Chapter 154: Chapter 154: The Jiang Family’s Gift

Jiang Qingli got back in the car and waved goodbye to the young man standing outside.

The black-haired young man leaned down, politely reminding her that she still had a meeting tomorrow.

"I won’t forget. Thanks!"

Jiang Qingli’s eyes crinkled into a smile. After thanking him, she raised the window. When she turned her head, she found that all of her Beast Husbands were staring at her.

’Suddenly, I feel as guilty as if I’d just been caught petting a pretty little stray cat right in front of all my pets at home...’

Clearing her throat, Jiang Qingli offered a simple explanation. "That underclassman who stopped me just now is a scumbag. Yuan Shiyao was worried I’d be fooled, so he told me the truth."

"Is that so?" Baili Jing took her hand and said with a smile, "I’ll have to properly thank him for his help another day."

"Senior Yuan is such a nice guy,"

Gu Nian chimed in with a smile, though his gaze was fixed on the man sitting across from him.

Yuan Shimo, who was usually quiet, was even more silent now. He stared out the window, lost in thought, his lips pressed into a thin, straight line.

Jiang Qingli noticed something was off with him and waved a hand in front of his face. "What’s wrong? Are you in a bad mood?"

"No, I was just thinking about my research." Her concern brought a small smile to his lips. "Thank you for your concern, female master."

Jiang Qingli was still a little worried. "If something’s on your mind, you have to tell me."

"Okay."

Yuan Shimo agreed with a smile, but he knew he could never tell her the truth. ’My bad mood is because of how close my brother was with her.’

After their brief, unpleasant exchange at last night’s party, this was the first time Yuan Shimo and Yuan Shiyao had seen each other, yet they hadn’t exchanged a single word.

Although they had never been particularly close, things had never been this cold between them.

As twins connected by blood, they understood each other’s thoughts better than anyone.

Yuan Shimo knew that his twin brother didn’t want to be just "friends" with Jiang Qingli. ’Yuan Shiyao wants so much more, just like I do.’

A subtle but undeniable rift had formed between the once-close twins.

Yuan Shiyao had actually reached out to him, clearly wanting to patch up this rift.

When they were children, Yuan Shimo would just go silent whenever he was unhappy, and Yuan Shiyao was almost always the one to break the ice.

It never took much effort. As soon as his younger brother showed he was willing, Yuan Shimo, the older brother, would always take the olive branch.

’But this time,’ Yuan Shimo thought, ’I’m not going to respond.’

’Responding now would mean giving in.’

Growing up, Yuan Shimo had always been willing to let his brother have many things.

Their parents’ affection, money, jewels—he was his younger brother, so he could step back and let him stand in the glorious spotlight. It was still the same now.

But when it came to anything related to Jiang Qingli, Yuan Shimo found it impossible to compromise.

-

It was Tuesday, so that evening, Jiang Qingli and Baili Jing went to the couple’s restaurant he had mentioned.

Yi Nuo dropped the two of them off at the restaurant before driving back.

The car was completely silent. The three males couldn’t stand each other, and none could be bothered to spare the others even a single glance.

Halfway there, Gu Nian suddenly spoke. "Stop the car."

"Is something the matter?" Yi Nuo asked in a flat voice, not stopping the car.

"None of your business," Gu Nian said coldly.

"My apologies, Mr. Gu." Yi Nuo glanced in the rearview mirror at the young man’s delicate, handsome face, which held a hint of malice. "The young miss ordered me to take you both home."

The implication was clear: he only took orders from Jiang Qingli. No one else could command him.

Gu Nian let out a derisive laugh.

’Putting on a show of loyalty now, are we?’

’Why didn’t you take a few pictures for our ’big sister’ when you were finishing off those corpses on the ground last night?’

’What, afraid she’ll find out you’re not as docile as you pretend to be?’

Gu Nian gritted his teeth, but wary that Yi Nuo might tattle on him, he didn’t say anything more.

He took a lollipop from his pocket, tore open the wrapper, stuffed it in his mouth, and bit down, crunching loudly on the hard candy.

From the back seat, Yuan Shimo glanced at Gu Nian. His gaze fell on the candy, and his brow furrowed.

’The ingredients in that candy seem... complex.’

But the Beast Husbands maintained a delicate balance of minding their own business. Prying into each other’s privacy wasn’t appropriate, and Yuan Shimo wasn’t the type to concern himself with his rivals anyway, so he simply averted his gaze.

