Chapter 757 508: This Fulfilling Life

"You're going to Europe with Grandma?"

On the dining table was a light, delicious meal.

Ningning was surprised as she looked at Jiangg Yao, who had washed her face, casually tied up her hair, and was now picking at her rice with tiny bites.

"Yeah, I already called my cousin this morning," she answered distractedly, her attention fixed on Chen Yuan.

She couldn't deny the complex feelings swirling inside her at the thought of leaving Chen Yuan's side. Reluctance and melancholy were just a small part of it; what scared her more was the agony of being away from him. In other words, she had grown so used to having her lover by her side that the prospect of changing this reality terrified her.

Chen Yuan had just ladled a small bowl of soup. Even while he drank it, he didn't stop working on his phone. There was a huge problem at the power plant in Kaiyang City, and the regional manager had already been summoned for a dressing-down.

His eyes scanned the messages rapidly, absorbing the situation on the ground.

Sitting across from him.

Jiangg Ruxue said softly, "The relationship has been strained for so many years. Now that you two are grown and the wedding is approaching, we can't let things stay so stiff. Even if it's just for show, we have to pay your grandparents the proper respects. That's why I'm having Yaoyao reach out."

"That's something I could handle, but it would have to be after my exams. With Yaoyao accompanying our cousin and Grandma abroad… a lot can go wrong in an unfamiliar place…"

"It's fine," Jiangg Ruxue said, uncharacteristically encouraging. "She's not a child anymore. Ningning, you can't take everything upon yourself. Just focus and study for your exams."

"Is that so…"

There was nothing wrong with Jiangg Ruxue's words on the surface. Jiangg Ning thought for a moment. It didn't seem inappropriate, but it just felt out of the ordinary.

First, Jiangg Yao was actually willing to go? She'd never wanted anything to do with things like this before. Forget traveling with elders—it was a fantasy to even get her to go for a jog.

Second, Jiangg Ruxue's attitude was also ambiguous, as if she were scheming something.

Jiangg Ning thought about it, raising her bowl to hide the flicker of suspicion in her eyes. 'I'm probably just overthinking things,' she told herself.

Life had been very stable and peaceful lately, and her own study habits were excellent.

In one week, the second round of exams was scheduled.

If she passed the written test and the interview, she could successfully begin her journey as a master's student in finance and be of more help to Chen Yuan… Of course, she could still hold a key position in the company without the degree, but Jiangg Ning didn't want to be seen as someone who got there through connections. She wanted to earn her place with her own skills and knowledge.

"I'm full!" Chen Yuan put down his bowl and stood up. "I have to make a trip to Kaiyang City. A small problem came up, and I'm worried the team there can't handle it. Upper management is there too."

"It's that urgent?" Jiangg Ning was taken aback.

"I was just on the phone about it. If I head over now, I can still make it in time."

"By plane?"

"Yeah, it's noon now, so I should be able to get there by two in the afternoon… I have to go. Ningning," Chen Yuan said, putting on his shoes. He walked back to pat a crestfallen Yaoyao on the head. "Eat up. I'll message you when I arrive."

"Mmm… Go on, then."

"I'm leaving, Auntie."

"Be safe on the road, Chen."

With a flurry of hurried footsteps, the only man in the house was gone, leaving just the three women behind.

Jiangg Yao had no appetite at all. She had been desperate to hear Chen Yuan ask her to stay, to tell her not to go on the trip, even just one word... But he hadn't.

She wasn't happy. The rice in her bowl now tasted like nothing.

...

The plan to go to Lanjing to move her things was thus delayed. That afternoon, Jiangg Yao began to pack.

She packed clothes into her suitcase, smoothing them out. Then she remembered how unpredictable the weather abroad could be. It was the rainy season, so she should take an umbrella. Yaoyao had bought a particularly cute one a while ago, always thinking she would use it on an outing, but she never had.

That umbrella... where did she put it?

She got up to look for it. Halfway there, she remembered she should pack a few more dresses. She couldn't bring any of her eccentric outfits this time. Old people were fussy, so it was best to wear proper dresses to avoid being nagged the entire trip.

