Chapter 15#

On the first morning of their marriage, Jiang Yicen ate breakfast personally cooked by Nan Shuyi. What’s more, Nan Shuyi didn’t even need him to do the dishes—he just put everything straight into the dishwasher.#

At the Jiang residence, Jiang Yicen had been studying how to integrate into this new society every day and never had the chance to tour the Jiang kitchen. When he saw Nan Shuyi’s dishwasher, he marveled inwardly that technology had advanced so much even washing dishes no longer required human hands.

At noon, Nan Shuyi took him back to the Nan family home for lunch. This was a Nan family wedding custom: the newlyweds were supposed to eat with the family the next day, to come home and meet everyone.

As soon as they entered, Nan Anru handed Jiang Yicen a big red envelope. Fearing that Nan Shuyi might be displeased, he didn’t ask his current wife to give Jiang Yicen a red envelope but instead had Yao Mengqian prepare a wedding gift for them.

Today was just a simple family dinner for the five of them. Nan Shuyi had a younger brother who was only in first grade, still at the mischievous stage, but in front of his older brother, the little one behaved much better and dared not cause trouble.

Nan Shuqi was very curious about Jiang Yicen, knowing that his brother had married a male sister-in-law.

Jiang Yicen was a bit nervous about whether the child would understand, but modern kids are exposed to vast amounts of information, and Nan Shuqi found nothing strange about it at all.

He accepted the gift Jiang Yicen gave him without hesitation.

What Nan Shuqi cared about more was the gift from his new brother-in-law. He exclaimed, “Wow! This is the blind box figure I’ve been trying to get forever—it’s already discontinued! Brother, you’re amazing!”

Jiang Yicen hadn’t expected to hear new slang from Nan Shuqi’s mouth either. It seemed that in this era, even children couldn’t be underestimated; they might even know more than he did.

Actually, this gift was prepared by Nan Shuyi. Jiang Yicen had no idea where to buy it or what franchise this doll came from, its origins, or background.

But from this, he could indirectly tell that Nan Shuyi cared about his younger brother, willing to spend time buying him the blind box figurines he liked—no, wait, “figures.”

Nan Shuqi bounced around excitedly over the set of blind boxes, completely unable to hold back from opening them. “I wanna open them, I wanna open them! I hope there’s a hidden one!”

Jiang Yicen was quite interested in blind boxes too, but it was almost time to eat. Yao Mengqian held Nan Shuqi back.

“Open them after the meal. It’s not urgent.”

“Ah, but I want to open them now, Mom.” He whined to Yao Mengqian.

Seeing that Jiang Yicen was also interested, his eyes fixed on the blind boxes, Nan Shuyi asked softly, “Do you like this set?”

“I’m curious what he’ll pull.” Jiang Yicen avoided directly answering whether he liked them. He hadn’t seen the box cover before and now noticed familiar cartoon images on it. He didn’t understand the concept of blind boxes, but he recognized Mickey Mouse. In his time, there were cartoons, but he had never seen a sales model like blind boxes. He was intrigued.

Nan Shuyi said to Yao Mengqian, “We ate breakfast late, so we’re not hungry yet. Let him open them first before we eat.”

Since Nan Shuyi had said so, Yao Mengqian had nothing to object to. She was also happy to see Nan Shuyi being kind to Nan Shuqi and hoped the brothers would grow closer.

“Yay yay yay!” With his big brother’s permission, Nan Shuqi began opening his blind box set.

Jiang Yicen watched with great interest. Nan Shuyi seemed to notice that he didn’t know the origin of these blind boxes and explained beside him.

“This is a figure from a collaboration between Disney and another brand. It was released last year, only sold in one batch, a limited edition in China.”

As Nan Shuqi prepared to open them, he asked Yao Mengqian to record a video for him.

Jiang Yicen watched him open one after another. When he got to the sixth box without pulling the hidden figure, the little guy was disappointed, but this feeling only lasted until they sat down at the table.

Nan Shuyi: “Want to try? I’ll buy you a set later.”

Jiang Yicen shook his head. “Opening blind boxes is about gambling and wishful thinking. It can be addictive.”

He used to have a Mickey Mouse plushie that his second brother gave him. He treasured it and kept it at home, but after so many years, it had probably disappeared in the war. Later, when Lincheng fell, he never had another chance to go to the theater to watch cartoons.

He never expected that more than eighty years later, he would hear the name Mickey Mouse again. It felt like the two timelines were somehow connected again, and he had found proof that he had once lived.

Dinner at the Nan family was relatively relaxed. With Nan Shuqi chattering away, the atmosphere was quite nice.

Nan Anru was very pleased with Jiang Yicen and even personally opened a bottle of good wine. They chatted about everyday family matters. Compared to Jiang Gongming, he was a very different kind of father.

