With an earnest look on his face, Zhan Qiyou urged, "Mianmian, why don't you quickly draw a clear line from my uncle while the elders of my family are still in the dark about this?"
Jiang Mianmian squinted her eyes at him.
That concerned look of his reminded her… of how he, with his overwhelming friendliness, used to chase after her and ask her about her well-being, and how she once thought that he was the most considerate person to her in this world.
A certain night, however, she heard the voice of a couple going at it wildly when she passed by Jiang Li's room.
Then, the next morning, she found him at their dining table, much to her stupefaction, gently hugging her half-sister in his arm as he publicly announced their relationship.
At the thought of this, her lips curled up slightly while she jabbed his shoulder repeatedly with a fair and slender finger.
"Young Master Zhan, I don't know where you get the confidence to come interfering in my marriage with your uncle, but… if you're willing to dump Jiang Li and let the world know that you've dumped the number one socialite of Jincheng, I might be in the mood to consider your suggestion."
His expression instantly changed. "Jiang Li's a good girl, Mianmian. I don't understand why you have such a huge animosity against her…"
The girl, who had already walked back to her classroom, suddenly turned around and flashed a big smile at him. "Give it some thought, my nephew. Your aunt thinks highly of you~"
…
After school, the driver, sent by Zhan Muqian, fetched her back to the villa.
The huge villa was empty, and it seemed that the man had no intention of returning any time soon.
She started plotting in her heart. Being the busy general he is, Uncle is probably only going to return at least a fortnight later…
Just as she was pondering where she should go out to play tonight, she received a timely call from Gong Qiao.
…
At eight o'clock in the evening.
The latter led a bunch of friends of bad influence into General Zhan's mysterious and low-profile private residence.
This bunch of childhood friends was in hysterics.
"Surely not, Sis Mian? You're married already? WTF?! What got into you?"
Leaning against the sofa, she spread her arms wide and coolly said, "What can I do? I slept with this uncle on a whim but it turned out that he's a conservative person, so he wants me to be responsible for him."
Gong Qiao cracked up. "I really have to take my hat off to you. With three pills, you conquered the powerful and influential General Zhan. With this uncle protecting you from now on, that stepmother of yours won't dare to find trouble with you anymore."
In spite of this, Gong Xiaoqi was a little worried. Pressing her voice low, she questioned, "You really slept with General Zhan? How did it happen? He didn't resist you at all?"
Jiang Mianmian patted her bestie on her cheek, not at all interested in engaging in such smutty topics.
…
And so, the group of rich kids of similar age group created havoc in the clean, minimalistic villa.
Suddenly, the opening sound of the main door was heard at one o'clock in the morning.
Jiang Mianmian, who got so drunk she was almost wasted, had her head rested on her buddy's shoulder as she struggled to stay awake to play cards.
A deafening yet booming voice put their card game to an end.
The young chaps and ladies, one by one, turned their heads toward the direction and saw the expressionless General Zhan standing there in his military uniform. The air around him was akin to that of a monarch.
Never once did he speak, but just a dark and deep gaze from him were enough to scare those little rascals witless.
"G-General Zhan… you're back!"
"Good evening, Uncle Zhan!"
"Uh, w-we'll leave first…"
In just a span of several seconds, her group of childhood friends had fled from the house before she could even get up from the sofa.
As she scratched her head, she flashed a sweet and charming grin at the imposing general. "U-Uncle Zhan…"
The strong smell of cigarette smoke on the wild kitten had him frowning.
"Jiang Mianmian, you have three seconds to stand up and go face the wall until you've sobered up, then come upstairs and find me.