Jiang Wan looked up, her gaze inadvertently meeting his.
Seeing the slight curve of Gu Shilan’s lips, she felt a bit embarrassed.
She lowered her eyes and scooped a spoonful of cake into her mouth to hide her awkwardness.
Gu Shilan pretended not to notice, sitting down naturally beside Jiang Wan, lazily crossing his right leg over his left, and casually picking up the financial morning paper nearby.
“Is it good?” Gu Shilan asked casually, his eyes fixed on the newspaper.
Jiang Wan: “Good.” With cake still in her mouth, her words came out slightly muffled.
Her cheeks flushed instantly, and she wished she could bite her own tongue. Whenever she was with Gu Shilan, she became clumsy with words.
Gu Shilan glanced at Jiang Wan’s reddened face from the corner of his eye.
He thought to himself how adorable she was.
So prone to blushing.
He flipped a page of the newspaper and said, “If you like it, we can visit their shop more often in the future.”
In truth, Jiang Wan really wanted to ask Gu Shilan if he had gone out of his way to buy it for her, but she was afraid he would deny it, which would only make her seem presumptuous.
Being thin-skinned, she felt that would be too embarrassing.
So, she sat stiffly beside him, the words turning over and over in her mouth but never spoken aloud.
While Jiang Wan was tangled in her thoughts, Gu Shilan leisurely read the newspaper. After scanning through the useful information, he set it aside.
Jiang Wan occasionally stole glances at him while taking bites of cake, all of which he noticed.
She always seemed like a timid little rabbit forced into a wolf’s den.
Gu Shilan rubbed his temples, thinking helplessly, “Am I really that intimidating?”
“Wanwan,” he turned toward her, trying to use the gentlest tone possible. He didn’t want to scare away this little rabbit he had finally managed to coax back.
A smear of white cream clung to Jiang Wan’s rosy lips, making them appear even more delicate and alluring.
Unaware of it, she lifted her almond-shaped eyes to look at Gu Shilan.
Gu Shilan had originally intended to discuss their visit to the Jiang family the day after tomorrow, but now, her innocent expression struck him straight in the heart.
That day, Jiang Wan had wrapped her arms around his neck, her sweet fragrance filling the air between them.
Breathing softly, she had whispered that she was in pain and asked him to kiss her…
Gu Shilan quickly averted his gaze, focusing instead on the cake in her hand.
He knew that, as a man, if he didn’t restrain himself, things could easily escalate.
To Jiang Wan, he was merely an older family friend, ten years her senior. If he acted too intimately, he would only come across as a lecher with ulterior motives, and any further efforts would backfire.
Seeing that he had called her name but remained silent, only staring at the cake, Jiang Wan tentatively asked, “Uncle Gu, would you like to try some?”
Judging by his eager expression, he probably wanted a taste.
Gu Shilan was taken aback, not expecting Jiang Wan to misunderstand his interest in the cake. Her innocence was almost criminal, but it did help distract him from his wandering thoughts. “Sure.”
Jiang Wan wanted to fetch a new slice, but Gu Shilan insisted that the one she had was fine. Reluctantly, she took a new spoon, scooped a bite, and offered it to him.
Gu Shilan ate the cake from her hand, inwardly frowning.
He had never been fond of overly sweet flavors, but he still nodded in agreement. “It’s quite good.”
Then, as if infected by Jiang Wan, a trace of cream remained at the corner of his lips as well.
Jiang Wan pointed to her own right corner, reminding Gu Shilan, “You have some cream here.”
“Is that so?” Gu Shilan deliberately raised his hand and wiped in the opposite direction, his fingertips clean as before, his slightly furrowed brows enough to express his confusion. “Where?”
Jiang Wan didn’t suspect anything: “…You wiped the wrong side, it’s on the right.”
Gu Shilan followed Jiang Wan’s instruction and wiped the right corner of his mouth, skillfully avoiding the cream.