Jiang Gongming liked to lecture people at the dinner table. Every time Jiang Yicen ate with him, he lost his appetite. With Nan Anru, however, it was much more relaxed. He was very warm and even used serving chopsticks to give him a chicken drumstick.

Jiang Yicen: “Thank you, Uncle.”

Nan Anru: “In our family, the youngest always gets the drumstick. When I was a kid, I barely got to eat them. I had two younger brothers, and the drumsticks always went to them.”

Jiang Yicen: “Then you have one, Uncle.”

Nan Anru gave Nan Shuqi a drumstick: “Now I just like watching you young people eat.”

Nan Anru was not only different from Jiang Gongming but also different from his own father. Although his father wasn’t a strict parent in the traditional sense—he would bring gifts when returning from long trips—he would never personally serve food to his children. It seemed Nan Shuyi had a pretty good father.

However, Jiang Yicen, who always adhered to dining etiquette, had never eaten such a large chicken drumstick in front of others. It wasn’t even the drumstick part but the whole thigh, shaped like a pistol and as big as one.

Since it was given by an elder, he couldn’t refuse, and not finishing it would be rude. Jiang Yicen looked to Nan Shuyi for help.

Nan Shuyi happened to be picking up some greens and didn’t catch his pleading look.

With no one to help, Jiang Yicen had no choice but to put the drumstick on the porcelain plate in front of him and pick up some other dishes.

What should he do?

Did he really have to pick up the drumstick with his hands and gnaw on it?

If this were a time of poverty, when there was no food, he would gnaw it however he wanted. But this was no longer that era; he still had to maintain dining etiquette.

Jiang Yicen changed his strategy. He decided to drink a few more toasts with Nan Anru. Maybe if the other party got drunk, he would forget about the drumstick.

Completely unaware that Jiang Yicen was plotting to avoid eating the drumstick, Nan Shuyi grew more and more puzzled. Yesterday, he was helping him fend off drinks, and today he was toasting his father. Had he, the newlywed who usually clashed with his father, completely lost his place in his spouse’s eyes?

Nan Shuyi didn’t know how well Jiang Yicen could hold his liquor, but he couldn’t let him drink to excess with Nan Anru.

He looked at his father with displeasure: “What are you two drinking so much for? Are we short on liquor at home?”

Nan Anru: “I’m happy today. What’s wrong with a few drinks?”

Yao Mengqian worried the father and son might argue again: “Oh, we’ve made so many good dishes today. If you only drink and don’t eat, aren’t you wasting all this food? These are all fresh seasonal spring vegetables. Old Nan, you have high blood pressure. Drink in moderation, okay?”

Jiang Yicen knew what high blood pressure meant—it wasn’t a good thing—so he immediately put down his glass.

This approach wouldn’t work. He had to ask Nan Shuyi for help again. Just then, Nan Anru turned his head to talk to Yao Mengqian.

He nudged Nan Shuyi with his elbow and whispered, “Can you help me eat this drumstick?”

Nan Shuyi quickly figured out why Jiang Yicen had been toasting his father. He smiled and said, “What’s in it for me if I help you?”

Jiang Yicen remembered he would have a job soon: “I’ll give you my first month’s salary.”

Nan Shuyi thought to himself, This guy really knows how to bribe people. “How much salary could you possibly have to give me?” As he spoke, he picked up the drumstick from Jiang Yicen’s plate and put it in his own bowl.

Jiang Yicen: “I don’t know. I’ll give you however much it is, okay?”

Jiang Yicen thought to himself that his first month’s salary was gone, but handing over his income to his wife seemed correct. His father had always handed over all his silver dollars to his mother for the whole family’s expenses. Thinking this way relieved him; it was perfectly reasonable.

Nan Shuyi started gnawing on the drumstick. It was tender, juicy, and tasted pretty good.

Nan Anru finished talking with Yao Mengqian and turned his head to see his eldest son, who had always hated the trouble of eating drumsticks since childhood, chomping down on a big one.

Oh, so it wasn’t that he didn’t like drumsticks after all.

Nan Anru didn’t call Nan Shuyi out on it. He was happy inside. From start to finish, he had never expressed any dissatisfaction with this marriage. His son was secretly pleased with it, wasn’t he?

After lunch, Nan Shuyi and Jiang Yicen went home.

Once Jiang Yicen had a drink, he easily got drowsy. He forced himself to stay awake on the way back, but when they got home, Nan Shuyi saw he was about to fall asleep while walking and couldn’t help telling him to go to bed.

Jiang Yicen went back to his room to rest for a while.

Nan Shuyi continued with his own work. After about ten minutes, Jiang Yicen’s phone, which he had left on the counter without taking upstairs, buzzed.

Why didn’t he take it upstairs?

How could anyone in this day and age not carry their phone with them? He hadn’t brought it when they went out in the morning either—Nan Shuyi had to remind him, and then he went back for it. The phone wasn’t even charged; he had heard the low-battery shutdown alert in the car and charged it on the way.

