Chapter 14: Sucking Up with Style

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It was not long before Cheng Jun arrived.

Since outsiders could not enter the residential compound, Jiang Yue drove to the entrance herself to pick him up.

The moment they saw each other, the two embraced. At that moment, Jiang Yue looked nothing like a woman grieving the death of her husband.

In the end, I had simply imagined too much. To her, my life was probably worth less than a dog’s.

After bringing Cheng Jun home, I watched as she kept her arm linked through his, acting like a delicate little bird leaning on its beloved.

I could only feel that I was a joke—a complete fool from beginning to end.

Dai Rong welcomed him enthusiastically as well, even washing some fruit herself and bringing it over.

Of course, I had never enjoyed such treatment. For me, that would have been an unattainable luxury.

Cheng Jun was also unfailingly polite and gentlemanly in front of Jiang Yue’s mother. He addressed her as Auntie at every turn and showered her with compliments.

Dai Rong adored that sort of thing, beaming from ear to ear.

Jiang Yue’s father came home around then as well. He knew Cheng Jun too.

Still, he was not as easily flattered as Dai Rong. Jiang Jianbo could not exactly be called good or bad; his entire heart was devoted to his career, and he paid little attention to his family.

Naturally, he had never paid me the slightest attention either. After all the years Jiang Yue and I had been married, he did not even remember what I looked like. He did not even know my name.

At least, unlike Dai Rong, he had never personally attacked me. He simply acted as though I did not exist.

Now, faced with Cheng Jun’s enthusiastic greetings, he smiled and responded, even taking the initiative to start a conversation with him.

I did not know whether Cheng Jun’s impeccable manners made him easier to accept, or whether he knew that Cheng Jun was the man Jiang Yue liked, which was why he treated him differently from the way he had treated me.

Of course, his difference from Dai Rong was that it was not merely superficial.

They continued chatting, and Cheng Jun really did have some skill.

He knew how to cater to people’s interests and what to discuss with Jiang Jianbo to capture his attention.

Throughout the conversation, he talked about business, including his views and insights regarding the future, as well as various major and minor international affairs.

The more Jiang Jianbo talked, the more engaged he became. Dai Rong occasionally chimed in from the side.

Although Cheng Jun and Jiang Yue were not officially together yet, the scene already looked like a harmonious family enjoying one another’s company.

I had never experienced that kind of warmth. Jiang Yue had never once shared a meal with me and her parents.

Even during the first Spring Festival after we married, when she took me home, her mother disliked me so much that she deliberately found an excuse not to have New Year’s Eve dinner with us.

Later, I happened to overhear Jiang Jianbo telling Jiang Yue that she should try not to bring me home anymore because Dai Rong did not like me.

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I knew all of that perfectly well. But over the years, because I loved Jiang Yue, I had treated her parents well too.

Although I rarely had the chance to meet them, I knew all their favorite foods and the details of their health from Jiang Yue.

For instance, because Jiang Jianbo spent so much time sitting in front of a computer, he suffered from a fairly severe cervical spine disorder.

I once asked the old Chinese physician I had found through the grandmother at the orphanage to prepare a prescription for him.

Knowing that I could not reach Jiang Jianbo myself, I asked Jiang Yue to give the prescription to her father.

Apparently, after taking several courses of the medicine, his condition really did improve, though it seemed to have flared up again recently.

Then there was Dai Rong. I had heard that she had washed her hair during her confinement after giving birth, which was why she suffered frequent headaches. She had visited countless hospitals, but none had been able to cure her.

I asked the same old physician to examine her as well, and went to great lengths to persuade him to come into the city.

But when Dai Rong learned about it, the first thing she asked was whether he possessed a medical license. Upon discovering that he did not, she drove him away without even offering him a glass of water.

They knew nothing about the things I had done for them, nor did they care.

I was not seeking credit, much less trying to win their approval. In my eyes, they were my parents.

But to them, I had never been family.

I truly regretted it. Why had I insisted on marrying into their family in the first place?

If I could live my life over, I would never make the same choice.

But life was not a game in which you could resurrect after dying.

In reality, death was final.

Even though I had not truly left this world yet, I knew my time was almost up.

At dinner, they looked like a happy, harmonious family.

Dai Rong even served Cheng Jun food, repeatedly urging him to eat more.

Jiang Jianbo drank and chatted with Cheng Jun, the atmosphere relaxed and pleasant.

Jiang Yue sat beside them, smiling blissfully.

Watching the beautiful scene of their family together, I finally came to terms with everything.

The moment I realized I was a substitute, I should have left without hesitation.

But by then, I had already fallen for her. As a Cancer, I was simply born hopelessly romantic. There was nothing I could do about it.

This was all fate—my fate.

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Even after dinner, they continued talking. Dai Rong even brought up the relationship between Jiang Yue and Cheng Jun.

She did not explicitly say that she approved of them dating, but her words already made her acceptance clear.

Jiang Jianbo felt the same. He normally did not concern himself with such matters, and merely said that in the future, Cheng Jun should learn to balance family and work instead of focusing solely on his career as he had.

Cheng Jun knew exactly how to flatter people. He hurriedly said, “Uncle, you certainly aren’t someone who only cares about his career. Yueyue used to tell me that whenever you had time, you would always spend it with her. When she was hospitalized with pneumonia, you even gave up an important business opportunity just to stay by her side.”

“And Auntie, I can tell that the two of you have a wonderful relationship. If you truly neglected your family, how could you and Auntie still be so deeply in love?”

I had to admit, Cheng Jun was exceptionally skilled at flattery. That was something I ought to learn from him.

In the past, all I had known was how to speak the truth and get things done.

But I had forgotten that sometimes, people wanted to hear lies.

Even when they knew something was a lie, they still enjoyed hearing it.

Take Cheng Jun’s speech just now, for example. He had flattered three people at once.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

It was not until ten o’clock that night that Jiang Jianbo sent someone to see Cheng Jun out.

As soon as he left, Jiang Jianbo began talking with Jiang Yue.

“Yueyue, I’ve always known that you still think about Cheng Jun. Now that he’s back, have you given any thought to what you want?”

As far as I knew, Jiang Jianbo had never interfered in Jiang Yue’s personal life.

But now I understood.

It was not that he never interfered. It depended on who was involved.

Jiang Yue replied without hesitation, “A-Jun and I feel the same way. The moment he came back, he came to find me. I’ve been thinking about him all these years too.”

Dai Rong spoke up. “Cheng Jun is quite well-mannered, and he’s handsome too. He and our Yueyue make a lovely match—far better than that Chu Jianghe.”

Why did she have to bring me up out of nowhere? Did she really have to compare us?

Jiang Jianbo frowned. “But you haven’t divorced Chu Jianghe yet. You can’t grow too close to Cheng Jun now, or people will gossip.”

Dai Rong immediately agreed. “Darling, you don’t need to worry. Chu Jianghe is already dead.”