Shoutout to Alinaza for the commission!
Knowing Jiang Se was going to Hanshan Temple to visit an elder, Yu Shiying prepared a gift for her early in the morning.
“The apricot alcohol I made last year, the alcohol content isn’t high, just a sweet fruit alcohol, your elder should like it. Oh right, isn’t she leaving Tongcheng once spring passes?”
Jiang Se said: “Yes, Auntie Han will set off to Nancheng next month, the alcohol you prepared will come in handy today.”
Han Yin indeed was preparing to leave Tongcheng in April, to stay two years at South Guanyin Mountain.
Her trip to Hanshan Temple today was both to bid farewell and as a send-off.
When they arrived at Hanshan Temple, it was roughly ten.
The parking lot at the foot of the mountain was packed tightly with cars; once up the mountain they learned today was Women’s Day, many mothers worried about their daughters’ marriage had brought them to draw a marriage lot.
On the way Jiang Se heard “romantic stars moving” several times.
Last year Auntie Han also said Lu Huaiyan would have “red luan star moving,” that rascal even swore up and down later that she was that red star.
Jiang Se naturally didn’t believe it.
Lu Huaiyan didn’t necessarily believe it either.
Neither of them would pin their hopes on the vague and ethereal words of gods; things they wanted, they had always schemed for and obtained with their own hands.
She and Lu Huaiyan didn’t believe, but Han Yin did.
While eating, she even specifically said to Jiang Se: “It’s good you’re returning to Beicheng, you can help remind Ah Yan more. The abbot said Ah Yan will have a blood calamity this year, I’m afraid he won’t take his own safety seriously.”
Jiang Se agreed properly on the surface: “If I see him, I’ll pass your words along.”
Han Yin smiled: “Don’t say it’s my words, every time I call him I repeat it, he must be sick of hearing it. Just say it’s from you, then maybe Ah Yan will be willing to listen a few more sentences.”
Jiang Se only gave a noncommittal smile, diverted the topic: “Are you going to Nancheng next month with Little Chairman Lu or Assistant Li sending you?”
“Ah Yan said he’ll go with me.” Han Yin smiled as she picked a dish for Jiang Se and said, “Do you want to come along that day too, think of it as going to South Guanyin Mountain for a spring outing?”
“I may not be free that day.” Jiang Se smiled, opened the alcohol jar’s lid, poured Han Yin a small cup, and said, “I brought this jar of alcohol today just to send you off in advance. I’m driving, so I can only toast with tea, but Auntie Han you can only have up to three cups today.”
“Then you must promise not to tell Ah Yan I drank three cups.”
Han Yin had low alcohol tolerance, three sips down and she was already a bit tipsy.
When Jiang Se left, Han Yin gently hugged her, just like when she was young, patting her shoulder with a smile: “Auntie needs to thank our Sese, you don’t know…”
Her wide sleeve slid down, revealing an extremely deep old scar and seven or eight thin intersecting scars on her left wrist; the sentence “you don’t know” hovered at her lips for a few seconds but never continued.
Jiang Se only assumed Han Yin was drunk, and at the entrance told her to stop there.
Han Yin lowered her sleeve, smiled and nodded: “Drive slowly, when you get to Beicheng tomorrow remember to tell Ah Yan to pick you up.”
Jiang Se smiled and agreed, slowly said: “Auntie Han, goodbye.”
The wooden door at the entrance closed soon after.
Han Yin still stood on the wooden steps at the entrance, murmuring almost inaudibly: “Auntie needs to thank you, you don’t know… how lonely our Ah Yan is, good thing he met you.”
Her tone was light, like a sigh yet like talking to herself.
When she turned and walked inside, she caught a glimpse of the slanted spring light entering through the pinewood window, her steps paused slightly, and she smiled again: “Spring is finally here, how nice.”
As soon as Jiang Se came down from the mountain, Lu Huaiyan’s call came in.
It was almost three in the afternoon, and he actually wasn’t busy.
These days he only had time after ten at night, sometimes when Jiang Se hadn’t finished her work, they would video call while each typed on their computers.
One time Jiang Se forgot the video was still on, eyes fixed on her laptop screen, reaching for her water cup but accidentally knocked it over, water splashing all over her hand.
She frowned, couldn’t hold back and cursed: “Sh*t.”
Right after the word fell, from the phone on the stand came a very soft laugh.
Jiang Se snapped back, first looked at the call duration on the screen: one hour and sixteen minutes.
Right after, she looked toward the man on the screen who had “sat up from the dead,” and asked him: “What are you laughing at?”
