Scorching breath crept into Su Lingyu’s ear, stirring an unbearable tingling sensation.
Just moments ago, Shen Qiao had spoken to her with similar closeness, yet the words he uttered were entirely different.
Su Lingyu blinked. “Am I hearing things?”
“No.”
Jiang Yuli tilted his head slightly, his gaze tracing the contours of her brows and eyes. “Pao Pao, I don’t do things without official status.”
Pao Pao?
Why would he suddenly call her by her childhood nickname?
Su Lingyu instinctively pushed him away. “Oh, then no kissing.”
A barely noticeable flicker of disappointment passed through Jiang Yuli’s eyes as he slumped back, dragging out his words: “Su Lingyu, I won’t be the other man—”
“You’re quite moral.”
“Not everyone is a pervert like you.”
“You’re scolding me too…” Su Lingyu’s voice trailed off, tinged with grievance.
“That’s not what I meant.” Jiang Yuli wanted to explain, but found she had already turned away, clearly unwilling to engage further.
Su Lingyu crouched beside the coffee table and began eating with her head down.
Was she having an episode?
Jiang Yuli knew she suffered from Separation Anxiety Disorder and understood the condition. Binge eating was precisely a manifestation of inner unease.
But now, Shen Qiao’s plane had long since soared into the clouds.
He couldn’t help her.
Jiang Yuli hated himself for not being able to become Su Lingyu’s cure.
Su Lingyu hadn’t developed any dependency on him.
Outside the window, the pitter-patter of rain suddenly intensified, transforming into a torrential downpour that slammed violently against the floor-to-ceiling window. Meandering water trails instantly blurred the world outside.
The VIP lounge seemed to become an isolated island cut off by the rain.
With her cheeks puffed out, Su Lingyu worried: “Heavy rain… The flight won’t be delayed, will it?”
Jiang Yuli replied indifferently: “Possibly.”
“Please no…”
Su Lingyu’s pretty face immediately fell, her lips pressed together in a pout.
Without someone close by, that panic of being abandoned would suffocate her.
She rushed to the floor-to-ceiling window, pleading with the gloomy sky: “Heavens, please stop raining… I want to go home~ I need to go home…”
Outside, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, the thick curtain of rain devouring all scenery, leaving only struggling blurred lights.
Damn it!
What if it really gets delayed?
Su Lingyu clasped her hands together, praying desperately for the rain to stop. She was so focused that she didn’t notice another figure approaching reflected in the glass.
Until a suit jacket carrying body warmth was gently draped over her shoulders.
That unfamiliar, crisp yet warm scent instantly enveloped her.
So feeling cold earlier wasn’t a precursor to an episode.
The indoor lighting was soft, while outside the heavy rain poured.
On the glass, Jiang Yuli’s handsome features were blurred into indistinct color patches by the water trails.
A deep voice came from behind: “Don’t catch cold.”
Huh?
The seemingly cold and ruthless Jiang Yuli actually had such a gentle side?
Su Lingyu instinctively tightened the suit jacket around her shoulders and turned to thank him: “Thank you, Uncle.”
Jiang Yuli remained expressionless: “Don’t misunderstand. If you get sick, I can’t explain it to your brother.”
Su Lingyu was the treasured daughter of the Su family. The slightest mishap, and the Su family would never let it go.
That idiot Shen Qiao!
Couldn’t even recognize an opportunity when it was right in front of him.
With that level of intelligence, he still wanted to compete with me for the inheritance of Baichuan? Foolish nephew.
A blinding lightning bolt tore across the sky, followed immediately by a thunderclap that made the glass vibrate. Su Lingyu trembled, her lips instantly draining of color.
Jiang Yuli’s eyes darkened slightly, his feet unconsciously shifting half a step forward. “Scared?”
“No!” Su Lingyu retorted stubbornly.
The heavy rain curtain made the sky unusually gloomy. She was afraid of the dark, and even more afraid that the plane would never take off!
Stubbornly, she turned back and continued praying for the rain to stop.
The rain didn’t stop, but the airport announcement mercilessly blared: Due to persistent heavy rainfall, all flights are suspended. Passengers are requested to check in at nearby hotels.
Su Lingyu and Jiang Yuli followed the crowd outward.
Just then, she watched wide-eyed as a plane broke through the rain curtain and resolutely took off!
