The Golden Cane and the Wild Rose - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

After that night, Jiang Musheng took Yun Ran to several other social events.

Each time, Yun Ran saw the Governor’s daughter.

She couldn’t help but think that since Hong Kong was still under British rule, Jiang Musheng, as the most prominent Chinese man in this small territory, had no choice but to maintain a good relationship with the British Governor.

To do so required frequent socializing, and in those social circles, a meeting with the Governor’s daughter was inevitable.

Thinking this, she suddenly felt that even someone as powerful as Jiang Musheng had his own helplessness.

On that level, she felt a little closer to him.

She also had her own helplessness.

She was simply looking for a stable place to live and, by a strange twist of fate, ended up by Jiang Musheng’s side.

By her count, it had been a while now.

To be honest, Jiang Musheng had been good to her during this time. Following him, she had experienced a high-class life she could have never touched before.

Jiang Musheng was indeed very good to her.

Aside from that one time at the hospital entrance when he briefly kissed the area where her cheek and ear met, he had not asked anything more of her.

In fact, many times, Jiang Musheng protected her, preventing her from becoming a “dish” in the eyes of others.

‘Was Jiang Musheng really such a gentleman, a good person who was willing to treat women so kindly?’

‘Then what about all those rumors in the community?’

Even her dad, who worked under Jiang Musheng, had used Jiang Musheng’s terrifying reputation to scare her for many years.

“What are you thinking about?”

Yun Ran came back to her senses, twisting her head with a smile. She was no longer startled by Jiang Musheng.

She was wearing a conservative, blue, wide-strap swimsuit with a skort bottom. Her long, black hair was tied in a bun. She sat alone on a high diving board above the swimming pool, her slender, fair legs dangling below, swinging gently.

She was actually afraid of heights, but her rebellious nature made her like to do things that were a little out of the ordinary and exciting.

Her hands, which were supporting her from behind on the diving board, were trembling slightly, but she maintained a smile on her face.

“I was thinking that if I hide here, the Governor’s daughter probably won’t find me and won’t come to bother me.”

“Stay close to me, and she won’t dare to bother you.”

“But her words are unpleasant. Mr. Jiang, you men have a big heart and can’t hear the subtle stings, but they hurt me.”

Jiang Musheng looked down, a thoughtful expression in his deep, dark eyes.

Yun Ran couldn’t help but laugh. “Never mind. You don’t have to think about these things. It’s not like you can help anyway.”

“Give me your hand.”

“Huh?”

Yun Ran tilted her head in confusion.

“Give me your hand,” Jiang Musheng repeated.

He extended his right hand towards her, seemingly very cautious of the blue water in the swimming pool below.

Yun Ran understood. She slowly extended her hand. She watched carefully as her hand landed in Jiang Musheng’s palm and as his hand closed around hers.

This time, neither of their hands had any warmth.

“Aran.”

“Hmm.”

Yun Ran slowly stood up. Jiang Musheng suddenly pulled her, straight into his arms, and then immediately took a step back.

Yun Ran felt like she had become a cloud in Jiang Musheng’s arms, as if she had no feet, just floating backward with him.

She found her footing.

She heard Jiang Musheng’s slightly heavy breathing. She didn’t say a word, just listened quietly.

Jiang Musheng didn’t let go of her. One hand reached back to her hair, stroking it gently three times, as if to comfort her, or perhaps himself.

“How did you know I was here, Mr. Jiang?”

Yun Ran remembered that she had used the excuse of going to the restroom to sneak away. Jiang Musheng was still talking to the Governor about business things she didn’t understand. She only remembered a few words like ‘mainland,’ ‘docks,’ and ‘real estate.’

She had left, and Cecilia hadn’t followed. Cecilia’s eyes were only on Jiang Musheng, so of course, she wouldn’t have just followed her.

Jiang Musheng didn’t answer. He just continued to hold her in that insubstantial way.

It was insubstantial because Jiang Musheng always held her loosely, never letting her touch his chest, as if his chest were hollow and could not be touched.

She didn’t find it strange once or twice, but after a number of times, she noticed.

She couldn’t help but think of the rumors about Jiang Musheng’s aversion to women. She thought maybe they were true. At least, the current Jiang Musheng had some difficulty being physically close to a person.

But that was fine with her. She wasn’t ready to “sacrifice” herself yet.

Wait, had she already started preparing for that mentally?

Yun Ran was startled by her own thought.

At that moment, Jiang Musheng held her shoulders and gently released her.

