Chapter 80 A Certain Ex

The following morning, Lin Yu and Jiang Chuan drove to the sanatorium. The sanatorium was located in a villa in Jing'an District. After passing through streets shaded by plane trees, the Chinese-style courtyard with red walls and green tiles gradually came into view.

Lin Yu followed behind Jiang Chuan, gazing at the lush greenery outside the courtyard, and couldn't help but sigh, thinking that he wanted to retire and move into this place right now.

Jiang Chuan carried the gift he had prepared for his grandmother in one hand, and naturally wrapped his other arm around Lin Yu's waist, chuckling, "The WIFI speed here might not be as fast as you think."

"Huh?" Lin Yu's mouth dropped open, and he immediately backed away. "Then forget it!"

Jiang Chuan chuckled at her words, then took her hand, their fingers intertwined, and they walked through the door. After registering at the front desk, the nurse accepted the gift and led them through a corridor to an outdoor courtyard.

"The old lady's recent health indicators are good, but her memory isn't very good," the nurse explained as they walked. "She often mixes up a few things, and when she wakes up during the day, she likes to sit in the pavilion next to the artificial hill, lost in thought."

Turning the corner of the corridor, I saw a frail old woman sitting quietly in a wheelchair in the distance. Her silver hair was neatly coiled at the back of her head and tied into a bun with a peach wood hairpin.

Jiang Chuan thanked the nurse and pulled Lin Yu to the old woman's side. He was carrying a box of peach shortbread, which was his grandmother's favorite snack when she was young.

In the years when she was still healthy, whenever she had free time, she would spend an afternoon in the kitchen, patiently baking a batch of food.

Then, the pieces that were in the best condition were carefully stacked one by one in a tin can, to be left for Jiang Chuan when he came back from school on the weekend.

So many years have passed, and Grandma probably can't remember the recipe and cooking time anymore, but Jiang Chuan still remembers the taste, even during the years when he lost his sense of taste.

So every time I visit her, I buy a box of these, even though they no longer taste the same as I remember.

A person whose mind is unclear yet possesses an astonishingly healthy physique, with intact teeth, and who can gnaw on bones with the same ease as a young person, seems to have regressed into a child or an animal, primitive and pure.

Jiang Chuan didn't know whether this was kindness or cruelty. He gently placed the peach cake box on the stone table, opened the lid, picked up a piece, and handed it to his grandmother.

The old man's nose twitched, and his cloudy eyes slowly rose, moving upwards little by little along the hand until they finally landed on Jiang Chuan's face.

She paused for a few seconds, then suddenly clapped her hands and laughed, her voice hoarse but full of joy. "Yunxing, why did it take you so long to get back? The food's all cold."

"Grandma, it's me!" Jiang Chuan seemed used to this kind of mistake and patiently explained. But the old woman had already taken the peach shortbread and started eating it intently, crumbs falling onto her clothes.

He reached out and adjusted her collar, and regardless of whether she understood or not, he calmly said, "This is Lin Yu, my girlfriend. We're getting married at the end of the year."

"Marriage?!" Grandma looked up abruptly, her eyes widening in panic. Her hand, still smeared with crumbs of pastry, lashed out. "I don't agree! I'll only ever have one daughter-in-law! Don't cause any more trouble..."

She became increasingly agitated as she spoke, raising her hand to strike Jiang Chuan. "Are you trying to drive me crazy! Xiao Chuan is about to take the college entrance exam, do you think he doesn't know anything?!"

Shen Qingsi is Jiang Chuan's mother; she and his father passed away many years ago. His grandmother clearly mistook him for his father. Lin Yu was completely confused, thinking it was just the old woman's ramblings.

Seeing that Jiang Chuan's sleeves were covered in debris and his expression was gloomy, she gently nudged him. "Go and tidy up first, I'll take care of things here."

Jiang Chuan's expression wasn't very good. He seemed to want to say something but hesitated, and in the end, he just silently pulled down his sleeve and turned to walk towards the restroom.

Lin Yu leaned forward, put his arms around his grandmother's thin shoulders from behind, and coaxed her gently, "Grandma, you've mistaken him for someone else. This isn't your son, it's your grandson Jiang Chuan."

