Chapter 10: Like A Cold, Enchanting Water Demon Emerging From A Lake

The teapot on the stove “gurgled” as bubbles rose.

The water was boiling.

Jiang Se picked up the ladle and, unhurried, began to brew the tea.

“I wasn’t planning on doing anything. I kept the recording just in case. See, it’s coming in handy now, isn’t it?”

She pushed the freshly brewed tea over to him and said, “Mr. Lu, this recording only has one copy. If you take it, there won’t be a second one in this world.”

Lu Huaiyan lowered his gaze to the tea bowl, its mist swirling lightly. The corner of his lips curled slightly, “A year ago, my third uncle had plans for Hongsheng.”

Jiang Se paused for a moment with the ladle in her hand. After a while, she raised her eyes, “I know. The person Lu Jinqin bribed—Xu Zhou and I have been keeping an eye on him, but unfortunately, he never made a move.”

“He did make a move, but after receiving my warning, he didn’t mix the faulty products into Hongsheng.” Lu Huaiyan said, slowly raising his gaze to meet Jiang Se’s eyes, “So this recording is for my third uncle?”

He asked, but his tone was certain.

His third uncle, Lu Jinqin, was like a useless piece of mud in the Lu family, holding no real power.

Privately, he had started a tech company with other second-generation heirs, using the Lu family’s name to gain some prominence, until Hongsheng’s sudden rise brought everything crashing down.

Perhaps he was jealous of Hongsheng’s development or feared they might take over the market share, so he entertained dirty thoughts and bribed someone in Hongsheng to tamper with their products.

Hongsheng had almost gone bankrupt because of a product accident in the past, which led to its acquisition by the Cen family. If another problem arose, it wouldn’t be easy to save the company.

When Lu Huaiyan realized this, he made a call to resolve the issue.

What he didn’t expect was that the young lady didn’t need his help at all. Not only had she set a trap and waited for them to fall into it, but she had also cleverly cut off his third uncle’s way out.

He had an affair with his eldest brother’s wife, not only dishonoring his brother but also trying to use a son he had raised to snatch part of the family wealth in the future.

If these things got exposed, would Lu Jinqin still have a way to survive?

He had known about his stepmother and third uncle’s affair for a long time and had gathered enough evidence to prove it.

But now wasn’t the time to reveal the scandal.

This scandal could ruin his third uncle, but it would also bring negative consequences to the Lu family.

Lu Huaiyan didn’t want to lose more than he gained.

Besides, he had long wanted his father to experience what it felt like to be betrayed. The deeper his bond with Lu Huaiyan, the bigger the blow would be when the truth came out.

How wonderful.

Lu Huaiyan lowered his gaze and looked at Jiang Se.

He had to admit that this young woman had completely shattered his previous impression of her.

She wasn’t useless, nor a mere decoration.

She didn’t hesitate to take ruthless action when needed, no wonder the Cen family hadn’t given up on her yet.

“Everyone who knows Cao Xun knows that his brother is his Achilles’ heel. Cao Xun is someone who never loses, and his methods are ruthless. Jiang Se, speaking in business terms, this recording you have isn’t of much use to me.”

When Lu Huaiyan mentioned Lu Jinqin’s name, Jiang Se had already realized that the recording had lost value.

Since he knew that Lu Jinqin was the one having an affair with Hu Yuping, with his methods, the evidence he had was probably more than hers.

It wasn’t the first time she was negotiating a deal; surprises always happened at the negotiation table.

Jiang Se picked up the tea cup on the table and took a light sip.

“This recording may not be very useful to Mr. Lu, but since it’s in my hands, it seems a bit of a waste not to release it. I’d like to ask Mr. Lu, when would be the most appropriate time to release it?” Jiang Se raised her eyes from the tea, smiling, “After all, I’ve disliked Lu Jinqin for a long time.”

Years ago, when Hu Yuping interfered in the marriage between Lu Huaiyan’s mother, Han Yin, and Lu Jinzhong, Han Yin was bedridden for several years due to the strain, and after the divorce, she went to the mountains to recuperate.

The whole family fell apart, and Jiang Se didn’t believe that Lu Huaiyan didn’t resent Hu Yuping.

However, he had the evidence but hadn’t exposed the affair between his stepmother and Lu Jinqin, which must have meant he had other intentions.

At present, several of the Lu family’s projects in Europe had already started. The Lu family’s ambitions were soaring, and with their leadership in the domestic new energy sector, they set their sights on the overseas market, hoping to take a big bite from the Westerners.

Now was the time when countless people were watching, and this was a crucial moment where no scandals could be allowed to surface.

If the recording were released at the wrong time, it could lead to some undesirable effects.

Jiang Se and Lu Huaiyan were talking about this “timing.”

Lu Huaiyan naturally understood the deeper meaning behind Jiang Se’s words.

