Jiang Youli was a little surprised. “Huh?”
“What? Didn’t you say last night that you wanted to meet my friends? After seeing you today, I rushed around and personally went to each of them to explain the situation,” Qi Huan said solemnly.
Jiang Youli had already remembered by the time she said “huh.” She just hadn’t expected Qi Huan to tell his friends about it so quickly.
Jiang Youli rubbed her nose and said, “I remember. I just didn’t expect you to move so fast. After all, we said we’d only consider having a get-together after my birthday banquet. You’ve only just found your biological younger brother, and Qi Tianxiang is also being used by Qi Shaoxiong and the others to make trouble. You have plenty to deal with right now.”
“But how could that be considered fast?” Qi Huan said. “Little Li’er, anything concerning you naturally deserves my full attention.”
Jiang Youli really couldn’t resist Qi Huan’s straightforward affection. She smiled and said, “Fine. What did your friends say?”
Qi Huan smiled. “They all said they were very eager to have a private meal with the famous Jiang Youli and meet you in person.”
Jiang Youli paused, then asked, “Did they come to our engagement banquet?”
“They did.” Qi Huan smiled. “But you were so dazzling that day, you probably didn’t notice them. They understood your situation, though, so they didn’t take it personally.”
Jiang Youli felt a little embarrassed. “So that’s how it was. Then at my birthday banquet, I’ll definitely meet your brothers separately. I can’t neglect them.”
“What about your friends, Little Li’er?” Qi Huan suddenly asked.
“What, do you want me to bring friends too and turn this into a matchmaking party?” Jiang Youli teased.
Qi Huan laughed. “Not exactly. I’m just curious. I’ve never met any of your friends, either.”
Jiang Youli thought about it, then answered honestly, “I really don’t have any friends, in the conventional sense.”
Did Ye Ying count as a friend?
Ye Ying was utterly loyal to her and regarded her as his leader. He had never placed himself on equal footing with her.
Did Zhou Yi count as a friend?
No. He was merely an older brother figure she had known when she was little.
If she absolutely had to name her friends, then perhaps it would be the three little ones—Xiaolv, Xiaobai, and Xiaohui.
At that thought, Jiang Youli deliberately turned her head to look at Xiaolv and Xiaobai, who were sleeping beside the head of the bed.
The two little ones were sleeping soundly.
“From a young age, I was always dealing with venomous insects and snakes. Apart from the uncles and aunties in the village who weren’t afraid of me, most people my age didn’t dare get too close to me. They respected and feared me more than they treated me like a companion or friend,” Jiang Youli explained. “But I’ve never felt lonely just because I didn’t have friends. There was simply too much I wanted to learn, and I never had much free time to manage complicated social relationships.”
That was also why Duan Jinghan had once felt that his efforts had gone unreturned. During their relationship, he had never felt that she truly valued him.
To be honest, if she hadn’t needed to help Qi Huan treat his legs, Jiang Youli wouldn’t have had much time to spare for him, either.
So even though she had been in the capital and back at the Jiang residence for two or three months, she still hadn’t officially gone on a single date with Qi Huan, let alone found the leisure to meet his friends.
The last time she had brought up Qi Huan’s friends, she had merely mentioned it in passing as a joke. She hadn’t expected him to immediately tell her that his friends wanted to meet her for a private meal.
Qi Huan said, “Perhaps you only think you don’t have any friends. Someone as outstanding as you should have plenty of people who want to be your friend. Qi An'an sometimes chats with me and tells me how happy she is to have met you. She says that if she could become your friend, she’d be thrilled. She just feels that she isn’t capable enough and doesn’t deserve to.”
Hearing Qi Huan mention her, Jiang Youli was stunned. “Really?”
Come to think of it, Qi An'an really did like chatting with her.
Even though Jiang Youli’s replies were neither prompt nor enthusiastic, and she never initiated their conversations, Qi An'an still contacted her almost every day to gossip about interesting things.
With that in mind, Jiang Youli said, “After I meet your brothers, I’ll find an opportunity to introduce you to some people I’m close to… people I know well.”
“All right,” Qi Huan said with a smile.
…
After ending the video call with Qi Huan, Jiang Youli opened her chat with Qi An'an.
Qi An'an had sent her quite a few messages that day.
[Cousin-in-law, I voted for you in the new-song showdown between you and Jiang Zhao on Weibo! I even sent it to a few of my best friends and asked them to vote for you too! I know it won’t make a huge difference, but I’ll definitely pay to support your new song the moment it comes out!]
Jiang Youli simply replied: [Thanks!]
After Jiang Zhao posted his response on Weibo, Qi An'an sent another message.
[That Jiang Zhao is even more disgusting than Li Zixuan! At least Li Zixuan is just a dog at Long Yuan’s side, but Jiang Zhao keeps claiming that he wants your forgiveness, only to stab you in the back again and again. I sincerely hope someone like him gets canceled as soon as possible!]
Jiang Youli’s reply was just as brief: [Stay calm. He isn’t worth getting angry over!]
Then, just before Jiang Youli’s call with Qi Huan, Qi An'an had sent three screenshots of her conversation with Duan Jinghan.
[Cousin-in-law, I sounded him out for you, and the birthday gift Duan Jinghan wants to give you really shocked me! He plans to transfer to you five percent of the shares in the food-delivery company his father gave him as compensation for abandoning him!]
[Of course, there’s a condition: you have to call off your engagement with Brother Huan and get engaged to him instead! I admit the birthday gift is valuable, but he’s seriously dreaming!]
[Whatever Brother Huan can give you, he can definitely give you more!]
Given the near-monopoly position of the Duan family’s food-delivery company in China, five percent of its shares would be extraordinarily valuable.
Duan Jinghan intended to give them to her on the condition that she become his fiancée. If she had been any ordinary woman from a modest background, she would probably have been overwhelmed by such an offer.
But Jiang Youli didn’t care about it in the slightest.
The businesses she already owned, along with her research and auctions involving rare medicinal herbs, were more than enough to keep her comfortable for the rest of her life. To her, money was as easy to obtain as reaching into a bag. It held no allure.
She didn’t know what she wanted most as a birthday gift, but it certainly wasn’t something Duan Jinghan wanted to give her—especially not a gift carrying such a strong sense of transaction.
Jiang Youli replied:
[Yeah, you’re right. He really is dreaming. I love Huanhuan. Unless Huanhuan betrays our relationship, I won’t give up on our engagement even if he gives me nothing at all.]
[An'an, you don’t need to waste any more time on him. Just tell him directly that the person who’s been chatting with him all this time wasn’t me.]
[Thank you so much for dealing with Duan Jinghan on my behalf these past few days. Come over to my house for dinner when you have time. Auntie Wang is a wonderful cook.]
The other end responded with an excited emoji.
[Really? I can actually go to your house for dinner, Cousin-in-law?]
[Great! I’ll tell Duan Jinghan right away that the person he’s been chatting with all this time was me, not you!]
…
Qi An'an jumped out of bed and bounced around excitedly.
“The goddess actually invited me to her house for dinner! Oh my gosh! My poor heart!”
“I have to hurry and help her deal with that Duan Jinghan guy!”
She quickly calmed herself, picked up her phone, switched to her chat with Duan Jinghan, and, following Jiang Youli’s instructions, sent him a message revealing her identity.
