Take her as my wife

Tan Wen did not follow them.

Jiang Ni's inexplicable avoidance kept him up all night. After thinking it over, he realized that the only thing that could have caused this was that he had put his arm around her shoulder the night before.

Was he in too much of a hurry...?

Or is it that she truly cannot accept his closeness, and only Tan Yan can make her obediently tilt her head back, close her eyes, and accept all intimate contact?

Hold.

Jealousy and anger surged within him, unable to find release.

He took out his phone, dialed a number, and without any opening remarks, blurted out four words: "Come out and fight."

Thirty minutes later, at Longxing Boxing Gym.

Yang Jiu tossed a bottle of water to Tan Wen, complaining repeatedly, "I'm a man, not a punching bag. Can you not be so rough with me? I'm thirty years old this year, my old arms and legs can't take this kind of torture."

Tan Wen took off his boxing gloves, unscrewed the cap, and gulped down several mouthfuls. His taut muscles were drenched in sweat, and he said with a sour face, "Your stamina is so bad, doesn't your wife mind?"

Yang Jiu scoffed and retorted, "Some people don't have wives, so no matter how powerful they are, all they can do is rage like this, utterly powerless?"

Tan asked, "..."

Yang Jiu put his arm around his shoulder: "Didn't I see you posting on WeChat Moments showing off just a couple of days ago? What happened? Did your joy turn to sorrow?"

Tan Wen glared at him: "Schadenfreude?"

"Haha," Yang Jiu laughed, "It's mainly because it's rare to see you get the short end of the stick, it's so interesting—how did your pretty sister manage to hurt your little heart this time?"

Tan frowned. "She's avoiding me."

Yang Jiu analyzed: "Your harassing text messages to her have been exposed?"

Tan shook his head: "No, that's not it. If it were that, she would have kicked me out already."

Yang Jiu pondered again: "So, your brother tripped you up behind your back and spoke ill of you?"

Tan Wen took out his phone, unlocked it, and opened an app to show him.

Yang Jiu clicked his tongue twice: "That's fucking perverted, even installing a tracking device on someone—so, what's your take on it?"

"I don't know," Tan said, his voice low. "I hugged her for a while that day, and she probably felt uncomfortable and rejected my physical contact."

Perhaps it was because they had been embracing for a long time that day, coupled with the things Tan Yan said in front of her, that made her wary of herself.

A hint of frustration flickered across his handsome face: "I'll move out tomorrow."

Yang Jiu knew he was in a bad mood, but he didn't know how to comfort him. He could only put on his boxing gloves, stand up, and say, "Okay, let's take a step back and move forward—stop thinking about it. Come on, let's practice a couple more rounds."

*

Wen Rong led Jiang Ni to a modern Chinese restaurant. The two of them sat in a spacious private room.

"I've sent all the information to your email. Take a look when you have time, and let me know if there's anything you need to add."

Jiang Ni hummed in agreement, ate her food slowly, and only after swallowing did she ask, "What did you mean yesterday when you said 'a Cheng Yaojin suddenly appeared out of nowhere'?"

Mentioning this made Wen Rong angry: "My old man has a younger sister who keeps hanging around him these days."

"If her immediate family members are still alive, the property will not be hers," Jiang Ni said.

Wen Rong sneered: "That's what they say, but she's been coaxing the old man into a soft spot these past few days, and he's had his secretary secretly transfer a sum of money to her."

Jiang Ni looked up: "How much?"

Wen Rong held up five fingers: "Fifty million."

Jiang Ni was aware of her wealthy husband Wen Rong's assets and wasn't particularly shocked.

Wen Rong's tone was somewhat ruthless: "That old bastard has also transferred some of his assets abroad. My people found out that that vixen is also going through the process of leaving the country, thinking of doing something underhanded."

The struggle for inheritance in wealthy families is always full of intrigue and backstabbing. Wen Rong has no children, so in her wealthy husband's eyes, she is naturally not as good as a mistress who has a son to rely on.

"Nini, don't blame me for being nosy, but you still have to fight for what you should fight for, otherwise it will all fall into the hands of your younger siblings, and you won't get anything in the future."

After all, Jiang Qiaonan's assets are only more than that.

Jiang Ni never thought of competing with those two children for anything. She and the woman Jiang Qiaonan later married didn't have any conflicts. They would meet occasionally, but they weren't friendly or confrontational.

