Part 3
“You really didn’t tell him, did you?” Liang Yi asked.
“Not explicitly.”
“He’s quite certain though. He seems very sure that he’s the only man you’ve ever been with.”
“That’s the truth.”
“Can’t you play hard to get a little? Isn’t it too easy to coax you away?”
Tang Yue flipped through the file. It listed kindergartens in S City, with pros and cons clearly marked, but no prices.
He shook his head. “Because I’ve missed out on five years. I don’t want to waste any more time.”
“Who was the one saying ‘I won’t listen, I won’t listen’ before?”
Tang Yue blushed. “I didn’t expect…”
“If it were me, even if Jiang Shulu and Liu Xichao were together like you said, I would fight for him,” Liang Yi said.
Jiang Xiujun agreed wholeheartedly. “I think you’d fight to get him back regardless of whether he was divorced or not.”
Liang Yi readily agreed.
“If only you could fight for me once,” Jiang Xiujun said.
The remark sounded full of obvious regret. Tang Yue felt like he shouldn’t be listening to this.
He coughed and said to Liang Yi, “After the variety show ends, I plan to sign with Clear Sky Media. A studio partnership contract, as a musician.”
“Decided?”
“Yeah.”
The car drove toward the airport. Jiang Shulu had already boarded his plane. The chat history between him and Tang Yue stopped at that last sentence: “Me too.”
Tang Yue didn’t reply further. He was thinking about saying it in person.
A “directness” without livestream cameras.
Ten days ago, Tang Yue thought: I absolutely cannot let Jiang Shulu know the truth.
Ten days later, watching the scenery fly by outside the window, he realized that Jiang Shulu hadn’t been gone long, yet he missed him so much.
The five years apart had exceeded the three years they knew each other.
Tang Yue’s feelings hadn’t changed a bit. Once that wall was broken, even if the ending was still a pile of ruins, he wouldn’t regret it.
He didn’t want a past where he and Jiang Shulu had loved but never been in love together.
To have loved is better than not to have loved at all. That was what Tang Yue felt fortunate for.
Upon arriving in S City, Jiang Shulu returned to the Jiang residence. Although the atmosphere wasn’t tense, the other family members who had arrived early for tomorrow’s birthday banquet sensed something unusual.
The Jiang family was large, and distant relatives couldn’t even recognize each other when gathered, but when Jiang Shulu walked into the living room, everyone knew who he was.
It was already dark. Compared to the lively lunch, many of the children had gone to the hotel to rest by this time, leaving mostly the elders exchanging pleasantries.
Jiang Kaicheng was playing cards, while Zhu Qiong was chatting with the ladies in the conservatory.
Seeing Jiang Shulu, Zhu Qiong was the first to approach, but in reality, everyone’s eyes were on him.
Jiang Shulu, having changed into a different coat, reverted to the cold elite heir. After greeting everyone, he handed a gift to Zhu Qiong.
Even among relatives, there were many Jiang Shulu didn’t recognize. To avoid awkwardness with the many outsiders attending tomorrow, this was essentially a rehearsal.
The Jiang family cared deeply about appearances, so they had to pretend to be dignified at this moment, coming forward one by one to exchange greetings.
“Haven’t seen Shulu in years. He’s really grown more handsome.”
“Much more handsome than on TV.”
“Did you just get back from a business trip? You haven’t eaten, have you?”
“And you brought gifts? So thoughtful.”
Many had come specifically for the birthday banquet. The last one was ten years ago; some relatives had passed away, and some children had grown up.
Yet, Jiang Shulu could still accurately call out the names of juniors he hadn’t met, showing no unfamiliarity, offering a measured warmth.
The surrounding praises reached Zhu Qiong’s ears, improving her impatient mood significantly.
Standing behind him, Song Chen found it terrifying.
Even though he had received professional training and understood the complexity of wealthy families, he still felt his boss was unfathomable. Not to mention the personnel changes that looked fine on the surface over the years, the minor errors in certain projects, the properly handled asset transfers…
Jiang Shulu was practically a different person from the Away captain on the variety show.
Though smiling, he gave off a frosty impression.
“Have you eaten?” Zhu Qiong asked.
She walked affectionately to Jiang Shulu’s side, acting like a loving mother.
“I had a meal on the plane,” Jiang Shulu replied.
