Shoutout to Alinaza for the commission!
When the car entered the parking lot, from far away, Jiang Se already saw the man standing outside the elevator.
Still the same suit he wore on TV.
A light-gray shirt, a black suit jacket, straight well-pressed suit pants wrapping those long, powerful legs.
When the car lights swept over, he lifted his eyes and looked over.
That overly handsome, cold-hard face was lit up by the light.
Deep brows and eyes, an especially straight nose bridge, and a sharp jawline all outlining curves that stirred a desire to conquer.
Jiang Se got out of the car and slowly walked toward him.
She had a thick white scarf wrapped around her neck, her pointed chin hidden partly in the scarf, her long hair falling loose over her shoulders, making that small, pale face look even smaller and whiter.
It was only when she got closer that she realized Lu Huaiyan had taken off his glasses, no wonder the gaze he put on her was heavier than usual.
Lu Huaiyan looked at her nose, reddened slightly from the cold, “Cold?”
Jiang Se, in a sweater and coat, didn’t feel cold.
On the contrary, it was him, only wearing a thin shirt and suit, with the top button of the shirt undone, and his Adam’s apple jutting above the collar, rising and falling with his words.
“Not cold.”
Her slightly cold voice was trapped in the heavy scarf, carrying a bit of muffled tone.
Lu Huaiyan’s gaze lowered, sweeping over that thick-as-cotton scarf, asking: “A scarf someone made for you?”
Jiang Se gave a soft “mm,” actually in a very good temper, even added a small bit of domestic chatter: “My mom made it.”
People like them had personal assistants buying clothes and accessories since young.
The scarves Jiang Se used to wear were all cashmere luxury brand scarves. This was the first time he’d seen her wearing something this ordinary and thick.
But it was obvious she liked this scarf very much.
The first thing she did when stepping inside was carefully take it off and hang it on the entryway coat rack.
The suite had heating on. Jiang Se took off her coat, changed into indoor slippers before going in. These slippers weren’t here last time, likely something Lu Huaiyan had the butler prepare for her.
On the marble coffee table sat a finely crafted wooden carrying case, its top carved with a crown sitting over a bed of camellias.
That was the emblem used by an old European auction house. They only held two auctions a year, and every invitee was someone of extremely high status.
Lu Huaiyan stood at the boundary between the entryway and the living room, lifting his chin slightly, pointing at the case on the table: “Open it yourself. I’ll go change.”
At his words, Jiang Se lifted her eyes to look at him.
Her eyes were very dark, something like whirlpools in the depths of her pupils, drawing in every strand of light falling from the crystal chandelier.
Lu Huaiyan took one look and lightly laughed: “I smoked. My clothes smell.”
Jiang Se withdrew her gaze.
So earlier, whether in the elevator or entering the suite, he had kept a bit of distance. He was afraid the smoke would cling to her.
But if she came quickly, even in light traffic, it still took nearly twenty minutes.
Why didn’t he change during those twenty minutes?
Why wait until she arrived at the hotel to change?
The man who went into the bedroom walked straight to the dressing room. While taking off his coat, he looked at himself in the mirror and couldn’t help a soft laugh.
When he’d asked if she wanted to see the gift, he had only been looking for an excuse to video call her.
Who would’ve thought that in the middle of the night she would actually come in person.
When her gentle voice passed through the electric current, his body, which had gone nearly twenty-four hours without rest and had been soaked in wine all night, stirred with some inexplicable excitement.
He had to stand in the cold wind for almost twenty minutes to press down the wild impulse surging in his blood.
Lu Huaiyan changed into an all-black casual outfit. When he came out, Jiang Se had already opened the case.
Inside were three bottles of antique liquor, a whisky, a vodka, and a tequila.
She reached out to take the whisky placed on the far left.
The clear liquid, as though infused with crushed gold, sat in a handcrafted crystal bottle, and with a slight shake, the diamonds inlaid at the bottom shimmered.
