Cui Wu couldn’t help saying, “Miss, Young Master Jiang is so good to you. I knew you were the one he liked.”
If he didn’t like her, why would Young Master Jiang willingly let her use him?
“Like I care…”
Zhou Suisui tried to sound dismissive, but the corners of her mouth were threatening to give her away.
“Oh?” Cui Wu teased. “If you don’t care, I’ll call Assistant Lin back right now and give the diamond to him.”
“Don’t!”
Zhou Suisui quickly pressed a hand to the box, then tucked it protectively into her bag. “There’s no way I’m giving back a gift someone gave me.”
Cui Wu shook her head with a smile.
Miss was clearly all talk. She cared about that gift very much.
Just then, Zhou Suisui’s phone gave a soft little ping.
Her heart skipped a beat.
She had a strong feeling that the message was from Jiang Zongyan.
The instant the sound stopped, she snatched up her phone and opened it.
J: [Got your gift?]
Zhou Suisui touched her ear, her earlobes burning hot.
Even though he’d sent only a few cool, impersonal words, she could almost hear his deep, magnetic voice echoing right beside her.
Cui Wu was practically bursting with excitement. “Miss, what did Young Master Jiang say? Hurry and reply!”
Worried that Zhou Suisui, being new to dating, might not know what to do, she added eagerly, “Miss, if you want to win a man over, you have to know how to sweet-talk him. He gives you a gift, you thank him and praise him—praise him as much as you can. Then he’ll be motivated to give you even more. A few sweet words don’t cost us a thing. Best to flatter him until he’s completely under your spell and willing to give you anything.”
Zhou Suisui felt awkward.
Would a man like Jiang Zongyan really enjoy a woman’s sweet talk?
She couldn’t even picture it.
She tapped out a few words on her screen.
Thorny Little Rose (haughty): [Hmph. I’ll accept gifts, but nothing else.]
On his way home, Jiang Zongyan read her reply and couldn’t help laughing softly. His eyes were full of warmth.
[May I ask, Miss, what exactly do you mean by “nothing else”?]
Zhou Suisui touched her burning face.
Help! Who was it who said Young Master Jiang was cold and uptight, and had no idea how to flirt?
He had a whole repertoire of lines for charming women!
Just a few simple words were enough to set her heart racing.
He was playing dumb, so she’d play dumb too.
[No idea.]
J: [What about me? Do you want me?]
Thorny Little Rose: [No!]
J (disappointed): [You really don’t?]
Thorny Little Rose (freaking out): [This baby is only nineteen!]
J: [You’ll be twenty next month. Old enough to get a marriage license.]
“…”
Zhou Suisui stared at the screen, her face turning even redder.
Good grief!
That dog of a man!
Did he think he could trick her into marrying him with eight diamonds? Fat chance!
Well, all right, the eight diamonds were worth a fortune…
She thought for a moment, then sent back:
[An old man that crafty is no good. Hmph. Haughty-face.jpg]
On the other end of the phone, Jiang Zongyan gently rubbed his thumb over the “haughty” sticker. He couldn’t help imagining her soft, cuddly little self, speaking in that sweet, babyish voice of hers—adorable to the core.
J: [Who was it that said old men know how to dote on people? Now that you have the chance to find out, you're chickening out.]
[Who’s chickening out?! Who?!]
Provoked by his words, Zhou Suisui replied without a second thought.
The moment she realized she had fallen right into his trap, she hurriedly hit “recall.”
This old fox.
Her brother had been absolutely right—this man was calculating to the core. She was no match for him.
He could sell her off, and she’d probably still happily count the money for him.
“...”
Zhou Suisui gripped her phone nervously, praying silently: He didn’t see it. He didn’t see it.
If he had seen that message, he would definitely seize the chance to tease her about it.
What she didn’t know was that Jiang Zongyan had already taken a screenshot and saved it. She had recalled the message too late.
The man’s helpless sigh faded softly into the air.
For him, perhaps this was the best opportunity.
It meant that if he pushed just a little further and tore away the last thin veil between them, she would have no choice but to face—or respond to—his feelings.