"I can support myself," she said calmly.

Wen Rong bluntly said, "If you don't fight for yourself, you have to fight for your mother. Without your mother, Jiang Qiaonan might not have reached this level today."

Jiang Ni tightened her grip on the chopsticks, lowered her long eyelashes, and said softly, "What's the point of fighting over material possessions when people are already dead?"

Because Wen Rong mentioned Li Yuwen again, Jiang Ni was in a bad mood and unknowingly drank quite a bit of red wine with Wen Rong.

Wen Rong was drunk and called her assistant to pick her up. Jiang Ni wanted to take a taxi, but when she took out her phone while standing by the roadside, she inexplicably dialed Tan Wen's number.

"elder sister."

Jiang Ni was somewhat dazed; the "sister" she heard through the receiver seemed to overlap with the voice she heard in her dream that night.

The way she called out "sister" was very calm and obedient.

That sound in my dream... was low and hoarse, brimming with desire.

This reminded Jiang Ni of the perverted man who had harassed her for so long.

Tan Wen, the Tan Wen in my dream, the unknown perverted man—Jiang Ni shook her head and slowly said, "Tan Wen, can you come pick me up?"

"I'm coming right away," Tan Wen said, noticing she had been drinking. He immediately stood up, put on his clothes, and carefully instructed her, "Sister, please wait for me in the restaurant first, don't stand by the roadside."

Jiang Ni: "...Okay."

She sat back down in the restaurant's lobby lounge area, staring blankly at her phone for a while before realizing she'd forgotten to tell Tan Wen where she was.

But when she called, the person who answered sounded unfamiliar: "Hello, I'm Tan Wen's friend. He left in a hurry and left his phone with me."

Tan asked where to find her.

She thought she would probably go back to get her phone and call her.

So they continued to sit and wait.

Two muffled claps of thunder suddenly sounded outside, and a torrential downpour began. Late August is a time of frequent thunderstorms in Yicheng.

Jiang Ni sat for a while longer, glanced at her unresponsive phone, and prepared to call back again.

"elder sister--"

Tan Wen, soaked to the bone, strode towards her and said, "I hailed a taxi and asked the driver to wait at the door. Let's go."

A hint of doubt and surprise flashed in Jiang Ni's eyes. She stood up and followed him to the door. The rain was too heavy; even just a few steps would leave them soaked. Tan Wen turned and headed towards the restaurant counter: "Hello, may I borrow an umbrella?"

The receptionist said apologetically, "I'm so sorry, sir, all the remaining umbrellas have been borrowed by other customers."

Jiang Ni walked over and said, "It's okay, it's just a short walk. Run faster, and you can change your clothes when you get home."

That's the only way.

Tan Wen tried to shield her head with his hand, but to no avail. The two of them ran to the roadside in the pouring rain and quickly got into the car.

The driver started the car, muttering, "Oh dear, the back seat is all wet, you guys..."

Jiang Ni scanned 500 yuan with her phone and silenced his complaints.

With no one speaking, the only sound in the carriage was the swishing of the windshield wipers.

Tan Wen tore off a few tissues and handed them to Jiang Ni, breaking the silence: "Sister, wipe yourself first."

Jiang Ni was wearing a white shirt and a dark gray pencil skirt today. The shirt was soaked and clung to her skin, and the outline and full curves of her bra could be vaguely seen.

Tan Wen deliberately sat a little far away from her, leaving enough space for another person to sit down.

"Thanks."

Jiang Ni took the tissue and wiped the water off her body. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tan Wen facing forward, his eyes fixed straight ahead. He was also soaked, his black T-shirt clinging to his body, revealing his defined muscles.

It was almost identical to the body Jiang Ni dreamed of.

She could even remember the exact location and shape of the small red mole on Tan Wen's chest.

...Oh my god, what is she thinking?

Jiang Ni suddenly snapped back to reality.

She quickly moved her position, getting further and further away from Tan Wen.

Tan Wen noticed this detail, his face suddenly darkened, and he clenched his fists tightly.

Does she really... reject him that much?

A wave of grievance and bitterness washed over me, and the next second, the driver suddenly made a sharp turn.

A soft, warm body fell into his arms due to inertia.

Jiang Ni's head spun even more from the fall, and in a rare moment of panic, she braced herself with one hand on the cushion and the other on something off Tan Wen—

She only heard Tan Wen groan.

"Well……"