These antique liquors were priceless even if one had money. Not only was the liquor rare, the bottles themselves were precious jewelry artworks.
A single bottle could equal the price of an apartment in Beicheng.
Such liquors were usually for collecting. But Lu Huaiyan pulled out a cocktail shaker from the bar, handing it to her: “A shaker from 1869. Want to play?”
The shaker was a gift from the auction house, made of pure silver and platinum, beautiful in shape like a slightly elongated urn.
“‘Parisian’?” Jiang Se’s interest in the shaker was greater than her interest in the bottles, “Is it clean?”
Lu Huaiyan laughed: “If it wasn’t clean, would the auction house dare send it to me?”
Hearing this, Jiang Se removed her gloves and went to take apart the shaker.
It was one of the earliest two-piece shakers, with no built-in strainer, making it harder to use than modern ones.
Jiang Se always liked challenges. After opening the three antique bottles, she went to the bar on her own, carried out an ice bucket, and inside an ice pick lay slanted.
Her motions when mixing were elegant, free of flashy tricks. Her long, pale fingers holding the shaker always carried a softness, like holding a lover’s hand.
The three liquors blended into a very light gold, like the color of dawn falling over river water.
When the liquor poured out of the shaker, it was like a long thin ribbon, unhurried and calm as it fell into the crystal glass.
Lu Huaiyan’s gaze traveled from her cold-toned, almost sickly-white fingers up inch by inch to her focused brows.
She seemed unaware, took the ice pick, stabbed the ice hard, clipped a piece of ice and dropped it into the glass, pushing it toward him.
“The drinks I mix can’t go un-drunk. Try it?”
The ice in the glass curved at both ends, like a transparent crescent moon dragged through the liquor, slowly dyed with pale gold.
A kind of decadent beauty.
His fingertip touched the cool, misted glass. Lu Huaiyan smiled at her: “You’re not drinking?”
Jiang Se tossed the ice pick back into the bucket: “In a bit I still have to drive.”
Lying with her eyes open again.
He lifted the glass and took a sip, the liquor rich and fierce. He said, meaning unclear: “What? Afraid I won’t have a room for you to stay?”
Jiang Se put the three bottles of antique liquor back into the case, her expression calm: “Are the rooms here for anyone to stay in?”
Lu Huaiyan gave a low smile: “Do you think anyone can come and stay at my place?”
“Of course not.” Jiang Se lifted her eyes and smiled at him: “Chairman Lu’s place isn’t something anyone can stay at, so I’m being very self-aware, aren’t I?”
As she spoke, her gaze was fixed directly on Lu Huaiyan. He wasn’t wearing glasses; his eyes were dark, his emotions hidden deep.
This time, the girl’s gaze wasn’t just assessing, it was a test.
A test.
Lu Huaiyan remembered the call Han Yin made a few days ago, and the smile in his brow and eyes deepened.
When the man’s dark eyes were tinged with a smile, that blade-like gaze softened in an instant.
Leaning slightly forward, Lu Huaiyan let the black of his eyes show under the trembling lamplight, letting her see the color of his eyes more clearly.
“Jiang Se, with me, you don’t need to have any self-awareness at all.”
Jiang Se met his gaze without blinking. After a moment, she blinked and smiled: “Fine. The liquor stays with you; I’ll come by next time to drink. If I really need to stay over at Chairman Lu’s place, I’ll personally pick the room.”
Pausing, she glanced lightly at the glass in his hand, smiling as she asked: “Is the drink I made good?”
Lu Huaiyan’s Adam’s apple slowly sank, and he said “Mm”: “It’s the kind of drink that can get me addicted.”
“Addictive? That’s high praise.” Jiang Se lifted her eyes and smiled lightly, then casually shifted the topic: “The gift’s been seen, the liquor’s been drunk. How about talking about Cao Liang’s matter?”
Lu Huaiyan’s gaze dropped, landing on her rosy lips.
The same perfectly measured smile again.
