Chapter 135: Money Is Really Tempting (8)
“Shuangshuang,” Jiang Zhiyan said, cautiously moving closer to Jin Shuang. “I wasn’t thinking, I just felt embarrassed that I didn’t catch anything, I didn’t want you to think I’m incompetent.”
“It’s just fishing, what does it matter if you’re good at it or not?” Jin Shuang said, looking at Jiang Zhiyan. “This lake is very deep! What if you fell? You’re a grown-up, why don’t you have any sense of safety… Go put on a life jacket.”
Jiang Zhiyan sat down obediently: “See, I’m staying away from the edge now, I wouldn’t have done that if I wasn’t sure it was safe.”
Jin Shuang ignored her and looked at the lake. Perhaps because her mind wasn’t calm, the fish weren’t biting.
Jiang Zhiyan moved closer to her, leaned against her, and nuzzled her: “I was wrong, don’t ignore me, please don’t be angry.”
“Shuangshuang~” Jiang Zhiyan said, holding Jin Shuang’s arm and drawing out her words. “Please talk to me.”
The System sighed in disgust: “Host, it seems like that’s the only trick you know, don’t you have any other ways of apologizing?”
“The other methods aren’t usable right now,” Jiang Zhiyan said, moving closer to Jin Shuang, trying to make her see her pitiful eyes, but Jin Shuang turned away.
“You’re not going to ignore me, are you? Then I’ll be so pitiful, so sad,” Jiang Zhiyan said, putting on a dramatic voice. “I just wanted to show off in front of you, wuwuwu.”
“Sister, Shuangshuang, good sister, please talk to me.”
The system muted itself, unable to listen any longer. How could Jiang Zhiyan even make those sounds? Jin Shuang was truly amazing, she didn’t even show any discomfort facing such sounds.
Jin Shuang’s composure almost crumbled under Jiang Zhiyan’s relentless coaxing, after a minute, she finally broke, although it was Jiang Zhiyan who was acting spoiled, it was Jin Shuang’s face that was flushed.
“Stop acting spoiled,” Jin Shuang said, her voice strained, as if she was trying very hard to control something, she patted the back of Jiang Zhiyan’s hand.
“Are you still angry?” Jiang Zhiyan asked. “Don’t be angry anymore, I won’t do anything dangerous again.”
“I’m not angry anymore, I’m not,” Jin Shuang took a deep breath.
“Then hug me,” Jiang Zhiyan said, moving closer and opening her arms. “Hug me, and we’ll be even.”
Jin Shuang put down her fishing rod, gave Jiang Zhiyan a brief hug, quickly let go, and sat back down, presenting a “calm and indifferent” profile.
The corners of Jiang Zhiyan’s mouth turned up slightly.
They fished for three hours, most of the fish were released back into the lake, they would eat the one Jiang Zhiyan caught.
“How did you even catch that?” Jin Shuang looked at the fish in the bucket. Even with the fish just sitting there, she would have difficulty catching it with her bare hands.
“Swift, accurate, and ruthless,” Jiang Zhiyan raised her hand. “It’s a pity, if you allowed it, I could demonstrate again.”
“Not allowed, let’s go,” Jin Shuang handed the bucket to someone nearby and pulled Jiang Zhiyan away. “Stay away from the edge.”
The System couldn’t understand how Jin Shuang could calm down so quickly. If it were the System, it would give her the cold shoulder for at least three days and three nights.
There was a wide variety of afternoon tea snacks, a whole table full. Jiang Zhiyan felt this setting was conducive to emotional bonding, but Jin Shuang was busy, receiving several calls within just ten minutes of sitting down.
Jiang Zhiyan observed Jin Shuang, watching her expression change rapidly.
“What happened?”
“Nothing, just more negotiations,” Jin Shuang said, twitching the corner of her mouth. “They don’t want a divorce anymore.”
“Huh?” Jiang Zhiyan immediately sat up. “You can’t give up now.”
“Of course not,” Jin Shuang sneered. “They don’t want a divorce now because they think the price is too high, I know what I’m doing.”
Jiang Zhiyan breathed a sigh of relief and held Jin Shuang’s hand: “I’m always on your side, never go back to him.”
“Don’t worry,” Jin Shuang said, looking into Jiang Zhiyan’s eyes, she didn’t know why, but she felt like if Jiang Zhiyan weren’t by her side, she might not have been so decisive about the divorce.
Jiang Zhiyan was, in a sense, her source of strength, having her around made her feel safe and secure.
The rumor of Jin Shuang and Mu Chen’s impending divorce had spread. Many well-informed people in their circle knew about it, and many came to inquire, those who didn’t dare ask the parties involved directly went to Jiang Zhiyan.
Many suspected Jiang Zhiyan had ulterior motives, and she rebuffed all such accusations.
However, unexpectedly, the other party involved actually believed it.
Jiang Zhiyan was puzzled when she saw a message from Mu Chen. She opened it, and her confusion only deepened.
[Mu Chen: Are you the one behind her wanting a divorce? Even if I divorce her, I won’t be with you.]
[Jiang Zhiyan: First, she’s divorcing you because you cheated, don’t act like you’re the victim. Second, don’t be so narcissistic.]
Mu Chen was about to reply when he found himself blocked. He frowned, tossed his phone aside, and looked at the people who had just given him advice.
“Who said she liked me?” Mu Chen asked, his brow furrowed.
