Father Jiang was one of the best and richest clothing merchant in the entire Yunlan City.
Jiang Zhe was the eldest son and legal heir of the Jiang family. As the eldest son, Father Jiang had high hopes for Jiang Zhe. However, the original soul was foolish, and looked down on his father's way of earning money.
Every day, he took the money he despised and went out to high-end establishments, spending money like dirt.
No wonder he died so tragically. Really, it makes one unable to sympathise with him at all.
Jiang Zhe stood by the window and looked at the scenery in the courtyard, his fingers unconsciously playing with his jade thumb ring. He whispered in a low voice, “Unfortunately, these peaceful days won't last long.”
This was a parallel time and space. Though some celebrities were different, the general development of the world was strikingly similar to Jiang Zhe's original world.
In the next three years, the entire Yunlan City will be steeped in war. Everyone would be in danger and they would try to escape the city war zone.
It was precisely in that battle that the original soul died. His cause of death? Love sickness.
Jiang Zhe doesn’t wish to repeat the same mistakes the original soul made. Naturally, he will not provoke those women on his own accord.
After all, he only came here to complete the task.
System that occasionally captures the host's thoughts: Hehe
…………
At noon, a servant called, “Eldest Young Master, the Old Master requests your presence in the main hall for lunch.”
Jiang Zhe nodded lightly. The servant was surprised at how easy-going the Eldest Young Master was today as he led the way.
The main hall was already full of people, with the tables separated by gender.
Jiang Zhe had just stepped in when a strange female voice rang out: “Wow, the ever-busy and important Eldest Young Master is finally willing to spare some time to eat lunch.”
Father and Mother Jiang's face instantly changed. Just as Mother Jiang was about to scold the woman, Jiang Zhe opened his mouth to speak. He was wearing an indigo blue gown today. His long hair was combed to the side, revealing a smooth and full forehead. A pair of gold rimmed glasses perched snugly on his nose. Hearing his Concubine Mother Shu ridiculing him non-stop, he did not get angry or embarrassed as he did before, only sweeping his sleeves and walking away.
Jiang Zhe's pursed his lips slightly, lowered his eyes, and smiled apologetically, "This son has arrived late; I hope that Mother and Father can forgive me."
Father Jiang swept away the previous unhappiness with a smile, "It's nothing. There's only family eating here. Your Concubine Mother Shu's character is just like that, don't take it to heart, Zhe'er.”
Jiang Zhe smiled and agreed silently, greeting Mother Jiang with a light smile as he passed her.
Mother Jiang hadn't seen her son in a long time, and was too happy to notice anything out of place. She was even willing to overlook Concubine Shu's previous transgression.
Jiang Zhe sat on the left directly next to his father. The seat to the left of the household head was a respected one, just below the household head himself, showing how much Father Jiang loves his son.
Concubine Shu, who was utterly ignored during the whole process, silently looked at the filial father-son pair at the other table. She could only swallow her anger and scold them in her heart. Even her own pair of children were dragged into her anger, berated for being so useless.
Jiang Chen and Jiang Yu lowered their heads, obediently waiting for lunch.
Jiang Zhe mentally took in all these interactions. After Father Jiang picked up his chopsticks*, Jiang Zhe picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork. The vibrantly red pork glistened with oil, and the meat was tender and juicy. With a bite, the fragrant, crispy, sour and sweet flavour came bursting out, satisfying their taste buds.
Jiang Zhe unusually ate more than half a bowl. Father Jiang laughed, and remarked, “Zhe'er's appetite is really good today.”
Jiang Zhe laughed and said nothing.
Father Jiang was amazed. Although his eldest son still spoke little like usual, he somehow feels different today, especially with that small smile lingering on his lips. He looked similar to those well-studied scholars, possessing an unexplainable elegance.
Sure enough, studying more is good.
Father Jiang was very satisfied with his eldest son. With happiness in his heart, he brought up an old topic, "Zhe'er, Dad worked so hard to build our family business from scratch. We cannot let it collapse. You have achieved so much in your studies today, when are you going to come to the shop to learn a little? Help reduce Dad's workload earlier.”
Once the words came out, the entire hall became silent. Mother Jiang looked worriedly at her son, afraid that he would storm out in anger.
Concubine Shu wrung her handkerchief, lowering her head to prevent the joy in her eyes from leaking out.
Everyone stared nervously at Jiang Zhe, waiting for an answer.
Jiang Zhe: “If Father doesn't despise that your son has no experience, then I can start tomorrow.”
Father Jiang was stunned, Mother Jiang was dazed, Concubine Shu was dumbfounded, and even Li Cai Wei looked at him strangely, let alone other people.
Father Jiang exclaimed excitedly, but still somewhat uncertain, “Really?”
Jiang Zhe: “I don't take back my words.”
Father Jiang: “Hahaha! Good, good! What a good phrase!”
Father Jiang was just too elated. He put down his chopsticks and immediately called the housekeeper, “Uncle Fu, go, bring me my wine jars. This old man wants to drink with Zhe'er today to our heart's content. Today is really a happy occasion.”
Uncle Fu: “Yes, Old Master.”
After 2 whole hours, lunch was finally over. Father Jiang finally left unstably with the support of Mother Jiang and their servants.
The others gave a sigh of relief - they could finally leave.
Li Cai Wei walked over to Jiang Zhe and said concernedly, “How are you?”
Jiang Zhe's face was red. He shook his head and sobered up slightly. “I'm alright. Accompany me for a walk in the garden later.”
Li Cai Wei: “Alright.”
Only after Jiang Zhe and his wife left did Concubine Shu poke angrily at her children's heads, loudly scolding: “What use do the two of you have? I won't talk about Jiang Yu, but Jiang Chen, you are a boy. Other than the Old Master and Jiang Zhe, you are the oldest. I don't expect you to improve in your studies and overtake Jiang Zhe, but you better sweeten up your mouth a bit more. During the whole afternoon, I only saw Jiang Zhe acting filial and respectful, but what about you? What were you doing? Does the ground have gold? You just kept staring at the ground!”
The brother and sister pair were scolded till they couldn't lift their heads up. Jiang Yu looked like she was going to cry.
Concubine Shu took one look at them and got even angrier, “Go, go away. Don't stand in front of me; looking at you will only make me angry.”
Jiang Chen/Jiang Yu: “Then we're going, Concubine Mother.”
Concubine Shu waved her hands: “Just go.”
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[*Chinese culture is such that the younger generations have to wait till the older generations start eating before they start eating, as a form of respect.]
TN: I think this is an ancient world setting? I'm not sure, I haven't read past what I've translated. The term in the original text is 姨娘, which in modern terms would be maternal aunt. This was what I thought of at first. However, at the end, Jiang Chen/Jiang Yu also call their mother 姨娘, which led me to believe that it is actually the older usage of the word, being a term to refer to their father's concubines. Thus I ultimately changed it to Concubine Mother. But I may be wrong, and if I find any discrepancies in the further texts I will come back and rectify the mistakes.