She clenched her phone so tightly her hand trembled with anger.
There was no way she would call him a second time. But she couldn’t accept being brushed off like this, nor could she risk giving him the chance to reconcile with Shen Shuhe.
She opened their WeChat chat and sent a message:
Me or her? Are you choosing her?
She had always been skilled at using this kind of pitiful, ambiguous tone—one that invited endless speculation—to get what she wanted.
Before the Shen Group went bankrupt, she intended to keep Zhou Jiayan hanging on.
After hitting send, she exited the chat. At the top of her screen, a seven-member group chat had accumulated dozens of unread messages.
She tapped it open and scrolled through the conversation with her crystal-studded manicured nails.
The chat was filled with photos of a lavishly decorated villa. Colorful lights, mood lighting, champagne towers, a gift corner, and a flower wall filled every room.
Everywhere in the pictures were “Happy Birthday” banners—some as stickers, others formed by glowing lights.
At the bottom of the chat, someone had tagged her:
“Qingqing, take a look. Does this setup look okay? Anything you want changed? If you’re happy with it, you can bring Mingshu over anytime!”
The six other members were the socialite friends who had defended her throughout Lu Mingshu’s birthday party the day before.
Earlier at the Shen Group, Jiang Wanqing had deliberately told Shen Shuhe she was waiting for Zhou Jiayan to finish withdrawing his investment so they could have dinner together afterward.
That had been nothing more than a provocation.
She already had plans for the evening and had no intention of spending it with Zhou Jiayan.
After reading the messages, she didn’t reply immediately. Instead, she initiated a voice call with Lu Mingshu.
The call was answered almost instantly.
“Wanqing?”
“Mingshu, are you free tonight?” Jiang Wanqing asked sweetly. “Yesterday’s birthday party was ruined because of me. Let me make it up to you tonight, okay? Just the girls—no one else.”
What had kept her awake all night wasn’t only the humiliation of Lu Yanzhou publicly defending Shen Shuhe.
What troubled her even more was that she had no idea what kind of relationship Lu Yanzhou and Shen Shuhe now had.
Shen Shuhe had claimed she already had a fiancé and had nothing to do with Lu Yanzhou.
But what about Lu Yanzhou?
How did he see Shen Shuhe?
Only Lu Mingshu could answer that.
“Tonight?” Lu Mingshu sounded apologetic. “I’m afraid I can’t, sweetheart.”
“…Oh.” Jiang Wanqing’s voice fell. “Why not? I’ve spent the whole day decorating the venue…”
“Thank you!” Lu Mingshu explained. “But I’m back at the family estate tonight. My brother and I are having dinner with Grandpa. You know how it is—I absolutely can’t get out of it. If I try to skip, my dad will break my legs.”
Three generations of the Lu family were constantly occupied with work. It was incredibly rare for everyone to gather around the same dinner table.
She had been back in China for nearly half a month.
Her brother had only returned to Beijing two days earlier.
Her mother was still overseas attending an academic conference.
Her father had only arrived back in Beijing that morning.
It was barely enough to count as a complete family reunion.
Jiang Wanqing immediately sounded understanding.
“I understand.”
“Talk later then.”
“Wait…” Jiang Wanqing stopped her. “Mingshu… can I come with you?”
“Huh?”
Using a cautious voice filled with anticipation and nervousness, Jiang Wanqing said,
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen Grandpa Lu. I’d really like to visit him. Mingshu… could I join you for dinner at the family estate tonight?”
Ever since Jiang Wanqing had gotten into a fight defending Lu Mingshu overseas and ended up hospitalized, Lu Mingshu had rarely refused any request from her.
But this time, she rejected her almost without hesitation.
“I’m afraid that’s impossible.”
Jiang Wanqing remained silent, deliberately letting out a soft sniffle that was unmistakably audible over the call.
Lu Mingshu hurried to explain.
“The security at our family estate is even stricter than at Xishan Villa. Ever since Grandpa retired, he almost never meets outsiders.”
“If our family wants to bring friends or guests home, we have to submit a request a week in advance and wait for approval.”
“Next time, okay? I’ll tell Grandpa you were asking about him.”
She wasn’t exaggerating.
