Chapter 82: “Jiejie…”
Lu Zhenyue was a member of the Lu family and couldn’t stay outside for too long. After touching up Huai Xing’s lipstick, she went into the reception hall first, lest Lu Xianyue couldn’t handle it alone.
Huai Xing sat alone in her chair, her smile gone, her expression calm.
The wind was very gentle. She looked at the festive red silk ribbons flying in the wind, closed her eyes lightly, and was once again pulled into her memories.
She had once specially asked Chu Wantang to do something like applying lipstick for her.
At that time, her makeup skills were not mature enough. Even though some occasions didn’t require makeup, she would still use it as an excuse to find Chu Wantang to increase their interaction.
She would be nervous about sitting in front of Chu Wantang with a young girl’s heart. Their breaths were very close, and when she closed her eyes, the sound of her heartbeat would be amplified. When she opened her eyes, she would meet Chu Wantang’s beautiful eyes. She was always afraid that her feelings would be discovered and was always very careful. But when Chu Wantang was applying lipstick for her, her gaze was always locked on her lips, and her soft, warm fingertips would gently brush past her lips, which would send an undeniable electric current through her body.
Later, during that ambiguous period of theirs, before Chu Wantang applied her lip makeup, she would bend down, pinch her chin, and kiss her. When the kiss was finally over, she would stroke her lips and say with a smile, “It seems you don’t need lipstick anymore, Xingxing.”
The ringing of her phone brought Huai Xing back to her senses. She looked at the caller ID.
It was the person she had just been thinking about.
Huai Xing: “…”
She looked around but didn’t see her. Thinking of Chu Yiming, whom she had seen today, she still put the phone to her ear.
“Xingxing.” The form of address that had just been in her memories appeared by her ear, making Huai Xing feel dazed for a moment.
Huai Xing lowered her long lashes and stared at the grass.
For a moment, she didn’t know how to respond and waited for Chu Wantang’s next words.
But after this form of address, she did not hear the person on the other end of the phone speak again for a long time.
Another ten seconds passed. Her freshly colored, rosy lips moved, and she resignedly said softly, “What’s wrong?”
“Why aren’t you surprised at all that I came to the Lu family’s birthday banquet today?” Chu Wantang asked very seriously.
Huai Xing asked back, “Why would I be surprised?” She couldn’t help but say, “You know that I would attend this birthday banquet with my current identity.”
Even when the invitation was sent to the Chu family, they were not yet friends, and the atmosphere was tense, far from as gentle as it was now.
“Then did you hear that I’m deliberately trying to find a topic now?”
“…Mm, it’s very obvious.” It was something they both understood, yet she had to ask. What was it if not deliberate?
What she received was a low chuckle from Chu Wantang.
A very pleasant low chuckle.
Huai Xing’s nerves were jumping from hearing it, and she was about to hang up the phone. “If there’s nothing else important, let’s end it here.”
The next second, Chu Wantang asked, “Did Qiaoqiao tell you that she missed you?”
“She did.”
“When was the last time?”
“Two days ago, I said I was coming to Jingcheng.” Huai Xing had also made an appointment to see Qiaoqiao.
“I miss you so much.”
“…Chu Wantang.”
“I was just speaking for Qiaoqiao, Xingxing.”
Huai Xing, without a word, let the call end there. She gripped her phone tightly, and there was not a single gap between her lips.
She looked up at the front.
The lake in front was rippled by the gentle breeze, the light was fine, and the reflection of the red silk ribbons swayed in the ripples, rising and falling.
…
The Lu family’s birthday banquet officially began. Everyone moved to the dining room. The dining room was decorated with a great atmosphere, with gold and red as the main colors. At the entrance was an exquisite Huaxiu “Shou” (longevity) screen, and on both sides were pine and cypress potted plants that symbolized longevity.
The dining tables were neatly arranged, and in the center was a blue and white porcelain vase with Chinese-style flower arrangements, which added an elegant atmosphere. The patterns on the tableware were also mainly auspicious.
Many famous private chefs from Jingcheng had been invited for this meal today, and every dish was exquisite, making one’s mouth water.
In addition, because the old matriarch Lu also loved to watch plays, Lu Xuerong had also specially had a stage built.
Huai Xing sat next to Lu Xianyue. Lu Zhenyue was obviously much busier than them and was sitting with the elders at the old matriarch’s table.
And at their table, there were Fang Yu, Tan Yunshu, and Shen Yingzhi, and Chu Wantang was also there.
A photographer was taking pictures to record the event, and when the camera was aimed at this table, he couldn’t help but take a few more pictures. It was really too pleasing to the eye.
