A Paper Contract GL - Chapter 17
“Jiang Yuetong, come back right now!” She hung up after only one sentence.
Jiang Yuetong looked at the time. It was still early before her shift ended, but worrying that something might have happened at home, she asked for time off and returned early. When she arrived home and saw her parents sitting on the sofa with stern expressions, Jiang Yuetong knew something was wrong.
“Jiang Yuetong, explain to me about going on that blind date last Saturday. Auntie Chen spoke very badly to me, and I want to hear your explanation.” Jiang Mama looked at Jiang Yuetong with a face full of anger.
Jiang Yuetong looked troubled, sitting on the corner of the sofa, thinking: I knew this would be the result. It’s all Chen Nan’s fault for messing things up so badly.
“Oh… what did Auntie Chen tell you?” Jiang Yuetong countered, knowing that she needed to understand the situation to turn the tide.
“What did she say?!” Jiang Mama exclaimed loudly. “Don’t you know yourself? Why do you need to ask me?”
Jiang Yuetong remained silent. Jiang Mama continued, “The person you met was her son. He went home and said that a woman dressed in a neutral style was hugging and being intimate with you, and even claimed to be your girlfriend. You have no idea how angry Auntie Chen is and how upset her son is. I was so embarrassed, I lost all face. What exactly are you doing?”
Jiang Yuetong’s heart sank, and her brain cells started racing. Although she usually didn’t lie, she had to tell a white lie now. “Oh, it’s like this. That’s a friend of mine, named Chen Nan. I asked her to go with me,” Jiang Yuetong said, twisting her fingers. “You know I’m quite picky when it comes to blind dates. I told her that if I didn’t like the man, I’d ask her to rush over and help me out so I could leave quickly and do what I liked, without wasting time there with a lame guy.”
Jiang Mama’s rigid expression softened slightly. She asked coldly, “Is that true? You’re not lying to me, are you?”
Jiang Yuetong shook her head. “How could I lie to you?”
Jiang Papa sighed with relief, giving Jiang Yuetong a cool glance. “You never consider the consequences of your actions. Do you know how much trouble you caused your mother by doing that?”
Jiang Yuetong was silent for a moment, her expression complex and conflicted. “I’m sorry, I won’t do that again.”
With Jiang Yuetong’s explanation, her family finally relaxed, at least for the time being.
After Jiang Yuetong went into her room, Jiang Papa said to his wife, “You too, stop trying to force our daughter into blind dates all the time. Kids now have a rebellious mentality. Just let nature take its course. Our Tong Tong is so beautiful, she won’t have trouble getting married. But you forcing her every day—can that lead to a good marriage? Everything is a matter of fate. When fate hasn’t arrived, whatever you do is futile.”
Jiang Mama nodded thoughtfully. “You’re right…”
She had almost forgotten about the incident that day, but her mother bringing it up made Jiang Yuetong angry again. The source of her anger was none other than Chen Nan.
“It’s all Chen Nan’s fault!” Jiang Yuetong muttered to herself as she dialed Chen Nan’s number.
Monday was a busy day. Chen Nan had just finished dealing with an urgent matter and took a sip of the Starbucks coffee her secretary had just bought downstairs. The rich aroma flowed down her throat and into her heart. She tilted her head and saw Jiang Yuetong’s caller ID on her phone. Chen Nan’s mood inexplicably brightened. She put down her cup, answered the phone, and said with a slight smile, “Jiang Yuetong, you miss me after only one night apart? You’re calling me first thing in the morning.”
“Miss you? I do miss you—I miss punching you!” Jiang Yuetong’s anger flared.
“What for? What did I do to you? Are you blaming me for having a nightmare last night?” Chen Nan scoffed, slightly furrowing her brow.
“It’s all you! This morning, I was called home by my mom’s phone call, I didn’t even attend class. The mother of the blind date is my mom’s friend, and my mom was asking me what happened that day,” Jiang Yuetong spoke very quickly.
“Hold on… speak slower…” Chen Nan said, startled.
Jiang Yuetong repeated what she had just said. Chen Nan said gravely, “So what did your mother say? Did you tell your family about our relationship?”
“Tell them? Do I want to die? Besides, we’re only pretending for your grandfather. Why should I let my family know and worry about me?” Jiang Yuetong lowered her eyelids. Her eyelashes fluttered in the morning light, casting scattered, uneasy shadows.
Chen Nan said thoughtfully, “Oh, so you mean you managed to smooth things over, right? Now you are just informing me of the outcome and releasing the anger pent up in your heart?”
“Fine, I get it. I’ll be more careful next time,” Chen Nan finished her coffee and said, dissatisfied. That’s all she could say. What else could she say?
“Okay, I’m hanging up if there’s nothing else,” Jiang Yuetong said.
“Wait a moment,” Chen Nan said quickly, catching the last second before Jiang Yuetong hung up.
“What is it?” Jiang Yuetong put the phone back to her ear.
“I’ll pick you up tonight. There’s something I need to talk to you about,” Chen Nan said flatly. She knew Jiang Yuetong wouldn’t tell her parents about their situation, but Chen Nan was still very unhappy. She wasn’t the type of person who liked to do things in secret. Everything should be open and honest, and love should be the same. Unfortunately, Jiang Yuetong didn’t see it that way.
“What can’t you say over the phone? Didn’t we just see each other yesterday?” Jiang Yuetong retorted.
“We’ll talk about it when we meet. Alright, bye,” Chen Nan quickly hung up the phone.
The night sky over Guangzhou was like black velvet, with sparkling stars adorning the velvet like pearls.
