Episode 18 Six years later
Six years later, in early summer, Shanghai entered the annual plum rain season again.
Jiang Shu's return flight from Hong Kong was delayed by nearly two hours due to local thunderstorms, and he landed at eight o'clock in the evening.
Leaving Hongqiao Airport, I sat in the passenger seat of Eric's car, watching the rain pour down on the front window of his Ferrari like a waterfall...
"I'm really impressed. I have to come here every year. This year it's been especially long."
Eric slapped the steering wheel impatiently, just in time not to honk the horn.
"Sorry to bother you. I haven't told my parents about my return yet, so I have no choice but to come to you for help."
"What's the big deal? You've been gone for six years. I'd be happy to come even if it rained or hailed. Tonight's event is all arranged, with fine wine and beautiful women. I guarantee you'll be satisfied..."
Jiang Shu frowned slightly, "Wine is fine, but beauty is optional."
"No, don't you want to change your taste this time? What's your taste now?"
He scrolled through messages from other friends on his phone, replying briefly:
"It doesn't taste good. I've given up."
Eric almost turned the steering wheel twice more when he heard this. "Don't be ridiculous, brother. Quitting smoking and drinking is easy, but quitting this thing... isn't it a good idea?"
Jiang Shu joked: "I'm just kidding, just drive safely."
Eric was also very tactful and changed the subject - "You're not leaving this time you come back, right?"
"Well, the Greater Bay Area and Southeast Asia are basically laid out. I don't need to be there for a long time. I'd like to come back and have some peace and quiet."
"Since you're not going back, then...are you planning to get married?"
"Let's talk about it later."
He replied calmly, without even raising his eyes, which made Eric sigh - "I'm not saying anything harsh on you, but with your conditions, you can find anything you want. Why do you have to bite the hardest bone..."
"What are you thinking about? It's already over."
Eric had no choice but to stop talking. "Well, I wish I was as capable as you. Last year, my family pushed me to get married, and my wife is pregnant this year. I'm going to have less and less free time!"
"Congratulations! When the baby is born, don't forget to invite me to the 100-day banquet."
"Then you have to go eat at Jin Ze's first. His daughter is going to be born soon, and the wedding should be held soon."
Jiang Shu drank quite a lot at the welcoming banquet that night. At the end, Eric called a taxi for him and asked a beautiful woman who was working with him that night to support Jiang Shu and let him go home with her.
Eric guessed that she was Jiang Shu's type, and he didn't forget to exchange glances with her during dinner. Seeing that she didn't refuse, the beautiful girl thought that tonight was the night for them. However, in the second half, Jiang Shu collapsed first...
While sitting in the car together, Jiang Shu rubbed his nose and suddenly asked her, "How old are you?"
"Twenty-one."
Hearing this, he couldn't help laughing under his drunkenness, "Eric doesn't understand me at all now."
The other party was dissatisfied: "Why? Do you think I'm too young?"
He shook his head. "I'm thirty-four this year, a generation older than you. Why don't you think I'm too old?"
"As long as it hurts."
"I don't fall in love."
"I didn't say I wanted to date you."
"As for sleeping, since you are so young, you should find someone who is suitable for you."
After hearing so much, she was extremely skeptical about whether this man would be able to make it after arriving at the destination. However, this doubt was quickly dispelled because he solemnly said to the driver:
"Please send her back to school first."
Then, he clearly reported the name of the other party's school - it was a technical college.
She stammered, "What do you mean?"
"Don't come to this kind of game again. Whether it's men or resources, they're beyond your reach."
Upon hearing this, the girl blushed and had to get off the car in disappointment when she arrived at the school gate.
That night, Jiang Shu did not return to the old house, nor did he go to the business apartment where he used to live. Instead, he returned to the villa - the villa where he had made love with many people, but tonight he deliberately gave away the passion he had gained and stayed alone in the empty room.
No one has been here for a long time, so I specially asked the cleaning staff to clean it before I went back. When I walked in late at night and turned on the lights, it was still as deserted as when I first moved in.
Before leaving six years ago, he had thought of introducing Liu Ma to the Yan family, thinking that she and Lin Ying could get along well, and Liu Ma was a good cook and familiar with Lin Ying's taste. Unfortunately, after he left, Liu Ma resigned from her job due to tenosynovitis surgery and returned to her hometown to recuperate, so the matter was put on hold.
Over the past six years, he's had very few opportunities to return to the mainland, and with the pandemic, he hasn't been home for Chinese New Year for three consecutive years. Besides work, he's been juggling a multitude of new regulations. Over time, things like home and caring for each other seem to have lost their importance. Communication with his parents is limited to work, and Jiang Yueling never demands he return home.
As for Lin Ying's situation in recent years, Lin Jidong gave a perfunctory account. All I heard was that she no longer lives with her in-laws, but lives on her own with her daughter. She also changed her job and actually jumped to Tengchun to become a partner in a gallery... It sounds like she is living a relatively free life. I guess the daughter she has in the future will be as lovely as her, right?
I almost forgot, I have to congratulate Jin Ze first...
On the third day after returning, Jiang Shu went to attend Jin Ze's daughter's hundred-day banquet.
