Baobei, Baobei

Baobei held onto her phone the entire night, debating if she should send a text to Lecturer Jiang. He had just been gone for two days; would it be too impatient to proactively send him a text now? And what’s with him?! He’s been gone for two days, but there was no news from him at all.

However, this was her boyfriend after all. She thought about other couples, and how they stuck together everyday like conjoined twins. From the looks of it, why was there a need to hold back? He might be busy, but she could at least take up a few moments of his time right?

Jiang Moxiu received a message when he was entertaining a group of business associates and the powerful people in the city. With a glass of champagne in his hand, he listened and smiled at the small chatter, sometimes nodding his head in agreement, and other times, not saying a word.

There were different levels of powerful people in the finance world. The proud and narcissistic ones weren’t the choice of association for smart people. One’s upbringing would show from their humility and manners, which would then gain more respect and praise. When Jiang Moxiu felt a light vibration in his pants’ pocket, he immediately smiled, so much so that the corners of his eyes also curved up.

He politely apologised and cut off the conversation, then left the venue.

“Sending regards on behalf of the students who miss you.” A simple line appeared on his screen. It didn’t even have anything to do with the sender, but Jiang Moxiu smiled nevertheless. Xia Baobei had finally learned to miss him.

He dialed her number without hesitation, and it was picked up only after a ring. This young lady had been waiting for a reply after sending the message.

“Aren’t you sleeping yet?”

The deep, masculine voice reverberated from the phone, causing Baobei to be stunned for a moment.

“Not yet. Where are you?” The young lady’s voice was gentle and sweet.

“Attending some boring gathering.” Jiang Moxiu raised his head and looked towards the courtyard of the hotel. The place was brightly lit; this city was probably a gathering of the world’s most luxurious and extraordinary. Even someone like him, who had witnessed this sight from a young age, was sometimes caught in the grandeur of it. However, as he had someone in his mind, he started to unconsciously feel tired of being here.

“Oh…” The young lady was at a loss for words. “Am I disturbing you?”

“No, you aren’t.” He straightened his back, loosened his tie, then put a hand in his pocket. Looking up, he sighed a breath of relief. “Baobei ~, did you miss me?”

He said it in such a flirtatious tone, but Baobei didn’t explode in fury. Her face blushing, she agreed in a soft voice. “Yes.”

His mood improved exponentially. “Be good. I’ll be back five days later.”

“Alright.” Even though she admitted that she missed him, she could still feel the heat in her face. “I’m going to sleep now!”

“Ok.” He replied softly. After she hung up, he slowly put his phone back into his pocket. His schedule had been very hectic, and he was up to his neck dealing with everything. Yet, he suddenly felt that life was wonderful. In the past, he worked hard for the sake of his family, but he always felt that there was something missing in his life. Today, the missing piece appeared clearly before him. He might not have been able to plan his future meticulously, but at the very least, she was a part of it. This gave him the motivation to continue to work hard.

When he returned to the ballroom, he was immediately approached by a prominent political figure who had also arrived from Beijing to attend the event. During these events, these prominent figures would either bring their wives and girlfriends, or their daughters. No matter what, it was a good place for matchmaking.

As usual, he heard a series of praises about being accomplished at such a young age. When asked if he had plans to start a family, he wasn’t given a chance to answer. He only heard the figure saying that a junior as smart as him would know what’s best for his family business.

Jiang Moxiu could be considered someone who lived an extremely disciplined life. He barely had any scandals. While discipline was a given, for someone in his position, it was a rare merit. Hence, it didn’t take long for Jiang Moxiu to naturally become the choice of an ideal life partner for many socialites.

A political marriage, or a marriage of convenience, was deeply rooted in the notion of familial status. This political figure didn’t mince his words; if the two families could be linked by a political marriage, both families would benefit greatly.

“The Jiang family will become the most powerful family in China, but definitely not through political means.” Jiang Moxiu held his glass up and smiled at a few of these prominent figures.

==========

Alright, since Lecturer Jiang said he would be back five days later, his young lady settled down to wait for his return. She went to class normally, ate her meals as usual, and had her usual occasional foolish moments.

As the day of Lecturer Jiang’s return loomed closer, the roommates could also see Baobei’s mood visibly improve. This child was finally stepping into her relationship; she was starting to miss him when they were apart, and also learned to keep him in her mind.

This day, after class, the four girls rushed to the canteen after class. As they walked, they discussed what they were going to have for lunch.

Surprisingly, the crowd was moving slower than usual. As for the reason why, Baobei and her roommates soon found out when they stepped out of the classroom.

Someone was seated at the stairs outside the Law Faculty, with a travel backpack by his leg. For someone who always acted all cool, he was dressed relatively casual. The baseball cap was pulled down, but the diamond stud on his ear shimmered under the sunlight.

It was a pretty face that even Baobei couldn’t resist taking a few more looks at.

The cool and handsome man’s gaze swept past Baobei, then quickly turned back to look at her.

The corners of Baobei’s mouth twitched. She had a bad feeling about this.

“Baobei!”

“Urgh …” Looking at the handsome man running over to her, Baobei instinctively stepped back. However, she only took a couple of steps before she was enveloped in a hug.

