Chapter 47

Jiang Ci walked out of the elevator and saw Wen Nian waiting for her outside. As soon as she appeared, Wen Nian pulled her into the house: “I saw you get off the car upstairs. Come on, wash your hands, and we can eat.”

Jiang Ci followed her and sat down at the dining table after washing her hands.

On the table, some candles were lit, their soft light casting a warm glow as Wen Nian poured red wine into a tall wine glass. She wore a pair of slender pearl earrings that grazed her fair neck and swayed with her movements.

“Ah-Ci, what should we toast to first?” Wen Nian raised her glass as she spoke.

Suppressing her anxiety, Jiang Ci also lifted her glass.

A mischievous twinkle danced in Wen Nian’s eyes as she said, “Let’s toast to our past.”

The two glasses clinked together with a crisp sound, and Jiang Ci took a small sip.

Wen Nian put down her glass and offered, “Try the steak I cooked.”

“Okay.” Jiang Ci cut a small piece and tasted it.

“How is it?” Wen Nian asked.

“It’s tender and delicious,” Jiang Ci replied after trying it.

Wen Nian smiled broadly. “Try the other dishes too.”

Jiang Ci tasted each dish and nodded with approval under Wen Nian’s expectant gaze. “They’re all delicious and to my liking. Thank you.”

“If you like it, I can cook for you more often in the future. Let’s drink to our future now,” Wen Nian suggested.

Jiang Ci put down her utensils as Wen Nian raised her glass, gesturing for her to pick up her own.

“I can’t drink anymore; I have to drive back.” Jiang Ci took out the key to the door here and placed it on the table. Across the dining table, she said to Wen Nian, “There are some things I want to say to you.”

Wen Nian’s smile faded slightly, and she gently put down her wine glass.

The candles burned vigorously, and it was quiet around them. Wen Nian used to think that “you could hear a pin drop” was an exaggeration, but now she knew it was true.

“Ah-Ci, is this fair to me? The way you’re treating me?” Wen Nian looked at the key and smiled again, but the smile was full of bitterness. “You said you couldn’t give me an answer right now and asked me to give you some time. I understand that you have a lot to consider and can’t make a decision so easily. But when I call you, you don’t answer, and you spend every day with Lu Xingxue, even going to the annual party with her, being seen by everyone as a model couple… Ah-Ci, have you considered my feelings? Is this fair to me? Are you really considering your options or just brushing me off?”

Jiang Ci wanted to say something, but the words got stuck in her throat.

“Were things really that good with Lu Xingxue? You only married her in the first place because our families had an engagement, right? There was no real affection between you two? And now, after only three or four years, your feelings for me have changed? Our feelings accumulated over more than a decade can’t compare to this short period of three years? I don’t believe it!” Wen Nian became excited as she spoke. She grabbed Jiang Ci’s hand tightly. “…Or is it that you have some difficulty? Are you afraid Auntie Jiang won’t agree?… Or are you angry? You’re angry, aren’t you? You blame me for leaving you behind, for not discussing anything with you, for keeping you in the dark for so many years? – I had my reasons! I explained last time that we, and Lu Xingxue, are not the same. She was born with everything, but we have to fight for everything we want!”

“You don’t have to keep bringing up Lu Xingxue,” Jiang Ci said, her eyes turning red. “Yes, I used to rely on you a lot. I loved you with all my heart and hoped to get a response from you every day.”

Jiang Ci sniffled, “These days, I’ve been thinking a lot about our past… every time I think about it, I feel very sad.”

“No need to be sad!” Wen Nian said anxiously. “The past doesn’t matter, what’s important is the future. Ah-Ci, I’m back and I’m right here by your side!”

Jiang Ci shook her head, each word coming out with great difficulty. “But I’m not here anymore. This has nothing to do with Lu Xingxue, time keeps moving forward and I’ve already moved on.”

Wen Nian asked, “Do you not love me anymore? Not even a little bit?”

Jiang Ci did not answer.

Wen Nian slowly let go of Jiang Ci’s hand. “It’s too late, isn’t it?”

Jiang Ci said, “I’m sorry.”

A phone rang in the living room, and Wen Nian wiped her eyes and said, “Excuse me.”

She left the dining table to answer the phone. After a few sentences, she suddenly broke down and said, “Enough! Can’t I have some personal space? Have I not done enough for the company? Do I need to be nothing more than a money-making machine driven by other people’s desires?!”

Wen Nian threw her phone aside, held her knees, and cried.

Jiang Ci tried to comfort her, but nothing seemed to work.

Wen Nian didn’t cry for long, at most five minutes. She stood up, went into the bathroom, and came back to the dining table a little while later.

“Don’t just stand there, hurry up and eat before the food gets cold,” Wen Nian said, pushing her wine glass aside. “If you don’t want to drink, then don’t. I worked really hard on these dishes, who knows how many times they’ve been overcooked… let’s not talk about that.”

Wen Nian cut her steak into small pieces and forced herself to swallow them down.

Jiang Ci apologized, to which Wen Nian wiped her eyes again and said, “Don’t waste this delicious food on the table. I invited you to dinner, so you should at least eat enough before you leave, right? Otherwise, she might think…”

Wen Nian trailed off.

For the rest of the time, no one said anything. Jiang Ci managed to finish her meal and when it was time to leave, Wen Nian said, “I won’t walk you out.”