“Your son and daughter-in-law are doing well. They’re busy right now, but they’ll come to see you when they have some free time.” Her voice was gentle, like she was comforting a lost child.

Grandma didn't seem to hear much of what was said, but she did gradually quiet down, her cloudy eyes moving slightly.

Lin Yu took out two tissues from her bag and carefully wiped her grandmother's fingers, which were covered in crumbs, and then gently patted the crumbs off her clothes.

Grandma watched quietly for a while, then her withered hand suddenly gripped Lin Yu's wrist. "So it's Qianhe."

Lin Yu was taken aback, not yet reacting, when the old man continued his rambling. "Xiao Bai, shouldn't you be practicing the piano at this time? Are you still angry with Xiao Chuan? Don't blame him, blame us..."

Her voice gradually choked with emotion. "If it weren't for what happened with his father, you two would have been married long ago."

A single, cloudy tear spilled from Grandma's pale eye, winding its way down her deeply wrinkled face. "Grandma has even prepared the bride price... for you all."

The old man had clearly mistaken her for one of Jiang Chuan's exes. Rationally, she knew she shouldn't make a fuss, since she and Jiang Chuan had never deliberately inquired about each other's past.

Given his circumstances and age of over thirty, it's perfectly normal for him to have had a few relationships. But seeing Grandma Jiang Chuan's attitude, Lin Yu still felt a pang of indescribable bitterness in his heart.

In the story told by his grandmother, Jiang Chuan had a girlfriend he had been with since their school days. The two were childhood sweethearts who developed feelings for each other and fell in love because of the same piano teacher.

They were supposed to be a perfect match, a golden couple, but unexpected misfortune befell Jiang Chuan's family, cruelly severing their pure love. With the girl's parents objecting, the two were forced to separate.

The regret of being forced to let go is more lingering than any past relationship. Even Lin Yu himself was almost moved by the tragic tone of their story.

Looking in the direction Jiang Chuan left, she suddenly realized that if it weren't for that incident, the person standing beside him now might be someone else.

This thought was like a tiny thorn, wedging itself inch by inch into the softest crevice of her heart.

Lin Yu uncontrollably began to depict the girl named Bai Qianhe in his mind, imagining her gentle and charming appearance.

Overloaded neural synapses suddenly plunged him into some absurd suspicion.

This made her start to suspect that during the time Jiang Chuan loved her, he might sometimes think of someone else, that girl she had never met.

Despite the complete absence of any clues, Lin Yu had already begun to question this relationship, and even developed some unfounded doubts about marrying him.

Grandma suddenly took off the jade bracelet from her wrist and, ignoring Lin Yu's struggles, slipped it onto her wrist. "Grandma remembers! Your birthday is on the 28th. When you get married, Grandma will give you an even better one."

Lin Yu felt as if struck by lightning, because she knew that September 28th was also her birthday. How could there be such a coincidence?

The jade bracelet was icy cold, and it rubbed against Lin Yu's wrist, causing her a sharp pain. She could no longer sit there and listen to her boyfriend's romantic love story with another woman.

She suddenly stood up and turned to face Jiang Chuan, who was returning from the restroom.

......

Lin Yu was a light sleeper, and the chirping of birds outside the window woke her in the early hours of the morning. She slowly opened her eyes, turned over, and saw Jiang Chuan sleeping soundly with his eyes closed.

Her thoughts were in turmoil, and an indescribable unease surged within her. After struggling for a moment, she finally reached out and touched Jiang Chuan's phone, which was on the bedside table.

It was the first time Lin Yu had done something like this, and his palms were sweating with nervousness. Driven by an indescribable unease, he acted against his own principles based on a very minor guess.

Lin Yu slipped off the bed barefoot, darted into the bathroom, locked the door behind her, and gently lowered the toilet seat before sitting down.

Her heart was pounding, a mixture of self-loathing for peeking at her boyfriend's phone and a thrill from some secret curiosity.

She took a deep breath, remembered the number Jiang Chuan had written in her palm that day, entered it into the lock screen, and successfully unlocked his phone.

