The Golden Cane and the Wild Rose - Chapter 39

Chapter 39

“Ah Ran.”

“Wasn’t that enough?”

For some reason, Yun Ran felt a strong, almost desperate feeling well up inside her, and her actions were no longer under her control. She reached out, grabbed the collar of Jiang Musheng’s bathrobe, and pulled him down onto the bed. Taken by surprise, he was easily pulled down and ended up lying on top of her.

However, Jiang Musheng quickly propped his hands up on either side of her shoulders, steadying himself so that his full weight wasn’t on her. Only his hair fell down, cascading in delicate strands across her face.

Yun Ran felt a strange surge of anger at Jiang Musheng’s gentlemanly act of maintaining a safe distance. But wasn’t this exactly what she had hoped for in the beginning? Why was she so unhappy, and even angry?

She flipped them over, pinning Jiang Musheng underneath her. In that moment, she was exceptionally bold. Jiang Musheng, on the other hand, seemed unusually delicate and easily pushed over, like a young girl about to be taken advantage of. He tightly clutched the collar of his bathrobe, his expression unreadable.

Perhaps it was the imbalance of give and take that made her feel so frustrated. A strange desire for equality and dignity welled up inside her, and she didn’t want to owe Jiang Musheng so much. She leaned down to kiss his lips. Her fingers touched Jiang Musheng’s slender, pale neck, and the pure, delicate skin felt wrong. She lifted her head, and asked in astonishment, “You don’t have an Adam’s apple?”

Jiang Musheng didn’t say a word, his lips not moving. But he did swallow, causing the faintest, almost imperceptible rise and fall in his throat.

Yun Ran got off him and sat to the side. Jiang Musheng also sat up. After a long silence, he turned off the light and said to her, “Goodnight, Ah Ran.”

That night, Yun Ran couldn’t sleep.

The next morning when she woke up, she saw that Jiang Musheng was already fully dressed, waiting for her. “I had some clean clothes sent over. They’re in the bathroom on the counter. You can see them as soon as you go in,” Jiang Musheng said.

Yun Ran stared at him blankly, then looked at his pale neck. He truly didn’t have an Adam’s apple. She had noticed it before but hadn’t paid it any mind. Not all men have very prominent physical features, after all. However, last night when she touched Jiang Musheng’s neck, there wasn’t even the slightest bump. Yet, there had been a slight rise and fall when he swallowed.

“Ah Ran, if you don’t go get ready soon, you’ll be late for school,” Jiang Musheng said.

Her internal alarm bells went off. Yun Ran sprinted to the bathroom to get ready and change her clothes. The whole time, she was thinking about what other suspicious things there might be about Jiang Musheng, like his voice? But she dismissed that one, because Jiang Musheng’s voice was a perfect male baritone, deep and pleasant to the ear. There were low-voiced girls and girls with husky voices that sounded close to a man’s, but you could still tell the difference if you listened closely. She was sure that Jiang Musheng’s voice was a man’s voice.

Before she left the bathroom, she washed her face again. What on earth am I thinking? How can I be so suspicious? Is gender something you can just hide if you want to? Composing herself, she finally walked out of the bathroom. Jiang Musheng was holding her backpack. “Let’s go,” he said.

There wasn’t enough time to sit down and have a proper breakfast, so Jiang Musheng had the hotel provide some pastries to eat in the car. Yun Ran had a simple meal on the way. When the car stopped at the school entrance, she was about to open the door to get out when Jiang Musheng stopped her. “I can’t have lunch with you today.”

Yun Ran said, “It’s okay. The school has a cafeteria. I can just eat there.”

“If you want to sleep after your two classes, you can have the driver take you to the hotel.”

Yun Ran nodded.

“I’ll pick you up in the afternoon.”

“Okay.”

Finally able to get out of the car, Yun Ran ran into the school with her backpack and went straight to her classroom. Class had already begun. Having not rested well the night before, her mind was a little slow, and she had to focus on her schoolwork, so she didn’t have the luxury of thinking about Jiang Musheng. When she couldn’t multitask, improving herself was more important.

After the first class, during the break, Yun Ran immediately laid her head on her desk and fell asleep. She couldn’t hear the chattering voices of the crowd of students behind her.

“I came into the school after Yun Ran, and guess what I saw? I saw Mr. Jiang personally drop her off for school!”

“Your news is old. A few of us saw Mr. Jiang personally pick Yun Ran up from school yesterday afternoon!”

“Oh my gosh, if what you’re saying is true, Yun Ran won’t hold a grudge against me for all the things I said before, will she?”

“Probably not. As long as we don’t spread any more rumors.”

