The CEO’s Cannon-Fodder Ex-Wife (4)
A week after their marriage, the two of them gradually developed a tacit understanding.
At least Jiang Xiao felt that being married was quite comfortable.
Apart from being somewhat cold and having many rules, Ning Xin fit his expectations of a wife very well, so he was willing to accommodate her in some small matters.
Hearing the system announce that his favorability had reached 20%, Ning Xin was quite satisfied as well.
*
Jiang Xiao received a call from his close friend Chen Xu at the office.
“President Jiang, you’ve only been newly married and you’ve already forgotten about your brothers?”
Chen Xu laughed on the other end of the phone. “Last time we asked you out, you said you were busy. If you turn us down again this time, that wouldn’t be very brotherly.”
Jiang Xiao was reviewing the quarterly financial report. At those words, he paused.
“I really do have an acquisition deal to finish tonight…”
“Come on, don’t give me that,” Chen Xu interrupted before he could refuse. “Just tonight. Lanting. Bring your wife out and let everyone meet her. Everyone in our circle is dying of curiosity. What kind of fairy managed to win over Jiang Xiao?”
Jiang Xiao rubbed his brow.
Chen Xu had been his university classmate. His family was in real estate, and the two had a good personal relationship, although Chen Xu’s love of lively gatherings was completely different from Jiang Xiao’s personality.
“I’ll ask her.”
After hanging up, he stared at the computer screen silently for a few seconds before opening his chat with Ning Xin.
Their conversation history was still concise and orderly, almost like business emails.
“My friends are getting together tonight and want to meet you. Is that convenient?”
After sending the message, Jiang Xiao put down his phone and continued reviewing the financial report.
But his eyes kept drifting toward the screen.
Five minutes later, his phone vibrated.
Ning Xin: “Sure. What time and where?”
The corners of Jiang Xiao’s lips curved unconsciously as he replied:
“Seven o’clock, Lanting. I’ll come home at six-thirty to pick you up.”
Ning Xin: “Okay.”
The conversation ended.
Yet Jiang Xiao stared at those two short messages for several seconds before returning to work.
At five in the afternoon, he ended his meeting early and had his assistant pick up the latest designer outfit he had ordered previously.
He had asked his assistant to check Ning Xin’s measurements from the wedding records. They should fit.
At six fifty, a black Maybach stopped outside Lanting Club.
Jiang Xiao got out and walked around to the other side to open the car door for Ning Xin.
She was wearing the champagne-colored dress he had given her. Its cut was simple, with delicate pleating on one shoulder.
Her long hair was loosely pinned up, revealing her slender neck and collarbones.
“Are you nervous?”
Jiang Xiao asked quietly.
Ning Xin looked up at him, slightly puzzled.
“Do I need to be?”
Jiang Xiao smiled. “No.”
He offered his arm, and Ning Xin naturally linked her arm through his.
The two entered the club. A waiter led them through the corridor and stopped outside a private room called “Bamboo Shadow.”
The moment the door opened, a wave of noise rushed toward them.
Jiang Xiao stopped and frowned almost imperceptibly.
More than twenty people were crowded inside.
What was supposed to have been a small gathering of only five or six people…
Ning Xin’s grip on his arm tightened slightly.
Jiang Xiao glanced at her. She maintained a polite smile, but her eyes clearly seemed to say:
What is going on?
“Brother Xiao! Sister-in-law!”
Chen Xu squeezed through the crowd, an embarrassed smile on his face.
“Sorry, sorry. I only invited Old Zhou and a few others. Who knew the news would spread? Those guys each brought another person…”
Everyone in the private room turned to look.
Their curious, assessing, and amused gazes moved back and forth between Jiang Xiao and Ning Xin.
Ning Xin maintained her smile while speaking to the system in her mind.
“This really is like getting a pillow when you’re sleepy.”
【Host, does having more people here count as a good thing?】
Ning Xin ignored it.
The system was already accustomed to this. She often left half her thoughts unfinished and made it figure things out on its own.