She had plenty of dresses, all hanging in the walk-in closet.

Jiangg Yao paced back and forth in the hallway.

One moment she'd think of getting one thing, the next moment another. Half an hour passed, and not a single new item had made it into her suitcase. She stood at her bedroom door holding a hairdryer, utterly lost.

"Without Chen Yuan with me this time, it's going to be so boring…"

...

Some were lost.

Others were fulfilled.

In another room, a motivated Jiangg Ning didn't emerge all afternoon. She was completely immersed in the sea of knowledge, so engrossed that she didn't even notice Jiangg Yao going in and out several times to get things.

In a flash, evening arrived.

After a long wait.

Late into the night, Chen Yuan finally returned from his long trip.

Earlier, Jiangg Ruxue had asked about him but told the two sisters not to rush him, no matter how late it got. As long as they confirmed he was safe, that was enough. They shouldn't get in the way of a man's career.

So when his car pulled up downstairs, all three women in the house knew.

Their reactions, however, were different. Jiangg Ning glanced out the window from upstairs, while Jiangg Yao was already flying down the stairs. Her slippers went SLAP SLAP SLAP all the way to the front door, and she started waving at Chen Yuan from a distance.

"Honey, what took you so long? You haven't replied to my messages for almost two hours."

Chen Yuan had just gotten out of the car, his phone pressed to his ear as he spoke seriously with someone. He glanced at Jiangg Yao from afar, signaling for her to be quiet until he finished his call.

"I know it's difficult for you, but you have to bear it, no matter how hard it gets. The leaders' demands are everything. If they want the power station, let them requisition it. If they want to make an example of you, let them criticize you. It's not like a few words will make you lose a piece of flesh, right? Didn't I get a lecture today, too? We can't report every little thing to headquarters and have them wipe our asses for us. It makes us look completely incompetent, you get it?"

He walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa.

He picked up the cool tea from the coffee table and downed it in one gulp.

Jiangg Ruxue peeked out from upstairs, having heard the noise. She had planned to cook a meal for Chen Yuan when he returned, but seeing how busy he was, she hesitated before slowly walking down the stairs, not wanting to disturb him.

"I've already spoken with Linfeng City. They're willing to take on the power supply duties for these two weeks of the tourist season. Tomorrow, I want you to dispatch all your available personnel from the power station to assist them properly. Show the leadership your attitude. Be thorough. After a while, I'll have Pei take you to apologize to the right people, and this whole thing will blow over, okay? I'm begging you."

"Okay... okay... That's the plan."

The call ended.

Chen Yuan leaned his head back, looked up at the ceiling, and let out a huge sigh of relief.

He collapsed onto the sofa.

"What's wrong? You were gone all afternoon. What happened over there?" Jiangg Yao asked softly, habitually snuggling up beside him.

"The city leaders backed a new project. It's been in trial operation for days, and they've sunk a lot of money into it. With the recent tourist season, they spent even more on promotion. But when it went live, the allocated power quota wasn't nearly enough. To ensure a good user experience, the person in charge temporarily diverted electricity from residential areas... That wasn't a huge deal on its own. To make up for the shortfall, they reached out to our power station in Kaiyang City… Auntie."

Chen Yuan paused as he saw Jiangg Ruxue approaching and nodded a greeting.

"It's fine, don't mind me. Keep talking."

Right after, Jiangg Ning also came down from upstairs.

"The problem is that power station. It's constantly being requisitioned by the higher-ups. It should have been decommissioned and repaired three years ago. The equipment is ancient and worn out; it hasn't been able to meet demand for a long time. This time, the station manager talked himself blue in the face trying to reason with them, but the leadership had only one command: meet the quota. Neither the residents nor the project could be delayed. As a result, after two days of operation, the equipment failed… and two workers were injured," he continued.

"Was the failure a major one?"

"It wasn't minor. After all, the workers are seriously injured and unconscious. However, the leadership has no other power stations to call on right now. They're still hoping a specialist can come and repair it so they can put the station back into service, just to get through the next two days."

