The Wealthy and Influential Fiancé has the Ability to Read Mind
Chapter 80
In the end, Tang Nuan had to drag Ye Shuyan away forcefully. Once outside, she couldn’t help but scold him, “Assistant Wen finally got a chance to talk to my sister, why did you have to purposely disrupt them?” She gave him a side-eye, adding, “Or do you really not want Assistant Wen to be my sister’s husband?”
“Am I that petty?” Ye Shuyan mimicked her tone, giving her a playful glance before taking her hand and cryptically adding, “He’s just at the flirty stage. What he interrupted for me was much more serious…”
Tang Nuan instantly understood his meaning, her cheeks heating up as she playfully hit him. “What’s always on your mind?”
After their interrupted moment that day, Assistant Wen had gone back into the ICU, so naturally, they hadn’t had any opportunity to pick up where they left off. She hadn’t expected Ye Shuyan to hold a grudge over it.
She couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought. If this isn’t petty, what is?
With a hint of grievance, Ye Shuyan said, “I have to go on a business trip tomorrow.”
Tang Nuan paused, and he continued, “If Wen Xingchuan were in shape, I could have handed it over to him, but given his condition, I don’t have anyone else suitable for the task.”
Tang Nuan was surprised. So, he was actually hoping to avoid the trip?
Ye Shuyan wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. “Yeah, I don’t want to go.”
The reason he didn’t want to leave was obvious, and Tang Nuan felt a sweet warmth in her heart. She nuzzled against his shoulder and asked softly, “Will you be gone long?”
“About half a month,” Ye Shuyan replied. “With the restructuring, the overseas part needs to be split up too. It’s a big personnel adjustment, so I have to personally oversee things.”
Half a month, Tang Nuan thought. No wonder he was holding a grudge against Assistant Wen, she felt reluctant now too. That night, after finishing work, she went straight to the 20th floor.
However, Ye Shuyan was unexpectedly restrained. He only gave her gentle kisses and held her close, even though Tang Nuan could sense he was struggling to control himself.
In the end, he pulled her up from the sofa and gently pushed her toward the door. “Alright, that’s it for tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Tang Nuan: … Is he really leaving it at that?
Ye Shuyan covered her still-teary eyes, as if trying to avoid tempting himself, and personally escorted her to the door. He explained, “I’m leaving early tomorrow. I don’t want you to wake up and find yourself alone.”
Waking up alone after the first time wouldn’t feel great…
Tang Nuan’s heart swelled with warmth. She took his hand, kissed it softly, and smiled.
Ye Shuyan let her do as she pleased, lowering his gaze to watch her. “Are you trying to seduce me?” he asked with a low voice.
Tang Nuan licked her lips, then tugged down her sweater to reveal half of her shoulder. She was wearing a loose-knit sweater today, which made it easy. Leaning seductively against the doorframe, she threw him a sultry look and teased in a sweet voice, “What do you think?”
Ye Shuyan’s throat bobbed as he narrowed his eyes dangerously. “I’ve thought it over. I could always just pack you up and take you on the plane with me tomorrow,” he said, reaching out to grab her.
Startled, Tang Nuan let out a yelp, like a startled rabbit, and dashed away. Once she got into the elevator, she cheekily stuck out her tongue at him in triumph.
Ye Shuyan smiled as he watched her go.
Back in his room, he took a cold shower. When he came out, he saw a message from Tang Nuan: [Just got in the shower, won’t be able to pick up the phone for the next 20 minutes.]
Ye Shuyan chuckled and texted her back.
Then, he thought about her habit of never calling others but always answering their calls, something she never wavered on.
When Tang Nuan finished her shower, Ye Shuyan called her via video and asked her about this habit.
Tang Nuan blinked, momentarily taken aback. She had almost forgotten about it, as it had become second nature over the years.
“It’s really not a big deal,” she said, with a casualness that hadn’t always been there. Perhaps after spending so much time with the Tang family, she found it easier to talk about now. “It happened back in my third year of middle school. You know how our school held those annual year-end performances, right?”
Shengde Middle and High School was a prestigious school, where most students came from wealthy or influential families. There were only a few students admitted through special programs, high achievers in China’s college entrance exams, while the majority were preparing to study abroad. As a result, the school focused more on developing students’ overall abilities, and most were multitalented.
Every year, the school held various campus events to hone the students’ organizational skills and artistic talents.
In her third year of junior high school, Tang Nuan’s class performed a play, an adapted version of Sleeping Beauty. She couldn’t remember the specific plot anymore but did recall playing Princess Aurora, the Sleeping Beauty herself.
