The moment Shen Yulan said those words, the other end of the call fell silent for a long time.
So long, in fact, that she began to wonder whether Jiang Qingli had hung up.
Only then did Jiang Qingli’s quiet voice finally come through, “Shen Yulan, you’re not joking with me, are you?”
Her voice was cold, making it impossible to tell whether she was angry or calm.
Hearing that, Shen Yulan curled her lips into a meaningful smile. ‘Oh? She’s angry now?’
“What’s wrong? You can’t bear to give him up?” Shen Yulan teased. “Weren’t you the one who said you didn’t like him?”
“Of course not!” Jiang Qingli immediately retorted. “How could I possibly be reluctant to let him go? I just think… I can’t let outsiders gossip about how heartless the Jiang Family is. No matter what, he’s still my younger brother in name. You’d better not get any ideas about him.”
A faint blush crept onto the tips of Jiang Qingli’s ears.
However, Shen Yulan’s question from a moment ago seemed to have planted a seed deep inside her heart.
‘Can’t bear to let him go?’
‘Impossible! Absolutely impossible.’
She did not like Jiang Chen.
It was the kind of dislike where her heart had never once raced for him. Not even once.
So she refused to deceive herself. No matter how much Jiang Chen had done for her, if she did not like him, then she simply did not like him.
But then… what had caused that sudden flutter in her heart just now?
“Hello, Qingli? Are you listening?”
Shen Yulan’s voice finally pulled Jiang Qingli out of her thoughts.
“I never would’ve guessed that a Sister as busy as you would actually have moments when she cared about him.”
Jiang Qingli did not want to entertain her teasing. “I’m in a bad mood. Come have a few drinks with me. Linjiang Club. I’ll wait for you there.”
After saying that, Jiang Qingli hung up.
Shen Yulan’s beautiful eyes shifted thoughtfully. She changed out of her professional attire before preparing to head to the club.
Before leaving, she seemingly casually instructed one of her students, “Xiao Liu, send Jiang Chen a message. Tell him I have a few academic questions I need to discuss with him. Ask him to come see me as soon as possible.”
Only after giving those instructions did she leave for the club.
Meanwhile, back at the Welcome Banquet, Su Zhenyue was still sitting inside the venue, staring blankly in the direction Jiang Chen had left.
She was still wondering whether she had treated Jiang Chen a little too harshly earlier.
After all, everyone knew that Jiang Chen loved her to the bone and regarded her as more precious than his own life.
Making him leave was practically no different from asking him to die.
His claim that he was letting go was probably nothing more than self-deception.
She did not like him, but he had stayed by her side for 3 years.
‘Did I… give him too little?’
“Zhenyue, what are you thinking about?” At that moment, Jiang Haotian, who had just returned from the parking lot, happened to notice Su Zhenyue lost in thought. He hurried over and eagerly offered, “The Welcome Banquet is over. How about I take you home?”
“Zhenyue, there are still some things I want to tell you,” Jiang Haotian said sincerely. “I want to… clear up more of the misunderstandings between us. Can you give me that chance?”
In the end, Su Zhenyue nodded and walked out of the banquet venue.
She was just about to suggest taking her car when a cold night breeze suddenly swept toward her.
Feeling chilled, she almost instinctively reached toward the person beside her and said, “Jiang Chen, your jacket.”
The instant the words left her lips, she realized what she had done.
An inexplicable sense of loss welled up inside her.
Su Zhenyue glanced awkwardly at Jiang Haotian. “Sorry. It’s been 3 years. I’m used to calling his name.”
Those simple words, “It’s been 3 years,” instantly made Jiang Haotian’s expression turn hideous.
“It’s fine, Zhenyue,” Jiang Haotian forced out. “I should actually thank Brother Chen for taking care of you in my place all these years.”
He practically ground out the words “in my place” through clenched teeth.
As he spoke, Jiang Haotian took off his jacket and tried to drape it over Su Zhenyue’s shoulders.
However, Su Zhenyue quietly avoided him and simply got into the car.
Jiang Haotian could only suppress his embarrassment and follow her inside.
Once they were both seated, the interior of the car fell into an almost deathly silence.
