1
The rain in Haicheng had been falling harder with each passing day over the past two days.
The moment Jiang Siyu stepped out of the airport terminal, water splashed up from the puddles onto her shoes.
A chill spread through her.
Looking at the torrential rain outside, her gaze searched for something in the downpour. After a moment, a flicker of disappointment passed through her eyes.
Ji Yanheng, who had promised to pick her up, wasn’t there.
Perhaps something else had delayed him?
She pulled out her phone to contact Ji Yanheng while turning back into the airport.
The wine-red high heels left imprints on the airport’s cream-colored floor, leaving damp traces spreading across the ground.
As she opened WeChat to contact Ji Yanheng, she noticed a bright red notification in her chat list—an unread message.
The sender was her half-sister, Jiang Yiruan.
Jiang Siyu glanced at Ji Yanheng’s chat box, which showed no new messages, then tapped on Jiang Yiruan’s chat.
A long string of text greeted her eyes.
[Sister, it’s raining so hard and Yanheng-gege has to pick me up from work, so he probably can’t make it to the airport to get you. Sorry, but you’ll have to take a cab home yourself~ Smile·JPG]
Attached below was a video.
In the video, under dim lighting, the man seated at the far left of the sofa had features that remained clearly visible.
A few buttons of his light blue shirt were casually undone, hinting at the muscles beneath, and his aloof expression carried a hint of allure that made one’s heart itch.
As he stood up to grab the car keys from the table, an unexpected phone call disrupted the cold detachment in his brow.
Whatever the person on the other end said, the man’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, and he glanced at the rain outside.
After a brief silence, before the caller could speak again, his voice came through with a deliberate coaxing tone:
“Alright, just wait obediently at the company. I’ll come get you.”
Hearing this, someone in the private room asked, “Hey? Didn’t you say Jiang Siyu is coming back today? Weren’t you going to pick her up?”
The man’s stride didn’t pause for even a moment as he said casually:
“She can wait at the airport for a while. Ruanruan is alone at the company—if I’m late, she’ll get scared.”
The video ended there. Jiang Siyu exited the playback screen and quietly watched the traffic flowing outside the airport.
The message had been sent by Jiang Yiruan an hour ago.
The Jiang family company was about a half-hour drive from the Jiang residence, but with rain this heavy, traffic jams were inevitable.
So… if Ji Yanheng hadn’t shown up by now, he probably wasn’t coming.
Thunder suddenly cracked outside, the noise stirring an involuntary sense of irritation.
Jiang Siyu abandoned the idea of contacting Ji Yanheng and calmly dialed another number.
The call connected quickly, and an excited voice came through the phone: “Ayu, are you out? I’ve reached the airport.”
Hearing the undisguised joy in her tone, the dull ache in Jiang Siyu’s chest eased considerably.
She replied with a smile, “I’m here, at Exit G.”
“Great, I’ll move over right now. Don’t get caught in the rain, okay?” The gentle female voice on the other end reminded her. Soon, a silver sedan pulled into the parking spot outside the exit.
Jiang Siyu quickly jogged over, her swaying pant legs splashing through the puddles, instantly soaking through.
As the passenger door closed, Fu Lin in the driver’s seat glanced at her, and her eyes uncontrollably reddened.
“That bastard Ji Yanheng—he actually stood you up.”
Earlier, when they’d learned the exact time of Jiang Siyu’s return, it was Ji Yanheng who had insistently declared he would personally pick her up.
And what happened in the end?
Good thing Ayu didn’t trust him and had re-arranged the timing with her before boarding, asking her to come instead.
Otherwise, with rain this heavy, who knew when Jiang Siyu would have gotten a cab home.
Hearing Fu Lin vent on her behalf, Jiang Siyu’s hand pulling the seatbelt paused briefly. After a moment, she sighed. “After all, it’s been four years.”
No matter how good the bond had been, it should have faded during those four years of lost contact.
Besides, given Jiang Yiruan and her mother’s personalities, how could they possibly watch her return without doing something?
It could only be said… it was expected.
The moment Jiang Siyu casually let the word “four years” slip out, Fu Lin’s eyes welled up with a stinging sensation again.
Remembering she was still driving, she took a deep breath, quickly composed herself, and switched to lighter topics with Jiang Siyu.
When she learned that Jiang Siyu had actually been in a relationship abroad, she was so shocked she nearly slammed the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road.
Jiang Siyu gripped the seatbelt in fright. “Are you trying to get us killed?!”
Fu Lin quickly found an open-air parking lot and stopped the car, then stared wide-eyed at Jiang Siyu, who had no idea what a bombshell she’d just dropped.
“You actually dated someone?”
Jiang Siyu nodded, though she felt Fu Lin’s reaction was a bit over the top.
She smiled lightly and gave her confirmation again: “Yes, I did.”
Receiving the affirmative answer, Fu Lin said nothing for a while, then let out a soft sigh.
Everyone in their circle had always assumed Jiang Siyu and Ji Yanheng would end up together.
After all, no one could keep pace with Jiang Siyu except Ji Yanheng, and no one could consistently earn her admiration the way he did.
Throughout their childhood, awards came in pairs—if Jiang Siyu took one today, Ji Yanheng was guaranteed to take the next.
But that tacit understanding, that mutual progress, that life where each was always the other’s first choice—it all changed when Jiang Siyu’s father brought his mistress and illegitimate daughter back to the Jiang family.
Thinking back to a few days ago, when Ji Yanheng had learned that Jiang Siyu had decided to return to the country upon hearing news of his impending marriage alliance with the Jiang family—and the smug, self-satisfied expression he’d worn—Fu Lin’s eyes flickered with contempt.
Ji Yanheng had always believed he was irreplaceable in Ah Yu’s heart, the most important and unique presence in her life.
If he ever found out that Ah Yu had already dated someone during her years abroad, what would his reaction be?
He’d probably spit out several pints of blood.
After all, even to this day, he still believed Jiang Siyu was deeply devoted to him, that she would marry no one but him.
Fueled by her irritation with Ji Yanheng, Fu Lin immediately gave Jiang Siyu a thumbs up. “Well done!”
Her eyes darted as a thought struck her, and she pressed further: “But wait—why ‘dated’? Did you two break up?”
Had Fu Lin not asked, Jiang Siyu might have forgotten this memory buried in a dusty corner of her mind.
The image surfaced of that person’s intoxicated, greedy gaze as he gripped her waist and kissed her deeply. Jiang Siyu silently swallowed, a familiar tingling sensation creeping up her scalp for the first time in ages.
Noticing her expression, Fu Lin narrowed her eyes and flashed a wicked grin.
“Swallowing? What are you thinking about?”
Jiang Siyu shot her a glare. “Clean the filth out of your brain. Smiling like such a creep—aren’t you afraid your fans will be disillusioned with you?”
“What filth is in my brain?” Fu Lin restarted the car, replying with a cheerful smile. “I think someone’s feeling guilty, so everything looks improper to her.”
Even with her thick skin, Jiang Siyu couldn’t refute that without her face turning red.
Seeing her silence, Fu Lin knew she’d hit the mark.
She observed the traffic and merged onto the highway before asking again: “So, how long did you two date, and why did you break up?”
A particularly large raindrop suddenly splattered against the passenger-side window.
Jiang Siyu’s gaze instinctively drifted over, lingering on the rain sliding down the glass, as if she could see again the tears the other person had been holding back on the day of their argument.