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Chapter 310: Chapter 252: Mu Jian, Alliance Marriage (Seeking Subscriptions!) _1
Seeing how he tamed Chai Ren’s ’rebellious thoughts’, the young man was satisfied, didn’t pursue the advantage, and felt sufficient to just exercise his influence. There was no need to be merciless, especially considering they had guests around.
"Chai, won’t you introduce your unfamiliar friends?" The young man glanced at those like Liu Qian standing nearby with odd expressions, and asked.
Chai Ren composed himself, stopped goofing around, and introduced them, "Let me introduce you all. This is my business partner, Liu Qian. Mr. Liu’s wealth is quite similar to yours. This is my classmate, friend, and confidant, Mu Jian. Just call him Mr. Mu."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Mu," Liu Qian said respectfully. Anyone who could tame Chai Ren like that was no ordinary man, he had to respect that.
"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Liu," Mu Jian shook hands with Liu Qian and replied. Although he was polite in tone and manner, there was a certain casualness in his behaviour unusual to his age. It showed Liu Qian he didn’t value him any higher for his wealth. As Liu Qian guessed, Mu Jian didn’t care much about a domestic tycoon, a net worth of billions of dollars, and no significant overlap.
After that, Chai Ren introduced his bodyguards, "You already know my two bodyguards. The other two are Mr. Liu’s bodyguards. This is Yuan and the other you can address as Monkey."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Mu," said Monkey respectfully. As a small-time bodyguard surrounded by big shots, it was best just to show respect as much as he could.
"Nice to meet you too," replied Mu Jian.
Mu Jian assumed that the other bodyguard would also greet him and waited but, to his surprise, no words came, leading him to glance over at the fighter who was looking at him as one would look at roadside plants.
This sent a chill down Mu Jian’s spine.
In his time here, he had met several people who treated others harshly, the indifference and disregard for life evident in their eyes.
Even when Mu Jian looked back, Fighter did not acknowledge him, merely slight nod. In his eyes, Mu Jian was just another pedestrian, his status even lower than Chai Ren. Chai Ren was at least a business partner to Liu Qian and was afforded some protection. Mu Jian, however, was considered insignificant and, as such, would receive little to no attention from the Fighter.
"Well, brother Yuan certainly has character," said Mu Jian, slightly embarrassed. Being ignored by the bodyguard of a small-time boss was a blow to his pride, but it wasn’t the first time. Often in contact with the upper strata of American society, he had grown accustomed to such behavior. In some eyes, he was a significant figure, but to others, he was a mere insect that could be crushed with a flick of the wrist.
Almost laughing out loud at Mu Jian’s reaction, Chai Ren silently praised, "Well done, it’s good to see him embarrassed for once."
"Don’t mind him, Yuan’s like that. Not much of a talker, but very dutiful. I admire that about him," said Chai Ren, stepping up and speaking with a smile. He didn’t mention their previous encounter with an attempted kidnapping because Fighter told them they had seen and heard nothing. Naturally, he didn’t want to create unnecessary complications.
Provided a polite way out of the awkward situation. Mu Jian laughed and said, "Ha-ha. Why would I mind what Chai thinks? There must be a reason you can put up with him. Let’s go. Let’s chat in the farm house. I’ve specially gotten a lamb for today. We can roast it and drink beer."
"Can’t you splurge a bit more? I’ve come from far away, and this feels more like eating street food than a treat. Roasting meat and drinking beer, only a miser like you could think of that," Chai Ren pretended to complain.
Ignoring Chai Ren’s tone, Mu Jian harshly replied, "So what? Haven’t you heard of the saying ’guests should conform to their host’s wishes’? You even dare to be picky. If you have guts, don’t eat the lamb, only vegetables. Plus, there are wolves in the mountains, you can go hunting if you want."
"You catch one, and I’ll hunt," Chai Ren replied casually. He and Mu Jian could easily get into an argument after just a few exchanges. This kind of ’revolutionary friendship’ made outsiders ’envious’. Although sometimes it made him extremely angry, he also cherished this kind of communication. Because only Mu Jian could joke with him like this. The wealthy young men of the same status in China were always measured in their speech, making communication seem very cautious.
"You have no shame," Mu Jian teased, catching a wolf for him to hunt? Wasn’t that absurd?
"I have none," Chai Ren replied loudly.
"You’re insufferable," said Mu Jian.
"Hardly, I am not as insufferable as you. I still have a long way to go to catch up with you. However, you should slow down, otherwise our gap will only widen," Chai Ren said proudly, happy to have turned the tables.
"You... oh, forget it. My wife should have skewered the lamb by now. Let’s head back before she calls to hurry us up," Mu Jian said, ready to continue the banter at home.
"I envy you for having a wife," Chai Ren said with a smile.
"You should get married soon too. You aren’t getting any younger. When are you and Little Xi getting married? You have been engaged for two years now, right?" asked Mu Jian.
"Our families decided it. We will get married in September this year," Chai Ren replied with a bitter smile.
He couldn’t escape an arranged marriage, and he didn’t mind the idea of having an extra wife, especially a beautiful one. But when faced with his cold and indifferent fiancée, he felt a chill run down his spine. His fiancée was a doctor, a neurosurgeon, and a postgraduate in medical studies. The thought of his fiancée often performing surgeries on people diminished whatever arousal he might have felt out of fear that she’d experiment on him, although he knew that was impossible.
"Well, that’s coming up fast. We can make a family trip out of it," Mu Jian said sympathetically, understanding the reason behind Chai Ren’s bitter smile. But thankfully, his own wife didn’t have such a ’terrifying’ occupation. Otherwise, he too would have had sleepless nights.
