Chapter 17 How did you end up here?
No matter how Jiang Xu asked, Luo Xincheng always denied it three times in a row with righteous indignation.
"I don't know, don't ask me, and don't talk nonsense."
"What nonsense? Where did I talk nonsense?"
Jiang Xu chuckled and said, "You can gossip about me, but I can't gossip about you, right?"
Luo Xincheng hurriedly said, "I didn't intend to gossip about you at first. You said you were under a lot of pressure, but it wasn't work-related pressure, so I just wanted to show you some concern and ask about the source of your pressure... It's reasonable to gossip about your relationship issues along the way, right?"
"Reasonable my foot."
Jiang Xu's eyelids drooped, and he exuded a sense of world-weariness and physical and mental exhaustion.
"Fine, I won't ask you about Fu Zhiheng, and you don't need to ask me either, okay?"
Luo Xincheng, with a strong sense of crisis, said, "I don't know anything about what's going on with Fu Zhiheng. No matter how much you ask, I can't tell you, okay?"
Jiang Xu: "..."
Showing off again!
Jiang Xu: "Do you know that the security system at the Ning family villa was installed by our company, and they check it every month?"
Luo Xincheng started putting food on his plate, saying, "Stop talking, eat more, and grow into a big, chubby boy."
Jiang Xu said "Don't curse me," but his hand unconsciously touched his flat stomach. After hesitating for a while, he still chose to put down his chopsticks after finishing the side dishes she picked out for him.
"Really not going to eat?" She raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Actually, it's not that easy to gain weight. You're not even twenty-five yet, your metabolism isn't that bad."
He shook his head listlessly and began pouring ice, gin, and white rum into his shaker. "I'm not in the mood to eat."
Luo Xincheng was puzzled but impressed. "What earth-shattering event has made you so worried?"
"Family scandal." He held up his shaker and started shaking, the flickering neon lights swirling across his expressionless face. "Sigh, I'm too embarrassed to say it."
...Then you absolutely mustn't say a single word about it. What do you mean by revealing it's a family scandal?
Luo Xincheng was incredibly curious, feeling like her heart was being tossed around by him.
She looked at Jiang Xu with resentment in her eyes.
The latter ignored him and continued shaking the shaker. His shirt collar opened and moved without wind, and the necklaces around his neck swayed up and down with the movement, adorned with tiny but dazzling lights.
Luo Xincheng's gaze followed the dazzling light, and she casually remarked, "The necklace is quite pretty. Is it a new seasonal item from some brand?"
"It's an older model. My brother bought it as a bonus when he bought a watch. He doesn't like wearing these kinds of things, so he just gave it to me."
"If I don't give it to your sister-in-law, will I give it to you?"
"Nonsense, how could I give such cheap stuff to my sister-in-law?"
That makes sense.
Luo Xincheng suppressed a laugh and was about to look away when she suddenly noticed that the skin around his collarbone, which should have been fair, was stained with a different color.
Her brow twitched. "You got a tattoo?!"
I was so shocked that I couldn't control my volume when I said that.
The other three hadn't noticed their whispering until they heard this, and their attention was immediately drawn to them.
"Who got a tattoo? You?" Wang Jiayan glared at Jiang Xu, his face showing a betrayal. "I asked you to get a tattoo before, but you absolutely refused, and now you won't let me go!"
As she spoke, she reached out to pull at his collar to see what tattoo he had.
Jiang Xu clutched his collar in despair, “What tattoo! Luo Xincheng, you're blind! Those are my bruises!”
"ah?"
Luo Xincheng chuckled sheepishly, "I misread it..."
She then realized, "Bruise? So the family scandal you were embarrassed to talk about earlier was because you were beaten by your family? Who beat you? Your brother?"
Wang Jiayan slammed his fist on the table in anger, "How could your brother do this?!"
Xu Peiyi and Jiang Wei were snuggling together, gossiping and stirring up trouble.
"So what exactly happened? Tell us, we'll avenge you if anyone bullied you."
"Exactly, what's there to be embarrassed about telling us?"
"..."
The four of them talked non-stop, each word carrying significant weight, until Jiang Xu couldn't straighten his back afterward.
"He was injured by a three-year-old child."
"A child? Whose is it?"