“You know,” Tang Nuan said with a sigh, “when I was little, Sleeping Beauty was my favorite fairy tale. I loved Princess Aurora.” She continued with nostalgia in her voice, “Aurora was born out of the deep yearning of the King and Queen. And once she was born, she was adored by everyone. The King even burned all the spinning wheels in the kingdom because of a curse that said she would die if she pricked her finger on one when she turned fifteen.”
“And when the curse did come true, everyone in the kingdom, even the animals, fell into a deep sleep because of her. So, when she finally woke up a hundred years later, she wasn’t alone.”
Tang Nuan chuckled as she reminisced. “I couldn’t quite understand the Tang family’s complicated relationships back then. I just kept wondering: I was also the daughter they longed for, so why did Lin Yue’e favor Tang Shuang, and why did Tang Sheng’an love Tang Yi but no one loved me?” She spoke with complete calm now, as if the pain of the past had faded. “So, when I read Sleeping Beauty, I kept wishing I could be Princess Aurora.”
Recalling those days, Tang Nuan found it amusing. “And because I was dressed up as Princess Aurora, I played the role really well in that stage play.”
“At that time, I was about thirteen or fourteen, and of course, I didn’t believe in fairy tales anymore,” Tang Nuan laughed softly. “But I guess girls always have a princess dream, no matter how old they are. I just felt really happy playing the role, like everyone loved and adored me.”
She smiled at the memory. “After the play, I was in such a good mood that I didn’t want to take off the makeup.” Glancing at Ye Shuyan, she asked, “You know the clock tower at our school, right?”
Ye Shuyan seemed to catch on to where this was going, his gaze softening. “Yeah, I know.”
Over twenty years ago, when domestic education was still looking to foreign methods for inspiration, many private elite schools incorporated Western elements. Shengde High School had a clock tower, complete with a narrow staircase leading to the top.
Tang Nuan lay back, laughing at herself. “I was so childish back then. I was wearing that princess dress and just ran to the clock tower, climbing all the way to the top.”
“The weather was beautiful that day, the view was amazing. So, I laid down on the rooftop and pretended to be Sleeping Beauty, imagining that once I fell asleep, the whole school, the entire city, would fall asleep with me,” she laughed at the absurdity. “Isn’t that just silly?”
And yet, in the soft breeze of early summer, she really did fall asleep.
When she woke up, it was already dark, and the middle school campus was deserted. Panicking, she tried to go down, only to find that the small staircase leading up to the clock tower had been locked.
“I had my phone with me, but it had been on silent mode from the play, and I hadn’t noticed all the missed calls while I was asleep. By the time I woke up, the battery was almost dead.”
Tang Nuan continued, “But phones back then had pretty decent battery life.”
She laughed, “I don’t know what I was thinking at the time, but I didn’t call any of my classmates. I called home instead.”
Ye Shuyan was about to say that most people in such a situation would naturally call home first, but then he heard her continue.
“The first person I called was Lin Yue’e, but she didn’t pick up, then I called Tang Sheng’an, and he didn’t answer either. Finally, even though I knew it was pointless, I tried calling Tang Shuang, and of course, she didn’t answer either…”
Tang Nuan gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I don’t know why I was so stubborn back then. I kept calling them over and over, thinking I had to make them pick up. But by the time my phone was down to its last bit of battery, no one had answered…”
“That’s when it finally hit me that I’d been foolish. But if the next person didn’t pick up, my phone would be dead. So, I used the last bit of battery to send a mass text message.”
She suddenly turned around, looking at Ye Shuyan with excitement. “Guess who was the first person to come?”
Ye Shuyan’s screen seemed to go dark for a moment, but his voice came through clearly. “Who was it?”
Tang Nuan laughed, “It was Li Qiuqiu.”
Tang Nuan continued, “At the time, I wasn’t even that close to Li Qiuqiu. She wasn’t the kind of person to join in on the fun or say much. But that day, she was the first to come, and she was really worried about me.” Her eyes softened with warmth. “The second person to arrive was Ji Yun, and after that, a few others came too. When they found out I had sent a group text, they quickly spread the word, telling everyone I was fine so they wouldn’t waste a trip.”
“After that, I got used to sending texts. If someone cared about you, they’d naturally respond. And if they didn’t… maybe they just didn’t see it, or maybe they didn’t care…”
She smiled as she said it, but Ye Shuyan felt a dull ache in his chest. No child could completely abandon hope for their parents. Even before Jiang Miao revealed her true identity, even if her rational mind knew better, Tang Nuan still held on to a faint glimmer of hope for Tang Sheng’an’s family. She had worked so hard, in part to break free from them, but also, wasn’t she hoping that they would finally notice her?
