IMGH Chapter 65

Qiu Rui Gets Jealous

“Well, well — back to full health after just a few days apart!” Chen Yuhe looked at a certain someone who was practically glowing with vitality and teased, “What miracle medicine have you been taking these past few days?”

Jiang Yi raised his chin with a smug air. “It’s the nourishment of love!” And as he said it, he couldn’t resist casting a flirtatious glance in Qiu Rui’s direction.

Qiu Rui responded with an icy stare, which made Jiang Yi’s heart clench with unease — he was terrified that everything from last night had been nothing more than a dream that left no trace.

Chen Yuhe’s arrival threw Qiu Rui’s mind into turmoil. In the past, he hadn’t been clear about his own feelings, and when Chen Yuhe had said those things to him, he hadn’t given a definitive answer — but that didn’t mean he could now sit back and allow Chen Yuhe to linger around Jiang Yi. Things were different now. He had already decided to be with Jiang Yi, and naturally he wasn’t about to permit other would-be admirers to hover around him.

And who was Chen Yuhe, of all people? She was the woman Jiang Yi had been set up with on a blind date — someone who liked and admired Jiang Yi.

In other words, this woman was his rival in love — and his number one enemy at that.

If it weren’t for the fact that he still needed to draw on Chen Yuhe’s abilities to break the formation, Qiu Rui would have long since made Jiang Yi cut all ties with her.

The moment Chen Yuhe showed up today, it felt to Qiu Rui as though a chunk of mouldy bread had gotten lodged in his chest — sour and deeply uncomfortable. The look he directed at Jiang Yi carried a sharp edge of jealous irritation.

Caught under Qiu Rui’s cold, piercing gaze, Jiang Yi was completely baffled. It never occurred to him that Qiu Rui was jealous — instead, he assumed Qiu Rui had woken up and had second thoughts.

Jiang Yi was so anxious he nearly wanted to rush straight to Qiu Rui and confirm what he truly felt, yet he was afraid that Qiu Rui would, as usual, say the words that meant rejection.

Qiu Rui made an excuse to retreat to his bedroom, leaving Jiang Yi still a muddled mess, sighing repeatedly over his winding and complicated love affair.

Chen Yuhe watched Qiu Rui leave and felt that her boss had been oddly off today. She leaned in close and asked Jiang Yi in a low voice, “So what’s the situation between you and Chairman Qiu?”

Jiang Yi tilted his head up with a face full of pride. “He’s already mine!” Though Jiang Yi looked every bit the confident one, he was quietly a wreck inside — Qiu Rui’s attitude hadn’t been entirely clear, and he honestly had no idea where things stood.

Chen Yuhe gave him a sideways glance and murmured softly, “I’m not so sure about that. If you’d really gotten him sorted out, the formation would’ve been broken by now.”

The tone was light, but the sarcasm within it was anything but.

Seeing the expression on Jiang Yi’s face, Chen Yuhe realized she had said something she shouldn’t have, and hastily explained, “Jiang Yi, it’s still early — Qiu Rui will fall for you sooner or later!”

Jiang Yi curled the corner of his lips into a faint, tired smile and said listlessly, “I’m just afraid I won’t live to see that day.”

“How could that be! What Qiu Rui feels for you — you should know better than I do!” Chen Yuhe reached out and poked Jiang Yi in the chest. “Ask yourself honestly: isn’t Qiu Rui already different from how he used to be?”

Last night they had taken a big step forward — he shouldn’t be rushing things. Jiang Yi raised a hand to brush away the gloom from his face and grinned. “Yuhe, you’re right! Qiu Rui will be mine sooner or later!”

“Now that’s more like it!” Chen Yuhe nodded in agreement.

Her boss’s cold and aloof reputation was the stuff of legend — there were enough people in the entire company who coveted him to fill several freight cars, and it wasn’t as though no one had ever shamelessly clung on and pursued him relentlessly. But every single one of them had met the same fate: rejected with an icy hardness that showed not a shred of mercy.