"It's mine."
"..."
Everyone felt a chill run down their spines, and the words 'illegitimate child' simultaneously popped into their minds.
Wang Jiayan slammed his fist on the table in anger, "How could your brother do this!"
This time he was even angrier because Jiang Xu's sister-in-law was one of his cousins.
Jiang Xu rubbed his face. Since things had come to this point, he decided to give up completely and simply tell the whole story: "My father's illegitimate son."
Everyone immediately fell silent.
The bar's music was as loud and boisterous as ever, but the five-person booth was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
After a long while, Luo Xincheng finally grinned and said, "Your dad is an old man who's practically halfway to the grave, and he's still doing this? It seems men only behave when they're hanging on the wall."
Jiang Xu was the youngest child in his family. His father was over forty when he was born. When the father and son walked on the street, people who didn't know them would think they were grandfather and grandson.
Xu Peiyi clicked her tongue twice, "No wonder you were embarrassed to say it."
Jiang Wei looked at him sympathetically, "That child is only three years old? So young, you'll have a lot of trouble denying it later, otherwise everyone will think he's your illegitimate child."
Jiang Xu covered his face: "Stop talking, I feel like I'm completely worthless in the dating market."
Wang Jiayan patted him on the shoulder, offering silent comfort.
Luo Xincheng was still puzzled, "So how did a three-year-old child hurt you? There's such a big bruise, it must be quite serious."
Jiang Xu said with difficulty, "...It's a long story."
Everyone: "Then make it short."
Jiang Xu: "..."
He began to organize his thoughts, "In short, my dad's mistress ran away with the money my mom gave her. She originally wanted to take the child with her, but my dad couldn't bear to. After all, he's so old, and having a child would make him seem very capable..."
Faced with the identical looks of disgust on the faces of the people around him, he shrugged helplessly, "Anyway, that kid stayed at our house."
"But I don't know why, he's really clingy to me. He's not close to my parents, but he likes to stick to me. Whenever I'm home, he'll cry and beg to play with me. Even when I get home from get off work every day, he and our golden retriever run over to hug me..."
"You know how terrifying that is?!"
"This injury happened a couple of days ago when I was walking the dog home. I was going up the stairs when he suddenly appeared behind me and jumped onto my back! I wasn't prepared at all! I was already tired enough after work and walking the dog, how could I have the strength to carry him? As soon as he jumped on, I lost my balance and fell to the side..."
He spread his hands, "In the end, my collarbone hit the stair railing, and that's how Luo Xincheng saw it."
After hearing this whole story, everyone shook their heads.
"You're doomed. It's one thing that he's about the same age, but he's still so clingy. Now everyone will really think he's your illegitimate child."
"Even if your dad tells others that it's his child, everyone will think that you two have a deep father-son relationship and that he's covering for you to protect your reputation."
Jiang Xu's expression instantly turned ashen, as if he had swallowed a fly.
“So I’ve decided to move out.” He rubbed his forehead. “Not for my reputation, but simply because I don’t want to face that kid. He’s so clingy, it’s so annoying and terrifying.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a chorus of sighs rose and fell around him.
He received more sympathy tonight than he had in the first half of his life combined.
Amidst a somber lament, Xu Peiyi pulled out several musical tickets from her bag.
"Don't think about those unhappy things. I have some tickets to a musical tomorrow. Shall we go together?"
The response I received was a series of unanimous "too busy".
Jiang Xu: "I'm going to have psychological counseling tomorrow morning, and facial cleansing in the afternoon."
Xu Peiyi: "..."
Jiang Wei: "I've been pulling all-nighters lately to work on my short paper, I'm so tired, I'm going to sleep in tomorrow."
Xu Peiyi: "..."
Wang Jiayan: "I already made plans to go racing with someone, why don't you come with me?"
Xu Peiyi: "...Thank you, I want to live a few more years."
She looked at Luo Xincheng one last time, wondering what kind of reason she would give this time.
To everyone's surprise, Luo Xincheng said, "Tomorrow happens to be Bossy's death anniversary, I'm going to visit him."
Xu Peiyi: "Bossy?"
Jiang Wei recalled briefly, "Was it that gypsy horse you started raising when you were in first grade, but it died in junior high?"
