Chapter 38 Come here and give me a kiss
The wedding is over.
Hotel staff were cleaning up the flower petals and ribbons scattered on the floor, and some people were packing up leftover food, but what was saved was far less than what was wasted.
Xu Yuewei overheard someone advising her companion not to do that, saying it was too undignified in the company of wealthy people.
She touched the inside pocket of her gray-green straight-cut suit, where a bank card was placed, and couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
Having inherited a fortune and hooked up with the daughter of a wealthy businessman, just how desperate must Xu Yaochen be to think of borrowing money from her? He's not the kind of person who would obediently let others extort him.
Does she have enough money in her account...?
Feeling somewhat uneasy, she hesitated to take each step, as if she were tightening a screw to its limit, unsure whether a little more force would tighten it further or cause it to strip.
After the event, guests were free to explore the resort in the afternoon. Song Jinshu, who had become addicted to horseback riding, went again.
Xu Yuewei then arrived at the entrance of 6008 again.
People still observe her, but they no longer pose a threat to her.
Her suitcase was lying in their room 3009. She had changed to a large 26-inch suitcase, filled with odds and ends, a few winter clothes, and even an iron. The front desk staff gave her a second look when she checked in; probably no one else had brought so much luggage.
These things gave her confidence. She bought her plane ticket for the day after tomorrow. If she could just endure two nights, everything would be fine.
Thinking this, she knocked on the door harder, though for a moment she remembered the beginning of the story, that afternoon when the tug-of-war over the piano music began.
This time, Jiang Shiyan answered the door very quickly.
Without even asking who she was, he opened the door.
Their eyes met, and Xu Yuewei placed her hand on the spot where he would get his hand caught if he closed the door: "I need to talk to you."
A hint of amusement tugged at the corner of his lips as Jiang Shiyan kept the door open: "Have you misunderstood something?"
"No."
How could she be swayed by a joke made by someone else?
However, she didn't forget to express her gratitude: "Thank you for giving me the flowers."
"It was bound to hit you in the first place."
"Thank you for blocking it for me."
Her polite return to square one wiped out the last bit of warmth they had managed to rekindle over the past month.
Jiang Shiyan felt a tightness in his chest, his throat bobbed, and a strange craving rose within him.
He stepped aside to let her in, slammed the door shut, grabbed a red bean-flavored wedding candy from the shelf next to the door, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth: "Go ahead and say it."
Seeing him eat candy for the first time, Xu Yuewei glanced at him curiously: "How much money did my brother borrow from you? If it's really over a hundred, I'd like to pay it back for you. If there's an IOU, could you see if you can transfer the debt between you and him to me?"
Judging from Xu Yaochen's attitude yesterday, it was very different from before. He no longer cared about pleasing her, and he probably really did manage to borrow the money.
To everyone's surprise, Jiang Shiyan frowned, as if he found the candy hard to swallow: "So much, are you really willing to part with it?"
It wasn't that he looked down on her; it was just that he had talked to other musicians and they knew that the income ceiling in this industry wasn't high, and besides, she wasn't famous.
Xu Yuewei retorted, "Did you really lend it to me?"
"..."
Jiang Shiyan walked to the black leather sofa and sat down, resting his elbows on his knees and letting his hands hang down, without looking at her.
"He said he borrowed money from loan sharks and couldn't pay it back, and those people came to his door to harass him for the debt."
Although I don't know if it's true or not, what if it is? What if it affects you?
But he raised his head and said in a hard voice, "I don't need to argue with you about this little bit of money."
Xu Yuewei exploded upon hearing this: "He told me he was scammed, which is different from what you said. He might just be trying to cheat me out of money! This person, this..."
He swallowed the harsh words back down his throat.
Jiang Shiyan stared intently into her eyes: "Is he your biological brother?"
With debt weighing on her mind, Xu Yuewei found it hard to say that this had nothing to do with you. She closed her eyes:
"Yes and no."
Jiang Shiyan probably guessed it, stood up, and remained silent until the sofa slowly bounced back to its original position as if no one had sat on it.
"I stand by my word. How do you want him to repay the money?"
"...Are you going to lend him money at exorbitant interest rates?"
"That's not creative. Yours is more interesting."
Xu Yuewei's voice rose: "You want to set him up like a honey trap?"
He chuckled and corrected, "I don't have the means, but I can create them. So, are you willing to be my accomplice?"
Xu Yuewei felt a tingling, venomous pain in her heart: "Here now?"
"Do you think I'm that stupid?" He raised one eyebrow. "Or are you just overly concerned?"
"Then why did you help me?"
"I just feel a little sorry for you."
Xu Yuewei's back stiffened.
Having swallowed enough sugar, Jiang Shiyan gulped it down, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.
He said, "Why are all the men around you like this?"
Xu Yuewei lowered her eyes guiltily, unsure whether what he said included Zhou Xu...
