Chapter 25: You’re Quite Harsh On Yourself

In a setting like tonight’s, Jiang Se came and received nothing but the fake kindness of most people.

This circle is just that realistic. When you’re nothing, when you’re of no value, that’s when you truly see human nature.

Jiang Se smiled: “When I left Beicheng, I never found the opportunity to properly say goodbye to the chairman and Madam Ji. Saying goodbye to them here, in this way, is also quite good.”

After she changed her surname, Cen Minghong and Ji Yunyi became furious. They endured their anger, had her return everything, and then left Beicheng.

It was true she had never properly said goodbye.

She had lived a life of luxury for twenty-three years, and it was indeed time for her to bid farewell to them properly. Thank those she should thank, sever ties where necessary.

Lu Huaiyan glanced at her but said nothing.

Jiang Se turned her gaze toward him and smiled, asking, “When you first met me in Tongcheng, did you already think I couldn’t leave the Cen family and would return here one day, sooner or later?”

“Yes,” Lu Huaiyan answered calmly.

Jiang Se looked toward the center of the banquet hall and said, “Do you believe that nine out of ten people here tonight think the same way? Of course, after tonight, they probably won’t think like that anymore. There will only be one daughter in the Cen family.”

Lu Huaiyan studied her for a few seconds before slowly smiling.

Though she said she was bidding farewell, it was actually more about severing her ties with the Cen family once and for all.

She could really be that ruthless.

Cen Yu had already come down from the spiral staircase, and Cen Minghong and Ji Yunyi were accompanying her to a private room on the east side of the banquet hall.

The private room was filled with prominent figures from Beicheng. Except for the elderly Master Lu, who couldn’t attend due to illness, the heads of every family were present.

Lu Huaiyan represented the Lu family. If Master Lu had been there, Lu Huaiyan wouldn’t have needed to go, but since he wasn’t, as the younger generation, it was appropriate for him to go.

Seeing that he wasn’t moving, Jiang Se asked, “Aren’t you going?”

Lu Huaiyan glanced at her, his lips still carrying a smile. “I’m not in a rush. Why are you so anxious?”

He said this slowly, his tone warm with a smile, but his words were indifferent.

Jiang Se suddenly remembered that night on Christmas Eve when he stood under the osmanthus tree, enticing her to use him, even asking if she wanted him to ruin tonight’s banquet.

When he asked that, his tone had been similarly casually indifferent.

He always followed through on his words.

If Jiang Se had dared to answer, he would’ve truly made it impossible for the Cen family to hold their banquet tonight.

He was like a fire burning on a snowy night.

On one hand, he gives you the illusion of warmth, on the other, he turns you into ashes.

The man’s eyes behind his glasses were dark and profound. Jiang Se averted her gaze, looking out the window, and said, “I’ll go for a walk. My Aunt might still be a while.”

She turned and walked away. After taking a few steps, her wrist was suddenly held.

Lu Huaiyan glanced at the snowstorm outside the window and said, “You’re going out dressed like that?”

The banquet hall was heated, and when Jiang Se entered, she had handed her coat to Uncle Chen.

The man’s hand was marked with distinct knuckles, his skin pale and cool, yet radiating warmth.

Even through a layer of silk gloves, she could feel the warmth of his body.

Jiang Se gently pulled her wrist away and said lightly, “Someone will bring my coat over.”

Lu Huaiyan unbuttoned his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders, without waiting for a response, simply saying, “Put it on for now.”

His gesture attracted many curious glances.

Jiang Se didn’t refuse. She adjusted the coat around her shoulders, then pushed open a side door and left the banquet hall.

The cold wind hit her immediately as she stepped outside, and she shivered slightly.

There were unfamiliar faces standing in the hallway, likely members of the event planning company. They didn’t recognize her, so one of them stepped forward and asked if she needed help finding her way.

Jiang Se smiled and shook her head.

After all, this was the place she had grown up, how could she not know the way?

To the east of the banquet hall, there was a greenhouse where rare and expensive orchids were grown. Outside the greenhouse, there was a pavilion for viewing, with a black marble fireplace in the center, crackling with fire.

There happened to be someone guarding the pavilion. Seeing that familiar face made Jiang Se’s eyes slightly damp.

“Aunt Zhang,” Jiang Se blinked and smiled, asking, “Why aren’t you in the banquet hall?”