Luo Xincheng nodded.
"Wow, you still remember that horse?" Wang Jiayan exclaimed in surprise. "You don't go to see it every year, do you?"
She said no, "I didn't go back to Yanjing for the past two years, so I didn't visit the cemetery."
Jiang Xu gave her a thumbs up, "You're so kind and righteous, Bossy really made the right choice in following you."
Luo Xincheng replied matter-of-factly, "I am its owner, of course I can't forget."
If even she has forgotten, then who in this world will remember that beautiful and well-behaved black and white pony?
...
The next day, dark clouds covered the sky.
It looks like it could rain at any moment; it's not good weather to go out.
Before heading to the pet cemetery, Luo Xincheng checked the snacks she had packed for Bossy.
Apples, sugar cubes, brown sugar peanut brittle, oatmeal cookies...
She picked up the bag of oatmeal cookies, somewhat surprised. "This brand is still around?"
She doted on her pet pony during her childhood. Although there was a nutritionist at home who planned its diet, Bossy didn't seem to enjoy eating much, either because it was tired of the food or something else.
Luo Xincheng was anxious seeing this, always feeling that the nutritionist's food wasn't tasty enough, so she personally went online to search for all kinds of snacks, and fed them to the dog only after testing their quality.
She had bought almost every horse snack that was available on the market at the time, and among them, Bossy's favorite was an oat biscuit made by a small factory.
She bought from them quite frequently, and eventually became familiar with the customer service representatives. She gradually learned that their factory was not doing well and was on the verge of bankruptcy at any time.
At the time, she even made a bold statement to customer service, saying that her family was rich and that if the factory ever went out of business, she would have her mother buy it and continue producing the cookies Bossy liked...
The customer service representative was quite supportive, even sending several kiss emojis to appease the elementary school student's ramblings, saying they were waiting for the sugar daddy to grace them with his presence.
Unfortunately, not long after this conversation ended, Bossy passed away from colic.
After that, she lost all interest in visiting those snack shops, and on the anniversary of Bossy's death, she always had the housekeeper buy the snacks for her.
Her personal assistant, Mia, helped buy the snacks this time.
She had done some research while buying snacks, and upon hearing Luo Xincheng's puzzled mutter, she immediately replied:
"It is said that this company was indeed unable to continue operating two years ago and had to file for bankruptcy. But then an investor came along and injected a considerable amount of money into the company, so the company continued to operate and even expanded its production scale this year."
Luo Xincheng nodded in sudden realization, thinking to himself that the company was doing quite well.
Once she was ready, she drove alone to the pet cemetery in the southern suburbs.
It wasn't raining when I left home, but not long after I started driving, a light drizzle began to fall.
By the time we arrived at our destination, the rain had intensified.
Luo Xincheng parked the car and opened his umbrella, thinking that the rain was quite fitting for the occasion; in movies, the protagonists often go to the cemetery to pay their respects in this kind of weather.
After walking for a while in the cemetery, she suddenly saw something and slowly stopped in her tracks.
Looking from afar, a figure was squatting in front of the spot where Bossy's tombstone was, as I remembered it.
Who is that?
Did you find the wrong grave?
She continued walking in that direction, her mind filled with doubt. The closer she got, the more unsettlingly familiar the figure seemed.
The rain was getting heavier.
Large raindrops pattered against the umbrella, and Luo Xincheng's heart raced with the rhythm.
The man seemed to hear her footsteps, paused in his work of arranging the offerings in front of the tomb, and straightened his back.
Finally, the shadow cast by the umbrella completely enveloped him.
He also looked up at her at that moment.
He had been drenched in the rain for who knows how long; his hair lay soaking wet, and water streaks crisscrossed his fair cheeks. When he looked up at her, his clear black and white eyes behind his glasses held a mixture of unease and subtle expectation.
Luo Xincheng was briefly struck by that look.
She suddenly remembered the time when Bossy had just been brought home; every time she did something wrong, it would look at her with a similar gaze.
She was cautious, afraid of being criticized, but longed even more for her doting love and indulgence.
She swallowed hard, and it took her a long time to find her voice again.
How did you get here?
Author's Note: I have to work on the update schedule tomorrow, so the update time will be delayed until 11 PM. [cat paw emoji]
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