Jiang Xiao gently squeezed her hand and said quietly:
“If you don’t like it, we can leave.”
“We’re already here.”
Ning Xin replied softly. Then she looked toward Chen Xu and greeted him naturally.
“Nice to meet you, Chen Xu. I’m Ning Xin.”
Chen Xu visibly relaxed and hurriedly led them to their seats.
The private room was spacious and divided into several areas: a card table, a karaoke area, a bar, and a sofa lounge.
Everyone was familiar with one another, and Ning Xin had even seen several of them at the wedding banquet.
“Sister-in-law, you’re beautiful! Brother Xiao is really lucky!”
“Miss Ning, I’m from the Li family. We met at the wedding…”
Greetings came one after another.
Ning Xin responded to each of them with a perfectly measured smile.
Standing beside her, Jiang Xiao naturally placed a hand around her waist in a protective gesture.
Chen Xu called out,
“Jiang Xiao, how about a few rounds?”
Several people quickly gathered around the card table.
Jiang Xiao sat down, with Ning Xin beside him.
After several rounds, Jiang Xiao’s luck was excellent, winning three big hands in a row.
“I’m done, I’m done!”
Chen Xu threw down his cards.
“Playing cards with you is basically giving you money. No fun!”
Someone nearby shouted:
“Let Sister-in-law play!”
Several pairs of eyes turned toward Ning Xin.
She looked at Jiang Xiao. There was a questioning look in his eyes.
“Then I’ll play a few rounds.”
Ning Xin took the seat Jiang Xiao had vacated.
The game began.
Her movements as she drew cards were unhurried, but when it came time to play them, she was decisive and precise.
In the first round, she won a small hand.
In the second, she won a pure one-suit hand by drawing the final card herself.
And in the third…
“Thirteen Orphans.”
Ning Xin revealed her hand calmly.
The entire table fell silent for a moment.
Chen Xu’s eyes widened.
“Holy—”
Standing behind Ning Xin, Jiang Xiao watched her slender fingers neatly arrange the chips she had won. The corners of his lips unconsciously lifted.
“I’m done! I’m done!”
Someone else wailed, completely defeated.
“You two really came here to take our money, didn’t you? One is more ruthless than the other!”
Ning Xin looked up, a faint smile flashing in her eyes.
“Thank you for letting me win.”
“I’m going to the restroom,” Ning Xin said quietly.
She stood up, and Jiang Xiao naturally took the bag from her hand.
It was a small gesture, but many people noticed it. When had Jiang Xiao ever taken such care of someone?
“I’ll go with you.”
“No need.”
She gently pressed his hand.
“You chat with them for a while.”
After she left, the people around the card table immediately became lively again.
“Jiang Xiao, you’re something else. Your wife is really good at cards. Did she practice?”
“Seriously, we thought this marriage was just for show before, but now it looks like…”
Jiang Xiao lifted his glass and took a sip without responding.
But the relaxed expression between his brows was something very few people who knew him well had ever seen.
While Ning Xin was touching up her makeup in the restroom, the system excitedly said:
【Host, the way Jiang Xiao looked at you just now! His favorability must have increased by at least 15%!】
“Expected.”
Ning Xin adjusted her hair in the mirror.
“Men enjoy being relied upon. They enjoy it even more when their wife makes them look good in front of others.”
She put away her lipstick and walked out of the restroom.
In the corridor, Jiang Xiao was leaning against the window waiting for her.
“Why did you come out?” Ning Xin asked as she approached.
“I was afraid you’d get lost.”
He rarely joked, but there was a hint of amusement in his voice.
Jiang Xiao naturally took her hand.
“If you’re tired, tell me. We can leave early.”
“I’m fine.”
Ning Xin paused.
“Although it is a little noisy.”
“Then we’ll stay another half hour and leave.”
During that half hour, Ning Xin accompanied Jiang Xiao as he spoke with several groups of people and drank a few glasses of champagne.
A faint blush appeared on her cheeks. Her eyes were slightly softer than usual, but her manner remained impeccable.
