Chapter 44 You Still Have the Best Ways

"If you aren't busy tomorrow, Mianmian, why don't you stay over for the night? You and Yaoyao haven't seen each other in so long, I'm sure you have a lot to talk about, right?"

Mrs. Shen extended the invitation. Initially, Jiang Mian wanted to refuse, but Shen Xiayao grabbed her arm and gave it a gentle shake, leaving her with no choice but to compromise.

"Yes, alright. Thank you, Mrs. Shen."

Shen Xiayao beamed and leaned against her. "Then you're sleeping with me tonight."

"Okay," Jiang Mian nodded, holding her cup and taking another two sips of pear water.

The atmosphere in the Shen household was always warm and harmonious. Mr. and Mrs. Shen had only two children, Shen Xiayao and Shen Ze. Mr. Shen held firm control over the family business, while the relationships with other collateral relatives remained ordinary without relying on the core family for favors.

Mrs. Shen was exceptionally considerate, and the words gentle and quiet suited her perfectly.

Seeing that his older sister was completely ignoring him and only focusing on talking to Jiang Mian, Shen Ze felt a bit aggrieved.

"Sister, your eyes don't even have me, your younger brother, in them anymore!"

He raised his hand and shook Shen Xiayao's arm, trying to win back a fraction of sisterly love.

However, all he received was a swat from Shen Xiayao, who pushed him sideways away from her.

"Quit acting like a rascal in front of me, you brat. I heard from Mom that your grades this semester aren't very ideal."

As soon as those words came out, Shen Ze shot a resentful look straight at Mrs. Shen. "Mom, you clearly promised me you wouldn't tell Sister."

Hearing this, Mrs. Shen merely smiled. "Oh, you can't blame Mom either. Your sister is just too smart, and I didn't mean to."

Shen Xiayao pulled Jiang Mian up from the sofa, rolled her eyes at Shen Ze, and said, "Go get some sleep early and put your mind into your studies!"

With that, she dragged Jiang Mian toward the stairs.

Jiang Mian glanced back and saw Shen Ze drooping his head, moving to another spot to whisper something to Mrs. Shen.

The sound was too low for her to catch the exact details.

Back in Shen Xiayao's bedroom, the two of them sat together on the sofa to chat.

"Mianmian, does Wen Jinhuai really not have feelings for you?" After pondering for a long time, Shen Xiayao still felt something was amiss.

Jiang Mian shook her head. Even if she harbored any extravagant hopes toward Wen Jinhuai, surely he felt nothing for her, right?

"But you have his private contact number."

This was the basis for Shen Xiayao's conviction that there must be something between them. After all, besides close family and trusted friends, no one else possessed that man's private contact details.

Quite a few business partners only had his work contact information.

"You can't just assume something is going on based on that, can you?" Jiang Mian said helplessly, turning to look at Shen Xiayao.

"Yaoyao, please stop dwelling on this, or I really am going to overthink things."

"Fine, fine, we won't talk about it anymore! I'm going to take a bath!" Shen Xiayao hugged her, rubbed against her affectionately, and happily gathered her pajamas before heading into the bathroom.

Curled up on the sofa, Jiang Mian stared blankly at the chat interface with Wen Jinhuai on her phone for a moment.

Indeed, why on earth had he given her his private contact number?

Back then, when Jiang Zhouyi had been so desperate to get his contact info, Wen Jinhuai had merely told him to contact his assistant for any work-related matters.

Biting her lip, Jiang Mian shook away all the chaotic thoughts in her head.

She couldn't think too much about it. Once you let yourself fall into a blind spot of misinterpretation, it becomes very difficult to climb back out.

Besides, Jiang Zhouyi had been quite anxious over the past couple of days; after all, Elder Wen's seventieth birthday banquet was fast approaching.

He was so eager to forge a connection with the Wen family that he certainly wouldn't let this opportunity slip by.

She needed to figure out what she should do.

Mr. and Mrs. Shen treated her very well, and of course, she could ask them for help, but Jiang Mian didn't want to taint their pure relationship with utilitarian interests.

Her eyes slowly darkened as an answer surfaced in her mind.

Although this answer seemed somewhat outrageous, it was the best option available; she just didn't know whether the other party would be willing to help.

Throwing her head back against the sofa, she rested her phone on her stomach, her fingers tapping absentmindedly on the back of the device.

If her parents hadn't encountered that accident, she probably would have been a carefree young girl cherished by her parents, able to freely pursue whatever she loved.

Yet, of all things, "what ifs" did not exist in this world.

Tears slipped down the corners of her eyes, tracing a path along the side of her cheek.

Lifting her hand, Jiang Mian pressed her lips together, desperately fighting back the impulse as she slowly wiped away her tears.

After spending the night at the Shen residence, Jiang Mian and Shen Xiayao went out together the next morning after breakfast.

The young lady insisted on visiting the domestic headquarters of XG, claiming it was for educational purposes.

Their fields of study were light-years apart, and Jiang Mian had no idea what she was really up to, but since Shen Xiayao insisted on going, Jiang Mian simply agreed.

Shen Ze chased after them with a pitiful expression. "Sister, I want to go too."

"Go where? Stay home and study properly. If I hear about your grades dropping again, watch out, I'll block you."

"No!" Panicking slightly, Shen Ze immediately turned and hurried back toward the house. "I'll study right now, you can't block me!"

The kid was fearless about almost everything—except for Shen Xiayao blocking him.

After all, there was a precedent.

Shen Xiayao had blocked him once before. When was that? It seemed to be when Shen Xiayao was in her first year of high school.

At that time, Shen Ze was only in the fifth grade. One day after school, instead of going straight home, he had stayed behind to play card games with a bunch of little brats.

In the end, Shen Xiayao had to track him down and drag him back by the ear, fiercely lecturing him for losing sight of his priorities and wasting his potential on frivolous games. In a fit of anger, she blocked him and completely ignored him for three whole days as if he didn't exist.

Shen Ze was only an eleven-year-old boy back then; how could he possibly endure such treatment?

He begged, reflected on his faults, and even wrote a self-criticism thousands of words long for her.

Finally, after making promise after promise that he would never do it again, Shen Xiayao finally released him from her blacklist.

"When it comes to keeping him in line, you really have your own methods."

Jiang Mian gave her a thumbs-up.

When the two of them arrived at the XG headquarters, quite a few employees were already at their workstations.

Seeing Jiang Mian, some of them nodded and greeted her.

She had never been the kind of aloof leader who put on airs, so while these people respected her, they didn't feel intimidated or afraid.

Seeing her from inside his office, Cheng Qi walked out to meet them.

Shen Xiayao looked around with curiosity, tapping Jiang Mian's arm. "You guys' office building is pretty nice."

"This is Cheng Qi, the head of domestic market relations," Jiang Mian said with a smile, gesturing toward Cheng Qi. "This is Shen Xiayao from the Shen family."

"Hello, Miss Shen," Cheng Qi nodded politely.

She returned the greeting before watching Cheng Qi turn his attention to Jiang Mian. "There's something I need to discuss with you."

Understanding immediately, Shen Xiayao smiled and said, "Mianbao, which one is your office? I'll go sit inside for a bit."

"That one over there," Jiang Mian pointed, watching Shen Xiayao head in that direction before turning to follow Cheng Qi into his office.