Chapter 133: Time Management Part 3

In the days that followed, Jiang Ke didn’t contact Xu Yinian once.

It wasn’t out of spite, nor was it because she didn’t miss her older cousin.

She was simply afraid that in her current unstable state, a single word might expose the ugliness of her situation, causing her sister to distance herself even further.

However, a phone call from her father arrived even sooner than any message from her sister.

Jiang Ke had known for a while that Bai Ran was manipulating Xinyu Medical to target her parents’ business, deliberately forcing them to switch suppliers. On one hand, it was pressure directed at Jiang Ke for still clinging to Xu Yinian; on the other, it was a trap, waiting for the profit-driven Jiang family to personally deliver Niannian into Bai Ran’s hands.

Thanks to Jiang Ke’s intentional concealment and the sudden turn of events leading to Bai Ran’s leave of absence, the Jiang family still hadn’t discovered that Xu Yinian and the Eldest Daughter of the Bai family were roommates.

The Jiang family’s stock was piled up and unsellable. Her parents had spent days scouring the medical institutions around the Capital, but they were either monopolized by Xinyu or already had stable suppliers. Every attempt ended in failure.

The same fawning and flattery they had used for years to squeeze into high society now seemed like a complete joke.

Jiang Ke never expected that this abrupt phone call was to tell her that the backlogged goods had been taken over by the Shen Group, and that both parties were about to sign a long-term supply contract.

“Those snobs from the Bai family… I worked my life away for them! Now that I’ve climbed onto the giant tree that is the Shen family, I don’t have to fear them anymore…”

Jiang Rui continued to ramble and curse, failing to notice the eerie, prolonged silence on the other end of the line.

Jiang Ke’s face had turned deathly pale.

This convenient coincidence was almost certainly the handiwork of Shen Yi. But why would such a high-and-mighty, arrogant woman suddenly find the kindness to help them?

Was it a deal between her sister and Shen Yi?

Compared to a threat, this was clearly an act of charity that purely benefited the Jiang family. Given that woman’s methods, why would she deign to make a deal with her sister?

It would be merciful enough if she hadn’t threatened Xu Yinian into leaving the country. Why would she give her a “sweetener” before her sister had even paid a price?

No matter how she thought about it, it felt strange.

It was almost as if—Shen Yi was being protective of her own…?

The moment that thought flashed through her mind, Jiang Ke’s heart skipped a beat.

She suddenly remembered the moment she had seen Shen Yi that day—the striking, ambiguous flush of crimson visible beneath her slightly pulled-apart collar.

…

“Jiang Ke? Jiang Ke!”

Jiang Rui finally realized the other side had long since gone silent and cursed under his breath.

Just as he was about to put his phone down, he noticed a transfer from his foster sister, Xu Yihe. He remembered it was the beginning of the month again.

Back when the mother and daughter of the Xu family first started their cold war, Xu Yihe had contacted Jiang Rui, asking him to give money to Xu Yinian under the guise of a “loan.”

Clearly, she cared deeply, yet she refused to lower her head and ask after her daughter directly.

Jiang Rui thought of his niece, who no longer came to him for loans. She claimed she had found a part-time job and would be able to pay him back in full once she received her settlement at the end of the term.

But Jiang Rui just assumed the girl was being stubborn and didn’t care.

After all, with the high cost of living in the Capital and the need to balance studies, earning enough for daily expenses was hard enough, let alone tuition.

Thinking about how the Jiang family’s revival was entirely due to his own ability to swallow his pride and beg the Shen Group, Jiang Rui scoffed.

“What’s the use of being noble? She has the same destiny for poverty as her mother.”