The Golden Cane and the Wild Rose - Chapter 33.1

Chapter 33.1

The rose, although it had been pressed under his suit, was well-protected by Jiang Musheng. Not a single petal or leaf had fallen.

Looking at the rose in front of her, Yun Ran immediately thought of the roses she had seen in the garden when she went to deliver the roast goose that day.

Jiang Musheng had really planted roses for her.

Her heart surged uncontrollably, but she still didn’t take the rose.

She knew that accepting it meant agreeing to go back home with Jiang Musheng.

She truly wanted to go back and had been hoping for a perfect opportunity.

She hadn’t expected Jiang Musheng to show up suddenly and personally offer her a way back.

She didn’t know why she still didn’t dare to accept.

Was it because of Gu Hongfei?

Or was it because she didn’t want to bear the consequences of her choices?

Perhaps she was hoping that Jiang Musheng, like the cold Asura in the rumors, would forcefully take her away, instead of giving her the choice like this.

A person like Xueyu, who was trapped by her brother’s love and protection and had no freedom, would long for it.

A person like her, who had freedom but wasn’t strong enough, would long to be passive, to be passively taken away by Jiang Musheng. That way, she wouldn’t have to face moral condemnation, and her guilt towards Gu Hongfei would be lessened.

For the first time, she wanted to be a passive person, to evade the responsibility of owning her inner choices.

She realized that this part of her was ugly, but she still couldn’t be brave enough to follow her heart.

She took one last look at the rose in Jiang Musheng’s hand, pulled back her lingering gaze, and stood up. “Mr. Jiang, I’ll go pack the roast goose you want. I’ll try to get you out of here early so I can get off work early too.”

Jiang Musheng looked at her, holding the rose stubbornly.

Yun Ran smiled, turned, and headed for the kitchen.

Just then, a girl of seventeen or eighteen, with pigtails and a similar build to Yun Ran, came running toward the roast goose shop, crying and wailing loudly. Two sturdy but short men were chasing her closely.

“Help me, Miss Yun!”

“Help me, Miss Yun!”

“Help me!”

Even after hearing her surname, Yun Ran only stopped for a moment, glanced at the girl, and saw that she didn’t know her. Meddling in other people’s business had never been her principle.

She continued walking toward the kitchen.

“Miss Yun! Please! My sister said you would save me!”

Yun Ran pretended not to hear and continued to the kitchen.

The girl, her eyes red and her face covered in tears, saw that Yun Ran wasn’t stopping for her. The light in her eyes gradually faded.

Without hope or strength, she stumbled and fell to the ground, right in front of Jiang Musheng’s two bodyguards.

This…

The two bodyguards looked at each other. The two men chasing the girl slowed down. “You can really run, can’t you? Will you come back with us obediently, or do we have to tie you up?”

The girl’s heart was as dead as ash. She didn’t say a word, just bit her lip and cried silently.

“She’s trying to bite her own tongue off! Stop her!”

A bright, striking red liquid was already seeping from the corner of the girl’s mouth. The two men rushed forward to stop her, two dark, rough hands pinching her cheeks.

Their eyes were fierce. “You want to die? You have to get Mr. Li’s permission first, just like your sister.”

The girl suddenly became fierce, biting one of the men’s hands. In an instant, the man’s hand also started bleeding.

“Damn! Your sister is a dancer for people to play with. I see you’re the same. What are you putting on airs for here?”

The man swore and slapped the girl. The other man held him back.

“Take it easy. Don’t hurt her. Mr. Li will blame us.”

“So unlucky!” The man spat heavily on the ground. “You just wait. When Mr. Li gets tired of playing with you, you’ll see how I deal with you.”

The girl was so scared that she froze and gave a small sob.

With nowhere else to go, the girl grabbed the black pants of the bodyguard next to her and began to plead. “Help me, help me, please…”

The bodyguard felt sorry for the girl, but he couldn’t make the decision. He was responsible for protecting Mr. Jiang, and he couldn’t cause trouble for the sake of a poor girl he didn’t know.