Frustrated, she slapped Jiang Yuli’s arm repeatedly. “Uncle! Uncle! Look! It took off! Why can’t our plane fly?”
A faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at Jiang Yuli’s lips. “That’s Shandong Airlines.”
“If only we’d taken a connecting flight with Shandong Airlines… Better than being stuck here…” Su Lingyu’s pretty face scrunched up like a bitter melon.
The airport terminal was bustling with hurried travelers jostling shoulder to shoulder.
Suddenly, Su Lingyu was roughly bumped by a reckless passerby.
“Ouch—”
The person showed no apology and vanished into the crowd in an instant.
Jiang Yuli firmly grasped her wobbling arm and pulled her through the chaotic, noisy stream of people.
Wrapped in his oversized suit jacket and stumbling in her high heels, Su Lingyu struggled to keep up with his swift strides.
Inside and outside the airport, it was a dark, crowded scene—boisterous voices, the patter of rain, taxis lined up in a long queue, their flickering headlights dizzying.
“President Jiang.” Two subordinates approached with umbrellas.
Jiang Yuli took one and held it steadily over Su Lingyu’s head. “Let’s go.”
“Where to?”
“The hotel.”
The rain was torrential; the umbrella tilted almost entirely toward Su Lingyu.
In just over ten meters, half of Jiang Yuli’s sleeve was soaked through, while Su Lingyu had only a few splashes of wetness on her shoe tips.
The road to the hotel was severely congested, the car inching forward slowly through the rain. Su Lingyu took off the suit jacket and draped it over her knees, her fingers unconsciously twisting and crumpling the expensive fabric until it was full of wrinkles.
They bypassed the shabby budget hotel near the airport and checked into a slightly farther star-rated hotel.
Two rooms.
At the doorway, Su Lingyu hastily muttered, “Goodnight, Uncle,” before closing her own door.
Late at night.
Jiang Yuli tossed and turned in restless dreams. In the dream, his younger self clung desperately to his father’s leg, sobbing, “Dad, I don’t want to go abroad… Dad, I want to live with you… Brother, I don’t want to leave…”
His father coldly pried his hands away and ordered the bodyguard, “Take the young master to the car.”
At eight years old, he was forcibly shoved into the car. Outside the window, only the icy backs of his father and elder brother remained…
The doorbell sharply pierced through the dream.
Su Lingyu?!
He jolted awake, rolled out of bed, and rushed to open the door.
Outside, a strong wave of alcohol hit him. Su Lingya stood there, holding a bottle of red wine in one hand and two glasses in the other, her cheeks flushed and her gaze hazy and unfocused.
“Uncle, I can’t sleep… Have a drink with me?” Drunkenly, she wobbled in without waiting for a response.
Insomnia… Another symptom of separation anxiety.
Without Shen Qiao around, she couldn’t sleep peacefully.
That damned eldest nephew of his couldn’t even take care of his own girlfriend properly.
Jerk.
Jiang Yuli closed the door, frowning as he watched her.
Su Lingyu slumped onto the sofa, clumsily pouring two glasses of wine, the liquid nearly spilling over the rims. “Here, Uncle… this one’s extra full for you!”
Jiang Yuli took the glass but didn’t drink, his profound gaze examining her unusual state.
“Cheers!” Su Lingyu clinked her glass against his on her own accord, then threw her head back and downed the drink.
Bang!
The glass suddenly slipped from her hand, shattering upon impact with the carpet.
Holding his own glass, Jiang Yuli raised a subtle eyebrow, an elusive flicker passing through his eyes as he found himself thinking that taking a sip now might not be so bad.
“That bastard Shen Qiao!!” Su Lingyu suddenly erupted, her voice choked with tears. “He abandoned me at the airport all alone… Just wait until I get back… I’m definitely going to report him!”
After her outburst, the emptiness in her heart remained unfilled. Panic, headache, nausea… the familiar suffocating sensation seized her once again. Every quarterly physical examination showed nothing wrong with her body—it was her psychological affliction acting up again.
She was having an episode.
The sources of security she relied on for survival—her parents, her brother, Shen Qiao—were all absent at this moment.
Beside her remained only Jiang Yuli.
She lifted her head, her damp eyes looking helplessly at him, fragile as a butterfly drenched in the rain.
“Uncle…”