Chapter 56: The Young Lady’s Reputation Is Saved

The airport in Tongcheng wasn’t very big, so naturally the restaurants in the dining area couldn’t compare to those in an international airport.

Lu Huaiyan took Jiang Se to a noodle shop.

This girl seemed to really like soupy dishes.

“Li Rui and Zhou Qing have been to this noodle shop before; they said the food’s pretty good,” Lu Huaiyan scanned the QR code and handed his phone to Jiang Se.

“Pick what you like.”

The menu of the noodle shop was displayed on the screen. Jiang Se took the phone and chose a bowl of sour bamboo shoot noodle soup and a plate of old vinegar-marinated plum peanuts.

Just as she was exiting the ordering page, she happened to see a message from Zhou Qing:

[Mr. Lu, for the flight two hours later, only economy class seats are left. If you’re okay with it, I’ll confirm it with the airline.]

Zhou Qing was one of Lu Huaiyan’s many assistants.

Jiang Se returned the phone to him and said, “Is Assistant Zhou the one accompanying you this time? Your first-class seat is gone.”

Among the dozen or so assistants around Lu Huaiyan, Zhou Qing was the most rigid and rule-abiding.

If it were Li Rui instead, he would have certainly spent ten or twenty times the price to find a kind soul to give up a first-class seat, without even bothering to ask if Lu Huaiyan minded sitting in economy.

Lu Huaiyan didn’t seem to care much about where he sat. He answered casually, “Zhou Qing and Assistant Xu are both coming with me.”

He poured her a cup of tea.

“The project here in Tongcheng is being handled by Li Rui. I’m keeping him here. If you need any documents for the qipao shop, just have him arrange them for you.”

Jiang Se took off her gloves and gently warmed her hands against the teacup.

“How did you know I need to deal with the qipao shop?” she asked.

“I guessed,” Lu Huaiyan replied.

“How are you planning to handle the shop?”

He always seemed to guess her thoughts with pinpoint accuracy.

Jiang Se lifted her eyes to glance at him.

“Naturally, according to procedure. I’ll sign the demolition agreement in the next couple of days. There will no longer be a No. 38 Jinxiu Lane after that.”

Lu Huaiyan had never cared about Zhang Yue or the qipao shop.

He only paid a little attention because of her. Hearing this, he simply nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll tell Li Rui to prepare the documents for you.”

The noodles were soon served.

Lu Huaiyan helped her open the chopsticks, and the sharp sour scent hit his nose, making him chuckle.

“What is this strange smell?”

”…”

Jiang Se took the chopsticks from him, stirred the noodles, and lifted her gaze slightly at him.

“Sour bamboo shoots. Never had them before?”

That glance of hers carried a subtle wave, a hint of blame, and a trace of playful annoyance.

Lu Huaiyan stared into her eyes, not looking away.

Only when she lowered her gaze did he speak unhurriedly, “That day you deliberately ordered me that super sour plum wine — wasn’t it because you knew I don’t like sour things?”

The implication being that he really had never eaten sour bamboo shoots before.

Jiang Se, hearing him bring up that plum wine again, couldn’t be bothered to respond.

She quietly ate half a bowl of noodles.

She had already passed the peak of her hunger, so half a bowl was her limit. When she set down her chopsticks, her thoughts drifted a bit. Back at Donglaishun, when she hadn’t finished her noodles, he was the one who ate the rest for her.

Jiang Se took a sip of tea, her gaze inadvertently landing on him.

Lu Huaiyan, having watched her eat all this time, naturally didn’t miss that glance.

He squinted slightly and asked, “What were you thinking about just now when you looked at me?”

Jiang Se said, “Nothing.”

Lu Huaiyan chuckled lightly.

“Were you thinking about whether you should let Lu Huaiyan finish your half bowl of noodles? So that people at the airport won’t say you’re wasting food, looking all pretty for nothing?”

Jiang Se: ”…”

She pushed the bowl forward and said coolly, “Then you eat it.”

Lu Huaiyan actually took it, and without even changing to a new pair of chopsticks, started finishing her noodles.

