Chapter 131

Chapter 131: The Blind Date "I haven't had a chance to notify everyone yet." Jiang Shixu glanced at his watch. "It's getting late. I need to grab the documents and head out." Elder Mrs. Jiang's brows furrowed with displeasure, and her tone carried a hint of reproach. "Go after dinner. If anything happens, I'll cover for you." "How could that work?" Jiang Shixu maintained his nonchalant demeanor. "You alone can't represent the company. Just wait—you'll be getting a call soon to return for a board meeting." With that, Jiang Shixu left everyone in the hall and went upstairs as if no one else was there. Downstairs, the Wang family members exchanged bewildered glances. Old Master Wang spoke first: "Elder Mrs. Jiang, does Shixu not know that this dinner was arranged by both our families for him to formally meet Shu'er?" Though Old Master Wang was two years older than Elder Mrs. Jiang, given her status and position, he still had to address her respectfully as "Elder Mrs. Jiang." Old Master Wang's words were still fairly diplomatic. Elder Mrs. Jiang wore her displeasure plainly on her face. "Elder Mrs. Jiang, what does your grandson mean by this? Shu'er was standing right in front of him, and he didn't even bother to greet her. Is he pretending not to know, or does he genuinely not understand what this dinner signifies?" Xu Jingxuan lowered her head to hide the mockery in her eyes, thinking to herself: Who does your granddaughter think she is to deserve a greeting from my brother? Throwing herself at him like that—so desperate to get married? Elder Mrs. Jiang had been publicly embarrassed by her grandson, and though she was displeased, she forced a smile in response to the Wang family's questioning. "You misunderstand. My grandson was probably in a hurry to get something from the study and didn't have time to greet anyone. When he comes downstairs, I'll formally introduce Shu'er to him." Old Madame Wang wanted to say more but was stopped by a look from Old Master Wang. Xu Jingxuan sat beside Elder Mrs. Jiang and inadvertently met Wang Shu's gaze. Wang Shu offered a polite smile. Xu Jingxuan, feeling a surge of jealousy, couldn't even be bothered to respond and coldly looked away. Wang Shu's smile stiffened. She couldn't understand why the Jiang family's adopted daughter seemed to harbor some inexplicable hostility toward her. In the study. Jiang Shixu made a phone call. Ten minutes later, Elder Mrs. Jiang and Jiang Yi downstairs both received calls about an urgent matter requiring a board meeting. Jiang Yi knew exactly what was going on—this was his son's doing. The old master had already formally transferred control of the household to Jiang Shixu, and under the old master's orders, he had also handed over the group's affairs to Jiang Shixu. Now Jiang Shixu was the one with the most say in Jiangshi Group. Elder Mrs. Jiang hung up the phone, her face ashen. It seemed this old woman could no longer control her grandson. Old Madame Wang noticed her expression seemed off and asked, "Elder Mrs. Jiang, has something happened?" Elder Mrs. Jiang steadied her breathing, her expression turning cold. She could skip the board meeting; she didn't care about projects. She only cared about Jiang Shixu's marriage. But with this phone call, Jiang Shixu now had an excuse to get out of today's blind date. Elder Mrs. Jiang replied, "It's nothing. What Shixu just said about urgent company matters is true—I just received the call." Old Madame Wang exchanged a look with Old Master Wang and said, "Then..." Wang Shu's expression stiffened slightly. Was the blind date she had been looking forward to going to fall through just like that? As they were speaking, Jiang Shixu had already come downstairs with his documents and was walking toward the door as if no one else was there. "Shixu, stop right there." Elder Mrs. Jiang spoke sternly. Jiang Shixu turned around, holding up the document bag. "Grandma, you just got the call too, right? I'm not lying to you—I really am busy." Elder Mrs. Jiang said sharply, "Don't think I don't know you made that call yourself. Don't play dumb with me. You must stay for this meal today!" Jiang Shixu stopped and looked at Elder Mrs. Jiang, his expression calm. "Fine, then I won't play dumb." He turned to look at Wang Shu, his tone cold. "Hello, I'm Jiang Shixu. I apologize, but I have no interest in a blind date. I wasn't informed about this beforehand either. I currently have no plans for dating or marriage, so please don't waste your time on me." Wang Shu's face turned pale. Jiang Shixu turned and left after speaking, not caring in the least about the reactions of those behind him. "You—stop right there! Jiang Shixu!" Elder Mrs. Jiang shouted in fury. Jiang Shixu's steps didn't falter in the slightest, and his figure quickly disappeared from everyone's sight. The Wang family was furious. Old Master Wang's chest heaved violently with anger. "No matter how much power and influence your Jiang family has, you shouldn't humiliate people like this. Our granddaughter isn't unwanted—it was your Jiang family that invited us here and proposed having the two children meet. And now it's made to seem like we Wangs are the ones desperately trying to curry favor?" Elder Mrs. Jiang was deeply annoyed, having completely lost her earlier composure. Her daughter-in-law Lin Yueying stepped forward to apologize. "This is Shixu's fault. We're truly sorry. Please don't be upset." The Wang family members spoke all at once, creating a chaotic uproar. In the end, Elder Mrs. Jiang had to offer a substantial sum of compensation to barely quell their anger. It wasn't that the Jiang family cared much about the Wang family's feelings—rather, Elder Mrs. Jiang valued her reputation. Since this matter was indeed the Jiang family's fault, she had no choice but to apologize and make amends for the sake of saving face; otherwise, word would get around and she would lose face. She had originally thought that by presenting a fait accompli and tricking Jiang Shixu into coming back, he would have no way to refuse and would have no choice but to go along with the blind date. To her surprise, he wasn't even willing to go through the motions. After finally seeing off the Wang family, Elder Mrs. Jiang went to complain to Elder Jiang. "Look at what your grandson has done. Today, in front of all those Wang family members, he didn't even give me any face." The elder was sitting at his desk reading the newspaper, not even lifting his eyelids. "I told you—our family just called off the engagement with the Ruan family. You shouldn't have rushed to arrange a blind date for Shixu. But you wouldn't listen." "How could I not be anxious? Shixu is about to turn twenty-nine this year. The sons of his peers are already old enough to run errands for soy sauce." Elder Jiang calmly turned the page of his newspaper. "Is that so? As I recall, the young men from the Zhou and Qin families, who are closest to Shixu, haven't married yet either." Elder Mrs. Jiang was displeased and shot him a sharp glare. "You're always comparing him to the worse examples. Look at Old Li's family and Old Zhang's family—their great-grandchildren are already calling them 'Grandma.'" Elder Jiang smiled helplessly. "Why are you worrying over nothing? Shixu knows what he's doing. I still have high hopes for him and that girl from the Ruan family. Once he settles the matter with Fu Yuanzhou, it would be best if he could get back together with the Ruan girl." Elder Mrs. Jiang shook her head. "No, I don't like that girl from the Ruan family. As a lawyer, she's sharp-tongued and has talked back to me several times. Does she even have any respect for me as an elder?" The elder gave her a cool, sidelong glance. "I'm not one to criticize you, but as an elder, why do you need to nitpick at the younger generation?" Elder Mrs. Jiang chattered on endlessly, wanting to argue with the elder. The elder was thoroughly annoyed, but since he couldn't shoo her away, he simply stood up and left himself.