Chapter 19: Not Equal Gifts
Jiang Wan shook the bracelet on her wrist. “This pink diamond bracelet is beautiful! It’s even better than the pictures in magazines! The price of this bracelet is 10 million yuan though. Big Brother, you were actually willing to give up that kind of money!”
“I was getting you a gift. There’s no use being stingy,” Jiang Cheng Lang said affectionately. “I am glad you like it.”
“I love it! I love it! I love it! Big Brother, I loved it so much I wanted to put it on immediately!” Jiang Wan cooed. “Thank you, Big Brother!”
Under the lights, the bracelet of pink diamonds shined and sparkled. It was sure to excite any girl’s heart.
Jiang Yu felt indifferent to it though. She was used to seeing this kind of thing in her original world. She had even given away many of them. She had become numb to this sort of thing.
Right on cue, Jiang Wan turned and asked, “Sister, what’s your gift? Big Brother must have got you a gift as well. Can I see it?”
“You can come up and take a look.”
Jiang Yu went up to her room with Jiang Wan in tow. Jiang Cheng Lang followed them, he was curious as to how Jiang Yu would react to his gift.
In the room, Jiang Yu opened the gift in front of them. Inside laid a jade necklace.
She already knew the plot of this story and wasn’t surprised.
Instead, it was Jiang Wan who cried in surprise, “Oh my! I’ve seen this necklace in a magazine. It’s worth millions! I remember it was around three million, right?”
She turned to Jiang Cheng Lang and said, “Big Brother, you really are generous to Big Sister! Big Sister must be very touched!”
She gave Jiang Cheng Lang a quick thumbs up and turned around to stare at Jiang Yu, waiting for her reaction.
Jiang Wan could not have been more obvious, only a fool could miss her signal.
According to the book, Jiang Wan was awkward when she first met her big brother. She was worried that he would not like her.
Her character was originally sensitive and fragile. When she found out that Jiang Cheng Lang had returned from his trip and brought her a gift, she was overcome with joy. However, she found out that Jiang Cheng Lang had given Jiang Wan a bracelet worth 10 million, and the necklace she got was only one-third it’s value. Her world slowly fell apart.
Jiang Wan even tried to smooth over the situation and stuck up for Jiang Cheng Lang. It was obvious that she was trying to cover everything up.
From Jiang Yu’s point of view, she should have been very grateful that Jiang Cheng Lang even bought her a gift at all since she had only just returned to the Jiang family. She shouldn’t be caring about the price of the gift. After all, it was a sincere token from her big brother.
If there had been no comparison, she could have stayed happy but Jiang Yu watched as Jiang Wan wore the bracelet to school. She loved showing off the gift she got from her brother. Jiang Yu was too ashamed to wear the jade necklace out of the house.
Jiang Cheng Lang noticed that she never wore the necklace and assumed that she did not like it. At first, he thought that his tastes just didn’t suit her. Jiang Wan later commented to him that Jiang Yu seems to be avoiding them. Jiang Cheng Lang took this as a sign that she had a problem with the Jiang family. He distanced himself even further from his sister after that.
As an older brother, he only needed to do his filial duty to her. There was no need for him to go out of his way to please his sister.
Later on in the story, under Jiang Wan’s scheming, Jiang Yu made some awful mistakes that led everyone to lose confidence and trust in her.
In the end, she blamed herself and regretted everything that had happened. She fell into a deep depression and eventually committed suicide.
Chapter 20: Turning Green
The other brothers of the Jiang family were afraid that Jiang Wan would be scarred as a result of Jiang Yu’s death. They sealed off Jiang Yu’s room and took turns to comfort Jiang Wan during the night. They were afraid that she would suffer nightmares.
Of course, this was all in the future.
At that moment, Jiang Yu said carefully, “The necklace looks good but… I don’t like this color.”
“Big Sister, the color of this jade is the purest of greens. Look, it contains no flaws,” Jiang Wan chided. “You say you don’t like it… Do you have something against Big Brother?”
She glanced at Jiang Cheng Lang’s face as she said, “Big Brother has so graciously brought us back gifts from his business trip. Big Sister, we should only be grateful to him.
“Ah, I understand. It’s because Big Sister had never received such a valuable gift before so you are deliberately saying that the color is no good so that you won’t have to accept it. Do you not want the gift? Are you afraid of owing Big Brother?”
“Big Sister, don’t worry. Our Big Brother is rich, he doesn’t worry about such small amounts of money. After all, we’re a family. Why would he care about such things between us? Just accept the gift.”
Jiang Wan said words like ‘family’ and ‘small amounts of money’. Wasn’t this just to mock Jiang Yu for coming from a small family and not having seen much of the world?
She had the audacity to call her and Jiang Yu family. She really was a sweet talker, knowing the words that would tug at people’s hearts.
Jiang Yu really couldn’t be bothered to get involved in a banter with a girl but that did not mean she was clueless to what Jiang Wan was trying to imply. She would not back down so easily.
“You’re overthinking it,” Jiang Yu said plainly. “I simply don’t like this color because…”
Jiang Yu dragged out her next words. “It’s like turning green.”
Jiang Wan was stunned. “Big Sister, what nonsense are you talking about? What do you mean it’s like turning green?”
Jiang Yu looked at Jiang Cheng Lang. “It’s the falling of falling stocks. It feels ominous.”
