The Byoukidere Is Her Sweetie
Chapter 312: 312: Jiang Family Secret, the real big boss is... (second update

Chapter 312: 312: Jiang Family Secret, the real big boss is… (second update

He sat next to her and pecked her behind the ear, “How come you’re still shy? You’ve seen it so many times already.”

Zhou Xufang: “…”

Her neck turned red at that.

Jiang Zhi stopped teasing her and handed her the towel, bowing his head, “Help me wipe.”

She climbed out of his embrace, one knee pressed against the couch, standing as she wiped his hair.

Beneath Jiang Zhi’s bathrobe, his collarbones were partially exposed. Having been sick for a long time, his skin was much whiter than the average male’s, delicate and flushing red from the hot water.

Zhou Xufang thought of a saying, “Beauty lies in the bones, not the skin.” Describing Jiang Zhi was not quite fitting; he was blessed with beauty in both bones and skin.

“Is there something you want to tell me?”

Zhou Xufang quickly shifted her gaze from his collarbones, her face secretly heating up, “Lu Sheng has started dating my uncle.”

Jiang Zhi, with head tilted back and hair slightly longer, obscuring his brows and eyes a bit, “Are you that happy?”

She nodded, “My uncle has been living a hard life alone; having a good girl like Lu Sheng with him means he won’t be so lonely.”

Talking about it, she sighed, her brow furrowed, a mix of happiness and worry, “The Lu Family will probably oppose, right?” Opposition was to be expected, and she understood, but it still pained her to think of her uncle.

“The Lu Family’s lineage isn’t complex, not many people, not so complicated,” Jiang Zhi, who had dealt with the Lu Family, held some understanding and shared with her, “Old Mrs. Lu is very reasonable, and Lu Sheng’s mother is a very nice person. Her father, a henpecked husband, doesn’t have much say at home. Both parents dote on their daughter; if Lu Sheng insists, they likely won’t oppose too much.”

Zhou Xufang felt somewhat relieved, “What about Lu Xinglan?”

Why bring him up?

Jiang Zhi took the towel from her hand and sat down with her in his arms, “He’s just busy sleeping.”

A real Sleeping Beauty.

Zhou Xufang found it amusing, “He’s quite a unique person.”

Saying this, Jiang Zhi grew displeased, “What’s so unique?” Unique sounded like a compliment, and he disliked hearing Zhou Xufang praise other men.

She could only praise him.

Zhou Xufang hadn’t noticed the sourness in the air yet, “During the banquet today, he fell asleep while eating, and no matter how much we called, he wouldn’t wake up. After the engagement party ended, it was the hotel security that carried him out.”

Jiang Zhi snorted, “That’s an illness.” Special my foot!

Straightforward and utterly lackluster in self-preservation, Zhou Xufang said, “He’s also good-looking.”

Truth be told, Lu Xinglan was blessed with good looks, but Jiang Zhi picked up Zhou Xufang, seating her face-to-face on his lap, and warned her seriously, “Zhou Xufang, you can’t compliment other men.”

He would get jealous.

Zhou Xufang didn’t compliment, she spoke the truth, “I think he looks a bit like you.” She covered half of his face, looked again, and couldn’t specifically tell where but, oh right, “It’s also similar when sleeping.”

Jiang Zhi completely disagreed, “How is it similar?” Eyes, nose, mouth, none are alike.

Zhou Xufang thought for a moment, listing, “Both of you grind your teeth.”

“…”

Jiang Zhi denied, “I don’t grind my teeth.”

Zhou Xufang was a factual person, “You grind your teeth.”

He licked his lips, staring at Zhou Xufang, “I don’t.” As he spoke, he ground his molars a bit.

Zhou Xufang thought he might have been asleep and not aware of his teeth grinding, so she said, “Next time I can record it for you.”

Jiang Zhi: “…” followed by more grinding of his molars.

Indeed, his sleeping habits were terrible; even asleep, he ground his teeth.

That wasn’t the point. The point was, “Zhou Xufang, why are you observing other men sleeping?”

Zhou Xufang could only watch him sleep!

Zhou Xufang could only hear him grind his teeth!

“I wasn’t observing.” Zhou Xufang said, “I just have good hearing, I heard him grinding his teeth.”

Jiang Zhi, no matter how he heard it, wasn’t pleased, “Don’t mention grinding teeth anymore.”

Zhou Xufang: “Oh.”

Oh, Jiang Zhi still thinks he doesn’t grind his teeth.

“Do you still want me to record it for you?”

Who would want to listen!

Jiang Zhi promptly silenced her mouth.

The next morning, when the Gui family arrived, Zhou Xufang was still asleep.

