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When he said this, it reminded Jiang Se of the heated sensation from last night when his tongue had been inside her.
Her own tongue had been sucked raw, and she had nearly been unable to breathe.
“You brought it on yourself,” she said.
“Am I blaming you?” Lu Huaiyan chuckled lowly. “You get upset just hearing a word from me. How about when we get back, I let you make another little cut?”
He was going further and further. She wasn’t a cannibal, so why bite him for no reason?
Jiang Se closed the book on the table and said lightly, “Aren’t you going to the wine cellar to get the wine? Go do that. I’m going to sleep.”
Lu Huaiyan had called her just to say goodnight. Hearing her, he smiled, “Sleep well, miss.”
The London sky was overcast, the wind strong. A few clumps of snow blew off the hawthorn tree.
Lu Huaiyan slowly walked out from under the tree. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Guan Jiayi glancing over occasionally. He remembered something and added, “The person who just spoke to me is Guan Shaoting’s sister. Tonight I’m having dinner at their grandmother’s place, and both siblings will be there. That bottle of wine? I’ll have Guan Shaoting accompany her to get it.”
Jiang Se had been about to hang up, but hearing these two sentences, her hand involuntarily paused.
She had never intended to ask about his affairs.
Who he was talking to, or what he planned to do with them, she hadn’t meant to ask at all.
Now, hearing Lu Huaiyan mention that the voice belonged to Guan Jiayi, she quickly recalled a bright and lively face.
Two years ago, at the banquet for Old Master Lu’s birthday, people from the Guan family had also attended.
At that time, Jiang Se had naturally met Guan Jiayi and exchanged a few words. The young lady had been asking about the best Peking opera theaters in Beicheng. Jiang Se happened to know and had recommended two places.
Looking back now, she vaguely understood why Guan Jiayi had wanted to watch Peking opera back then.
Jiang Se reached up to turn off the desk lamp and said “Mmm” before softly saying “Good night,” ending the call.
Lu Huaiyan put his phone back in his pocket, slid open the glass door connecting the living room and small garden, and returned inside.
As soon as he entered, Guan Jiayi approached.
Her face was full of smiles and she was about to speak, but Lu Huaiyan beat her to it.
He looked at Guan Shaoting sitting on the sofa and said, “Shaoting, you accompany Mia to the wine cellar to get the wine. I’ll go into the kitchen to find Linda and learn how to make the Smoke Salmon Tartare.”
Mia was Guan Jiayi’s English name. He had always called her that.
That Smoke Salmon Tartare had been the only appetizer Lu Huaiyan had ordered when Linda asked what he wanted.
Guan Jiayi watched his back as he walked toward the kitchen and for some reason recalled the first time she had met Lu Huaiyan.
She had been only thirteen, and due to her strong aversion to studying, she had delayed coming to the UK until the very last day.
She remembered clearly, it was August 16, the day before school started.
Richmond Park was covered in golden fallen leaves. She pushed open the backyard gate of her grandmother’s house and immediately saw a young man standing under the hawthorn tree.
Calling him a young man seemed insufficient. His aura was reserved, a calmness only men possessed.
He had probably just come from the nearby polo club, wearing white riding pants and brown leather boots. One hand held a polo helmet, the other held his phone to his ear.
Sweat-dampened hair fell over his brow, and his profile was sharply defined.
A thought instantly popped into Guan Jiayi’s mind: This must be the “Ah Yan” her second brother and grandmother always mentioned whenever they returned to Hong Kong.
She had heard that name for five years, and on that afternoon, when this face finally matched the name, something struck her heart.
When she entered the backyard, he had just finished the call, though his phone still stayed to his ear, not lowering.
Guan Jiayi naturally recalled something her grandmother and second brother had said: “You can hear a person’s heart from the piano. Ah Yan is a very lonely person.”
Perhaps it was that phrase, or perhaps the way he had lowered his eyes listening to the ended call, that made Guan Jiayi feel that at that moment, Lu Huaiyan seemed lonely.
But when his eyes met hers, there was no trace of loneliness, only a calm indifference in those dark eyes.
For reasons she didn’t understand, Guan Jiayi mustered the courage to speak to him in her broken Mandarin.
He clearly had difficulty understanding and had little patience. After a few seconds, he interrupted in English, calmly saying, “You can speak to me in English.”
