Refusing Divorce After a Contract Marriage - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Happy Birthday

Although Jiang Chumian had returned, she wasn’t idle; the light in the study was on, indicating she was likely working.

Shen Qingye went to the balcony to take another look. The succulents were arranged neatly and were full of life; some she had picked, others Jiang Chumian had chosen. Today’s flowers were Blue Enchantress roses, placed on the bar, looking very beautiful.

Shen Qingye went upstairs. Instead of going directly to her room, she went to the study. Standing at the door, she saw the girl sitting there, seemingly busy with something so focused that she didn’t even notice someone standing at the entrance.

Jiang Chumian held a tablet in her hand, and her laptop showed a data monitoring backend. Shen Qingye thought the interface looked familiar; upon closer inspection, it was indeed the creator backend for Jiyin, a short-video platform under the Shen Group.

It seemed President Jiang was truly researching these things seriously.

Shen Qingye chuckled softly and knocked on the door. Jiang Chumian, who had been focused on her screen, looked up and smiled at her. “You’re back. Shall I heat up some dinner for you?”

On her way home, Jiang Chumian had asked Shen Qingye if she had eaten dinner. It took a long time for Shen Qingye to reply that she hadn’t. Thinking she might have forgotten to eat due to work, Jiang Chumian asked if she should make a little extra, and Shen Qingye had agreed without hesitation.

“I’ll do it myself, it’s fine.” Shen Qingye felt embarrassed letting her heat the food.

But Jiang Chumian had already stood up. “It’s fine. You go shower first; it’ll only take a moment to heat up.”

“Then… thank you for the hard work.” Shen Qingye didn’t refuse further.

Jiang Chumian was wearing fluffy pajamas. Winter hadn’t completely passed yet, and it was still very cold. Since she was always sensitive to the chill, she dressed thickly even at home. Actually, they could have turned the heating up higher, but Jiang Chumian said it made the air too dry and she didn’t like it, so Shen Qingye let her have her way.

When Shen Qingye came out of the shower, she smelled the aroma of food. Jiang Chumian was waiting for her downstairs. “It’s ready.”

The girl looked up at her, a smile touching her lips and her eyes bright and soft. Shen Qingye felt a sudden urge to pull the girl into her arms, ruffle her hair, and if possible, leave a kiss on her lips.

Realizing how out of line her thoughts were, Shen Qingye sighed inwardly.

She went downstairs and sat at the dining table. Jiang Chumian didn’t leave; instead, she stayed to accompany her during the meal. The girl across from her checked her phone from time to time, but she kept chatting with her, sharing anything she found interesting.

Shen Qingye, who was long accustomed to a cold and quiet existence, found herself actually enjoying this feeling.

Suddenly, Jiang Chumian saw a message and pursed her lips. The little girl is unhappy, Shen Qingye thought. After spending enough time with her, she could gradually perceive her emotions. Jiang Chumian was very reserved, rarely showing joy or anger on her face, but everyone has emotions, and there are always clues. It was just that if Jiang Chumian didn’t speak, Shen Qingye felt it wasn’t right to ask.

After the meal, Jiang Chumian went back up to the study and sat before her computer, but her gaze remained on her phone. Her fingers tapped on the screen, but ultimately she let out an almost imperceptible sigh. She sent one more brief message.

Previously, the study belonged to Shen Qingye alone. After they became familiar, Shen Qingye divided the study into zones; each occupied a part, and their documents were kept separate. Shen Qingye never deliberately hid her files from Jiang Chumian, and Jiang Chumian never pried.

Most of Shen Qingye’s work for the day was finished at the office. She didn’t really want to continue working after coming home, but she entered the study anyway. She didn’t do much; instead, she quietly observed the girl.

Jiang Chumian was always very serious when working or studying, her face set not soft and fluffy at all. Yet, Shen Qingye still found her quite cute.

Since her parents passed away, few people had entered her world. Her grandparents were old, and Shen Qingye didn’t want them to worry too much, so she rarely showed her emotions in front of them. She was naturally a cold person, not particularly likable, and given her status, few people approached her to be sincere friends.

After taking over the Shen Group, she had seen too much of the ugliness of human hearts and was busy with business schemes. Her surroundings were always full of calculations, which was why Shen Qingye preferred the peace of being alone and disliked social obligations. Her life had always been cold and lonely, and Jiang Chumian hadn’t approached her without a goal either.

But in the process of their cohabitation, Shen Qingye felt a kind of “earnestness” from the girl. It was an attitude of being serious about everything in life. Because Xiao Jinyu was good to her, she was serious about her friendship with her; having entered Xiguang, she was serious about Xiguang; having signed a contract with her, she was extremely serious about the contract.

