Become a stepmother and save the male protagonist of the painful literary school

Jian Yan lowered her eyelashes. "I was also wrong last night. I was too anxious and wanted to see him change so much that I attributed his fear of difficulties to his lack of ambition and denied everything about him, which led to the conflict."

Tong Ruixiao narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze fixed on her face, sharp as a knife, and his tone was questioning, "You seem to care about Xiao Mu very much?"

Why would a stepmother be so nice to her stepson?

Not only did she always consider her stepson, she even gave him earnest advice several times, just to ensure that he could grow up healthily.

How ridiculous!

He had noticed something was wrong long before, but he had never mentioned it because he just wanted to observe what she was trying to do.

But now that several months have passed, her purpose has remained the same, which makes him feel weird.

Why would you care so much about the son of a marriage partner?

After hearing this, Jian Yan did not dive into the pit, but instead led the conversation back to him. With a puzzled look and sincere eyes, "Can't I care about him?"

Which rule states that a stepmother cannot care about her stepson?

He knew that she was deliberately not answering, but he was still shaken by her sincere look.

She was more complicated than he had imagined.

"It's neither right nor reasonable."

Very directly pointed out.

She pretended to be confused and tried to get around him, "Why?"

After hearing these three words, he knew completely that she did it on purpose, and his heart sank slightly.

"Miss Jane, you are avoiding my question."

The man nonchalantly tapped the armrest of the sofa with his fingertips, a slight smile on his lips that didn't reach his eyes, "Smart people shouldn't keep us in suspense."

Jian Yan raised an eyebrow, "I am just showing reasonable concern for the younger generation. Mr. Tong thinks I have ulterior motives?"

Miss Jian? Oh? He didn't even call her Mrs. Tong anymore. He just stripped her of her current identity and talked to her as a person.

"We are in a cooperative relationship, a union of two surnames, not a real marriage. The prenuptial agreement also clearly states, 'We will live our own lives after marriage and not interfere with each other.' However, Miss Jian has repeatedly crossed the line and is extremely concerned about Xiao Mu's affairs, even more than I, her father, cares about her."

He paused, staring at her with his dark eyes, his gaze was extremely oppressive, and asked with a smile: "If you don't have any ulterior motives, then what is it for?"

When she met that gaze, her heart skipped a beat.

It stabilized almost immediately.

He calmly explained: "For my happiness in life. Can you accept this reason?"

The man nodded slowly, "You go ahead."

"You don't come back often. Tong Huaimu originally lived in the villa alone. He was not happy when I suddenly moved in, and he rejected me because of my status as a stepmother. I can only think about easing the relationship between the two of us."

“Isn’t this a choice any normal person would make?”

"No one wants to stay in a cold home, let alone when family members meet, they are always on edge."

"So I tried to be nice to him many times, hoping that we could get along well in the future, but he never accepted it and always regarded other people's kindness as an attempt to harm him."

"I didn't understand, so I observed him carefully and found that he had some character flaws. He was not good at accepting other people's kindness and expressing his emotions. I traced it back to your relationship with him and gave you some suggestions to improve the relationship."

Tong Ruixiao seemed to be thinking about something, neither saying whether he believed it nor whether he didn't. He just looked at her with a half-smile.

After a long time, he said, "So that's how it is."

If it were someone else, being stared at in such a frightening manner, they would have already broken out in cold sweat.

But the one who could play the game with him was Jian Yan.

She has experienced countless suspicions and setbacks, and has long since mastered the ability to remain calm even when faced with a catastrophe.

He appears nervous and sincere on the surface, but he is actually very calm and composed on the inside.

The words she used as an excuse were not perfect, but they were reasonable.

For a shrewd man like him, if you give him a statement that is so self-consistent that there is not a single mistake to be found, it will only make him more suspicious.

"Mr. Tong has had the idea that my motives are not pure for a long time, but he has waited until now to bring it up. I think it is not to save my face, but because he cannot find any fault with me."

"Is it right?"

She was so bold as to put it out there.

She was completely confident about this, because none of the information she had showed that the original owner had ever or would ever harm the Tong family.

When Tong Ruixiao heard this straightforward question, his hand movements paused for a moment, then he looked away and laughed softly, "...That's right."

"You are different from what I thought."

Jian Yan was not flustered, and asked calmly, "What's the difference?"

"I thought your marriage to me was just a temporary expedient and that you wouldn't have much connection with the Tong family. I didn't expect you to want to help me discipline Xiao Mu and help him become a successful person."

"Why would Mr. Tong have such an idea?"

She hugged the hand warmer, but her fingers hidden in the dark were clenched.

"Let's get straight to the point. We don't need to beat around the bush."

"There are so many marriage partners for Miss Jian to choose from, and I am not a good choice."

"You also said it's an alliance, not a marriage," she chuckled, "I don't have the final say on who the partner is."

Tong Ruixiao seemed to have thought of something, and after a moment's silence, he said, "Even if you have to temporarily do some superficial work for the benefit of the marriage, you really don't need to care about Xiao Mu's affairs. The profit period of the cooperation is not permanent."

"Mr. Tong, you're joking. The profits won't be in my hands. Is the deadline important to me?" she asked.

The man was visibly stunned.

Jian Yan: "Only when both parties propose to terminate the contract at the same time will we register for divorce."

"I can't know when the divorce will happen, just like I can't decide to marry you."

"As long as I stay in the villa for one more day, I will be your wife in name only. I treat your children well for the sake of a pleasant cooperation and also for my own happiness. This is a matter of course."

Every word he said was very official and the tone was very serious.

Tong Ruixiao suddenly asked: "The marriage between you and me was arranged by your grandfather, so what about your own wishes?"

He didn't know why, but he had the urge to ask a question. It was a nonsense question that he asked despite knowing the answer.

She frowned. "My wishes? That's not important."

This was too stupid a statement, and it went beyond the scope of doubt and questioning. It was obviously contrary to his usual extremely measured style, and made her feel absurd.

After hearing her answer, the man was silent for a long time.

When he spoke again, his tone was gentle, no different from usual, "Thank you very much for your concern for Xiao Mu and for what you said to me. I thought too much before. I apologize."

She thought to herself that he never forgot to keep his humble appearance close to his soul.

"It's okay. It's normal for you to have doubts. After all, we have never met before. Neither you nor I know what kind of person the other is."