Jin Ze's reputation in the industry is obvious to all. In addition, his wife is a retired actress. Their wedding was deliberately kept low-key before, so this time the scale will definitely not be small.
At the banquet that day, even someone of Jiang Shu's status was overshadowed by the hostess's friends and family. Some celebrities who could only be seen on TV or at film festivals were present at the 100-day banquet for Jin Ze's child.
On that day, he registered at the banquet entrance and was presented with the small silver lock necklace he had specially chosen. Jin Ze appeared at the right time, personally took him in, and took the time to greet him in his busy schedule.
"Eric informed me of the welcome party he planned for you the day before yesterday, but I had to stay home to take care of my wife and kids, so I didn't go. Please don't hold a grudge against me..."
"Why would I hold a grudge? You haven't shown up at any of these events since you got married. You finally managed to have a wedding. How are your children and wife?"
Due to health reasons, Jin Ze's wife was found to have difficulty conceiving before marriage. However, compared to offspring, Jin Ze obviously preferred to stay with his wife, so he resolutely married her and promised to support each other for the rest of their lives.
Having a daughter this year was undoubtedly a great surprise for the couple.
"I was very worried about whether giving birth would have irreversible consequences for her health and even considered having an abortion. But she felt that getting pregnant despite knowing it was difficult was undoubtedly a blessing, and that it was a blessing that she had built up both physically and mentally, so she decided to have the baby."
Although Jin Ze's tone was relaxed, Jiang Shu could still hear some of his reluctance and heartache for his wife.
He said, "You don't understand how difficult childbirth is for women. No matter how advanced medical technology is, the suffering they endure before and after childbirth is no less than the physical and mental exhaustion men endure from other things. I used to only understand this 'suffering' from various client cases, data, and books. Now that I've seen her go through this ordeal with my own eyes, I can truly see it... It's truly not easy for women, and they're truly remarkable."
Jin Ze is now a father, and his way of speaking has become softer. He never used to be so nagging when speaking, but Jiang Shu heard some of his words as a didactic message, so he pretended to choke him -
"You have something else in your words. Are you trying to urge me to get married like Eric?"
"I just said it out of feeling. Apart from you, no other man around me can understand this."
"I'm not married and have no children, how do you know I can understand..."
Before he could finish his words, Jiang Shu felt a sudden collision with his knees, causing the champagne in his hand to almost spill all over Jin Ze. Fortunately, he had a strong hand and stopped the champagne, so it didn't spill on Jin Ze's chest, but spilled all over himself...
When I came to my senses, I found that my knees were covered with a whole piece of cake cream... Oh my god, I came to the party and before I even enjoyed anything, I was almost becoming the wine and dessert...
Looking down, he found that the culprit was a little girl who was just as tall as his knees. She bumped into him while carrying a cake.
Realizing she had gotten into trouble, she opened her mouth in shock and covered it with both hands. The cake plate fell to the ground, leaving Jiang Shu completely confused...
"Mom, look what you've done! You've even made big brother's clothes dirty!"
She chirped, pointing at the woman walking towards them. She was the first to complain, but the other party was not threatened at all. She heard her voice before seeing her.
"Lin Ruxing! I'm watching you, don't lie!"
The girl's mother didn't tolerate her at all. She squatted down and pulled her over. She turned around and looked up, and ordered her to apologize to Jiang Shu - "It was you who bumped into someone and soiled their clothes. Hurry and apologize to big brother..."
When she looked up and saw the face of "Big Brother", she was almost pale...
What big brother?
According to seniority, she herself should call him brother, so how could she be misled by her own daughter?
"haven't seen you for a long time."
Jiang Shu said this first. From the moment the girl's mother came into view, the noisy and bustling guests, the damp marks on the clothes, and the noisy sound of the little girl, to Jin Ze leaving to help him find his changed clothes, he could not feel anything.
He could only hear Lin Ying's long-lost voice and her clear and mixed eyes.
Unexpectedly, just three days after returning to Shanghai, the two of them actually met in this way at the hundred-day banquet of their friend's daughter...
"Long time no see. You...you are also here to attend Jin Lu's daughter's hundred-day banquet?"
The other party was also confused and greeted him in a lukewarm manner.
He nodded and found a way out for himself:
"Is this your daughter?"
“…Well, her name is Ruxing.”
The little girl realized something and hid behind Lin Ying's legs. Her round black eyes turned around - these eyes were really carved from the same mold as Lin Ying's.
She gently tugged at Lin Ying's skirt and asked, "Mom, do you know this big brother?"
This name instantly brought Lin Ying back to her senses. She took a deep breath and seriously corrected him.
"What big brother? This is mom's brother, you should call him uncle."
Just as Jiang Shu was searching for lines and thinking about how to interact and talk with the children, Lin Ruxing's words stumped him.
"Uncle?" Her eyes suddenly brightened. "Does that mean I don't need to apologize? Uncle won't hold it against Ruxing, right?"
…
This farce was stopped by Ying Shi and Jin Ze who arrived in time.
