Volume One, Chapter 18: Why Should I Deserve Love?

When Jiang Jinglan arrived at Jin Zhi, it was precisely three in the afternoon—five minutes earlier than Bai Ruoxi had anticipated.

Bai Ruoxi wore her headphones, seated in front of her computer. The screen displayed a live feed from Jin Zhi.

Her headphones were connected to her phone, allowing her to hear the conversation between Lu Ming and Jiang Jinglan clearly, and to speak with Lu Ming at any moment.

Jiang Jinglan strode into the café, dressed in a custom deep blue shirt paired with a black suit.

Upon entering, he immediately drew the attention of several patrons.

Unbothered, Jiang Jinglan made a beeline for the deepest corner of the shop.

“Tap, tap, tap...”

The steady sound of footsteps came through the headphones.

As Jiang Jinglan drew closer to the seat, Bai Ruoxi instinctively straightened her spine, her heart tightening slightly.

A strange thrill stirred deep within her.

Originally, she had only intended to ask Jiang Jinglan some questions through Lu Ming.

But seeing Jiang Jinglan appear on the screen, an inexplicable excitement surged through her.

It was the thrill of controlling everything from the shadows.

The questions she normally dared not ask could be voiced today.

At the thought, adrenaline surged, and the intense excitement and anticipation shattered the weight of grievances she had borne since yesterday.

Bai Ruoxi’s gaze fixed tightly on the proud, indifferent man on the screen, her heart racing much faster than usual.

—

After Jiang Jinglan took his seat, a waiter brought over two cups of Americano.

Sun Yu sat alone by a distant window, avoiding the conversation.

Lu Ming forced a stiff but polite smile.

“Mr. Jiang, please.”

Jiang Jinglan looked at the man opposite him, his voice cool and distant: “I don’t like coffee.”

“Oh? Really?”

Lu Ming’s lips curled with a hint of sarcasm before his tone softened.

“Mr. Jiang, what brings you to see me?”

“My wife seems to enjoy coming here for coffee.”

Jiang Jinglan’s voice darkened.

“She often calls you. Is that the kind of frequency friends usually have?”

Their calls were nearly daily, some lasting over an hour and a half.

Jiang Jinglan’s gaze grew colder as he looked at Lu Ming.

Lu Ming hesitated, then Bai Ruoxi’s voice came through the Bluetooth earpiece.

“Ask him if he checked my call records.”

Lu Ming raised a brow.

“Seems like Mr. Jiang has been going through Ms. Bai’s call logs.”

“That’s none of your business. Just answer my questions.”

Jiang Jinglan’s face remained expressionless.

—

Though today’s main purpose wasn’t to talk about this, Lu Ming couldn’t help but ask.

The thought of that woman maintaining such close contact with another man was suffocating.

Even the wife of an ordinary family wouldn’t behave like that, let alone Mrs. Jiang...

It was outrageous!

Lu Ming took a sip of his coffee and said, “Ms. Bai really likes Jin Zhi. She wants to partner with me to open a branch near the university town. Isn’t it normal for us to communicate more?”

“Open a store? She never mentioned this to me.”

Jiang Jinglan clearly did not believe Lu Ming.

Lu Ming’s lips curled into a sarcastic smile.

“May I ask, Mr. Jiang, have you ever seriously tried to understand what Ms. Bai wants to do? Have you truly listened to her?”

Jiang Jinglan was momentarily taken aback; the corners of his mouth pressed downward.

“This is a private matter between us.”

“Also, I must correct you: you should call her Mrs. Jiang, not Ms. Bai.”

Lu Ming shrugged and fell silent.

Not because he didn’t want to argue, but because he feared killing the mood and spoiling the project’s momentum.

Seeing Lu Ming quiet, Jiang Jinglan pressed on.

“Last night, I found many wounds on Bai Ruoxi’s body—most likely caused by being dragged.”

“What happened to her yesterday?”

Jiang Jinglan stared at Lu Ming as if trying to read his soul.

