The Golden Cane and the Wild Rose - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

A panicked and youthful female voice rang out. The bald man’s hand, which was reaching for Yun Ran, froze. He looked toward the source of the voice. He saw a girl dressed like a princess doll in a white dress, who parted her lips and shouted, “Let go of my sister-in-law!”

Two tall men stood on either side of the girl. Their faces were silhouetted against the light, making them impossible to see. Behind them was a uniformed group of men in black suits. The sheer scale of their presence immediately sent a chill down the bald man’s spine. He looked at Yun Ran with fear, and the girl’s words about her being his “sister-in-law” connected to Yun Ran’s earlier claim. The situation suddenly made perfect sense.

“Let them go, now! Let them go!” the bald man anxiously ordered his subordinates.

Suddenly released, the terrified and weak-kneed Yun Ran collapsed to the ground. The bald man executed a smooth, practiced kneel, bowing his head and repenting. “I was wrong, my lady. I had no idea you were so powerful. It was all Boss He who told me to grab you.”

“Boss, should we let this guy go?” one of the subordinates asked, a little dazed to see their boss instantly drop to his knees.

“Let him go!” the bald man shouted, turning his head, then turned back to Yun Ran, his tone fawning. “Please, my lady, spare my pathetic life!” He began to kowtow.

To offend Jiang Musheng’s woman was to offend Jiang Musheng himself. What was a few head-first bows when he was about to die?

Yun Ran had no idea what was going on. She had been trying to help her senior, who was being beaten so badly, and she had gotten hit a couple of times herself. Now she felt dizzy and her body was in a lot of pain.

“Ah Ran!”

“Sister-in-law!”

Yun Ran saw blurry figures rushing toward her, but before she could make out who they were, she lost consciousness.

“Ah Ran!”

Covered in blood, Gu Hongfei dragged his injured body and tried to crawl toward Yun Ran.

Jiang Xueyu urgently and anxiously ran to Yun Ran’s side. She tried to pick her up but wasn’t strong enough. She looked up at her brother for help.

Zheng Hangyi had come to enjoy the show, but the sight before him wasn’t entertaining at all. Still, he tried to lighten the mood. “Musheng, aren’t you going to do something?”

“Brother,” Jiang Xueyu pleaded again.

Just then, the blood-soaked Gu Hongfei crawled toward them, but his eyes were only on Yun Ran. He kept calling out, “Ah Ran, Ah Ran…”

Jiang Xueyu noticed the weak, bloody man. “Brother, he seems to be with my sister-in-law. We should send him to the hospital.”

The second before Gu Hongfei’s bleeding hand could touch Yun Ran, Jiang Musheng bent down and picked her up.

…

Yun Ran woke up the next day, startled. This wasn’t her room. Her first instinct was to check if her clothes were still on.

It’s over. Her clothes had been changed. Had Boss He’s men taken her by force last night? What was she going to do? Had she been forced to become Boss He’s concubine or mistress?

The thought alone made Yun Ran want to go crazy. Just then, the doorknob turned. Yun Ran quickly lay back down and pretended to be asleep.

“Huh?”

“Is she still asleep?”

It was a girl’s voice.

“Sister-in-law, my brother is waiting for us to eat breakfast.”

Sister-in-law?

Yun Ran’s memory of last night came flooding back. Just before she passed out, she thought she heard someone call her “sister-in-law.” The bald man not only let her go but also knelt and kowtowed to her. Yes, that’s what happened. So, Boss He didn’t defile me last night. Thank goodness, thank goodness, thank goodness.

Perhaps Yun Ran’s excitement and relief were too much, as her body rose and fell with her breathing.

“Sister-in-law, are you okay?”

Yun Ran pretended to just wake up and opened her eyes. She didn’t answer, instead quietly looking at the girl in front of her, who had a look of concern on her face. She was a beautiful girl dressed like a doll, with very fair skin and obvious light brown freckles on and around her nose. If her hair wasn’t black and curly but blond, Yun Ran would have thought she was a foreigner, like some of her classmates in middle school.

“Sister-in-law, my name is Jiang Xueyu. I’m Jiang Musheng’s sister. You can just call me Xueyu,” the girl said excitedly, gripping her hand.

I’m in Jiang Musheng’s house? A storm of shock rose in Yun Ran’s heart.

With the enthusiastic help and guidance of “Sister Xueyu,” Yun Ran found a place to wash up and freshen herself.

“Sister-in-law, you can live in this room from now on, or you can just live in my brother’s room.”

Yun Ran’s heart said no to Xueyu’s enthusiastic suggestion a million times over. “This room is fine.”

“My brother has never been in love before, so he might not know how to. But don’t worry, my brother is a really good person.”

Jiang Musheng is a good person? Yun Ran immediately questioned this. Having grown up under the fear of his name, she couldn’t even manage a smile. Her mind was filled with her dad’s childhood threats.

“If you don’t listen, I’ll send you to Jiang Musheng.”

“Oh, Jiang Musheng just chopped off someone’s hand yesterday.”

“If we send little Ah Ran to him, he’ll eat her, won’t he?”

She was young back then and had watched Journey to the West, which had monsters that ate children. After her dad’s threats, Yun Ran thought Jiang Musheng was a child-eating demon. She would cry her eyes out and apologize to her dad, promising never to be disobedient again. Now that she was grown up, she naturally didn’t believe Jiang Musheng was a man-eating monster from a movie. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t still terrifying.

“Sister-in-law, what are you thinking about?”

Under Xueyu’s curious gaze, Yun Ran turned around and smiled, shaking her head. “Nothing.” She didn’t dare say what she was really thinking.

But, this sister Xueyu is so beautiful and enthusiastic. Her brother, Jiang Musheng, can’t be all that bad, can he?

“Let’s go eat breakfast. We shouldn’t keep my brother waiting.”

“Wait…” Yun Ran didn’t move. She wasn’t mentally prepared yet.

“Xue… I’m sorry, Miss Jiang, I have no relationship with your brother. I only said I was his person to get out of trouble. I’m so, so sorry…” Yun Ran apologized sincerely, hoping to be forgiven.

“It’s okay. You can cultivate feelings!” Jiang Xueyu said with extreme optimism.

Yun Ran’s eyes widened in surprise. The Jiang family can’t be this casual, can they? A person of Jiang Musheng’s status could have anyone he wanted. But he had never had a partner, and the only woman around him was his sister.

Rumors in the streets said that Jiang Musheng not only had a slight limp but was also impotent. Men were sensitive about that kind of thing, especially a powerful man like Jiang Musheng.

So, could it be that he’s too proud to find someone to prove himself, but since I happened to get out of a mess by claiming to be his person, and his sister likes me, and he thinks I have a good face, he wants to go along with it? This was the only somewhat reasonable explanation Yun Ran could come up with, but it still felt absurd.

“Let’s go eat, sister-in-law.”

Jiang Xueyu pushed Yun Ran, who was still lost in thought, out of the room, not caring that Yun Ran was still in her pajamas. It’s fine, I’m wearing mine, too. There weren’t many rules in this house, only that her brother always had to be well-dressed in front of others.

By the time Yun Ran came to her senses, it was too late. She had been pushed into the dining room by Xueyu, and she found herself, unprepared, making eye contact with Jiang Musheng, who was sitting at the head of the table.

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