Chapter 343: Time Will Never Turn Back
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After hearing these words, Wan Zhu’s expression relaxed slightly. Without waiting for Ji Nuan to speak up, she immediately turned to Su Zhilan. “When Ji Nuan first married in, she was already very reserved. Her character takes time to warm up. It wasn’t easy for me to finally wait for her approach. Don’t frighten my daughter-in-law. What if she refuses to speak to me again?”
Su Zhilan’s expression faltered. She gave an apologetic smile. “Auntie Zhu, I was just speaking casually.”
Mo Jingshen sat on the same sofa with Ji Nuan and his mother. His expression was quiet and light, a silent smile on his lips.
Ji Nuan could tell that Mo Jingshen’s mother was clearly just like Elder Mo and was the type to stand united against common enemies; this meant that she was the kind to absolutely defend her own daughter-in-law against everything.
From the way things appeared… Mo Shaoze was truly the outlier in this family…
It was no wonder that someone like Mo Shaoze, who was so authoritative, cold, and bad-tempered, had yet to haul Ji Nuan out of the Mo family. After all, the person who slept by his side, his own wife, favored Ji Nuan so much. His wife was a gentle breeze next to him every day. There was no way he would be able to make a firm decision.
As for Su Zhilan, it was clear that she had been overly confident today.
Even if they did not bring up Mo Jingshen’s mother, the one Mo Shaoze truly favored was the An Family and not the Su Family with whom he had once worked with for his own interest.
The marriage contract between the Su and Mo family did not last long. Ji Nuan did not know what sort of interaction had happened between the two families, but based on their positions and attitude as they chatted, they were clearly more polite than comfortable.
At this moment, Eldest Miss spoke up: “Jingshen, you can’t blame Zhilan for being so concerned about your matters. After all, your marriage is such a big matter. Even though other people may not mind it, how can Zhilan possible not? Your future once included her, but now, you’ve completely left her out. Right now, Miss Ji is your wife, so the Mo family is so warm and passionate to her. But Zhilan was simply expressing her concern, there’s no need to give her the cold shoulder.”
After a moment of silence, Elder Su meaningfully continued: “I’m quite old now. I don’t understand much about the relationship matters between the young, nor can I interfere. Zhilan is my only granddaughter. Back in those years, during a business trip in a war-torn country, her parents accidentally drove past a landmine and passed away without even leaving their bodies behind. This granddaughter was single-handedly brought up by me. You can say that I’m biased or that I’m spoiling her, but you canceled our marriage contract so abruptly and then returned to Hai City to marry another woman. Shouldn’t you give the Su family a proper explanation?”
The unaddressed elephant in the room was abruptly brought to attention by Elder Su. Mo Shaoze’s brows knitted heavily, while Wan Zhu fell into a rare silence by Ji Nuan’s side upon hearing Elder Su abruptly mention Su Zhilan’s parents.
One side of Mo Jingshen’s lips lifted slightly. As though withholding a smile, he looked at Su Zhilan. “Miss Su, do you need me to repeat the reasons for dissolving the marriage contract in front of everyone here?”
Su Zhilan knew that cooperating with Mo Shaoze to lie that she had saved him was her mistake. Mo Jingshen had abruptly shifted the spotlight onto her. If she did not block this carefully, she feared that both her grandfather and she will lose face. There was no way for her to respond in a way that could force Ji Nuan to step back.
“I understand the reason.” Su Zhilan answered with a kind smile. “I understand why Jingshen left America back then. I don’t wish to force him to take too much responsibility for me. Since he already has a different loved one and has not mentioned a single word of our previous marriage contract, I can only wish Miss Ji and Jingshen a hundred years of happiness.”
Mo Jingshen replied without hesitation, sounding indifferent and cold: “It’s true that Miss Su and I once had a marriage contract. But as for the feelings and responsibility you speak of, that is but an issue of perspective. Ji Nuan is my wife. She did not interfere in any relationship. Nobody should be pointing fingers at her or discussing the issue of my marriage before her. I’m sure Miss Su and Elder Su can understand this without me going into details.”
“Even if all that existed was some surface feelings, you shouldn’t be so harsh toward Zhilan.” If it had been a few years ago, it would have been fine for Elder Su to take on the role of an elder to reprimand Mo Jingshen a little. However, right now, he could only grumble with an unhappy expression.
“What Elder Su means is that, after my marriage, I still have to take my previous partner’s feelings into consideration and make them my responsibility?” Mo Jingshen’s tone was frosty and mild. The cold smile in his eyes was clearly displayed.
“Jingshen, we came to the Mo family as guests today, and are only making small talk about the past. After all, Zhilan has waited so many years for you. Most of her youth was spent on you. As a grandfather, it shouldn’t be overboard for me to speak up a little for her.” Elder Su saw the cold and indifferent attitude Mo Jingshen had maintained from the start and could not help but express his dissatisfaction.
Hearing this, Ji Nuan abruptly spoke up: “How old is Miss Su this year? Twenty-four years old?”
The living room suddenly fell into silence as everyone’s gaze shifted toward her.
Ji Nuan had no intention of backing off. Even as she was the focus of everyone’s varying gazes, her eyes remained clear and bright and fixed on Su Zhilan’s figure. “Does being twenty-four years old mean you’ve spent most of your youth? For a modern woman, aren’t the golden years between twenty to twenty-five? The foolish love during our teens is an experience that almost everyone has had. If everyone wants responsibility for their teenage love, there would truly be too much owed in this world.”
Elder Su’s gaze turned heavy as he spoke: “Is Miss Ji fully aware of what happened between Jingshen and Zhilan? Back then, the two of them were almost married.”
Ji Nuan smiled lightly and replied unhurriedly, “Elder Su, with your experience, there shouldn’t be a need for me to explain how far away they actually stood from the altar in your ‘almost’ scenario. Time will never turn back. It’s fine if you’re old and enjoy reminiscing about the past. But Miss Su is so young, yet she’s constantly fixated on what she didn’t manage to have; what’s the point in doing that? Could it be that, just because she’s unhappy about that ‘almost,’ as a lawfully wedded wife, I have to withdraw so that she can make up for her ‘almost’?”
The air was filled with silence and embarrassment.
The one who was embarrassed naturally was not Ji Nuan.
She clearly expressed that Su Zhilan was making use of Elder Su’s support to force logic into the act of interfering in someone’s marriage.
Elder Su had sat there with the attitude of a stern elder to interrogate Mo Jingshen, who did he think he was?
In this world, there was truly no one that Ji Nuan did not dare to clash with. When someone was polite to her, she would naturally respond with politeness. But this Elder Su had brought Su Zhilan to her door in the middle of the New Year’s festivities.
What was an ex-girlfriend?
Exactly what right does she have to demand Mo Jingshen to take responsibility for her youth?