Aunt Zhang was now in charge of Cen Yu’s household, and she was supposed to be in the banquet hall.

Aunt Zhang, holding a coat, smiled at Jiang Se and said, “The young mistress asked me to come and accompany you. Whenever you used to get bored in the banquet hall, you’d come here. As expected, I’ve waited for you.”

The coat she was holding was the one Jiang Se had taken off earlier and given to Uncle Chen. Looking at the suit jacket draped over Jiang Se, Aunt Zhang hesitated for a moment.

Jiang Se said, “Give me the coat, it’s a bit cold.”

The fireplace crackled, and around it were curved sofas.

Jiang Se draped the coat over herself and sat down. Aunt Zhang seemed to want to take the suit jacket off her, but Jiang Se said, “Leave it there. It’s Mr. Lu’s jacket. I’ll return it to him later.”

Aunt Zhang simply nodded, not asking why Mr. Lu’s jacket was on Jiang Se. She stood quietly beside her, just like before.

“Please sit. Let’s talk for a while,” Jiang Se patted the cushion beside her, smiling as she bent her eyes. “I’m doing well in Tongcheng.”

Aunt Zhang’s eyes reddened. “I knew you’d do well wherever you were.”

Perhaps not wanting to appear too emotional, she cleared her throat and smiled. “I had Old Tong make you some black tea. I’ll go check if it’s ready.”

Jiang Se smiled and hummed in response, watching Aunt Zhang’s figure disappearing into the snowstorm, half of her face lit up by the firelight from the fireplace.

---

The fire in the fireplace crackled, and time seemed to pass slowly, blending with the sound of the wind.

Jiang Se waited for about ten minutes before hearing footsteps behind her, but not just one set.

She turned around and immediately locked eyes with Ji Yunyi, whose gaze was both warm and indifferent.

Aunt Zhang placed the black tea on the table and said, “The madam wanted to talk to the young lady, so I took the liberty of bringing her here.” Her voice carried a hint of apology.

The tea had a piece of crushed rose rock candy floating in it.

“It’s alright,” Jiang Se smiled. “Even if you hadn’t led her here, Madam Ji would have guessed I was here just by looking at the tea.”

She picked up the bone china teacup, smiling at Ji Yunyi. “Madam Ji, would you like some tea? If I’d known you were coming, I would have had Aunt Zhang brew a second cup for you.”

Ji Yunyi didn’t answer. She gave a faint glance at Aunt Zhang, who immediately understood and respectfully asked, “Madam, would you like something else to drink?”

“Black tea.”

Ji Yunyi had been avoiding sugar for many years, and Jiang Se naturally knew she wouldn’t drink the tea with sugar in it. In the past, she had even tried to correct Jiang Se’s habit of drinking sweetened tea. But this child was stubborn; the more you told her not to do something, the more she insisted on doing it.

Once Aunt Zhang left, Ji Yunyi adjusted her silver needle fur coat and sat down beside Jiang Se. She spoke slowly, “You’ve been waiting for this day for a long time, haven’t you? To slap both your father and my face in front of everyone?”

The earlier words about “a deep bond between husband and wife” were something only Ji Yunyi could fully understand as a veiled insult.

Jiang Se was more aware than anyone of the private affairs between Cen Minghong and Ji Yunyi, both of whom had their own lovers.

Jiang Se smiled and said, “Madam Ji, you’ve made a mistake. Chairman Cen is not my father.”

Ji Yunyi glanced at her sideways, the corners of her lips curving into a graceful smile as she responded, “You certainly don’t seem like a member of the Cen family. Even though your aunt is rebellious, she’s not like you…”

Jiang Se gave a similarly graceful smile and took over her words: “Unaware of your place, right? Madam Ji, do you know what my feelings were when I received the DNA test results?”

She paused lightly, then looked into Ji Yunyi’s eyes, continuing with a smile, “I was happy, relieved even. It felt so good not being Chairman Cen and Madam Ji’s daughter. When I went to Tongcheng, I realized that some parents, in order to make sure their daughters don’t feel wronged, will really give everything they have. For instance, they’ll take out all their savings to buy me a car that won’t make me feel wronged. When I was your daughter, do you remember how you reacted when I was wronged?”

Her words, laced with hidden barbs, caused the smile on Ji Yunyi’s meticulously made-up face to fade.

She looked at Jiang Se for a long moment, then slowly forced a smile, standing up and saying, “I won’t disturb Miss Jiang’s tea time. You’re right; today is indeed the day to say goodbye.”