When they left, Chen Xu saw them to the door and gave Jiang Xiao a teasing look.
“Brother Xiao, treat Sister-in-law well!”
For once, Jiang Xiao did not give him a cold look. He simply waved his hand.
Inside the car, Ning Xin leaned back against the seat with her eyes closed.
The lights outside the window flickered across her face.
Jiang Xiao turned to look at her.
“Feeling uncomfortable?”
“A little dizzy.”
Ning Xin spoke softly.
“I haven’t had a drink in a long time.”
“Next time, if you don’t want to drink, you can refuse.”
“How could I?”
She opened her eyes, a slight drunken haze in them.
“They’re your friends. I have to show you some respect.”
Her words were soft, but they seemed to brush lightly against his heart.
Jiang Xiao swallowed and turned his attention toward the road ahead.
Inside the elevator, Ning Xin was a little unsteady, so Jiang Xiao reached out and supported her by the waist.
She did not resist. Instead, she leaned slightly closer to him.
The small gesture made Jiang Xiao stiffen for a moment.
When they entered the apartment, the night light in the foyer came on automatically.
Ning Xin bent down to take off her high heels, but she swayed slightly. Jiang Xiao immediately steadied her.
“Thank you.”
She looked up at him, her eyes appearing slightly misty beneath the warm light.
Jiang Xiao said nothing. He simply bent down, slipped one arm beneath her knees, and lifted her into his arms.
Ning Xin let out a soft gasp and instinctively put her arms around his neck.
“You…”
“Don’t move.”
Jiang Xiao’s voice was low as he carried her upstairs.
When he opened the master bedroom door, he did not turn on the main light. Instead, he switched on the warm reading lamp beside the bed.
He gently set Ning Xin down on the edge of the bed and knelt to remove her other shoe.
Their eyes were level.
The atmosphere suddenly became quiet and intimate.
Ning Xin looked at him, watching her reflection in his deep eyes and the hesitation in his expression as he slowly moved closer.
“Ning Xin.”
Jiang Xiao’s voice was hoarse.
“Hmm?”
“Tonight…”
He paused, as though carefully choosing his words and giving himself one final moment to think.
“Can we… take our relationship as husband and wife a little further?”
His low, intimate tone made the question sound almost unfairly persuasive.
Ning Xin’s eyes flickered. The alcohol had slowed her reaction slightly.
“Okay.”
Jiang Xiao’s gaze deepened, and he leaned down to kiss her.
What began as a tentative moment soon became more intimate.
The rest of the night passed quietly, behind the closed bedroom door.
When everything was over, both of them were tired.
Jiang Xiao remained beside her for a while, then gently kissed her forehead.
“I’ll prepare some water.”
He got up and went toward the bathroom.
When he returned to bed, Jiang Xiao embraced her from behind.
His warm chest rested against her back, his arm around her waist.
“Go to sleep,” he said.
Ning Xin hummed softly in response.
The bedside lamp went out.
In the darkness, she could hear his steady breathing and feel the warmth of his embrace.
……
The next morning, Ning Xin woke first.
Jiang Xiao was still asleep, his arm still around her.
She carefully moved his arm away and got up.
When her feet touched the carpet, her legs felt slightly weak.
After washing up, she came out to find that Jiang Xiao was already awake, leaning against the headboard and looking at her.
In the morning light, his expression was somewhat complicated.
There was satisfaction, tenderness, and something else she could not quite understand.
“Good morning.”
Jiang Xiao looked at her for several seconds before the corners of his lips curved upward.
“Good morning.”
He got up, and as he passed her, he naturally leaned down and gave her a brief kiss at the corner of her lips.
“I’ll go to the office a little later today,” he said.
“You should sleep a little longer.”
After the door closed, Ning Xin stood there and touched the place where he had just kissed her.
The system was practically jumping with excitement:
【Host! Favorability has increased to 60%! He’s fallen for you!】
Ning Xin walked to the window and looked down at the gardener watering the flowers in the garden.
She rubbed her sore waist.
“I really put in a lot of effort for this.”