Everyone ate elegantly and chatted and laughed. They talked about the upcoming warming weather in Jingcheng and their plans to escape the heat.
Lu Xianyue was never behind in chatting and said with a smile, “If I weren’t going back to Haicheng, I would have gone to Yuelan Wu to escape the heat.” She looked at Tan Yunshu. “President Tan, I remember that the ‘Mountain Rain’ Hotel in Yuelan Wu is from Junling?”
“Yes,” Tan Yunshu asked. “Are Little President Lu and President Huai going back to Haicheng together?”
“No, I’m going back early,” Lu Xianyue said, her eyes curving. She also had a girlfriend, but this was not a suitable occasion to say it. Apart from Lu Zhenyue, no one else in her family knew about her relationship with Wen Shiwei.
Tan Yunshu said with no small regret, “I was just thinking of inviting you and Little President Huai to Yuelan Wu to escape the heat.”
Shen Yingzhi raised an eyebrow. “It’s okay. You can invite me and Ning Jing.”
Fang Yu’s deer-like eyes were always filled with a smile as she put a dish in Tan Yunshu’s bowl.
And Huai Xing’s gaze swept over their table, and she was surprised.
The lesbian content was so high.
At this moment, Chu Wantang put down her chopsticks and said, propping her chin on her hand, “Yuelan Wu is a good place. I always stay at ‘Mountain Rain’ when I go.”
“Does President Chu go very often?” Lu Xianyue asked, her gaze frequently glancing at Chu Wantang as she took food, and she could see that Chu Wantang’s gaze was always on the Huai Xing beside her.
Chu Wantang’s brows lifted slightly, and her voice held a clear and moist smile as she said, “I love to go on spring outings.” She paused, her tone still light. “I’ve been going every year for these years, and I always stay at ‘Mountain Rain.’ I already have a black card from the Junling Group.”
Even though Huai Xing had not been by her side for these five years, she had still done this.
And also seeing the ginkgo trees in Yuncheng, and being in the snow in Xuecheng…
She had fulfilled the promise she had made at the seaside alone.
Shen Yingzhi asked casually, “With a friend?”
Chu Wantang shook her head. “A very important person.” Her gaze moved away from Huai Xing’s calm face, and she twitched her lips bitterly. “But I’ve lost her for a long time.”
Huai Xing picked up her drink glass, her eyelids half-lowered, and drank her juice slowly, hiding the unrest in her eyes when she heard this.
Tan Yunshu’s hand under the table held Fang Yu’s and squeezed it, saying with a hint of meaning, “As long as there is love, you will find her again, President Chu.”
Chu Wantang: “Mm.”
There was a hint of tears in her eyes, and she looked very wistful. She stood up and said apologetically, “Excuse me.”
The conversation returned to the topic of escaping the heat. Huai Xing’s peripheral vision followed Chu Wantang’s departing figure. She then habitually scratched the wall of the glass with the tip of her index finger, exposing her struggling heart at this moment.
Lu Xianyue knew what this action meant. She leaned over and asked in a low voice, “Do you want to go and find her?”
“No,” she denied at once.
“The person you were talking about just now was you, right? Be cruel. Do you hear me?”
Huai Xing twitched her lips and gently pushed the person to the side. “Eat your food, Little President Lu.”
…
Chu Wantang’s period had come two days early. In the past month, she had not touched anything cold once, and she had not been “outwardly compliant but inwardly unsubmissive” with Huai Xing. It was just that her mood was not good, and her body was also a little affected. After coming out of the restroom, she went back to the lawn, sat down in a chair with a dejected expression, and eased the discomfort in her lower abdomen.
She didn’t know if Huai Xing would believe the sadness she had just shown. She couldn’t help but look back, but the person she was thinking of did not rush over. It was all the Lu family members who were busy in the manor.
She closed her eyes lightly, evened her breathing, and tried to calm down.
“Miss Chu,” not long after, the Lu family’s butler came over.
Chu Wantang looked at her and saw her hand over a blanket, a glass of warm water, and a box of ibuprofen, asking her, “Do you need this?”
“…Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Chu Wantang covered herself with the blanket, felt the warmth of the water from the glass, smiled, and asked back, “May I ask if it was Little President Lu who ordered this?”
“It wasn’t Little President Huai…” The butler subconsciously gave the answer that Huai Xing had told her to say, but then she fell into the trap that Chu Wantang had set and quickly remedied, “Yes, yes, it was Little President Lu who ordered it.”
Chu Wantang couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, I know. Thank you, Little President Lu.”
The butler said no more. After she turned around, she touched her forehead and thought, would she be docked pay?
After taking her medicine, Chu Wantang did not stay on the lawn.