Jiang Yicen was probably sleeping soundly. Nan Shuyi glanced at the caller ID.

It was Jiang Yiting.

He took the initiative to answer for Jiang Yicen: “Jiang Yiting, something up?”

Jiang Yiting paused slightly, then recognized from the voice that it wasn’t Jiang Yicen: “Why is it you? Where’s Jiang Yicen?”

Nan Shuyi: “Sleeping.”

Jiang Yiting’s thoughts wandered, and his emotions were complicated: “You…”

Nan Shuyi couldn’t be bothered to wonder what he was hesitating about: “Just say what you need to say. I can pass it on to Yicen.”

Jiang Yiting: “Tell him to report to the marketing department at the company tomorrow.”

Nan Shuyi was annoyed by Jiang Yiting’s tone toward Jiang Yicen: “Are you giving an order to me or to him?”

Jiang Yiting: “He has no work experience. My father wants him to start by learning at the company.”

Nan Shuyi: “He’s not going.”

Jiang Yiting: “You can’t make that decision for him.”

Nan Shuyi: “You’re wrong. I actually can. Besides, you don’t really want him to work at Jiangda anyway, or he wouldn’t have been unemployed ever since he came back to the country.”

The internal situation at Jiangda was a mess. Jiang Yicen had been sent abroad since childhood and still suffered from severe stress disorder. Working under Jiang Yiting’s thumb would mean he’d be bullied to death. Nan Shuyi was indeed turning down Jiang Yiting on Jiang Yicen’s behalf without his consent, but he’d deal with that later. Right now, Jiang Yicen was under his protection, and he wanted to stand up for him.

Jiang Yiting was caught out. He really didn’t want Jiang Yicen to join Jiangda, because he had known since childhood that the only heirs to Jiangda would be him and Jiang Yifeng. Jiangda was the fruit of Jiang Gongming and his biological mother’s hard work; it couldn’t fall into the hands of a half-brother. He wasn’t even willing to let Jiang Yicen have a piece of the pie.

Originally, he had planned to assign Jiang Yicen to a subsidiary’s logistics department, where he could do whatever he wanted without affecting the main business. If he didn’t come at all, that would save even more trouble.

Nan Shuyi continued: “He didn’t get a single share of Jiangda’s stock, not even one subsidiary company. The cars and house he got are just pocket change compared to what you and Jiang Yifeng have. I hope you’ll convey my thoughts to your father. I understand not giving him shares, but you can’t treat him unfairly. Besides, Nanyuan Investment can still be withdrawn.”

When soft tactics failed, he switched to hard ones. Nanyuan’s investment was Jiang Gongming and Jiang Yiting’s weak spot.

Jiang Yiting: “I understand. I’ll convey your meaning to my father. We won’t mistreat Yicen.”

Nan Shuyi represented Nan Anru’s will. Since he was intervening, Jiang Yiting had to give him face. Although Nan Shuyi hadn’t joined Nanyuan, everyone knew how much Nan Anru doted on this son publicly. The future heir of Nanyuan would only be Nan Shuyi—there was no one else. After all, his younger brother was too young; by the time he grew up, Nan Anru would be nearly eighty.

At that moment, Nan Shuyi curled his lip. When Jiang Yicen was useful to them, he was “Yicen”; when not, he was “Jiang Yicen.” All foxes playing tricks, weren’t they?

After the call ended, he thought it over. Rather than letting Jiang Yicen go into a den of wolves, it was better to keep him under the watchful eye of his own people. He didn’t need Jiang Yicen to make big money—peace and happiness were enough.

He took the initiative to call his father. Nan Anru was pleasantly surprised and agreed to his request.

Jiang Yicen woke up in the evening. After unpacking his luggage, he went downstairs to get some water from the fridge.

Nan Shuyi walked toward the water dispenser and said to him, “I found you a pretty good position.”

Jiang Yicen followed behind him, wanting to get a drink: “What is it?”

Nan Shuyi took a bottle of cola from the fridge and handed it to Jiang Yicen: “I talked to my dad. You start Monday at Nanyuan Group’s headquarters marketing center. Later, you can handle projects involving Jiangda.”

Jiang Yicen’s expression went blank. He forgot to take the cola: “?”

Nanyuan Group’s headquarters marketing center? What was that?

All he felt was darkness before his eyes, as if the sky were falling.

He hadn’t even had time to learn the skills needed for the workplace. If he went to work like this, wouldn’t he cause trouble for Nanyuan?

Nan Shuyi opened the cola and handed it to Jiang Yicen. Seeing that he wouldn’t take it, he turned around, got a glass, poured the cola in, and even added a few ice cubes.

He placed the iced cola in Jiang Yicen’s hand: “Tsk, too happy to speak, huh?”

Jiang Yicen, forgetting propriety, downed more than half the glass in one gulp: “…”

It was said that modern shopping had a seven-day no-questions-asked return policy. Did that apply to marriages too?