Chapter 18

Baobei had only seen Jiang Moxiu as a lecturer and boyfriend. She finally saw another side of him today - that of the head of a corporation.

He was supposed to send Baobei back to her dorm after the gathering. However, Jiang Moxiu had barely started driving when he received a call from America. There was an emergency that he had to personally take care of.

Of course she knew what was more critical. Jiang Moxiu had initially requested for the caller to give him another hour, but Baobei pulled his arm and mouthed the words, “I’ll accompany you back to the office, go and settle your company matters first.”

The next day was the weekend. Baobei had initially wanted to follow her sister home. After all, San Shao was not home, so it would be more lively with her around. However, Jiang Moxiu couldn’t bear to give up the opportunity to send Baobei home; this was their only chance for some private time together. Therefore, he tactfully obtained Xia Xu’s approval for him to send Baobei over only after they went on a date the next day. This was the trouble he had to go through as a boyfriend. Even though she would eventually be his, without the red book [1], he still couldn’t act as he pleased.

Jiang Moxiu stopped the car by the roadside, then smiled as he held onto Baobei’s hands. He then instructed the American side to begin a video conference in twenty minutes. He also made a few other calls, which Baobei made out were probably managers or secretaries.

Twenty minutes later, Baobei entered Jiang Moxiu’s company with him. Instead of saying that it was an office, it seemed more like a place for Lecturer Jiang to relax. Half the area was set aside for amenities such as a games room, a recreation room, and a meditation room. According to Lecturer Jiang’s words, his company wasn’t big, and only employed less than twenty people.

It was only later that she learned from Xia Xu that these people were only the staff of the new branch in China. What made her even more speechless was that Jiang Moxiu’s company was actually an investment bank, an independent professional investment bank. For a man who was barely twenty-seven, he was clearly taking over his family’s business. When Jiang Moxiu succeeded the company from his grandfather, this was already a stable investment bank in America. He entered the bank when he was eighteen, and officially took over at twenty-five. The few big cases that went through his hands had already caused the company to rise up and become the top investment company. During the 2008 economic crisis, Jiang Moxiu took the opportunity to turn the company into a finance holding company. This saved the company from bankruptcy, and even opened up new avenues for the firm. From then on, they decided to start expanding back into China. Given the Jiang family’s deep connections and abilities, it was a matter of time before they conquered the Chinese market. With a family background like this, Baobei felt nothing but pressure. But that’s for later.

There were some people who were already waiting when they arrived. It was clear that they were called back in a hurry - they weren’t dressed in their professional investment banker outfits; in fact, one was in his pajamas.

“Felix, has Dean arrived?” Jiang Moxiu paused for a moment, and when Baobei walked to his side, he held her hand. Baobei, who was initially exploring the place, looked at him questioningly. But when she saw that he was also looking back at her, they shared a smile.

“He’s here.” The man named Felix obviously did not miss Jiang Moxiu’s act of laying claim over Baobei. He pursed his lips, then turned away. Baobei looked at him walk into one of the office rooms, then said in a neutral tone, “There’s a beauty here, she’s a third gender, Alex’s girlfriend.”

Baobei was embarrassed; how did she suddenly become a separate gender?

“Hey, will I be disturbing you?”

“No.” If it was other times, Jiang Moxiu would have taken advantage of the situation and hugged her. Baobei was relieved. At least this man knew to behave himself in front of others. In fact, Baobei noticed that Lecturer Jiang’s expression was increasingly taciturn. “If you are bored, go entertain yourself with the computer. I’ll try to finish up as quickly as possible.”

Baobei nodded.

They were still facing each other and their hands held together. Baobei was close to a head shorter than Lecturer Jiang. When she looked up at him, her black eyes seemed to glisten. Jiang Moxiu couldn’t resist a smile, and bent down to kiss her forehead. He then slowly released her hand and swiftly walked towards the conference room.

Baobei slid into Jiang Moxiu’s office. The lights were bright and there was a good view. The settings were minimalist, without too much frills and unnecessary displays pieces.

There was a sofa used for entertaining guests. A few business magazines were set on the coffee table. Baobei took a look at them; all of them had Jiang Moxiu on the cover. Baobei stifled a laugh. This man wasn’t just inwardly pompous; he was outrightly so!

The sofa was very comfortable. Baobei eased into the sofa and started reading the interviews in the magazine. She read every report in detail. This was how the media portrayed Jiang Moxiu. Baobei’s curiosity was piqued. After all, this was a side of him that he had never shown her. There were photos in the interviews, and in almost every one of these pictures, he was wearing an extremely formal three piece suit. He wasn’t just an investor at the apex of the pyramid; he exuded an aura of nobility.

Most of the magazines were in English. Baobei’s grasp of the language was already quite good, but even so, she got a headache from reading some of the complex technical terms.

The interviews contained his resume and some questions. All of them were about his company, as well as the outlook for the industry. There were only a handful of personal questions, and even so, he didn’t answer these questions upfront.

Even the paparazzi felt that there was too little gossip about Mr Jiang. Even though various socialites or celebrities had expressed their interest in Jiang Moxiu, there was never follow-up gossip or any articles about it. Over the years, the only one who was embroiled in a rumour with him was an Asian singer by the name of Eva King. The pair had been photographed having dinner together by the media.

Eva King. Baobei immediately recalled who she was. Even though she did not follow many celebrity-related news, this person was really popular. She was known as an icon of sexiness.

This was news! Turns out that this was Jiang Moxiu’s type.

Everyone had a past! How could it be that someone like Jiang Moxiu had never dated? For someone of his background, he could have his pick of women, what more a celebrity?