At that instant, she made a decision: she would speak fluent Mandarin, as fluently as possible.
And now, she could finally speak to him in perfectly fluent Mandarin.
Soon, Lu Huaiyan’s voice could be heard in the kitchen talking with Linda.
Guan Jiayi withdrew her gaze and turned her head, looking at Guan Shaoting on the sofa with a face full of complaint.
Guan Shaoting had no idea what she meant at that glance. Only after accompanying her to the wine cellar did he understand.
“You weren’t on the sofa just now. The one accompanying me to get the wine is Ah Yan. Why didn’t you take a longer shower?”
“…”
Guan Shaoting said helplessly, “Jiayi, Ah Yan isn’t someone you can just chase after blindly and catch.”
Taking the Romanee Conti from the wine cabinet, he looked at Guan Jiayi seriously: “When you were fourteen, your second brother already told you this. If you really want to be with him, you must first grow into someone like him.”
After saying this, he released one hand and patted her head, encouragingly: “So Mia, let’s focus on achieving your dream first, become the principal of the Royal Ballet. As for the rest, isn’t your second brother here? Your performance on the 26th at the Royal Theatre, your second brother will make sure Ah Yan sees it, so he knows that the Jiayi of today is no longer the little Mia from nine years ago.”
Guan Jiayi’s eyes lit up: “Really?”
Lu Huaiyan had never seen her perform. The year she first came to England to study, there was a Christmas performance at school, and she played Snow White.
She was the protagonist that day, and even Daddy and Mommy specially came from Hong Kong City to cheer her on.
Lu Huaiyan had a good relationship with Grandma. She originally thought that if Grandma opened her mouth, he would also come to watch her dance, but he simply never showed up.
The next summer, he returned to Beicheng as soon as he graduated from university. In all the years after, even when he came to Europe, it was only to accompany Grandma for a meal before leaving.
Jiayi knew he had always been busy climbing upward.
From the boy standing under the hawthorn tree back then, all the way to growing into today’s Lu family heir who can shoulder things on his own.
When she was fourteen, the words Second Brother told her, she had always remembered them. She indeed was no longer that little girl with clumsy Mandarin who had tried to talk to him back then.
“Second Brother, you have to keep your word.” In the wooden staircase leading to the first floor, the little girl full of expectation held Guan Shaoting’s hand and said, “If you can’t do it, I won’t talk to you at all this year.”
“……”
That bottle of long-collected Romanee Conti, Lu Huaiyan drank more than half of it with Linda.
Linda used to be a piano performer. Once the alcohol hit, she dragged Lu Huaiyan to play the piano.
There was a fully handmade Steinway sitting in the living room, and Linda, with a lady’s cigarette between her lips, began to play.
Though her age was not young and her head full of fashionable gray hair, her temperament was elegant. When she played, she was full of passion, playing a lively “Minute Waltz.”
Lu Huaiyan didn’t dampen her mood. After she finished, he sat down on the piano bench.
Lowering his eyes in thought for a moment, before long a string of soft notes flowed from his fingertips.
It was Debussy’s Clair de Lune.
This was the piece Jiang Se had chosen for herself on the day of her coming-of-age ceremony.
The man’s expression while playing was very focused.
He had studied under famous teachers since childhood, sweeping a whole wall of trophies by the time he was ten-something. But in recent years he had been busy being a competent heir, rarely touching the piano, and his skills naturally were not what they once were.
Linda, however, listened with great enjoyment.
That night, Lu Huaiyan only played that one piece. When he returned to the apartment on Oxford Street, it was about eight or nine o’clock, and the sky had already darkened.
Passing by the bar counter, he suddenly remembered he had forgotten to ask that girl what souvenir she wanted this time.
So he simply took a family photo of the alcohol in the alcohol cabinet and sent it to Jiang Se: 【Which bottles do you want to drink? I’ll bring them back for you in a few days.】
When Jiang Se woke up, she immediately saw the picture he had sent. While brushing her teeth, she opened the photo and carefully made her selection.
In the end, she chose three bottles, all whiskey.
After picking the alcohol, she changed clothes and went to Liyuan Street for breakfast.
In a few days it would be Little New Year. Jiang Tang and Jiang Ye would be coming back. After Little New Year, it would immediately be the Lunar New Year.
