Shoutout to Alinaza for the commission!
Three days later was January sixteenth.
The lawyer called early in the morning, saying the old lady wanted to mediate.
The other party had also hired a lawyer. Probably after being persuaded, they realized that if they really went to court, things wouldn’t end well, so they obediently backed down.
When signing the mediation agreement, the old lady completely changed from her previous arrogance, pulling a miserable face: “Miss Jiang, you’re so rich. Why do you still want this old woman to pay the lawyer’s fee?”
Jiang Se held a fountain pen, her voice warm as she smiled: “There’s only this one chance to mediate. If you’re not willing, we can continue with litigation.”
The old lady had been lectured about the law recently, and knew that going head-to-head with Jiang Se would only lead to bigger loss. She reluctantly lowered her head and signed.
The mediation agreement resolved not only the smashed painting, but also the original property dispute over “Zhang Xiu.”
Jiang Se took the agreement to find Zhang Yue.
Before coming to Tongcheng she had already looked into Zhang Yue’s background. Her past was never a secret to Jiang Se, including her current address.
Seeing Jiang Se suddenly appear at her door, Zhang Yue wasn’t surprised, only said calmly: “If Miss Jiang has something to say to me, there’s no need to come all this way. Saying it on the phone would be the same.”
Jiang Se lifted the agreement in her hand, raised her chin toward the inside, and smiled: “Not inviting me in? Some things are more appropriate to say here than on the phone.”
Zhang Yue glanced at her, then moved her body aside to let her in.
After entering, Jiang Se stood at the entryway, quietly taking in the place.
It was a simply decorated two-bedroom apartment. Although not large, it was arranged very warmly and comfortably. Everything inside came in pairs, even a pair of men’s indoor slippers in the shoe cabinet.
The slippers looked new; clearly no one had used them.
Seeing Jiang Se lower her head to remove her shoes, Zhang Yue said: “No need to change shoes. No one comes here usually, I don’t have extra slippers for you.”
Jiang Se still took off her ankle boots and went in wearing only her socks.
The two sat on the fabric sofa in the living room. Zhang Yue poured her a cup of warm water and said: “Miss Jiang, just say whatever you want. Has there been progress on the qipao shop matter?”
Zhang Yue was very thin. The hand she extended with the cup of water was so pale it looked like it had never seen daylight.
Jiang Se took the cup of water, “Thank you, it is indeed about the qipao shop. The group of people who harassed you before won’t come bother you again. This is the mediation agreement that was just notarized.”
“Mediation?” Zhang Yue was slightly surprised, “Little Miao said you weren’t planning to mediate with them.”
“I changed my mind,” Jiang Se said lightly, “going through litigation would take a few more months or even longer, I don’t want to waste time on this.”
She handed the mediation agreement to Zhang Yue. Zhang Yue took it and looked down to read: “Then what about the old district renovation? This project is one of Tongcheng’s major projects in recent years, how are you going to help me keep ‘Zhang Xiu’?”
“I’ve read the project plan for the old district renovation. After the renovation, the Lianan old district will rebuild Jinxiu Alley. By then there will still be a Jinxiu Alley, and there will still be a No. 38 Jinxiu Alley.”
Zhang Yue understood, “So you can help me get the renovated No. 38 on Jinxiu Alley.”
Jiang Se nodded: “I can get it. It’s not difficult, just add an additional clause to the demolition agreement.”
Zhang Yue did not doubt Jiang Se’s words at all. In her eyes, Jiang Se was clouds in the sky, and she was mud on the ground. What reason would someone like Jiang Se have to lie to her?
She let out a breath: “Miss Jiang, thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Boss Zhang.” Jiang Se smiled with curved lips, “Now that the qipao shop matter is resolved, shouldn’t Boss Zhang tell me about your story with that footless bird?”
Zhang Yue paused: “But Miss Jiang hasn’t transferred the qipao shop back to me yet, and the demolition agreement hasn’t been signed.”
“A qipao isn’t something that can be finished in one day.” Jiang Se said, “How about Boss Zhang drafts a pattern today and tells me about the last time you saw Zhao Zhicheng? Think of it as an exchange for this mediation agreement.”
When Zhang Yue heard the name “Zhao Zhicheng,” a trace of daze and confusion flashed across her expression.
Jiang Se observed Zhang Yue’s expression and said thoughtfully: “So in front of you he didn’t call himself Zhao Zhicheng, right?”
