Starting with a beautiful woman's private doctor

Despite Xia Wantang's statement, the old lady remained unchanged, simply listening quietly.

Jiang Yingxue continued, "You saw what happened with Lü Baoliang before. You thought the people you chose wouldn't have any problems, and the second branch of the family thought the people they controlled wouldn't have any problems."

"But it happened anyway, because this marriage was never my choice in the first place."

"You chose the people for me, set the rules for me, and now that problems have arisen, you expect me to bear the consequences."

She looked at the old lady and said, "Grandma, I'm not blaming you. I just want to say that if we do it again, the result won't be any different."

"Because the root of the problem is not who the son-in-law is, but that I am not capable of making my own decisions."

"You can hand Chu Nan over to me today, but tomorrow the second wife will find another way to scheme against us. Chu Nan and you can't protect me forever."

"So I not only want to prove myself, I want freedom—the freedom to choose my own man!"

The living room was quiet for a while.

The old lady looked at Jiang Yingxue, her fingers that had been twirling the prayer beads suddenly stopped.

"You mean you're going to protect the Jiang family's assets on your own?"

"Yes."

"Even if I take back all the shares you own, you'll still fight for this?"

"Yes."

Jiang Yingxue's tone became increasingly firm.

The old lady remained silent for a moment.

Then her fingers, which were holding the prayer beads, started moving again, and her lips twitched slightly.

It wasn't a complete smile, but unlike the pure scrutiny he had shown before, it was more like a general who was strict with his subordinates and suddenly discovered a new recruit who dared to volunteer.

"Okay, I'll give you that chance."

Then she changed the subject, "But have you thought this through? Some opportunities only come once. If you let him go now, he might not come back later."

Jiang Yingxue's fingers trembled slightly, but she met the old lady's gaze and did not lower her head.

"I know, that's why I'm going to fight for him myself."

The old lady glanced at her, then glanced at Chu Nan.

Then she stood up, leaning on her cane, and walked towards the door.

He paused at the door without turning back. "This is the first time you've made such a request of me, but I'll have someone inform you tomorrow about how to prove it."

Uncle Chen followed the old lady out the door.

Only Chu Nan and Jiang Yingxue remained in the living room.

The air was silent for several seconds. Chu Nan looked at Jiang Yingxue, and Jiang Yingxue looked at the cold cup of tea on the coffee table.

"What you just did—"

Chu Nan spoke first, but before he could finish, Jiang Yingxue interrupted him, "Don't overthink it."

Her tone remained that familiar indifference: "I just don't want Grandma to pressure you about this anymore; it has nothing to do with anything else."

She paused for a moment, then spoke a few minutes faster than usual, as if afraid he would misunderstand, or perhaps afraid she wouldn't be able to finish.

"You came to take care of me before because of Lu Baoliang's arrangement, then you stayed because the second wife made things difficult for you, and then you went to the flour factory to save Xia Wantang. From beginning to end, you were helping others solve their problems."

"My grandmother is asking you to marry into the Jiang family to help solve their problems, but no one has asked you if you're willing."

"Lu Baoliang used money to control you, the second wife harassed you with trouble, and my grandmother used the authority of the wealthy family to suppress you. None of them let you choose for yourself."

Her voice lowered a little, "So this time, I don't want to be like them, I... I want you to choose for yourself."

Chu Nan looked at her and remained silent for a while.

He recalled the first time he came to this villa, when Lü Baoliang stuffed a bank card into his hand and said there was 200,000 yuan in it.

At that time, he felt he had no choice because he was short of money, so short that he couldn't even afford a month's rent.

Later, when Lü Baoliang added drugs to the pork rib soup, he still had no choice, because he was a doctor and couldn't just watch Jiang Yingxue suffer to death from the effects of the drugs.

From beginning to end, every decision he made was chosen for him by others.

Jiang Yingxue was the first person to say, "I want you to choose for yourself."

"Okay, I understand."

"I'm serious!"

Jiang Yingxue noticed the habitual evasiveness in Chu Nan's tone and turned to glare at him.

But this time, after staring at her for a while, she looked away first.

She stood up and walked to the French windows, folded her hands in front of her, and looked at the green plants outside.

She stood up straight, a stark contrast to her previous cautious demeanor while seated in a wheelchair.

Her fingertips tapped unconsciously on the windowsill, one tap after another, revealing her inner turmoil.

Looking at her back as she stood by the window, Chu Nan suddenly realized something.

He kept thinking about what choice to make, but forgot that today's conversation was also not easy for Jiang Yingxue.

She wanted to lay bare all the things she had kept inside for over twenty years, in front of the old lady and in front of Chu Nan.

She did it, and his response just now was merely a casual agreement.

"You just said you wanted me to choose for myself."

Chu Nan stood up and walked to a spot not too close to her. "And what about you?"

Jiang Yingxue's fingertips stopped on the windowsill. "What's wrong with me?"

"You just said in front of the old lady that I would choose my own man. Have you... made your choice?"

"I only said that to shut Grandma up, it had nothing to do with anything else."

Xia Wantang paused, then added, "As for who to choose, and whether I choose well or not, that's my business, and has nothing to do with you."

Chu Nan's lips twitched slightly. She had just said "it has nothing to do with you," but the blush that spread from her earlobes to her neck betrayed her.

"So, you said you were going to win him back yourself, who is that 'him'?"

Why are you talking so much today?

Jiang Yingxue turned around, her face already showing its usual coldness.

But Chu Nan was too close to her, close enough to see her eyelashes trembling slightly.

She clearly realized this as well, and took a step back, her lower back hitting the windowsill.

Chu Nan laughed and said, "I've always been so talkative. Is this the first time you've met me?"

Jiang Yingxue opened her mouth, but found herself unable to refute.

Aside from being suppressed by his own attitude on the first day, Chu Nan remained quite talkative afterward.

Faced with this situation, she could only change the subject.

He walked past Chu Nan, picked up the bag from the sofa, and said, "I'm going to see Xia Wantang. After all, she went to the police station to bail you out."

"This time, Xue Beichen kidnapped me again. If I don't go and see, it'll seem heartless of me. Are you going or not?"

"go."

Putting aside the ambiguous relationship between the two, this injury alone is directly related to her using the prescription to trick Xue Beichen, so it's still very necessary to go and see her.

"Then let's go, don't dawdle."

Jiang Yingxue turned and walked towards the door, her pace quickening slightly compared to usual.

Looking at that beautiful figure, Chu Nan suddenly realized that Jiang Yingxue, the woman whose personality he used to find most unbearable, seemed to have become somewhat adorable...