Chapter 751 - 502: Jiangg Ning’s Rage
It was too late.
Chen Yuan pressed a hand to his forehead, his expression a mixture of bitterness and despair. He reached out his hand, but let it fall limply mid-air.
The small box was still wrapped in its golden foil, unopened. A few large, gilded words gleamed on the packaging—it was the ultra-thin type...
Even an idiot could tell what it was.
Those few seconds felt longer than a lifetime.
He watched Jiangg Ning’s side profile, her eyes scrutinizing the object.
Chen Yuan felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.
"What is this?" Jiangg Ning pinched the small, square box between her slender fingers, turning to face Chen Yuan. Their eyes met.
Her face was completely devoid of expression, the corners of her mouth set in a flat line.
She wasn’t being cold.
But it made Chen Yuan’s entire body tense up, taut as a bowstring.
"Uh... this is... Maybe I can explain, although even I think it’s ridiculous how this thing ended up in my pocket. This afternoon..."
"I asked you, what is this."
"Yes."
"I will not ask a third time."
"I was wrong, Ningning! Your mom gave it to me!"
But as soon as he said it, Jiangg Ning spun around, pushed open the door, and strode into the hallway. Her face darkened instantly as she marched straight toward Jiangg Ruxue’s room.
Her expression wasn’t terrifying at all; it was still the same delicate face.
But the aura she exuded, the chilling air about her, made Chen Yuan not dare to get close. In his eyes, the Jiangg Ning of this moment was like a man-eating monster.
It was enough to make a person tremble with fear.
"Ningning, where are you going?"
Chen Yuan stood frozen for a moment, then bolted after her the next second.
But no matter how he called out, Jiangg Ning didn’t even turn her head.
Left with no other choice, Chen Yuan steeled himself, rushed forward, and wrapped his arms around Ningning’s waist. Throwing caution to the wind, he summoned his courage and carried her all the way back into the room.
Jiangg Ning, who had been quite calm just a moment ago, flew into a rage the instant she was picked up, her freedom of movement restricted.
Her long legs kicked wildly in mid-air.
"Let go of me!"
"I don’t want to do this either, Ningning. Calm down! What are you planning to do? Go settle the score with your mom?"
"I’m going to ask her if she was the one who gave it to you."
"Do you even need to ask? You think I’d lie to you about that?"
Chen Yuan held Jiangg Ning tightly, pushed her back into the room, and slammed the door shut. He blocked the doorway with his body, bracing his hands against the wall on either side, leaving no gap for her to escape.
The door was shut.
Chen Yuan let out a sigh of relief, at least.
He really didn’t want to see Jiangg Ning get into a huge fight with Jiangg Ruxue over this. It would shatter the hard-won harmony in the Jiangg Family, turning things tense and hostile again—especially since this was Jiangg Ruxue’s first day home.
Besides.
She didn’t necessarily have any ill intent; she was surely just trying to help her son-in-law.
But this was a method Jiangg Ning would never accept. Even with a clear explanation, she would feel that her dignity had been violated.
Thinking this, Chen Yuan began to regret telling the truth.
"Haven’t you lied to me enough??" Jiangg Ning’s eyebrows shot up. The words escaped her lips in a fit of anger.
Hearing this, Chen Yuan froze.
"You don’t trust me?"
"Then move. Do something that will make me trust you. I’ll go verify it myself. I don’t need you standing here trying to earnestly persuade me."
Jiangg Ning clutched the small box so tightly her knuckles were turning white.
In this standoff, her presence was immeasurably more powerful than Chen Yuan’s.
Ningning was fine when she wasn’t angry.
But once she was, she became the family’s Great Demon King—utterly impossible to reason with.
"I..."
"’I’ what? You think you can hide anything from me? Has it only been a day or two that something’s been off between you and Jiangg Yao? You find an excuse to go to her room every night. And this time, you went to Lanjing on your own initiative, making eyes at each other right in front of me. God knows what you do in private. Do you dare say you have a clear conscience?"
After that torrent of words, Chen Yuan’s face instantly flushed red.
The feeling of being exposed left him wanting to crawl into a hole.
In class, teachers always like to say, "Don’t think I can’t see you messing around down there." The students never believe it. But when you finally get a chance to stand on the podium and look down at the students, you realize the teacher’s perspective truly is a panoramic view; they just choose not to say anything.
That time and that place were just like this time and this place.
"Why aren’t you talking?" She walked over, her brow furrowed slightly. "Weren’t you just demanding to know why I don’t trust you? Should I praise you for being so safety-conscious, for knowing to use protection? Even if my mom forced it on you, so what? That makes you pure and innocent, does it?"
Her words were piercing.
Chen Yuan didn’t even dare to lift his head, falling silent.
Then, Jiangg Ning suddenly erupted. She raised the small box high and threw it hard against his body.
"Speak!"
"Ningning, don’t be angry... I didn’t want to hide it from you, but how am I supposed to bring something like this up?"
"Then you should have never brought it up. Just keep hiding it."
"I was afraid you’d get angry, that’s why I didn’t dare to say anything."
"So I’m not angry right now, is that it?"
Jiangg Ning’s cold eyes stared him down, leaving Chen Yuan at a loss for words. Guilt quickly filled his heart.
Thinking back, he really had been spending most of his time being clingy with Jiangg Yao lately.
He thought he’d been balancing the scales evenly.