His eating manner was always elegant — even in a noisy little fly-ridden shop like this, he still managed to look like he was having a tea ceremony.

Jiang Se leisurely sipped her tea, occasionally glancing at him.

When he finished eating, she asked, “Were the sour bamboo shoots good?”

Lu Huaiyan took a few slow sips of tea from his cup.

When he set it down, he resisted the urge to pinch her chin, smiling faintly as he said, “You already know the answer. Not good. But at least the young lady’s reputation is saved.”

”…”

Coming out of the noodle shop, Lu Huaiyan took Jiang Se directly to the VIP lounge.

Since the flight had been changed, he had more free time, and naturally, he wasn’t about to let her leave so soon.

The two assistants he brought along this time both knew Jiang Se.

Their usually composed boss had suddenly insisted on changing flights right before boarding, disappeared for an hour, and then returned leading a woman.

Even with their professional training, they couldn’t fully hide the flicker of astonishment on their faces.

The way they looked at Jiang Se now carried a hint of subtle meaning.

Lu Huaiyan didn’t mind their lack of professionalism. He simply ordered, “Go brew two cups of black tea,” then shooed them away and closed the door.

The tea was delivered shortly after.

The VIP room had a glass door, half frosted and half transparent.

As Zhou Qing left, out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to catch sight of Young Master Lu pulling a piece of candy out of his pocket, unwrapping it, and dropping it into Miss Jiang Se’s tea.

Young Master Lu… carrying candy with him…

Young Master Lu… carrying candy for someone else…

For once, the always stern-faced Zhou Qing couldn’t quite keep a straight expression, a trace of incredulity slipping through.

The candy sinking in the tea was peach-flavored — a gift from the noodle shop owner when they left.

Jiang Se had initially wondered why he actually accepted a piece of candy; turns out, he had saved it for her.

She lifted the cup and took a sip. The sweetness hadn’t quite seeped into the tea yet.

“Do you remember when Old Master Fu brought Fu Yun back, and there was a messy account about it publicly?”

Jiang Se swirled her tea, her eyes fixed on the swirling orange candy.

“Did Grandpa Lu ever mention what he thought about that?”

Lu Huaiyan was tossing away the candy wrapper. Hearing this, he turned to glance at her.

“Why the sudden curiosity about that?”

Jiang Se lifted her gaze from the tea, her expression calm as she replied, “The Fu family had intended to continue a marriage alliance with the Cen family, right? My parents are worried about my junior’s marriage and asked me to find out about Fu Yun.”

“That’s true,” Lu Huaiyan said after taking a sip of black tea.

“But Cen Yu didn’t agree, so it fell through. Now, it’s more likely that Fu Yun will marry into the Zhu family. As for the messy account you mentioned—”

He gave a light chuckle, “Grandfather never believed it. He’s never liked Old Master Fu. He’s said more than once that he’s a shameless old man. His parrot, whenever it hears Old Master Fu’s name, even shouts ‘shameless’ after it.”

Jiang Se blinked, a little stunned. “I’ve never heard Grandpa Lu curse before.”

Lu Huaiyan smiled slightly.

“Grandfather wouldn’t want to ruin his image in your eyes. How could he curse in front of you? Next time you visit the old house, remember to play with that parrot. It can spill quite a few funny stories.”

Saying that, he seemed to think of something, glanced at Jiang Se, and said casually, “For a while, Grandfather really hoped you would become his granddaughter-in-law. After you got engaged to Fu Yun, he cursed Old Master Fu for two whole days.”

At those words, Jiang Se was visibly stunned.

It was true that Grandpa Lu had always liked her, but after her coming-of-age ceremony, she had rarely visited the Lu family’s old house. Even so, the old man often still thought of her.

Lu Huaiyan’s gaze was locked on her face without moving.

After a moment of eye contact, something unseen seemed to ripple between them.

Jiang Se was the first to lower her eyes, her voice steady as she asked, “What exactly did he curse about?”

Lu Huaiyan lowered his gaze too, masking his expression, and replied in the same casual tone, “He cursed him for being deceitful. Back then, when he arranged the engagement between you and Fu Yun, Cen Minghong and Ji Yunyi didn’t approve of Fu Yun and refused. So Old Master Fu brought up the fact that you had been kidnapped before, and that’s what made them relent.”

