Volume One, Chapter 17: What Face Does He Have Left?

He had never seen Jiang Chenyu look at him with such an expression before; his heart suddenly twitched sharply.

Then he thought of the number that had blocked him. He strode quickly to Jiang Chenyu, slamming the cup in his hand down heavily in front of her, causing water to splash everywhere.

Jiang Chenyu instinctively turned her head and raised her hand to shield her face, yet the scalding water still splashed onto the back of her hand, making her gasp sharply from the pain.

“Who told you to block my number! Get back home with me right now and apologize in front of the whole family!” Jiang Mu sneered, his eyes flickering uncontrollably.

He was a little flustered, but upon seeing it was Jiang Chenyu, he thought anyway she wouldn’t get angry. Even if she were hurt, it didn’t matter.

Besides, he had tried calling her in front of the entire family and couldn’t get through. The people below would gossip about him. Didn’t he care about his reputation?

Jiang Chenyu pressed her lips together, said nothing, and with a cold expression picked up the nearby cup, dousing the hot drink onto his face.

She had been here a while; the drink wasn’t as scorching as when first poured, but the sticky liquid on his face was especially uncomfortable.

The drink ran down his neck, and a chill ran through him as the wind blew.

“Jiang Chenyu! Are you looking for death?” Jiang Mu roared in fury. How dared she treat him like this?

Jiang Chenyu sneered coldly, “Isn’t this what you asked for?”

The onlookers, who had been watching eagerly, instantly burst into suppressed laughter.

The scattered murmurs stabbed sharply into Jiang Mu’s ears.

He wanted to escape but had nowhere to hide. His eyes could only glare hatefully at Jiang Chenyu, as if he wanted to tear a piece of her flesh away.

Dark bruises shadowed his eyes, and exhaustion etched deep lines on his brow—evidently, he hadn’t slept all night.

A faint smell of smoke lingered on his clothes; his eyes, red-rimmed, shone with unnatural intensity.

Jiang Chenyu didn’t want to entangle herself with a deranged man. She immediately grabbed her phone and prepared to leave.

As Jiang Mu wiped the drink from his face with his sleeve, he noticed her phone screen lit up.

The page was filled with dense text, only the title was clear: “Heart-Clearing Incantation.”

Previously, Jiang Chenyu had asked him to practice this “Heart-Clearing Incantation” with her, claiming it could ease headaches.

He had been in a hurry to go out with Xue’er and lazily agreed without much thought.

Apparently, Jiang Chenyu had taken it seriously and even hoped to practice this incantation with him.

So her blocking him and all her current actions were just a ploy of playing hard to get?

He felt he had seen right through Jiang Chenyu’s little scheme and snatched her phone away.

“Give me back my phone!” Jiang Chenyu’s face darkened.

Reaching out to grab her phone, Jiang Mu took a step back, evading her hand.

A malicious smile curled on his lips as he sneered, “Jiang Chenyu, you really want to keep up appearances while acting like a harlot.”

The crowd nearby whispered among themselves, speculating what she could have done to deserve such public humiliation.

“Jiang Chenyu, let me guess—you’re regretting it now, thinking about returning to the Jiang family every moment, hoping I’ll help you, right?” He lifted his chin confidently.

Jiang Chenyu frowned and silently took out a flammable talisman from her pocket, still calm on the surface. “Last time I ask you: will you return my phone or not?”

“If you kneel down and apologize now, I’ll not only give you back your phone, but also bring you back to the Jiang family. I’ll be your good second brother from now on. Otherwise...” He changed his mind. If he was going to embarrass Jiang Chenyu, he might as well do it thoroughly and teach her a lasting lesson.

He threatened with certainty, “Otherwise, I really won’t bother with you ever again.”

Others: “...That’s it?”

Jiang Chenyu had lost all patience and was about to pull out a talisman to deal with Jiang Mu.

But someone stepped forward before she could, grabbing Jiang Mu’s wrist.

In an instant, Jiang Mu’s face twisted in pain as he shouted, “It hurts!”

Turning to look, it was none other than Gu Jinyan, the young master of the Gu family, whom they had seen earlier at the hospital.

“Gu... Young Master... what are you doing here?” Although Jiang Mu had only met Gu Jinyan once, everyone with even a little influence in Jingcheng knew his reputation.

A prodigy, he had helped his uncle’s company out of crisis at five, started manipulating the stock market and acquiring companies by sixteen. The Gu patriarch had bypassed his two sons to give him full control.

But equally famous was his deteriorating health—rumored to end up in the emergency room three times a month, always close to death.

In such top aristocratic families, once a person died, they became nothing.

Those hungry for power would show no mercy to a widow.

That was why they opposed Jiang Xue’er marrying Gu Jinyan.

However, judging by Gu Jinyan’s grip, he didn’t seem like someone near death!

“Give me the phone,” Gu Jinyan said coldly.

Jiang Mu immediately released his grip, not caring if Gu Jinyan caught the phone.

As the phone began to fall, Gu Jinyan dropped Jiang Mu and caught it midair.

The crowd wanted to applaud but dared not make a sound.

After all, who working here didn’t know their big boss, Gu Jinyan?

Jiang Mu quickly mimicked his elder brother’s manner, flashing a sycophantic smile, “Young Master Gu, my sister and I were just teasing. Sorry to embarrass you.”

Gu Jinyan ignored him and handed the phone back to Jiang Chenyu, asking pointedly, “Do you find this amusing?”

Jiang Chenyu shook her head.

“She doesn’t find it amusing, and neither do I. So, what now?” Gu Jinyan finally looked at Jiang Mu.

Unlike Jiang Chao, who mingled in the company, Jiang Mu knew the Gu family’s power but didn’t have a clear understanding of their influence. He had even less respect for Gu Jinyan, the “doomed one.”

So he stepped forward defiantly, “Young Master Gu, you don’t know my family’s situation. My sister is just throwing a tantrum.”

“Don’t believe me? Look at the files on her phone—they’re insomnia remedies she found for me.” He didn’t believe in mysticism, taking Jiang Chenyu’s health treatments as mere traditional medicine prescriptions.

Gu Jinyan glanced down, his expression unreadable.

Jiang Chenyu instinctively turned off her phone. Before she could speak, Gu Jinyan asked, “Did he burn your hand?”

She looked at the back of her hand, which was indeed reddened.

Her skin was wheat-colored, so it wasn’t very obvious.

“Does it hurt?” Gu Jinyan gently blew on her hand.

“A little.” Jiang Chenyu, unused to such intimacy, quickly pulled her hand away.

Gu Jinyan was not angry, simply reassured her, “I’ll take you to the hospital.”

“Take him to the police station,” he ordered his secretary.

Jiang Mu panicked instantly. “She splashed me too! Ask the others if you don’t believe me.”

The others lowered their heads, avoiding looking that way, but secretly stole glances.

They were really trying hard to catch the drama.

Gu Jinyan’s secretary was also a martial artist. After receiving the order, he immediately stepped forward and restrained Jiang Mu, carrying him away like a frightened chick.

Jiang Chenyu suddenly remembered something and quickly called out, “Wait.”

The secretary glanced at Gu Jinyan, who nodded, then turned to Jiang Chenyu.

Jiang Mu was truly scared now; his voice trembled. “Chenyu, I knew you and Second Brother were closest. Quickly explain to Young Master Gu and have him release Second Brother!”

If he went to the station, what would become of his face?