Chapter 279: Chapter 279: Insatiable Greed

One almost killed someone, the other wasn’t killed.

Both were quite scared, temporarily reaching a balance.

In the afternoon, the rain eased a bit, and Jiang Chengxu went to the team office, wanting to get an introduction letter to go out. In such terrible weather, Jiang Baohua was afraid of an accident and refused to give him one.

Jiang Chengxu couldn’t persuade Jiang Baohua after a long while and was instead scolded for personal reasons. He had to give up and returned to the staring match with Xu Manman.

Under the same roof, the more Jiang Chengxu looked at Xu Manman, the more disgusted he felt as new and old grudges welled up in his heart, clogging his chest like a stone, both stifling and nauseating.

“Brother Chengxu, I’m going to find someone to trade for some food, and we can put a couple of boards in the corner for people to sleep on. Can you give me some more money, and I’ll trade for two planks, so we can have a place to sleep tonight.”

Jiang Chengxu fired up hearing about money; earlier, at the doorstep of Xu Qinghuan, she knelt to extort money, a total of twenty yuan from him.

Now she wants money again.

Is she planning to cling to him and suck his blood?

The Xu Family is already shattered, with nobody caring for her, so she latched onto him.

In the past life, she was like this too, being his mistress. At that time, he had plenty of money and never cared about it—houses, cars, bags, watches, jewelry—all in the same greedy way.

Jiang Chengxu returned to Yan City; although he didn’t catch Jiang Zhenguo’s eye, being the legitimate grandson, Old Jiang had Jiang Chengshu give him two hundred yuan.

Jiang Chengxu felt it was too little and had the pride not to be treated like a beggar by Jiang Chengshu. However, since two hundred yuan was a lot for him, he had to sacrifice his dignity to take it.

He currently didn’t have much money, so twenty yuan felt like losing flesh.

If he had to support Xu Manman in the future, it was absolutely impossible for him.

Therefore, it would be best if he could use Xu Manman to trade for money.

Eventually, Jiang Chengxu didn’t give Xu Manman money, “Isn’t twenty yuan enough for you? It seems you’re after my money!”

Jiang Xingye didn’t sleep all night last night; his eyes were filled with bloodshot streaks. After Xu Manman left, he accompanied Xu Qinghuan to read for a while, before she sent him to take a nap, “I need to sleep too.”

“Together?” Jiang Xingye held the hand she pushed against him.

Xu Qinghuan raised a brow with a smile, “Sure, should I sleep in your bed or mine?”

Jiang Xingye coughed lightly, turning his face away, not daring to speak.

Xu Qinghuan knew he only dared to tease verbally, not expecting the formerly blush-at-love man to now speak so flirtatiously, “Go take your nap, I’ll call you for dinner tonight.”

“Dinner…” Jiang Xingye said two words; the rain outside grew heavier, making it hard to suggest having dinner at his place, so he said, “Yeah, no need to call me, I’ll come over myself.”

The rain fell for three days and nights, finally clearing on the fourth day. Waking up early, the sun shone brightly, quickly warming things up.

Chen Dewen and Zheng Siqi packed their bags for business trips; one headed to Shen City, the other to Yan City.

Dai Yifeng bustled around daily, handling various tasks like training, creating regulations, and organizing personnel for the newly established plant—numerous and complex.

Jiang Xingye also went out early and returned late every day.

Jiang Xingmei didn’t go to work anymore; in the past few days, she was learning sewing with Yu Xiaomin. Though she could make clothes, she hadn’t received professional training, so her skills weren’t as good as Yu Xiaomin’s.

During the downpour, Xu Qinghuan translated all the documents she had brought back last time, planning to find time to visit the county. Song Wanlin was surely waiting for her, and she planned to meet him.

Knowing this, Jiang Xingye wanted to go with her.

Xu Qinghuan took Qin Baifan to the Jiang Family; he enjoyed playing with the two children, and Qing Xiao followed behind, so Xu Qinghuan wasn’t worried about any danger in the production team.

Lu Nianying didn’t go to work today; she moved a chair to the door and sat in a daze. Seeing Xu Qinghuan coming, she was delighted, “Xu Qinghuan, are you free today?”

“Yes, what’s up?” Xu Qinghuan smiled.

Lu Nianying hesitated, probably unexpected by Xu Qinghuan’s good attitude, making her feel quite pleased, “Let’s go to the county, I heard there are many new clothes in the department store there, and it’s the season change, let’s shop!”

Probably fearing Xu Qinghuan’s suspicion, “Only you are left in the Shangjiang Team, I don’t fancy anyone else. No one has an eye nor money to buy, so it’s pointless to ask them.”

Xu Qinghuan chuckled, “I don’t have money either, not as lucky as you, with a good mother visiting the Shangjiang Team every other day.”

Lu Nianying felt a jolt, unable to deny, “My mom is very good to me; she’s cared for me since I was little. Isn’t your mom treating me like you, and being good to me is also being good to you.”

Xu Qinghuan admired her quick thinking ability.

“Besides, don’t you still have Comrade Jiang? Didn’t he give you a big bride price, isn’t it enough to buy a few sets of clothes?”

Old Lady Jiang, unaware of the grudge between them, hurriedly said after hearing, “Let Little Five take you to shop. With the season changing, it’s time to buy some nice clothes.”

Just then Jiang Xingye arrived; Old Lady Jiang pulled him aside, offering money to buy clothes for Xu Qinghuan.

Jiang Xingye refused her money, “I have enough; don’t worry. I planned to take her shopping.”

“Alright then, Comrade Lu, we’ll meet at the state-owned restaurant at noon, how about that?”

“Oh, how are you guys going, isn’t Comrade Jiang driving the tractor?” Lu Nianying seemed puzzled.

“No, it’s the team’s asset, how could we use it arbitrarily? Comrade Lu, your mindset needs some reform!”

Lu Nianying feared losing the chance, “Alright, we’ll meet at the state-owned restaurant then, I’ll treat you to good food.”

“Great!”

Jiang Xingye rode a bike taking Xu Qinghuan to the commune, having breakfast before catching the bus to town.

Lu Nianying just caught up, spending on an ox cart ride, and missed breakfast in her haste, feeling exhausted and hungry.

Seeing Xu Qinghuan glowing, with her basket carried by Jiang Xingye, cared for thoroughly, Lu Nianying felt quite imbalanced.

“Qinghuan, here, here!”

Upon boarding, Xu Qinghuan heard someone calling her, looking up to see Ji Xiangcheng sitting beside Lin Yufei, both seemingly quite close.

Jiang Xingye seized the opportunity to pull Xu Qinghuan’s clothes, keeping her from approaching, finding a row with two vacant seats to settle down.

Xu Qinghuan had no choice but to reply to the back, “We’ll talk when we arrive.”

“Alright!” Ji Xiangcheng agreed reluctantly, realizing Xu Qinghuan’s fiancé seemed to dislike her approaching, feeling somewhat dejected.

She turned to Lin Yufei, “Brother Yufei, what’s the matter? I haven’t offended Comrade Jiang, so why does he always reject me?”

Lin Yufei blushed, stammering awkwardly, unsure how to respond.

Never having experienced such closeness from someone outside family and friends, he felt utterly confused.

“No, no, he’s just like this,” Lin Yufei explained.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep