Chapter 8 Love and Not Love

The banquet had been going on for nearly two hours, but Lu Junyan hadn't touched a drop of alcohol.

Jiang Ning guessed that Lu Junyan's stomach problems had flared up again.

These past few days, she and Lu Junyan have been going through a divorce. She hasn't been brewing the traditional Chinese medicine she used to take with every meal, and Lu Junyan definitely hasn't been drinking it either, because only she knows the proportions, cooking time, and other important details of the medicine.

The thought of "Let Lu Junyan die of pain" flashed through Jiang Ning's mind.

But she just couldn't be that ruthless.

Jiang Ning took out her phone and wrote down every single ingredient in the medicine used to treat Lu Junyan's stomach ailment, from its name and proportions to the preparation method, in meticulous detail. Before sending it, she wondered if she should add some greetings, polite words, and explanations...

After typing and deleting the text several times, Jiang Ning finally left it blank and clicked send without writing anything extra.

Lu Junyan's phone received a WeChat message, but the person who opened the message was not Lu Junyan.

Chu Qingxue turned her back, silently memorized the message Jiang Ning sent, and then deleted it completely.

Lu Junyan was currently entertaining guests.

Although he came to accompany Chu Qingxue tonight, there were quite a few people here who knew him, so socializing was inevitable. However, he didn't drink a drop of alcohol because his stomach was in excruciating pain.

This also made his aura much colder, as if he was dissatisfied with everything about tonight's banquet.

"Junyan..."

As the banquet was about to end, Lu Junyan saw Chu Qingxue bring her a bowl of steaming medicinal soup.

He was very familiar with the scent of herbs, but he hadn't developed stomach problems when he started dating Chu Qingxue.

"How did you know I have a stomach problem? And this medicine..."

Lu Junyan glanced towards Jiang Ning.

"How could I not know your physical condition? This medicine is a prescription I got from an old Chinese medicine doctor. I guarantee it will cure you."

Actually, Chu Qingxue asked Wang Yang and Song Lili to go out and buy the medicine according to the prescription sent by Jiang Ning. Since they didn't have time to brew it, they just made a simple brew, which would still have some effect.

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't been so willful back then, you wouldn't have been taken care of like this all these years..." Chu Qingxue's eyes reddened.

Jiang Ning smelled the medicine and turned his head to look. He saw Chu Qingxue leaning against Lu Junyan's shoulder like a little bird, while Lu Junyan was feeding Chu Qingxue a piece of red velvet cake.

She had baked red velvet cakes for Lu Junyan many times.

Lu Junyan has a bad stomach and can't eat spicy food or too much sweet food.

Lu Junyan doesn't like sweets, but he has a special fondness for red velvet cake.

Jiang Ning practiced repeatedly for a long time in order to bake a red velvet cake with the right sweetness that suited Lu Junyan's taste, but Lu Junyan was still not satisfied.

Now she understands.

The problem wasn't the red velvet cake, but her as a person.

On her way home, Jiang Ning kept thinking about how she could divorce Lu Junyan.

Before the divorce could be finalized, something went wrong at her job at the juvenile detention center.

"That's right. Your husband has contacted us and we've already changed your start date. I'm here to confirm with you."

Jiang Ning had already reached the bottom of the stairs when he received a call from the juvenile detention center. The person on the other end of the line said the following.

A black Maybach came into view, and Jiang Ning knew it was Lu Junyan's car.

After hanging up the phone with the juvenile detention center, Jiang Ning saw the car window roll down, and it wasn't Xiao Zhang driving, but Lu Junyan himself.

"What do you mean by this?" Jiang Ning questioned.

"Get in the car."

Lu Junyan didn't say much, and it was clear that he didn't intend to explain.

Jiang Ning met Lu Junyan's deep eyes and couldn't fathom his thoughts.

She didn't get on the bus.

"Today is a family gathering."

Lu Junyan's voice came from behind her, cold and confident.

“But I have no reason to insist on going,” Jiang Ning said, turning his head.

"Grandpa has been saying all morning that he hasn't seen you in a long time. Today's gathering is at the Lu family's old house."

Lu Junyan's grandfather, Lu Lifeng, was the kindest person to Jiang Ning after she married into the Lu family.

Unlike Lu Junyan's superficial kindness, Lu Lifeng's kindness towards her was genuine.

Jiang Ning eventually pulled back the steps he had taken.

She walked to the passenger side and opened the car door. The person sitting inside surprised Jiang Ning.

"Miss Jiang, we meet again." Chu Qingxue smiled sweetly.

She was wearing a pink and gray suit today, which was sweet yet sophisticated. The pink diamond necklace around her neck was still the one Lu Junyan had given her, and the pink roses she was holding were undoubtedly a gift from Lu Junyan as well.

Jiang Ning thought back to when Lu Junyan pursued her in college, always giving her pink roses, and every date after they started dating was also with pink roses.

Back then, her roommate said that in Lu Junyan's eyes she must be like a delicate pink rose, so Lu Junyan would always give her one.

It seems that people are indeed not clear-headed when they are in love, and the people around them may be too.

Jiang Ning wisely sat in the back seat of the car.

“Miss Jiang… how about I just call you Jiang Ning from now on? We’re getting closer and closer, it’s a bit strange to keep calling you Miss Jiang.”

Jiang Ning remained silent, but Chu Qingxue kept talking.

"Oh, by the way, please don't misunderstand. My family and the Lu family are very close, which is why Junyan deliberately invited me to the family gathering."

Chu Qingxue glanced at Jiang Ning sitting in the back seat through the rearview mirror and saw that Jiang Ning's face, which was lightly made up, was even paler than before.

“Junyan and I were high school classmates. When we were dating, I often went to the Lu family. They were such nice people and treated me like family.”

"Junyan, do you remember that time I clumsily broke Grandpa's favorite antique vase? You were afraid he would scold me, so you said it was you who broke it..."

“That happened a few years ago… It was indeed my fault that time; I shouldn’t have brought you into Grandpa’s study.”

Lu Junyan chatted idly with Chu Qingxue while driving.

Jiang Ning recalled that when she first rode in Lu Junyan's car, she also tried to find various topics to chat with Lu Junyan, just like Chu Qingxue.

However, no matter what she said, Lu Junyan didn't reply with a single word.

Later, she asked Xiao Zhang, who told her, "President Lu doesn't like to be distracted while driving; it's his habit."

So when she rode in Lu Junyan's car again, she stopped talking on her own initiative.

As the conversation with Chu Qingxue progressed, Lu Junyan, who was driving, responded more and more, even initiating new topics on his own initiative.

Therefore, habits can be broken.

It's just a difference between loving and not loving.

Jiang Ning regretted getting into Lu Junyan's car.

She could have simply taken a taxi to get her grandfather back to the Lu family home.

Not long after, they arrived at the Lu family's old residence, which was a manor.

The Lu family is a large and prosperous family.

Jiang Ning followed Lu Junyan and Chu Qingxue into the old house and saw that all the relatives had arrived.

"Qingxue? Oh my, it's been so long since I've seen you. You've become more and more beautiful."

"I heard you just returned to China recently and even got a PhD in psychology. That's really impressive."

"I heard from Junyan that you've started working at FY now? Then you're definitely going to be the next world-renowned jewelry design master."

All the aunts and uncles fawned over Chu Qingxue, as if she were the Lu family's daughter-in-law.

Only Second Aunt Wang Lu noticed Jiang Ning.

"Hurry up, stop dawdling. The kitchen is already overwhelmed. Go over and help."

She ripped off her apron and threw it to Jiang Ning.