Chapter 18: Did She Willingly Approach Him Just For This Qipao Store?

Zhang Yue followed her mother’s surname. The qipao shop was originally her mother’s.

As a child, Zhang Yue also had a beautiful childhood, but it came to an abrupt end when she was five years old.

Her mother had just taught her to memorize the address and phone number of the qipao shop when an accident occurred. She was taken in by relatives, and after being passed through several families, she eventually ended up in an orphanage.

[39 Jinxi Lane, Lian’an District, Tongcheng City, Zhang Jin, 135XXXXXXX]

To this day, Zhang Yue still remembers the address she memorized back then, her mother’s name, and the phone number she spent several days learning to remember.

“Do you know what a person lost at sea relies on to swim back?”

In the qipao shop, Zhang Yue lowered her head, cutting a piece of cloth, and asked casually.

Jiang Se stared at the cloth in her hands but didn’t answer.

Zhang Yue didn’t mind, and with a sharp “scissor” sound, she cut the fabric. “It’s the lighthouse. This qipao shop is my lighthouse.”

Eight years ago, she returned to Tongcheng, bought 39 Jinxi Lane, and put the “Zhang Xiu” name back up.

At that time, Zhang Yue was barely twenty and never imagined that the contract she signed would cause problems.

The houses in this old district were as cheap as cabbage, but once the news of the demolition in Lian’an’s old area spread, the situation suddenly changed.

Everyone was saying the displaced people here would get rich overnight.

The original seller then came with the deed, claiming that the person who signed the contract originally had no right to sell the shop. They firmly demanded that Zhang Yue return the shop.

“How are you going to keep this shop?” Zhang Yue put down the scissors and asked softly. “They said the contract is invalid. If you don’t give them two million, they’ll take the shop back.”

“I have two million, but I won’t give it to them, even though it’s the simplest solution,” Jiang Se picked up the scissors and absent-mindedly ran her fingers over the sharp tips. “You bought this shop at a price higher than the market value, and now that the demolition news has come, those people are forcing you to return it. Are you willing?”

Zhang Yue’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and she unconsciously clenched her back teeth.

Jiang Se didn’t raise her eyes. The sharp tips of the scissors reflected her dark eyes. “Let the lawyers handle this. Spending the two million on a lawyer is better than giving it to them.”

Zhang Yue bit her lip. “Will the lawyer really help me keep the qipao shop?”

“Madam Zhang, you’ve misunderstood one thing.” Jiang Se raised her eyes from the smooth metal of the scissors. “I can protect this shop, not the lawyer. So, today, you need to sign an agreement with me and transfer the qipao shop to me.”

Zhang Yue froze. “Why transfer it to you?”

“Because only under my name can your lighthouse be protected.” Jiang Se smiled slightly. “What? You dared to come to me but don’t trust me? If you don’t trust me, how can we cooperate?”

Zhang Yue looked at Jiang Se.

The first time she appeared in the qipao shop, Xiao Miao excitedly told her about a customer who looked like a celestial being, saying it was the first time she’d encountered someone like her. Just standing there, she could light up the entire Jinxi Lane.

Indeed.

The young woman before her was the most beautiful and poised person Zhang Yue had ever seen.

Those matters that caused restless nights and frustration didn’t even make her wrinkle her brow.

For a moment, Zhang Yue felt a sense of fear.

She was afraid Jiang Se had protected one lighthouse for her but was about to take away another.

But she had no other choice.

If she didn’t transfer it to Jiang Se, someone else would take it away.

Zhang Yue loosened her lips, which were almost bitten to the point of bleeding, and nodded. “Alright, I’ll trust you once.”

---

Jiang Se spent a few days transferring the qipao shop into her name.

The process went more smoothly than she had expected.

It was unclear whether Zhang Yue trusted her because she had no other options or because she was simply too naive.

People who maintain a sense of innocence after enduring various deceptions and hardships are often those who have had someone carry the weight for them or, perhaps, someone who has done all the dirty work for them.

