Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Wu Jingmeng was straightforward and bold, but she wasn't particularly smart. She might have had some street smarts, but she was easily swayed by others and manipulated.

For example, after Jiang Yiyan goaded her with a few words, Wu Jingmeng immediately sought her out to settle the score without thinking things through. Furthermore, she hadn't carefully considered whether she had been entirely in the right during the incident in question.

Now that Jiang Yiyan had pointed out the key issues, Wu Jingmeng was taken aback. It seemed as though she was only now recalling that she had approached Jiang Yiyan on Shu Yao's behalf and that her tone at the time hadn't been very polite.

In her heart, she didn't think there was anything wrong with her tone. But now, with the whole Jiang family present, including Uncle Jiang and Big Brother Jiang, she felt the need to maintain her image as the aggrieved party.

Cai Wenqing also sensed that if they continued this confrontation, it would involve Shu Yao. So, she quickly tried to smooth things over with a smile: "These are trivial matters; there's no need to hurt the harmony of the family. Today is a happy day, let's enjoy our meal together, okay?"

Wu Jingmeng immediately took the opportunity to back down: "I'll listen to Aunt Cai."

However, Jiang Yiyan deliberately adopted a petulant tone to complain: "Aunt Cai, you're taking sides. You're deliberately protecting Mrs. Jiang. When she was lecturing me so confidently earlier, why didn't you speak up for me? Now that she's in the wrong, you've stepped in to talk. This is clearly unfair."

Cai Wenqing's expression stiffened, but she forced a smile: "You child... Aunt Cai loves you the most. Why wouldn't I help you? I just thought these were minor issues, and if we kept discussing them, it might cause discord."

She then added purposefully: "Today is a happy day, and your father is in high spirits. How about we put aside our past grievances, and you don't hold Jingmeng's unreasonable behavior against her? Would you do it for Auntie's sake?"

Cai Wenqing knew what mattered most to Jiang Cheng, so at this critical moment, she invoked the idea of "family harmony" to try to silence Jiang Yiyan.

Or, even if she couldn't stop her from speaking, at least remind Jiang Cheng that his daughter was causing trouble again and disregarding family unity.

Jiang Yiyan naturally saw through Cai Wenqing's intentions and decided not to let her succeed. Therefore, before her father could say anything, she blinked her innocent big eyes and looked pitifully at him: "Father! Today, it's not my daughter being unreasonable. I'm just feeling wronged and want to clarify right from wrong."

"I know today is Shu Yao's celebration banquet, and I want everyone to be harmonious. But I didn't start this, and I can't just swallow this injustice. I don't need Father to take my side, but Father shouldn't let an outsider wrong me either." All she wanted was fairness.

Before Jiang Cheng could speak, Jiang Xu, who was sitting nearby, was already extremely annoyed.

He couldn't tolerate it any longer. With a furrowed brow and an impatient look, he said: "What do you have to feel wronged about? You're the one talking the most here! We've already said it's not a big deal. Why can't you let it go when everyone else has moved on?"

Jiang Yiyan really wanted to retort. She hadn't planned to engage with him, but since he had brought himself into the conversation, she wouldn't hold back.

So, she asked him: "Does Brother know why I insist on making a fuss and not letting this go?"

Jiang Xu pursed his lips tightly, looking stern and disgusted.

He didn't bother to respond or answer her question.

But regardless of his lack of response, Jiang Yiyan continued: "Because Aunt Cai, this so-called stepmother, and you, this so-called biological brother, would rather help outsiders than me." As she spoke, she took out her phone, opened WeChat, and showed Jiang Xu the previous questioning from Wu Jingmeng: "Brother, take a good look. See how she confronted me so confidently."

She then added: "Mrs. Jiang is quite skilled at playing two faces. In front of you, she acts like a helpless and innocent flower, but behind the scenes, she speaks ill of me! You all know that I detest people who are two-faced."

Jiang Xu reluctantly glanced at the phone screen Jiang Yiyan held out to him, but when someone is biased, they see everything askew.

Even after seeing this exchange, Jiang Xu didn't feel any sympathy for his sister but instead continued to find fault with her.

"Do you think you're in the right just because of this? Take a good look at yourself. You're blaming her for her tone, but what about yours?"

Jiang Yiyan withdrew her phone but continued to argue with him: "Then may I ask, how did Mrs. Jiang know that I liked Shu Yao's WeChat post? Brother should know that Mrs. Jiang and I aren't WeChat friends, so she shouldn't be able to see any interaction between Shu Yao and me. So, isn't it strange and infuriating that she suddenly questioned me without reason?"