Aunt Zhang entered with freshly brewed tea, noticing Ji Yunyi leaving in a hurry, and sighed softly.

Jiang Se slowly sipped the now-cold tea.

Aunt Zhang, seeing her sip from the tea, gently said, “That tea’s cold now. Would you like to drink this one instead?”

“No, that one doesn’t have any sugar,” Jiang Se replied, her tone unusually stubborn.

Aunt Zhang shook her head but didn’t push it any further. Worried Jiang Se might get cold, she placed the tea down and went to adjust the fire in the fireplace.

The cold tea settled in her stomach, and it felt like an autumn rain had settled deep within her. Jiang Se stood up and moved over to kneel beside Aunt Zhang, watching her tend to the fire.

The long-missed warmth slowly returned. Jiang Se glanced at her watch and then stood, saying, “You should go back—”

Before she could finish, a familiar wave of dizziness hit her suddenly.

She blinked, and in her dazed state, the snow outside seemed to turn into a thunderstorm.

Boom— the sound was so deafening it made her ears ache.

Jiang Se took a deep breath of the cold air, then calmly grabbed Aunt Zhang’s arm and said, “Aunt Zhang, take me to the bathroom.”

---

The pavilion was not far from the banquet hall, but it still took almost seven or eight minutes to reach the nearest restroom. By the time they got there, Jiang Se’s legs were starting to feel weak.

The restroom was secluded and empty.

Once inside, Jiang Se began to induce vomiting. After nothing came up, she went to the sink and turned on the cold water, drinking it in large gulps, trying to make herself throw up again.

She repeated this several times, and her stomach began to cramp in pain, but she still endured it, continuing to drink the cold water.

Aunt Zhang, too frightened to leave, noticed Jiang Se’s eyes growing unfocused and panicked. “Miss, what’s happening to you?”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” Jiang Se replied.

Jiang Se finished speaking, trembling as she gritted her teeth and pulled out her phone from her handbag to dial Cen Mingshu’s number.

The tone echoed in the quiet bathroom for a long while, but no one picked up.

Jiang Se closed her eyes for a moment, hung up the phone, and fought against the dizziness clouding her mind. She turned to Aunt Zhang and said, “Please go to the banquet hall and bring my aunt here, quickly.”

Aunt Zhang, seeing her pale face, nodded and hurried out of the bathroom.

Jiang Se locked the door behind her, and as the dizziness grew stronger, she picked up the vase on the washbasin and slammed it down, then removed her gloves and grabbed a shard of the broken glass.

The sound of light footsteps grew closer, and at the same time, her phone in her coat pocket buzzed.

Jiang Se, feeling weak all over, leaned against the sink and pulled out the phone. The name on the screen was blurred with a double image. She was about to answer when a knock came from outside the door.

“Jiang Se, it’s me.”

Her fingers paused. Jiang Se slowly raised her lashes, wondering if it was just her imagination.

Seven years ago, on a stormy night, she had heard those exact words.

A simple “Cen Se, it’s me” had pulled her from hell back to the human world.

Before she could respond, the person outside knocked again, saying, “I’ll count to five. If you don’t open the door, I’ll have someone open it for you. One, two, three, four—”

Before the “five” could leave his lips, the door creaked open.

The girl inside was standing tall, her nose and lips red from the cold water, her breathing heavy and labored, but her unfocused eyes still carried a flicker of clarity.

Lu Huaiyan raised her chin and stared into her eyes for two breaths. “Can you walk?”

“I can, I can walk out on my own,” Jiang Se replied, looking at him. “Just take me to the hospital first.”

Lu Huaiyan’s face was as calm as water, and he glanced behind her.

Jiang Se pursed her lips. “The teacup on the sink, and the surveillance footage from tonight…”

“Don’t worry, no one can touch anything here.” Lu Huaiyan bent his arm, speaking in a calm voice. “I’m taking you away now.”

---

They exited through the small door Jiang Se had entered earlier, and the private parking lot in the back yard already held a stretched Maybach.

Lu Huaiyan took the car keys and started the engine.

The black car drove through the night, and because it was New Year’s Eve, the streets were crowded with traffic, streetlights shining like daylight, and neon lights created a winding trail of soft, continuous glows.

The car was filled with a faint but warm scent of incense.

Jiang Se closed her eyes, leaning against the car seat, her right hand limp by her side.

