Chapter 13: Who Do You Think You Are?

In wealthy families, arranged marriages are common, and men having mistresses outside is nothing unusual. As long as the “main flag” at home remains standing, those women outside can be kept however they please.

As a mother, she wouldn’t interfere too much.

Today was meant to be an official promise to Su Yumian.

However, the scene of gratitude and appreciation that Shu Yuqin had imagined did not appear. Instead, she was met with a cold laugh.

Su Yumian: “Ms. Shu, you should save your charity for someone else. I can’t accept it. Also, Jiang Yihuai and I have already broken up. From now on, if we meet again, let’s just be strangers.”

In the past, for Jiang Yihuai, she had endured Shu Yuqin’s attitude without complaint.

Shu Yuqin had looked down on her for not having a high degree, no study-abroad experience, and no career after graduation. In short, she wasn’t worthy of her precious son.

Before, Su Yumian might have tried to win over this future mother-in-law. But now? She didn’t even want Jiang Yihuai anymore, so why should she care about his mother?

And now, this woman dared to dance in front of her? No way she was tolerating that.

“Oh, by the way, Ms. Shu, here’s a suggestion for you.”

Shu Yuqin: “?”

Su Yumian smiled slightly. “Try not to speak so harshly in the future—because it makes you more likely to get hit.”

“Oh, and a monkey wearing clothes is still just a dressed-up monkey. Learn a little.”

With that, she turned gracefully and walked into the library.

Shu Yuqin stood frozen in place, eyes wide with shock. “What did she just say?! She—she actually dared to talk to me like that?! Who does she think she is?! Does she still want to marry into the Jiang family?!”

Jiang Qiting, whose arm had been grabbed and shaken wildly by her mother, finally snapped out of her stunned state and murmured, “Mom, did Su Yumian just say… she broke up with my brother?”

“Hah, do you believe that?”

“True. She’s broken up with my brother so many times, but it never actually happened.”

After all, everyone knew that Su Yumian loved Jiang Yihuai like crazy, like a loyal dog that couldn’t be chased away.

Jiang Qiting looked away. “Mom, don’t forget, we still have something important today. You need to come with me to visit the school administrators…”

Looking at the time, if they didn’t leave now, they’d be late.

Shu Yuqin took a deep breath, suppressing the anger in her chest. “Let’s go. Su Yumian is nothing. She’s not worth delaying my daughter’s business!”

—

The B University library was ancient, with a vast collection of books, earning it the nickname “The Ocean of Knowledge.”

Su Yumian wandered around twice before finding a seat, conveniently near the bioinformatics section.

Perfect for easy access to reference materials.

Her gaze swept across the top shelf, and unexpectedly, she saw Shao Wenbai’s name. Curious, she pulled out the book. The cover featured the vast, boundless universe—just like the feeling Shao Wenbai gave her—deep, expansive, calm, and silent.

It was a research journal, mostly discussing the structure and dynamics of protein molecules, a crossover study between biology and physics.

The first page contained a handwritten introduction: “All things are interconnected, and knowledge has no boundaries.”

Only a true genius could talk about interdisciplinary research with such confidence.

Without realizing it, half the day had passed, and she had nearly finished reading the book. Although she majored in bioinformatics, she was also quite good at physics.

At 1 p.m., she closed the book, returned it to its original spot, took a deep breath—and finally realized she was hungry. Leaving the library, she decided to grab something to eat before coming back to study.

Halfway through her meal, Shao Yuwei called—

“Weiwei, what’s up?”

“Are you home?”

“No, I’m at the library.” Su Yumian took a sip of water. “Something wrong?”

“Yesterday, that scumbag Jiang Yihuai came looking for you!”

Shao Yuwei was still fuming about it.

“He asked where you were! Like hell I’d tell him. You haven’t run into him, right?”

She had finally shaken off that trash—there was no way she was letting Yumian fall back into that fire pit.

Su Yumian shook her head. “No.”

