Chapter 492 - 261: Lobbying in Turns, Finally Forgiving?

Chapter 492: Chapter 261: Lobbying in Turns, Finally Forgiving?

"You really shouldn’t have. Why bring so many things?" Pan Lanfang said, but a huge smile spread across her face.

She picked up the scarf, felt its texture, and then looked at Jiang Silu. "Did you knit this?"

"Yeah, it took me more than a month," Jiang Silu said with a smile.

"You’re so good with your hands, just like your mom." Pan Lanfang wrapped the scarf around her neck, looking quite pleased.

Jiang Guoqiang picked up the bottle of liquor and looked at it. It was Yanghe Daqu, his favorite brand.

He didn’t say anything, just placed the bottle on the corner of the table, but the corners of his mouth twitched as if he were holding back a smile.

Wen Wan sat beside Jiang Sifan, her head lowered and her hands resting primly on her lap.

Pan Lanfang poured her a cup of tea. She took it with both hands and said, "Thank you, Grandma."

The more Pan Lanfang looked at her, the more she liked her. She took her hand and asked all sorts of questions. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

Wen Wan’s replies were slow, but she answered each question earnestly, not just brushing them off.

"Who else is in your family?" Pan Lanfang asked.

Wen Wan hesitated for a moment, then said softly, "I have a grandpa, my mom and dad, and a younger sister and brother."

Pan Lanfang nodded and didn’t press for details.

She could see the girl was a bit reserved, so she changed the subject. "Are you getting used to the food at school? The dishes in Jinling are on the salty side. Have you gotten used to it?"

"It’s alright. The food in the cafeteria is pretty tasty," Wen Wan replied.

Jiang Silu chimed in, "Grandma, Wen Wan is a really good student. She even gets scholarships."

"Really?" Pan Lanfang was even more delighted. "What a promising girl. So promising."

Jiang Guoqiang sat to one side, smoking his pipe, and hadn’t said much the whole time.

But his gaze would occasionally fall on Wen Wan. After studying her for a moment, he nodded.

"Stay for lunch. Grandma will make you all something delicious." Pan Lanfang stood up and headed for the kitchen.

Jiang Silu followed her to help. Jiang Sifan stood up too. "Grandma, let me help."

"No, no, you two stay seated. I’ll be fine with just Silu helping," Pan Lanfang said, waving them off. But Jiang Sifan followed her into the kitchen anyway.

In the kitchen, Pan Lanfang tied on an apron and started to bustle about.

The wok on the stove was already hot. She sliced a piece of cured meat and put it in to render the fat, the oil sizzling as a fragrant aroma wafted out.

Jiang Sifan squatted in front of the stove, adding firewood. The firelight danced across his face, bathing it in a warm, red glow.

As Pan Lanfang chopped vegetables, she asked, "Sifan, about Wen Wan... how long have you two been together?"

"For a while now," Jiang Sifan said, his head lowered, his ears turning a little red.

"She seems like a good, sensible girl," Pan Lanfang said with a smile. "Does your mom know?"

"Yeah, Mom’s met her."

Pan Lanfang nodded and left it at that.

She tossed the chopped vegetables into the wok, stir-fried them a few times, and put the lid on. Then she turned to look at Jiang Sifan, on the verge of saying something, but then she held her tongue.

"Grandma, what is it?" Jiang Sifan looked up.

Pan Lanfang hesitated for a moment before finally asking, "Your dad... Lu Fan... is he treating you and your sister well?"

Jiang Sifan was taken aback for a second, then nodded. "He treats us well."

Pan Lanfang looked at him, the rims of her eyes suddenly reddening.

She turned away, pretending to get some seasoning. "That’s good," she murmured. "That’s good."

Jiang Sifan watched her back, wanting to say something but not knowing what.

He lowered his head and continued to add wood to the fire.

In the main room, Jiang Silu was enthusiastically talking to Jiang Guoqiang.

She was telling him everything about her school life, one story after another: what awards she’d won, what competitions she’d entered, how her teachers praised her.

As Jiang Guoqiang listened, the lines on his face seemed to soften, and he would occasionally interject with a "Good," or "Not bad."

Wen Wan sat quietly to the side, listening to the grandfather and granddaughter chat, a smile playing on her lips.

"Grandpa, my brother went through a lot when he was starting his business," Jiang Silu suddenly changed the subject.

Jiang Guoqiang glanced toward the kitchen. "What kind of things?"

So Jiang Silu recounted the story of Jiang Sifan’s early days starting his business.

From deciding to open a studio, to renting a space, buying equipment, and hiring people, she told it all in vivid detail.

"In the beginning, my brother couldn’t get any jobs. He’d just sit in the studio all day, staring blankly at his computer, going over the ledgers again and again. Not a single person even called to ask about his prices," Jiang Silu said, her voice full of heartache for him.

Jiang Guoqiang frowned. "And then?"

"Things slowly got better, but a lot happened along the way." Jiang Silu paused, glanced toward the kitchen, and lowered her voice. "There was this guy named Lin Qiang, a rich kid, who bullied my brother at school and even got physical with him."

Jiang Guoqiang’s face hardened, and he gripped his pipe tightly. "He hit him? Where?"

"It was just some pushing and shoving, he wasn’t seriously hurt," Jiang Silu said quickly. "That guy ended up getting sentenced and was expelled from school."

Jiang Guoqiang snorted. "People like that deserve to be in jail."

Jiang Silu continued, "And another time, my brother found a client for some bookkeeping work. He signed a contract and did the job, but then they refused to pay and even threatened to sue him."

"Sue him for what?" Jiang Guoqiang’s brow furrowed even more deeply.

"They were just trying to find fault, to get out of paying the bill," Jiang Silu sighed. "My brother spent that whole period running back and forth to law firms and consulting lawyers. In the end, they dropped the suit on their own and even paid what they owed."

Jiang Guoqiang took a drag from his pipe, exhaled slowly, and said in a heavy voice, "Your brother has been through a lot out there."

"Yeah, but he never talks about it. Every time we ask, he just says it’s nothing," Jiang Silu said, looking at Jiang Guoqiang, her voice filled with concern. "Grandpa, do you know how all those problems were solved in the end?"

Jiang Guoqiang looked at her but didn’t speak.

Jiang Silu took a deep breath and said, "It was Dad who helped. The thing with Lin Qiang—he had someone go to the school and handle it. The issue with that client—he had a lawyer step in and resolve it. And all those early jobs my brother got when he was starting out—Dad arranged for a lot of them behind the scenes. My brother didn’t know at first, but the rest of us did."