Had the world where he was the only one getting hurt finally come to pass?
Jiang Zongyan was genuinely laughing from sheer anger.
“An ‘misunderstanding,’ is it? Come on, Suisui, sit down.”
Seeing his reaction, Zhou Sui'an immediately pulled Zhou Suisui over to the sofa and sat her down. He shoved Jiang Zongyan to the side and plopped down beside him.
Jiang Zongyan’s narrow brows furrowed slightly. He rose and moved farther away.
“What? You want to be my brother-in-law? Come on, call me Bro.”
Zhou Sui'an was furious too.
His precious little sister had started dating someone, and he was the last person to find out. That would have been bad enough, but this guy was still stammering and refusing to admit it?
His sister was sweet and gentle. What man could possibly be unworthy of her?
And now he was acting like he was the one being wronged?
“…”
Looking at that smug face, Jiang Zongyan found him more and more deserving of a beating.
What a blockhead.
Couldn’t he tell that his sister was doing this on purpose?
This was getting ridiculous.
He hadn’t even touched her hand, yet Zhou Sui'an had already slapped such a massive label on him!
He turned his head again and looked at Zhou Suisui sitting beside him.
When Zhou Suisui met his gaze, she immediately looked away guiltily.
Ahem.
I’m sorry, Brother Yan.
I can’t admit it yet. You’ll have to take the blame for a little while longer.
Jiang Zongyan was suddenly amused by the siblings’ attitudes, though only because he was too angry to know what else to feel.
He gritted his teeth and spat at Zhou Sui'an, “You blockhead.”
“You’re insulting me? You actually insulted me?!”
Zhou Sui'an completely lost it over those words.
He could be called stupid. People could say he wasn’t very bright. But they absolutely could not call him a blockhead!
Ever since they were children, he had been the “second idiot” trailing behind Jiang Zongyan.
“Listen to me, Sis. A man like this is no good. If you don’t break up with him now, are you planning to keep him around for the New Year?”
After hearing that, Jiang Ruitian’s eyes darted around. She couldn’t resist raising her hand to speak again.
“Sui'an, Suisui really likes my brother, and my brother is leaving for overseas in another month. If you stop her now, you’re stopping her from bravely pursuing love. Isn’t that—Mmph!”
“Stop talking.”
Zhou Suisui was startled and hurriedly covered her mouth.
She was practically ready to kneel before her.
My dear young lady, please!
They had agreed to keep things low-key and not let anyone find out, yet here she was, announcing everything to the entire room.
In the spacious private room, more than a dozen pairs of eyes turned toward them in unison.
“She’s talking nonsense. Heh-heh.”
Zhou Suisui forced a fake smile and explained to everyone.
Jiang Ruitian widened her eyes and struggled indignantly against Zhou Suisui’s hand.
“Mmph… Everything I said is true…”
“…”
Zhou Suisui wished she could find a hole in the ground, grab a little shovel, and bury herself alive.
She had to be crazy to choose Jiang Ruitian, such a big mouth, as her strategist—and even give her half of her allowance.
“Zhou Suisui, get out here!”
Zhou Sui'an had finally lost patience. He grabbed Zhou Suisui by the ear and dragged her toward the door.
“Ow, ow, that hurts! Bro, be gentler!”
Zhou Suisui had no choice but to let go of Jiang Ruitian and hurried after him. “Tiantian, save me!”
Worried, Jiang Ruitian followed them out and earnestly tried to persuade him. “Sui'an, let go of Suisui first. Wouldn’t it be great if Suisui became my sister-in-law? Why are you angry?”
“Yeah, why am I angry? I must have nothing better to do!”
Zhou Sui'an was so furious that he was babbling. His grip on Zhou Suisui’s ear tightened even more.
No one better try to talk him down now. He wanted to destroy the world along with himself.
“Ow, that hurts!”
Zhou Suisui wore an expression of utter despair. “Tiantian, don’t try to persuade him anymore.”
At this rate, her brother was going to pull her ear right off.
“Suisui, you’re my future sister-in-law. Of course I feel sorry for you.”
