"Boss, should I pull over?"
"No." Shen Xinglan's said softly, "Keep driving."
Jiang Hua looked out of the window with corners of his mouth bent and said nothing. A Miao finally finished being filled with emotion and looked at him with gratitude.
"Thank you, this is the first time I've been so close to antiques!" She flipped the image on her mobile phone, which contained a blue and white porcelain ear flask.
"You are also very good." Jiang Hua praised her. "This is the first time I have seen such a talented person, as if you were born to identify antiques."
What he said was not an exaggeration at all. In the afternoon of the appraisal, he had first let A Miao voice her opinion. As a result, the girl's performance surprised him.
"I really wonder if you were exposed to these things since you were a child like me, or you just have a sharp eye."
A Miao wore an embarrassed smile. "I'm not as lucky as you, but I've been studying on my own for several years."
"In that case, shouldn't I be ashamed?" Jiang Hua joked. "I've been immersed in this for many years. I'm not as good as a little girl!"
"So you are a teacher!" A Miao said, teasing. "Teacher Jiang, you must call me in the future with this kind of good jobs!"
Jiang Hua nodded. "Of course. Now I have an extra hand!"
The two people smiled at each other. Jiang Hua took out his cell phone. "I'll transfer the money to you. What's your account number?"
"What money?" A Miao did not understand.
"Payment!" Jiang Hua pointed at the picture of the ear bottle on her mobile phone. "Do you think we went to identify those for free?"
A Miao just remembered that antique circles did have this rule, but...
"I don't want anything, I was just there to study." She motioned with her hand. "How can I ask for money?"
Jiang Hua took a sip of his drink. "If you say so, I won't ask you to go again."
"Come on, I can't take the money!"
"Tell me the account number quickly." With a straight face, Jiang Hua said, "Otherwise I'll be angry!"
In the end, A Miao made a compromise. Jiang Hua asked for her account number and immediately transferred 50,000 yuan to her. A Miao almost threw away her mobile phone.
"How... how could it be so much?" She wondered whether Jiang Hua had pressed an extra zero.
"Half each." Jiang Hua said in a particularly normal tone, "This is porcelain. If it's calligraphy or painting, the money is even more."
A Miao hurriedly shook her head. "I'm not knowledgeable about calligraphy or painting." She was only proficient in porcelain and jade.
"I'll take you there next time." Jiang Hua asked the waiter for the bill and then said to her, "Come and be my assistant after the Spring Festival. Maybe there will be a chance to go to some graves."
"Really?" A Miao's eyes brightened. "Has it been decided yet?"
Jiang Hua hesitated for a moment and nodded. "Just about."
"Then I'll be your assistant!" Miao said immediately. She had quit her job in the library, and now she had 50,000 yuan, which was enough for this semester.
On the way back to school, the two chatted all the way about antiques, and A Miao still wanted to talk after returning to the dormitory. Over the next few days, she occasionally met Jiang Hua in school. They no longer just nodded and pass by like before.
The two naturally talked for a while. Anyway, there were many students who asked Jiang Hua questions, so he had no one to chatter. However, Bai Lu, who had not shown up for a long time, finally appeared on the weekend.
"A Miao." Bai Lu was not alone, she was with Ji Xue.
Ji Xue glared angrily. "You are so lucky. The other was hospitalized and you didn't have any problems."
"Xiaoxue, don't say that. It was an accident." Once again, Bai Lu restored her top-notched, white lotus flower appearance. With a face of concern, she asked, "Is Mr. Shen okay? It's been said that he was discharged from the hospital."
A Miao found it especially funny how thick this woman's face was to say these words as if nothing had happened.
"Why are you looking for me?" She used to be hypocritical and polite, but now she did not even want to look at these two women.
Bai Lu felt a little sad. "A Miao, are there any misunderstandings between us..."
"What's wrong with your attitude?" Ji Xue cried out. "If it weren't for Lulu, I wouldn't want to find you."
A Miao shook her head. "If there's no business, I'll go."
"A Miao." Bai Lu stopped her again. "My brother is getting engaged this Sunday. Please come to the engagement party!"
"Bai Youran and Xia Wan are getting engaged?" A Miao scowled, smiled again, and asked, "Didn't the Bai family send an invitation to Shen Xinglan?"
"Of course they did!" Ji Xue looked at her with a proud face. "We the Ji family will all go there."
A Miao cocked her head and said, "So I'm asking Shen Xinglan, not the Ji family."
"You..." Ji Xue's face changed and she was about to start scolding her when Bai Lu pulled her back. "Xiaoxue, please don't do this. I'm here to invite A Miao."
"A Miao, Mr. Shen is Mr. Shen, and you are you." Bai Lu handed her the invitation, "In case you aren't coming together, take it!"
Maybe Shen Xinglan would come with another woman.
"Thank you." A Miao took the invitation and turned to leave.
She understood the meaning of Bai Lu's words, but so what. Shen Xinglan could take whoever to go with him, she... Ignoring the dissatisfaction in her heart, A Miao snorted inwardly.
