Shoutout to Alinaza for the commission!
Lu Huaiyan: [Getting off the plane soon. Sleep if you’re tired. When you wake up, I’ll already be by your side.]
The WeChat message was sent at nine. Jiang Se looked at the time on her phone. Almost eleven.
From the airport to the villa would take at most an hour.
Traffic jam?
She didn’t message or call to ask. She put down her phone and picked up a towel to slowly dry her wet hair.
She had only been home for half an hour.
After the morning call with Mo Jichen, Jiang Se had driven to Zheng Huan’s studio.
Zhang Yue was still at Zheng Huan’s, and needed to be sent back to Tongcheng.
“Honestly, I feel a little reluctant to see Boss Zhang leave Tongcheng.”
In the studio, Zheng Huan crossed her legs and said with a smile, “You don’t know. Boss Zhang not only makes beautiful qipaos, but her cooking is great too. If she didn’t open a qipao shop, she could open a restaurant.”
Zheng Huan lived a rough life. Her home was just a place to sleep. When not investigating cases, she spent almost the entire day in the studio.
After Zhang Yue moved in, she not only cooked for Zheng Huan but helped tidy the apartment, turning the previously cold and empty place into a home.
Jiang Se smiled: “You can’t bear to see her go, but there’s no way around it. Tongcheng is her root. ‘Zhang Xiu’ is her belief. She won’t stay in Beicheng.”
Zheng Huan smiled too, popping a mint into her mouth, glancing at Jiang Se: “Do you know what she said to me the second day after you sent her here?”
“What did she say?”
“She said once your matter settles, she wants to go to the police station and turn herself in.”
Jiang Se was stunned: “Turn herself in?”
“Mm,” Zheng Huan shrugged with a laugh, “she said it’s because she once said she wanted those two people dead, so Zhao Zhicheng went to kill, so she’s guilty. I had no choice but to give her a whole afternoon of legal education and tell her that when she said that sentence back then, she never even considered Zhao Zhicheng could actually kill someone, would actually kill someone, so the sentence she said in a moment of emotional collapse is not a crime.”
In this world, who knows how many people shout from their mouths every day hoping so-and-so would die, but as long as these people don’t actually carry out a crime, then it is not a crime.
“After those two scum were killed by Zhao Zhicheng, the local police station actually received some anonymous letters, asking them not to investigate that case, saying those two deserved to die. I guess those anonymous letters should have been sent by other victims.”
Zheng Huan showed Zhang Yue two of them. After Zhang Yue finished reading, she hugged the laptop and actually cried for an entire afternoon, catching Zheng Huan completely off guard. She had been afraid of seeing people cry since she was little, so she ran to the balcony and smoked half a pack of cigarettes. Only after Zhang Yue stopped crying did she return to the living room.
“After she read the letters she stopped mentioning turning herself in,” Zheng Huan sighed, “anyway, I’ve given the materials to Mo Jichen. What kind of truth can be found out, I can’t control it anymore.”
Jiang Se gave a soft “mm”: “Captain Mo called me today and said Fu Yun has already gotten out of critical condition, his life has been saved.”
Zheng Huan chewed the mint in her mouth into pieces, glanced at Jiang Se: “I thought you would finish Fu Yun off with your own hands.”
From the moment Jiang Se said she wanted to close the case, Zheng Huan more or less guessed what she intended to do.
She had taught Jiang Se close-quarters combat, taught her where the lethal points of the human body were, and how to make the opponent lose combat ability in the shortest time.
This girl was extremely smart. Even without professional training, she could grasp the essence.
But the seven stabs she landed on Fu Yun, none hit a vital point.
They weren’t even as damaging as those stabs Zhu Yinlin inflicted.
This was what surprised Zheng Huan.
No one understood better than she did how much Jiang Se wanted to kill that scumbag.
Jiang Se sipped her coffee, calm and breezy: “If I said I wanted him to face legal punishment, would you believe it?”
Zheng Huan glanced at her, then laughed: “Believe, why wouldn’t I? Come on, I’ll take you to see Boss Zhang.”
Zhang Yue was in Zheng Huan’s apartment at this time. When Jiang Se arrived, she was reading a book related to qipaos, the whole person very quiet.
Jiang Se told Zhang Yue that the person who had planned her kidnapping back then had been caught.
“The rat Zhao Zhicheng mentioned in that stinking ditch is that person. Back then the money and that bottle of ‘Jiatu’ beer were both given to Zhao Zhicheng by him.” Jiang Se looked at Zhang Yue and smiled, “Boss Zhang, we finally caught him.”
If she hadn’t gone to Tongcheng to find Zhang Yue back then, she would never have found Zhao Zhicheng’s past, nor would she have been able to peel through Zhao Zhicheng’s old belongings and trace her way to Fu Yun.
In some sense, Fu Yun was indeed someone the two of them caught together.
Hearing this, Zhang Yue’s eyes reddened. Only now did she truly feel relieved.
