I Want to Be Your Mrs. Jiang - Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Jiang Yi had just left the office after working late when he received a phone call from home.
His mother had been angry with him for a long time over his insistence on moving back to Songcheng from the capital.
For a while, she had even refused to take his calls.
Lately, she seemed to have come to terms with it—or perhaps she realized that once Jiang Yi set his mind on something, being angry wouldn’t change a thing. So, while she was still a bit huffy, she couldn’t help but call him every ten days or two weeks anyway.
As usual, his mother asked him when he was finally going to close his business in Songcheng and return to the capital to take over the family company.
Jiang Yi’s response remained unchanged: “Mom, give it a rest. I’m not interested in the family business.”
She began to nag.
“What’s so great about Songcheng anyway? Why are you so obsessed with going back there? Sometimes I genuinely wonder if someone put a spell on you. Otherwise, why would you give up a perfectly good job in the capital, abandon your parents, and insist on staying in Songcheng?”
Jiang Yi couldn’t help but laugh.
A spell, huh…
Truth be told, sometimes he wondered the same thing. On the night of their high school graduation, maybe Su Xiaomi really had cast a spell on him.
Otherwise, why would a single kiss from her keep her in his mind for so many years?
Though remembering someone didn’t equate to loving them, in an era as forgetful as this, keeping someone in one’s heart for years was already a rare thing in itself.
He just didn’t know if the Su Xiaomi of today was still the same Su Xiaomi who had been so hopelessly smitten with him back then.
“……Jiang Yi, did you hear a word I just said?” his mother chimed in.
Jiang Yi held a hand to his forehead.
“My mind wandered for a second. What did you say, Mom?”
After a long, speechless pause, his mother repeated herself with surprising patience: “……I said, you’re not getting any younger. If there’s a girl you like, you can try dating her. But it’s best to find a local girl from the capital, so when you get married, she can move back here with you. Her family background isn’t that important, and she doesn’t need to be exceptionally pretty. What matters most is that she’s thoughtful, knows how to care for you, and can support you in building a good life together……”
Jiang Yi waited patiently for her to finish before casually replying, “Mom, I probably won’t fall for a girl from the capital.”
His mother froze.
“Then what kind of girl do you like? Someone from Songcheng? Let me tell you, that absolutely will not do……”
Jiang Yi chuckled.
“Well, I guess I’m like Dad and my older brother—we all prefer girls from our hometown, Yingshi. Don’t you think the mountains and waters back home raise the most lovely people?”
His mother had never expected such an answer.
Being a Yingshi local herself, she was naturally far more open to the idea of a daughter-in-law from her hometown than one from somewhere else.
If nothing else, at least there wouldn’t be a language barrier!
Besides, if her son wanted a hometown girl, didn’t that indirectly mean he was thoroughly satisfied with his own mother and wanted to use her as the standard for his future wife?
At the thought, she instantly perked up and said cheerfully, “Well, if you like girls from Yingshi, I’ll keep an eye out for you. When I find a suitable one, I’ll arrange a meeting. By the way, what specific type do you like?”
Jiang Yi replied, “No need to look out for me, Mom. I’ll find someone myself.”
She wasn’t ready to give up.
“Let me help you keep an eye out anyway. You’re always so busy with work—wouldn’t it save you a lot of trouble to have your mother filter them for you?”
Jiang Yi told her the straight truth.
“Our standards couldn’t be more different. Everything you just listed is practically the opposite of what I want. For instance, you said she doesn’t need to be too pretty, but I happen to like pretty ones. You said she needs to be thoughtful and know how to take care of someone, but I don’t see the need for that either. The girl I like will naturally be spoiled by me. Why would I need her to be so accommodating and sensible? I’m not looking for a housekeeper. So please, don’t worry about my affairs. I know what I’m doing!”
Less than half a second after hanging up, his phone rang again. Thinking it was another call from home, Jiang Yi didn’t plan to answer.
But after it disconnected, an incoming WeChat video call popped up, making him realize it wasn’t his mother after all.
Sure enough, the moment he answered, he heard Lu Tu screaming at the top of his lungs from the other end.
“Master Jiang, come out for karaoke! Come rain or shine, Room 306 at Ziqi KTV is waiting for you!”
Jiang Yi: “……”
He glanced down at the time—it was just past 9 PM. Neither too early nor too late. Dropping by to show his face, sing a couple of songs, and go home to sleep seemed just right. Turning the steering wheel, Jiang Yi drove straight toward the KTV Lu Tu mentioned.
The moment he pushed open the VIP room door, a wave of chaos and terrible singing hit him. Spotting Jiang Yi, Lu Tu—who was in the middle of a duet of “The Boatman’s Love” with his wife—immediately tossed his microphone aside. He threw an arm around Jiang Yi’s shoulders and whispered in his ear, “Look, man, I’m not trying to set a trap for you, but the second my wife heard you were coming, she called her bestie, Li Jingjing. She’s probably almost here by now. If you really aren’t interested in her, just act cold later so she doesn’t keep pining over you.”
