Chapter 163: Mrs. Jiang

Every morning when she woke up, the first thing Xu An'an would do was call Aunt Zhang to ask about her mother's condition.

Jiang Li, who was still half-asleep, vaguely heard the sound of talking.

He opened his eyes and was greeted by a smooth, snow-white back with beautiful butterfly shoulder blades and a seductive waist dimple, prompting him to give it a light press involuntarily.

Xu An'an, who had just hung up the phone, shrank away to the side.

"Did I wake you?"

"After breakfast, I'll accompany you to the hospital," Jiang Li said.

Thinking of something, Xu An'an shook her head with a hint of disappointment and lay back down. "It's rare that we get a break and come to the seaside; we definitely need to rest here for a few days."

She took out her phone to scroll through her feed.

Just then, she saw a status update posted by an old classmate: [Big discovery! Was someone preparing to confess their love the night of the alumni reunion? It was set up so romantically, I wonder if the person trying to confess succeeded?]

There were a few photos attached at the bottom.

Xu An'an recognized it as the place where she and Jiang Li had watched the fireworks, though slightly further ahead.

At that time, however, it seemed there had been only her and Jiang Li.

Could it be that he had already confessed?

Suddenly, a large hand wrapped around her from behind, pulling Xu An'an into a familiar, practiced embrace.

A low, raspy voice sounded right by her ear: "Are you really sure you don't want to go to the hospital?"

As far as he knew, if not for work, Xu An'an would have loved to live at the hospital twenty-four hours a day, taking care of her mother night and day.

Clearly, Xu An'an was just saying the opposite of what she felt.

"I was very satisfied with you last night."

"Just tell me what's on your mind."

Xu An'an's gaze dimmed a little. Although she had long known that in Jiang Li's eyes, their relationship was merely that of bed partners.

No matter how well he treated her, it could never be brought out into the open.

Perhaps, to Jiang Li, she was no different from the chubby cat.

No, at least Jiang Li could openly hold the chubby cat in his arms.

"You can't help me."

"If you don't say it, how do you know I can't?" Jiang Li persisted, turning Xu An'an over to face him.

A trace of irritation flickered across Xu An'an's face as she furrowed her brow. "If I told you I don't want my mother to ever remember the past, is there anything you can do?"

Wen Hairou had said that her mother would sooner or later recall the past.

As long as she talked to her mother often enough.

Yet whenever she thought of Xu Fengnian's ugly face, and what Shen Ying had done to her and her mother, she would rather her mother never remembered any of it for the rest of her life.

That was why she thought, if she appeared less often in front of her mother, might it slow down her mother's recovery of those memories?

At least until she had enough money to take her mother away from this place and find somewhere suitable for her to spend her twilight years.

Jiang Li looked slightly surprised, not expecting Xu An'an to have such a thought.

That was indeed something he couldn't help with.

"A few days ago, when I had some free time, I went to the hospital and bought some supplements for your mother. She pulled me aside to chat for a bit and mentioned your dad."

"Yes, I deliberately made up a story to lie to her, so she wouldn't be heartbroken thinking about that scumbag," Xu An'an admitted.

Jiang Li completely agreed with this approach and didn't think Xu An'an had done anything wrong.

Given Xu Mother's current physical condition, if she knew that the man she deeply loved had done so many things to hurt their family, she would undoubtedly suffer greatly, which would be detrimental to her recovery.

Xu Mother's health had been severely depleted and needed careful recuperation.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

"Meow!"

The chubby cat suddenly jumped onto the bed, scratching at their duvet with its paws as if to say: The two of you might not be hungry, but this cat is starving!

Xu An'an pushed the cat toward Jiang Li. "Wow, look at all that flesh, it's got some real weight to it."

Jiang Li picked up the chubby cat and grabbed its paws to tease Xu An'an. "Which child looks for their dad? They always look for their mom."

"I'm not its mom."

"Then why do you always make it call me dad?"

"What kind of logic is that?" Xu An'an had just woken up, and her brain hadn't quite started working yet; she was only focused on playing with the chubby cat's chubby paws.

Feeling genuinely hungry, Xu An'an had no choice but to get out of bed and put her clothes back on.

Jiang Li went to feed the cat first. "Call room service and have them send up some breakfast."

"Okay."

Xu An'an tied up her hair and picked up the landline to call the front desk.

Beep, beep, beep...

The call was answered quickly, and a receptionist's sweet voice came through: "Good morning, is there anything I can help you with?"

Xu An'an flipped through the menu in her hand. "I'd like to order breakfast."

"Certainly, Mrs. Jiang. Please go ahead."

Mrs. Jiang!?

This title completely baffled Xu An_an. Whose Mrs. Jiang?

Hearing no response, the receptionist asked, "Mrs. Jiang, are you still there?"

Xu An'an quickly ordered two Set A breakfasts. Stealing a sideways glance at Jiang Li, who was busy feeding the chubby cat, she turned her back and asked in a low voice, "Wait, what did you just call me?"

The receptionist paused, not expecting Xu An'an to ask such a question.

"Yes, Mr. Jiang mentioned when he checked in that he was coming with his wife. Is there a problem?"

"No. Please send the breakfast up as soon as possible."

"Certainly, Mrs. Jiang. Please hold."

Being addressed as Mrs. Jiang over and over again felt a bit strange to Xu An'an, but the corners of her mouth couldn't stop curling upward. It actually didn't feel bad at all.

"What are you secretly smiling about?"

Suddenly, Jiang Li poked his head in from behind, almost pressing his face right against Xu An'an's.

Xu An'an covered her mouth by reflex. "I am not secretly smiling! I... I'm angry, don't talk nonsense."

"Why are you angry?"

"A woman's mood changes faster than a book, you'll never understand." Xu An'an pushed Jiang Li away and, passing by the chubby cat eating its food, didn't forget to give it a stroke.

Watching Xu An'an's graceful retreating figure, Jiang Li's lips curved into a smile.

Though he didn't know what had put Xu An'an in such a good mood, it was a good thing as long as she could smile. He decided he would leave a generous tip later.

The waiter delivering the food stared at the ten-thousand-yuan tip in his hand, suddenly forgetting how to walk.

Seeing this, Xu An'an couldn't help giving Jiang Li a thumbs-up. Truly, the ultra-wealthy had no concept of money at all!

"The current situation at the Xu Corporation isn't looking too good. Have you given it any thought?" Jiang Li asked out of the blue.

Xu An'an raised her eyes, not understanding what Jiang Li meant.

"Besides, I don't own any shares. Whether they make a profit or take a loss has nothing to do with me."

"If you were to manage it, could you do it?"

"..."

"I hold forty-five percent of the shares in my hands, and I can give them to you."

Underneath Xu An'an's astonished gaze, Jiang Li continued, "But you need to do something for me in return. Use your position to investigate the inside story behind the Luk Hang Wan acquisition case from back then. I need to know precisely who was involved. Can you do that?"

Some of the top-secret documents regarding the matter were rumored to be hidden within the Xu Corporation, but Jiang Li had sent people to investigate in secret for a long time without making any headway.

Mainly because the senior executives of the Xu Corporation were still very xenophobic and guarded against outsiders.

If Xu An'an entered the Xu Corporation as the eldest daughter of the Xu family and demonstrated her leadership abilities, it should lower the guard of those old foxes.

Xu An'an pondered for two seconds before finally agreeing.

She didn't like charity, but if it was a mutual exchange of what each other needed, then it was fine.