Sending a text was her way of keeping that tiny bit of hope alive. If they didn’t respond, she could at least tell herself they hadn’t seen it, rather than accept that they didn’t care.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Tang Nuan froze for a second before quickly getting up.
As she stepped out of the bedroom, Ye Shuyan opened the door and came inside. He hung up the video call without saying a word and just opened his arms wide toward her.
Seeing the concern and tenderness in his eyes, Tang Nuan suddenly felt a wave of emotion welling up. She ran into his embrace, burying herself in his arms, and choked up, “You’re making me feel all sad when I didn’t even feel that way before.” Her voice wavered with tears.
Tang Nuan later learned from the family of three that when she had called, Lin Yue’e had been too busy with a spa treatment to pick up, Tang Sheng’an was spending time with Tang Yi and didn’t hear the phone, and Tang Shuang simply didn’t want to answer.
Since then, she had feared making phone calls because of the possibility of no response.
Ye Shuyan lowered his head to plant a gentle kiss on her forehead. He scooped her up without a word and carried her back to the bedroom. He held her in his arms, silently offering comfort.
Although he had become skilled at saying sweet things lately, he never relied on words alone to reassure her when it came to serious matters. He knew about her sensitivities and insecurities, and instead of pressuring her, he praised her often, much like Tang Jinxin’s family did. Understanding her lack of security, he patiently guided her, helping her grow.
Now, as she leaned against his warm chest, listening to his steady heartbeat, she felt deeply loved and cherished.
She returned to his embrace, and soon, lulled by the sense of peace, drifted off into sleep.
After Ye Shuyan left on his business trip, Tang Nuan found the days unusually difficult to endure. Even though they video-chatted every day, seeing him only made her miss him more. She threw herself into work to distract from the longing.
Thankfully, she had plenty to do. Ye Shuyan had given her shares in the hotel management division, and knowing his plans, Tang Nuan took charge while he was away.
She quickly realized the thoughtfulness behind Ye Shuyan’s decision. Even though the Nuanyang System was something they acquired, her team’s core members had stayed on, and many had been placed in critical positions that would play key roles in the future development of the division. This made her work much smoother and easier to manage.
Of course, Tang Nuan didn’t rush into making any decisions. Ye Shuyan had always been cautious in selecting people, and the division was running smoothly. The only thing she needed to keep an eye on was Ye Zhenghong’s side.
However, after observing for a while, Tang Nuan realized she had been overthinking it. Ye Zhenghong had no idea about Ye Shuyan’s deeper intentions to split the group.
Tang Nuan figured that Ye Shuyan must have put on an act for them again. They actually believed that Ye Shuyan’s restructuring was a forced concession due to the pressure of an alliance with the Jiang family through Ye Shuchen.
In a morning video call, Tang Nuan couldn’t help but express her confusion to Ye Shuyan, “After the welcome reception, it was clear that people didn’t think highly of Ye Shuchen, right? How does your father still have so much confidence?”
Ye Shuyan chuckled, “Not at all, plenty of people are as optimistic about him as they are about the Jiang family.”
Tang Nuan suddenly understood. The business world is like a battlefield. She had only considered that those big players couldn’t form a win-win relationship with Ye Shuchen but forgot that for the ‘big wolves,’ this piece of meat could also be something they could bite off from the competition.
When Ye Shuyan firmly held Ye Group, the others had no choice but to be on the losing end. But facing someone as inexperienced as Ye Shuchen, things were different. Not only could they bite back, but they might even get a good feast out of it.
So, it didn’t take long for those with ulterior motives to flatter Ye Zhenghong and Ye Shuchen, rekindling their confidence. Ye Shuchen, with his bit of cleverness, now believed he was truly a genius CEO, especially after being promoted to general manager of the real estate division. He became full of pride, deluding himself into thinking he was a natural-born business tycoon.
What was even better was that those cooperating with Ye Shuchen were careful not to alert Ye Shuyan, so Ye Shuchen remained content and obedient within his “territory” to “build up his strength.”
Meanwhile, Ye Shuyan continued with his plans step by step.
After confirming there were no issues on this front, Tang Nuan shifted her focus back to her film project. The crew for Ninefold Spring had finished preparations and was officially starting filming. Ji Yun kept calling her to visit the film set.
One day, she called again to invite her, “Is Jiang Miao really determined to compete with you? She’s actually investing in a martial arts drama too.”