“Exactly, exactly. Look at how tired Yun Ran is. She fell asleep as soon as class ended. She has no time to hold a grudge against us.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. I wonder who was spreading rumors that Mr. Jiang was impotent. He seems perfectly fine to me.”

“Are you crazy? Don’t talk about that here.”

The group laughed and played around, occasionally covering the mouth of a girl who said something too bold.

During the 10-minute break, Yun Ran got a little energy back. When the next class began, she poured some cold water into her palm and dabbed it on her eyelids, which instantly cleared her head. Perhaps it was because of Jiang Musheng’s guidance yesterday, but these two classes today didn’t feel as difficult.

Before the second class ended, the teacher assigned a small group project, telling everyone to form groups of three or four to work together on a group presentation. It would be counted as a certain percentage of their final grade. As soon as class was dismissed, more than half of the students in the class flocked toward Yun Ran, surrounding her completely.

Yun Ran was a little stunned by the tight encirclement. When did she become so popular? If she remembered correctly, a lot of these people had been bad-mouthing her yesterday. Some of the faces were the very same ones.

“Yun Ran, we want to be on a team with you.”

Yun Ran glanced at them, then lowered her head, slowly putting her books away and into her backpack. She stood up and politely refused. “There are too many of you. I can’t form a team with all of you. Excuse me.”

They made a small path for her. Yun Ran walked out of the circle and saw three girls sitting in a small corner at the back of the classroom, discussing something. She walked over to them and smiled. “Excuse me for interrupting, but can I be in your group?”

The girls were all a little surprised. The one who was leading the discussion was the first to recover. “Welcome,” she said.

Yun Ran let out a sigh of relief. She had found her group. The three girls were all of foreign descent, but not British. Through conversation, Yun Ran learned that they were all Irish. Ireland had once belonged to the United Kingdom, but it separated from the Commonwealth in 1948 and was now an independent country.

Yun Ran liked these Irish girls who had not been part of yesterday’s drama and had been quietly studying. She felt they weren’t like the people who had just surrounded her, who were just jumping on the bandwagon. She figured their attitude had changed so drastically because word had spread about Jiang Musheng picking her up personally yesterday.

At noon, Yun Ran didn’t go to the cafeteria. She followed her three new teammates to a Western restaurant outside of school. The food was delicious, and they had a great time chatting. She also spoke English with them to practice. At first, she stammered a little because she was nervous, but the three girls were very friendly. They encouraged her and complimented her on her pleasant voice. Yun Ran was very happy.

She had rarely made friends before. Most of the girls in Hong Kong had their own social circles and close relationships, where they would carefully investigate each other’s family backgrounds. She didn’t want to have friends like that. So, she had focused her energy on finding a potential future partner. She had been looking for a few years and hadn’t found anyone she was completely happy with. Jiang Musheng had come into her life in a way she had never imagined.

Thinking of Jiang Musheng, she asked the Irish girls, “Are there any men in this world who don’t have an Adam’s apple?”

Outside the restaurant, a driver and a bodyguard in the car were calling Jiang Musheng to report.

“Mr. Jiang, Miss Yun is having lunch with three foreign women.”

“Are they pretty?”

“…What did you just say?” The bodyguard didn’t quite hear clearly.

“Are those three foreign women pretty?”

The bodyguard leaned over and glanced out the window. “They’re very pretty.”

The call ended. The bodyguard put away his cell phone and patted the driver’s shoulder. “You know, you have to admit, those foreign women are really beautiful.”

The driver rolled his eyes. “I still think our Chinese women are more beautiful. They stay beautiful longer. Foreign women age too quickly.”

“You’re right. But why is Mr. Jiang suddenly concerned with whether foreign women are pretty?”

“Who knows? Maybe he’s just worried about Miss Yun.”

After lunch, the three Irish girls took Yun Ran to a coffee shop run by a British person. It had a retro feel and played melodious instrumental music.

Yun Ran said, “I’m sorry, I’m very sleepy. Can I take a nap here?”

“Of course. We brought you here to take a nap.”

Yun Ran was surprised. The Irish girl who had first agreed to let her join their group said, “I saw you were sleeping at your desk during the break, so I figured you must be very tired.”

“Thank you, Gloria.” Yun Ran remembered the Irish girl’s name. She loved her golden, curly hair. The color was beautiful, like fine satin bathed in sunlight.

To the sound of the coffee shop’s music, Yun Ran laid her head on a pillow and fell asleep. She hadn’t slept at all the night before, and she was simply too tired.

“Gloria, aren’t we supposed to be discussing our group project now?” one of the girls asked.