Jiang Se took out her phone, unlocked it with her fingerprint, and turned the screen toward Zhang Yue, “This is the person you’ve been waiting for, isn’t it? What did you call him?”
On the phone screen was a photo of a man, a very ordinary face, the kind you’d forget immediately after glancing at him in a crowd.
But the moment Zhang Yue saw the photo, her face turned pale, and her eyes instantly turned red.
She murmured, “He never takes photos, how do you have his photo? He, where is he?”
The woman’s lifeless eyes filled with tears, attachment, longing, hesitation, and worry mixing into a complicated and sorrowful emotion.
She looked at Jiang Se and repeated again: “Where is he?”
Jiang Se put down the phone, looked around the room, and said without expression: “Eight years ago, when you returned to Tongcheng, you used a large sum of cash to buy No. 38 Jinxiu Alley and the house you live in now. That money was from him, right? If you want to know where he is, if you want to take back the qipao shop, first tell me, what did he say to you the last time he saw you? And where did this money he gave you come from?”
Tears slipped from Zhang Yue’s eyes. She looked at Jiang Se, her lips trembling, and said word by word: “No. 38 Jinxiu Alley, when you give me back No. 38 Jinxiu Alley, I will tell you about him!”
—
January in Tongcheng was even colder than December. Only after getting into the car did Jiang Se realize how cold her hands were.
Fortunately today was sunny; sunlight was everywhere, warming the little electric car thoroughly.
Jiang Se sat in the car for quite a while. Only when her body felt warm again did she pick up her phone and open Zhao Zhicheng’s photo once more.
Across the photo, she and Zhao Zhicheng looked at each other calmly.
“She cried, Zhao Zhicheng. To protect you, she won’t say anything. I really was too impatient.”
“She said the qipao shop was her lighthouse, but actually her lighthouse is you, isn’t it? Did you promise her you would come back to No. 38 Jinxiu Alley to find her? Was No. 38 Jinxiu Alley the final resting place for you, this footless bird?”
“If she knew you were dead, knew you could never return again, tell me, would she still be able to live?”
Jiang Se paused here, then curled her lips slightly at the photo, looking at Zhao Zhicheng: “Afraid? Worried? If there really is a h*ll, then there, please, repent properly!”
–
In the quiet car, Jiang Se closed her eyes. After taking two deep breaths, she turned off the screen, started the engine, and drove toward Hanshan Temple.
Han Yin had arranged to have dinner with her at the bamboo house tonight.
Lu Huaiyan’s flight was this afternoon. Judging the time, he should be almost there.
Sure enough, halfway there, she received a WeChat message.
Lu Huaiyan: 【See you in a while.】
Jiang Se didn’t reply. She stepped on the accelerator and drove all the way to the Qihan Mountain parking lot.
Han Yin was the one who opened the door. She looked in especially good spirits today. As soon as she saw Jiang Se, she smiled happily: “Ah Yan just arrived. He’s tidying up in his room now. He told us to drink tea first and not wait for him.”
The bamboo forest was stained with white snow, everywhere shining with frost under the sunlight.
But there was almost no snow on the ground, showing it was swept daily.
Jiang Se withdrew her gaze from the clean ground and replied gently, “Okay.”
Han Yin’s room was scented, a light and delicate plum blossom fragrance.
The two drank tea beside the incense burner. Han Yin was in a particularly chatty mood, talking on and on. Jiang Se listened with a smile and said, “Did something good happen? You look especially happy today.”
Thinking about it, a son she hadn’t seen for over half a month coming to visit her, how could she not be happy?
“Because of Little Chairman Lu?”
Han Yin laughed: “It is indeed because of Ah Yan. As for the specifics, you’ll know in a moment.”
Just as she said that, a low voice came from the entryway.
“Know what?”
Han Yin and Jiang Se both looked toward the man who was taking off his coat. He must have just showered; his hair was still slightly damp, with a few stray strands falling across his forehead.
Han Yin said: “Sese said I look especially happy today, so I played coy and told her she’d know the reason in a moment.”
Lu Huaiyan followed her words and lifted his eyes toward Jiang Se; the two of them touched gazes for a moment, and Jiang Se was the one who looked away first.
Lu Huaiyan withdrew his gaze, hung his coat to the side, and while walking inward, he revealed the answer to Jiang Se ahead of time: “Today is my birthday.”