The smile at the corner of the man’s lips didn’t fade one bit, instead even deepened a little.
“Can’t even laugh? How about I help you scold that cup a couple of times?”
—
Jiang Se didn’t hurry to answer the call. After pulling open the car door and starting the car, she put on her earphones and picked up: “I just finished eating with Auntie Han.”
“Mm, Mother just told me, also said you brought her alcohol.” Lu Huaiyan said, “Go on, how many glasses did Mother secretly drink today?”
“……”
Jiang Se turned the steering wheel and drove the car out of the parking lot, not making a sound.
A low laugh very quickly came through the earphones: “Not saying? Did Mother make you keep a secret? Let me guess, three glasses?”
“……” He guessed every single one right; calling it a guess, but his tone was certain.
Jiang Se glanced at the rear-view mirror and said: “Are you very idle?”
“Not idle, I probably won’t have time to call you tonight. Taking advantage of the gap during the meeting to listen to your voice.” As Lu Huaiyan said this, he lifted his hand to look at his wristwatch, “Two minutes left.”
The sun was strong today, the little electric car was baked warm. Jiang Se lowered the window a little, cold wind rushing in, cooling down the air inside the car.
She asked him: “Do you have time at seven tomorrow night?”
“There’s a drinking engagement at night, starts at seven.”
Jiang Se made an “oh”: “Then send an assistant to pick me up at the airport, I’m going to Beicheng tomorrow.”
Lu Huaiyan lifted a brow and was about to ask why she was coming to Beicheng, when the meeting room door suddenly knocked twice.
He lifted his gaze; Zhou Qing was standing outside the meeting room, his expression a bit heavy.
The man’s brows tightened slightly. He said, “Send me the flight information,” then ended the call.
Zhou Qing pushed the door open and came in. Once the door closed, he said to Lu Huaiyan: “Little Chairman Lu, the photos of you and Miss Sun are on the trending searches. I originally had someone take them down, but half an hour later they were pushed back up again. Someone is intentionally stirring this matter up.”
The Miss Sun in Zhou Qing’s mouth was Sun Wei, the young lady of the Sun family in Hucheng. This young miss had gone incognito into the entertainment circle, shot a few art films, and after receiving two fairly high-gold-content Best Actress awards, she rose to fame. She was one of the most prominent new-generation starlets in the industry these past two years.
Lu Huaiyan narrowed his eyes a bit. The night he returned to Beicheng, the two indeed crossed paths at the banquet.
She came over to toast him with a glass of alcohol. They hadn’t even finished two sentences before he left. What kind of photo was there to take?
“Let me see the photos?”
Zhou Qing handed over the tablet. There were three photos.
Every photo was taken from a very subtle angle, precisely capturing that instant when the two were looking at each other.
Under bright, clear lighting, the man only revealed half of his deep, sculpted side profile. The woman was tilting her face up at him, her exquisitely made-up brows and eyes carrying a smile, there was quite a bit of affectionate, mutual-understanding implication.
Lu Huaiyan set the tablet down with a faint expression.
The cooperation between the Lu family and the Guan family was making some people unable to sit still. Once the cooperation was settled, the Lu family’s core projects for the next ten years would all be in his hands.
Those few people feared his position in the Lu family would become unshakable, and arrogantly assumed the cooperation between the Lu and Guan families was built on a marriage alliance. Driven to desperation, they used this lousy trick.
The man’s long, slender finger bones lightly tapped the conference table. He picked up his phone and dialed a call.
Once the call connected, he didn’t even bother with a greeting and said coldly: “Seems you’re extremely dissatisfied with your semi-retired life. Since that’s the case, I’ll find something for you to do, so you don’t let water into your brain and make a fool of yourself again.”
After saying that, he didn’t wait for Lu Jinzhong to respond and directly hung up.
“I’ll say it one last time. From now on, when something involves Lu Jinzhong, you don’t need to wait for me to handle it. Do it however it should be done.” Lu Huaiyan looked at Zhou Qing, his gaze cold and severe, “Can’t even pull down a trending search, you’re hoping I’ll replace you?”
Zhou Qing’s heart tightened.
He had indeed already found out that this matter was stirred up by those few around Lu Jinzhong. Those men were incompetent, yes, but they were still Little Chairman Lu’s kin. He didn’t dare to lay down heavy-handed measures rashly, so he came to ask for Lu Huaiyan’s judgment.
“I’ll handle it right away.”
Zhou Qing picked up the tablet and was about to leave when Lu Huaiyan suddenly stopped him.