Jiang Ci left Yushui Nanyuan with tears streaming down her face. When she got home, the living room lights were on, but she didn’t see Lu Xingxue, so she went upstairs to look for her.

No one was around.

Jiang Ci called Lu Xingxue, her voice hoarse. “Where are you?”

“At home,” Lu Xingxue replied.

“I couldn’t find you,” Jiang Ci said.

“I just got home. You’re back?”

Jiang Ci ran down from the third floor and found Lu Xingxue changing shoes while holding a bag of fruit.

Jiang Ci ran over and hugged her directly, and Lu Xingxue steadied herself on the shoe cabinet to avoid stumbling.

“What’s wrong?” Lu Xingxue put the fruit bag on the ground and gently stroked Jiang Ci’s hair. “Are you unhappy?”

Jiang Ci buried her head in Lu Xingxue’s arms and sniffed her scent. She shook her head and then nodded.

She hugged Lu Xingxue tightly, and Lu Xingxue felt her emotions. “You can tell me anything that’s bothering you. You don’t have to tough it out alone. If you don’t want to talk, you can cry it out. After crying, forget about everything that makes you unhappy. Okay?”

Jiang Ci grumbled, “I want to drink.”

Lu Xingxue said, “…Okay.”

Lu Xingxue still had a cold and couldn’t drink alcohol, so she accompanied Jiang Ci with a glass of juice.

At first, Jiang Ci just drank quietly, but after two or three glasses, she opened up: “I want to be an ordinary girl from an ordinary family with loving parents and a harmonious family that respects each other. If there were more than one child, there might be fights, but when we encounter difficulties, we would definitely come together.”

The more she talked, the sadder she became. She tilted her head back and finished the drink in her glass.

“Slow down, or you’ll get drunk,” Lu Xingxue warned.

Jiang Ci waved her hand and poured herself another glass. “I talked to Wen Nian, but…I don’t feel any better. It’s not that she’s wrong, and I’m not wrong either, but the timing was wrong. Some intentions can only bear sweet fruit at the right time, otherwise it can only be…”

“Bitter fruit.”

Jiang Ci drank again, and this time Lu Xingxue didn’t try to stop her, only saying, “Even the most regrettable things will eventually pass.”

Jiang Ci apologized, “I’m sorry for telling you all this.”

Lu Xingxue replied, “It’s okay.”

Jiang Ci said, “I won’t do this again in the future.”

Lu Xingxue rubbed her head.

Later, Jiang Ci didn’t know how much she had drunk, but she had forgotten all her troubles. She was probably really drunk, because one second she remembered talking to Lu Xingxue, and the next she was lying on the table.

“Jiang Ci?” Lu Xingxue came over to check on her. “If you want to sleep, you can go to your room.”

Jiang Ci let out a deep sigh.

Lu Xingxue looked at her tear-streaked face and felt sorry for her. She tried to lift Jiang Ci’s arm to help her up the stairs.

“What the hell! I… want… to… drink!” Jiang Ci struggled and grabbed an empty bottle, holding onto it tightly.

Lu Xingxue said, “Let’s drink next time. You’ve had enough for today.”

Jiang Ci squinted at her.

Lu Xingxue remembered Jiang Ci’s behavior and actions when she was drunk last time, and her mood suddenly became subtle. “Do you not recognize me anymore?”

Jiang Ci showed an “I’m not stupid” expression, threw the bottle away, and instead cupped Lu Xingxue’s face. She aimed at her lips and leaned in to give her a kiss.

Lu Xingxue’s eyes widened. “…”

After the kiss, Jiang Ci covered her face and lay on the table.

Lu Xingxue turned her head and coughed a few times.

Jiang Ci buried half of her face in her arm, leaving only a pair of watery eyes, blinking at people. She stared at Lu Xingxue, stared and stared, then “hmphed” from her nose and muttered unhappily, “stingy.”

Lu Xingxue didn’t hear clearly. “What?”

“I said you’re stingy!” Jiang Ci’s voice sounded aggrieved. “You won’t even give me the ring! It’s obviously my ring!”

Lu Xingxue: “…”

Feeling soft-hearted, Lu Xingxue coaxed her, “Go back to bed, be good and I’ll give you the ring.”

Jiang Ci asked, “Really?”

Lu Xingxue replied, “Of course it’s true.”

Jiang Ci got up unsteadily and halfway up the stairs, she suddenly exclaimed that she needed to feed the fish, “The little fish haven’t been fed yet! They will be hungry!”

Lu Xingxue held her around the waist, “They have already been fed, they are all asleep now.”

Jiang Ci asked, “Is that so? …But it’s still bright outside, why are they asleep?”

Lu Xingxue said, “Because–“

Jiang Ci interrupted her, “I want the ring.”

Lu Xingxue sighed and finally managed to get Jiang Ci settled in bed, “Lie down, don’t run around, I’ll go get the ring.”

Lu Xingxue left and came back with the ring box. As soon as Jiang Ci saw her, she sat up from the bed.

Lu Xingxue had originally intended to explain, but seeing Jiang Ci’s current state, she knew that explaining was useless. Jiang Ci forgot everything when she woke up from her nap, so she simply handed the ring box to Jiang Ci.

Jiang Ci immediately opened the box, wanting to take out the ring, but then hesitated and held onto the box, asking, “Aren’t you going to put it on for me?”

She was excited and full of anticipation, her tipsy state making her charming and sweet. Lu Xingxue’s fingertip brushed over her delicate cheek, using a low voice to say, “Sure.”

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