The girl seemed easy to get along with, but her heart had a thick wall that was hard to breach. She had liked someone for many years; when the other didn’t respond, she simply hid that love away. She always knew what she should do and how to do it. Just like family affection—she knew she couldn’t get it, so she never expected it.

But the girl craved warmth. Just because she was slightly better to her than others, the girl treated her differently, yet she always maintained a distance that would allow her to withdraw at any time—because any kind of emotion could potentially hurt.

Shen Qingye felt a pang of heartache for her. Yes, heartache. This was the first time Shen Qingye realized so clearly that she had a protective desire for Jiang Chumian that exceeded friendship.

At midnight, Jiang Chumian rubbed her aching eyes. Shen Qingye suddenly felt an impulse. She walked over, reached out to save Jiang Chumian’s document, and ruffled her hair. “Look at it tomorrow. Get some rest early.”

Jiang Chumian turned her head to look at her, her eyes slightly misty as she had just yawned. Shen Qingye looked at her, and that strange sensation she had felt since seeing Jiang Chumian after her shower surged up again.

“Mhm.” Jiang Chumian withdrew her gaze and obediently turned off the computer.

Shen Qingye’s gaze was somewhat fervent so fervent that Jiang Chumian didn’t dare look back.

“Then, goodnight,” Jiang Chumian said to Shen Qingye with a smile.

Shen Qingye pulled her gaze back and gave a soft reply: “Mhm, goodnight.”

They went to their respective rooms. Jiang Chumian lay in bed, wrapping the blanket tightly. Is Shen Qingye concerned about me? She didn’t think too much, nor did she dare to. If she thought too much, her desires would grow, and she didn’t dare place too much expectation on Shen Qingye.

In the blink of an eye, the entire month of February passed.

Shen Qingye’s legal team was still in a lawsuit with the Zhao Group. After those two scandals were exposed, the Zhao Group had indeed been affected.

Jiang Chumian’s focus now wasn’t on the Zhao family, but on the Jiang family. Regarding the Zhao Group, she was purely helping Shen Qingye vent her frustrations.

Acquiring a subsidiary of the Jiang Group was no easy task. Jiang Wenyan still seemed very hesitant; the profits of those two companies were indeed poor, but they hadn’t reached a point of being completely irrecoverable. However, Jiang Wenyan wanted to invest in a new project to successfully transform the Jiang Group and needed liquid capital.

The Jiang family started in contract manufacturing, but Jiang Wenyan always felt that their current industry chain was at too low an end and was trying very hard to move up. But Jiang Chumian felt he had taken the wrong direction from the start. In an era where everyone is innovating, people still need contract manufacturing; transformation and upgrading are fine, but it shouldn’t be done the way Jiang Wenyan was doing it.

“What if he keeps stalling? Do we stall too?” Wen Chan asked.

Jiang Chumian chuckled softly. “He doesn’t have the time to stall.”

“Oh? What big ‘gift’ has President Jiang secretly sent to her dear father?” Wen Chan asked curiously.

Jiang Chumian gave a lazy laugh. “Doesn’t he want to transform? I helped him get in touch with that young master of the Zhou family.”

“Zhou Qi?”

“Mhm.”

“Didn’t you smash a bottle over him recently? Why would he be willing to cooperate with your dad?”

Although Wen Chan wasn’t in the country, she kept up with domestic affairs. Back when she was in the country, she was quite famous among the second-generation heirs famous for being a troublemaker.

“Didn’t he lose one percent of his shares to me? I’m technically one of the shareholders now,” Jiang Chumian said with a smile, then added lazily: “Besides him being the only son, the Zhou family has an older sister. For the past few years, the sister has been managing the family business. The old man of the Zhou family knows his son is incompetent, but the business needs someone to run it. So while he lets the daughter manage things, he also wants to groom Zhou Qi.”

“Would someone capable of managing such a vast business be content being just a tool?” Jiang Chumian’s eyes crinkled. “No business elite is that kind-hearted, right?”

“Recently, the young master of the Zhou family returned to the country. The old man wants his precious son to enter the company for training, and the sister naturally has to give him this chance.”

Since she had put it that way, Wen Chan understood immediately. “So you and the eldest Zhou daughter orchestrated the cooperation between the brother and your father?”

“Mm-hmm. Isn’t a ‘strong alliance’ quite suitable for them? Besides, the two of them are currently getting along famously. Perhaps my dear father is even thinking of marrying Jiang Xiaofan off to him.”

“You’re taking down three people at once.”

But Jiang Chumian shook her head. “I didn’t actually intend to target Jiang Xiaofan; that’s purely my father’s own idea and has nothing to do with me. I heard she has entered the company now; honestly, I quite hope she does well.”

“You’re quite generous toward Jiang Xiaofan,” Wen Chan scoffed.

