Chapter 71
The background music in the private room was loud and energetic, and everyone had a smile on their face to varying degrees, except for Jiang Li, who sat alone on the sofa closest to the door.
Amidst the hustle and bustle, he sat alone in a corner, his tall, shady frame completely obscured by the empty space around him, a stark contrast to his surroundings.
In such a lively scene, he seemed to be all alone and had nothing at all.
Guan Nan was immediately stunned.
He shouldn't have done that.
People like Jiang Li are born to stand in the spotlight, radiating their own dazzling light, receiving fervent love and screams, and will only shine brighter.
Such a wonderful Jiang Li, such a spirited Jiang Li, such an unruly Jiang Li.
Sitting in a corner, being the most inconspicuous and the most lonely one.
Guan Nan's throat tightened and churned, causing her to choke up.
"Why did you stop?" Chen Fei noticed her pause and turned to ask.
“Hmm,” Guan Nan snapped out of her reverie, “Let’s go.”
Once inside, the two found a place to sit down and didn't continue the topic they had discussed at the entrance. Instead, they listened to them talk about Yu Shu and Ye Na's relationship.
The two were classmates in junior high school and then in high school. However, Ye Na despised Yu Shu's behavior and rarely interacted with him. Whenever she met someone, she would make sarcastic remarks, calling him a "deeply affectionate man," a "detail-oriented man," and a "philanthropic man."
Yu Shu wasn't angry when she heard this, and always joked around with her in a good manner.
This situation continued until their senior year of high school, when Yu Shu suddenly went on a tantrum. During the years Ye Na studied at Kazan University, he would frequently fly to Kazan to bring her all sorts of trinkets from Fuling.
The two built ice on Lake Baikal, chased the aurora borealis in Teribekar, hiked to see the sea in Vladivostok, and fished in a log cabin.
Watching the animal migration in Kenya, taking a night cruise on the Danube in Budapest, and celebrating Easter in Barcelona.
During those years, he was always by her side, never missing an important time or place.
Perhaps it was in a foreign land that such a person, after going through countless trials, entered her heart.
As Guan Nan listened, she became distracted and subconsciously turned her head away.
He remained seated, holding a phone, having somehow put on headphones, and aimlessly scrolling through it.
As for his girlfriend He Jiafen, she was mingling with a group of people, drinking and playing around, patting Qi Qi on the shoulder and rubbing his head, but he didn't seem to make any comment.
"Look, this is a photo they took during Christmas in St. Petersburg that year." The groom's family was also present, witnessing the proposal. Yena's aunt was speaking at the moment. "I said back then that they were a perfect match, but her uncle, being overprotective, insisted I was talking nonsense."
Guan Nan looked away, glanced at the photo pushed in front of her, and nodded in approval.
“Right,” her aunt continued to show her other things, “and her uncle still insisted that I had no taste, that old bastard.”
My aunt is from Northeast China. She has a friendly and fun-loving personality, and she immediately made everyone who was seriously looking at the photos laugh with just a few words. On the other side, my uncle and aunt were having drinks with Yu Shu, and they glanced over here, unaware of what was going on.
Time flew by, and before long it was time to leave.
Many of the people present had been drinking, and Yu Shu arranged for them to be picked up and dropped off, with a few close friends leaving last.
Receiving the look, Yu Shu glanced quickly at Guan Nan, then casually asked, "Master Jiang, where are you going later?"
“Hui Bi—” He Jiafen didn’t finish her sentence.
Lin Rui quickly interrupted, spouting nonsense: "Back at Cangyuan, the weather forecast says it will rain tonight. The skylight on the second floor is open. Didn't you say you still have a piece of music to finish composing? Let's work overtime tonight and not bother with anything else. Let's just sleep at the coffee shop."
"What about me?" He Jiafen asked, annoyed at being interrupted.
Lin Rui said irritably, "Don't you still have Qi Qi?"
Upon hearing this, Guan Nan's eyelids twitched violently.
Being publicly accused of abandoning one's girlfriend to someone else is a slap in the face for a man.
She glanced cautiously at Jiang Li's expression.
Surprisingly, Jiang Li was not angry at all. Instead, Qi Qi heard this and made a knightly gesture, placing his hand in front of her as if waiting for a princess to mount her horse: "At your service."
Even after drinking too much, He Jiafen didn't forget, pointing at Jiang Li and saying matter-of-factly, "But aren't I his girlfriend?"
Upon hearing this, Guan Nan silently echoed, "Yeah, isn't this Jiang Li's girlfriend? Why are you all fawning over her?"
