"Miss Jiang, are you all right?" Wu Jun didn’t linger on the touch. After helping Jiang Yi stand steadily, he asked with concern.
Being held by a man around her own age, even though it was an emergency, still made Jiang Yi’s face flush.
"Thank you, thank you so much, Mr. Wu. I’m fine." Jiang Yi’s face was beet red, her delicate brows furrowed slightly. She hovered her bare foot just above the ground, afraid to put any weight on it.
Wu Jun noticed she was missing a shoe. He glanced at the ground and saw a small, pink, pointed-toe high heel caught on a storm drain grate.
Wu Jun bent down, freed the high heel from the grate, and held it out by Jiang Yi’s foot. "See if you can put it on."
After handing her the shoe, Wu Jun straightened up. Seeing Jiang Yi still standing on one leg, he offered her his arm with a smile. "You can lean on me."
"Thank you," Jiang Yi didn’t try to act tough anymore. She thanked Wu Jun, took his arm, and winced, sucking in a sharp breath as she tried several times to put the shoe on, but ultimately failed.
A moment ago, while handing her the shoe, Wu Jun’s gaze had been very close to her foot. He had seen her ankle swelling up; it was clearly sprained.
Seeing this, Wu Jun bent down, picked up the high heel, and held it in his hand. He asked Jiang Yi again, "Do you want me to drive you home?"
"In that case, I’ll have to trouble you, Mr. Wu..." Jiang Yi felt helpless and could only nod. Things were different now. At this point, she couldn’t even walk far enough to hail a taxi.
Jiang Yi felt that she and Wu Jun were practically strangers. They had only met twice and couldn’t even be considered friends yet. If she wasn’t forced by the circumstances, she really didn’t want to trouble Wu Jun and owe him a favor.
"Miss Jiang, you helped me out in a big way last time. This is nothing in comparison, just the least I could do." Wu Jun pointed to a spot nearby. "My car is over there. Can you make it?"
"Yes," Jiang Yi gritted her teeth and pushed on. ’I can’t possibly let him piggyback or carry me there...’
Leaning on Wu Jun for support, Jiang Yi hopped on her injured foot to the car. When she saw he was driving the latest model Mercedes-Benz GLS, she was a little surprised.
’If I remember correctly, doesn’t Mr. Wu run a small supermarket in the neighborhood? Are small supermarkets that profitable now? Profitable enough to afford a big Benz?’
Jiang Yi found herself wondering the same thing as Huang Zili, Bian Xuedao, and Xu Fei’s uncle, Cui Zhishen...
Wu Jun opened the car door, helped Jiang Yi into the back seat, and closed the door for her. Only then did he get in, start the car, and drive out of the underground parking garage.
"Where do you live, Miss Jiang?" Wu Jun asked after pulling onto the main road.
"Lakefront Garden," Jiang Yi gave her address, then thanked Wu Jun again. "Thank you so much for tonight. I’m really sorry to trouble you, Mr. Wu."
Wu Jun shook his head and chuckled. "From the moment we met until now, you’ve thanked me at least five times. Is that a professional habit?"
"Have I?" Jiang Yi smiled faintly and tilted her head as she asked Wu Jun.
Seeing Jiang Yi’s unintentionally playful and cute gesture in the rearview mirror, Wu Jun’s gaze couldn’t help but linger on it for an extra couple of seconds.
’A cool, elegant woman like her is surprisingly potent when she acts cute,’ he sighed inwardly. Wu Jun pulled his eyes away from the rearview mirror, focused on the road ahead, and concentrated on driving.
"By the way," Jiang Yi remembered the rumors about Hongyun Rice she saw on her social media feed today. "Mr. Wu, the rice you’re an agent for, it’s called Hongyun Rice, right?"
"I take it you’ve seen the posts on social media the last couple of days, Miss Jiang?" Wu Jun shook his head with a wry smile. "Good news never travels, but bad news spreads like wildfire. I never thought Hongyun Rice would become famous this way."