Put plainly, the girl was threatening him: if the deal wasn’t struck today, he could forget about her not doing something inappropriate at the wrong time.

In just the time it took to drink a cup of tea, she had turned the deal from the recording in her hands into a “timing” for releasing the recording.

What’s more, this intangible “timing” was indeed something that could be traded.

The man set down his teacup, his eyelids lowering as he looked at her.

The young woman across from him seemed unaware of his gaze. Sitting upright with a smile in her eyes, she looked as harmless as could be.

Lu Huaiyan suddenly had the urge to smoke.

But he hadn’t forgotten the cigarette he’d had put out last time, so he could only take out a lighter and play with it in his hand to satisfy the craving. As he did, he casually tossed out an unrelated question.

“Besides bartending and snooker, what else do you like to do?”

Jiang Se was taken aback.

She didn’t understand the significance of his question.

Was he making small talk? But what was there to discuss in terms of small talk between the two of them?

His gaze swept over the lighter in his hand, and the smile in her eyes faded a little. “It seems there’s no need for me to discuss these things with Mr. Lu.”

The girl’s pitch-black, clear eyes openly showed her resistance.

Lu Huaiyan looked at her for a while. “If I tell you what timing is appropriate, will you obediently choose that moment to release it?”

Jiang Se replied, “It depends on what Mr. Lu is willing to offer in return.”

Lu Huaiyan set down the lighter and chuckled softly, “Go ahead, tell me what kind of reward you want.”

---

When Jiang Se went to pay the bill, she found out that Lu Huaiyan had already paid for it in advance.

She didn’t mind.

It was just the cost of a cup of tea; if he wanted to pay, let him.

The two of them had stayed in the teahouse for nearly an hour. The sky had gone from clear and bright to a light drizzle.

Jiang Se hadn’t brought an umbrella. She pushed open the glass door of the teahouse, looked at the raindrops falling from the sky, hesitated for only two seconds, then strode into the autumn rain.

The parking lot of the shopping area where the teahouse was located wasn’t far from the teahouse.

Jiang Se had come in Yu Shiying’s small golf cart. The teahouse’s exclusive parking spots were few, only four or five spaces. Lu Huaiyan’s black Bentley was parked next to that golf cart.

As she walked toward the parking lot, Lu Huaiyan was standing behind the floor-to-ceiling windows of the teahouse.

The floor-to-ceiling window directly faced the parking lot.

Watching Jiang Se’s figure drenched in rain, the man’s eyes behind his glasses narrowed slightly.

After the two of them had agreed on the “reward,” the girl didn’t want to stay for another second. She simply said “Pleasure doing business” and left the teahouse without looking back.

The rain came down fast, and in no time, her clothes were damp.

The thin fabric clung to her skin, outlining delicate yet full lines, and the strands of hair sticking to her cheeks and neck made her skin appear as white as milk.

Raindrops slid slowly down her chin, and the half-exposed collarbone at her neckline was like a shallow pool, gently caressing the water.

As if sensing his gaze, she glanced at him as she opened the car door.

Under the cloudy sky, she stood in the misty rain, beside a worn-out sedan, without a hint of awkwardness or embarrassment.

Her eyes were cold, her expression indifferent.

Like a cold, enchanting water demon emerging from a lake.

Two seconds later, she averted her gaze, opened the car door, got in, and swiftly drove away.

Lu Huaiyan didn’t look away until the car disappeared into the rain. He lowered his head slightly and let out a soft, faint laugh.

The urge to smoke flared up again.

He took out his cigarette case, tapped a cigarette out, and paused when his eyes fell on it.

The cigarette, once lit, had a ring of black carbon stains around the flattened filter.

The scene of the girl holding a cigarette replayed in his mind like a slow-motion old film.

Two pale, slender fingers, dark eyes hidden in the smoke, and the strands of hair blowing across his neck in the wind.

A slight chill and a slight itch.

The man half-closed his eyes, and the light in his gaze beneath his thin white eyelids was obscure. After a moment, he pushed the cigarette back into the case, took his phone from the tea table, and sent Jiang Se a text.

---

After Jiang Se returned to her apartment and took a shower, she went to “Wangchuan” as planned.

Before she left the house, Jiang Chuan had specifically asked her to go to the bar when she returned, saying there was something he needed to discuss with her.

On the day Jiang Ye returned home with injuries, he didn’t mention anything about Cao Liang, only saying that he had gotten into a fight with people from the team.

Neither Jiang Chuan nor Yu Shiying suspected anything, so they scolded him a little, and the next day, they sent him back to the training base.

When Jiang Se arrived at the bar, Jiang Chuan and Yu Shiying were counting the store’s wine stock.

When they saw her come in, Yu Shiying quickly took a small wooden spoon, scooped up some clear wine, and poured it into a glass, saying, “Come and try this. It’s osmanthus wine brewed two years ago. It’s ready now and can be used to make cocktails tonight.”