For a moment, Lu Huaiyan couldn’t help thinking: how poor must his eyesight have been before, to think her gentle smile so bland, unremarkable, and non-threatening.
He lifted the glass and took another sip.
The ice-cold liquor carved an arc past his Adam’s apple, swallowed silently.
Ironically, the diluted drink felt even stronger.
Lu Huaiyan set down the glass: “Cao Xun will send him abroad next month. Without three to five years, he won’t be able to return.”
Abroad?
That really was lucky for him.
Jiang Se pressed her lips lightly, her smile fading a little: “Why would Cao Xun let him go?”
Cao Liang’s reckless character was in no small part thanks to his brother Cao Xun.
Keeping him under his watch, if something happened, he could at least handle the mess in time. But once abroad, out of reach, without Cao Xun, without the Cao family, who would clean up that b*stard’s mess?
Cao Xun couldn’t possibly not know the consequences of sending Cao Liang abroad.
“Cao Liang really angered his brother this time.” Lu Huaiyan didn’t mention Jiang Tang, tacitly passing over that relationship. “Of course, the involvement of the Lu family also made him cautious. I added an extra clause in the new contract.”
“A new clause?”
Lu Huaiyan casually said “Mm”: “If either party to the contract causes any legal scandal, they must withdraw from this cooperation and compensate the other investors double for losses.”
Because of Tongcheng’s geography and unique cultural accumulation, it’s highly possible that in the next few years it will leap from a third-tier city to second-tier or even new first-tier status.
Such a big piece of cake, the Cao family naturally wouldn’t give up.
Cao Liang’s drunken assault was a hidden risk for the Cao family to safely enjoy this cake.
It wasn’t just about Cao Liang; with Lu Huaiyan’s meticulous and flawless handling, he likely held other shady secrets of the Cao family in his hand.
Like his stepmother’s affair with Lu Jinqin.
Until now, not a whisper had leaked, all tightly suppressed by him.
Such a careful-minded yet ruthless person, clearly not wanting to waste energy on the Tongcheng project, yet he came anyway.
Jiang Se looked at Lu Huaiyan: “Why is the Lu family joining the Tongcheng project?”
The man didn’t answer, only smiled and asked: “Didn’t you not want to know the reason?”
He was referring to when they drank tea at the bamboo house and he escorted her down the mountain.
At that time, she only wanted to inquire about the old district redevelopment, not the reason for Lu family involvement.
Now she wanted to know.
“Back then I really didn’t want to know, but now haven’t I changed my mind?” Jiang Se lightly brushed her just-removed gloves with her long fingers, eyes lifting slightly, and calmly said: “Does it really involve business secrets? You can’t say?”
Lu Huaiyan swirled the crescent-shaped ice in his glass; the faint smile in his half-lowered eyes grew.
“How could I not say? I already told you, with me, you don’t need any self-awareness at all.” He said softly, “You already anonymously sent out the video, didn’t you? That video came from me; I’m now your accomplice. If anything really happens, with the Lu family and me in front, the Cao family can’t touch you.”
Accomplice.
Two simple words made Jiang Se involuntarily recall a sentence she once read: 【My lifelong wish is to become an accomplice with someone.】
Such a simple yet romantic phrase.
And when a voice soaked in strong liquor speaks that phrase, it’s hard to say there’s no other implication.
Like ambiguity, and also a very gentle intrusion.
Jiang Se pressed her lips, a faint smile forming at the corners.
Indeed, as Lu Huaiyan said, a few days after getting the video, she sent it to the medical school girl but she hadn’t followed up.
After all, she couldn’t and didn’t want to interfere with what others chose to do.
“Has she decided to sue Cao Liang?”
“No.” Lu Huaiyan said. “At least not yet. Rather, her family seems to want to get more money from the Cao family after receiving the video.”
People are like that: once they taste sweetness, they want more.
Originally, with only an eyewitness testimony, even if the girl’s brother told the truth, it wouldn’t necessarily convict Cao Liang. But now, the victim is awake and has the video from that night, greatly increasing the probability of successfully convicting Cao Liang.