As soon as he finished, relatives around him chimed in, “Plane food is no good. Have something else.”
“Bring out the stewed soup. I heard being on a show is very tiring.”
“Shulu values relationships; he even helped promote Jiang He’s variety show.”
Song Chen was numb. He felt that the gossiping aunties at his family’s New Year gatherings were nothing compared to this; they were practically trendy compared to these old feudalists.
“I’m not hungry,” Jiang Shulu said. “Mother, I’m going to say hello to Father.”
His etiquette was flawless. Even Zhu Qiong couldn’t say anything in this setting and could only watch helplessly as Jiang Shulu walked up the stairs.
The second floor of the spiral staircase had a glass surface, allowing a view of the Jiang men playing mahjong.
Jiang Kaicheng had maintained himself well, only showing a bit of gray at his temples. Seeing Jiang Shulu, he smiled and asked, “You’re back?”
In terms of appearance, Jiang Shulu looked a lot like Jiang Kaicheng, except Jiang Kaicheng looked significantly easier to talk to than the current Jiang Shulu.
Playing mahjong with them was Jiang Jinan, a peer of Jiang Shulu’s. His attire looked completely different from the photos Jiang Shulu had seen.
Before, he looked like a trendsetter who had stumbled into a century-old graveyard; now, he looked ready to join a zombie army.
Jiang Shulu nodded. Jiang Jinan waved him over to play a round. “You know how to play, right? Sub for me?”
“I’m going to see Grandpa,” Jiang Shulu said.
After exchanging a few more words, he went to the third floor.
The people at the card table watched Jiang Shulu’s retreating back. Jiang Jinan asked Jiang Kaicheng, “Uncle, rumor has it Shulu-ge is dating a little male celebrity. Is it true?”
The Jiang family’s mahjong tables were old-fashioned and required manual shuffling. Amid the clatter of tiles, Jiang Kaicheng’s tone betrayed no emotion. “You can ask him yourself.”
Jiang Jinan was two years younger than Jiang Shulu, Jiang Kaicheng’s nephew.
He was filling in for his family these two days; his father was hospitalized recently and couldn’t move around.
Since returning to the country a few years ago, he had been in frequent contact with the Jiang family and got along well with the other juniors, except for Jiang Shulu, who was his age and a bit difficult.
Jiang Jinan started the conversation, and others got curious too. “I heard my sister-in-law introduced several girls to Shulu recently. Is there going to be a matchmaking session tomorrow too?”
“Does Shulu even need matchmaking?”
“I heard that little male celebrity was a colleague from that boy band he was in? They’ve known each other for years.”
“Impossible, right? That celebrity is married with a kid.”
“Really? My wife loves Shulu’s show; she gets up early in the morning just to watch the livestream.”
Jiang Kaicheng’s expression was unreadable. As they spoke, they naturally praised Jiang Shulu. “I haven’t seen Shulu in a while. He looks more and more like Kaicheng-ge.”
“At Shulu’s age, Kaicheng-ge’s kids were already getting married.”
Jiang Kaicheng nodded. “Zhu Qiong will worry about these things.”
Someone asked, “By the way, what about Jiang He? He wouldn’t skip the old man’s birthday, would he?”
“He’s coming tomorrow,” Jiang Kaicheng said.
“I heard Jiang He plans to get married. Is he really marrying a man?”
“Didn’t he anger the old man with that when he was young?”
“That man seems to be colleagues with Shulu’s…”
“They were all colleagues.”
Jiang Shulu ignored the discussions downstairs. He walked to the old man’s room and greeted him.
By Jiang Shulu’s generation, the Jiang family was in its fifth generation. The current glory was the result of each generation’s hard work. Compared to Jiang Kaicheng, Jiang Shulu had more contact with his grandfather, Jiang Mingxun.
Jiang Kaicheng hadn’t achieved much in the business world, but he was the best among his brothers.
If Jiang He hadn’t rebelled and run away, and then fallen seriously ill, the one to break tradition back then might have been him.
Song Chen waited at the door, a little afraid Jiang Shulu would get beaten out of the room.
It wasn’t that he was overthinking; the atmosphere in the Jiang family was truly terrible.
Every time Song Chen followed along, he didn’t dare breathe loudly, especially since he was a double agent.
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