”
“I still find it unbelievable.”
Xu Jingshuang paused mid-bite.
That was true. Half a month ago, she’d still been abroad. Who could have imagined that after returning home, she’d first be forced into an arranged marriage, then mistake the wrong person, and finally end up marrying Rong Jingchen herself.
Life really was surreal.
“I didn’t expect it to turn out this way either.” Xu Jingshuang stuffed the remaining sushi into her mouth, cheeks puffed out, speaking indistinctly.
Ding Ding looked at her, then suddenly grew serious in thought: “Do you think this counts as Rong Jingchen cutting in line?”
“Cutting in line how?”
Ding Ding began to analyze: “Think about it. This marriage was originally between you and Rong Anmin. Then you went and yelled at him, and he directly snatched you from his grandnephew’s hands. If that’s not cutting in line, what is? And he even cut his own grandnephew’s line.”
Xu Jingshuang’s chewing slowed.
She hadn’t thought about that, but now that Ding Ding put it that way, it did seem to be the case. Rong Anmin was his grandnephew, and the engagement was originally between the Xu and Rong families, with Rong Anmin as the intended party.
But he went ahead and turned his grandnephew’s fiancée into his own wife.
That kind of move—most people really couldn’t pull it off.
The more Ding Ding thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed: “And the most absurd part is, after Rong Anmin found out, he didn’t dare let out a single fart. What does that show? It shows he doesn’t dare compete with Rong Jingchen at all.”
At that, she couldn’t help but shiver: “Honestly, just thinking about Rong Jingchen being your husband now gives me goosebumps.”
“Is it really that exaggerated?” Xu Jingshuang laughed.
“How is it not?” Ding Ding sat up straight. “Who in North City doesn’t know him? The actual power behind the Rong family, ruthless in his methods, deep in his schemes. Known in the business world as the living King of Hell—how many people tremble at the sight of him? There’s no one who isn’t afraid of a man like that.”
“And now he’s my best friend’s husband—that’s seriously terrifying, isn’t it?”
Xu Jingshuang bit into her sushi.
She thought of last night—the man crouching by the bed to spray medicine on her, moving gently because he was afraid she’d hurt. He’d also prepared brown sugar water. He said he was her husband, not someone she should be afraid of.
Xu Jingshuang set down her chopsticks and wiped her hands with a napkin: “He’s not that bad, actually. I think he’s pretty great.”
The moment she said it, she froze herself.
She was defending him.
Ding Ding slowly turned her head, staring at her as if she’d seen a ghost: “We’ve only been married for two days, and you’re already siding with him? Xu Jingshuang, are you for real? Already protecting him? Just as I thought—no matter how good the cabbage, it always gets eaten by a pig.”
Xu Jingshuang frowned: “He’s not a pig.”
Ding Ding raised both hands in surrender: “Fine, fine, I won’t say anything about him. You’re guarding him like he’s something precious.”
Xu Jingshuang gave a soft huff and lowered her head to keep eating her sushi, but the corners of her mouth couldn’t help curling up.
Ding Ding’s teeth ached just watching her, then suddenly remembered something: “Oh right, how did Xu Jingwei and Chen Suyun react when they found out you married Rong Jingchen?”
“Calmer than I expected.” Xu Jingshuang set down her chopsticks.
Ding Ding frowned: “That doesn’t make sense. You married Rong Jingchen—shouldn’t they be dying of jealousy?”
“Not necessarily.” Xu Jingshuang shook her head.
She knew that mother-daughter pair too well. Precisely because she’d married Rong Jingchen, they’d be pleased. After all, there were too many rumors about Rong Jingchen in the outside world—gloomy, ruthless, cold, unpredictable.
They’d rather believe she wouldn’t be happy in this marriage, that she’d come back humiliated within half a year at most. Then they could stand by and watch the show.
Just then.
The phone on the table suddenly vibrated, the screen lighting up with the caller ID: [Rong Jingchen]. Seeing the name, her movements paused slightly.
Ding Ding immediately leaned in, eyes gleaming.
“Checking up on you?”
Xu Jingshuang’s ears felt slightly warm as she pressed the answer button. “Hello?”
On the other end of the line, a man’s deep, magnetic voice slowly came through. “It’s me.”
She didn’t know why—though they weren’t exactly strangers—but every time she heard this voice, her heart still gave an uncontrollable little leap.
“I know,” she said softly. “Is there something you need?”
At the other end of the call, in the top-floor office of the Rong Group.
The man who had just finished a meeting stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, his tie loosened, a hint of weariness in his brow. At her words, he let out a low chuckle.
“Mrs. Rong, as your husband, is it really that strange for me to call you?”
Xu Jingshuang was momentarily at a loss for words. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Alright, I know you didn’t mean it that way.” His voice softened, losing some of its pressure. “Have you had lunch yet?”