Her grandfather’s identity was far too sensitive for him to casually receive visitors.
Jiang Wanqing answered quietly,
“Okay… I understand.”
After hesitating, she carefully asked,
“Is Brother Yanzhou still misunderstanding me because of Shen Shuhe?”
She paused before voicing the question she cared about most.
“Mingshu… do you think Shen Shuhe could be Brother Yanzhou’s girlfriend?”
Lu Mingshu instinctively wanted to deny it.
But yesterday’s events flashed through her mind, and the words died in her throat.
For all these years, her brother had never kept women around him.
Yet yesterday, someone as low-profile as Lu Yanzhou had publicly and openly defended Shen Shuhe.
It was undeniably unusual.
“I don’t think so,” Lu Mingshu replied. “But… my brother really does seem to like Shen Shuhe.”
“I’ll sound him out later. If I find anything, I’ll let you know.”
The words “my brother really does seem to like Shen Shuhe” pierced Jiang Wanqing’s heart like a knife.
Even after the call ended, she couldn’t calm herself.
She reopened the seven-person group chat and typed:
Wanqing: Thanks, everyone. It looks beautiful.
Wanqing: It’s just that Mingshu has to have dinner with Grandpa Lu tonight, so she can’t come.
Wanqing: By the way, can anyone get the photos or videos from Zhou Jiayan and Shen Shuhe’s engagement banquet the day before yesterday?
Wanqing: I just got back to China, and you girls are the only people I’m in touch with here.
Wanqing: @Everyone Thanks so much! 😊
Her conversation with Lu Mingshu had filled her with a growing sense of crisis.
Why had she sabotaged Shen Shuhe’s engagement to Zhou Jiayan?
Because, a very long time ago…
She had once caught the way Lu Yanzhou looked at Shen Shuhe.
Standing behind the stage curtain, he had stared at her without blinking, as though Shen Shuhe, standing beneath the spotlight, was the only light in the world.
She wanted to extinguish that light.
She wanted Shen Shuhe to sink into darkness forever, never again able to attract his attention.
It was a secret she had never even told Lu Mingshu.
If Shen Shuhe really had become engaged to another man, she intended to show the engagement video to Lu Yanzhou.
Meanwhile, at the Lu family estate…
Lu Mingshu sat on the sofa, staring intently at Lu Yanzhou.
Part of her was still upset over the argument they’d had at yesterday’s birthday banquet and didn’t want to be the first to speak.
But another part of her was dying to know exactly what his relationship with Shen Shuhe was.
Lu Yanzhou calmly ignored her.
Only after noticing Grandpa Lu coming downstairs did he finally glance at her.
“If you’ve got something to say, say it.”
Lu Mingshu had never been one to hold grudges and was easy to placate.
Even though his tone wasn’t exactly warm, the fact that he spoke first made her assume he was trying to make peace.
She asked directly,
“What’s your relationship with Shen Shuhe? Are you dating? Is she your girlfriend?”
Lu Yanzhou lifted his eyes and answered only the last question.
“No.”
They were married.
Lu Mingshu didn’t mind that he’d answered only one question.
That was the one she cared about most.
She grinned in relief.
“I knew it. You’re my brother, after all. Your taste can’t possibly be that bad—you’d never date a woman like her.”
Before Lu Yanzhou could respond, Grandpa Lu spoke first.
“What do you mean ‘bad taste’? What girlfriend? Yanzhou, do you have someone you’re seeing?”
Lu Yanzhou gave a quiet nod.
“I do.”
Grandpa Lu’s eyes immediately lit up with delight.
“Which family’s daughter is she? Bring her home soon so your grandmother and I can meet her!”
Smiling faintly, Lu Yanzhou replied,
“Once everything is settled, I’ll definitely bring her to meet both of you.”
Off to the side, Lu Mingshu merely pouted and said nothing to expose what she believed was her brother’s lie.
She didn’t believe him for a second.
Ever since Grandpa Lu officially retired two years ago, all he talked about was holding a great-grandchild.
His greatest wish was for four generations under one roof, and he’d constantly been urging Lu Yanzhou to get married, even secretly trying to set him up on dates.
As far as Lu Mingshu was concerned, her brother was simply saying this to reassure their grandparents.