Bai Ruoxi’s voice came through the earpiece, and Lu Ming repeated with suspicion:

“Mr. Jiang, you seem quite knowledgeable about external injuries...”

Jiang Jinglan’s tone turned slightly impatient.

“Because I’ve been injured many times before. Mr. Lu, let’s not stray from the topic. Please answer my question directly.”

“Fine...”

Lu Ming raised his hands in resignation.

“For the answer, you can ask your mother, Chen Chunrong, or the suburban police station.”

“But Mr. Jiang, why don’t you ask Mrs. Jiang directly?”

Jiang Jinglan pursed his lips and replied in a low voice:

“I don’t want to.”

It was strange.

Since discovering that Bai Ruoxi regarded him as a substitute for someone else and planned to divorce and run away once pregnant, admitting concern for her in public became a humiliation for Jiang Jinglan.

Why should that madwoman be loved?

Lu Ming’s gaze darkened, growing sharper as he looked at Jiang Jinglan.

At the same time, Bai Ruoxi’s voice came through the earpiece again.

“Ask him! If he doesn’t like Bai Ruoxi, why does he care about what happened to her?”

Her trembling voice and emotional tone made Lu Ming’s expression turn serious, and he sat straighter.

“Mr. Jiang, your tone just now was so cold. I can sense you don’t like Mrs. Jiang and don’t want to communicate with her.”

“If that’s the case, why do you care about what happened to her yesterday? Don’t you think that’s contradictory?”

Jiang Jinglan leaned back in his chair, his voice cold.

“On the surface, it’s Bai Ruoxi who was bullied. In reality, it’s the Jiang family who was slapped in the face.”

—

“In Jiang City, not just anyone can bully the Jiang family.”

Through the Bluetooth came Bai Ruoxi’s slightly heavy breathing and the sharp sound of a cup shattering.

Lu Ming’s spine stiffened in fright.

Then he inhaled sharply, glancing at the cold-faced man opposite him in surprise.

How could a man with a body temperature of thirty-six degrees say something so icy?

Jiang Jinglan knew full well how badly Bai Ruoxi had been hurt yesterday—she had at least five large abrasions and nearly fractured a wrist.

Yet his concern lay with the family’s honor.

Could he say such things about a wife he had shared a bed with for three years? It was heartless to the extreme!

Fortunately, Project Manager Xiao Qiao kept sending projects to Jiang Corporation; otherwise, it would have been like feeding a dog with kindness.

If it were him, he would probably want to ruin Jiang Corporation.

Bai Ruoxi’s hoarse voice came through the earpiece again, tinged with madness.

“Keep asking! Ask him why he hung up on my call!”

Lu Ming had heard about the call disconnection later from Bai Ruoyun.

He wasn’t clear on the details, only able to relay Bai Ruoxi’s words verbatim.

“Mr. Jiang, when Mrs. Jiang was in danger yesterday, why did you hang up her call?”

Jiang Jinglan fell silent, clenching his back molars tightly.

After about three minutes, he finally said, “I fell asleep; it was inconvenient to answer.”

On the other end, Bai Ruoxi hung up.

Lu Ming sighed softly.

“Time’s almost up. I won’t keep you any longer, Mr. Jiang. Don’t forget to pay.”

He wasn’t about to let a freeloading ingrate sip a free coffee.

With that, Lu Ming stood and headed toward the office.

Just as he was about to reach the door, Jiang Jinglan called him back.

“Mr. Lu, one more question.”

Jiang Jinglan’s eyes darkened further.

“Have you ever been to Country A?”

Lu Ming shook his head.

“Never.”

His hand beneath the suit sleeve clenched into a fist.

Jiang Jinglan narrowed his eyes, concluding it wasn’t Lu Ming.

“Mr. Jiang, shall we head back to the company?”

Seeing the conversation winding down, Sun Yu approached.

Jiang Jinglan waved his hand.

“Let’s go to the police station. Oh, and have someone pack a caramel latte and an egg tart to send to Nanyue Yayuan.”