Jiang Nanshu looked at Jiang Zhouye, who was resting with his eyes closed, filled with question marks.
"Fourth Brother, did you come to school to watch my performance too?"
[Ah? No way? The sun must have risen from the west for him to actually come to my school to watch my performance.]
Jiang Zhouye took off his mask, revealing a defiant face that was tense, "Jing University isn’t owned by you, is there a reason I can’t come?"
Jiang Nanshu, with a grievance-stricken voice, said, "Fourth Brother, can you not be so fierce, please? It hurts my feelings."
[I must be having ear problems? Why doesn’t his throat sound as hoarse as before? Could it be that in my absence, the management of Flower Tea has been neglected! That’s great, I knew it, without my supervision, this house would sooner or later be my downfall.]
Jiang Yunchuan: "..."
For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.
Faced with Jiang Nanshu’s apparently aggrieved but actually probing gaze.
Jiang Zhouye coughed lightly, making his voice much hoarser, "Don’t act pitiful, and don’t forget that you promised to accompany me to the concert tomorrow."
Jiang Nanshu looked at him with a pitying gaze, her face full of emotion, "Fourth Brother, wuwuwu, you truly are my role model. Even with your throat in such a condition, you still haven’t forgotten about your team’s concert. Your professionalism is making me cry."
[Even if you go, it’ll be no use, they’ll definitely reorganize tomorrow, and you’ll be eliminated. A singer who can’t sing is useless to your company – they propped you up when you were popular and kicked you to the curb when you fell from grace. Then you ended up fighting against your company with a painful throat, selecting a few songs, until your rival dumped the dirt on you, and your tax evasion turned you into a notorious artist who got shelved, blackened through and through.]
Jiang Zhouye’s face darkened.
So, the "dirt" in Jiang Nanshu’s inner thoughts turned out to be tax evasion!
He had always been diligent and had never done such things; he must have been framed.
[You even faced disfigurement, trying the experience of having sulfuric acid thrown on your face is worth it once, right?]
Jiang Zhouye subconsciously touched his face. Jiang Yunchuan sitting in the passenger seat grimaced painfully, "Mommy, that’s so harsh."
Meanwhile, Jiang Nanshu’s gaze became resolute, "Don’t worry, with me there tomorrow, you’ll definitely experience an unforgettable concert."
Jiang Zhouye was instantly creeped out, looking at her with fear, his voice trembling without him even noticing, "What are you planning?"
"Of course to help you get back on stage. As a superstar in the music industry, I won’t allow you to be buried just like that!"
[Hehe, I’m gonna make you social death, picking your dream castle right out from between your toes.]
"No need! Don’t act rashly; I’m just going tomorrow to say goodbye to them!" Jiang Zhouye was truly scared of her.
If that wretched company was going to kick him out, he couldn’t stay there any longer!
Moreover, he had to severely extort a sum from that rotten company, to make up for the loss of five million he had given to Jiang Nanshu.
The person behind it all would surely be sent to prison once he dragged them out.
The luxury car had just stopped at the entrance, and Jiang Nanshu got out of the car.
A kid rushed over and clung to her legs.
"Sister Nanshu, you’ve come, Xuxu missed you."
Shang Xu, who had appeared from nowhere, had his eyes filled with tears, and it was clear he had been squatting at the doorstep of the Jiang Family’s house for a long time.
Jiang Nanshu was also surprised, "What are you doing here?"
Shang Xu, with downcast eyes, said, "I sneaked out to wait for you, I don’t want to be cooped up in the villa studying, wuwuwu, I want to go to school and play with Little Ha, wuwuwu, Sister Nanshu, please save my doggy, my grand-aunt is going to kill my little dog."
Jiang Nanshu looked at the villa with its lights on and the Old Housekeeper who was hiding in the dark protecting Shang Xu.
That villa had only one light on in the front; the whole house was dark as night, like a haunted house.
"And the Shang Xu’s maternal grandmother must be Lu Mother," she thought.
She had always been curious about why Shang Xu, a mere four-year-old child, was found in the neighboring villa, where no one else lived, accompanied only by an old housekeeper. It had been so long and, apart from Lu Qingyan, his young uncle who would take him out, she had never seen any sign of his parents, grandmother, or grandfather. It was as if he had been abandoned here.
Shang Xu was sobbing, clinging to Jiang Nanshu without letting go.
She turned her head and helplessly said to Jiang Yunchuan and Jiang Zhouye, "Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother, you guys go in first. I’ll take this little brat home."
Jiang Yunchuan hesitated, wanting to say something but stopped himself.
Jiang Zhouye glanced at the old housekeeper in the dark and lowered his voice, "The matters of the Shang Family are a bit complicated. This child... is Lu Qingyan’s cousin’s son. His mother is from the Lu Family and married into the Shang Family for a union. Just leave him alone."
Jiang Nanshu felt somewhat confused.
Her CPU was almost burnt out.
So Shang Xu’s father is Lu Qingyan’s cousin, and his mother, before she was married, was Lu Qingyan’s cousin as well?
She didn’t understand either; since Lu Mother had already married into the Lu Family, why would they send another one?
Shang Xu looked at Jiang Zhouye with a hostile gaze, holding onto Jiang Nanshu even tighter. His little body was still trembling, looking very pitiful.
The white gates of the estate opened, revealing bright orange streetlights inside. A red carpet extended all the way to the villa’s front steps.
Housekeeper Qian stood at the entrance of the estate and bowed to the three of them.
With a wave of his hand, the servants behind him said in unison, "Welcome Young Masters and Misses home!"
Jiang Yunchuan and Jiang Zhouye walked in with inscrutable expressions, clearly having experienced this numerous times before.
For Jiang Nanshu, experiencing this for the first time: "..."
[So tacky, but I love it! Ahh, if it weren’t for taking this little brat home, I’d want to walk down that red carpet too!]
She dragged Shang Xu along, grinding her teeth, "It’s all your fault. Otherwise, I could have walked down the red carpet too."
Shang Xu looked forlorn, his voice became much softer and sticky as he pleaded, "Then, then I’ll lay it out for you tomorrow, okay? Please just save my Little Ha first."
Jiang Nanshu sighed, "I really can’t with you. Where was that dog thrown to? You’re allergic to dog fur, maybe you shouldn’t keep it."
As soon as this subject was brought up, Shang Xu burst into tears, "No, no, Little Ha is my good friend, I don’t want him to go, waaa, Mommy promised me, as long as I behaved and came here, I could keep the dog, they lied to me."
She stroked Shang Xu’s soft black hair, "Silly child, you believe what adults say to pacify children?"
The two entered the black estate gate, and the old housekeeper followed in after them.
Thanks to Shang Xu’s guidance, Jiang Nanshu quickly found Little Ha.
It was locked in a cage in the basement, in a barely breathable area with a mix of foul odors.
Seeing a familiar face, it excitedly wagged its tail and barked nonstop.
Its soft white fur had become dirty, which Jiang Nanshu found repulsive.
"Where’s the key? Where is it?"
Shang Xu shook his head, "Bodhi Island."
Jiang Nanshu looked around, hoping to find a sharp object to open the cage but then noticed the room was arranged like a child’s study room, with a small bed and a desk piled with books.
She felt a bit uneasy.
The light above suddenly flickered, and the basement door closed automatically.
"Aw, waaaa, don’t, don’t close the door, waaa, don’t lock me in." Like he was triggered by something, Shang Xu dashed over, knelt on the ground, his little hands banging on the door, his crying loud, "I’ll be good, don’t lock me in, I won’t look at Little Ha anymore, waaa."
Jiang Nanshu was plunged into darkness.