The next morning, Jiang Chen held his head as he woke up with a minor headache.
[Did I get drunk last night?]
About to sit up, he rubbed his eyes and suddenly froze.
The girl beside him slept quietly, her hair scattered across her face and her breathing gentle but tired.
And on the bedsheet was a distinct red spot.
[Fu*k? What did I do?]
He almost lost strength and fell off the bed.
“You’re awake?” Ayesha was roused from her dream from his sudden movements.
She followed the direction of Jiang Chen’s shocked look and gently bit her lips, burying her head into the sheets.
Although she had been mentally prepared, when the moment came, Ayesha still felt scared.
The pain that ripped her apart almost made her cry, although the sensation that soon followed helped her enter a pleasurable state, nearly enough to make her forget the soreness. Although it hurt, she surprisingly didn’t mind losing her first time like this.
“Mhmm.” Jiang Chen scratched his head as he forced a smile. “Ummm, sorry.”
“No need to be sorry. I am your wife. It’s okay even if I don’t get a real name to myself. I understand the tradition of your hometown,” Ayesha whispered with her head still lowered and her shoulders covered by the blankets.
Where Ayesha came from, her age was acceptable for marriage but to Jiang Chen…
How could he explain that rather than tradition, it was better described as problematic.
He shook himself out of his momentary frozen state before he sighed and said apologetically, “Last night, I drank too much. Hmm, it must hurt a lot, right?”
His memory from last night was already fading, making him assume that he had forced her when the reality was different.
“Mhmm, it’s too big.” The words didn’t have time to process before she immediately blushed at the inappropriate nature.
“Ahem!” Jiang Chen almost choked on his own spit. Ayesha immediately moved over to pat his back, except she lost hold of her wrapped sheet that soon slipped down.
The nicely shaped breasts and waist were fully exposed to him.
“Ahhh!” Ayesha shrieked and reached out with her trembling hands to cover herself again.
They already crossed the line, but she still felt embarrassed. Jiang Chen scratched his head, but in the end, only sighed.
“Study some Han.”
“Mhmm.” Ayesha buried her head once more, afraid to look him in the eyes.
Jiang Chen forced a smile when he saw the redness on the sheet again and awkwardly patted his still-drowsy head.
He never considered himself a noble guy, but he had his own boundaries. Taking a young girl’s first time still made him feel quite guilty. Even if alcohol was involved, it was not an excuse to escape responsibility.
But Ayesha’s voluntary demure perspective made Jiang Chen feel a bit better.
He was touched by her understanding and made up his mind to treat this girl nicely.
At the very least, he would let her live a life one hundred times more comfortable than the one she had here.
He awkwardly rejected Ayesha’s proposal to dress him as it would corrupt him to the bone and threw his clothes on before he hastily escaped from the room.
Watching Jiang Chen leave, a smile appeared on Ayesha’s face.
In it was contained a slight affection.
She gathered her hands in front of her chest with a lowered head and prayed sincerely to her god.
[Meeting you was the best thing to happen in my life.]
－
At noon, Jiang Chen brought Ayesha along with him on the flight to Dubai. Because Baghdad had no direct flight to Hua, their best option was to have a layover at Dubai first before heading to Hua.
Before that, there was an incident with Ayesha’s identity.
Because of the constant chaos in Syria, Ayesha couldn’t bring any forms of identification with her when she escaped the country. Impractical to contact her home country, she was currently without an identity, so Jiang Chen thought to use money to get her an ID of some sort.
But when he arrived at the counsel, it was empty. Only when he asked the Iraqi soldier patrolling outside did he finally learn that all of the consulate workers had left on the last flight to Hua to avoid the conflict. The soldier was experienced in handling such situations as he directed Jiang Chen to the UN office, but Jiang Chen impatiently called Robert who had planned on staying for a few more days.
Hearing about Jiang Chen’s trouble, Robert happily offered his help and contacted someone in the UA Embassy to acquire a green card and passport for Ayesha at the cost of 20,000 USD.
Robert, however, rejected Jiang Chen’s offer to pay.
“Compared to the deal we’re about to make, this is nothing, right?” Robert laughed on the other end of the phone.
Jiang Chen couldn’t disagree with that either.
With an ID, Ayesha could finally book tickets, and her visa to enter Han would be resolved in the Dubai embassy.
For a whole day, Jiang Chen stayed with Ayesha in Dubai. Although he was envious of the renowned city of wealth, it was not the right time for a tour. He had many loose ends to tie up, such as converting the millions of gold he had in his possession, buying a mansion, and finding a new car to own since he could travel at any time.