However, the angry scene she had imagined did not occur; Jiang Li simply glanced at her without any expression.
The culprit on the other side blinked innocently.
"Alright, alright, that's enough," Xie Shuwan said, stepping in to take charge as soon as she sensed danger, fearing He Jiafen might not be able to control her tongue. "Qiqi, you take care of He Jiafen, I'll handle Chen Fei, and as for Nannan..."
Lin Rui then brought the two of them together: "Let's ride in Jiang Li's car. They're going to the same destination, and it'll be nice to have company late at night."
And so, Guan Nan was arranged to follow Jiang Li down to the garage without really understanding what was going on.
The echo from the garage was loud. The two of them didn't say a word; only the sound of their mopping footsteps echoed in their ears.
Standing in front of the car, Guan Nan belatedly felt annoyed; her girlfriend's words had rekindled her hesitation. After a moment of hesitation, she said in a muffled voice, "Otherwise, I'll just take a taxi myself."
Jiang Li opened the car door, casually rested his elbow on it, and mocked, "Don't dare to sit?"
“No, not really,” Guan Nan sighed inwardly and said honestly, “I just don’t want to get too involved with married men or women with girlfriends.”
"Hmph," Jiang Li smirked, "You really know how to think."
His words, whether overt or covert, seemed to be mocking her for overthinking.
Guan Nan stammered, "...I...want to avoid suspicion."
"Do I have any reason to avoid you?" Jiang Li gave him an expression that said, "You really overestimate yourself."
Guan Nan immediately realized she had been overthinking things, but faced with his blatant attitude that it was as if he had been eyeing her for a long time, she had no choice but to surrender and reluctantly get into the car.
She didn't know what kind of expression she had at that moment.
Anyway, it was the car that carried Jiang Li.
But after getting into the car, Guan Nan turned her head to look at the man's perfect profile, and only then did she come to her senses a little better.
Jiang Li turned his head and said lazily, "What's wrong? He's too handsome, can't control yourself?"
"······"
He really looked like a peacock spreading its tail feathers right now, which made Guan Nan's mind go blank for a moment.
He clearly has nothing, but through his words, it's as if he has everything.
Guan Nan knew she couldn't win an argument, so she simply shut up.
Seeing this, Jiang Li glanced at her again and scoffed.
Upon arriving at Hecangyuan, they parked the car wherever they pleased, and the two of them slowly turned into the direction of the Bell Tower, side by side.
The two of them had walked this road countless times, through all four seasons.
From their first meeting, Guan Nan sensed a strange hostility from him. She had been holding it in all the way, but she couldn't hold it in any longer. Controlling her expression and voice, she adopted a sincere and submissive attitude: "I don't think I've offended you, have I?"
"Really?" Jiang Li remained nonchalant.
Yeah?
Guan Nan was puzzled. Why was he puzzled?
Don't you know whether you've offended him or not?
But this doubt also seems to have an impatient and arrogant tone, as if to say, "Don't you know whether you've offended me or not? Do I have to point it out to you one by one?"
"..." After thinking for two seconds, Guan Nan still couldn't remember, so she softened her tone even more: "You don't know either?"
Jiang Li tilted his head, a half-smile on his face, "What do you think?"
Upon hearing this, Guan Nan pondered for a moment, but it wouldn't be appropriate to leave him unanswered, since she was the one who had brought up the question first.
But judging from his attitude, it seemed as if he was certain she would answer, and he remained calm and didn't urge or press her.
After a moment of silence, Guan Nan asked earnestly, "Or, could you give me a hint?"
“Oh,” Jiang Li nodded, then asked slowly and deliberately, “So, how much money are you planning to give this time?”
Do I have to pay for this?
After all these years, has he become obsessed with money?
"?" Guan Nan glanced at him, seemingly unable to believe that he was developing from a money-grubber into a shrewd businessman. She asked in a frustrated tone, "How much do you want?"
Jiang Li stopped walking, leaning against the railing, and instead of answering, asked, "How much do you think it's worth?"
The voices were some distance apart. Guan Nan turned around and saw that the person hadn't followed.
The man seemed tired from walking, one hand in his pocket and the other leaning on the railing, his posture lazy with his head slightly tilted. A gust of wind blew through him, encircling his narrow but strong waist, outlining his slender yet powerful figure.
Just then, some fallen leaves landed on his head.
He withdrew his hand, casually plucked a fallen leaf, and twirled it between his fingertips.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Perhaps it was the evening breeze, but Guan Nan once again glimpsed his younger self in him.
He may have shed his youthful naiveté, but he remains unrestrained and arrogant.