She pouted, and grumbled as she placed the magazine back in its original position. This child was throwing a tantrum. She was affected by this, even though she put up a facade of nonchalance.

Two hours had passed by the time Jiang Moxiu resolved the issue and ended the video conference. He looked at the time, it was already close to 1 AM. Even though it was a meeting, it was an intensive one, and the managers looked exhausted. Hence, Jiang Moxiu gave them special permission to take half a day off.

“What’s the use of a half day? I still have to fly off to Japan tomorrow.” Felix grumbled as he massaged his neck. “If that’s the case, I rather have more overtime pay.”

“With your salary and commission, would you still care for that little amount of overtime pay?” Jiang Moxiu said with a smile.

“If I don’t accept overtime pay, then wouldn’t that just be letting a capitalist like you off the hook too easily?” Felix waved goodbye, then rushed home to hug his pet dog and sleep.

After all the people left, Jiang Moxiu started packing the documents in front of him.

“Brother!”

Jiang Moxiu tuned, and saw from the video screen that Mojie was still on the line.

“Brother, I would like to discuss something with you.”

“Speak.” Jiang Moxiu looked at his watch, “But you only have five minutes.”

“Five minutes is enough.” Jiang Mojie immediately agreed. “Brother, I’m thinking of withdrawing from school, and stopping my education.”

Jiang Moxiu frowned, and took his seat again, facing the screen. He crossed his hands in front of him, waiting for Jiang Mojie to give him an explanation.

“I have learned whatever I need to from the company. You know better than anyone about my abilities. Besides, I’ve already met the people that I need to, and established the necessary connections. If I continue studying, I feel that it’s just a waste of time.” Jiang Mojie quickly summed up his explanation, and then looked hopefully at his elder brother.

Jiang Moxiu muttered to himself for a short while.

Jiang Mojie was not in a hurry, and he patiently waited for his brother to make a decision. Actually, this was a decision that he could have made himself. There was a seven-year difference between them, and he had grown up with his grandparents and brother overseas. He had long treated his brother as both a sibling and a parent, and would seek his opinion for everything. He didn’t want to do anything that would make his brother worry about him.

“You have already decided, haven’t you?” What he implied was that he had no objections. Jiang Mojie might respect him as a senior, but he had been very independent since young, and he would not give up anything that he decided upon even if others were against it. However, this didn’t mean that he would forcibly insist on his ways; rather, he would try to slowly gain the agreement of his family.

“Thank you!” They shared a tacit understanding after spending more than twenty years together.

Jiang Moxiu waved his hand, dismissed his brother. He looked as if he was unconcerned, but his lips curled up into a small smile unconsciously.

By the time Jiang Moxiu had settled Jiang Mojie’s issue and returned to his office, Baobei was already sprawled on his sofa in a deep sleep. She might have fallen asleep, but this girl had intentionally thrown the magazine that she had read on the floor, indicating that she had read it.

The media had made a mountain out of a molehill, and exaggerated whatever that they reported. Jiang Moxiu did not care too much about it, as he picked up the magazine and placed it in its original position.

Initially, he wanted to wake her up, and had already reached out and placed his hand on her. However, he decided against it, and then carried her up and brought her into the bedroom beside his office.

It was already past 1 AM, and the journey back to school would take more than half an hour. It would be inconvenient to send her back to her dorm this late. Furthermore, this child would become aggressive if she didn’t have a good rest. Thinking along this line, he finally decided to keep her with him.

However, where should they go? The closest place he had was a drive of more than twenty minutes. It wouldn’t be ideal to wake her up and bring her into the car. Hence, he chose to stay in the office.

He placed her on the bed, and removed her shoes for her. He then went to the bathroom and washed a towel to clean her hands and feet. This young lady was obviously unhappy that someone was disrupting her rest, and brushed away the hand that was going to clean her face for her. Jiang Moxiu couldn’t help but laugh, and thought that her reaction was cute. He then took the opportunity to give her a kiss.

When he was done getting her ready for bed, he covered a quilt over her. Perhaps she was too comfortable, Baobei smacked her lips, then turned and hugged the blanket, continuing her deep sleep.

She’s really still a child.

Jiang Moxiu got up and went to take a shower. The company had just started expanding into the Chinese market. Everything had just started, so he was really busy. He would really be overwhelmed from the amount of work, and used his office as a second home. The stint at the university was something that he squeezed out of the little amount of time he had. He had to sacrifice the pittance of sleep that he had. Later, when Baobei asked why he wanted to teach even though he was so busy. He would tell her that he pushed himself to do this so that he could see her more often, and spend some time with her in her university days. The young lady would be so touched by his words. In actual fact, there was another reason why he was there. Jiang Moxiu placed a strong emphasis on hiring talented people. The people were the most important assets of a company. For example, Felix was his junior in university; he had headhunted and trained him personally.

After he came out of the shower, Baobei was already in a deep slumber. Jiang Moxiu also covered himself under the blanket. Baobei felt a warm body near her, so she turned and snuggled closer to Lecturer Jiang. Of course, Lecturer Jiang was overjoyed by her actions, but he couldn’t do anything else. The young lady was lying so close to him that his thoughts ran wild, making the long night into a torturous one. Fortunately, he was exhausted from the day’s work, and he didn’t have any mind to do anything bad to her.

Jiang Moxiu pulled Baobei into his embrace, then thought to himself that they needed to complete their “first kiss”. The kiss from the porridge incident previously just didn’t make the mark.

[1] Chinese marriage certificates are normally issued as a red booklet with the couple’s picture in it.