Jiang Chumian shook her head. “I just think she’s a poor soul too. Being born into such a family is a misfortune; it’s just that my misfortune is visible to the naked eye, while hers goes unnoticed. If she never realizes it, it truly is a good thing. Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to want to be just a brainless rich girl anymore.”

“Thinking about it, it might be because of me. I suppose I’ve added some hardship to her peaceful and happy life. Thinking of it that way, it feels quite satisfying.”

Regarding Jiang Chumian’s joke, Wen Chan just shook her head, unable to understand her train of thought.

On one end, Jiang Chumian facilitated the cooperation between Zhou Qi and Jiang Wenyan. On the other, Wen Chan’s efficiency was remarkable; a month later, she acquired the two Jiang Group subsidiaries.

Wen Chan asked if she planned to manage them herself, but Jiang Chumian shook her head. “They’re just two small companies. Why should I manage them personally? Sending a random manager from our company would be better than the current ones.”

“That’s true. But are you planning to stay at Xiguang forever? That’s such a waste of talent. If Shen Qingye keeps this up, I’m going to start slacking off,” Wen Chan complained.

Mentioning Shen Qingye, the smile on Jiang Chumian’s face softened. “She won’t.”

Jiang Wenyan received the liquid funds, and Zhou Qi successfully took charge of the new project; both were full of ambition and looked extremely satisfied. To this, Jiang Chumian just smiled. It was fine as long as they were happy. As for those two small companies, no one expected that Jiang Wenyan’s “discarded pieces” would one day become Jiang Chumian’s aid.

Learning of the Jiang family’s cooperation with the Zhou family and the acquisition of the two subsidiaries, Shen Qingye only asked curiously, “Your doing?”

“Mhm.” Jiang Chumian didn’t hide it from her.

“President Jiang is quite fast. While I’ve been busy dealing with Zhao Kaiguo, you’ve been doing big things silently,” Shen Qingye teased.

Jiang Chumian felt slightly embarrassed. “It’s nothing, just two insignificant subsidiaries.”

Shen Qingye felt a small sense of disappointment that she hadn’t mentioned anything else. But knowing Jiang Chumian’s personality, she could only ignore that trace of disappointment.

Jiang Chumian actually just thought that Shen Qingye was very busy lately and didn’t want to trouble her further. Besides, without Shen Qingye’s help, she could act more smoothly. As for the rest, she had admitted to doing it; if Shen Qingye wanted to know about her backing capital and people, it would be easy for her to find out. So she felt there was no need to elaborate, completely unaware of Shen Qingye’s disappointment.

Before they knew it, it was the end of March. Jiang Chumian remembered that Shen Qingye’s birthday was March 28th. Her birthday would definitely involve a banquet. Jiang Chumian propped her chin with her pen. What gift should I give?

Shen Qingye didn’t lack anything, and she wasn’t as easy to please as “Princess” Xiao. But Jiang Chumian didn’t want to give a perfunctory gift either. Shen Qingye was different; she wouldn’t protect her by shouting like Xiao Jinyu was ready for a fight. Her protection was different like when she told her to kill the mosquito next time, giving her courage and trust. And silent support.

Jiang Chumian thought for a long time. She didn’t have much experience in giving gifts.

On the night of March 27th, Shen Qingye returned home late as usual after working overtime. Jiang Chumian also returned late. The Spring Show was being prepared; although Jiang Chumian didn’t have to do everything personally anymore, she still needed to understand every part of the process.

The two returned one after the other and greeted each other in the living room. By the time they finished showering, it was already midnight. Jiang Chumian dried her hair, wearing a silk nightgown. She sat in her room, touching the box in her hand, feeling hesitant.

Finally, she sent a WeChat message to Shen Qingye: “Are you asleep?”

Shen Qingye, sitting on her bed, saw the message and felt an inexplicable sense of anticipation. “Not yet.”

However, several minutes passed without another message. Just as Shen Qingye was wondering if she should say goodnight, she heard a knock on the door. She went to open the door with a rare sense of urgency.

Jiang Chumian stood at the door in a silk camisole nightgown, her chestnut curls falling behind her back and her long lashes trembling slightly. She held an exquisite gift box in her hand.

“Happy Birthday.”

She handed the box to Shen Qingye, her voice soft and falling gently onto Shen Qingye’s heart.

Shen Qingye took the gift and said thank you, a smile of undisguised delight on her face. She opened the box in front of Jiang Chumian; inside was an exceptionally exquisite dagger. The moment she saw it, Shen Qingye became even more surprised.

“You mentioned you liked it when we were chatting before, but it’s no longer on the market. A friend happened to be letting it go.” Jiang Chumian’s ears turned slightly red after speaking.

Shen Qingye tucked the dagger away and leaned in slightly, whispering in her ear: “I like it very much.”

“Also, you little liar.”

There aren’t that many coincidences in this world. Even if it was a coincidence, one must pay attention to even encounter it.

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