The living often suffer more than the dead.
Ever since she learned that Jiang Se was someone Zhao Zhicheng had kidnapped, she carried Zhao Zhicheng’s sins on her own back.
Zhang Yue said: “Miss Jiang, you’ve never eaten food I cooked. Today I’m going to cook a proper meal. Let’s celebrate together.”
After this meal, it was already close to nine at night.
When Jiang Se got into her car, she happened to receive a WeChat message from Lu Huaiyan. She replied with a single “okay” and then started the car to head back to the villa.
If Lu Huaiyan hadn’t changed his mind last minute and gone to Xinhe Residence, they should have arrived at the villa around the same time.
Zhou Qing waited in Xinhe Residence for nearly an hour before he finally saw Lu Huaiyan appear.
Before going upstairs, the man clearly said he was going to fetch something. But when he came down, his hands were empty. Zhou Qing didn’t dare ask.
“I’ll drive back myself. Have someone come pick you up. Take a day off tomorrow.” Lu Huaiyan dropped Zhou Qing at the gate of Xinhe Residence, then stepped on the gas and drove toward the river.
By the time he returned to the villa, it was already past eleven-thirty. The first floor lights were off, but the staircase leading to the second floor was lit.
This was a light Jiang Se had left specifically for him.
She had already heard the sound when he opened the garage. She didn’t go downstairs. She sat on the windowsill with her phone, replying to Jiang Ye’s message.
Only two days were left before the finals.
Jiang Ye asked again if she could come on the day of the finals.
When Lu Huaiyan entered the bedroom, Jiang Se had just finished sending a message. She put down her phone and looked over. Her gaze met directly with his dark, deep eyes.
“Why aren’t you asleep yet?” Lu Huaiyan walked toward the windowsill, bent down, and brushed a kiss lightly over her lips, “waiting for me?”
His lips were a little cold, but his breath was hot. Even his voice carried an inexplicable rasp.
Jiang Se thought he was worn out after a long day of running around, and said: “Go take a shower first. After your shower I have something to tell you.”
Lu Huaiyan really wanted to hold her. He let out a low laugh: “I’ll take off my shirt, just to hold you for a moment.”
He had already taken off his suit jacket when he came in. Right now he was only wearing a black shirt.
As he spoke, he had already raised his hand to undo the buttons.
Jiang Se tilted her head back to look at him.
The light was dim on this side of the windowsill. The man stood with his back to the light, his gaze hidden behind gold-rimmed glasses, unclear.
Lu Huaiyan had only undone half his buttons when the slightly germ-averse young lady reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her face against the fabric over his collarbone.
He let go of the buttons, grasped her waist and lifted her slightly, leaning close to her ear to ask, low-voiced: “Miss doesn’t think I’m dirty?”
“…” Jiang Se said, “I do, so you can only hug me once.”
Lu Huaiyan gave a soft laugh, turned his head and kissed her temple, then let her go.
He showered very quickly. After about ten minutes, he stepped out of the bathroom.
Jiang Se had moved from the windowsill to the bed. Hearing him come out, she lifted her gaze. The man wore a black bathrobe, his handsome, sharp features damp with moisture, carrying a cool, pale chill, cold and sensual at the same time.
He looked at Jiang Se without blinking for a moment. Jiang Se even thought he was going to come straight onto the bed, but instead the man, without saying a word, scooped her up from the bed and carried her into the bathroom.
“……”
Jiang Se was stunned: “Lu Huaiyan, what are you doing?”
Lu Huaiyan held her with one arm, the other hand sliding into her soft hair, saying: “Don’t think I don’t know you didn’t dry your hair again. The hair inside is still wet.”
Jiang Se: “……”
The man set her on the sink counter, picked up the hairdryer beside it, and dried her hair.
Jiang Se’s eyes fell on his damp hair. He had just showered, and his hair wasn’t dried at all. The water at his temples was sliding down along the line of his jaw.
She took the towel beside her, wiped away the droplets condensed on his jaw, then moved up to towel his hair.
This seemed to be another habit that formed without them noticing.
He dried her hair. She dried his.
Her hair was already half-dry. Very soon it was done. Lu Huaiyan brushed his fingers through her fluffy hair and said: “What did you want to tell me?”
Jiang Se put down the towel, her arms softly looping around his neck, saying: “Carry me to the bed.”
After Lu Huaiyan carried her to the bed, he heard her say: “Turn off the wall lamp.”
He lifted a hand and flipped the switch to extinguish the wall lamp.
With the only light source gone, the whole bedroom was shrouded in faint darkness.
Jiang Se sat on Lu Huaiyan’s lap, her head buried against the side of his neck.
She actually didn’t like explaining, nor did she like confiding.
From a long time ago, she had been used to burying everything in her heart.
Yet at this very moment, in such a dark room, in his arms, confiding became easier than at any other time.
Some words slipped out naturally.
“Lu Huaiyan, I met Sister Zheng Huan today.”
“Mm.”