“First go check all flights from Tongcheng to Beicheng after three tomorrow afternoon. Tell Li Rui to keep two to three o’clock free to pick someone up at Fuchun Street. And cancel the drinking engagement tomorrow night.”
Tongcheng to Beicheng?
Fuchun Street?
Zhou Qing’s mind turned; for some reason he suddenly thought of that line Li Rui muttered every day: “A boss in love will at least be less of a capitalist when deducting our salaries.”
“Yes,” he paused and replied, then asked hesitantly, “For this trending search… does Miss Jiang Se need Special Assistant Li to explain anything to her?”
It really wasn’t unreasonable for him to ask. In Zhou Qing’s eyes, Little Chairman Lu would never go out of his way to explain a fabricated rumor to Miss Jiang. This sort of thing was most suitable for the big-mouth Li Rui to handle.
But Little Chairman Lu didn’t even lift an eyebrow and said: “No need, she won’t believe it.”
—
Jiang Se never even had the chance to see this photo of Lu Huaiyan and Sun Wei. Even if she saw it, she wouldn’t care, but she heard about it from Guo Qian.
Miss Guo was full of righteous anger: “What’s with Lu Huaiyan? Even his scandal with someone else made it onto the trending searches!”
Jiang Se had just gotten home then, sitting on the floor packing her luggage. Hearing this, her expression was so calm there wasn’t even a ripple.
“Since it’s already been taken down, then it’s not real,” she said mildly, “That photo was probably someone else’s doing.”
Guo Qian: “Sese, how can you be so calm?”
Jiang Se smiled: “Wasn’t that photo on trending taken on the night of February twenty-eight?”
“Huh? How do you know? Didn’t you say you didn’t see the news?”
That night Lu Huaiyan called her while he was changing clothes in the cloakroom, saying he’d gotten a bit of a smell he didn’t like on him.
She didn’t even need to think to know he was talking about the smell of perfume.
He, just like her, really didn’t like having someone else’s scent on him.
“Don’t worry, he didn’t have any follow-up with Sun Wei that night, the moment the banquet ended he called me.” Jiang Se said, “Besides, even if he really changed his heart it’s nothing, who says dating must have a result? Count how many relationships you’ve had.”
“You can’t compare yourself to me. You’re like an iron tree blooming; how can you be the same as me, a butterfly who plays around in the flowers?”
Jiang Se let out a small laugh: “Since I’m an iron tree, my heart is also made of iron, don’t worry.”
After pacifying Guo Qian in just a few sentences, the moment Jiang Se hung up she received a WeChat from Li Rui, asking what time tomorrow he should come pick her up for the airport.
Jiang Se didn’t let Li Rui pick her up or drop her off; the next day Jiang Chuan and Yu Shiying personally drove her to the airport. When the plane landed in Beicheng, it was already past seven, half an hour later than the original arrival time.
Pushing her suitcase out, she immediately saw the man standing among the crowd.
He must have come straight from the company, wearing a dress shirt and suit pants, the elite aura intense. But he was missing the tie, and had undone one of the shirt buttons, the cold and arrogant air mixed with a trace of laziness.
Almost at the moment she appeared, his eyes looked over.
Jiang Se slowly walked up to him, “I thought Assistant Zhou would be the one picking me up.”
Lu Huaiyan took the suitcase from her hand, glanced at her: “Wanted to give you a surprise.”
His car was parked right outside the terminal. He opened the back door for her, placed the luggage in, then bent down to sit in the back seat with her.
“Hungry? Want to eat first?”
Jiang Se looked at him, “Not hungry, let’s go to your place first.”
Lu Huaiyan held her hand, his Adam’s apple slowly sinking down as he said, “Alright, to Ruidu Huafu.”
The car drove toward the city center’s Ruidu Huafu, that apartment being the closest to the airport, a forty-minute drive.
Neon lights kept sweeping past outside the windows.
The two sat quietly, half an arm’s length between them. Jiang Se’s right hand was held by him, the skin at her tiger’s mouth slowly rubbed by his thumb. The closer they got to Ruidu Huafu, the stronger that rubbing became.
When the car reached the underground parking lot, Lu Huaiyan led her into the elevator that went straight up.
When the man stepped out of the elevator, he was still composed as ever.
But the moment the elevator doors closed behind them, Jiang Se felt her waist tighten, and his kiss fell down like a storm.
Those gold-rimmed glasses were still on the bridge of his tall nose; paired with his almost violent advance, Jiang Se felt he was simply a beast in human clothing.
He sucked her tongue as he mumbled, “Bathroom?”
Jiang Se’s jaw was forced open by him, her mouth completely blocked so she couldn’t speak at all.