Looking at the signature on the contract, Jiang Se lowered her eyes.

She locked the contract and checked the time. After sending a message to Jiang Chuan about not joining him for lunch, she drove to Tongcheng City First Hospital.

The medication brought from Beicheng was almost gone, so Jiang Se had to visit the neurology department again to get some new prescriptions.

These medications couldn’t be stopped, regardless of whether she took them or not.

City First Hospital was the best in Tongcheng, and even on a workday, it was crowded with people. The line at the window to pick up prescriptions was long, with only a sea of heads visible.

Jiang Se had only had a bowl of porridge in the morning, and now she was so hungry that her stomach was almost touching her back. She tucked her prescription slip into her bag and moved through the crowd, planning to buy something to fill her stomach first.

Near the hospital, there was a bakery recommended by Yu Shiying, who said the red bean bread there was very famous in Tongcheng.

It had snowed heavily today, and the snow on the ground had turned into a muddy mess.

As Jiang Se stepped into the muddy puddle and was about to pull her scarf higher to shield herself from the wind, she suddenly heard someone call out from behind, “Jiang Se!”

Jiang Se stopped and turned around, smiling at the person. “Han Xiao.”

Han Xiao was wearing a mask and carrying a large bag of traditional Chinese medicine, walking quickly towards her.

“Are you sick?” Han Xiao glanced at her side and asked, “Did you come alone?”

“Yeah, I haven’t been sleeping well, so I’m here to get some medicine.” She looked at the Chinese medicine bag in his hand and asked, “Is this for Aunt Han?”

“Yeah, I had some free time, so I decided to stop by Hanshan Temple to bring some warmth to my aunt.”

Han Yin had a dedicated person to take care of her health and came to City First Hospital every week to pick up Chinese medicine.

Normally, Li Rui would arrange for someone to pick it up, but Han Xiao, thinking that his brother would return from Europe in a couple of days, decided to personally do it to gain some favor, so he came to fetch the medicine for Han Yin.

Seeing that Jiang Se was empty-handed, Han Xiao guessed that either she hadn’t seen the doctor yet or had seen the doctor but hadn’t picked up the medication. He kindly said, “Which doctor are you seeing? Let me take you. The flu is rampant recently, and it’s so crowded. If you’re alone, you might end up waiting forever.”

“I’ve seen the doctor, just haven’t picked up the medication yet.” Jiang Se smiled and said, “If you’re not in a hurry, could you help me pick up the medication? I’ll go buy something to eat for lunch.”

“Sure, no problem.”

Han Xiao agreed readily, took the prescription, and turned back. In no time, someone brought the medication out.

The plastic bag with the hospital’s name on it contained several bottles of medicine. He glanced at it, but couldn’t quite understand the long string of scientific names. He was just a bit surprised that she needed so much medication for a little insomnia.

There were all kinds of shops around the hospital, with flower and fruit vendors being especially common.

Jiang Se bought a red bean bread and headed back. Han Xiao was waiting at the spot where he had just met her. He glanced at the unappetizing bread in her hand and silently felt relieved that Jiang Se hadn’t asked him if he wanted some.

He was used to a life of luxury, and he never touched things like this.

“It’s almost three o’clock, how come you haven’t had lunch yet? Come on, I’ll take you to Junyue for a meal.” He said with a cheerful smile, “You can keep that bread for breakfast tomorrow.”

Jiang Se raised her hand to check her watch and said, “Aren’t you supposed to deliver the medicine to Aunt Han? Let’s do it another time. I still haven’t treated you to that meal I owe you. Once I’m done with my work, you pick a place, and we’ll go out for a meal.”

Han Xiao quickly waved his hand, “No need to treat me to a meal. How about a drink instead? Let’s go to ‘Wangchuan’!”

He paused, then smiled and added, “And I won’t drink for free. I’ll let Manager Yao know, so from now on, whenever you go to Junyue to eat or stay, everything will be on the house.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Se glanced at Han Xiao, and the corners of her lips curled slightly. She didn’t say yes or no, but simply replied, “Thanks.”