Finally, after a nine-hour flight, the two landed in Beijing.
It was already eight at night when they touched down, but the city’s nightlife had only just begun. The lights from the streetlamps and cars lit up the night, shocking Ayesha who had never seen such an endless stream of cars and people crowding the paths.
Jiang Chen smiled knowingly, sensing Ayesha’s shock and remembering his own similar expression when he first left his hometown. At the time, the magnificence of Wanghai City’s night sky had stunned him into silence.
People would only understand once they lived here. Despite the bustling streets, none of it touched your life in any way. Perhaps this was the apathy of the modern world.
Of course, since he had money now, such concerns were no longer his to think about either.
As he called a taxi to a nearby hotel, he tapped her shoulder. The flight to Wanghai City would depart the next morning, and they had to find somewhere to stay for the night.
After showering, Jiang Chen got on the bed right away, ready to sleep, but he was soon overwhelmed by awkwardness from what came afterward.
It was a kingsize bed.
Ayesha, who had just finished showering after him, approached the bed covered in a towel. Her eyes shyly looked down as she gently bit her lips before moving closer to the bed. Blankly staring, Jiang Chen was unaware of his loud gulp.
The exotic foreign beauty with her budding, tender curves…
They didn’t say a word.
Ayesha slipped into the sheets, and everything seemed to make sense.
The second time was always easier than the first, her face not showing the slightest discomfort.
Despite his remaining guilt, her expression made Jiang Chen somewhat relieved.
[I didn’t force her. And it’s not the first time either. Since I already said I’d take care of her, then what’s wrong with the second time?]
Very naturally, he placed his hands on her shoulder, causing Ayesha to shyly lower her head and follow his direction.
－
After returning to Wanghai City, Jiang Chen immediately started to work. Since he currently had no permanent residence, he booked the hotel he stayed at last time and settled Ayesha in there. Once he finalized the mansion, she could move there. And although he improved his English skills speaking with her every day, he still arranged for her Han studies.
Once he arranged everything, Jiang Chen immediately contacted Zhang Xinfei, Robert’s agent in Wanghai City. According to Robert, he was an assistant for Mr. Chen who specialized in cargo shipments in Hong Kong. With Mr. Chen’s extensive influence in Hong Kong, he and Robert had some past dealings in Los Santos.
Jiang Chen didn’t bother asking for the specifics.
Zhang Xinfei was perfectly courteous upon meeting Jiang Chen. Next to him stood a bodyguard that Jiang Chen recognized—the polar bear from the Serbian region, Nick.
“Nice to see you again, buddy,” Jiang Chen said sincerely with a light jab at his chest. Despite the fact that Nick didn’t speak much, they still fought a difficult battle together, developing a close bond between the two of them.
Nick also punched back as he took off his shades.
“I’m responsible for this guy’s safety for now.”
Although he was the bodyguard, Jiang Chen knew his true purpose was to prevent this man from running away after realizing the value of the goods. The gold would likely be exported by the cargos under Mr. Chen’s name, and once it reached international waters, Robert would then offload the cargo onto his own ship before sending it to South Africa.
“Everything is here. Follow me.” Jiang Chen waved his hand and led the way to the storage room where the food had previously been kept.
Nick briefly hesitated. He knew they would be shipping gold, even bringing an inspection personnel, but never would he have thought that Jiang Chen would have stored gold worth billions in a warehouse without any surveillance.
However, Jiang Chen didn’t store the gold here, only moving it just before their arrival.
“We have an old saying in Han—the darkest place is under the lamp. If I hired security, this place would look suspicious.” Jiang Chen made something up as he uncovered the gold. “It’s here, and you can come and verify. I hope you prepared the boxes.”
Nick gulped as he nodded dumbfoundedly.
The inspector determined that all of the gold was in fact 24 karat quality and could be sold without further processing. The cumulative weight came to be 11 tons and 240 kilograms. When priced based on the weekly average of UA gold, and with a nine percent processing fee, Jiang Chen received via wire the price of 510 million USD.
After receiving the Swiss Bank’s confirmation, Jiang Chen nodded. Nick then ordered his subordinates to pack the box and store it in the truck.
The Zhang Xinfei guy chose to stand outside as he knew the role he had in this transaction.
The less he knew, the better it was. He already received a hefty sum from the business, but as for what exactly was inside, it was not his part to know.