“Next time, don’t come to a place like this. If you accidentally fall into the pool, I can’t swim and can’t save you.”

Yun Ran was confused. “Is this pool that deep?”

“I don’t know the exact depth. Just stay away from water from now on.”

“Okay.”

Yun Ran obediently agreed, but what she was thinking was that even if something did happen to her, someone would definitely save her. There must be other people here who could swim.

Why did Jiang Musheng rule out that possibility?

Even if Cecilia was jealous that she was with Jiang Musheng, she wouldn’t try to kill her in front of so many people.

Could it be that Jiang Musheng didn’t want anyone else to touch her?

Did Jiang Musheng really value her to that extent?

‘How ridiculous,’ she thought.

Yun Ran had always been very confident in matters of affection, but with Jiang Musheng, she couldn’t figure him out.

Jiang Musheng seemed to have many secrets, many forbidden zones she couldn’t touch.

And she didn’t want to touch them. It was safer to remain as they were, calmly and peacefully.

No matter how much she loved seeking excitement, she wouldn’t pluck hair from a lion’s mouth.

They left the high platform and descended to the first floor.

Everyone had formed a circle around Cecilia, waiting to present their gifts.

It was Cecilia’s birthday, which was why the party was being held. Many of the guests were the Governor’s friends, but more were Cecilia’s peers, including some admirers and people who wanted to use her to get close to the Governor and climb the social ladder.

“Musheng, you’re finally back!” Cecilia’s blue eyes were fixed on Jiang Musheng.

Everyone made a path for them.

“I’ve been waiting for your gift.” Cecilia instinctively wanted to walk towards Jiang Musheng, but then remembered the Eastern preference for reserved beauty. She stood there, her heart fluttering, waiting for Jiang Musheng to come to her.

Jiang Musheng walked over to her with Yun Ran on his arm and presented a small, black, exquisite gift box.

“Happy Birthday, Cecilia.”

Cecilia was overjoyed. She held the small black gift box with great care.

“Goodbye.”

After delivering the gift, Jiang Musheng turned around with Yun Ran on his arm and took her to change her clothes.

Cecilia wanted to follow Jiang Musheng, but the others who were waiting to give their gifts formed a wall, completely surrounding her.

Yun Ran looked back at Cecilia with a hint of sympathy.

‘So even a rich young lady has worries. Everyone has joys and sorrows.’

Thinking this, she felt that she was no different from Cecilia. In fact, she even possessed the happiness that Cecilia wanted.

After changing into the blue-green cheongsam Jiang Musheng had bought for her, she took his arm, stepped over the high threshold, and asked, “Mr. Jiang, what did you give Cecilia?”

“Do you want a gift too?”

“No, I was just… just… asking.”

Yun Ran bit her lip hard.

‘Why am I stuttering?’ she wondered.

“What do you want?” Jiang Musheng asked.

Yun Ran let go of her lower lip and looked at Jiang Musheng in surprise.

Jiang Musheng also looked back at her, his gaze mixed with the hazy moonlight.

It was somewhat gentle.

Yun Ran quickly looked away.

Jiang Musheng said, “You’ve been with me for so long, and I haven’t given you anything yet.”

‘So long?’ she thought. ‘It hasn’t even been a month. Two weeks? No, a little over two weeks, about three weeks.’

Yun Ran’s heart was a mess, her mind racing with random thoughts.

“If you don’t say anything, I’ll just give you a random gift.”

Yun Ran regained her composure, joking, “Mr. Jiang, you make it sound like you’re going to give me one right now.”

To her surprise, Jiang Musheng immediately took action.

Yun Ran saw him pull a bracelet out of his suit pants pocket. It was a jade bracelet, glowing with its own luster in the moonlight, a dark green glow.

It was jade.

There was no gift box, but her intuition told her it was very valuable.

Yun Ran’s smile froze and turned to a nervous expression.

Jiang Musheng slid his hand down her arm, taking her wrist.

The jade bracelet, which was as cold as Jiang Musheng’s hand, slowly slipped onto her wrist. It wouldn’t fit, not because her hand was too big, but because Jiang Musheng couldn’t bear to use force for fear of hurting her.

“It seems to need a little lubrication,” Jiang Musheng said, a bit awkwardly.

Yun Ran laughed, a sudden joy bubbling up inside her. “I have hand lotion.”

She took it out and put a little on her hand.

This time, the bracelet slipped on smoothly.

Jiang Musheng gently held her hand, looking down at the bracelet with a slight smile on his lips.

“It suits you very well.”

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