Chapter 74: It Seems Like I’ve Always Only Wanted You

Hearing Jiang Se’s response, Lu Huaiyan pinched her face. He didn’t ask why she didn’t tell Cen Li the truth, only chuckled, “Is that what you told Guo Qian too?”

“Qianqian knows we’re together,” she glanced at him. “Didn’t you hear her voice message just now?”

“I heard it,” Lu Huaiyan said. “She said I call you my ancestor.”

“Right, a hard-to-please, hard-to-serve ancestor,” Jiang Se replied flatly, her tone devoid of any discernible emotion.

Lu Huaiyan laughed. “Are you going to pull out your little notebook and start keeping score again?”

He turned her body, pulling her onto his lap, and asked, “What’s wrong with me saying a couple of things? You broke up with me out of nowhere, and I’m not allowed to be a little upset?”

Jiang Se didn’t respond, staying silent for a few seconds before suddenly saying, “You’ve started smoking again?”

Lu Huaiyan gave a faint “mm,” leaning back against the cushion. Playing with her fingers, he said casually, “I always need one addiction to suppress another.”

Jiang Se fell silent.

Seeing her quiet, Lu Huaiyan stopped playing with her fingers. He lifted his eyelids, pulling her by the waist into his arms, and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t smoke anymore.”

Jiang Se knew he wouldn’t smoke again.

He’d said a lifetime was just a journey.

He’d said unless he died, this journey wouldn’t end.

He wanted to be entangled with her for a lifetime.

“Lu Huaiyan, if one day I die first, our journey will be over,” she said, her body softly pressing against him, half her face resting on his shoulder. “You don’t need to stay loyal to me. Move on to the next journey. No addiction is unbreakable.”

When someone’s dead, who cares about the living?

If he insisted on walking this journey with her until death parted them, then so be it.

Lu Huaiyan’s eyes lowered as he lifted her face, looking at her quietly for a moment. “That’s a long way off. Who knows which of us will go first? If I die first, are you planning to find another man and start a few more journeys? Jiang Se, I’m not that generous. If I’m gone, don’t you dare forget me for the rest of your life.”

Jiang Se didn’t respond to that.

Silence fell around them.

Only the distant river roared, heavy and light, under the moonlight.

Her phone rang at that moment.

It was the food Lu Huaiyan had ordered. They hadn’t eaten since the afternoon and were starving.

Lu Huaiyan pinched her jaw, saying, “Food’s here for my ancestor.”

And with that, he brushed past the earlier topic.

The invitation Lu Xingqiu sent to Jiang Se for the family recognition banquet was intercepted by Lu Huaiyan.

The next day, the old man called Lu Huaiyan in a fury, insisting that Jiang Se should attend the banquet no matter what.

“Se Se still hasn’t accepted you. Is it because of those rumors about you and Jiayi being engaged?”

Lu Huaiyan was in his office. After dropping Jiang Se off at Xinhe Mansion that morning, he’d come to the Lu Corporation headquarters.

He still had to make time in the afternoon to visit the estate and see Han Yin. Cen Mingshu’s car was still there, and he needed to help Jiang Se get it back.

“Tomorrow’s recognition banquet will have people from the Cen family—Cen Minghong and Ji Yunyi. She doesn’t want to see either of them. And Fu Yun, her former fiancé. I don’t want her seeing him either.”

Lu Huaiyan flipped through documents, multitasking as he continued to placate Lu Xingqiu. “She wasn’t happy at the Cen family before. Now that she’s finally got some freedom and hasn’t even celebrated her 24th birthday, your grandson isn’t exactly Mr. Popular. How could it be so easy to win her over?”

When Lu Xingqiu usually mentioned Lu Huaiyan, he’d often call him an unlikeable wolf cub.

Now, he was momentarily stumped by Lu Huaiyan’s words. “You know that, huh? Then fix that rotten temper of yours. Always wearing that cold face—Se Se might have a good temper, but even she can’t stand you.”

Lu Xingqiu’s impression of Jiang Se mostly came from the two years she used to visit the old residence.

Though young, the girl had been raised impeccably, excelling in every aspect of manners and conduct.

In the words of Lu Xingqiu’s generation, she was the perfect candidate to be the matriarch of a prominent family.

Old man Fu had set his sights on Jiang Se early on.

His sons and grandsons all obeyed him, and even after his grandson’s death, he could still arrange a marriage with a bastard son.

Though Lu Xingqiu wasn’t as eager as Fu Jingyao, he had indeed considered betrothing Jiang Se to Lu Huaiyan when she was older. But the Fu family moved faster, and Lu Huaiyan later reclaimed control over his own marriage, so the idea was dropped.

Who would’ve thought that years later, this wolf cub would be the one chasing after the girl?

Even Jin Gang, the bird, knew to call her “Young Lady.” Lu Xingqiu knew Lu Huaiyan was serious.

He’d always said he had someone he wanted to marry, but Lu Xingqiu thought he was just brushing him off. He’d figured that with Lu Huaiyan’s temper, he’d need someone who could fully accept and tolerate him, someone like Jiayi.

Now, knowing he truly had someone he loved, Lu Xingqiu naturally wouldn’t meddle with mismatched pairings.

After all, no one could force this kid to do anything he didn’t want.

Hearing Lu Xingqiu praise Jiang Se’s good temper, Lu Huaiyan’s hand paused slightly as he flipped through documents, a smile tugging at his lips. “I know.”

He knew better than anyone how fiery her temper could be.

If he dared give her attitude, that girl would probably bite a chunk out of him to vent her anger.

Lu Huaiyan cleared his lunch schedule to deal with documents. Zhou Qing came in to report that Miss Jiang Se had made plans to have lunch with someone, so there was no need to send her food.

Lu Huaiyan gave a soft “mm.”

Zhou Qing waited, but no further instructions came. He glanced at Lu Huaiyan instinctively.

The man was signing papers with a fountain pen, his eyes hidden behind gold-rimmed glasses. Sensing Zhou Qing’s gaze, he paused, lifted his eyes, and, catching Zhou Qing’s expression, guessed what he was thinking.

“No need to check who she’s eating with,” Lu Huaiyan said lightly. “Stop investigating her matters.”

Since he’d promised not to interfere in her affairs, he wouldn’t go behind her back.

Just as she never questioned who he was dining or socializing with.

Besides, even if she didn’t say, he could guess who Jiang Se was having lunch with today.

Cen Li was flying back to Beicheng today.

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