“She did like you before,” the person opposite him said, frowning, then clapped their hands. “Oh, right, Brother Mu, maybe your image is ruined now, so she doesn’t like you anymore.”
Mu Chen glared at the speaker, who chuckled nervously: “Haha, just kidding…”
“So Jin Shuang is determined to get a divorce? Sigh, Jin Shuang is so good, it’ll be hard to find someone like her.”
Mu Chen leaned back against the sofa, frowning.
“Seriously, Brother Mu, you cheated… why did you even keep the evidence? I didn’t know you had that kind of hobby,” the person said, looking at Mu Chen, unable to hold back their curiosity, then they were nudged by the person next to them, stopping them from continuing.
Mu Chen looked up, puzzled: “What kind of hobby?”
“Filming videos, they all say Jin Shuang has something on you.”
Mu Chen’s face darkened: “Who’s spreading these rumors?”
“Didn’t you have people investigate the hotel for hidden cameras? So people are guessing you filmed it yourself.”
“That was to protect the safety of our guests,” Mu Chen said, clenching his fists. “Don’t spread these baseless rumors.”
Mu Chen was annoyed that this had gotten out, as expected, there were too many people working at the hotel, he shouldn’t have chosen the hotel, but it was too late to regret it now.
Thinking about the conditions Jin Shuang proposed, he became even more irritated, but if the rumors got out of hand, it was better to resolve this quickly and have Jin Shuang agree to a peaceful divorce.
The negotiations between the Jin and Mu families saw a breakthrough, and once that happened, the rest of the process went much smoother, but before everything was finalized, Jin Shuang refused to help Mu Chen save face.
Jiang Zhiyan, according to rumors, was a master manipulator, she wouldn’t say anything concrete, but people’s imagination was boundless, sometimes not saying anything was more effective than saying something.
“Jiang Zhiyan, acting like this, what are you going to do when they get divorced and you try to get close to her?”
“Oh, how many times do I have to say this?” Jiang Zhiyan said, waving her hand dismissively. “I liked Mu Chen before because he was handsome, rich, intelligent, and morally upright. Now, tsk, the illusion is shattered, what’s there to like? The Jin family is powerful, and our Jiang family is no match for them.”
Jiang Zhiyan made a disgusted face: “And haven’t you seen the pictures? Someone took pictures of Mu Chen working out, I heard that now…”
Jiang Zhiyan drew a circle on her stomach, and the gossiping people around her exchanged glances and shook their heads.
Mu Chen had been considered a heartthrob in City A’s wealthy circles, but recently, the number of people interested in him had plummeted. Mu Chen had wanted to find someone to spend time with and relax, but he couldn’t find any women willing to go out with him.
So Jiang Zhiyan was targeted by Mu Chen again, and she immediately went crying to Jin Shuang.
That night, during the negotiations between the Jin and Mu families, Jin Shuang expressed her strong displeasure at Mu Chen “threatening Jiang Zhiyan.”
“I don’t think that was a threat,” Mu Chen said, forcing a smile, he had only asked Jiang Zhiyan not to make any ambiguous statements on the phone.
“Sometimes tone can also be considered a threat,” Jin Shuang said, looking at him coldly and tapping the table twice. “For example, Mr. Mu, do you still want to reach a peaceful settlement?”
“She’s my good friend, it’s perfectly normal for her to be upset about my misfortune, perhaps Mr. Mu lacks empathy, if you had any, you wouldn’t have done such a thing.”
Mu Chen took a deep breath and swallowed his anger, Jin Shuang was becoming more and more sharp-tongued.
Because of the large amount of assets involved, the process took a whole month, even after being expedited.
On the day they went to get their divorce certificate, Jiang Zhiyan prepared a brazier for Jin Shuang to step over after coming out of the Civil Affairs Bureau.
“Congratulations, Miss Jin Shuang, on escaping the sea of misery!” Jiang Zhiyan clapped enthusiastically.
Mu Chen, who came out after her, glared at Jiang Zhiyan, who screamed in mock terror and hid behind Jin Shuang. Jin Shuang turned around and frowned at Mu Chen: “Mr. Mu, what are you doing? I’m still here.”
Mu Chen put on his sunglasses: “This matter is settled now, you’ve already received what you wanted, I hope Miss Jiang will refrain from using me as a topic of conversation in the future.”
“What do you mean ‘topic of conversation’? This isn’t gossip, it’s just a case study, to remind everyone to be more careful,” Jiang Zhiyan said.
Mu Chen looked at Jin Shuang: “Miss Jiang is still as sharp-tongued as ever at a time like this.”
Jin Shuang looked at Mu Chen impassively, clearly not thinking there was anything wrong with what Jiang Zhiyan said.
Mu Chen, finding his attempt to provoke them futile, didn’t want to stay any longer and angrily turned to leave. Before getting into his car, he heard Jiang Zhiyan’s distinct laughter, he couldn’t help but look back and saw a bright smile on Jin Shuang’s face.
He clenched his fists, this divorce was still somewhat painful, the Jin Shuang who used to claim she loved him was actually so happy, and thinking about the assets he had lost, his heart ached even more.
“I’ll treat you to dinner tonight to celebrate your return to singlehood,” Jiang Zhiyan said, holding Jin Shuang’s hand and having someone remove the brazier.
“Let’s go to my place, everything’s prepared there.”
Jiang Zhiyan’s initially delighted expression faltered, realizing that Jin Shuang might be referring to the Jin family’s old residence.
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