"I don't mind!"
"Lulu, why do you personally send her the invitation? It doesn't matter whether she goes or not." Ji Xue saw A Miao leave and took Bai Lu aside to whisper.
Bai Lu smiled at her. "Let's go."
She was here to sound out what A Miao knew about the car accident. Furthermore, the people who had hit Shen Xinglan before died inexplicably.
They died in the middle of the night in a gang brawl. Bai Youran told her this. But Bai Lu always felt that something was wrong. Those guys did not leave City S after taking the money. It was very strange.
"Lulu?" Ji Xue waved in front of her face. "What are you thinking?"
"Nothing, why?"
"I have an appointment with a stylist. Let's try on the dresses tomorrow."
"Good!"
A Miao left school on time and got in Shen I's car.
"Do you have something to say..." Halfway through, A Miao could not continue to look at Shen I's twisted face. "Say what you have to say."
Shen I gave her a look. "Miss, are you in love?"
"Cough!" A Miao almost choked to death on her own saliva. "What did you say?"
"I said, are you in love, and it's even a teacher-student romance." Shen I threw caution to the wind. "Young lady, love between a teacher and a student will not end well. You should be clear-headed."
A Miao shot him a glare. "Who did you hear that from?"
"Don't worry about that. You are not suitable for that Jiang Hua."
"Please, he is a professor." A Miao had a contemptuous look. "How could he have anything to do with me?"
Shen I said with special seriousness, "The professors are beasts. You should stay away from him as soon as possible."
"Don't talk nonsense." A Miao leaned back and said, "Drive well."
When she arrived home, Shen Xinglan was not there, so A Miao went upstairs to take a bath and then leaned comfortably on the balcony to read some books. When it was getting dark, Shen Xinglan's car slowly pulled through the gate.
"You didn't say anything, did you?" as soon as Shen II entered, he pulled Shen I aside and asked.
Shen I took a glance at her. "I didn't say anything."
Ever since Shen Xinglan saw A Miao with Jiang Hua, he had never mentioned her name again. On several occasions when Shen I mentioned it in front of him, Shen Xinglan acted as if he had not heard it.
"Boss is obviously jealous," Shen I grunted.
Shen II's face was cold. "Then tell him, tell him, Boss, you are consumed by jealousy of Jiang Hua."
"And how do you think the Boss will react?" Shen I was eager to try it.
"He'll shoot you first."
A Miao came down from the upstairs and saw Shen Xinglan sitting in the dining room. She hurried over and said, "How are you? Does your chest still hurt?"
"It's nothing." Shen Xinglan did not even look at her and waved to Auntie to serve him.
"It looks like the recovery is going well!" A Miao stared at him for a long time before she sat down. "By the way, are you going to the Bai family's engagement party?"
Shen Xinglan smacked the chopsticks down on the table. "It's none of your business whether I go or not. Don't think that we were really an unmarried couple before. I don't have to take you with me even if I do go."
There was silence.
However, Shen Xinglan already regretted it. He clearly saw the injured look in A Miao's eyes. He regretted it.
"Got it." After what seemed like a long time, he heard the faint voice of A Miao.
A Miao stood up and said, "I'm not hungry, take your time."
Watching her walk away, Shen Xinglan had a depressed expression. He did not know why he had said those words, but A Miao did not tell him anything.
She did not say that she had went to identify antiques with the professor; she did not say that she took 50,000 yuan as rewards. What's worse, he really cared. He cared about the man around A Miao; he cared that she did not pick him up at the hospital but spent time with the others.
"Shen II..."
"Boss." Shen II entered.
Shen Xinglan pursed his lips and said, "Contact the stylist to come over."
"To dress up the young lady?" Shen I asked quickly.
"To dress you up." Shen Xinglan gave him a cold look. "So many words... Do you want to go and take over the job of Shen III?"
Shen I had his mouth agape, wanting to say something, but Shen II dragged him out.
He stayed in the dining area for a long time, then Shen Xinglan stood up and walked slowly upstairs. His face changed when he passed by A Miao's room.
There was sobbing coming from inside the room, a sob that was like a whip to his heart.
"Lunatic! Old scoundrel!" A Miao complained in the room. "They are all men, but why is he so abnormal?! He always loses his temper."
"Hmph, look at Jiang Hua, he is so gentle and always smiles happily."
Shen Xinglan's eyes sank, angrily staring at the door plank, and finally, he did not look back as he went into his room.
On Sunday, just after A Miao had lunch, Shen I walked in with a bunch of people who were carrying suitcases and bags.
"Young lady, the stylist called by the Boss will help you get made up."
A Miao was stunned. She probably did not expect the tough man from yesterday to think of her.
"Oh, then come up to my room!" After that reaction, she also did not act melodramatic, but just took those people upstairs.
At night, wearing a silvery-white fishtail skirt and a big wavy wig, her white face was flawless without any makeup. If you did not look at those dull eyes, A Miao was definitely a great beauty.
She walked slowly down the stairs, but Shen I said to her evasively,
"Miss, the Boss has already gone by himself."