The autumn night wind was chilly, and after walking for half an hour, Zhao Louyue’s face was numb from the cold. The car parked not far away was just a ruse to fool Wang Xiuyu. He could see Jiang Shen’s wariness and hesitation, and of course, he had no intention of staying.
Zhao Xiangting got scammed out of five thousand bucks by the jerk he broke up with last time, haha. Zhao Louyue was busy heading back to deal with the mess on the other side.
Wang Xiuyu cleaned Jiang Shen’s room every couple of days, so even though it hadn’t been occupied for a while, it smelled fresh, and the bedding was soft and fluffy, having been aired out that morning.
Jiang Shen had been quite exhausted lately. In the familiar environment, with Wang Xiuyu tidying his clothes and speaking softly beside him, Jiang Shen initially responded with a few words, but soon he was only able to manage a few monosyllabic “mm” sounds. Within half a minute, he was completely silent.
Wang Xiuyu put down the clothes and stared at the back of Jiang Shen’s round head for a long time. She took a deep breath, and tears fell silently. Wang Xiuyu knew how hard Jiang Shen worked, but what could she do? The child belonged to someone else. Although they had raised him for twenty years, they couldn’t help at all.
Wang Xiuyu gently patted Jiang Shen’s head, turned off the light, and quietly left the room.
Jiang Shen slept until late morning, and when he opened his eyes, he felt like most of the energy that had been drained from him recently had returned. He got up, dressed, and headed straight to the bathroom next door. Wang Xiuyu smiled and asked, “Awake?”
Jiang Erkun, nearby, teased loudly, “I thought you’d only wake up to the smell of lunch.”
“I’m really hungry,” Jiang Shen mumbled through his toothbrush. “Is there anything to eat?”
“I left some buns and millet porridge for you in the pot.”
“Great!”
After eating, Jiang Shen helped shuck some corn in the sunlit courtyard. Jiang Erkun carefully asked about his health. It was the same old stomach issue that had landed him in the hospital. He had met a lot of people that week, including several heavy drinkers. Jiang Shen couldn’t avoid it and ate a mix of things, which eventually led to unbearable pain and a trip to the emergency room. He stayed in the hospital for three days and then recovered.
Jiang Erkun took a deep drag on his cigarette, staring at the distant, rolling mountains. His eyes, clouded with countless unspoken words, finally settled on a low, solemn reminder: “You can’t earn all the money in the world. Health is the most important.”
“I know, Dad.”
The last bus was at 6:30, and Jiang Shen lingered until 5:40 before leaving. The elderly couple saw him off onto the bus and watched him go until he was out of sight.
Jiang Shen stared out at the passing fields and forests. As when he arrived, the skyscrapers and dazzling lights came back into view. The genuine softness in his eyes was deeply hidden again, and he became the aloof, refined, and exceptionally capable heir of the Jiang family once more.
Back in Lin Du, Jiang Shen only saw Zhao Louyue once at a business conference a month later. But at that time, he was pressed for time, and Zhao Louyue was surrounded by a crowd. Their eyes met briefly across a dozen people, both slightly startled. With so many eyes watching, Jiang Shen remained indifferent, and Zhao Louyue stayed composed. Neither showed any extra emotion, as if what happened in Yuwei Village was just an insignificant floating bubble.
In the blink of an eye, the sky suddenly turned overcast. When the first raindrop fell, the autumn rain began its endless downpour. Jiang Shen put on a thick sweater, worried that Wang Xiuyu wouldn’t believe him, so he took a photo and sent it over. Wang Xiuyu reminded him to wrap up in a scarf.
Such weather always carried a hint of melancholy.
At 7 PM, in a high-end bar, Jiang Shen finished a pleasant conversation with a business partner. The partner was quite satisfied, putting on his coat while talking about his daughter, “She sent over a dozen voice messages, all in her cute little voice.”
“Waiting for you to go home.”
“Yes.” The partner’s face lit up with happiness. “It’s getting late. Vice President Jiang, you should head home early too.”
“Alright.”
After the partner left, Jiang Shen sat at the bar and ordered a glass of fruit juice with ice. He wasn’t sure what kind of argument Jiang Mao and Tian Lu had recently, but the atmosphere at home was strange, and Jiang Shen didn’t really want to go back. He wasn’t familiar with Jiang Mao and couldn’t get close to Tian Lu. He was at a loss when it came to handling these complicated relationships.
He planned to leave after finishing his drink by 9 PM. The bar wasn’t very crowded tonight. The liveliest group had left, leaving only a few scattered patrons.
In the adjacent booth, a group of three to five people sat. Jiang Shen had noticed them earlier but didn’t pay much attention until a mocking whistle pierced his eardrums, followed by laughter. Jiang Shen glanced over casually, and his gaze froze.
Zhao Xiangting felt really unlucky, coming to the bar to pick someone up and running into the group of friends of the jerk he broke up with. The jerk was named Jia Xinjue, who had been beaten into the hospital by his brother a month ago. The Jia family had said all the right things and kept the news tightly under wraps. Jia Xinjue was probably still recovering, as it takes a hundred days to heal from such injuries.
But Jia Xinjue’s friends didn’t know this. The surname Zhao was too common, and who would associate him with Zhao Louyue of “Ting’an Technology”? Zhao Xiangting was low-key, and his tendency to be overly generous to those he liked made him seem a bit like a pushover.
This group, drunk and rowdy, blocked his way, and Zhao Xiangting was pondering what to do. Zhao Louyue was ruthless, but Zhao Xiangting had been raised with a kind heart and didn’t want to escalate things unless necessary.
“What, missing our brother Jia so much you came looking for him?”
Zhao Xiangting explained, “I’m not here for him…”
He didn’t even finish his sentence before the other side started crowing like a rooster.
Zhao Xiangting tried to leave again, but someone stretched out a leg to block him.
“Zhao Xiangting,” someone gestured to the messy table, “show us something? Maybe we’ll put in a good word for you with Xinjue later.”
Zhao Xiangting blinked. They were really trying to make him the fool here.
He gritted his teeth, “I don’t have any money left!”
“You don’t have money? Then why are you in a place like this? Waiting to leech off our brother Jia?”
Zhao Xiangting: “That’s not true. I really don’t like him anymore.”
This statement was like poking a hornet’s nest. The other side listed all the things Zhao Xiangting had done for Jia Xinjue over the past few months, covering every detail. By the end, Zhao Xiangting’s face was red. Was he really that much of a pushover before?
And that wasn’t all. This group wanted Zhao Xiangting to admit he still liked Jia Xinjue.
“If I admit it, will you let me go?”
The other side found Zhao Xiangting’s embarrassed and patient demeanor amusing and nodded, “Yes!”
Zhao Xiangting breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he could deal with it after leaving. So he stammered, “Mm, I still have feelings for him.”
Jiang Shen, who heard it all clearly: “…”
Is Zhao Louyue sure he dealt with his brother? It seems like it was all talk and no action. Clearly, he hasn’t hit hard enough.
The group was ecstatic, pulling out their phones to record. Zhao Xiangting hurriedly covered his face, telling them not to, but no one listened.
Jiang Shen didn’t have Zhao Louyue’s contact information. He watched for a moment, then put down his drink and stood up.
Jiang Shen was starting to believe Cong Gaoxuan’s description of Zhao Xiangting as a “sticky rice dumpling.” It seemed that night he was just unlucky, catching Zhao Xiangting at a rare moment of temper. Fortunately, he got a “Are you blind?” Otherwise, with the momentum from that night, he could have shouted his way out of there.