“Good.” Shao Weiwei breathed a sigh of relief. “By the way, are you free tonight? I need a favor…”

—

After visiting the school administrators, everything went smoothly. Jiang Qiting’s mood brightened, finally shaking off the frustration from earlier with Ouyang Wenqiu.

“Come on, Mom, get in the car.”

Shu Yuqin frowned, glancing back in the direction of the library before withdrawing her gaze. “You go ahead. I have something else to do.”

She then called for another driver to bring a car. Jiang Qiting assumed her mother was going to some ladies’ gathering and didn’t think much of it.

Little did she know that after getting in the car, Shu Yuqin gave a direct order “go to Yihuai’s company.”

—

Jiang Yihuai had just finished a meeting when he saw his mother storming in, looking furious.

His scalp tingled. “Mom, why are you here?”

“What, I can’t come?”

“That’s not what I meant.” He rubbed his nose.

Shu Yuqin snorted and sat straight down on the sofa. “If you can’t handle a woman, I don’t mind stepping in to help.”

Jiang Yihuai: “?”

“Look at Su Yumian’s attitude. This is all because of you spoiling her!”

His pupils narrowed slightly. “Su Yumian? What happened to her?”

“You’re actually asking me? I just ran into her at B University’s library. I only said a couple of things to her, and she snapped! She called me harsh and even insulted me for being uneducated! Hah! What a low-class upbringing—no manners at all!”

Jiang Yihuai frowned. “You saw her at the library?”

“Yes! Instead of staying home cooking and cleaning, she’s out there pretending to be cultured, thinking that’ll make me respect her? What a joke!”

“She even said she already broke up with you. That from now on, if she sees me, we should be strangers! Is that any way to talk to an elder? Does she still think she can marry into our family?!”

Jiang Yihuai’s gaze darkened.

Suddenly—

Shu Yuqin asked, “Did you really break up?”

Almost instinctively, he replied, “How could we?”

“Hah! I knew it! A girl like her, finally catching a golden ticket—there’s no way she’d let go so easily!”

“Now that you know, you better put her in her place when you get home!”

Shu Yuqin kept ranting, making Jiang Yihuai more and more irritated.

“Mom,” he interrupted, “enough. I have another meeting soon. I’ll have someone send you home.”

“But I haven’t finished—”

Noticing her son’s increasingly cold expression, Shu Yuqin wisely shut her mouth.

“Fine, I’ll leave for now. But you better not let her off easy! Women need to be disciplined properly to be obedient!”

“Mm.”

After sending his mother away, Jiang Yihuai loosened his tie and let out a deep breath.

Looking at the sunset through the floor-to-ceiling window, he didn’t feel like going back to the villa. Remembering that Shi Muxi’s birthday was in a few days, he messaged Cheng Zhou to ask for gift suggestions.

Cheng Zhou replied instantly: “Women love jewelry. Just get a necklace or bracelet or something.”

Jiang Yihuai: “I don’t know how to pick. Come with me.”

Cheng Zhou: “???”

Since when did being single make him an expert in picking gifts?

The two met at SKP in the city center.

—

Inside the jewelry store—

“Sir, what are you looking for?” The saleswoman smiled politely.

Jiang Yihuai: “A gift for my girlfriend.”

“This heart-shaped necklace is subtle yet romantic—perfect for young women—”

Cheng Zhou wasn’t interested and looked around instead. The next second, he exclaimed excitedly “Yumian?!”

Jiang Yihuai’s froze for two seconds before he casually turned his head away.

Shao Yuwei had a business banquet tonight and couldn’t leave the office, so she asked Su Yumian to pick up a custom jewelry set from the store for her. She hadn’t expected to run into them here.

She smiled at Cheng Zhou. “Cheng-zi.”

“Long time no see. Have you been busy lately?” His gaze flickered briefly in Jiang Yihuai’s direction. “Since we ran into each other, why don’t we grab a meal together?”