Looking at him like this, Guan Nan still seemed somewhat dazed.
If she had never seen him at his best, perhaps she would have preferred to remain a stranger to him if they met again.
Even if we were classmates, even if we never cross paths again, I have no regrets.
But by chance, they met and became friends.
We cannot remain strangers.
After a long pause, Guan Nan, with her dry lips, solemnly said, "It's worth a fortune."
Jiang Li sneered upon hearing this: "Don't bother with polite words in front of me. It's pointless."
"Then what exactly constitutes 'interesting'?" Guan Nan came to her senses, blinked, and realized that her expression might not have been wrong, but the other party had indeed misunderstood. So she asked sincerely and without shame.
Jiang Li put down the fallen leaf, looked up, raised an eyebrow, and said without hesitation, "There are plenty of interesting things out there. What kind of interesting things do you want?"
Hearing this, Guan Nan frankly revealed her boredom, "What do you mean?"
Jiang Li stared at her for two seconds, then nodded: "That's a good question."
Then, he tilted his head and said slowly, "Why don't we sit down and have a good talk? Aristotle once said, 'To be or not to be, that is the question.'"
“…” Guan Nan corrected him, “That’s what Shakespeare said.”
Jiang Li: "Not Harry Potter?"
Guan Nan suspected he was doing it on purpose and was speechless: "...It's Hamlet."
“Oh,” Jiang Li said dismissively, “they’re all special.”
Indeed, they are all special.
Guan Nan was silent for two seconds. Even with her eloquence, she didn't know how to continue his sentence at this moment.
He looked up at the other person, propped himself up on his hands and waited, showing no intention of continuing on his way.
Guan Nan retraced the path she had taken.
She walked towards him step by step.
In a rare moment of peace, the two sat side by side. Guan Nan looked up at the lake. The mandarin ducks on the lake had come ashore early that night and settled down in a corner to sleep.
As the car horns blared, Guan Nan felt for a moment as if she had returned to that New Year's Eve of her senior year of high school.
The scene of the boy and her standing side by side in front of the bus stop, waiting for the bus.
"I guess I'm still not brave enough." Guan Nan suddenly smiled. It took her many years to give her answer on December 31, 2015. She murmured bitterly to herself as she looked at the belated answer.
Jiang Li: "What?"
"It's nothing," Guan Nan forced a smile. In the awkward atmosphere, she remembered the purpose of sitting there, so she continued the conversation that had just broken up, "What did you mean by what you just said?"
Jiang Li asked ambiguously, "How much money are you planning to give this time?"
Upon hearing this, Guan Nan belatedly recalled the incident at the coffee shop. He had only paid the money after inviting the person upstairs for a meal at Hecangyuan to ease the awkwardness.
Upon being reminded, Guan Nan frantically rummaged through her bag for money, and a pendant fell out as she moved the contents of her bag.
"I brought some this time." Guan Nan pulled out two hundred in cash, hesitated for a moment, then pulled out a few more bills. It should be enough to buy information without drinking.
Jiang Li held the money in his hand: "How much?"
"Five hundred," Guan Nan replied hesitantly.
"Five hundred," Jiang Li nodded. "What are you planning to buy? Should I cook for you when we get home?"
As he was speaking, as if that wasn't enough, his voice carried a subtle chuckle, a perfectly measured arrogance, "Then I'm really worthless."
The meaning has been completely confused; if you really want to cook, it's not impossible.
After all, she felt very at ease during that meal last time.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Guan Nan braced herself and asked sincerely, "How many do you want?"
"..." Seemingly finding it somewhat absurd, Jiang Li leaned back in his chair, turned his head, and said with a half-smile, "Did you get the number?"
Guan Nan looked embarrassed: "That was a joke."
At this point, Jiang Li nodded, but didn't say anything more. "I earn more than five hundred a minute. Do the math yourself."
Guan Nan smiled insincerely and flattered, "Then I'm so lucky."
The atmosphere was too awkward, and every time we started to talk, the conversation always ended up being vague and ambiguous.
Perhaps because she had messed up so many times, Guan Nan couldn't help but start to doubt whether she had met him. A certain string in her mind would always get stuck as the gears turned.
So she decided to leave for now to avoid losing her composure: "Well, it's getting late, I'll be going now."
ha.
How peaceful and friendly, yet with an air of feigned weakness and ingratiation.
Guan Nan didn't know why, but the customer service tone came out as soon as she opened her mouth.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Li seemed to ponder for a moment before calmly asking, "Did I stop you from leaving?"
Guan Nan stood up and spread her hands in front of him: "Give me back my things."
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