Walking down the street now, there was already a faint sense of the New Year.
Yu Shiying had specially taken half the day off today, saying she wanted to take her to make a set of clothes for New Year.
They went to a very old tailor shop, somewhat similar to Zhang Yue’s, but not one that made qipaos.
“When Ah Tang and Little Yu were young, they made their New Year clothes here.”
Jiang Se looked at the row of children’s Hanfu hanging on the wall, paused, and said: “You want me to wear Hanfu for New Year this year?”
Yu Shiying held her hand and led her into the inner room, smiling: “Don’t you like qipaos? I already asked Sister Qi, she said she can make you an improved version.”
So she still remembered the nonsense Jiang Se had made up when asking Zhang Yue to make a qipao.
Jiang Se actually didn’t like wearing qipaos. But seeing the gentle brows and eyes of Yu Shiying, in the end she didn’t say no, and obediently let Aunt Qi take her measurements.
When she returned to the apartment at night, after showering she sat on the bed and thought about the qipao she had planned to have Zhang Yue make. Very naturally, she opened that encyclopedia again, flipping back to the page about the footless bird.
On that page, Zhao Zhicheng had written the three characters “Bird of Paradise.”
Those three characters made Jiang Se remember the line Zhang Yue had mentioned, the bird that, once it lands, can only await death.
A very sorrowful bird. Jiang Se honestly didn’t want such a qipao.
She put the book back into the cardboard box. Early the next morning, she carried the box to Zhang Yue’s apartment.
For the past two days, He Miao had been taking care of Zhang Yue, but when Jiang Se entered, He Miao was nowhere to be seen, so she asked: “Where’s He Miao?”
“Little Miao went home to help out. It’s almost New Year, she has to help her parents with work.”
Zhang Yue’s condition was a bit better than two days ago. Even with a crutch, she could go into the kitchen to make tea for her. Jiang Se took the tea she handed over, sipped slowly, and said: “You look good today.”
Zhang Yue gave a very faint smile. Her eyes drifted to the cardboard box on the sofa: “You’ve finished reading it all.”
Jiang Se made a small “mm,” went back to the living room with her, and sat on the sofa.
She took out the can of expired beer inside and said: “This beer, Zhao Zhicheng brought it back?”
Looking at the bottle, Zhang Yue instantly remembered. She knew every item in that box by heart.
“It was what Ah Cheng brought back on his last day in Jiangcheng, together with that money.” She took the beer from Jiang Se’s hand, eyes lowered as she examined it. “That day was my first time seeing this beer. Ah Cheng never drank alcohol.”
Never drank alcohol, yet on that day he brought back a bottle of beer.
Was it given by someone else? Together with that money?
Jiang Se lifted her eyes: “Boss Zhang, can I take this beer? Once I’m done with it, I’ll bring it back to you.”
Zhang Yue responded very casually: “Anything in there that you need, you can take.”
Jiang Se looked at her and gently nodded.
The two talked until almost lunchtime, mostly Zhang Yue talking and Jiang Se listening.
All were small, trivial things about her and Zhao Zhicheng.
Like she had finally found someone she could talk to, Zhang Yue talked until her mouth was dry and still didn’t stop.
As they were parting, Zhang Yue, leaning on her crutch, asked Jiang Se: “Miss Jiang, I’ve finished telling you everything about me and Zhao Zhicheng. Is there anything else you want to hear?”
“Temporarily I can’t think of anything else I need to ask you.” Jiang Se’s gaze paused on the dark shadows under her eyes, and she said, “You take good care of your health first. You can keep these two contracts.”
She handed over the contracts she brought. Zhang Yue took them, but didn’t look, still gazing at Jiang Se: “Miss Jiang, I hope you can catch that person.”
When she said this, she was smiling, her expression very calm.
Jiang Se looked at her, then smiled as well, nodding: “I will.”
When she went downstairs, a family happened to open their door. They were arranging a fruit plate inside and putting up an upside-down “Fu.”
A large red diamond-shaped paper, gold powder pressing a rough “Fu” character.
It seemed that a little ordinary blessing in the human world could arrive just like that.
Jiang Se looked back. Outside the iron door she had just exited, everything was clean and bare; the dusty wall bore no traces of Spring Festival couplets ever being pasted.