"They still want to use it?" Jiangg Yao exclaimed, startled. "Aren't the leaders afraid something else will happen?"

"Everyone's afraid. The plant manager, in a moment of panic, directly contradicted the leaders. The incident even alerted their superiors, who immediately started assigning blame... In the end, he was made the scapegoat, while the leaders washed their hands of it. He panicked and was threatening to jump from the top of a building…"

"What?" Jiangg Ruxue was also stunned.

"He didn't jump. I got there and talked him down. Spent three hours under the hot sun on that rooftop…"

Only then did Jiangg Yao notice.

Chen Yuan's face was flushed a dark red, and his lips were almost completely cracked and peeling.

"Then why were you yelling at him just now? This has nothing to do with him."

"I was telling him to grin and bear it, to de-escalate the situation. If he does that, he can still keep his job. Otherwise… if this gets out of hand, his entire life will be ruined."

Chen Yuan sighed.

The more Mrs. Jiang had him involved in things, the more he witnessed the darkness of the world. Everything was connected to profit, and for the sake of profit, people had a hundred ways to cover their tracks.

If you broke it all down and got to the heart of the matter… it was really that people had no rights.

In the vast, spiderweb-like network of interests, human rights were the most insignificant thing.

And as a company caught in the middle, between the authorities and the people, all Mrs. Jiang could do was act with a clear conscience and protect the rights of her own employees.

"Um… Chen, have you eaten?"

"Not yet."

"I'll go make you something in the kitchen. You only had lunch, and it's already past nine."

"Won't that be a bother, Auntie?"

"Oh, it's no trouble at all."

Since the nanny had already gone to bed, Jiangg Ruxue had to cook herself.

Jiangg Ning, who had been listening from the back, now came around to the front of the sofa.

"You've worked hard," she said comfortingly.

"Me, work hard? What about you, studying all day again?" Seeing Jiangg Ning, Chen Yuan quickly pulled her hand and had her sit beside him.

"How did you know I studied all day?"

"Of course. Look, you haven't even taken your hair clip out."

When Jiangg Ning studied, she hated her hair getting in the way. She would tie it up in a high ponytail and use a clip to hold back her bangs.

Chen Yuan knew her habits.

Hearing this, Jiangg Ning subconsciously removed her hair clip.

"Why'd you take it off? It was so cute." Chen Yuan said, pulling Jiangg Ning into his arms, about to kiss her.

But Jiangg Yao, at their side, was stunned.

'What? How long have I been here? Are they just going to ignore me like I'm thin air?'

'Are you two really about to kiss?'

"Hey!"

Jiangg Yao tugged hard on Chen Yuan's arm.

"I'll kiss you too, I'll kiss you too. There now, Yaoyao, don't be jealous." With that, he planted a big kiss on Jiangg Yao's cheek.

"That's more like it."

"I'm dead tired. Can one of you give me a massage? My neck is so sore."

"I will!" Jiangg Yao quickly scrambled to get behind Chen Yuan.

"Your exam is next week? I'll go with you on that day. How many days of tests are there in total?"

"Two rounds for the written test, three hours each, split over two days. The interview will also take a full day."

"That's intense. It's almost like the college entrance exams… A little harder, Yaoyao. A bit lower."

"It's not so bad. The key is that I'm confident. As long as I pass, all the hard work will be worth it. My efforts these past few months won't be in vain."

"Our Ningning can definitely do it. In my mind, there's nothing you can't do… Yaoyao, stop with the shoulders. Come massage my legs."

"Oh, okay!"

Jiangg Yao's mind was preoccupied with how tired Chen Yuan must be after three hours under the scorching sun, and how she should bring up the topic of her trip to him.

'How can I bring it up in a way that will make him ask me to stay?'

But her hands never stopped moving.

When Jiangg Ruxue came out of the kitchen and asked if Chen Yuan wanted any of the soup she was simmering…

…she was stunned by the scene before her.

Jiangg Yao was her most doted-on daughter, someone she never let do even the slightest bit of heavy work.

'Seriously, what has he turned my precious daughter into…'