Jiang Se froze for a moment when she heard this, and in a daze remembered that January sixteenth really was his birthday.
She did know his birthday, only it had been so long since she had paid attention to anything about him that even when the date arrived she couldn’t recall it.
He revealed the answer so quickly that Han Yin scolded him: “Truly can’t count on you to keep a secret.”
Lu Huaiyan smiled, sat down in the seat beside Jiang Se, and naturally took over the task of making tea, “Didn’t you give me longevity peach buns again this year? Once that basket of longevity buns is brought up, you think Jiang Se won’t guess the answer?”
Han Yin said: “And the longevity buns can’t be for celebrating my birthday?”
Jiang Se picked up the words at the right time: “Auntie Han, your birthday is in July, I remember, I never went to your birthday banquets for nothing before.”
After she spoke, she looked at Lu Huaiyan and said: “Happy birthday.”
Lu Huaiyan was changing the tea leaves; when he heard this, he turned his head slightly to glance at her and responded, “Thank you.”
After changing the tea leaves, he looked at her again and asked: “We’re eating a vegetarian meal tonight, is there any vegetarian dish you like?”
Jiang Se: “Anything is fine, I’ll follow the host.”
She came empty-handed, without even preparing a birthday gift; if she also overstepped on something like ordering dishes, that would be far too lacking in manners.
Lu Huaiyan didn’t say anything more; once the tea was brewed, he replaced the teas on Han Yin and Jiang Se’s tea trays with the fresh batch.
Han Yin sipped her tea and praised: “Your tea is still the best.”
She then said: “Why didn’t your grandfather keep you at the old house for your birthday this year?”
In previous years, for Lu Huaiyan’s birthday he had to rush to both ends—having a birthday meal with Han Yin at noon, then flying back to Beicheng without rest to have another birthday banquet at the old house.
“Probably got tired of how strict I’ve been about his eating and drinking, so he took this opportunity to kick me out.” Lu Huaiyan said mildly, “My grandfather and I are pretty much sick of seeing each other now.”
Old Master Lu loved his drink. The elder was getting on in age and naturally needed restraint in food and drink. But besides Lu Huaiyan, no one in the Lu family could control him. During the period he was recuperating, he truly had been managed quite harshly.
Han Yin chuckled at this, and even Jiang Se’s lips curved up a little.
Before, Cen Li always said that Lu Huaiyan was cold, that he never spared anyone’s feelings when he spoke; there was no setting he couldn’t chill. But as long as he wanted, there was also no setting he couldn’t warm.
Before the vegetarian meal came, the corners of Jiang Se’s lips never once dropped.
The vegetarian dishes were mild in flavor; Jiang Se normally didn’t like them, but tonight, there happened to be a few that suited her taste. For instance, a gluten dish made to resemble squirrel fish—when eaten, it tasted almost no different from real squirrel fish, very sweet and sour.
Han Yin used the communal chopsticks to give her a big portion and said with a smile: “Ah Yan ordered this especially for you, eat more, he and I don’t like sour foods.”
Jiang Se glanced at Lu Huaiyan; the man was holding a bowl the size of half a palm, his eyelids lowered as he sipped his soup.
The meal was quite warm; clearly Han Yin was very enthusiastic about putting food in her bowl. Jiang Se’s bowl never emptied. But, though it was all the dishes she liked, she simply couldn’t eat much.
Seeing Han Yin scoop a spoonful of crab-roe tofu toward her bowl, Jiang Se was just about to decline when a long-fingered hand suddenly intercepted.
“Give it to me, she can’t eat any more.”
Jiang Se froze.
Because of habits formed since childhood, when they ate, their manners were proper, and even their eyes were proper, they wouldn’t let them wander.
Jiang Se didn’t know how he managed to see that she couldn’t eat any more.
Lu Huaiyan lifted the bowl to receive the spoonful of tofu and said to her: “If you can’t eat the longevity buns later, then don’t.”
Jiang Se really couldn’t eat them; three longevity buns were brought, and her portion was ultimately taken care of by Lu Huaiyan.
Han Yin kept a regular schedule, and not long after finishing the meal, she grew drowsy.
Jiang Se followed her lead and stood to take her leave.
Han Yin didn’t try to keep her; after quietly signaling to her son, she smiled and said: “Ah Yan isn’t staying here tonight, you two go down the mountain together, let him take you.”