Since Zhao Zhicheng left, Zhang Yue most likely hadn’t celebrated the New Year for many years.
She had already agreed with Yu Shiying to paste couplets together the next day.
When the time came, she would buy an extra set, let He Miao paste them on that door, she thought.
The next day was January twenty-sixth. Jiang Se and Yu Shiying not only bought couplets, but also a few beautiful pots of narcissus.
Jiang Se carried the flowers and the couplets back to the apartment and called He Miao.
The call was picked up very quickly: “Miss Jiang, what a coincidence! I was just about to call you! Are you home? I’m on my way to Fuchun Street. Master prepared a New Year gift for you and told me to give it to you when I see you in a few days. I figured you live near Fuchun Street, so I thought I’d just bring it to you today.”
Jiang Se’s gaze tightened: “What kind of gift? When did you meet your master?”
He Miao’s voice was cheerful: “Just at noon. Master asked me to accompany her for lunch, and she also prepared a New Year gift for me. I already agreed with Master, on New Year’s Eve she’ll come to my house for the reunion dinner, and she agreed.”
Jiang Se lifted her wrist to check the time. It was almost five in the afternoon.
Thinking of Zhang Yue’s smiling face the last time they met, and her attitude when letting her take the beer, a thought flashed through Jiang Se’s mind.
“Little Miao, open the gift your master gave me and take a look.”
“That’s not good, Mas—”
“Hurry!”
He Miao’s heart tightened. She stopped walking and obediently opened the paper box in her hand.
It was a beautiful qipao.
The blue iris flowers, a footless bird on the shoulder, head raised and looking upward, as if waiting for a stretch of clear blue sky.
She laughed: “Miss Jiang, Master made you a qipao.”
“Is there a footless bird embroidered on the qipao?”
“Huh? This bird really doesn’t have feet.”
With a “bang,” the pot of narcissus slipped from her hands. The still-unopened buds fell into dirt and rubble, immediately uprooted.
Jiang Se’s eyelid twitched. She quickly turned around: “Little Miao, go back! Go back quickly and check on your master!”
She grabbed her keys and rushed out the door. Running down the stairs, she pulled out her phone. Just as she was about to dial, an incoming call cut in.
Without even looking, Jiang Se hung up and dialed 120.
In London, it was just ten in the morning. Lu Huaiyan looked at the call that had been hung up, the corner of his brow lifting slightly.
Guan Shaoting walked into the meeting room slowly, holding a glass of champagne, and said: “Didn’t those Brits promise to cooperate with the Lu Corporation? Why still so serious?”
He tapped the conference table and said with a smile: “Linda said she wants to celebrate. Let’s go now so she doesn’t get impatient.”
Lu Huaiyan rubbed his brow, put his phone back in his pocket, and left the meeting room with Guan Shaoting.
All the way, he felt uneasy.
It was rare for him to be like this. The last time he felt this way was the day Han Yin tried to kill herself.
He glanced at the gray sky, rolled up the car window, and dialed Jiang Se again. This time, the call wasn’t hung up but went to voicemail.
By the time the black Rolls-Royce stopped at the Guan family villa, the call had still not gone through.
Linda came out to greet them. “Our Mia has an important performance tonight. She’s at the dance troupe preparing. So for lunch, it’ll just be the three of us celebrating.”
Guan Shaoting picked up the thread and looked at Lu Huaiyan, smiling: “The favor I said I’d ask of you the day you arrived, it’s this. Mia’s performance tonight is very important to her. My parents can’t make it in time, so it’s up to us to show support. I know you don’t like dance dramas, but since you’re free tonight, how about going with Linda and me?”
Lu Huaiyan lifted his eyes toward the old wall clock.
It was twelve o’clock. He had lost contact with Jiang Se for a full two hours.
“Sorry, I need to make a phone call first.” He looked at Linda and Guan Shaoting. “It’s a very important call.”
Without even putting on his coat, he took out his phone and headed into the garden.
Under the hawthorn tree, snow was falling.
Lu Huaiyan first called Fang Shang and Li Rui, then continued dialing Jiang Se’s number.
This time the phone rang three times finally connected.
Just as he was about to speak, a very soft voice entered his ear: “Lu Huaiyan, I think I did something wrong.”
Lu Huaiyan’s voice caught. The words he had prepared scattered instantly.