Jiang Zhi closed the door as sunlight just reached the stairwell; the grey cat snuggled at the doorway, freshly awakened, stretched lazily and meowed twice.

“How long have you been by Old Madam’s side?”

Gui Family answered, “Almost fifty years.”

Feeling cautious not to wake Zhou Xufang, Jiang Zhi lowered his voice, “How much do you know about her feud with the Lu Family?”

Gui Family, being a close attendant to Xu Jiuru, naturally knew some.

“Before Old Madam left her family, she was once engaged to Old Master Lu. Later, because of Old Madam, Old Master Lu met the current Mrs. Lu. Not long after that, the Lu Family came to the Xu Family to call off the engagement,” said Gui Family. “It was from that incident on that the once close friends became enemies.”

There were some rumors in the Imperial City about Xu Jiuru and Old Master Lu, and Jiang Zhi also knew that Xu Jiuru had admired Old Master Lu before marrying into the Jiang Family, but he did not know they had actually been engaged.

It turned out to be a feud over a husband, no wonder Xu Jiuru despised Lin Qiunan so much.

Jiang Zhi asked again, “What about my mother?”

Gui Family pondered for a while and then said, “When your mother was alive, Old Madam wasn’t very fond of her.”

He naturally knew this too, “Also because of the Lu Family?” He had heard a bit from Jiang Wei’er that his mother had had a fling with Lu Jingyuan.

“Old Madam never mentioned it, but her dislike for your mother probably had something to do with the Lu Family,” said Gui Family, candidly. “Mr. Lu, Lu Jingyuan, was your mother’s first love. Not long after Mr. Lu’s unexpected death, your father took your mother over the threshold without consent, and at that time your mother was quite unwilling; it caused quite a stir. Later, after you were conceived, their relationship eased somewhat.”

He shouldn’t have been just ‘quite unwilling’.

When Jiang Wei’er mentioned this period, he used two phrases: ‘by any means necessary’ and ‘coercive seizure’.

“After your mother passed away, before the seventh day of mourning had even passed, your father followed her in death. Old Madam must have harbored some resentment, so after the funeral, she didn’t set up a memorial tablet for your mother nor did she place it in the ancestral hall.”

Jiang Zhi pondered for a while, then crouched down and poured some cat food for the grey cat, “You should go back so that you aren’t found out.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Then, she hastened down the stairs.

As soon as Jiang Zhi opened the door, he saw Zhou Xufang; she had just woken up, still wearing her pink bunny pajamas, her hair in disarray, and marks that he had left on her neck last night visible.

“Did you hear everything?”

“Mm,” she fiddled with her hair and asked, “Jiang Zhi, did the grandmother you just talked to have any children?”

Jiang Zhi shook his head, “She was widowed early on and has no children.”

With no children and being so old, she should not be easily swayed by money, Zhou Xufang was still cautious, “Why did she betray Old Madam? Why is she helping you?”

“My mother was medically trained and once received benefits from her. She was the second person to warn me there was a problem with the medication,” Jiang Zhi smoothed a tuft of her hair sticking up at the back of her head, “The first was you.”

Since then, Gui Family had begun working for him, and over the years, she had been involved in surreptitiously substituting his medication.

Zhou Xufang was still not reassured, “One must always be cautious.”

“I know.”

To be honest, apart from Zhou Xufang, Jiang Zhi did not fully trust anyone; even his friends like Qiao Nanchu had to be regarded with a degree of reservation. After all, they were now people with influential ancestors. To put it in perspective, in any situation, he prioritized Zhou Xufang.

“Let’s see what other motives Old Madam might have; I haven’t fully figured her out yet.”

Zhou Xufang entrusted him, “I’m not as clever as you, unable to help you with these things, but if you are ever upset, I can help you beat someone up.”

Jiang Zhi smiled and agreed, leaning in to kiss her.

Zhou Xufang immediately backed away, “I haven’t brushed my teeth.”

“…”

She hurried into the bathroom.

Outside Yuquan Bay, a car was parked, a driver waiting in the driver’s seat.

After leaving the compound, Gui Family didn’t immediately get into the car but walked aside and made a phone call.

“Did you see Jiang Zhi?”

It was a young woman’s voice, very gentle.

Gui Family replied, “I did.”

She then asked, “Did you say everything I told you to?”

“I did.”

The line was silent for a while.

The person on the other end of the phone seemed to be reading a book, the sound of flipping pages coming through; after a long time, she asked, “Is he at Zhou Xufang’s place?”

Gui Family said, “Yes.”

She seemed to chuckle, murmuring to herself, “He really does love her a lot.”

After that sentence, the call was disconnected.