12
The departure of the two had no effect whatsoever on Jiang Siyu’s appetite.
Once the dishes arrived, she savored them at a leisurely pace.
As for the displeasure radiating from Bo Siye when he left—Jiang Siyu couldn’t care less.
On the other side,
By the time Song Qi caught up with Bo Siye, he was already seated in the car.
In the dimly lit cabin, the man sat slumped against the backrest, head lowered, looking dejected.
His suit jacket had been tossed aside, and the shirt and tie underneath were pulled loose and disheveled.
Seeing this, Song Qi knew Bo Siye must have thrown a fit on his own just moments ago.
Song Qi had no idea what exactly had transpired between Bo Siye and Jiang Siyu. All he knew was that ever since he’d started working by Bo Siye’s side, Bo Siye had been searching for Jiang Siyu.
Not only did he hire private investigators, but he also squeezed time out of his schedule to personally go abroad and search aimlessly.
Song Qi had always assumed that Bo Siye and the person he was looking for must have been deeply in love with each other.
That some accident had occurred, causing the two to separate.
But ever since Bo Siye pretended not to recognize Jiang Siyu, Song Qi found himself confused.
“President Bo,” Song Qi spoke up cautiously, “were you angry at Miss Jiang just now?”
“No.” The man’s low voice came through as Bo Siye rubbed his brow. “I was… angry at myself.”
“Huh?” Song Qi was even more puzzled.
But Bo Siye had no intention of explaining himself. Still, he truly was angry at himself.
When he’d first met Jiang Siyu, he’d noticed that she had a faint, indifferent attitude toward everything around her—a weary, world-weary air.
She wasn’t like other girls who had a particular favorite food. She didn’t like flowers, didn’t like clothes, jewelry, or designer bags, and didn’t even enjoy going out.
She was like a drifter living in the real world, as if the moment she lost her anchor, she would vanish from this world entirely.
It was only after a long period of observation that he’d vaguely discovered Jiang Siyu’s fondness for seafood.
But she never took the initiative to order it, nor would she say she wanted to eat it.
Only when she caught the scent would her dim eyes flicker briefly.
After discovering this, Bo Siye took to buying seafood at home, cooking it, and then calling Jiang Siyu over to eat.
At first, Jiang Siyu wouldn’t proactively reach for the seafood on the table—until the first time Bo Siye pushed the crab roe and meat he’d shelled in front of her.
Those eyes—they visibly lit up, truly.
She asked with delight, “For me?”
After receiving Bo Siye’s affirmative answer, Jiang Siyu joyfully took the plate and lowered her head to eat in small, careful bites.
That was the first time Bo Siye had felt such a distinct shift in emotion from Jiang Siyu.
Back then, she liked eating seafood. She was genuinely happy.
But now, she said she didn’t like it anymore.
Bo Siye didn’t know why he felt so sad.
It was just a sudden ache in his heart.
And also… self-reproach.
If he hadn’t argued with her back then, he’d be sitting beside her now, coaxing her to eat what she loved.
So, Bo Siye was angry at himself.
But beyond that, Bo Siye couldn’t help but resent—resent that Jiang Siyu had left so decisively back then, without giving him any chance to regret or beg her to stay.
It was just one argument, the only one they’d ever had.
And it had been enough to sentence him to death.
After finishing her meal at the restaurant, Jiang Siyu took a cab straight back to her place.
As she entered the building, she spotted a man standing at the elevator entrance at a glance.
The man noticed Jiang Siyu’s arrival as well and turned to look at her.
Their eyes met. Jiang Siyu looked at the man before her, who had aged considerably, and furrowed her brow slightly:
“How did you know I was here?”
Only Fu Lin knew where Jiang Siyu lived, and Fu Lin would never betray her.
“The Fu family found out that a property under Fu Lin’s name had been transferred out. It wasn’t hard to guess it was transferred to you.”
Jiang Dingbang replied, looking at his daughter, who had changed so much, with a pang of sadness.
His voice choked as he said, “Ayu, you haven’t come home in four years.”
He’d regretted sending Jiang Siyu abroad the moment he did it, but by the time he went to bring her back, she had already fled from the residence he’d arranged.
She hadn’t attended the school he’d set up for her either, as if she’d vanished completely from the world.
All these years, Jiang Dingbang had been worried, terrified that something might happen to Jiang Siyu out there alone.
Thankfully, she had returned safe and sound.
“That’s not my home.” Jiang Siyu stated calmly.
Hearing this, Jiang Dingbang frowned in disapproval. “How is that not your home? You lived there for twenty years.”
“From the moment my mother died, from the moment my grandparents died, I stopped having a home.”
The fact that used to tear Jiang Siyu apart with heart-wrenching pain whenever mentioned now elicited little reaction from her.
Jiang Dingbang’s expression, however, turned grim.
“I’ve said it countless times—your grandparents’ deaths were an accident. Why won’t you believe me?”
“You want me to believe you, so why won’t you let me keep investigating! Why did you even go so far as to forcibly send me abroad to stop me? I didn’t even get to attend Grandpa and Grandma’s funeral.”
“Mr. Jiang, if you have nothing to hide, then why are you so desperate to cover it up!”
Jiang Siyu’s rebuttal rang out loud and clear, her chest heaving with emotion.
Jiang Dingbang’s lips moved, and it took him a long while before he spoke in a hoarse voice:
“You were fixated on that matter back then. I was afraid that if it blew up, it would affect the company, so I had no choice but to send you abroad.”
“Affecting the company is just an excuse. The real reason is that you have a guilty conscience, isn’t that right?”
“I’m your father. Why can’t you just believe what I say?” Jiang Dingbang asked, bewildered.
Jiang Siyu let out a deep breath. “I no longer wish to pursue this matter, but the Jiang family and I have long since had no connection.”
“Mr. Jiang, you’d better stop showing up in front of me.”
Seeing Jiang Siyu step into the elevator, Jiang Dingbang took a step forward, but froze helplessly in place when he met the warning in her eyes.
Only after the numbers on the elevator display climbed floor by floor did Jiang Dingbang lower his head in pain.
“Ah Yu, it was Dad who was wrong.”
If only he hadn’t forcibly sent her abroad back then, they wouldn’t have ended up like this as father and daughter.
What harm would it have done to let her keep investigating?
Jiang Siyu didn’t know when Jiang Dingbang downstairs had left.
After arriving home and tidying up, she skillfully typed in a web address, found the person she was looking for on the forum, and clicked on their avatar to send a private message.
[Help me look into someone.]
The reply came almost instantly: [Who?]
Jiang Siyu: [Mu Qingye.]
[What do you want to find out?]
Jiang Siyu was silent for a moment as she looked at the question, then slowly typed out a line.
[Find out his relationship with Bo Siye, the current CEO of Fanyu… Or rather, find out if they are the same person.]
On the way back, Jiang Siyu had replayed the entire encounter with Bo Siye at the restaurant.
When she had asked Song Qi that question, Bo Siye’s gesture of touching his bow tie had seemed casual, but the coincidence was that Song Qi only spoke those words after seeing his movement.
And… the design style of that bow tie also looked very familiar.