After a moment, he lifted his eyes and asked: “Sese, where are you?”
Outside the operating room, Jiang Se looked at the red “In Surgery” light. She didn’t answer his question, only said softly: “I should’ve guessed she would guess.”
On the other end, Lu Huaiyan pressed his lips together and asked again: “Sese, where are you?”
Jiang Se slowly lowered her lashes: “I’m at the hospital. Zhang Yue attempted suicide. She swallowed a lot of sleeping pills.”
Her voice paused briefly before continuing: “Tell me, why do people have to come to the hospital? I really, really hate this place.”
Lu Huaiyan turned toward the house: “I’ll go back and get you right now.”
He hung up and pushed open the glass door.
Guan Shaoting saw that he had only gone out for a short while before coming back, and he smiled, saying: “Why so fast? What I just said—”
“Sorry, Shaoting,” Lu Huaiyan cut him off, bent down to pick up the coat draped over the sofa, “I have to leave London now. There are things I need to go back and deal with.”
Guan Shaoting was stunned: “So urgent? Isn’t your flight tomorrow morning? I specifically planned these days—”
“Watson—” Before Guan Shaoting finished speaking, he was interrupted again. Linda looked at him and shook her head, then turned her eyes to Lu Huaiyan. “Is it the person you were thinking of when you played the piano that night?”
Lu Huaiyan nodded, stepped forward to hug Linda and give her a cheek kiss, softly saying: “When there’s a chance, I’ll bring her to visit you.”
Linda patted his shoulder, kindly responding: “It’s a promise. Go quickly, go find her.”
There was no direct flight from the UK to Tongcheng. Lu Huaiyan took a private jet under the corporation’s name. When the plane arrived in Tongcheng, it was already the morning of the 27th.
Because the rescue was timely, Zhang Yue survived, but she was still unconscious.
Jiang Se and He Miao stayed by her side the whole night. Both of their eyes were red from staying up.
At eight or nine in the morning, the entire city was like a gigantic beast just waking up, noisy sounds everywhere.
Jiang Se stood by the window, quietly watching the lively human scene below the hospital ward.
It was at this moment that the door was pushed open.
Snowflakes clung to the man’s coat. He walked toward her, looking at the red veins covering her eyes, and said in a low voice: “You need to sleep. I’ve arranged someone to look after Zhang Yue. Come with me to rest. When you wake up, I’ll bring you back.”
“Lu Huaiyan—”
“Be good.” Lu Huaiyan took her hand, not allowing refusal. “Zhang Yue won’t wake so soon. You need to take care of yourself first.”
Jiang Se’s icy hand was slowly warmed by his. She tried to pull away, but he held tighter.
While the two were at a standstill, He Miao rubbed her face, which felt taut from dried tears, and said to Jiang Se: “Miss Jiang, go rest first. Sleep a few hours and come back to switch with me. We’ll take turns taking care of Master like last time. We can’t let Master still be unconscious while we fall ill first.”
Jiang Se was silent for a moment, then quickly nodded, saying: “I’ll come back in the afternoon to switch with you.”
The black car was waiting right at the hospital entrance. Lu Huaiyan brought her back to the hotel.
The curtains in the suite were tightly drawn, not letting in a trace of light; the whole room was in darkness.
Jiang Se had left in such a rush she didn’t even have time to grab a coat. The coat she was wearing now was the one Lu Huaiyan had draped on her in the hospital. Just as she was about to take it off, the man’s arms suddenly wrapped around her from behind.
He held her tightly, his chin resting against her temple.
After a moment of silence, he lowered his lashes and slowly said: “I once saved someone who attempted suicide.”
“Sese, remember this. When they attempt suicide, it isn’t because we did something wrong, and it isn’t because we didn’t do enough. It never is.”
“Do you remember?”
His tone was as calm as a lake surface unruffled by wind, his voice gentle.
Jiang Se lowered her eyes. Though she wasn’t crying and her expression was calm, her body suddenly shuddered hard in his arms, like someone sobbing too hard to breathe.
As if a huge wave of sorrow rose from her heart and spread through her body.
Lu Huaiyan held her even tighter. In the darkness of the room, he asked, one word at a time: “Jiang Se, do you remember?”
Jiang Se slowly lifted her lashes, placed her hands over the arm he had wrapped around her shoulders, and softly said, “Mm.”
