Chapter 694 - 464: I’m Not a Bot (Part 2)

The reality was, she could only watch others have a taste.

"Perhaps there’s a chance that after something this serious, her perspective will change... There are very few things in this world that are truly important. Family, health, a peaceful life—those are the things that should come first. People only have a change of heart when they lose them."

After hearing him out, Jiangg Ning managed a small smile.

"It’s never too late to turn back, huh..."

"That’s right."

"I won’t indulge in that kind of wishful thinking, praying she’ll get out and suddenly become a gentle, kind mother. I just hope she’ll stay out of trouble and not make such terrible mistakes again. For Yaoyao and me, that would be a blessing in itself."

Jiangg Ning seemed remarkably level-headed.

She wouldn’t pin her hopes for a peaceful life on such a slim chance. Most of the time, she relied on her own logic to make decisions.

But there were exceptions.

This relationship with Chen Yuan was one such exception; she had done many irrational things.

Chen Yuan didn’t comment on her response. Instead, he fell silent for a long moment, his mind occupied with other thoughts.

’The price Jiangg Ruxue had to pay for her mistake was immense. If the sisters hadn’t met him, or if he didn’t come from such a prominent family, they would have gone from being pampered princesses to being knocked down into the mortal world. They’d probably have to endure some very hard times.’

’Working, paying off debts... spending decades just like that.’

’It would be like being trapped in an invisible cage. By the time they struggled free, they’d look back in a daze and find that most of their lives had already passed them by.’

’Life has some margin for error, but that depends on the magnitude of the mistake.’

...

Outside, the night was profound, blanketed with countless stars.

The hospital was quiet, save for the occasional sound from downstairs of a nurse telling a patient to get back to their room and rest.

Jiangg Ning’s eyes seemed to glitter, reflecting the ceiling lights. Her pupils also reflected Chen Yuan’s face as she quietly watched him.

"I have a thought, but I’m not sure how to say it. I’m afraid you’ll misunderstand... Let me think... I’ll try to put it as tactfully as possible," Jiangg Ning hesitated for a moment before saying softly, "Chen, your family is quite well-off, and you never mentioned that before we started dating. Our relationship might not be about money or personal gain, but marriage is different... You have to consider everything, right?"

"What? Consider what?" he asked, a bit confused.

"Aren’t you getting engaged to Yaoyao? You’ll have to meet our parents eventually... I’m worried that once you tell my mother about your family background, she’ll get other ideas. Like... she might try to leverage the situation, use our family connection to ask for an investment or something. She’s in debt now and it’ll be hard for her to recover, but she’s not the type to admit defeat. She’ll latch onto any opportunity she can get. You understand, right?"

"You’re worried she’ll ask me for a lot of money? Or something else?"

"I can’t rule out that possibility."

"There’s not much we can do about that, is there? We’ll just have to deal with problems as they come," Chen Yuan said after a moment’s thought. "Since we’ll be family, we have to face whatever comes our way. There’s no escaping it."

He had a point.

Once they were married, Jiangg Ruxue would be his mother-in-law. He’d have to call her Mom; they’d be seeing each other all the time.

Their two families would be joined.

There was no hiding from it.

"I don’t want that to happen," Jiangg Ning sighed. After thinking for a moment, she said, "What if we just... deflect for now? Not mention your family’s situation? Your father only has you as his son, and that connection to Mrs. Jiang is too conspicuous..."

She didn’t want to gain any favors by relying on Chen Yuan’s status, much less was she scheming for anything.

A simple marriage, one not tangled up in business interests, was what she truly wanted.

The more complicated the relationship, the easier it was for love to lose its purity.

Whether it was her or Jiangg Yao getting married, she wanted things to be as pure as possible.

After all, when they first started dating, they hadn’t cared whether he was rich or poor. Even someone as lazy as Yaoyao had considered working hard to support her boyfriend, which just went to show how pure the sisters’ love was.

"Hiding it... I don’t think that will work," Chen Yuan said, shaking his head. "She’s bound to have her suspicions. Otherwise, how could that debt have been settled so quickly? She could easily piece together the truth from the clues, and that would just make things more complicated."

"You have a point..." Jiangg Ning’s expression was troubled.

"It’s fine. Let’s plan for the worst-case scenario. If she really does make some demands—whether it’s asking for an investment or trying to profit from our connection—I’ll ask for your input first. We can have her do it under your supervision. That’s not an unreasonable requirement, and she’d have no reason to refuse."

When Chen Yuan finished, Jiangg Ning’s eyes lit up, and she gently clenched her fists.

"That’s actually a great idea."

Then, as if a thought occurred to her, she pressed her lips together and said:

"It doesn’t need to be under my supervision. You’re getting engaged to Yaoyao, so you can just do it in her name. It doesn’t really have much to do with me..."

They had been having a serious discussion, but then Jiangg Ning suddenly threw that out.

Chen Yuan froze for a moment, unsure how to respond.

Jiangg Ning lowered her head, gripping her pen and scribbling a few messy lines on the paper. Her expression wasn’t exactly cold, but it was a world away from the gentle look she’d had just moments before.

She wasn’t angry; the words had just slipped out.

Perhaps she felt she didn’t have the right.

"What do you mean it has nothing to do with you? Ningning, you’ve been acting a little strange the last couple of days... Of course we have to discuss this together. Besides, you know Jiangg Yao doesn’t understand these things."

"Strange? I think I’m acting perfectly normal," she said, avoiding his gaze.

"Is it because you don’t want me to get engaged to Yaoyao?"