Jin Ze took out a spare suit of his own and asked Ying Shi to take Jiang Shu to the rest room. Jiang Shu was so nervous at the moment that he even turned his hand wrong when tying his tie several times... There was nothing he could do. He was too anxious. He wanted to go out and see her again as soon as possible. He had many questions to ask, but he was not sure if she wanted to answer them all...
What if she's gone? She's been avoiding me all these years, so this unexpected reunion must be unplanned, right? Maybe she's slipped away while I was here?
After coming out of the lounge, he was like an invisible radar, searching the entire venue for faces, fearing he might have missed something, until Jin Ze patted his shoulder and pointed to the curtains near the dessert lounge area on the second floor...
"She was about to leave, but her daughter was greedy and refused to leave. She ran after the child and bumped into you. I gave the tiramisu to her daughter, so she stayed a little longer."
Jiang Shu walked straight over there.
Lin Ying had obviously accepted the reality of their encounter and took the initiative to ask, "When did you come back? Are you going back to Hong Kong?"
"I came back three days ago. Business there has stabilized, and I'll be based in Shanghai from now on."
Lin Ying smiled, "Is that so?"
"How about you? Is your work and life going well?"
She stroked her daughter's hair and nodded. "It's been pretty smooth. I changed jobs after giving birth to her. Now I'm a partner in Tengchun's gallery. I'm kind of a 'small boss', right? Of course, it can't compare to Jiang Lin's business."
"Are you still living in that apartment?"
"No, I live in Xuhui now, near my company, and Ruxing's kindergarten is also there."
Jiang Shu stared into Ruxing's eyes for a while and said, "I thought you would give the child to your parents-in-law."
Lin Ying's eyelashes trembled, and she shook her head awkwardly, seemingly unwilling to explain further. "Of course I have to take care of my own child myself. What about you? Do you have any other plans after returning?"
He assumed that Lin Ying was referring to marriage, and he didn't hide it - "Not yet, I'm still single."
Perhaps because she was in front of the child, she couldn't ask too many questions. Lin Ying just nodded blindly, her eyes wandering, unwilling to keep her eyes on Jiang Shu - but the other party's eyes were almost like glue, sticking to her, as if he was about to see through her.
Lin Ruxing licked the dessert spoon slowly, raised her head, and looked at Jiang Shu with blinking eyes, "Uncle, do you like my mother?"
…
The little sister's words instantly made people feel embarrassed and numb. Lin Ying directly confiscated her spoon.
"What are you talking about?"
"My uncle kept staring at my mom, and I was just curious..."
"What are you curious about?"
Lin Ying interrupted her intentionally and then started to lecture her -
"Just now you bumped into your uncle and made his clothes dirty, and you still insisted that it was Mom who did it. What did Mom tell you? Do you remember?"
“…There is no shame in defending yourself, but you are not allowed to shirk your responsibilities.”
After saying that, Lin Ying winked at her. Ruxing pouted slightly and looked up at Jiang Shu to apologize.
"Uncle, I'm sorry. Ruxing accidentally bumped into you and got your clothes dirty..."
A pair of aggrieved eyes and a whispered tone suddenly touched the soft spot in Jiang Shu's heart that had not been touched for a long time. He couldn't help but squat down, overlapping his vision with Ruxing's, and solemnly stated -
"It doesn't matter. I have a lot of clothes. I don't care about one or two sets."
…
The air suddenly turned cold for three seconds. Ruxing turned around and shook her mother's hand, saying childishly, as if she had known this would happen, "Look, look, uncle just doesn't care."
Lin Ying had anticipated her daughter's shocking words, but she had not anticipated Jiang Shu's tone of voice, which treated all children equally.
She suddenly realized who her daughter inherited her active and straightforward thinking from - choking was definitely not her strong point.
"Okay, okay, stop eating. Mom has to go back to work soon. Say goodbye to uncle, we're leaving!"
Lin Ying half-lifted her daughter onto her shoulders, lifted her off the ground, winked at Jiang Shu and immediately left the venue without giving Jiang Shu any chance to stay.
Except for Ruxing, who was lying on her shoulder and waving at him innocently...
He also unconsciously stretched out his hand, and waved it in the air in rhythm with her... until he could no longer see the mother and daughter.
"How's it going? Kids are pretty interesting, right?"
Jin Ze could only pat Jiang Shu's shoulder to draw his attention back -
However, Jiang Shu was not stupid. When he was changing clothes, he had already concluded that Jin Ze must know something about what happened to the two of them today.
"When did you become so familiar with Lin Ying? Why did you specially invite her to the Hundred Days Banquet?"
Jin Ze pretended to be hesitant to speak, and had to confess:
"It's nothing, actually. Shortly after Miss Lin gave birth to her daughter, she came to me and consulted me on some legal issues related to custody. But don't worry, it didn't end up in court, and she didn't lose anything."
"Custody? What's going on?"
Jin Ze shook his head: "I'm sorry, although we are good friends, this involves the client's privacy, so I can't disclose the details. I'm telling you this just to explain your question - why I asked Miss Lin to come here today.
If you really want to know what happened back then, I suggest you ask the people involved. After all, this is your family affair."
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