Jiang Xu understood the situation but subconsciously chose to support Shu Yao without giving it much thought.

"Are you done yet? Such a small matter has escalated to this point! Look at how you've disrupted everyone's meal. When will you learn to behave?"

Jiang Yiyan stared at the person in front of her, momentarily stunned, before bursting into laughter out of sheer frustration. Did she not know what kind of person he was? Why would she explain so much to him, hoping for something from him?

This disappointing brother, enough.

Jiang Yiyan sat back down and fell silent.

As for Shu Yao, she couldn't bear the guilt and stood up to explain the situation herself.

"This matter started because of me. Yiyan liked my WeChat post, and I told Mengmeng about it. Mengmeng went to Yiyan for my sake. So, everything that happened was due to me, and I caused trouble for everyone."

Jiang Yiyan was indifferent and remained silent.

When Jiang Xu saw Shu Yao step forward to take responsibility, he cast an annoyed glance at his sister. In his mind, his own sister was the one causing a scene.

She was always finding ways to bully Shu Yao.

Cai Wenqing, in this situation, could only blame her own daughter.

"You too, causing such a misunderstanding. Both Yiyan and Jingmeng were wronged."

She continued: "Everyone's intentions are good, but sometimes misunderstandings arise due to certain events that aren't addressed. Now that everything is clear, it's better. We're all family; there's no need to hold grudges. Let's sit down and eat."

Cai Wenqing didn't want the situation to escalate further and did her best to quell the conflict.

Jiang Cheng watched the drama unfold and finally said: "Let's eat first." His expression was unreadable, and no one could gauge his mood.

The meal was eaten in silence, each person lost in their thoughts.

After the meal, Jiang Cheng wiped his mouth and, looking around, simply said: "Since we're finished, let's all go home."

Everyone silently got up and followed Jiang Cheng out of the private room once he left first.

In the open-air parking lot outside the Nebula Hotel, Little Chen was waiting in the car. Seeing his boss's family emerge, he quickly got out of the driver's seat to greet them.

He opened the rear door for his boss until the three family members had all gotten in the car. Then, Little Chen closed the rear door and returned to his own seat.

The car started and slowly drove towards the main road outside the hotel. Sensing the tension inside, the sensitive Little Chen immediately checked the rearview mirror to look at the passengers in the back.

In the backseat, Miss Meimei sat in the middle, while the boss's wife sat on either side. From their facial expressions, it was hard to tell what they were thinking.

Precisely because he knew what kind of banquet the boss's wife had attended tonight, he was more agitated. The atmosphere between the boss and his wife had been off for the past few days, all because of Miss Shu Yao, who had recently returned from abroad.

Now that the former lovers had reunited after a long time, hadn't something happened? Hadn't sparks flown?

Just as Little Chen thought nothing would happen and that the night was destined to be peaceful, he suddenly heard Mrs. Jiang say from the back seat, "Don't you think I was being a bit unreasonable just now?"

There's gossip! Upon realizing this, Little Chen immediately perked up his ears.

Wen Mochuan had been resting his eyes when he suddenly heard his wife ask this. He slowly opened his eyes.

To be fair, compared to her previous actions, the heated argument and her staunch defense of her position just now were really nothing.

Of course, he didn't think she was being unreasonable.

From an objective standpoint, it was indeed Mrs. Jiang who initiated today's incident. Having started the conflict, she couldn't resolve it gracefully, which led to the situation escalating as it did.

But Jiang Yiyan...also seemed to have come prepared with the intention of targeting her. If she had been more tactful and stopped while ahead, they wouldn't have ended up in such a strained relationship.

However, this was merely an objective perspective. From the standpoint of her husband, Wen Mochuan felt even less that she was wrong today.

Therefore, he refuted, "Today's incident is indeed not your fault."

Jiang Yiyan suddenly let out a silent, cold laugh before sighing, "If even you can remain rational and see that today's incident wasn't my fault, it's clear that Jiang Xu is indeed excessively biased." She was merely frustrated with Jiang Xu, but not saddened by it.

So, she quickly added, "Still, it's better to see things clearly sooner rather than later. When we meet again in the future, there won't even be a brother-sister relationship left."

In response to this, Wen Mochuan remained silent.

He knew all too well what Jiang Xu was thinking.