Huai Xing was concerned about her, this friend. How could she stay outside all the time? They hadn’t seen each other for a long time, and she didn’t want to miss too much.
When she returned, Huai Xing had just gone to the old matriarch Lu to offer her birthday wishes, and Lu Zhenyue was standing by her side, looking at her with gentle eyes.
Even, she had naturally raised her hand to push aside the hair by her ear, which was full of intimacy.
Chu Wantang sat down in her seat, her expression calm on the surface, but only she knew the churning waves in her heart. She had seen Lu Zhenyue and Huai Xing being so intimate more than once, and such a habitual action was something she used to do for Huai Xing.
The delicious food was a little hard to swallow.
After Huai Xing had finished her birthday wishes, she returned to their table, a faint smile on her lips. Seeing Chu Wantang’s slightly pale face and the ibuprofen on the table, she silently moved her gaze away again.
A few minutes later, Chu Wantang also stood up to offer her birthday wishes to the old matriarch Lu.
She said nice things, and with Chu Yiming at the side, the smile on the old matriarch’s face never faded. She even complained with a smile, “Yiming, actually, that matter has been in the past for a long time. If you and Ah Ying had been willing to come and see us back then, then Tangtang would have grown up with our Zhenyue and Xianyue. How could they have only just met?”
“That’s right,” Chu Yiming’s old face was full of agreement.
Chu Wantang looked at Lu Zhenyue with a smile and said, “It’s not too late to meet Miss Lu now. It’s very fateful. I even specially went to see Miss Lu’s play in Jingcheng before.”
Lu Zhenyue nodded along. “That’s right. I also have a deep impression of Miss Chu. She even reviewed the performance after watching it and felt that the core was very touching.” She squeezed the old matriarch’s shoulder. “Grandma, you see, I can also be successful as a theater actress.”
“I don’t care if you’re successful in acting or not. You have to come back and inherit the family business sooner or later. Also, when are you going to bring a boyfriend home? You’re already thirty-one, Zhenyue.” The old matriarch sighed at the thought of this and then asked, “Yiming, does Tangtang have a boyfriend? Is their relationship stable?”
Chu Yiming answered, “No.”
“You have to be more concerned.”
“Tangtang,” Chu Yiming said, looking at his granddaughter and saying seriously, “Marriage and having children are important matters in life. You have to have a plan.”
…
After the meal, in a small reception room in the manor, Huai Xing met with the old master Chu again.
In the middle of it, Chu Yiming had sent someone to get a photo album. At this moment, he was pulling Huai Xing to look at the old photos, explaining them one by one.
“Ah Zhuo and Qianlan were both very good people, but they were too proud. Back then, the Huai family was eyeing a very important business, but it failed, and they barely managed to fill all the holes with the funds they had. After the accident, Ah Ying and I discussed their future plans with them, but they were not willing to accept anything. In the end, our two families had a big fight…” Chu Yiming couldn’t help but feel sad as he recalled. “We were so angry that we cut off contact with them and said that we would never see each other again in this lifetime.”
Huai Xing pointed to one of the photos and couldn’t help but ask, “Grandpa Chu, who is this uncle?”
He was standing with her mother and looked a little similar.
“You’re Xiao Zhao’s daughter, so this is your uncle. What? You don’t recognize him? His name is Huai Zhang. Wait, there are photos of your aunt later…”
Chu Wantang looked at Huai Xing’s obviously dazed expression and reminded her with a frown, “Grandpa, don’t flip through them anymore.”
“I found it,” Chu Yiming said, wearing his reading glasses and taking out an old photo with the date March 1998 written on the back. “This is a photo that Xiao Zhang sent me. He said that Xiao Lu was pregnant, and her due date was in July…”
He adjusted his reading glasses, remembered a very key point, looked at Huai Xing, and asked, “What month were you born in, child? That’s right. What about Xiao Zhang’s child? What do you mean by ‘I’m the only one left’…”
Huai Xing’s eyes were red. “I… I was born in July…”
She had received too much information at once and couldn’t think of anything. After saying this, she could only turn her head to look at Chu Wantang.
Chu Wantang’s brows furrowed in heartache. She then heard her say with a feigned composure but a trembling voice, “I’m sorry, Grandpa Chu. I want to go outside for some fresh air.”
“…Go on.”
The air outside was fresh, but Huai Xing couldn’t smell anything. Her mind was full of the photos and what Chu Yiming had just said.
Chu Wantang followed her out and parted her lips. “Xingxing…”
As soon as she finished speaking, Huai Xing turned around and hugged her, her voice nasal as she said, “Jiejie…”
“Can you lend me a few minutes?”