“Sister Zheng Huan always thought I would personally finish off Fu Yun. When I got into Fu Yun’s car, I also thought I would personally finish him.”
Jiang Se slowly lowered her lashes: “I prepared for five years. Those medicines you saw, I actually didn’t need them anymore three years ago. I stopped being unable to sleep, stopped being anxious, stopped having hallucinations and auditory hallucinations three years ago. When I got triggered occasionally, as long as I ran a slight fever, I could push through it. The reason I kept filling prescriptions, kept seeing doctors, kept letting everyone believe I wasn’t healed, was just so I could end my nightmare with my own hands.”
Precisely because she had always wanted to personally end the fourth person, Jiang Se had never wanted anyone to walk that road with her.
If luck was good, she would survive, and use “mental illness” to escape the punishment of excessive self-defense. If luck was bad, she would die together with him. The worst ending was that between her and Fu Yun, she would lose the gamble, and the one who survived would be Fu Yun.
“The best ending I arranged for myself was to be a mentally ill person. You were right. I indeed didn’t want you to be mocked because of me, so I wanted to separate from you. But there was another even more important reason.” Jiang Se’s voice paused. Her lashes blinked slowly twice before she continued, “When I left Beicheng to go to Tongcheng to find Zhang Yue, I never felt even the slightest fear of death. But when I left Tongcheng to come back to Beicheng, I started becoming afraid of dying.”
Before arriving in Tongcheng, she never imagined that No. 48 Liyuan Street would be such a home.
A loving pair of parents who always wanted to make it up to her.
A proud younger brother who would stand in front of her and promise to earn big money for her.
A gentle older sister who would tug her ear and tell her “I’m the eldest sister.”
Nor had she imagined she would meet someone who would rush to her side no matter the moment, no matter what happened.
Someone who would tell her he never blamed her for anything she did wrong, and who would tell her that if she couldn’t bring herself to do it, he would be her blade.
They appeared when she needed it least.
Those heavy, weighty affections made her timid and afraid of death.
Since she was little, Jiang Se loved sweets. Even when drinking tea, she would coax Uncle Tong and Aunt Zhang to secretly add a sugar cube.
But people are like this. When you’ve had too much sugar, you don’t want to face the bitterness of the past.
When she decided to return to Beicheng, she told herself it was time to quit sugar.
“The first day I returned to Beicheng, I wanted to break up with you. But when I saw you at the airport, suddenly, I couldn’t bear it.”
No one had ever stood behind her the way he did.
No matter right or wrong, no matter good or bad.
He always chose her, firmly.
“I know you played ‘Moonlight’ because of me. I really did get angry that day. Angry that you made my heart waver. But I still couldn’t bring myself to say break up. Until Zhang Yue had that accident in Tongcheng, I finally made up my mind to separate from you. But Lu Huaiyan—” Jiang Se swallowed lightly, “breaking up with you has never been an easy thing.”
It never had been.
From the moment she buried her face in his shoulder and began speaking, Lu Huaiyan’s left hand had been soothing her back with gentle strokes. Until now, hearing her say “not easy,” his palm suddenly stilled.
“I take back what I said.” He lifted his hand, cupping the back of her head, his nose gently brushing her hair at her temple as he said seriously, “Sese, I take back everything I said that night.”
The man’s voice carried a rasp, and pain.
Jiang Se closed her eyes and continued: “I stabbed Fu Yun seven times. The last stab was aimed at his heart. But the moment the knife fell, I thought of you. Lu Huaiyan, I thought of you. I wanted a good future with you, so I pushed the knife forward an arm’s length and stabbed his shoulder instead.”
At that moment, the desire to kill was ultimately dissolved by something else.
“Sister Zheng Huan always told me, when you don’t have a trump card in hand, don’t take risks. When I left the Cen family, I once took a wooden block with me. It was a building block my older brother gave me. That building block used to be the trump card I left for myself.”
When she was little, Cen Li always told Jiang Se: “Our Sese will always be the princess of the castle. Even if the castle is gone, your older brother will build you another one.”
She built the block castle in Beiyu Residence with Cen Li after that kidnapping case happened.
In those two years she was in the most pain, he had not necessarily failed to notice her abnormal state.
He only chose to ignore it.
Back then it was precisely their mistake that caused her to miss the best rescue window. He could not accept that such a mistake made his only younger sister suffer so much.
If she had died, if he had known she had never been well, then the guilt that had brewed for seven years would be her trump card.
Even if Cen Minghong and Ji Yunyi stopped him, he would likely still choose to avenge her.
“But later I didn’t want that block anymore, because I met a better trump card.”
“Lu Huaiyan, you are my trump card.”
“If I gambled wrong and couldn’t come back, I know you would definitely find me and bring me back, and you would definitely not let Fu Yun be the one who wins.”
This man made her reluctant, made her afraid of death, yet at the same time gave her the courage to be fearless.
No matter how bad the ending waiting for her was, she knew he would definitely bring her back.