The two men sized up the two bodyguards. They felt some apprehension and didn’t dare to act rashly for a moment.

“What’s your sister’s name?” Yun Ran walked over to the girl and asked.

She had already gone back to the kitchen, but for some reason, she couldn’t help but come back out. After understanding the girl’s situation, she thought of her past self.

Helpless and alone, she had been easily overpowered by a few older children. If her old dad hadn’t appeared and meddled in their business, she would have been violated by those despicable people, and she might have really ended up as a prostitute.

The girl saw Yun Ran return and a light came back into her eyes. She let go of the bodyguard’s black pants and grabbed the aqua-colored cheongsam hem behind Yun Ran’s red apron.

It was the one Miss Peony had given her earlier.

“Who is your sister?” Yun Ran squatted down and asked again.

“My sister is Chen Dan, the very popular Miss Peony at the Oriental Dance Hall. Miss Yun, my sister said she knows you and that you would help me. Please, please help me.”

Miss Yun? The two men chasing the girl found the name a bit familiar. They then looked at where they were, a roast goose shop. Wasn’t this the woman who was rumored to have been abandoned by Big Boss Jiang?

Once they figured out her identity, they became bolder. “Miss Yun, we know you used to be with Big Boss Jiang and we don’t want to offend you. But you’ve already left Mr. Jiang. Not everything is within your power to handle. It’s better for you not to meddle.”

“What if I insist on meddling?”

“Then don’t blame us for being rude.” The two men rolled up their sleeves, ready to get tough. Jiang Musheng’s two tall bodyguards stood in front of Yun Ran and the girl in a protective stance.

The two men suddenly couldn’t act tough. The other side was tall and well-built, a full head taller than them, and they looked like they had been trained. They definitely couldn’t win.

A wise man knows when to retreat. The two men took a step back and said, “Miss Yun, if you insist on meddling, these two bodyguards aren’t enough. Our boss Mr. Li can hire ten more bodyguards, and then you won’t be able to stop us. Are you sure you want to go against Mr. Li?”

Yun Ran’s expression was serious. She didn’t say a word.

The two men thought they had convinced Yun Ran and continued, “Since you used to be with Mr. Jiang, I’m sure you’re a smart woman, Miss Yun. Smart people don’t do foolish things. Our boss, Mr. Li, is someone very few people in all of Hong Kong would dare to offend.”

“Do you think I would dare to offend him?” A low, slightly hoarse voice came from inside the roast goose shop.

“And who are you?” The two men didn’t take the person they could only hear seriously.

Jiang Musheng leaned on his golden cane and walked steadily toward the shop entrance. With every step, his golden cane hit the ground, making a heavy, powerful sound.

Upon hearing the sound of the metal cane tapping the ground, the two men suddenly panicked. Their nerves picked up a scent of danger, and their knees slightly bent, as if they were ready to kneel and beg for mercy at any moment.

“Mr. Jiang.” The two black-clad bodyguards called out respectfully and moved aside.

Without the bodyguards blocking their view, the two men saw the noble man, called “Mr. Jiang,” leaning on a golden cane. Their legs went weak, and they plopped to the ground, their heads hitting the floor with a loud thud.

“Mr. Jiang, please spare us! “Mr. Jiang, please spare us. We didn’t know it was you just now!”

Jiang Musheng stood still, leaning on his golden cane, and asked condescendingly, “What’s your boss’s full name?”

The two men didn’t dare to look up, their foreheads pressed to the ground. They exchanged a look, and both were flustered.

Weren’t they told that Big Boss Jiang had gotten tired of that Miss Yun and abandoned her?

How did they end up running into him at the roast goose shop today?

Could it be that Big Boss Jiang didn’t leave Miss Yun at all, but that Miss Yun left him, and Big Boss Jiang was trying to win her back?

It certainly looked that way right now.

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