Gloria held up her index finger. “Yun Ran is tired. Let her sleep. We only have two classes this afternoon, so we can discuss it later.”

“Okay,” the girl said.

The driver and bodyguard followed them to the coffee shop and, as instructed, reported the situation. “Mr. Jiang, after lunch, Miss Yun went to a coffee shop with those foreign women.”

“What is Ah Ran doing now?”

“Sleeping with her head on the table.”

Jiang Musheng said, “Protect Ah Ran’s safety. Don’t disturb her.”

“Yes, sir.”

The bodyguard got out of the car to buy two bottles of soda, handed one to the driver, and took two packs of cigarettes from his pocket, tossing them onto the dashboard. “Tell me, who’s more beautiful? Miss Yun or those foreign women?”

The driver said, “Miss Yun, of course.”

The bodyguard said, “I think so too. Why else would Mr. Jiang be with her? He even rejected Cecilia, the daughter of the Hong Kong Governor.”

When Yun Ran woke up, one of the Irish girls was also sleeping with her head down, and another was reading a magazine. Gloria was holding a cup of coffee and looking out the window.

Yun Ran asked, “Gloria, what are you looking at?”

Gloria pointed to the window. “Those two people have been watching us the whole time.”

Yun Ran followed Gloria’s finger and saw two heads ducking down. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Don’t worry. Those are people I know. They don’t mean any harm.”

“Is it that big-shot Mr. Jiang of yours, who sent them to protect you?”

Yun Ran’s face instantly turned red. “Something like that,” she said.

Gloria gave her a thoughtful look, then stood up and tapped the girl who was still sleeping on the shoulder. “Lily, it’s almost time. We should head back to school for class.”

“Ugh!” Lily mumbled, rubbing her eyes and complaining. “Yun Ran gets to sleep, but I don’t? And you said we’d push the discussion to the afternoon.”

Yun Ran felt a little awkward, knowing that she had held up the group’s progress. “After class this afternoon, I’ll treat everyone to afternoon tea, and we can discuss it then, okay?” she offered to make up for it.

“Hooray for Yun Ran!” The girl who had just been complaining instantly brightened up and raised her hands. “I’m sorry, I’m a little grumpy when I wake up, but hearing about food makes me happy again.”

Yun Ran laughed. “It’s okay.”

They walked back to school together. When they passed the car outside the coffee shop, Yun Ran didn’t even look at it, pretending she hadn’t noticed them. But Gloria did take an extra look.

The driver and bodyguard were terrified. “Did Miss Yun just find out about us?”

“Miss Yun didn’t seem to notice us, but that foreign girl seems very sharp.”

The two afternoon classes were a large lecture, with several grades combined. Yun Ran didn’t sit in the front row; she sat with Gloria and the others. During class, she noticed that many people in the front were turning around to look at her, and even the lecturer on the stage noticed and got angry. Yun Ran shook her head and continued to listen.

When the two large classes were over, Yun Ran was about to put her books away when Lily asked to borrow her textbook. “I didn’t listen carefully, Yun Ran. Can I take your book to copy your notes?”

It wasn’t a big deal. “Sure,” Yun Ran said.

“Let’s go get afternoon tea, and we can discuss the group project while we eat,” Lily said.

Lily said “Hooray for Yun Ran” a second time, but this time she was even more excited, raising both hands.

Yun Ran was taken aback.

Gloria pulled Lily’s raised hands down. “Lily loves food. You can tell by her round face.”

“What’s wrong with my face?” Lily asked, offended.

“You’ve eaten away the sharp features we foreigners are so proud of.”

“In China, this is called ’round-faced beauty.’ Isn’t that right, Yun Ran?” Lily asked, lifting her double chin.

Yun Ran laughed and nodded. “Yes, but ‘plump and beautiful’ is a more accurate way to say it.”

“Okay!” Lily was thrilled to have learned a more appropriate new word.

The four of them left the school together. Because Yun Ran was treating them to afternoon tea and had helped her out earlier, Lily’s affection for her had grown considerably. As they walked out of school, she even linked arms with Yun Ran. At first, Yun Ran felt a little uncomfortable. But she saw that many other girls on campus were also linking arms. It was a way for girls to show friendship, and she didn’t dislike it. Lily and another girl named Caroline also linked arms, leaving Gloria alone.

However, from what she observed, Gloria wasn’t being isolated. It was her choice. She was the only one of the girls not wearing a skirt, and she walked with her hands in her pockets. Yun Ran didn’t ask her to link arms, since she herself was still not used to it.

Yun Ran was still unfamiliar with the area, so she gave them the choice of where to go.