But very obviously, they still chose to settle it privately, chose money.
This is reality.
Justice and fairness are sometimes too illusory, not everyone dares to risk everything to seek fairness for themselves; the money tightly held in one’s hand is what’s most real.
Jiang Se lowered her eyelashes.
Long lashes cast a faint shadow.
Lu Huaiyan looked down at her: “Very disappointed?”
“I am not her, I have no position to judge her choice, and even less qualification to be disappointed.” Jiang Se lifted her eyelashes, the dark eyes without any emotion, calm like a mirror, “Besides——”
Her voice paused slightly.
Lu Huaiyan stared into her eyes: “Besides what?”
“Besides,” Jiang Se’s voice was very light and faint, “maybe she’s only gathering strength, waiting for the day she can strike back hard, instead of now throwing an egg at a rock.”
Lu Huaiyan quietly looked at her, after a while, he smiled: “A long time ago, Cen Li once said something really hard to understand.”
“What did he say?”
“He said,” the man leaned lazily back against the sofa, slowly repeating, “whoever you offend, don’t offend our Sese.”
Back then Lu Huaiyan thought those words were just Cen Li warning others not to bully his little sister. Now thinking back, it seemed to have some other meaning.
This girl, she’s someone who repays every grievance.
That “Sese,” with its tail note, lightly drifting out from the man’s especially low voice, inexplicably carried a bit of lingering flavor.
Jiang Se’s lashes paused, then she quickly curved her lips and nodded: “That’s quite right.”
She then lifted her hand to look at her watch, saying: “The gift I’ve seen, the follow-up on Cao Liang I also know, I should go.”
Lu Huaiyan downed the wine in his glass in one go. The crescent-shaped piece of ice had already melted into thin shards, sliding into his tongue along with the wine.
The man looked at Jiang Se, waited until the cool little ice shards turned into a pool of water, then slowly swallowed, stood up and said: “I’ll send you.”
Jiang Se didn’t refuse, nodded slightly, smiling as she thanked him.
This time, Lu Huaiyan sent her to the underground parking lot without any obstacles at all, even very gentlemanly opening the car door for her.
As he bent down to hold the car door, Jiang Se passed by him, her scarf brushing past the side of his shoulder, and in the dry air a light “crackle” sounded.
The strands of hair hanging outside her scarf were pulled by static electricity, floating one by one toward the man’s shoulder.
Jiang Se subconsciously turned her head to look, and because of that movement, more and more of her black hair impatiently leaned toward his shoulder.
Their distance at this moment was extremely close, close enough to clearly smell the dark cedar scent on him stained with strong liquor.
Jiang Se lifted her eyelashes a little.
In one glance she ran straight into his dark gaze, the man’s pitch-black pupils reflecting her cool eyes.
A moment of eye contact.
Jiang Se curved her lips, lightly said: “Good night then, Lu Huaiyan.”
Lu Huaiyan also curved his lips slightly, answering in a faint voice: “Good night, Jiang Se.”
Jiang Se turned her head, lowered herself into the car seat.
Those strands of hair that had tangled at Lu Huaiyan’s shoulder brushed against the soft fabric, falling off one by one.
Lu Huaiyan looked at the girl in the driver’s seat and slowly stepped back a few steps.
Only when that little purple electric car completely disappeared did he tilt his head slightly, lift his hand, and gently rub the patch of fabric her hair had touched.
—
By the time she returned to Xiangshu Lane, it was already early morning.
The sky was still dark; the frost on the eaves reflected a pale, bleak glow like snow.
The whole world seemed night yet not night, morning yet not morning.
Jiang Se stood by the window, looking at that faint light in the darkness, and sent Zhang Yue a WeChat message: 【Okay, I will guard the qipao shop, you’re responsible for making that qipao for me. You know what kind of qipao I want, I want to know all the stories inside it.】