Lu Huaiyan finished his phone call and glanced at her.

Her face was as pale as paper, her thick eyelashes drooping, her breathing labored, and her lips were as red as blood-stained roses.

Despite the extreme discomfort, she walked steadily when leaving the Cen family’s home.

It seemed like she was fine, but once in the car, she completely lost strength, her body soft like cotton candy melting, and even the seatbelt had to be fastened by him.

“The surveillance room is being monitored, and everything used for making tea is still there. The person who drugged you may return, or they may not. But in any case, someone will investigate this. This matter won’t be over until we find out who did it.”

His voice was deeper than usual, calm, with no hint of emotion.

Only someone very familiar with him would detect the underlying anger concealed in his flat tone.

Jiang Se cracked her eyes open just a slit and looked at his profile.

Since his arrival, the tension in her mind had unconsciously loosened, and the willpower she had used to resist the drug began to falter.

The man’s voice seemed to press against her eardrums, a deep, rumbling sound that made her brain slow down even further.

This was likely the peak of the drug’s effect, and Jiang Se recognized the sensation well.

She just had to endure it. She had to make it through.

Jiang Se tried to distract herself by looking away, but she found herself too weak to even shift her gaze.

In her narrow field of vision, Lu Huaiyan’s profile was extraordinarily refined—his high nose, thin lips, sharp jawline, and the prominent Adam’s apple at his throat formed a clear, strong angle.

The sound of thunder and rain filled her ears again, accompanied by the faint sound of raindrops dripping from Lu Huaiyan’s jaw onto her arm.

The past that never truly left her came crashing back.

Like an unshakeable curse, it lingered relentlessly.

Her vision blurred for a moment.

In the next instant, Jiang Se gripped her right hand tightly, but the pain in her palm did nothing to bring her any clarity—instead, it only brought more painful, stinging sensations.

She bit down on her lip.

Lu Huaiyan pressed the brakes as they reached an intersection, turning his head to look at her.

The girl’s dark eyes were wet with tears, her lashes fluttering, and her pale teeth clenched onto her lower lip, stifling the moans caught in her throat.

There was a stubborn, desperate sense of brokenness in her.

Her jaw tensed slowly. Lu Huaiyan averted his gaze, focusing on the traffic lights ahead, and murmured, “Hang in there, we’ll be there soon.”

For the rest of the journey, it felt like Jiang Se had finally made it through the worst of the dizziness. She remained silent, not making another sound.

When they arrived at the hospital, she was drenched in sweat, but her consciousness was clearer than before. She immediately recognized the familiar figure waiting at the hospital’s entrance—the specialized doctor of the Lu family, the renowned Professor Jiang from the medical world.

Professor Jiang, with his kind and gentle expression, conducted her examination, and then had a nurse draw blood from her. He personally took the sample to the laboratory for testing.

The test results arrived shortly after.

“It’s triazolam, and the concentration is quite high. Fortunately, Miss Jiang induced vomiting in time, and the amount of the drug ingested wasn’t significant. Drinking large amounts of cold water also helped lower the concentration of the drug in her bloodstream, which is why she has been able to stay conscious.”

The elderly professor held the test results, his gaze towards Jiang Se carrying a hint of admiration. “You handled it well. In another hour or two, once the IV drips are done, the dizziness should gradually subside. However, your right hand’s injury will take at least three to five days to heal. Don’t try to use pain to stay awake again. In those situations, pain will only accelerate the body’s absorption of the drug.”

After giving a few more instructions, the professor left the room.

Lu Huaiyan pulled over a wheeled chair and sat by the bedside, his gaze falling on Jiang Se’s right hand.

Had the girl not personally told the nurse that her palm was injured, Lu Huaiyan wouldn’t have known she had been gripping a shard of glass the entire time.

When her black gloves were removed, the palm was a bloody mess, and the wound across it was so shocking it could make anyone’s stomach turn.

The nurse treated the wound, carefully using tweezers to remove each shard of glass. Jiang Se never looked, her eyes remained downcast, silent, as if that hand didn’t belong to her.

The room fell silent, the only sound was the IV drip’s “drip-drip” noise.

After an unknown amount of time, Lu Huaiyan lifted his gaze, the thin white eyelid forming a sharp crease.

He looked at her, his voice calm, yet carrying no emotion as he said, “You’re quite ruthless with yourself.”

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