But in reality, his clumsy attempts hadn’t fooled Jiangg Ning’s eyes at all; instead, they had backfired spectacularly.
He couldn’t imagine how Jiangg Ning must have felt, what she must have been thinking, lying there alone each night after he left the room saying, "I’m going to go comfort Jiangg Yao."
At that thought, Chen Yuan’s heart ached even more.
"I’m sorry, Ningning Baby..."
"You have the nerve to call me ’Baby’?" She was so angry she laughed.
"Ningning Baby, I was wrong. I truly and deeply realize my mistake now. I can’t deny what happened. Jiangg Yao and I... how should I put it... we’ve already done it. But we both thought about it carefully; it wasn’t an impulse. It was a natural progression. After we’re married, we’d have to deal with this aspect of things, right? It’s just a matter of sooner or later."
He continued to explain, "Because I wanted to completely respect your opinion, I never really dared to bring this up with you. I was too embarrassed."
"You were too embarrassed?"
"Of course. Let’s just try to see it from each other’s perspective for a second. I admit, I feel a little... pressure when I’m with you."
Jiangg Ning’s expression flickered.
Seeing Chen Yuan’s sincere face, her gaze wavered for a moment as she seemed to consider his words.
Being too assertive really could make the other person in a relationship feel pressured.
She was well aware of her own personality, too.
Falling into thought meant that rationality was beginning to return.
Chen Yuan nervously wrung his hands, knowing he had found the right angle for his explanation. He racked his brain for the right words.
"To be honest, we’ve been dating for so long, and I admit... actually, Ning, you’re incredibly attractive to me. A lot of the time, I’m not as rational as you think. Sometimes I can’t help myself when we’re just hugging. I’ve been wanting to find a chance to talk to you about this."
"Is it as serious as you say...?" Jiangg Ning sounded skeptical.
"You’re not a guy, so of course you wouldn’t know. It’s really hard. So a lot of the time it’s not that I don’t want to, but that I don’t dare to. I didn’t know how to bring it up with you. After holding it in for so long, I just had even less control when it came to Yaoyao."
"So I’m terrifying, is that it? I forced you to go to Yaoyao. I get what you’re saying."
"Not at all! People are more afraid to casually touch the things they like the most. That’s what I meant."
"Hmph."
Jiangg Ning snorted lightly, clearly not entirely convinced by him.
Still, compared to her initial rage, she had calmed down considerably.
"I’m not saying I want to restrict you or anything, but the three of us need to have enough trust between us. You two are always doing things behind my back. Do you think I can accept that? You asked me to see it from your perspective; you should try seeing it from mine."
"Yes, yes, yes, Ningning, you’re right."
"I’m a person, too. I have a heart. I get jealous, I get hurt, I get sad... Can you please stop making me suffer so much?"
As Jiangg Ning spoke, she grew emotional, and the rims of her eyes began to turn red.
Hearing her say this, Chen Yuan pressed his lips together, his own heart aching in waves.
"I’ll remember. From now on, I’ll communicate with you about everything. Something like this will absolutely never happen again."
"Don’t think you can just say a few words and this will all be over."
She bit her lip.
Tears welled in her eyes.
Just then, the sound of flip-flops, SLAP, SLAP, SLAP, came from outside. It was Jiangg Yao, wrapped in a bath towel, having just finished her shower.
She was completely unaware of the situation in the room.
She and Chen Yuan had arranged during the day to cleverly put on an act tonight, just like they had the past few days. So, while she showered, Yaoyao had hummed a song and planned out the script.
She would pretend to start a fight and storm off in a huff.
Then, she’d wait for Chen Yuan to placate Ningning and come find her.
Just like before.
Standing before the door, she couldn’t wait to go in.
With a THUD, she pushed the door open, her expression serious. Her sharp, predatory gaze swept across the scene in the room.
"What are you two doing behind my back? With the door closed?"
Jiangg Yao took small steps into the room. Before she even moved, the expression was already on her face. Pouting, she said irritably, "The perfectly good bed just *had* to be changed. I don’t like the three of us sleeping together. I can’t play games, I can’t watch my shows. I’d be better off in my own room."
However, in the few seconds after she spoke, neither Jiangg Ning nor Chen Yuan replied.
Chen Yuan looked at her with a slightly awkward expression, not even daring to give her a meaningful glance, and turned his head away. Ningning, on the other hand, was watching her coldly.
"Uh... what’s up with you two?" Yaoyao shook her head, clearly not understanding the situation.
"Get out," Jiangg Ning suddenly snapped.
Jiangg Yao jumped in fright. A moment later, she reflexively started to back away. "Alrighty then, I’ll go dry my hair. You two take your time arguing."
With a few quick steps, she vanished like a puff of smoke.
She recognized her sister’s murderous gaze and was terrified she’d be caught in the crossfire the next second.
"Tonight, I’m sleeping here with you," Chen Yuan said, mustering his courage.
"No need. You don’t have to sleep here ever again."
"You’re still angry. How about... we go take a shower together?" He started being shameless.
"Heh," Jiangg Ning scoffed as if she’d just heard the joke of the century. "Don’t make me slap you."
"Go on, slap me. Ningning is so nice, giving me a reward even when she’s angry."
Chen Yuan proactively offered his face.
"Look at how pathetic you are." Jiangg Ning didn’t know how to vent her fury; it made her teeth itch with frustration.