Jiang Chuan's phone was clean; under the default system wallpaper, there were only a few frequently used apps. Lin Yu's hands trembled as he opened QQ, typed in Bai Qianhe's name, but the search results were blank.

Unwilling to give up, she scrolled through her group list, her finger pausing on a profile picture with a nickname ending in a comma. A woman's intuition compelled her to click on it.

The chat box was clean, as if it had been deliberately cleaned up, or perhaps the phone had been changed and messages hadn't been synced to the cloud.

Lin Yu clicked on that person's QQ space as if by some strange impulse.

The update time was stuck ten years ago; the interface was simple, with only a few scattered posts and photos. But a woman in love seems to possess a natural detective's talent; she almost instantly knew this was the person she was looking for.

The space contains records of her moments before breaking up with Jiang Chuan.

In their teens, from the initial attraction to the sweet romance, the words are filled with the impulse of teenagers who want to announce it to the whole world.

Every post they made was like a declaration that their love was earth-shattering and unique.

Lin Yu's finger slid down the photo album and saw a picture of the two holding hands. She was very familiar with Jiang Chuan's hands; Lin Yu recognized them at a glance—the small red mole on the back of his hand, between his thumb and forefinger.

At that moment, one hand was intertwined with the other, their fingers clasped together, looking intimately connected. She mechanically scrolled down until she saw a close-up photo of a girl.

The girl in the picture has bright eyes and white teeth, and is smiling brightly and naturally at the camera, her eyes filled with undisguised happiness.

Lin Yu didn't want to delve into who took the photo, but that bright and flamboyant beauty was completely different from her own. For some reason, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

She knew her visit would leave a trace, but she had no time to worry about that at the moment. After exiting the page, she opened Jiang Chuan's QQ space instead.

His online space was locked. Lin Yu tried entering the password Jiang Chuan had once told her, but the system indicated an error. After hesitating for a second, she inexplicably entered her own birthday, and the space was successfully unlocked.

Jiang Chuan's nickname was a period, like a silent echo. Lin Yu felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and a sour feeling welled up in his throat without warning.

His space was like a deliberately emptied room, without the group photos Lin Yu had hoped to see, only a post from ten years ago lying at the top.

A short downward line. It's unclear whether it's a farewell to first love or a desire to completely sever ties with one's younger self.

Lin Yu kept adjusting his breathing, and his grievances and resentment were gradually replaced by anger.

She despised herself as she went through Jiang Chuan's phone inside and out, but because so much time had passed, she didn't find many clues.

Lin Yu swiped his finger across the Weibo interface, hesitated for a moment, then clicked on it, scrolled through his friend list, and stopped at the friend request section.

The profile picture at the top, identical to the one on QQ, is unilaterally focused on Jiang Chuan.

Lin Yu knew that Jiang Chuan almost never used social media apps other than WeChat, and even Weibo was something she had forced him to download back then.

Therefore, the time of this friend request was also very recent, just a few months ago, which coincided with the time when Jiang Chuan started pursuing her.

She bit her lip and clicked on the other person's homepage, which showed Bai Qianhe after shedding her naivety.

Wearing a fiery red dress, she exuded a charm and flamboyant beauty that Lin Yu could never emulate, amidst landscapes around the world.

The latest update was posted during the few days Lin Yu stayed at Jiang Chuan's house when the water was cut off in his neighborhood.

In the last picture of the nine-square grid, half a wrist is vaguely visible in the corner, and the red mole is like a red-hot needle, piercing into Lin Yu's eyes.

She remembered Jiang Chuan telling her that he was supposed to be in Beijing those days meeting with a foreign trade company to discuss business. Now, the belated truth ruthlessly pierced through Jiang Chuan's hypocritical lies.

The bathroom light suddenly became glaring, and Jiang Chuan's WeChat message seemed to grow into a tumor on Lin Yu's body, making her lose the courage to continue exploring.

She felt completely exhausted, logged out of all social media platforms, locked the screen, opened the door, and returned to her bedside.

Jiang Chuan remained in the same position Lin Yu had left in, oblivious to his surroundings, fast asleep. Lin Yu gave him a cold look, then removed the icy jade bracelet from his wrist and placed it in a velvet box in the bedside table drawer.