But the girl was a little snail.
When he indulged her, she would boldly act cute and cling to him.
But the instant he got serious, she would retreat straight back into her shell.
Jiang Zongyan raised a hand, his long, well-defined fingers pinching the bridge of his nose helplessly.
Since he couldn’t bear to be harsh with her, he might as well spoil her.
“??”
Zhou Suisui waited for a while.
When Jiang Zongyan didn’t reply again, she couldn’t help letting out a breath of relief.
But before she could fully relax, another message from him came through.
J: [Is your stomach feeling better?]
“??”
Zhou Suisui was dumbfounded.
Wasn’t this guy changing the subject a little too abruptly?
For some reason, though, she felt relieved.
Her brother’s situation still hadn’t been resolved, and she had no way to sort out the tangled mess in her own mind right now.
Just as she was about to tell him that it didn’t hurt anymore... her phone chimed again.
J: [I’m coming over to see you now. I’ll bring you some medicine to warm your stomach while I’m at it.]
He was coming to see her now?!
Just kill her already!
Was he trying to make the Zhou household even more chaotic than it already was?
Snapping out of her daze, Zhou Suisui hurriedly replied: [No! I’m already asleep!]
J (with a soft laugh): [Then... rest early, an.]
“...”
Zhou Suisui hugged her phone, her cheeks burning like freshly boiled crab. She was so embarrassed her toes curled.
Staring at the two lonely syllables on the screen—“an”—
For some reason, she suddenly thought—
a... n... I love you...
This racing-heart, thrilling, sweet sensation was something she had never experienced before.
Could this be what liking someone felt like?
She liked Jiang Zongyan!
The thought flashed through her mind, and Zhou Suisui froze as though she had been struck by lightning.
“Little sister, don’t believe Jiang Zongyan! Aren’t they just a few lousy diamonds? Tomorrow, your brother will take you abroad to buy some. Pick whichever ones you want—the bigger and brighter, the better!”
Zhou Sui’an’s voice came again from outside as he knocked on the door, pulling Zhou Suisui’s wandering senses back to reality.
Her expression instantly darkened. She pouted, looking thoroughly annoyed.
“Why is he still outside?”
At the mention of Zhou Sui’an, Cui Wu sighed. “The young master is just too naïve. That’s why Su Wan managed to deceive him for so long... Miss, I think he truly knows he was wrong this time. Why don’t you forgive him just this once?”
“No.”
Zhou Suisui immediately put on a stern face. “This time, we have to teach him a lesson he’ll never forget. Otherwise, he’ll do something stupid again next time.”
With that, she unlocked her phone and opened Weibo.
#Jiang family heir Jiang Zongyan, the Zhou Group’s eldest young master Zhou Sui’an, and Tianyu Group’s young master Xiang Lingxiao engage in a fierce bidding war at an auction#
The topic had already exploded on the trending list.
Several related hashtags followed close behind.
#Su Wan secretly deletes her Weibo post—guilty conscience exposed!#
#Xiang Lingxiao splashes out a fortune for a beauty, openly challenging the Jiang family#
#Starlet Su Wan has men wrapped around her finger: Eldest Young Master Zhou’s confession falls through, and Young Master Xiang immediately steps in#
Public opinion was increasingly veering in a harsher direction.
Netizens mocked the entertainment industry for being far too chaotic. This little starlet was with one rich young master today, then another tomorrow...
And this Young Master Xiang had no standards at all—he would take anything!
It hadn’t been long since Eldest Young Master Zhou’s grand, worldwide confession, yet Xiang Lingxiao was already rushing to stand up for Su Wan, even at the cost of offending the Jiang family.
The rumors seemed to grow wings.
They became more and more outrageous.
By the end, some people were even saying that Su Wan knew how to cast love spells, and that no man could escape the palm of her hand.
Quite a few netizens even left public comments under her Weibo posts:
[When are you opening a debutante training class? I’ll be the first to sign up!]
When Su Wan got home and saw those comments, she was so furious that she snapped off one of her manicured nails.
—
Another day of secretly updating in the middle of the night~~ Calling all night owls~~