"I read a few of those articles," Jiang Yi said. "I’ve been eating the bag of rice I bought from your supermarket, and my parents have been eating the bag I gave them. It’s nothing like what people are saying online. It must be a rumor, right?"
Jiang Yi paused before adding, "And I get the feeling that the authors of those articles have probably never even tried the rice you’re selling, Mr. Wu."
"You’re right," Wu Jun nodded. "Some of them are complete fabrications, and a few others are half-truths mixed with lies, designed to mislead people."
Jiang Yi asked curiously, "Why would something like this happen? A competitor?"
With his left hand on the steering wheel, Wu Jun gave her a thumbs-up with his right. "Miss Jiang, you really are sharp. You saw right to the heart of the matter."
"It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?" Jiang Yi then asked, "Why haven’t you or your company done anything to debunk the rumors after all this time? If you reported this to the food safety bureau, they’d probably handle it quickly, right? Or... are you planning to use this as a chance for some publicity, Mr. Wu?"
Wu Jun shook his head and smiled. "We don’t need that kind of publicity. Our rice has been targeted. Our inspection certificate is being held up, so we’re rushing to find another agency to do the testing."
Jiang Yi paused for a moment and said, "I know a testing agency. How about I introduce you?"
If she hadn’t run into Wu Jun tonight, and if he hadn’t been so kind as to drive her home, Jiang Yi wouldn’t have gone out of her way to offer help. After all, they barely knew each other.
But since the topic had come up so coincidentally, and she had connections in this area, she decided not to hold back.
"That would be great! Thank you in advance, Miss Jiang." Wu Jun asked casually, "What’s the name of the agency you mentioned?"
Jiang Yi said, "De Nuo Food Safety Testing Company."
Hearing the name of the testing company, Wu Jun abruptly pulled the car over.
He yanked the handbrake, then turned to Jiang Yi in surprise. "Which testing agency did you just say?"
"De Nuo Food Safety Testing Company... What’s wrong?" Jiang Yi looked at Wu Jun, confused.
Wu Jun gave a wry, disbelieving laugh. "What a coincidence. That’s the very agency that’s holding up my certificate."
"Huh? That can’t be right. My sister’s company has been open for years, and something like this has never happened." Jiang Yi frowned, completely bewildered.
"Your sister?" Wu Jun froze for a second, then asked, "How much say does your sister have at this agency?"
Jiang Yi replied, "It’s her company. She calls the shots on everything, big or small."
"Heh..." Wu Jun chuckled when he heard her answer. ’I can talk to the person in charge directly. No need to bother with that manager anymore.’
Wu Jun asked Jiang Yi, "Miss Jiang, could I trouble you to give your sister a call and ask her if we can get our certificate issued sooner? We don’t mind paying a higher price, as long as it’s fast."
"Just a moment," Jiang Yi rummaged through a small black purse on the seat next to her, found her phone, unlocked it, and made the call right in front of Wu Jun.
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
The sound of the phone ringing filled the car.
"Mr. Wu, what’s your company’s name?" Jiang Yi asked, turning to Wu Jun while waiting for the call to connect.
Wu Jun said, "Junheng Trading Co., Ltd."
Jiang Yi nodded to show she understood.
"What is it, little sis?" The call connected, and a woman’s voice came from the phone.
Jiang Yi said, "Sis, a friend of mine sent some things to your company for testing, but the certification is being held up. Could you look into it for him and maybe push it along?"
"Little sis, stay out of this," the woman said. "I know what you’re talking about. I’m the one who approved holding it up. That’s all for now, I have to go take care of Ranran."
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
After she finished speaking, the woman hung up. A dead dial tone echoed in the car.
"Well..." Jiang Yi looked at Wu Jun with an embarrassed expression. She had thought it was no big deal, something she could resolve with a single sentence.
She never expected to be shut down by her own sister after saying just one thing.