“Woah!” Exclamation chorused through the crowd. Xia Baobei, who had been claimed by Lecturer Jiang, was currently hugging a handsome man in public sight. How scandalous! Some of the more “righteous” kids had already whipped out their phones and prepared to take photos for posting on Weibo.

Baobei panicked. Just as she was about she shout “molest!”, the handsome youth let go of her again, took off his cap and grinned at her.

“Look at our Baobei! We haven’t met in so many years, you have grown up so well. This elder brother of yours misses you so much!”

“Elder Brother?! What brother?!" However, Baobei quickly swallowed the words she was about to say.

She looked carefully at the hunk, who started to look more and more familiar, especially his eyes. The angle at which his eyes curved when he smiled looked awfully similar to someone. “... Mo … Brother Mojie ... “

Jiang Moxiu almost teared in joy from Baobei calling him “Brother”. “You haven’t forgotten me after so many years, I didn’t pamper you for nothing!”

“Urgh…” The corners of Baobei’s mouth twitched again. “How can I not recognise you? The genes of your Jiang family are so strong that you look more and more like your elder brother as you age. I would recognise you even if you turned to ashes.”

It was Jiang Mojie’s turn to be speechless.

“This, this is Lecturer Jiang’s younger brother?!” Shi Xiaoxi was in shock.

This was a family full of precious gems! The elder brother is mature, handsome and charismatic, while the younger brother was sporty, good-looking, and full of vitality. Shi Xiaoxi felt that she was sinking into another blackhole, what was she to do about it!

Of course, this meant that Baobei couldn’t lunch with her roommates anymore. Jiang Mojie dragged her along to look for Xia Tian, then gathered all his friends and set up a welcome party for himself. By the time Miss Xia could have lunch, it was already past 2 PM. The group started drinking in the afternoon, and even continued into dinnertime.

Many females enjoyed hanging out with males, not because they were flirtatious by nature, but because they feel that it was easier to get along with the opposite gender. The main reason was that males were not vengeful, manipulative, petty, or even malicious.

Baobei was one of the girls who enjoyed hanging out with males more, and she blended well with them. Even her three good female friends only came about after they spent loads of time together and slowly worked out their differences. Baobei would probably choose death over having to go through this process again.

Even within this group of elite male and females, Baobei was still more comfortable with the males. In this circle, the women were more pampered, more vengeful, more petty and even more malicious. Hence, Baobei had no desire to get anywhere near them. Even if there were some who appeared genuinely interested in befriending her, they were probably acting so just for networking purposes. Baobei would never stoop to this level in order to get others to befriend her.

It can be said that Baobei was truly blessed. After all, how many people in the world could truly walk the talk and only choose to do things that would not make them feel aggrieved?

By 9 PM, only Jiang Mojie, Mo Liu, Xia Tian, plus Huo Yanning, who had rushed over in his training outfit, were left. The four men drank till they were tipsy, then held their bottles and started reminiscing about the past. Baobei was also there, holding her bottle and sitting with the boys. She didn’t drink much, but she enjoyed the atmosphere, and loved listening to them talk.

“Do you remember this? When I was in my final year of high school, you came back for the summer break.” Mo Liu was exhilarated today. “Damn you, you had nothing to do so you decided to follow me to class. And within a few days, you managed to woo that who, what was her name again?”

“How could I remember?” Jiang Mojie smiled.

“Bastard.” Xia Tian also grinned.

“Oh, at that time, I was probably in some rural village.” Huo Yanning stayed out of the conversation.

“At that time, I was quite surprised. Chinese schools were not funeral parlours, why would they compare names to their faces. And we were dressed in some funeral outfits!”

“Hahaha…” Baobei was tickled.

“In class, you were blatantly playing with your phone, so the English teacher was still wondering how come there was some unknown student, and thought you were a transfer student.” Mo Liu continued. “Halfway through the class, the room quietened down. When I turned around, I almost choked. Our form teacher had appeared in the classroom without any notice!”

“Damn, and you weren’t even loyal enough to warn me!”

Mo Liu burst out laughing.

“What happened then?” Baobei asked.

Mo Liu turned around and looked at Baobei, smiling even more cheekily. “This kid was so high from playing with his mobile phone. The teacher wanted to prank him, so he pounced onto Little Jiang’s back, trying to scare him. Who knew, Little Jiang turned around and kissed him on the lips.”

“Pfft --” Huo Yanning couldn’t contain his laughter.

“Damn, I was still thinking it was that girl then.” He had thought that it was his girlfriend who wanted to surprise him.

“After that, he didn’t dare to go to school again.”

“After this kiss, I couldn’t eat for many days. I was even ridiculed by Sister Tangtang for many years.” Even though it was embarrassing, Jiang Mojie had long gotten over it, and he could even joke about it himself.

The atmosphere suddenly chilled, as they all looked at each other and sighed unanimously.

==========

When Baobei received Lecturer Jiang’s call, she was helping Second Young Master Jiang to stop vomiting. When Lecturer Jiang heard that his own brother had given so much trouble to his little wife, he was angry. After he shared some happy moments with Baobei over the phone, he immediately called Mo Liu and commanded, “Strip him and throw him to the streets.”

General Jiang, must you really do this to your biological brother?!