However, he directly exposed the truth, saying slowly:
"I mainly meant to scold your dad, you don't mind, do you?"
These words hit her right in the forehead like a bullet. She felt a complete silence around her, and could almost hear the sound of the central air conditioning vents working.
That person, the one she and her mother avoided talking about for years, the one whose old photo her mother had torn to pieces—his shadow overlapped hers, a large, dark blob, and she dragged it along the long road, unknown to anyone.
Suddenly someone spotted her shadow, and even a casual remark made her feel a surge of satisfaction.
Xu Yuewei's breath hitched, and after a long while, she said rather solemnly, "Thank you."
It means I don't mind.
After going around in circles, she was thanking them again.
Jiang Shiyan looked at her utterly bored face, ran his fingers through his hair, and combed it back to try and clear his head.
“I just saw in the group chat that your brother is going to have drinks with a bunch of people on the rooftop tonight. I’ll go and try to build a better relationship with him. Before that, you have four hours to think about whether you want to be my accomplice.”
Xu Yuewei remained noncommittal, but before leaving the room, she heard him give her further instructions:
"Remember to peek through the peephole before you leave. Don't let anyone see you and then drag me into it again."
*
Four hours later, Xu Yuewei arrived at the rooftop terrace on time.
The emergency exit door creaked loudly, and the view was desolate.
There was a swimming pool built not far away, but it was too cold for anyone to swim outdoors, so it wasn't filled with water and appeared to be closed to the public.
Xu Yuewei then realized she had gone to the wrong place and went back down the stairs.
To project a powerful aura, she specially changed into a pair of high heels tonight. However, the stairs were a bit shaky, and when she went downstairs, her heel got caught on the edge of the step, causing her to stumble and fall. Fortunately, she managed to grab the dusty handrail with her arm, preventing her from falling completely.
She walked very carefully after that, feeling a vague discomfort in her ankle. After going downstairs and taking a few steps on flat ground, she realized she had indeed sprained it, but it wasn't too serious.
She left the fire escape, returned to the elevator, turned right to find the specific location, and after circling around for most of the way, she found her target when she passed a transparent glass room.
They said they wanted to drink, but it wasn't the kind of open-air bar she imagined; it was a billiards room.
The room was lit by a cool blue light, which made the green pool table appear even darker.
A dozen or so men and women sat around the table, some holding drinks, others gripping bars, as if they had just experienced a cheering event, and everyone's face was beaming with smiles.
Apart from Jiang Shiyan.
His gaze calmly lowered, and when someone nudged him with their arm, he smiled but gently shook his head.
Just before she was about to sign the accomplice agreement, Xu Yuewei felt a chill in her heart. Coupled with the faint pain in her ankle, this ominous sign of an inauspicious start was all too familiar, and she dared not push open the door to go in.
But she was about to leave Wuqiao, and she couldn't leave the bad debts to them. She couldn't let Xu Yaochen cheat her out of money, nor could she allow Jiang Shiyan to use despicable means to force her to pay.
Jin Shu once said that the reason she lives like this is because she has too much conscience.
Looking back now, it makes some sense.
At this moment, the people inside the house also noticed her figure outside the door.
The moment Jiang Shiyan looked up, her eyes locked onto her, clinging to her and refusing to leave, sending a signal that was almost like a plea for help.
Xu Yuewei couldn't pretend not to see it, so she took a deep breath and pushed the door open to come in.
But as soon as she arrived, Xu Yaochen's face fell. He glanced at his brother who was with him in the hot spring, then at Jiang Shiyan, and with an impatient expression, he waved her off ambiguously.
"Why are you here? Is this a place for you? Go back, go back, go back."
It can be interpreted as impatience with the pester, or as a lack of welcome towards the sister coming to an entertainment venue.
However, with a thud, someone slammed the pool cue on the ground, their voice calm: "How can you talk like that?"
Xu Yaochen felt a chill run down his spine.
Jiang Shiyan asked again, "What did you call me?"
"Brother Jiang."
"Tsk, you didn't call me that before."
Xu Yaochen probably knew he couldn't keep up the act any longer, so he closed his eyes and said, "...Brother-in-law."
The cue stick tilted, its tip pointing at the slightly reserved woman: "Then who is she to you?"
"……sister."
Xu Yuewei didn't respond to him. Her gaze swept over the men and women, and she couldn't help but smile from the bottom of her heart.
If only a camera could capture this moment; the expressions on everyone's faces together would be a world-famous painting.
But soon, she stopped laughing.
Some people, seeing which way the wind was blowing, gave her a greasy smile:
"Reporting to Sister-in-law! Teacher Jiang just potted the white ball, and he has to accept the penalty. We need to choose someone here to accept it!"
"?"
She noticed that Jiang Shiyan seemed much more relaxed than before, his brows were unfurrowed, and he bent his finger towards her:
"Come here, give me a kiss."
-----------------------
The author's note: "Don't drag me into this again."
"A kiss" [666]
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