"Alright, it looks like it’ll pour down today. Let’s get in the car," Chai Ren said, putting an end to their ’sorrowful’ conversation.
"Sure."
With that, everyone got into their respective cars.
Under the guidance of Mu Jian, or rather following this one road, it took about ten to fifteen minutes to reach the ranch villa at the foot of the mountain.
Looking at Mu Jian’s ranch villa, Chai Ren felt a bit envious. He envied Mu Jian and his wife and daughter living leisurely in this picturesque place, unlike himself. He had to do things that he didn’t like for himself and for his family. He actually wanted to be a painter, but his family didn’t allow him to pursue this dream.
This place isn’t just a villa. There is also a hangar, garage, horse paddock, employee dormitory, warehouse, etc., and a huge swimming pool. There are ten bodyguards and sixteen farm workers who usually live here, as well as four maids and general workers. Including Mu Jian’s family, thirty-three people live here in total.
"This house, always feel like it’s not firm." Chai Ren said as soon as he got out of the car.
"It’s pretty good." Mu Jian said.
"What’s so good? A tornado would blow it away. If it were a concrete building back home, you try sending a tornado after it, at most it’ll only scrape away a bit of the surface." Chai Ren scoffed. This was his deepest impression every time he came here. Although wooden houses might be nice in many other ways and might even exceed concrete buildings, they simply could not compare to concrete buildings in terms of safety.
"You’ve watched too many American movies, haven’t you? Tornadoes can’t form in this kind of terrain." Mu Jian retorted, rolling his eyes at Chai Ren.
"What if one does happen?" Chai Ren countered.
"You’re such a killjoy, there won’t be one." Mu Jian retorted without any enthusiasm.
"... Let’s just go and eat some barbecue."
Chai Ren looked in the distance to see Mu Jian’s wife busying herself in an open area, with quite a few bodyguards and workers helping out. As he watched them, a cute little girl was running towards them. It was Mu Jian’s five-year-old daughter—Mu Wan’er.
"Daddy." Mu Wan’er ran towards Mu Jian, asking to be cuddled.
"Oh, my sweet daughter, look who’s here." Mu Jian picked up his daughter and kissed her cheek, smiling radiantly.
"You are...Uncle Matchstick." Mu Wan’er cutely bit her finger and thought for a bit before she recognized him.
"Hello, Wan’er, here, a small toy Uncle bought for you." Chai Ren took a plush toy from a bodyguard and handed it over. It’s not that he was stingy, but everyone around were super-rich, so the value of the gift wasn’t that important. As long as the quality is good, it shows his regard.
"Thank you, Uncle Matchstick." Mu Wan’er said cheerfully while hugging the toy. Even though there were plenty of toys at home, as a child, who would say no to more toys?
"You’re welcome, sweet Wan’er, could you call me Uncle Chai in the future?" Chai Ren smiled.
"Sure, Uncle Matchstick." Mu Wan’er answered in her babyish voice.
"Um... Nevermind." 𝚗𝚘v𝚙𝚞b.𝚌𝚘m
Chai Ren covered his face, realizing it’s Matchstick then. After getting used to it, it actually sounded quite nice. The group moved towards the open field.
"Hi, sister-in-law, you’re getting more and more beautiful." Chai Ren greeted with a smile. Mu Jian’s wife was named Liu Zhi, which is how the name of the ranch came to be, combining the first and last characters of their names. When he was classmates with Mu Jian, they were already married and had a one-year-old daughter, Mu Wan’er. His mother-in-law was taking care of the child in a house she bought in Washington, and his father-in-law was looking after the ranch, hence he’s pretty familiar with them.
Liu Zhi was more the quiet type. After graduating from the university, she even pursued postgraduate studies. Afterwards, she stayed at home to be a homemaker, although she was strong and independent. Had she known that Chai Ren was not the type to cause trouble, she wouldn’t have allowed Mu Jian to be friends with him. Mu Jian was rather henpecked or rather, he loved his wife a lot. If Liu Zhi had insisted, Mu Jian wouldn’t have given Chai Ren the time of day.
There were some arrangements of interest in Mu Jian and Liu Zhi’s marriage, but largely it was based on deep feelings. Liu Zhi’s family was a business family, mainly involved in agriculture and real estate, and was quite famous in California. Meanwhile, a few of Mu Jian’s relatives were high-ranking officials in the United States government. Hence, you could say it was a wedding that brought joy to all parties involved.
"Ah, Chai, nice to see you. Is your significant other not here?" Liu Zhi asked with a light chuckle.
"No, she’s still working back home, so she couldn’t come. I’ll bring her to meet you next time." replied Chai Ren.
"Next time, always next time." Liu Zhi complained. Chai Ren had been promising this from the first time they met, but it was always only him who came alone. Till this day, she still hadn’t met Chai Ren’s fiancée, having only seen her in photos.
"I’ll make sure of it this time." Chai Ren promised a bit awkwardly while raising his hand. This question followed him each time, so he was feeling somewhat embarrassed about it.
They would be getting married in September. Anyway, he would ask his fiancee to take a few months off to prepare for the wedding.
"Fine. Go on, go sit down. Have a chat with Mu Jian, you guys haven’t seen each other in over half a year." Liu Zhi said with a shake of her head and a laugh. It’s not that she felt Chai Ren didn’t keep his promises, she just ’felt sorry’ for him that’s all.
"Yes, I think I’ll go sit over there. You’ve been working hard, sister-in-law." Chai Ren said with a beaming smile.
After that, he turned around and walked towards where Liu Qian and the others were already seated.
PS: Don’t mind my rambling, characters need a soul. A character that can be explained with a single paragraph is too abstract. These are all important characters later on, they might be described a bit too much, so forgive me. I hope that you will grow to like the characters in my book. Thanks for the support!
