In an instant.
Luo Yanran and the middle-aged woman looked toward the door at the same time.
When they clearly saw that incredibly familiar face, both revealed a look of shock.
“Jiang Chen!”
Jiang Chen glanced at the middle-aged woman, then smiled and walked up to Luo Yanran.
“Wifey, I’m back!”
Once Luo Yanran confirmed it was indeed Jiang Chen, the shock in her eyes turned into anger.
“Don’t just call me whatever you want.
I’m not your wife!”
“How could you not be?
Back then, we made solemn vows under the shooting stars to grow old together!”
“Heh.” Luo Yanran sneered.
“Five years ago, I withstood so much pressure to be with you, truly believing we would grow old together.
But what about you?
“You completely abandoned everything I did for you.
You even ran off with my family’s money on the day of our engagement, making me lose all face in front of the entire Luo Family!
“Is betraying me at the critical moment your so-called solemn vow?
Was your promise to grow old with me just a lie?”
As Luo Yanran spoke, her emotions became increasingly volatile.
By the end, she was almost screaming at the top of her lungs!
Tears welled up in her eyes and streamed down her cheeks, as if all the grievances she had suffered over the past five years erupted at this very moment.
With fury blazing in her gaze, she stared straight at Jiang Chen.
“Don’t you think it’s absolutely ridiculous to bring this up now?”
Jiang Chen’s lips twitched.
Was it really ridiculous?
Five years ago, did he actually run away at the critical moment?
No, he had been deceived!
On the eve of their engagement, members of the Luo Family had sought him out in private.
They asked him to take a sum of money and personnel to another city to negotiate a batch of Chinese herbal medicines.
They promised that if he handled the matter well, they would not only help him organize an engagement ceremony that would take the entire Baiyun City by storm, but also appoint him as a director at one of their affiliated hospitals!
When the time came, that would give him even more leverage to marry Luo Yanran.
Naive as he was, he had agreed with overwhelming excitement.
Little did he know, it was all a conspiracy.
After leaving Baiyun City, they didn’t go to an herbal merchant’s home.
Instead, they arrived at a desolate wilderness.
Before he could even react, the tendons in his wrists and ankles were severed.
Then, amid a barrage of cold taunts and sneers, he was ruthlessly abandoned in the barren mountains.
If he hadn’t met his Master, who happened to be passing by, he would likely have starved to death in that desolate place, or become food for the wild beasts.
His Master had taken him to a very peculiar place.
From then on, he followed his Master, learning medicine and martial arts.
He learned every skill that could make him stronger, because he knew that if he simply went back after being cured, nothing would change.
And just like that, five years passed in the blink of an eye!
He wanted very badly to explain all of this to Luo Yanran.
But seeing the two trails of tears on her cheeks, he suddenly felt as though any explanation would be pale and powerless.
The grievances he had suffered were certainly not small, but compared to the immense pressure Luo Yanran withstood five years ago and the insults and mockery she had endured over these past five years, his own paled in comparison!
“Since you were heartless enough to leave back then, why come back now?” While Jiang Chen was lost in thought, Luo Yanran suddenly stood up and asked coldly, “Did you come back to laugh at me?”
Jiang Chen shook his head.
He had naturally returned this time to make up for everything he owed Luo Yanran, and to make those who had humiliated him pay the price.
He smiled bitterly.
“Actually, I came back this time to—”
“He obviously spent all the money he took back then, and now he’s back to ask you for more.”
Before Jiang Chen could finish his sentence, Luo Yanran’s mother cut him off.
The middle-aged woman crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes full of mockery and disdain.
As her words fell, the coldness on Luo Yanran’s face grew even more intense.
Seeing this, Jiang Chen’s pupils contracted slightly.
“No, I came back to help Yanran!”
“Save your sweet talk.” As she spoke, the middle-aged woman looked Jiang Chen up and down, the sarcastic expression on her face deepening significantly.
“With your impoverished look, you actually think you can help Yanran!?”
“That’s right.
Just me!” Jiang Chen looked straight at the middle-aged woman and spoke with ringing clarity.
The middle-aged woman sneered.
“Heh, five years ago, you were nothing but a pauper.
You barely managed to wriggle your way to Yanran’s side through bluffing and scamming.
What’s the matter?
After five years, have those deceptive skills of yours improved?”
Jiang Chen glanced at the middle-aged woman and smiled playfully.
“Yes, my skills have improved.
But what about you?
Five years ago, you were a wealthy madam of the Luo Family, constantly surrounded by attendants.
How is it that after five years, you’ve regressed so much that you’ve been reduced to a rural shrew?”
The middle-aged woman glared at Jiang Chen furiously.
“How dare you!”
“How dare you!” Faced with her reprimand, Jiang Chen didn’t retreat in the slightest.
Instead, as his words fell, the aura surrounding him sharpened intensely.
Faintly, it actually made the initially domineering middle-aged woman feel her scalp tingle with fear.
Frowning deeply, she gritted her teeth and huffed coldly as she walked outside.
“Hmph!
Young Master Zhang will be here shortly with his men and money.
Don’t you want to act tough?
Then come along in a bit.
I will use the cold hard facts to show you just how like trash you are, and how pathetic you are, in front of a true big shot!”
Watching the middle-aged woman leave, the sharp aura around Jiang Chen quietly dissipated.
He turned to Luo Yanran and smiled.
“Yanran, believe me, I will definitely be able to help you!”
Luo Yanran looked up, her gaze completely apathetic.
“I don’t need your pity, and I certainly don’t need your hypocrisy!”
“I…”
“Yanran, everyone is here.
Granny Tan sent me to call you over.”
The voice coming from outside the window interrupted Jiang Chen once again.
“Okay, Sister Zhang.
I’ll be right there.” After Luo Yanran replied, her beautiful, indifferent eyes shifted back to Jiang Chen.
“Leave!
I don’t want to see you again!”
With that said, she took the lead and walked outside.
Jiang Chen’s lips twitched as he murmured in a low voice, “Five years ago, my departure made you the target of everyone’s scorn.
Now that I have returned five years later, how could I possibly let you weather the storm all by yourself!”
Having said that, he followed her straight outside.