Jiang Zongyan: “…”
The noisy voices gradually faded beyond the door.
The room fell silent for several seconds.
This gathering had been arranged by Lu Chen. At that point, he had no choice but to rub his nose and step in to smooth things over.
“Everyone’s used to how protective Young Master Zhou is of his sister. Come, come, let’s drink. Tonight is Zongyan’s welcome-home banquet, so let’s raise our glasses and welcome him back to the country.”
“Right, right, let’s drink. Welcome home, Young Master Jiang.”
“Cheers.”
Everyone downed a glass.
One person, convinced of his own cleverness, let out a mocking laugh. “Young Master Zhou is seriously overestimating himself. It’s Suisui’s good fortune that Young Master Jiang would take a liking to her—”
Before he could finish, a lighter flew toward his head.
“Who? Who threw that?”
Wang Chunming smelled blood and angrily covered his head as he looked over. He immediately met a pair of sharp, black eyes and fell silent.
“If you have nothing useful to say, keep your mouth shut.”
Jiang Zongyan’s handsome face darkened, and his overwhelming presence made everyone tremble.
Anyone with eyes could tell that the Crown Prince was angry.
The room, which had been lively moments before, instantly fell quiet.
Everyone cast sympathetic glances at Wang Chunming.
There they went again—another fool who didn’t know when to stop and had walked straight into the line of fire.
With the Zhou siblings present, the Crown Prince had been in a good mood. Even when Young Master Zhou had snapped at him, he hadn’t truly gotten angry.
Did Wang Chunming really think that meant the Crown Prince was easy to deal with?
The lighter was made of pure gold. The moment it struck Wang Chunming’s head, a large lump rose, and blood poured down like a column.
Wang Chunming was the Wang family’s Second Young Master. He usually wasn’t particularly close to the others.
Recently, the Wang family had secured financing from the Jiang Group through a new product, so they had been deliberately trying to cultivate connections with the people around Jiang Zongyan. Lu Chen was one of them.
Tonight, he had begged Lu Chen to bring him along so he could make an appearance in front of Jiang Zongyan.
He knew nothing about the relationship between the Zhou and Jiang families.
He had thought he could use this opportunity to drive a wedge between them.
Instead, his scheme had backfired, and he had managed to anger Jiang Zongyan.
Lu Chen threw him a look reserved for idiots.
He had thought Wang Chunming was clever. It turned out he was merely too clever for his own good.
“Why are you still standing there? Apologize to Young Master Jiang! Are the affairs of the Jiang and Zhou families something an outsider like you can casually comment on?”
The Zhou and Jiang families worked together closely. The relationship between them affected the rise and fall of both groups’ stock prices.
Words like that were inappropriate whether spoken in private or in public. Wang Chunming had no right to say them.
“I’m sorry, Young Master Jiang. I was wrong. I didn’t mean to. I’m an idiot.”
As he spoke, Wang Chunming slapped himself across the face.
The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them. He hadn’t kept his composure, and he had underestimated the relationship between the Jiang and Zhou families.
Lu Chen felt a little sorry for him. “Zongyan, he didn’t mean any harm. Do it for my sake and calm down.”
Jiang Zongyan said coldly, “Make him leave. I don’t want to see him again.”
“Why are you still here? Get out.”
Lu Chen shoved the idiot toward the door.
“Yes, yes, I’m leaving right now.”
Wang Chunming covered his head and left in disgrace.
Jiang Zongyan no longer felt like drinking. He set down his glass and rose from the sofa.
Lu Chen was stunned. “You’re leaving already?”
“You all keep playing. Put all the expenses tonight on my tab.”
Watching him walk away, Lu Chen rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
How was it that he understood this man less and less?
Jiang Zongyan was obviously so indulgent toward Zhou Suisui!
Just now, his eyes had practically been glued to her. Even when Zhou Suisui sat on his lap, he hadn’t been angry—in fact, he had looked like he was enjoying it.
Did he really only see her as a younger sister?
Heh, your little sweetheart, huh?