When they arrived at the Jiang Family estate, the moment the car stopped, Gu Nian got into another vehicle and sped off.

From the direction he was heading, it was likely toward the couple’s restaurant.

...

Meanwhile, Jiang Qingli had just finished ordering.

The moment the waiter left, the girl melted like a puddle of Jell-O, slumping without a care for her image into the arms of the young man beside her.

Suddenly, her terminal vibrated twice.

Jiang Qingli glanced at it. It was a message from Ai Li.

She opened it, and a long message popped up: [Girl, you’re famous! You’re really famous! I forget the beginning, I forget the end, but the point is, you’re famous!]

[I was just getting a bite to eat, and two underclassmen and one upperclassman asked for your contact info! Your girl here did some screening for you, and one of them is seriously, seriously hot. Press 1 if you want his info [Smirk][Rose]]

A photo was attached below the message.

Before Jiang Qingli could even tap on the photo, she felt the fingers on her waist tighten.

Jiang Qingli: "..."

’You’ve got to be kidding me. Not again!’

Overwhelmed, she quickly typed back, [Not interested.]

When she turned her head, she saw Baili Jing picking up the pitcher to pour her some water, the smile on his lips having faded slightly.

"Hey," Jiang Qingli said, poking the young man’s cheek. "I turned him down."

"Does our popular president have an order for me?" Baili Jing replied, looking at her with a smile.

Jiang Qingli caught the teasing tone in his voice. She sighed and nuzzled her head against his cheek. "Stop making fun of me. Being president is actually kind of exhausting."

"Want to talk about it?" Baili Jing gently stroked her back, his voice soft. "I have some experience being president. Maybe we could compare notes."

That was an understatement on Baili Jing’s part.

He didn’t just have "some" experience; he had been the student council president for three years, handling everything perfectly and earning virtually no criticism.

Nestled in his arms, Jiang Qingli told him about everything that had happened that day.

Baili Jing watched her, his gaze focused, taking in every word. He gently praised her for how she handled things, then offered some of his own thoughts.

He wasn’t condescending or preachy; instead, he put himself in her shoes and offered suggestions from her perspective.

When this sly fox got serious, he exuded a charm completely different from his seductive allure in bed.

As Baili Jing was wrapping up his thoughts, Jiang Qingli leaned in and planted a loud kiss on his cheek.

Baili Jing froze for two seconds before cupping her face and kissing her back.

But since they were in public, it was just a brief touch of the lips before he pulled back, hugging her close and patting her back gently, as if soothing a small child.

The floor-to-ceiling window of their private room reflected their intimate embrace—and the flashing red light of a camera behind them.

Baili Jing looked up, his eyes meeting the reflection of the flashing red camera in the glass.

He raised his hand, and the camera lens was instantly covered by a layer of frost.

The last image the camera captured was of the young man raising an eyebrow, his narrow eyes filled with a taunting smile.

...

On the way back, Jiang Qingli asked Baili Jing many more questions, and he answered every one in meticulous detail.

Eventually, Jiang Qingli felt a little embarrassed. "I feel like I’m troubling you too much."

"It’s my honor to be troubled by you, my dear," Baili Jing said, leaning down to kiss the corner of her lips. "Besides, this hardly counts as trouble."

In fact, Baili Jing loved it when Jiang Qingli was like this.

In public, she was poised and capable, always holding her own.

But with him, she was like a little girl, willing to complain, to get upset, to vent about the things she found difficult.

These were things she didn’t talk about with her other Beast Husbands.

’Doesn’t that mean that, in her heart, I’m just a little bit special?’

Baili Jing hoped that specialness would last forever.

-

On her second day as acting president, Jiang Qingli received a mountain of friend requests and countless greetings. Among them were a few people who had badmouthed her during the Superpower assessment.

’Goes to show,’ she thought, ’a little power really does wonders for your social life.’

After a full day of dealing with people, a weary Jiang Qingli returned home to find the living room piled high with gift boxes.

Jiang Qingli’s eyes widened. "What is all this?"

Yi Nuo, still holding a gift box he had just brought inside, replied, "Young miss, these are congratulatory gifts on you becoming the acting president."

He reeled off a long list of names, some of which Jiang Qingli recognized, and others she did not.

’There are so many... when will I ever finish opening all of them...’

Jiang Qingli walked closer and casually picked up a gift box. When she saw the words written on it, her eyes widened.

It was a gift from the Jiang Family.