Chapter 157: Life and Death Together

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Like Zun Garden, Starfish Bay was also a private villa estate, though compared with Zun Garden, Starfish Bay was far more discreet.

Moreover, Jiang Ce’s identity had never been made public in Jiangcheng, so many people still had no idea what sort of person lived at Starfish Bay.

Jiang Ce narrowed his eyes slightly before asking, “By the way, how are preparations for establishing a Chenxing branch in Jiangcheng coming along?”

Jin Jiu, standing nearby, looked troubled. “It’ll take a little more time. Brother Qing used to handle all of this. Since he left, we’ve had to contact many of the clients again, which has caused considerable delays.”

Back then, because of what Shen Ting had done to Ruan Mianmian, Jiang Ce had sent Shen Qing back to Lanshi in a fit of anger. Jin Jiu had therefore taken over the work in Jiangcheng for the time being.

The trouble was that Jin Jiu was still unfamiliar with many of the responsibilities, making everything especially difficult to manage.

At that moment, Jin Jiu frowned and suddenly suggested, “Boss, I think... perhaps we should bring Brother Qing back.”

After all, Shen Qing had once been Jiang Ce’s most capable assistant. Since his departure, a great deal of work had been held up.

When Ruan Mianmian came out of the room, those were precisely the words she heard.

After listening to Jin Jiu, Jiang Ce remained silent for a moment before saying, “Use this time to familiarize yourself with everything. Get up to speed as quickly as possible.”

He neither rejected the suggestion nor agreed to it, but the meaning behind his words was most likely a refusal.

In truth, Ruan Mianmian also felt that Shen Qing’s departure had been unfair.

Shen Ting had already paid the price for what she herself had done.

Although Shen Qing was her brother, those matters had absolutely nothing to do with him.

Ruan Mianmian could understand Jiang Ce’s thoughts, but his decision seemed rather unfair to Shen Qing.

Jiang Ce rose and prepared to go upstairs to check on Ruan Mianmian. Unexpectedly, the moment he turned around, he saw her standing at the foot of the stairs, looking deep in thought.

“Awake?”

Jiang Ce arched a brow and walked toward her.

When he reached her, Ruan Mianmian threw herself into his arms, with a hint of childish affection in her manner.

The others instantly turned themselves into invisible people and left the hall.

“What is it?” Jiang Ce asked, holding Ruan Mianmian while gently stroking the soft hair falling down her back.

In a muffled voice, Ruan Mianmian said, “I also think Shen Qing should come back.”

“You heard us?”

Jiang Ce lowered his eyes to look at her, and Ruan Mianmian immediately nodded.

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“Those things had nothing to do with Shen Qing. Besides, he’s always been your most capable assistant. If you let him leave, won’t you be the one who suffers?”

Ruan Mianmian paused before continuing, “And Yan Jiaxu is still at Jiaoyue Manor. Shen Qing probably won’t have much to do if he goes back there. You might as well let him return.”

Jiang Ce reached out and pinched her cheek, smiling. “You really don’t mind anything? Won’t seeing him remind you of what Shen Ting did to you?”

Ruan Mianmian shook her head. “Forget it. There’s no point dwelling on all that. Those things had nothing to do with Shen Qing, and I don’t feel that it matters.”

“...”

Jiang Ce was silent for a long while, a trace of amusement showing in his eyes as he looked at her.

“All right, then. We’ll do as you say.”

“Mm.”

Ruan Mianmian nodded, then slipped out of his arms and headed downstairs, asking as she went, “Is there anything left to eat? I’m starving.”

Jiang Ce followed her downstairs, laughing. “When has Uncle Zhang ever failed to leave you something to eat?”

“Our Old Zhang is still the sweetest.”

Ruan Mianmian quickened her pace toward the kitchen.

One of the half-open doors on the second floor quietly closed again after they left.

Fang Xiaoyan leaned against the back of the door, clutching her phone tightly, a vicious glint flashing across her face.

She took out something resembling a small medicine bottle from somewhere, held it before her eyes, and stared at it again and again. After seemingly making up her mind, she slipped the bottle into her pocket.

Ruan Mianmian sat at the dining table, swaying the glass of warm milk beside her. Then she asked slowly, “Where’s Fang Xiaoyan? She seems especially quiet these past two days.”

Jiang Ce glanced toward the second floor. “I don’t know what they’re plotting.”

“They?”

Ruan Mianmian looked puzzled. “What’s going on? Have you found out something?”

A chill surfaced in Jiang Ce’s eyes as he said quietly, “In any case, there are other people behind her.”

Ruan Mianmian paused with the glass halfway to her lips, then asked in a low voice, “Jiang Ce, don’t tell me one of your enemies has come looking for you?”

“...”

Jiang Ce gave her a silent look, then tapped his fingers against the tabletop and smiled. “Can you eat your meal first?”

“Tsk! Always leaving people hanging.”

Ruan Mianmian lifted the glass and downed the milk in one go. After wiping the corner of her lips with a tissue, she looked at Jiang Ce mysteriously.

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“Tell me honestly. Do you have a lot of enemies?”

Jiang Ce raised a brow. “I do. So what? Are you afraid?”

“What do I have to be afraid of?”

Resting her chin in her hands, Ruan Mianmian smiled brightly. “I’ll live and die with you!”

“...”

Jiang Ce reached out and tapped her between the brows, laughing. “Can’t you wish for something better?”

“All right, all right.”

Ruan Mianmian rose from the dining table and said to Jiang Ce, “I don’t care about anything else. Just take good care of yourself and don’t put yourself in danger. That concludes my speech.”

With that, she prepared to make her escape, but Jiang Ce hurried after her and caught her by the wrist.

“Why are you in such a hurry?” he asked.

Ruan Mianmian turned around and said with a perfectly serious expression, “I’m going to look for a job.”

“A job? What kind of job?”

“I’m unbearably bored staying at home, so I’m going to find something to do.”

Jiang Ce pulled Ruan Mianmian back into his arms. “If you want a job, just tell me. I can arrange anything for you.”

“No!”

Ruan Mianmian rejected him outright. “Given your taste, I probably wouldn’t like whatever job you arranged, so I’ll find one myself. Don’t worry about it, old man!”

After saying that, Ruan Mianmian patted Jiang Ce on the shoulder as if soothing him, then promptly slipped away.

Jiang Ce stood where he was and watched her silently for a moment before shaking his head.

After returning to her room, Ruan Mianmian lay on her stomach on the bed and posted a message to her social feed, more or less asking her friends to recommend a job.

Her original body had studied management at university, while Ruan Mianmian herself was merely a mediocre art student from the fine arts department.

When all was said and done, she still wanted to do something that genuinely interested her.

Before long, Ruan Mianmian received quite a few replies and messages. Of them all, however, Zhong Yu’s caught her attention the most.

Ruan Mianmian sat up straight on the bed and sent a voice message asking, “How did you know I was interested in art?”