The entrance of the hospital was crowded and noisy, clearly not a good place for conversation. After exchanging a few words, they parted ways.

Han Xiao watched Jiang Se’s back as she walked away, still wondering why she wouldn’t return to the Cen family.

After a late-night outing and back at the hotel, he habitually sent a text to Lu Huaiyan: [Bro, I personally delivered the medicine to Aunt today.]

Then, he remembered something and added a bit of gossip: [Ran into Jiang Se when I went to get the medicine at the City First Hospital.]

---

Lu Huaiyan had attended a press conference in Tongcheng last week and flew back to the UK the next day.

It was currently 8 p.m. in the UK, and Lu Huaiyan was at a banquet. When he saw Han Xiao’s text, he put down his wine glass and walked to a quiet corner of the garden.

Han Xiao usually needed to send ten texts to get a single reply from Lu Huaiyan.

After waiting for a while without any response, he thought his brother was going to ignore him again. Just as he was about to close the messaging app, Lu Huaiyan called directly, asking, “Is she sick?”

Han Xiao was a little confused. “Huh?”

After thinking for a moment, he was a bit touched: “Bro, don’t worry, I’m fine. I won’t get sick just because of your concern!”

“I wasn’t asking about you,” Lu Huaiyan’s voice was cold. “I’m asking about Jiang Se. Why did she go to the hospital?”

It took Han Xiao a while to understand. “Oh, you’re asking about her? She’s not sick, just couldn’t sleep well, so she went to get some medicine.”

Then, he suddenly felt something was off. “Wait, bro, aren’t you and Jiang Se not close at all? Since when did you care so much about her?”

His cousin’s heart couldn’t even be described as cold as iron or stone—it was more like a diamond, the hardest substance on earth.

Han Xiao had been rebellious from a young age, and when he was seven or eight, he had some petty reason to run away from home. He had even managed to break his leg in the process.

When he was in so much pain and a wild dog was eyeing him, Lu Huaiyan, who was visiting the Han family at the time, appeared like a god.

Han Xiao cried loudly, thinking his brother would feel sorry for him and carry him back home.

At three years older and taller, it would have been easy for Lu Huaiyan to carry him.

But instead of offering sympathy, Lu Huaiyan bent down, checked his broken leg, and then stood up, arms crossed, coldly saying, “You still have one leg left. Hop back yourself.”

After that, Lu Huaiyan just walked off.

Han Xiao, who was crying so hard he was blowing bubbles with his snot, quickly hopped after him. Fortunately, the household servants arrived just in time to carry him back.

From that moment on, Han Xiao completely gave up the habit of running away from home, and he had a deep understanding of Lu Huaiyan’s diamond-hard heart.

Because of this, Lu Huaiyan specifically called him after reading his vague message, which made Han Xiao realize something was off—something was very off.

As soon as the question was out, Lu Huaiyan’s response came lightly: “What’s this? Are you still trying to chase after Jiang Se with that half-baked effort?”

Han Xiao felt a chill run down the back of his neck. He had indeed entertained the idea of pursuing Jiang Se, but after Lu Huaiyan’s crushing words, he stubbornly went to his mother, asking her to arrange a marriage interview between him and Jiang Se.

What he didn’t expect was that his mother’s rejection was even more devastating. She told him not to go and embarrass himself.

“Of course not, bro!” Han Xiao immediately decided to admit defeat, “The most I have left for Jiang Se is a bit of sympathy and care, nothing else!”

Lu Huaiyan’s tone became subtle: “Sympathy?”

Han Xiao elaborated on Jiang Se’s bread from earlier in the day, while also praising his own generosity. “I told Jiang Se, if she comes to Junyue to eat or stay, I’ll cover all the bills, no charge at all. She can live there her whole life, if she wants. What do you think, bro? Isn’t that pretty decent of me?”

Lu Huaiyan chuckled when he heard this.