Ever since Jiang Yi had come along, however, Qiu Rui had gradually and imperceptibly become a completely different person from who he once was. Jiang Yi was too deep in it to see it himself, but Chen Yuhe, as an outside observer, had seen it all with perfect clarity.

Otherwise she never would have pretended to admire Jiang Yi and staged that whole melodramatic act of unrequited love and rivalry — all of it had been to fan the flames and help Qiu Rui come to terms with his own feelings sooner.

Chen Yuhe felt she had earned tremendous credit as a matchmaker, and pressed for her reward. “Jiang Yi, everything you have today is entirely thanks to me. How do you plan to repay me?”

Jiang Yi stroked his chin in thought. Qiu Rui’s behaviour yesterday probably had no small part to do with Chen Yuhe’s provocation. It hadn’t reached the ideal outcome yet, but it was still a breakthrough of sorts. He wasn’t the ungrateful type — and besides, Chen Yuhe had done so much for him over time, so a proper show of gratitude was only right.

Jiang Yi smiled sincerely. “Yuhe, on behalf of the organisation and the people — I thank you!”

“What’s gratitude worth?” Chen Yuhe rolled her eyes with displeasure. “If you actually have a conscience, give me something tangible!”

Jiang Yi blinked in genuine bewilderment and asked, “Please enlighten me, Master Chen!”

Chen Yuhe cleared her throat and said with complete seriousness, “Look, the two of us — helping you is what I’m supposed to do, so keep the other rewards. What I want is for you to tell me which stocks are about to skyrocket!”

Chen Yuhe pulled out her phone, opened the candlestick chart, and handed it to Jiang Yi, her eyes blinking with excitement.

Jiang Yi held the phone and looked at her with amusement. “Yuhe, aren’t you the one with the gift of foresight?”

“Don’t play dumb!” Chen Yuhe’s face fell with displeasure. “It’s not like you don’t know my situation!”

“Even if I told you, are you sure you’d dare to buy?”

“Never mind that — you just do what I say!”

“You want Xuan Xuan to trade for you, don’t you!” Jiang Yi crossed his arms and looked at Chen Yuhe with a teasing grin. “Yuhe, are you sure Xuan Xuan is actually cut out for stock trading?”

Chen Yuhe thought about it and had to admit Jiang Yi had a point. Jiang Mingxuan’s nerves were far too fragile, and she was prone to committing the cardinal sin of every stock trader — greed. That last rare opportunity to make a fortune had been ruined entirely by her greed.

Left with no other options, Chen Yuhe lamented with a sigh, “Then what am I supposed to do? Are you just going to watch me live out my whole life in misery?”

“I have money I can’t spend. I have money I don’t dare spend. Money is like a grenade with the pin already pulled — the slightest move and it’ll blow me to smithereens.” Chen Yuhe slumped down onto the sofa and sighed heavily, pouring out all her grievances. “Everyone envies us cultivators for being able to command the wind and rain and do anything we please — but who ever knows our hardships!”

Jiang Yi watched in silence as the young woman on the sofa lamented her troubles. She had beauty, intelligence, and exceptional abilities — a woman like her ought to have been able to enjoy life freely. Yet she carried hardships and heartaches that no one else knew about.

Jiang Yi offered some comfort. “Yuhe, you just have no affinity with wealth and power — compared to other cultivators, you’ve actually got it much better.”

Chen Yuhe tilted her head and thought it over. She found Jiang Yi’s words rather reasonable, and her mood lifted a little.

“Heaven is fair — whatever ability it gives you, it will absolutely take something else away.” Chen Yuhe waved her hand in resignation. “Oh well. What can you do — it’s all fate.”

“Stop pulling that long face, little one. I’ll take you to the mall for some retail therapy this afternoon.” Jiang Yi patted Chen Yuhe on the shoulder and got up to go make lunch in the kitchen.

Chen Yuhe curled up on the sofa watching cartoons, when Qiu Rui slowly drifted over to her side.