Su Zhenyue still had unresolved feelings weighing on her heart. Now that her thoughts had once again drifted toward Jiang Chen, she had absolutely no desire to initiate a conversation with Jiang Haotian.
‘Jiang Chen… he wouldn’t do something foolish, would he?’
Seeing her silence, Jiang Haotian had no choice but to speak first. “Zhenyue, do you still remember what happened 3 years ago?”
“I remember,” Su Zhenyue replied casually.
However, from the corner of her eye, she noticed a little bear plush hanging inside the car. She could not resist taking it into her hands and gently squeezing it.
‘Mm. It smells wonderful.’
Jiang Chen had sewn this little bear plush by hand.
Whenever she had nothing else to do, she liked squeezing it to relieve stress.
He had told her that he had stuffed it with fragrant herbs that could calm the mind and soothe the nerves. He had even placed a tiny recording device inside, so whenever she squeezed it, she could hear his voice.
It was quite fun.
The only problem was that the bear had been sewn so… horribly that she could not even tell what it was supposed to be.
It looked a little like Briar and Bramble, yet somehow also resembled Winnie the Pooh.
‘Damn it… Why am I thinking about Jiang Chen again for no reason?’
“Zhenyue?”
Seeing that Su Zhenyue was barely paying attention to him, Jiang Haotian finally began to panic.
He coughed lightly before continuing, “It’s actually pretty funny when I think about it. Back then, when those people at school were bullying you, I happened to be passing by.”
“At the time, I was handing out flyers on the street while wearing a Briar and Bramble mascot costume. I rushed over because I wanted to stand up for you and play the hero.”
“But in the end, not only did they beat me badly, I even got stabbed.”
“But I… ended up losing you too.”
As he spoke about those memories, Su Zhenyue’s attitude finally softened.
Back then, she had still been the Su Family’s only daughter who had been separated from the family and left outside.
Through an unexpected twist of fate, she had eventually become the Su Family’s sole heir.
Those memories from back then were a nightmare she never wanted to revisit.
The school she had attended was a rural village school. That group of people had been holding knives and intended to slash her face. During the struggle, one of them had thrust a knife toward her.
If that “mascot bear” had not stepped forward to protect her, she did not know what might have happened.
So even though Jiang Haotian had not spent much time with her afterward and had abandoned her to go abroad, he was still the person who had saved her life.
Jiang Haotian keenly caught the trace of emotion in Su Zhenyue’s eyes and immediately pressed his advantage.
“Zhenyue… I want to tell you that I’m sorry,” Jiang Haotian said solemnly. His voice was sincere, and his eyes had turned slightly red. “I know I was a coward back then. I didn’t stay and face everything together with you.”
“Zhenyue, can you give me a chance… to win you back?”
Su Zhenyue’s expression finally softened.
“I’ll ask my father about all of this when I get home. If what you said is true, then we’ll consider everything that happened before to be in the past.”
Her hand was still unconsciously squeezing the little bear plush to relieve her stress.
“Tomorrow, I’ll have Xiaosu arrange for you and Jiang Chen to join Su Corporation. We can talk again then.”
“I’m tired. I’m going home first…”
By then, the car had already stopped outside Su Corporation.
Su Zhenyue opened the door and prepared to get out.
Jiang Haotian’s eyes immediately lit up. He followed Su Zhenyue, intending to enter the Su Family residence with her.
He wanted to strike while the iron was hot and spend more time with her.
After all, he had been gone for 3 years, while Jiang Chen had spent those entire 3 years by Su Zhenyue’s side.
He had to make up for lost time as quickly as possible.
However, he was met by Su Zhenyue’s slightly cold gaze.
“You should go home first,” Su Zhenyue said coldly without even turning her head.
‘Why is he trying to come inside when I never invited him?’
It was already around midnight. Wasn’t behavior like this far too lacking in manners and personal boundaries?
To put it more seriously, this could even be considered poor character.
Although Su Zhenyue had never experienced intimacy between a man and a woman, she was still a woman.
She could easily see through Jiang Haotian’s little intentions.
At that moment, a deep trace of disappointment inevitably flashed through her eyes.