After tidying up, Gu Shilan went to his desk to handle some work matters.
He glanced at his wristwatch, estimating that Jiang Wan should be awake by now, and went to look for her.
In the hallway, he saw Jiang Wan coming upstairs with a glass of milk.
Gu Shilan waited for her to reach the top before asking, “Are you hungry? Why didn’t you grab something else to eat?”
Jiang Wan replied, “No, it’s just that my stomach feels a bit unsettled. I thought some milk might help.”
“Does this happen often?” Gu Shilan said with concern. “Maybe we should go to the hospital.”
“No, this is the first time it’s happened in days.” Jiang Wan knew Gu Shilan was worried about her, but he seemed overly anxious. “There’s no need to go to the hospital.”
Gu Shilan nodded, then accompanied Jiang Wan to her room. He watched her finish the milk and took the glass from her.
Before leaving, he stood by the door and said, “Wanwan, let’s go get our marriage certificate tomorrow.”
Jiang Wan’s long, curled eyelashes fluttered slightly, and for a moment, she felt a sudden daze.
She realized she had gradually grown accustomed to Gu Shilan, familiar with his presence, and even felt the warmth of being cherished like family.
Suppressing her emotions, she looked up and said, “Okay…”
Back in his room, Gu Shilan still felt uneasy and called He Boyan. The other man thought he was being overly sensitive and gave him a brief lesson on pregnancy knowledge before finally letting it go.
Early the next morning, the two went to the civil affairs bureau to register their marriage.
Jiang Wan wore a plain white blouse without any embellishments, her face free of makeup, yet her radiant beauty remained undiminished.
Gu Shilan, with his sharp, deep-set features and tall, elegant stature, carried an air of noble refinement.
Standing side by side, they looked like a perfect match.
While stamping their marriage certificate, the clerk couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Mr. Gu, are you perhaps of mixed heritage?”
Gu Shilan smiled and replied, “My maternal grandmother was Portuguese, so I have a quarter of foreign ancestry.”
The clerk chuckled, “No wonder! I thought you had a particularly exotic look.”
Jiang Wan, standing nearby, stared at Gu Shilan with a surprised expression, studying him intently for a long while.
The entire process at the civil affairs bureau took no more than twenty minutes.
Once back in the car, Jiang Wan sat beside Gu Shilan, turned to him, and asked, “Uncle Gu, why haven’t you mentioned this before?”
“It’s not exactly earth-shattering news,” Gu Shilan said jokingly. “Would you have fallen for me right away if you knew I was mixed-race?”
Jiang Wan felt that Gu Shilan had become a bit mischievous. She widened her innocent, dewy eyes and said, “You’re teasing me again.”
In his heart, Gu Shilan thought, I’m not joking at all.
But he gave nothing away, saying instead, “Uncle Gu was wrong. I won’t tease Wanwan again.”
Zhang Qian, sitting in the driver’s seat, nearly choked on his own saliva. Had he heard correctly? The boss was actually apologizing to someone. He never thought he’d see the day…
“Wanwan,” Gu Shilan tapped his phone a few times, then turned to Jiang Wan. “Can I borrow your phone? Mine’s out of battery.”
Zhang Qian, who was driving, quickly chimed in, “Boss, you can use mine. I have backups of all the contacts in your address book.”
Hearing this, Gu Shilan glanced at him calmly, his expression unreadable.
Though he said nothing, Zhang Qian understood the look in his eyes perfectly.
He fiddled with his phone for show, then said sheepishly, “Oh, Mr. Gu, you’d better use Miss Jiang’s phone. Mine got water in it this morning and shut down again.”
Zhang Qian cursed himself inwardly for having the nerve to defy his boss’s intentions.
Jiang Wan, sitting in the back seat, couldn’t see Zhang Qian’s subtle movements and therefore didn’t suspect any “exchanged glances” between them. She took out her phone and handed it to Gu Shilan.
Following Jiang Wan’s instructions, Gu Shilan entered her birthday to unlock the phone and first sent a message to the business partner.
Jiang Wan turned her head away as soon as she saw Gu Shilan start typing.
She wasn’t the type to pry into others’ privacy.
Gu Shilan glanced out of the corner of his eye at Jiang Wan’s fair little face, which was turned attentively toward the window like a diligent student in class, and chuckled softly to himself.
He opened the contacts list and discreetly blocked Jiang Yi.
“Done.” Jiang Wan watched as Gu Shilan handed the phone back to her.
“Mhm.” Gu Shilan responded calmly, his expression unchanged.
After dropping Jiang Wan off at the villa, Gu Shilan headed to the office.
Taking the express elevator, he arrived at the 11th-floor CEO office.
Shortly after sitting down, Zhang Qian came in and said, “Mr. Jiang from Jiang Corporation is here and wishes to see you.”
Gu Shilan, looking at the bidding documents in his hand, didn’t even lift his head. “Tell him I’m not in.”
Jiang Yi had received a call from the factory early in the morning.
The supplier had suddenly cut off all their raw materials.
The Jiang family was in the daily necessities business, and cutting off raw materials was like severing their lifeline.
After a moment’s thought, he knew exactly who was behind it.
It must have been yesterday’s incident that angered Gu Shilan.
So he immediately came to plead with Gu Shilan, but he was met with a closed door before he could even step inside.
After receiving the response from the CEO’s special assistant, the receptionist politely said to Jiang Yi, “Mr. Jiang, I’m sorry, but Mr. Gu is out on business and hasn’t returned yet.”
Jiang Yi signaled to his assistant with a glance.
The assistant, quick on the uptake, immediately took out a newly released set of cosmetics from Di Lan from his briefcase and quietly placed it on the table in front of the receptionist.
Jiang Yi knew Gu Shilan was deliberately avoiding him and softened his tone. “Miss, I really have an urgent matter. Could you please call Mr. Gu for me again?”
The remaining raw materials at the factory wouldn’t last long, and if this wasn’t resolved quickly, the daily losses would be enough to cripple Jiang Corporation.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t be lowering himself like this to beg.
The receptionist pushed the cosmetics back, maintaining a professional smile. “Mr. Jiang, Mr. Gu really isn’t here. Please go back.”
Jiang Yi knew there was no point in saying more. Gu Shilan wasn’t leaving him any room for negotiation.
He left with his assistant, his face ashen.
The receptionist curled her lip and tossed the cosmetics they’d left behind into the wastebasket.
Was she crazy? Risk her job and get fired over a set of cosmetics just to offend the boss?
When Jiang Wan returned to the villa, she saw Wen Qing training Du Du in the yard.
Du Du was a competition-level Border Collie, now two years old and in the prime of youth and strength.
Seeing Jiang Wan, he trotted over to nuzzle against her, gentle, obedient, clever, and adorable.
“Young Madam.” Wen Qing looked up at the sound and greeted Jiang Wan. “You’re back from getting your marriage certificate.”