Take her as my wife

It was already quite late when the three brothers left the hotel.

Hu Jiaguang extended an invitation: "Brother Wen, if you don't want to go back, you can sleep at my place."

He and Hu Jiarong each bought a house in the county town. Although they didn't have partners yet, they had to plan for the future, so they prepared houses early for when they got married. The two brothers still lived with their mother. They were from a single-parent family, and their mother raised them single-handedly, so Tan Wen's help was truly a great kindness to their family.

"I'm going back to sleep." Tan waved his hand in refusal. Just then, a taxi came by, so he hailed one and left.

He was alone at home. He Xiaoling was at the hospital taking care of him, while Tan Mei went back to her and her husband's house. Tan Wen felt more at ease.

Back in his room, as Tan Wen went to the closet to get clothes to take a shower, he suddenly remembered something.

He went to his bookshelf, found a book inside, discovered a key hidden within, then returned to the wardrobe, squatted down, and used the key to open the bottom storage drawer.

There was a shirt inside.

A shirt that Jiang Ni forgot to take away before she left that year.

When under a lot of pressure, Tan Wen would cover his face with this garment at night to relieve his stress.

At first, the clothes were filled with her fragrance, and he felt as if he were burying his face in her, and the feeling came very quickly.

Now, after a while, the clothes smell more of the dampness from the solid wood cabinet.

However, something is better than nothing.

The next morning, Jiang Ni found two unread text messages on her phone, both from that perverted man, containing videos and photos.

She glanced at the photo, but the grotesque and ferocious thing made her immediately switch to another app, so she didn't notice the clothes exposed in the shot.

Today, Chen Siyao was going to her tutoring class, and Aunt Zhou took her there on her electric scooter. Jiang Ni finished her breakfast and prepared to go to work as usual.

As soon as I opened the door, I was surprised to find someone standing outside.

Jiang Ni was somewhat surprised, but still calmly asked, "Did you need something?"

Tan Yan hesitated for a moment, then organized her thoughts and said, "Could I trouble you for a moment? There's something I'd like to ask you."

Judging from his expression, he wanted to talk about serious business, so Jiang Ni led him to a newly opened coffee shop downstairs.

"Well, my dad was at the construction site a few days ago..."

After listening to him slowly recount the cause and course of events, Jiang Ni analyzed for him: "Your most urgent task is to find that Boss Niu, confirm that there is a labor cooperation relationship between you, and then sue him. He can't escape."

"Hmm... Tan Wen went back to handle this matter yesterday," Tan Yan stirred his coffee. "He originally told me not to come looking for you, but after thinking about it, I'd like to ask you to handle the lawsuit for us. That would put my mind at ease."

Jiang Ni then realized that Tan Wen had "lied" to her. However, she didn't quite understand why Tan Wen didn't just tell her directly when he went back to deal with the matter, but instead made up a lie to keep it from her.

Of course, what she didn't understand even more was Tan Yan's thoughts.

"I'm not the only lawyer in Yicheng," Jiang Ni refused his request. "As your ex-girlfriend, such contact is bound to cause your wife to misunderstand."

She made a move to leave, but Tan Yan leaned back in his chair, looked up at her, and said, "Tan Wen likes you—the kind of liking a man has for a woman. He doesn't see you as an older sister at all."

Jiang Ni wasn't as shocked as he had expected. She was only stunned for a moment before rationally asking him, "You specifically came to tell me this when he wasn't here because you were afraid he would cause you trouble if he found out?"

Tan Yan, her thoughts exposed, felt both ashamed and angry: "Anyway, he doesn't have pure feelings for you. All that obedient and well-behaved behavior he showed you was an act. He used to—"

Jiang Ni interrupted him coldly: "He is your brother, Tan Yan. You shouldn't be saying those slanderous things."

She lowered her long eyelashes: "I'm bad at judging people, but I believe Tan Wen would never hurt me."

The phrase "misjudging people" robbed Tan Yan of the courage to utter any of the words stuck in his throat.

His voice was hoarse: "I'm sorry, I don't know how I became like this... I guess I'm just too jealous. Tan Wen has always been more favored than me and my older sister since we were little. He went astray in middle school, smoking, fighting, drinking, and staying out all night, but my mom still loved him more. He's good-looking, girls swooned over him, even you treated him differently..."

"Nini, I know clearly that what I feel for Yunqing is not love, but love. Seeing you and Tan Wen together makes me jealous and sad. I haven't slept well for the past few months since we separated. I'm really scared, so scared to see you with Tan Wen... You can date any other man, but not Tan Wen. I'll go crazy, Nini."

His heartfelt words not only failed to move Jiang Ni, but even earned him a sharp look from her.

"Do you know what you're saying? You made a woman marry you, get her pregnant, and now you're telling your ex, whom you betrayed, that you 'love'? Tan Yan, don't you dare tarnish the word 'love'."

She didn't want to be alone with him anymore, so she left the coffee shop after saying that.

Once in the car, Jiang Ni blocked all of Tan Yan's contact methods.

She had just finished doing that when her phone rang.

[Tan asked]: Sister, I bought a train ticket for tonight. Can you come pick me up tonight? Just reply to me after you see this message.

Jiang Ni called him back.

Tan answered immediately.

"Hey, sis, aren't you at work?"

The surrounding noise was a bit loud when he spoke, and Jiang Ni replied, "Something came up and I was held up. Are you done with your business?"

Tan didn't fall into her linguistic trap: "The class reunion was over last night. Didn't I tell my sister last night?"

Jiang Ni directly exposed him: "Tan Yan already told me that your father was injured at the construction site, but the boss just ran away."

Tan Wen's tone was somewhat helpless: "I clearly told him not to contact you, so as not to cause you any trouble—the matter wasn't handled well, and that boss should have already run off to another city, but I've already collected the relevant evidence, and now I'm taking the workers to the police station to file a report and have the police come and find him."

"Okay," Jiang Ni asked with concern, "Is your father alright?"

"He'll need to stay in the hospital for another week and won't be able to do any physical labor anymore," Tan said. "I'll let him work as a security guard at Da Guang's company. He'll earn about three thousand yuan a month, plus social security."

Jiang Ni: "That's fine then. What time will you arrive tonight?"

Tan gave a rough time: "I'll call you in advance."

Jiang Ni responded, thinking the call was over, but then Tan Wen called out to her, "Sister."

Jiang Ni waited for his next words.

"Did my brother say anything else to you?"

Jiang Ni gripped her phone tightly, paused for a few seconds, and replied, "...He asked me to represent you in court, but I refused."

Whether it's true or not, Jiang Ni doesn't want to tell Tan Wen that she likes him right now.

For some reason, Jiang Ni suddenly remembered Liu Jiaren's mention of "matchmaking" last night, and she felt that she could give it a try.

In her opinion, Tan Wen was still young, and he probably hadn't figured out whether his feelings for her could be considered romantic love.

Therefore, maintaining a proper distance and getting to know a new, outstanding girl of the same age might perfectly resolve this issue.