Jiang Wan was speechless: “…”
Gu Shilan frowned, somewhat annoyed as he called out to the kitchen: “Aunt Zhang, go get me a mirror.”
Aunt Zhang was supervising dinner preparations in the kitchen and poked her head out with a smile: “Young Master, I can’t leave right now. Why don’t you have Young Madam wipe it for you instead? What’s the need for a mirror, so troublesome.”
So, Gu Shilan turned to look at Jiang Wan, a slightly apologetic expression on his face: “Would that be alright? Won’t it dirty your hand?”
Under his intense gaze, Jiang Wan couldn’t bring herself to say no, whispering: “It won’t…”
Then, she reached out and wiped away that stubborn cream that had refused to come off.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile flickered in Gu Shilan’s eyes.
Jiang Family Villa.
Knowing Jiang Wan was coming home this morning, Meng Fenyu had Zhang Tiezhu called over early in the day.
Zhang Tiezhu ran his own fruit and vegetable company. He was a smooth operator, and his business was doing quite well.
Just as life was getting comfortable, his wife who had supported him through his entrepreneurial journey suddenly passed away not long ago.
Now raising two children alone, he began considering remarriage.
He had coincidentally seen Jiang Wan before when delivering produce.
He had long been captivated by her beauty, but he only ever fantasized about it.
He knew that even if Jiang Wan was out of favor, she would never end up with someone like him.
But yesterday, Meng Fenyu suddenly called, saying she wanted to arrange Jiang Wan for him.
He immediately felt as if he had burned incense for three lifetimes—his dream was coming true.
Before coming today, he made a special effort to tidy up.
He wore a suit, his hair meticulously styled with gel.
But his protruding, rotund belly still made him appear unbearably greasy.
Sitting on the sofa with what he thought was an impressive demeanor, he waited for Jiang Wan to grace him with her presence.
Jiang Yi sat in the main seat.
He couldn’t even be bothered to give Zhang Tiezhu a proper glance, barely restraining himself from throwing him out.
Last night, when he heard that Jiang Wan was pregnant out of wedlock and didn’t even know who the father was, he flew into a rage.
He immediately wanted to summon Jiang Wan back to clarify the situation, but Meng Fenyu stopped him.
After she exaggerated the story and appealed to his emotions and reason,
Jiang Yi calmed down, feeling Meng Fenyu made sense. Since the situation had already occurred, they needed to remedy it quickly.
However, he still had reservations about finding such an older, widowed, remarried man for Jiang Wan. But time was pressing—in a few more days, Jiang Wan would start showing. They had to make do.
Jiang Ting sat to the side, like a dutiful audience member, waiting for the show to begin.
Just then, a servant ran in and said: “The eldest young lady is back.”
Jiang Ting’s eyes immediately lit up, then she heard the servant add: “And she brought a man back with her.”
As the words fell, everyone in the room was stunned.
Then Zhang Tiezhu straightened up, displeased: “Mr. Jiang, Mrs. Jiang, what is the meaning of this? You said this was a matchmaking meeting for me, but now Miss Jiang brings back some random man.
Are you setting up a trap to humiliate me, or do you think I’m easy to push around, trying to pawn off second-hand goods on me? I won’t take used goods that have been played with by other men. My standard for women is to be her first man.”
His crude language drew a disdainful snort from Jiang Yi. “Boss Zhang, watch your words.”
Zhang Tiezhu glanced at him, unbothered.
Meng Fenyu quickly tried to smooth things over. “Xiao Wan is a good girl, she wouldn’t fool around like that. Maybe it was a classmate who walked her home.”
Jiang Wan had been gone for a few days—it couldn’t be that she’d found the child’s father. And even if she had, so what? Would she dare bring home a beggar living under a bridge?
Just thinking about Jiang Wan carrying a beggar’s seed made Meng Fenyu feel the wretched girl was filthy too. She needed to get rid of her as soon as possible.