Chapter 52: Attending the Birthday Banquet
Chen Jiamu left…
After resting in the hospital for three days, he departed, taking that black cat with him.
Li Qi looked at the empty room, the light in his eyes gradually dimming as his clenched fists slowly unclenched…
Yeah, actually, Chen Jiamu understood everything…
He knew Li Qi liked him, so he had been playing dumb all along. But Li Qi had insisted on piercing that thin veil of ignorance, driven only by his own terrifying possessiveness…
Those four days of indulgence were the final concession Chen Jiamu had granted him…
Back in Beicheng, Chen Jiamu holed himself up in his room all day. Aside from eating, he slept, completely devoid of vitality.
“You’ve been like this since you got back from out of town. What, was your life essence sucked out of you?”
At the door, Chen Cheng leaned against the frame, holding an iron hammer. Ever since Chen Jiamu returned, he had been listless, knowing only how to lie down and sleep all day.
He wouldn’t react when called to go out, and he kept his door locked tight, refusing to open it for anyone. She wasn’t about to indulge him; she warned him that if he didn’t open up, sheād smash the door down with the hammer.
“Yeah, I’m poor.”
“Who told you guys to cut off my living allowance?”
Chen Jiamu didn’t want to open the door, but he was genuinely afraid Chen Cheng would dismantle it, so he helplessly unlocked it.
Lying on the bed, he was too lazy to move, shrinking into the quilt without even lifting his eyelids.
“You have the nerve to say that? If you hadn’t run off to another province in a huff after graduation, would Mom and Dad have cut off your allowance?”
“Besides, I saved a third of it for you. You should be content; at least I didn’t let you starve to death.”
“Hmph.”
Chen Jiamu only dared to grunt twice in response, but he still didn’t get out of bed.
“Spit it out. What happened over there?”
“Otherwise, would you be acting like this?”
No one knows a brother better than his sister. Chen Cheng saw Chen Jiamu’s abnormal behavior and knew he must have encountered something to be acting this way.
“Got my heart broken, I guess.”
“The girl I liked ran off with someone else.”
As soon as Chen Jiamu thought about it, Li Qiās face floated before his eyes. The memories of fooling around for those few days were vivid in his mind…
Instantly, his ears turned red with shame, burning like a hot iron. It was so hot he couldn’t help but shrink further into the quilt.
“That’s it?”
“If she ran off, she ran off. With your status as the young master of the Chen family, what kind of girl couldn’t you find?”
“It’s just a girl; what’s there to be sad about?”
Hearing that this was the reason, Chen Cheng silently breathed a sigh of relief. Good thing it wasn’t anything else.
“Easy for you to say…”
“Alright, I just want some quiet time alone. Don’t worry about it.”
Chen Jiamu lifted his eyelids slightly and waved his hand at Chen Cheng, signaling that he just wanted to be alone.
“Two days, max.”
“In two days, you’re accompanying Mom to the An family’s birthday banquet. Don’t drop the ball then.”
Chen Cheng lowered the hammer, looking at him with half-belief, before raising the hammer again as she left the room.
“Mmh…”
Chen Jiamu gave a lazy response before falling back into sleep.
For three consecutive days, Chen Jiamu did nothing but eat and sleep. His parents knew he was in a bad mood, so they didn’t say much.
On the morning of the third day, Chen Jiamu was dragged up, disheveled and unkempt, and stuffed into the bathroom.
“Go shower. We’re buying clothes this afternoon, and tonight we are attending the birthday banquet!”
“Day in and day out, a young person acting so lifelessāit’s ridiculous.”
shoved into the bathroom, Chen Jiamu leaned against the wall and glanced sideways at himself in the mirror, letting out a helpless, self-deprecating laugh. “Really ugly, like a ghost.”
The face in the mirror was pale, the eyes weak and listless. It scared him enough that he hurriedly splashed cold water on his face.
After scrubbing himself clean from head to toe, he appeared in the living room half an hour later, looking sharp.
He wore a black trench coat over a white mock-neck sweater, his hair combed so that not a single strand was out of place.
It was as if Chen Jiamu had returned to the sunny, handsome young master of the Chen family from four years ago.
Su Yi looked at Chen Jiamu, seeing that he was no longer dispirited, and a satisfied smile immediately appeared on her face. “That’s more like it. How handsome and charming.”
Chen Jiamu put his arm around her shoulder, resting his head against her face, and said cheekily, “When am I not handsome?”
“Handsome! You are the most handsome.”
Su Yi’s heart melted at his small gesture. She patted the top of his head lovingly, and the two of them went out the door together.
Outside, Chen Wensong was waiting in the car with a calm expression. Seeing the two of them come out, he urged, “Get in quickly, Chengcheng has already went ahead.”
“Okay.”
Su Yi responded and pulled Chen Jiamu into the car with her.
Watching the buildings flash by outside the window, Chen Jiamu felt a lingering sense of hollowness in his heart. He didn’t know why, but he felt like something inside him was missing.
That emotion pressed heavily on his chest, making the past few days rather difficult to bear.
“Mom, who is celebrating their birthday at the An family this time?”
Unable to figure out his feelings, Chen Jiamu idly asked about the protagonist of the banquet out of boredom.
“The An family’s Old Madam. You’ve been there before. Today is her eightieth birthday.”
“Oh,” Chen Jiamu responded faintly. Eighty years old was indeed a long life.
Chen Jiamu remained very quiet throughout the journey. Such abnormal behavior truly made Su Yi and Chen Wensong worry involuntarily.
But they didn’t dare ask too much, afraid of poking at his sore spot.
Soon, they arrived at their destination. After getting out of the car, Chen Jiamu stood aimlessly to the side before following Chen Wensong and his mother inside.
He thought it would be just an ordinary gathering, never expecting that his peaceful life was about to be shattered right here…
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