Han Xiao continued, “By the way, the Cen family is holding a banquet at the end of this month to announce Cen Yu’s return. I almost let it slip this afternoon. But bro, do you think the Cen family invited Jiang Se? Even if they did, she probably wouldn’t go. She wouldn’t fit in at such an occasion.”

Saying that she wouldn’t fit in was putting it mildly. If Jiang Se went to that banquet, it would be nothing short of self-humiliation—she would probably become the laughingstock of the event.

Lu Huaiyan knew about the Cen family’s banquet; he had received an invitation at the end of the previous month.

The Cen family clearly wanted to use this opportunity to officially introduce Cen Yu into the high society of North City.

Rumor had it that after Cen Yu joined the Cen Corporation headquarters, she worked like a machine and produced an impressive performance within just two months, securing a huge contract in North America.

Both Cen Minghong and Ji Yunyi were satisfied, and in half a month, the old Cen residence would be full of influential figures.

Such an occasion might not be something Jiang Se would attend.

However, she wouldn’t avoid it because of being out of place. It wasn’t the “not fitting in” that kept her away.

Lu Huaiyan wiped the smile off his face and spoke in a calm tone: “Han Xiao, keep your cheap sympathy to yourself.”

The antique liquor worth millions in her hands seemed like toys—she didn’t care about those bottles at all. They were merely stored with him, but she had no interest in them. Not even a shaker as a gift caught her attention.

“Do you know what buying that bread means?” Lu Huaiyan lightly flicked the snowflakes off his cuff, his voice low, “It means that bread has some value worth eating. If you have the free time to feel sorry for others over a piece of bread, you’d be better off preparing for the demolition in the Lian’an old district.”

---

Because of a piece of bread, Han Xiao had an absolutely miserable next two weeks.

Han Xiao had to endure the heavy snow every day to handle the demolition issues in the Lian’an Old District, not to mention going door to door, talking until his lips were nearly chapped.

On Christmas Eve, he finally couldn’t take it anymore. Early in the morning, he bought a flight ticket and fled back to North City.

He just wanted to live a peaceful life, like a second-generation rich kid, drinking until he naturally got drunk and sleeping until he naturally woke up.

Let him be a handsome, useless heir whose sole purpose was to carry on the family name.

Han Xiao turned off his phone as soon as he boarded the plane, unaware that in Jinxiu Alley, a shop’s property rights were in dispute.

The people below couldn’t reach him, so they reported the issue to Li Rui instead.

When Li Rui learned that one of the parties in the property dispute was Jiang Se, his eyelid twitched. After some contemplation, he decided to pass the information along to Lu Huaiyan, just as it was.

At that moment, Lu Huaiyan was on a plane from London to Tongcheng, propping his chin with one hand while reading a report under the reading light.

When his phone lit up, he didn’t even look up, merely glanced at the screen out of the corner of his eye. Seeing the familiar name, he paused. He loosened his grip on the report, put it down, and swiped to read the message in one go.

“Jinxiu Alley No. 39?”

His thoughts suddenly rushed back to that day when he stood on the stone steps of Han Mountain Temple, asking her if she dared to return to the hotel with him.

She had turned around, raised her little face to look at him, and smiled, answering, “Why not?”

At that moment, the afternoon light streamed from behind him. His dark eyes, untouched by the light, seemed to absorb every bit of it, pulling in all the attention—just like they had drawn him in.

The phone screen dimmed after a moment, and the man slowly snapped out of his memories.

Despite hours of intense thinking, his mind remained sharp. He quickly connected the renovation of the old district with the property dispute at No. 39, Jinxiu Alley.

The reason she had gone to the hotel to look at the blueprints was for the qipao shop.

The strange words she had said to his mother in the bamboo house were also related to the qipao shop.

Even the late-night visit to the hotel had been for the qipao shop.

Had she been trying to get closer to him all along for the qipao shop?

“Just a passing curiosity?” Lu Huaiyan tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his deep, cold eyes falling into shadow. After a moment, he gave a low chuckle. “How dismissive.”

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