Jiang Se took the glass, drank it in one gulp, and immediately felt the osmanthus fragrance filling her mouth.

The wine wasn’t sweet, but it was very rich, with a strong osmanthus aroma.

“It’s so fragrant.”

Jiang Chuan, holding a pen, was scribbling on the account book. Hearing her words, he smiled and said, “Of course the wine your mother brews is fragrant. The Yu family has been brewing wine for generations, and the recipes your mother uses are passed down from our ancestors. How could our ancestors’ wine not be fragrant?”

“Stop bragging in front of the child,” Yu Shiying scolded lightly and then turned to Jiang Se, asking, “Did everything go well with your friend today?”

Her tone was careful, with a hint of hesitation.

The night Jiang Se returned to Tongcheng, Jiang Ye had specifically reminded her father to install a camera in the backyard.

It was only after asking that she learned her friend from Beicheng didn’t seem to have a good relationship with her.

It was quite a coincidence that when Yu Shiying went to Beicheng to meet Jiang Se, she happened to see a photo of Jiang Se and her brother with Lu Huaiyan at the Cen family’s place.

In the photo, Jiang Se still looked quite young, about sixteen or seventeen. The young girl was standing between her brother and Lu Huaiyan, turning her head to look at him, smiling with her eyes and brows slightly bent, looking very beautiful.

The young man in the photo, however, wasn’t looking at her. His clear, refined brows had a hint of frost, and he didn’t seem to be very happy about the photo being taken.

But that face was undeniably handsome, unforgettable in its beauty, so much so that when Lu Huaiyan entered the bar that night, Yu Shiying instantly recognized him.

She had always thought that the person who could make Se Se smile like that must be someone very important to her.

Little did she know, their relationship wasn’t good at all.

Hearing Yu Shiying’s concern, Jiang Se smiled, her lips curling up slightly. She said, “It’s fine. I just asked him for a favor. We probably won’t meet again after this.”

Jiang Chuan nodded. “We’ll find some time for your mom to take you to pick out a car. It’ll be more convenient when you go out to meet friends.”

Jiang Se glanced at the account book on the bar counter.

“‘Wangchuan’ has been doing pretty well these past few years, so there’s enough to buy you a better car.” Jiang Chuan closed the account book and listed a few car models. “See if you like any of these. Or I can take you to a dealership in a couple of days.”

The starting prices for these cars were all over a million, which was still not as high as the car Jiang Se used to drive, but they were luxury cars, much better than her current little Volkswagen Golf.

While Jiang Chuan was busy calculating with the account book and his phone, he didn’t avoid Jiang Se.

She knew this money to buy a car would probably drain most of Jiang Chuan and Yu Shiying’s savings.

Not only the money for the car, but the occasional hints they dropped also suggested that they planned to leave the house on Liyuan Street to her and divide the ownership of “Wangchuan” equally among the three siblings.

To make up for the 23 years they had lost with her, they were practically giving all they had.

This wasn’t the life Jiang Se had imagined before coming to Tongcheng.

All the strangeness, alienation, and indifference she had prepared herself to face and was willing to accept didn’t exist.

A strange emotion flickered in the depths of her eyes.

Jiang Se lowered her gaze slightly, and when she looked up again, the dark depths of her eyes were filled with a smile.

“No need to choose. Just like you, I’ll buy a mini electric car.” She raised her hand to support her chin and said to Jiang Chuan, “Didn’t you say your little electric car is as agile as a rabbit, and no parking space can stop it? I’d like something like that.”

Jiang Chuan’s mini electric car was specially used for deliveries.

The nearby area was an old residential neighborhood, with narrow, old streets, making it difficult to park. Therefore, he had to buy a smaller car.

It suited him well, but for Jiang Se, it might seem a bit out of place.

The couple exchanged glances for a moment, and Yu Shiying said, “Your dad’s electric car is agile, but it lacks presence. Tomorrow, I’ll take you to a dealership to pick out a more elegant one. You don’t need to worry about saving us money; this money was saved for you.”

“Got it.” Jiang Se glanced at the account book on the bar. “The leftover money from the car, I’d like to use it for investment, if that’s okay? I could use the extra funds for an investment.”

After she said this, Yu Shiying didn’t try to persuade her otherwise.

The money was meant for Jiang Se, so she could spend it however she wanted.

Once the car purchase was settled, the bar was almost ready to open.

Jiang Chuan and Yu Shiying each had their own tasks, and Jiang Se didn’t want to disturb them. She found a quiet corner to sit by herself.

It was at this moment that she noticed a message from someone she thought she wouldn’t see again, sent over an hour ago.

Lu Huaiyan: “Meeting Cao Xun at Junyue on Monday at 7 PM. Are you coming?”

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