Chen Nan put down her work, just about to leave, when Zhang Manyang pushed the door open and entered.
“Why are you here?” Chen Nan was tidying her desk.
“Hey, I haven’t heard you summon me lately. You seem quite busy. Things must be going well, right?” Zhang Manyang sat in front of Chen Nan’s desk, gossiping.
“Going well with what!” Chen Nan said, then remembered Jiang Yuetong’s outright denial of their relationship to her family today, and her heart felt cold. Her expression also darkened.
Seeing this, Zhang Manyang changed his teasing tone: “In a bad mood? Looks like your pursuit of a girl failed! How could our Miss Chen Nan fail to get a girl? You’re usually invincible.”
“Say that again, and I’ll strip you naked and throw you into Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong to be a gigolo. Hong Kong isn’t that far from Guangzhou anyway.”
Zhang Manyang rolled his eyes at Chen Nan. “A classic case of valuing a lover over a friend.”
Chen Nan, who was tidying her things, suddenly looked up. “Zhang Manyang.”
“Hmm?”
“Have you ever…” Chen Nan paused, speaking very slowly, “Have you ever liked anyone?” She added, “A true liking.”
Zhang Manyang was stunned for a moment. “What are you trying to say?”
A faint, slightly melancholy smile appeared on Chen Nan’s lips. She shook her head and said, “Nothing.”
Zhang Manyang said cheekily, “You haven’t truly fallen for that teacher Jiang, have you? It looks like what you two are doing is more than just acting.”
Chen Nan glanced at the time on her phone. If she didn’t leave now, she would be late to pick up Jiang Yuetong from work. Jiang Yuetong’s last class ended at 7:30 PM.
“I don’t have time to chat with you. If you have nothing else to say, get lost quickly.” Chen Nan smiled, but her voice was frosty.
Zhang Manyang stood up. “Why can’t you change your temper?” After saying that, he pushed open the heavy solid wood door and left. His purpose for coming was not just to chat with Chen Nan; he had recently taken a liking to a girl in Chen Nan’s company and was fully launching his pursuit.
“Teacher Jiang,” Li Haitao quickly approached as soon as Jiang Yuetong returned to the office after class. “Are you free tonight? Let’s go see a movie together. I heard a really good film is out.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t have time tonight,” Jiang Yuetong replied with a polite smile, which was a refusal.
Li Haitao persisted, “Then tomorrow is fine, or the day after.”
“Uh…” Jiang Yuetong was about to find an excuse to refuse when the director of academic affairs called her name from behind. Jiang Yuetong took the opportunity to leave.
Li Haitao suddenly felt a sense of frustration.
Just then, Jiang Yuetong’s phone in the office rang. Li Haitao was nearby, so he picked it up.
“Hello,” Li Haitao said.
Chen Nan was stunned. Why was a man answering the phone?
“Is something wrong? Why aren’t you speaking?” Li Haitao asked.
“Who are you? Why are you answering Jiang Yuetong’s phone? Who are you?” Chen Nan genuinely wished there was no man around Jiang Yuetong, but unfortunately, Jiang Yuetong was so beautiful that it would be too preposterous if there weren’t.
“Who am I? Never mind who I am for now. I’ve answered the phone, so just tell me what you need, and I’ll pass the message on to her.”
Chen Nan sneered, “I think there’s something wrong with you. Don’t you know not to casually answer someone else’s phone? Are you so bored you have nothing better to do?”
Li Haitao was stunned, not expecting Chen Nan to talk like that, and retorted angrily, “I was just trying to be helpful! Could you please not be so rude?”
“You think that’s rude? Then don’t answer other people’s phones in the future!” Chen Nan yelled.
Jiang Yuetong happened to walk in, saw Li Haitao answering her phone, and walked over, giving Li Haitao a displeased look. “How could you answer my phone?”
Li Haitao returned the phone to Jiang Yuetong. “I saw you weren’t here, so…”
Although Jiang Yuetong was unhappy, she didn’t say anything else. Seeing that it was Chen Nan calling, she secretly thought, This is not good. By the time Jiang Yuetong said “Hello” into the phone, Chen Nan had already hung up.
“Don’t answer my phone again next time,” Jiang Yuetong put the phone in her pocket, her tone flat.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Teacher Jiang,” a hint of awkwardness appeared on Li Haitao’s face.
Jiang Yuetong shook her head expressionlessly. “It’s nothing.”
Although she and Chen Nan had no scandalous secrets, she still didn’t like her private calls being answered randomly by others.
Li Haitao paused, then looked at Jiang Yuetong and said, “The person who just called you is the one who came to the school to find you a few days ago, right?”
Jiang Yuetong’s face flushed slightly and she nodded.
“She… is a woman?” Li Haitao asked tentatively.
Jiang Yuetong nodded.
“Please forgive me, Teacher Jiang, if anything I said was out of line,” Li Haitao continued. “I think that person is pursuing you, right?”
Jiang Yuetong suddenly looked up, her face a little pale, as if she had been caught doing something wrong, feeling very uncomfortable all over. “Whether she is or not, does it have anything to do with Teacher Li?”
“It has nothing to do with me, but Teacher Jiang, I think you should stay away from her. She gives me a very bad feeling. Of course, she looks very rich. We probably couldn’t afford her red BMW sports car in our lifetime, I admit that.” Li Haitao walked to the water dispenser and poured himself a cup of water. “I also saw the clothes she bought you.” Li Haitao’s gaze fell on the clothes on Jiang Yuetong’s desk. It was the outfit Jiang Yuetong wore the night they saw the play. She had intended to return it to Chen Nan, which was why she brought it to school today.