Jiang Yi knitted his brows and was about to say, “In that case, I’d better take off,” when the room door swung open.
Looking back, he saw a refined, quiet-looking young woman standing at the entrance.
That was likely the Li Jingjing whom Lu Tu had repeatedly mentioned before.
Sure enough, right as the thought crossed his mind, Lu Tu’s wife raised her hand and waved at the door.
“Jingjing, over here!”
Jiang Yi withdrew his gaze and said to Lu Tu, “I’m heading out……”
Lu Tu practically clung to his arm in tears.
“Master Jiang, Papa Jiang, you absolutely cannot leave right now! If you walk out that door, my wife will skin me alive tonight. Besides, if this isn’t settled once and for all, she’ll never drop it. Since you’re already here, why not just use this chance to crush any hopes completely? That way my wife won’t keep obsessing over playing matchmaker for you two every single day.”
Thinking it over, Jiang Yi found the logic sound.
Calmly, he found a seat in a corner and began idly scrolling through his phone.
As he browsed, he instinctively tapped into Su Xiaomi’s WeChat Moments.
Ever since they had added each other, this was the first time he had checked her profile.
Unlike other girls who posted selfies at every opportunity, there wasn’t a single selfie to be found from top to bottom.
The vast majority of her posts were pictures of food.
Jiang Yi slowly scrolled down line by line, imagining the lazy, content look on her face with her eyes slightly squinted whenever she ate these delicacies.
The time suddenly didn’t feel so hard to pass.
It wasn’t until someone queued up a male-female duet and shoved a microphone into his hands that Jiang Yi finally shifted his gaze from his screen to the large monitor in the room.
Playing on the screen was a familiar classic—the kind where if you grabbed ten people off the street, eleven of them would know how to sing it.
Jiang Yi glanced around the room and, sure enough, saw the other microphone held firmly in Li Jingjing’s hand.
The prelude was already playing; refusing to sing at this point would indeed seem quite ungentlemanly.
If it had been before, Jiang Yi probably would have just gone along with it for a single song, as singing or not wouldn’t change anything.
But now? He spoke into the microphone with complete composure.
“Sorry, my girlfriend can be a bit needy. If she finds out I sang a love song with another girl, she’ll make a huge fuss. So I’ll pass. Anyone else want to take it? If not, let’s just skip it.”
Li Jingjing’s expression visibly changed.
However, the biggest reaction came not from her, but from Lu Tu sitting right next to him.
The atmosphere in the room turned instantly awkward.
No one spoke, and no one sang—only the backing track played on.
Afraid that talking to Jiang Yi directly would be overheard, Lu Tu pulled out his phone and fired off a barrage of WeChat messages despite sitting right beside him:
[Holy crap, holy crap! Since when do you have a girlfriend?! You kept that tight as a drum!]
[And aren’t high-maintenance girls your biggest pet peeve? Why did you go and pick the most high-maintenance one this time?]
[By the way, let me tell you, you HAVE to treat us to a meal!]
[Bring your girlfriend along—I gotta see what kind of girl managed to tame a monster like you!]
……
Jiang Yi picked up his flashing phone, waved it toward the crowd, and stood up with an apologetic expression.
“My girlfriend’s throwing a fit because I’m heading back too late. I need to get home right away to coax her. You guys enjoy yourselves—just put it on my tab.”
With that, he casually took his phone and walked out the door.
Lu Tu, who had inexplicably been framed as the “demanding girlfriend”: “……”
Men’s words are full of lies—that saying really is the absolute truth!
—
When Su Xiaomi came out of Xiao Luo’s place, she happened to catch the last subway train. Since her phone was low on battery, it wasn’t until she stepped out of the station that she noticed the voice message Jiang Yi had sent her an hour ago.
After a brief hesitation, she tapped to open it. As usual, it was a menu for the next day’s breakfast. Unlike the scallion pancake and soy milk from this morning, this time he mentioned vegetable patties and fried milk sticks. Su Xiaomi had been completely full from dinner, but hearing Jiang Yi describe the recipe for fried milk in his clear, gentle voice gave her an inexplicable urge for a late-night snack.
And once that thought took root, it was completely uncontrollable. Thus, her steps, which were originally headed toward her dorm, made a sharp turn toward the 24-hour convenience store where she had previously bought oden.
Just as she reached the entrance, she ran headfirst into Jiang Yi coming out, carrying a bag in one hand and a skewer of oden in the other.
Recalling the bold declaration she had made earlier that night about sleeping with Jiang Yi, Su Xiaomi decided she needed to be more proactive. Without a second thought, she stepped forward and blocked his path.
Jiang Yi looked up at her, puzzled.
Meeting those clear, dark, brilliant eyes of his, the speech she had prepared vanished from her mind in an instant.
Only two words remained floating in her head: “Wanna… wanna hook up?”
Jiang Yi: “……”