Lu Huaiyan looked over: “Let’s go.”
With that said, he went to the entrance to retrieve their coats and scarves. Jiang Se followed him. Once they were dressed, the two of them slowly started down the mountain.
Even though today had been sunny, once night fell in the mountains, it was still as cold as an ice cellar.
Jiang Se lifted the scarf around her neck to cover her jaw. Lu Huaiyan glanced at her from the side and suddenly said: “Take your hands out.”
Jiang Se had left her gloves in the car when she came up the mountain. After stepping out, she had been keeping her hands in her coat pockets. When she heard him, she instinctively looked at him.
The man had already lowered his head to remove his own gloves. Seeing she wasn’t moving, he lifted his eyes; Jiang Se lowered her gaze and took her hands out of her pockets.
Lu Huaiyan dropped his eyes again, took her right hand and looked for a moment at the scabbed-over wound in her palm, then slowly put his gloves on her hands.
The black lambskin gloves still held his warmth. She quietly felt the warmth seep in, and the next second, she heard him ask: “Did you eat well tonight?”
She hummed in reply: “You?”
“I didn’t eat well.” Lu Huaiyan said very honestly, “Too bland.”
Jiang Se let out a laugh: “Still got room for more? I’ll treat you to longevity noodles. Back in November for Little Ye’s birthday, they specially took me to a noodle shop for longevity noodles, tastes pretty good.”
The Jiang family didn’t do birthday cakes for birthdays; they only did longevity noodles.
No matter whose birthday it was, the whole family would noisily gather at a noodle shop to eat noodles.
Lu Huaiyan looked at the smile at her lips, and in his pitch-black eyes a bit of warmth appeared too: “Alright, lead the way.”
The noodle shop was in an old alley near the financial district. They went there in Jiang Se’s little electric car. Lu Huaiyan sat in the passenger seat, his long legs having no choice but to bend up; it was obvious he wasn’t sitting comfortably, but he didn’t complain.
Several times, when Jiang Se braked at intersections for red lights, she’d turn her face to look at him.
Every time, Lu Huaiyan caught her gaze. Though the man’s limbs had nowhere to stretch, he didn’t seem at all cramped; leaning lazily against the seat. Whenever Jiang Se looked over, he could still unhurriedly say to her: “If you want to laugh, then laugh, don’t hold it in.”
Jiang Se really didn’t hold it in, driving all the way to the noodle shop with a curved smile on her lips.
Once they arrived, the smile finally faded when she saw the red paper posted on the noodle shop’s entrance.
【The owners have a joyous event, closed for one day】
The characters on the red paper were bold and lively, and even from a glance one could feel the shop owner’s happiness.
Not only that, a red offering table was set outside the shop, with a few red plastic bags placed sparsely on top.
Inside the bags were a roll of the shop’s handmade noodles and two wedding candies. On one side of the table was a note: 【666 gift bags, thank you to the neighbors for your blessings on our little girl’s marriage.】
Lu Huaiyan laughed: “Choosing today for the wedding banquet, quite the day to choose.”
The man swept a look around, his gaze pausing on the grocery store across the way. “I’m going over to buy something, wait for me.”
After saying so, he walked toward the store. When he returned, he was holding an empty red envelope, and then he took out his wallet from his coat and tucked a stack of red bills inside.
Jiang Se asked him: “For the shop owners?”
Lu Huaiyan hummed: “Running into a wedding banquet on my birthday, it’s fate, I suppose.”
“How much did you put in?”
“1800. Was going to make it 1314,* but I didn’t have change, so this will have to do.”
*1314 is a homophone for “a lifetime
Jiang Se then said: “I have change in my car.”
Since the car was parked right in front of the shop, in less than two minutes she came back with a ten-yuan bill and four one-yuan coins.
Thus they finally rounded it out to 1314.
Lu Huaiyan originally hadn’t intended to write anything on the envelope, but now he changed his mind. He took a fountain pen from his inner coat pocket and wrote on the back of the red envelope: Wishing you a hundred years together.
The signature was Yan, Se.
A noodle shop they ran into by chance, a red envelope given on a whim, just like that, their names were written together.
After he finished writing, he bent down and slid the red envelope under the shop’s shutter door. Passing the offering table, he casually picked up one of the red plastic bags, walked to Jiang Se, and with a smile asked: “Since the owners have a celebration, why don’t we cook this longevity noodle ourselves, hm?”
