Chapter 7: Chapter 7 Do I Have to Blame Myself for This, Brother?
Although Jiang Zhouye had discovered it in time, and Chen Qian was driven out of the room before any damage could be done, the harm inflicted on Jiang Zhouye's body and soul could not be said to be insignificant.
From that day on, Jiang Zhouye stopped coming home at all, and even if he did return, he acted as if he didn't see Jiang Nanshu; the siblings hadn't exchanged even half a sentence in a year.
"Can you? Nanshu?" Chen Qian couldn't help but ask again.
Had she been a bit quicker that year, Jiang Zhouye would have had no choice but to take responsibility for her, even if just to maintain his reputation. Unfortunately, her shyness caused her to waste precious time.
Each time she thought about this, she regretted it deeply.
She also blamed Jiang Nanshu for being useless, deploying such a small dose of the drug that the person only passed out for a few minutes, not enough time for her to even take off his pants.
Jiang Nanshu lifted the corners of her eyes, her beauty was striking, and when she looked down upon others, there seemed to be no emotion, only a fierce sharpness.
Chen Qian was momentarily frightened, but the next moment, Jiang Nanshu smiled brightly, softening considerably, "Qianqian, you know, my fourth brother is not a good person. Last time he lost his temper so badly that if it weren't for my parents stopping him, he would have taken a knife and killed me. If there's a next time, I'm afraid you'll get hurt."
Chen Qian inwardly cursed, ignorant of the goodness of being in the phoenix's nest.
In her eyes, Jiang Zhouye was the perfect man. Hearing Jiang Nanshu belittle him, she was immediately displeased, "How can you talk about your fourth brother like that? It must be because of something you said that made him like this."
Facing Jiang Nanshu's mocking gaze, she stiffly argued, "I didn't mean to blame you, but he is your brother after all. What's wrong with forgiving him? Besides, with their support, you could subdue Lu Qingyan more quickly."
Jiang Nanshu looked down at her flashy manicure and nodded, seeming to agree, "You're right. Then I'll help you one more time, but you need to seize the chance yourself, okay?"
Chen Qian immediately showed a grateful expression, "Nanshu, with a friend like you, I have no regrets even in death."
"Alright then," Jiang Nanshu smiled deeply in return.
She hoped for no regrets in death since, over her two lifetimes, she had never done a good deed nor had a penchant for helping others fulfill their wishes.
Soon, the car stopped in a narrow alley.
The walls were mottled, covered with moss, and the ground littered with broken stones.
A look of disgust flashed in Chen Qian's eyes; she detested this place.
But in front of Jiang Nanshu, she was like a poor little thing who, even when beaten and scolded, did not fight back, still naively hoping for affection.
Because Jiang Nanshu was the same; aside from wanting to get along with her real family, she only thought about Lu Qingyan, with no room for anything else.
So it was easy to resonate with her.
Following Chen Qian as she led the way, Jiang Nanshu pushed open a decrepit wooden door to reveal a small two-story flat with a narrow yard, cluttered with empty bottles, leaving nowhere to stand.
"Nanshu, I'm sorry, this is how my family lives. My dad should be inside drinking; I'll check on him," Chen Qian said before disdainfully kicking the bottles on the ground with her foot.
Jiang Nanshu's phone rang abruptly in the messy yard.
She took it out and was surprised—it was truly a sight to behold, the first time Jiang Yunchuan had called her.
She hung up without answering.
The next second, it rang again.
She hung up once more.
It kept ringing.
Jiang Nanshu gradually lost patience, tapped answer, and said coyly, "What's the matter, Fifth Brother?"
Jiang Yunchuan burst out in fury, "Jiang Nanshu, you've got some nerve, hanging up on my call!"
Jiang Nanshu lied without batting an eye or blushing, "No, it was an accident, I didn't mean to hang up. Are you going to blame me for that too?"
Perhaps because Jiang Nanshu's voice was too sweet and clear, there was an unusual silence on the other end for a few seconds before he continued, "Skipping class again? The school called home. Where are you now? Which bar are you hanging out at with your bad friends? I'm giving you half an hour to get straight back to school."
Suddenly, the door was thrown open, and a disheveled middle-aged man came out, holding a bottle and drunkenly said, "Who is it? You're so noisy!"
Jiang Nanshu smiled with a twinkle in her eye, "Sorry, had a spam call."
With Jiang Yunchuan's words, "Why do I hear a man's voice there?" the call ended then and there, and she immediately put Jiang Yunchuan on the blacklist.
Preventing him from disturbing her good time.
Being stubborn is one thing, but she wasn't the kind of person to just take things lying down.
Those who deserved to be gotten rid of couldn't just get away with things, or else she'd wake up in the middle of the night, irritated, cursing herself for not having been harsh enough.
Chen Qian immediately went up to support him, "Dad, this is the rich second-generation classmate I was telling you about. Her family is very wealthy."
Hearing the word "money," the middle-aged man became halfway sober, his murky eyes roaming over Jiang Nanshu.
Jiang Nanshu was stunningly beautiful, dressed in an ostentatious red dress, with a body that had curves in all the right places, looking soft and delicate, her skin white like porcelain, standing out starkly in this dingy place.
Mr. Chen swallowed silently, glanced at Chen Qian, who nodded and avoided eye contact while continuing, "Dad, Nanshu is really nice. Even though she's from a wealthy family, she's down to earth and very caring."
"Let's go inside, Nanshu. I'll get you some water."
Mr. Chen suddenly became very ingratiating, "Yes yes, come in, I often hear Qianqian mentioning how good you are to her."
Jiang Nanshu acted oblivious and went inside with a smile.
In the original book, Chen Qian wanted to ruin her reputation so that she would be abandoned by Old Sir Lu.
Because the marriage turned down by Lu Qingyan didn't count in Young Master Lu's eyes, if he didn't agree, the marriage was to continue.
Mr. Chen took the opportunity when Chen Qian purposefully left the house to force himself on her, but the original character cracked his head open. Enraged and humiliated, he went on to beat Jiang Nanshu deaf in one ear.
He also landed himself in jail.
The Lu family certainly wouldn't take in a bride who wasn't pure and had a disability, so the wedding was completely off.
Jiang Nanshu turned utterly vengeful, getting involved in endless wrongdoing like drugging people, framing, buying scandals, and hiring killers.
She found a clean stool to sit on and looked around the house; the paint was peeling off the walls, black mud filling the cracks. The whole place smelled of alcohol and rancid odors. Clearly, Mr. Chen's life wasn't easy; he was struggling.
"Oh dear, no tea left." Chen Qian's voice rang out. She tilted an empty box towards Jiang Nanshu and said apologetically, "Nanshu, stay here for a bit at my place, I'll go to the store next door to buy some tea."
Jiang Nanshu watched her act quietly and said with a smile, "Okay, come back quickly, I'm scared to be alone."
"Don't be scared, my dad is a good man, just stay here comfortably."
After speaking, she took her bag and walked out, also locking the door behind her.