Her slender neck tilted back, and with a “pop,” she snatched back the tongue he’d sucked numb, lowered her eyelids to look at him, saying: “Not going to the bathroom. I want to be on top.”
She’d mentioned this in Tongcheng, in the kitchen of her place. This girl had said with a completely serious face that next time she wanted to be on top, and he had laughed and asked whether she wanted him sitting or lying down.
Unfortunately, they hadn’t found a chance since.
Lu Huaiyan lifted his eyes to look at her, gave a low laugh: “These past two weeks you’ve been thinking about this nonstop, haven’t you?”
He carried her to the sofa in the living room, sat down, one hand supporting her waist, the other pinching her chin, pecking her lips as he slowly said: “It’s in my pocket. If you want to do something to me, you have to take it yourself.”
In the large apartment, only a string of spotlights lit up the living room ceiling.
The half-bright, half-dim light outlined his sharp, cold features.
Jiang Se’s dark eyes openly met his gaze as her hand reached into his right pants pocket.
He was wearing well-tailored black suit pants; when he sat down the fabric at the pocket creased, making a little resistance for her pretty, slender hand.
Lu Huaiyan lifted his eyelids watching her, and while that hand burrowed around in his pocket like a little mouse, his body didn’t move at all, just letting her do as she pleased, the thin lining of the pocket pressing against the skin of his thigh.
Only when the item was taken out did his Adam’s apple slide up and down once.
Jiang Se placed the item at her side, reached for the buttons of his shirt, unbuttoning while leaning down to touch his lips.
One button after another came undone, the collar pulled open, the shirt hanging loosely from his shoulders.
Under the not-so-bright light, Jiang Se quietly looked at him for a moment, then removed his glasses, folding the arms inward, using the metal edge of the frame to follow the curve of his face, from the center of his forehead down the high bridge of his nose, slowly along the sculpted line. From his cold jaw to his Adam’s apple, then to his collarbone.
Like sketching, like teasing.
Lu Huaiyan’s gaze dipped downward, realizing the glasses he always wore were now tracing the muscles and bones of his chest and abdomen.
The sharp yet non-painful cold sensation made the fire burning beneath those muscles flare even hotter.
“I’ve always thought your bone structure is very good.” Jiang Se’s voice was cool, but her tone held unmistakable appreciation. “More perfect than the Eastern European models I used to meet.”
A person’s bone structure isn’t only about the skull; the body’s structure matters too.
She really did love the musculature and bone structure of this body.
Lu Huaiyan inexplicably felt like a model being evaluated by his girlfriend.
And the girlfriend was the type who was extremely picky about human anatomy and extremely hard to please.
His neck rested against the top of the sofa, he tilted his chin up, smiling as he asked, “Am I supposed to say thank you?”
Jiang Se lowered her gaze, slowly smiled: “No, we don’t need to say thank you.”
Letting go of the glasses, she slid her hands up around his neck, and in his ear softly said: “I know you really like this body of mine too.”
They had always been honest about desire, never hiding their appreciation for each other’s bodies.
Hearing that, Lu Huaiyan glanced sideways, one hand lifting from the sofa leather, one hand on her lower back, the other supporting the back of her head, and with her current posture, he lowered his head to suck at the pulse of her neck.
“I like not just this skin of yours.”
Jiang Se trembled slightly from his sucking, her breath stalling as she lowered one hand to reach for the thing by her leg.
At the beginning she never got the knack of it, slow and sluggish, and Lu Huaiyan was ground by her until the veins at his temples throbbed.
Yet this girl was very domineering, not allowing him to turn the tables, so he could only lift his neck and nibble at her earlobe, his hoarse voice restrained and held back: “You’re pretty good at tormenting me.”
Good thing after ten minutes or so, she finally found the knack.
Jiang Se broke into a sweat before long, her whole body like being soaked in a hot spring bath.
She wore a long-sleeved dress, white pearl collar turned outward, mint-green skirt body, from top to bottom all carrying a dignified spring charm, and after a “rip” sound, gradually stacked into another kind of scenery.
Truly a thing that resembles its owner, a gentle shell housing a soul both cold and wanting.
This matter was more tiring than Jiang Se expected.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, her sweat-damp face pressed against his neck, lightly panting: “Lu Huaiyan, let’s discuss something——”
Lu Huaiyan seemed to guess what she wanted to say, let out a low laugh, not giving her the chance to finish, “No discussion.”
The man’s hands tightly clasped her waist, covering her hot lips, “Your stamina needs more training.”
“……”
