Xu Yun looked at him, hesitating to speak.
After a long pause, she managed to squeeze out a sentence, "Do you, do you like Nannan?"
"What?!" Xun Wu was dumbfounded.
No, how could he possibly like his boss.
That was simply impossible; he knew her too well, so he never harbored any other feelings for her and always treated her like "family," like his sister.
"No, no, no, I don’t like her, I just think of my boss as a sister! Did you misunderstand something?"
Xu Yun became even more puzzled, "Then why did you come to invite me to dinner on behalf of Nannan?"
Wasn’t that the best excuse?
With a forced laugh, he said, "My sister, of course, I care about her, and if I care about her, I care about her friends. Do you understand?"
Xu Yun didn’t quite understand.
"Heh, coward." Jiang Nanshu’s voice suddenly resounded from behind.
His face turned red with embarrassment.
There was a sense of helplessness, like being caught bathing and unable to find one’s clothes.
Xu Yun’s eyes lit up, "Nannan, I need to talk to you."
"Come in to talk," Jiang Nanshu led the way inside.
The two followed, and Xun Wu closed the door.
Jiang Nanshu sat in an office chair, looking at documents.
Her lush hair was all tied up, revealing a clean forehead, and a few rogue strands playfully dangled beside her cheeks, creating a serene feeling of peaceful years.
The next words Xu Yun wanted to say stuck in her throat, unable to comprehend why Jiang Nanshu’s life had to be so tough.
Jiang Nanshu waited for a while, seeing Xu Yun look at her hesitantly, and felt it odd, "Why are you looking at me like that? As if I am about to die."
Jiang Nanshu had made it worse.
As soon as she spoke, Xu Yun burst into tears.
Jiang Nanshu watched, stunned, as she started crying within a second.
Xun Wu was also taken aback and hastily pulled tissues from the desk for her, "No... why are you crying? Were you bullied at the hospital? Tell me who was bold enough to bully you, I’ll deal with them!"
"No, it’s neither of that..." Xu Yun wiped her tears, "It’s Nannan, ooh, she’s sick."
Jiang Nanshu paused, her expression softened, thinking it was something negligible.
"Why are you crying if I am sick? It’s not hurting you, there, it’s nothing, my body is still strong, I won’t die anytime soon."
Xu Yun, her eyes red, looked at her, "The doctor said they found shadows in your lungs, it might be lung cancer. Having this disease needs timely treatment. You’re coming with me to the hospital for checks tomorrow, in case it’s a misdiagnosis."
"Lung, lung cancer? My boss?" Xun Wu looked from Jiang Nanshu to Xu Yun.
His smile was somewhat strained, "What joke is this? She is lively and kicking, I’m watching over her."
"It’s true, look, Nannan’s medical report is still here. The doctor said early detection and treatment can control the condition and it can be cured, it’s going to be okay." Xu Yun, reassuring herself by the end, "It will be fine, Nannan is still young, she has a long road ahead."
Jiang Nanshu initially couldn’t believe such a thing could happen to her, but then recalled the years Zhou Yanbai confined her next to the chemical factory; the radiation there was significant, coupled with poor nutrition, her health had deteriorated.
In a moment, she accepted it.
She had already died once, dying again was no big deal.
And chemotherapy was ugly; it would cause hair loss.
Jiang Nanshu touched her lush, dense black hair; she definitely did not want to be bald.
"I won’t get treated."
Xu Yun looked at her in disbelief, "What?"
Jiang Nanshu turned her head to look at the blue sky outside, the weather was really nice, she liked the peaceful life, and after living for so many years, only the world within books felt truly comfortable to her.
"Sister Xu Yun, just let it be."
"Xun Wu, prepare to close the net, we can’t drag this on too long with Zhou Yanbai."
Xun Wu hesitated, his eyes momentarily dimmed, "Okay, boss."
"And about my illness, don’t tell anyone else. Keep it a secret," Jiang Nanshu smiled at the two of them.
Xu Yun’s throat tightened, and she turned around and stormed off.
Xun Wu looked back at Jiang Nanshu, his eyes reddening once again as he held back tears, fearing that he might disturb Jiang Nanshu with his crying, he held it in until he was outside before bursting into loud sobs.
Soon after, Xu Yun’s anxious comforting voice could be heard.
Jiang Nanshu suddenly wondered what it would be like when two people who both loved to cry were together.
Days passed by just like that.
Zhou Yanbai settled down in Beijing and often visited the courtyard houses, Jiang Nanshu would not go back there again.
She had re-bought the house because Uncle Qi said Zhou Yanbai had used some means to forcefully sell it, and she needed a breakthrough to enter Beijing’s business circle, so she bought the house back to give Uncle Qi some peace of mind.
Human hearts are unpredictable.
She believed Uncle Qi truly cared for her.
But there was another kind of loyalty, the kind that was dedicated to the family.
His loyalty to Zhou Yanbai was also genuine, and it surpassed his loyalty to her.
Therefore, Jiang Nanshu rented another apartment, initially wanting to buy it, but after seeing the medical report Xu Yun showed her, she thought it might be better to rent.
She quietly went to the hospital, and when the results came back, Jiang Nanshu did not ask about treatment but instead asked how long she could live without treatment.
The doctor hesitated but still gave a conservative estimate—"one year."
One year did not seem long, but it was enough for Jiang Nanshu.
She planned to use that time to kill Zhou Yanbai.
Jiang Nanshu had invested in many funds, the returns from each were breaking even, and sometimes there would even be a loss.
It was not until she began dealing with hedge funds and turned one billion into ten billion in just one month.
Her aggressive moves caught Zhou Yanbai’s attention.
He too had invested in many funds, hedge funds were insignificant for someone of his wealth.
The investment was highly risky, when one loses, they lose everything, but when one gains, it could catapult them into Forbes’ list of the wealthiest.
But Jiang Nanshu was incredibly lucky.
Investing little and earning a lot, nearly ten billion was secured.
Zhou Yanbai was tempted and joined in, he had a lot of money, enough for him to play around.
There was no reason that if Jiang Nanshu could make money, he couldn’t.
He wasn’t good at managing; he lived off the old capital left by Zhou Yanxu, whatever he invested in, he lost, and the hundred billion fortune supposedly left by his brother wasn’t as much as it sounded.
It was just a façade.
Now, the Zhou Family was just an empty shell with false power, lacking someone like Jiang Nanshu who could advance the company.
Zhou Yanbai enjoyed the dividends from the hedge funds, the huge amounts of money coming in satisfied him, and he invested more in the industry, keeping close tabs on the financial market’s fluctuations every day.
In just a moment, a lot of money could be lost.
"Boss, he’s fallen into the trap."
It was already nearing June.
The outside was warm, but Jiang Nanshu still wore thick clothes, feeling a bit cold as her appetite had gotten worse lately.
Jiang Nanshu squinted her eyes slightly, coughed once, and said smilingly, "I’m curious to see how long Zhou Yanxu’s money can last for him to keep this up."