Jiang Cheng Lang was a businessman and regularly dabbled in the stocks. Upon hearing Jiang Yu’s words, he couldn’t help but frown.
In the stock market, no one wanted to see the color green.1?After what Jiang Yu said, he actually felt a little uncomfortable when he saw the jade necklace.
“Since you do not like it, I’ll go change it for you.”
Jiang Yu said without missing a beat. “There’s no need for it to be pink. That color tends to clash with everything, any color will do just fine. As for the price of the gift, just keep it to three million. If it’s too expensive, some people might get jealous.”
Jiang Wan cried out, “What are you talking about? Why would I feel jealous…”
Jiang Yu turned around, “I wasn’t talking about you”
Jiang Wan’s face froze.
Her face turned green and pale, as if someone had just read her thoughts.
Jiang Yu could either be silent or vicious with her words. When she chose to open her mouth, she was going for the kill.
“I am not talking about you. I was just saying what I think other people might think.”
Jiang Yu said to Jiang Cheng Lang, “I will not lie and accept something that I do not like. Let’s just agree to never lie to each other.”
Jiang Cheng Lang felt a little uncomfortable at first. After all, having someone reject a gift he had picked out personally was like getting a slap in the face.
Jiang Cheng Lang found himself taken by Jiang Yu’s frank and straightforward manner. He was so used to seeing people scheming against each other. Her attitude was like a breath of fresh air.
It shouldn’t matter if a girl her age was a little spoiled.
The girls of the Jiang family could afford to be a little spoiled after all.
Chapter 21: Her Name Had Been Given to Jiang Wan
Jiang Wan did not speak with arrogance or in spite. She wasn’t being bossy or anything of the sort.
She was being very matter-of-fact, telling everyone to be honest with each other.
Jiang Cheng Lang felt that the information that he had received about Jiang Yu was inaccurate. How could a quiet and shy girl speak so boldly?
“Alright then.”
As Jiang Cheng Lang made a move to take back the necklace, Jiang Yu stopped him.
She carefully returned the necklace to its box and said, “Here, I am returning the gift to you.”
Jiang Cheng Lang took the gift box as Jiang Yu continued, “A gift should be reciprocated. You’ve given me a gift and I should return one in kind. I have not decided on what to give you yet so please give me a few days.”
Jiang Cheng Lang couldn’t help but laugh. “You want to give me a gift?”
Jiang Yu nodded. “Is there something wrong with that?”
Jiang Wan interrupted them. She said her next words with care. “Big Sister, it’s nice that you want to get Big Brother a gift but Big Brother doesn’t lack anything.”
“If you give Big Brother something that Big Brother can’t use, it would go to waste… Wouldn’t that be the same as you receiving this gift from Big Brother? Hmm…”
Jiang Wan didn’t want to embarass Jiang Yu so she didn’t comment further.
What she meant was that Jiang Yu would end up giving Jiang Cheng Lang something inferior which will probably not match his status or class. Jiang Cheng Lang would end up not using it so it was better not to give him anything.
“How do you know what I’ll get for him?”
Jiang Yu retorted. “You’ve made an assumption even before you saw the gift. Are you a fortune teller or is there a worm in your ear?”
“Big Sister…” Jiang Wan’s face fell as she tugged at the corner of Jiang Yu’s shirt. “That’s not what I meant. Don’t misunderstand me… I really do think of you as part of this family and hope that you can get along with Big Brother…”
Jiang Yu looked at Jiang Wan in disdain.
Luckily, Jiang Wan was only pretending to cry and did not wipe her tears or snot on her shirt.
“Thank you for your concern but I really don’t have anything that I would need.”
Jiang Cheng Lang did not take Jiang Yu’s words seriously. His thoughts were the same as Jiang Wan’s. Jiang Yu’s adoptive parents had been ordinary people and did not earn much. Any saving Jiang Yu had might not even be enough to pay for a single diamond on his watch.
He did feel that her giving nature was commendable.
Jiang Cheng Lang asked, “How should I address you?”
Just as Jiang Yu was about to say that he should just call her by her name, Jiang Cheng Lang continued, “Calling you by your name is a little strange. What name did your adoptive parents call you by?”
Jiang Yu swallowed her words and searched through her memories. “They called me Xiao Yu.”
“Then I shall call you ‘Xiao Yu’ as well.”
The reason why Jiang Cheng Lang asked this was because… Mother had given his blood sister’s name to Jiang Wan.
Mrs. Jiang fell ill after giving birth to his little sister. When his little sister went missing, she became stricken with grief and passed away within a year.
The second year of Mrs. Jiang’s death, Mr. Jiang remarried. His stepmother brought her daughter with her into the Jiang family.
Mr. Jiang then pushed his own agenda on the new girl. His little sister had been lost for many years. Mr. Jiang then insisted that his stepdaughter change her name.
Back then, the third son had objected to this the most but he could not dissuade his father. As time passed, everyone learned to just accept it.
Although his little sister had been found, Jiang Wan had already been living with the Jiang family for many years. Everyone was already used to it and thus it was not practical for her to change her name. They decided to let Jiang Yu change her family name instead.
Jiang Cheng Lang knew that his mother’s biggest wish was to find his little sister and reunite the family. She probably couldn’t care less about a name.