Jiang Yanjing couldn’t dodge in time and had to let go of Jiang Ning’s wrist.
Jiang Ning gasped for breath with difficulty, barely lifting her eyes, only to find Huang Wanqing standing protectively in front of her.
The young lady who had recently been causing trouble for her because of Jiang Yanjing seemed to have taken the wrong medicine today. She stood directly in front of Jiang Ning, arms spread wide, shielding her as she glared at Jiang Yanjing.
“Can’t you see your sister isn’t feeling well?”
Jiang Yanjing paused for a moment before letting out a light laugh and asking Huang Wanqing, “Since when have you been on the same side as her?”
Huang Wanqing felt a pang of guilt but stubbornly retorted, “None of your business.”
She turned to Jiang Ning and said, “If you’re not feeling well, you should go back.”
Jiang Ning’s condition was visibly poor. Her face was pale, and her downcast eyes seemed shrouded in an inescapable gloom.
It was as if all vitality had been drained from her, her soul drifting away from her body.
Jiang Ning closed her eyes for a moment, taking a moment to steady herself before speaking to Huang Wanqing with difficulty.
“Thank you.”
Though she didn’t know what had happened to Jiang Ning, Huang Wanqing couldn’t help but feel a shared sense of sorrow as she looked at her.
Huang Wanqing was also staying at the hotel while participating in the show and was on her way back to her room when she happened to run into Jiang Ning and Jiang Yanjing.
She admitted that her initial hostility toward Jiang Ning stemmed from overhearing Jiang Yanjing and Jiang Jintao say, “Ningning can hardly live independently like this. It’s fine if she marries me—I’ll take care of her for the rest of her life.”
Although she hadn’t had the chance to learn more about Jiang Yanjing, she finally had a moment of clarity.
If Jiang Ning could manage in Hong Kong, why would she come to S City for such a small variety show?
Once the pampered only daughter of a wealthy family, her father inexplicably brought home an adopted son who took everything that should have belonged to her.
Only after watching Jiang Ning step into the elevator did Huang Wanqing turn to Jiang Yanjing and say irritably, “She’s already hiding in S City. What more do you want?”
“I’m just in S City on a business trip for a project and happened to stay here to discipline my sister,” Jiang Yanjing replied smoothly, appearing every bit the gentleman. “There’s no need for Miss Huang, an outsider, to interfere.”
Huang Wanqing was momentarily speechless.
She truly had no right to meddle in their family affairs, especially since they only had an oral engagement.
Jiang Yanjing smiled slightly. “If Miss Huang were to enter the Jiang family, then you’d have the right to intervene.”
Jiang Yanjing had this kind of trait about him.
He appeared gentle, affectionate, and refined, but in reality, his methods in business were ruthless and cunning, as if he were two different people.
Jiang Yanjing’s striking looks even overshadowed the fact that he was adopted by the Jiang family from an orphanage.
Many sheltered young heiresses in Hong Kong, like Huang Wanqing, who had been influenced by melodramatic romance novels during their school years, were easily drawn to Jiang Yanjing’s multifaceted nature.
They always believed they could become the most special person by the side of the Jiang family heir, the sole recipient of his tenderness.
But witnessing Jiang Yanjing trying to forcibly take Jiang Ning away only deepened Huang Wanqing’s impression of his unreasonable and dictatorial behavior.
Her rose-tinted view of Jiang Yanjing shattered a little more.
She said arrogantly, “Who wants to enter your household? It’s just an oral engagement, don’t tell me you actually took it seriously.”
After saying this, she stormed off angrily.
She didn’t see Jiang Yanjing’s gaze shift to the elevator entrance where Jiang Ning had disappeared after she turned away, his expression gradually turning cold.
…
Jiang Ning returned to her hotel room, found her medicine and swallowed it, then collapsed onto the sofa, not even making it to the bedroom.
But not long after, she staggered to the bathroom. The side effects of the medication made her vomit violently into the sink until she was utterly disoriented.
She didn’t know how much time had passed before Jiang Ning finally recovered.
In the narrow, silent space, only her own labored breathing could be heard.
Such a wretched and pitiful version of herself—even she found it disgusting.
How could it possibly make others feel affection?
Even if there was genuine affection, how long could it last?
Her granduncle and grandaunt had been married for over thirty years.
But under the strain of her granduncle’s illness, even the most stubborn feelings were gradually worn away with each episode.
Her granduncle was a painter. Even though their relationship had become hollow, he still handed over all the money he earned to her grandaunt to manage, as if trying to make up for something.
When Jiang Ning was six years old, she was diagnosed with depression.
At that time, Jiang Jintao still loved her mother deeply, and Jiang Ning’s childhood was spent in a very happy environment.
Yet she was still diagnosed with depression.
It was genetic.
Her granduncle and grandaunt gave up on the idea of having children.
With her mother’s tacit approval, Jiang Jintao went to an orphanage and adopted Jiang Yanjing.
It was like a curse etched into their genes, ensuring that no one could find a happy ending.
Jiang Ning slowly crouched down, leaning against the narrow corner of the bathroom wall, as if sinking deeply into the hallucination of her mother jumping to her death right before her eyes.
Such a woman who loved beauty and feared pain had chosen such a way to leave the world.
This incident became the final straw that broke Jiang Ning.
In the months that followed, her mother’s death made her condition increasingly unstable. When she even began to engage in self-harm, she decided to break up with Xi Yue.
During her periods of poor health, she often took leave from school. Xi Yue only thought she was physically unwell and would fuss over her whenever he saw her at school during that time.
But in the end, he was met with Jiang Ning’s words: “I’ve been avoiding you all this time, haven’t you noticed? I’m tired of this. Let’s break up.”
The impatience in her words left Xi Yue stunned.
After a long while, he forced a smile and said, “Are you in a bad mood? Did something happen to you?”
“No, I just don’t want to play this childish game with you anymore.”
Yet just a few days earlier.
The two of them had been lying side by side on the rooftop of the teaching building, with a blanket of stars overhead, imagining what university life would be like.
Jiang Ning asked, “What’s Beijing University like?”
“It’s alright. I’ll take you there for a visit sometime.”
“Acting like you, a poor kid, have seen it before? It’s the top-ranked university in the country, and you’re this arrogant? Be careful you don’t get in.”
“Worry about yourself. You’ve been taking so much leave lately, you’re falling behind in your classes.”
Jiang Ning fell silent, but Xi Yue beside her continued to gaze at the glittering stars, chattering away.
“When we go to university, I’ll tell you something.”
Jiang Ning was exhausted, but she forced herself to respond softly, “What is it?”
“Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. When the Dragon King descends from the mountain, it will be the day your father beats drums and gongs to welcome me into your home.”
Jiang Ning forced a faint smile and said nothing.
The voices of the boy and girl gradually faded into the night breeze.
She sank once more into a whirlpool of bizarre memories, or perhaps illusions, as if caught in an endless vortex filled with thorns.
Every breath, every movement, brought piercing pain, as if her soul were being torn apart by a thousand cuts.
“Did I do something to upset you? I’ll change, I promise I’ll change… Please don’t break up with me.” The young Xi Yue was clearly panicked to the point of incoherence, yet he struggled to maintain his composure, pleading with Jiang Ning in a humble tone: “I’ll kneel and beg you, okay?”