Brought up her kidnapping?

Jiang Se abruptly looked up.

“The Fu family knew about my kidnapping?”

Lu Huaiyan nodded.

“I only found out from Grandfather recently. He guessed that back then, the Cen family had also sought help from the Fu family — it’s just that you were found first by me and Uncle Mo.”

The relationship between the Cen and Fu families had always been closer than with the Lu family, so it made sense that they would have asked the Fu family for help too.

That day, Old Master Fu hadn’t arranged for Fu Yun and Fu Jun to come looking for her?

If the first person to find her that day hadn’t been Lu Huaiyan…

Jiang Se slowly finished the black tea in her cup.

The sweetness had fully seeped into the tea by now. As she finished the last sip, half a piece of candy remained un-melted. She let it slide into her mouth with the final gulp of tea.

Lifting her eyes, she saw Lu Huaiyan still watching her.

Then she heard him ask, half-smiling, “Anything else you want to ask about the Fu family or Fu Yun?”

The man leaned lazily against a leather sofa, his smiling eyes carrying a trace of casual teasing.

Jiang Se shook her head, then stepped forward and kissed the corner of his lips.

His lips, still warm and soft from the tea, carried a humid, heated breath.

Lu Huaiyan’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. He wrapped his arms around her waist, not letting her retreat, and asked her in a low voice, “Not afraid of being caught on the surveillance cameras now?”

There was a surveillance camera in the VIP room, bluntly aimed at them from a corner of the ceiling.

Jiang Se said she wasn’t afraid.

Lu Huaiyan lowered his eyes to look at her for a moment. Then he took a small step, pulling her with him, skillfully positioning them in the blind spot between the camera and the glass door.

He lowered his head, pried her lips apart, and aggressively stole the piece of candy from her mouth.

Outside the VIP room, his assistants stood waiting.

Meanwhile, one airport announcement after another echoed faintly from beyond the door.

Lu Huaiyan had only intended to lightly tease her, but she was far too tempting, far too alluring.

The kiss ended up turning wet, sticky, and almost uncontrollably intense.

Straightening up, the man wiped the moisture from her lips with his fingertips, his gaze locking onto her misty, dazed eyes. His voice was hoarse as he said, “Why do I feel like you’re a little excited today?”

Jiang Se panted lightly a couple of times. Once the haze in her eyes faded, her hand slid down from his shoulder, smoothing out the wrinkles on his slightly rumpled shirt.

Her tone returned to its usual calm: “You should board your flight.”

—

When Jiang Se returned to her apartment, it was just past eleven o’clock.

Guo Qian’s Lantern Festival party had just ended.

Miss Guo, who had spent the whole evening playing detective, sounded particularly excited when she called.

“Se Se, I found it! Her phone really had a graduation photo from Bode. I sent it to your WeChat.”

Guo Qian asked curiously,

“But what do you want those photos for?”

“To verify a few guesses,” Jiang Se replied lightly, brushing off the question.

Then she asked, “When you mentioned Fu Yun to her, was she scared?”

“Not exactly scared,” Guo Qian said, shrugging, “But she did act strangely. She clearly didn’t want to talk about Fu Jun or Fu Yun.”

“I’m not the type to push when someone’s unwilling,” she added cheerily, “and judging from her face, even if I asked more, she probably wouldn’t have said anything.”

Jiang Se responded with a soft “Mm.”

“If she doesn’t want to talk, there’s no need to force it.”

After hanging up, Jiang Se opened the photo Guo Qian had sent.

It was a group photo of the graduating class.

Bode’s graduation photos included individual portraits, class photos, and a full-grade group photo.

The girl was a music student, in a different class from Fu Jun and Fu Yun, so the only photo she had with them was this grade-level picture.

The photo, taken more than a decade ago, had blurry pixels and dim lighting.

The faces were indistinct and hard to make out. However…

Jiang Se stared at a particular blurry face, and was absolutely certain — the boy who had stood beneath the silk tree that day had indeed been Fu Yun.

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