“This patisserie has delicious desserts, Yun Ran! Can we go to this one?” Lily asked.

Gloria immediately said, “This place is very expensive, Lily. Let’s go somewhere else.”

Lily looked at Yun Ran with a pleading expression.

Yun Ran smiled. “This place is fine. I’m sure I can afford it.” It was the first time she had felt so confident. On the first day of school, when Jiang Musheng had given Xueyu pocket money, he had given her the same amount. At the time, she was so overwhelmed with the gesture, and even now, a complicated emotion welled up inside her. However, she hadn’t had a chance to spend any of it these last few days. When Jiang Musheng was around, he took care of everything, and she never had a chance to pay. Now she had an opportunity.

They walked to the patisserie Lily had mentioned. It wasn’t far and they arrived quickly. The shop’s decor was luxurious yet simple. The exterior was a classic black and white color scheme. Black and white marble wrapped around the pure white glass walls, and the sign was in sparkling gold letters: “Cocoa Patisserie.”

Yun Ran was a little surprised that the sign wasn’t in English. Through the glass walls, she could see a large, layered cream cake, and on the very top of the cake, she saw a bride in a white wedding dress holding a bouquet.

Lily said, “See? Didn’t I tell you this place is really good?”

“If you get engaged to Mr. Jiang in the future, you can order your cake from here.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

“Look, everyone! Yun Ran’s face is red. She’s embarrassed!”

Yun Ran was exasperated. “I thought you were different from the others and wouldn’t tease me.”

Engaged? She and Jiang Musheng were nowhere near that stage.

In the end, Gloria stepped in. “Stop bothering her,” she said, and Lily and Caroline finally quieted down. But Yun Ran’s face was completely red.

With a flushed face, she walked into the shop and told them to order whatever they wanted and not to be shy. Lily was not shy at all and ordered enough for a whole table. The others decided not to order and just share. As they ate, they discussed their group project.

Jiang Musheng finally had some free time after hearing the bodyguard’s report. He came over as soon as he could. When he arrived, he didn’t disturb Ah Ran. He sat in an inconspicuous spot and observed. He noticed that Ah Ran was chatting happily with the foreign girls and seemed completely relaxed. When she was with him, Ah Ran was always a little nervous and worried.

A waiter came over to take his order. “Sir, what would you like?”

Jiang Musheng said, “Could I please have the same things as that young lady?”

The waiter understood and brought a huge table of desserts. Jiang Musheng looked at the full table, picked a piece of what Ah Ran was eating, and tasted it. The quality was good, and the cream was very smooth. He didn’t have a sweet tooth, so he only tried a few bites. When he saw that Ah Ran had switched to something else, he moved on to try something different.

Seeing Ah Ran laughing happily with her friends, the cream melting on his tongue suddenly lost all its sweetness.

“There’s another person watching us over there.”

It was Gloria again who first noticed someone watching them. Yun Ran turned to look and met Jiang Musheng’s eyes. She actually saw a hint of… resentment? She couldn’t find the right word to describe it.

She turned back to the three Irish girls and said, “I think we’ve discussed enough. Can we stop for today?”

Gloria nodded expressionlessly. Lily said, “We haven’t finished these desserts yet. Can I keep sitting here and eating?”

Yun Ran smiled. “Of course, you can. I’ve already paid. Take your time and enjoy. I might have to excuse myself now.”

With that, Yun Ran stood up and walked toward Jiang Musheng. She stood next to him and asked, “Are you having dessert all by yourself, Mr. Jiang?”

Jiang Musheng said, “Sit down.”

Yun Ran sat across from him. “Mr. Jiang, how did you order so much for one person?”

“I want to try everything you’ve tried.”

Yun Ran was stunned.

“Mr. Jiang, did you… come here specifically to pick me up?”

“Yes.”

Yun Ran lowered her head, not saying anything more. She placed her hands on her knees and gently tapped her fingers.

“Ah Ran, are those your friends?”

“Yes,” Yun Ran said, lifting her head. “They’re new friends I just met today.”

“You looked very happy a moment ago.”

“Did I?” Yun Ran smiled and explained, “We were just discussing the class assignment the teacher gave us. I’m in a group with them. We just came up with a very interesting idea, so everyone laughed.”

“You never seem to laugh as happily when you’re with me.”

“You’re happier when you’re with them.”

Yun Ran was taken aback. She didn’t understand why Jiang Musheng would care so much about those Irish girls. Could it be…? Yun Ran licked her lips and asked with a hint of suspicion, “Mr. Jiang, do you even get jealous of girls?”

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