Chapter Thirty-Five doesn't even the score at all!
Underground parking lot.
Jiang Sui opened the passenger door and gestured for Luo Yan to get in. "Have you calmed down? Can we have a proper talk now?"
Luo Yan kept a straight face, not wanting to get entangled with him any longer, but it was too cold wearing only a formal dress. She had goosebumps all over her body on the way here. She thought that a wise woman would not suffer a loss in front of her, so she stiffened her neck and sat down, looking straight ahead with a firm gaze. "I'm here to take back what's mine, not to have a heart-to-heart talk with you."
Jiang's attendant took a brown paper bag from the back seat and handed it to her.
Luo Yan had a suspicious feeling, so she didn't take it, only glanced at it, and asked stiffly, "Where are the cufflinks?"
Jiang Sui didn't say anything. He got into the driver's seat, closed the car door, and the space instantly became private and cramped. He took out a still steaming paper cup from the paper bag, inserted a straw, and then took out a transparent box containing a beautifully plated slice of cake. He used a small fork to pick up a piece and held it to her lips.
Luo Yan: "???"
What kind of tactic is this? A slap followed by a sweet treat? Or a new type of interrogation technique? A sugar-coated bullet!
She pursed her lips tightly, her grievances and anger caught in a limbo by the sudden "feeding," her eyes expressing protest and her refusal to yield.
Jiang Sui held up the cake, not urging her, just looking at her with an indescribable helplessness in her eyes.
The standoff lasted less than ten seconds.
Luo Yan's stomach growled, betraying her; she hadn't eaten much that evening because she was so nervous and angry.
Her face flushed, and in a fit of pique, she opened her mouth and took a vicious bite out of the cake.
"Jiang Sui, you're a bastard! You look like a bastard!" She had some cream on her lips, but she didn't bother to wipe it off. She continued to curse indistinctly as she chewed, "I'm never talking to you again!"
Jiang Sui didn't refute, and handed over the milk tea again. Luo Yan took a big sip, and the temperature and sweetness were just right, so comforting that she felt like crying even more.
"Don't do that, or people will think I'm bullying you."
"You're bullying me, and you even lied to me!" Luo Yan swallowed the cake and began to accuse again, her voice trembling with tears. "Look how much I owe you money for that piece of junk, and you feel so accomplished, huh? Do you think I'm a fool if I don't get angry?"
Jiang Sui forked the second piece of cake, handed it over, and said in a calm tone, "I didn't mean for you to be in debt, nor did I think you were a fool."
"Then you're just a complete psychopath!" Luo Yan continued her accusation, taking a bite and a sip of water, her movements surprisingly synchronized with Jiang Sui's. "And your dad, what right do you have to talk about me like that? What did I do to him? You two are just too much!"
Jiang paused for a moment, then handed over another piece of cake.
Luo Yan hastily wiped away her tears, wondering what to say next, when she realized the cake in her mouth was indeed delicious, with a texture completely different from what she usually bought at the supermarket.
"What flavor is this? It's quite delicious..."
"Matcha chocolate... slow down, I'm not responsible if you choke to death."
Jiang Sui handed over the milk tea again, and Luo Yan took a big gulp. Hmm? She was so busy cursing that she only realized what it tasted like now. It was hot, with three-tenths sugar, her favorite flavor.
"Do you know how expensive your piece of junk is? I'll be eating dirt to pay off my debts for the next six months, and you just dismiss it with a flippant 'I was just kidding'? Even capitalists aren't this good at exploiting people!"
"Hmm, is there anything else?"
Jiang Sui's indifferent expression and tone made Luo Yan even angrier.
"And another thing!" She swallowed her milk tea and continued, "You clearly have a girlfriend, but just now you... you were like that to me! Are you... taking advantage of your passable looks to flirt with girls everywhere, huh?"
Jiang Sui said helplessly, "What have I done to you? Who have I flirted with? Are you spreading rumors or just making things up like this? Also, that day Lu Xingyao lost her luggage and phone on the plane. The police station called me to pick her up, so I had a meal while waiting for news from the airline. We broke up a long time ago, and she is not and will never be my girlfriend again."
"If I don't explain, I wonder what you'll say about me behind my back." Jiang Sui looked at her, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Comrade Luo Yan, what exactly do you care about?"
"I didn't care about anything!"
Luo Yan bristled, snatched the cake box, shoved a large spoonful into her mouth, and mumbled, "Anyway, it's a fact that you lied to me and made me go into debt!"
"Yes, yes, I apologize." Jiang's attendant took out the velvet box from his pocket, opened it, and two identical cufflinks lay side by side. "So, we're even?"
Luo Yan looked at the two cufflinks, her heart filled with mixed feelings.
It's ironic. She scrimped and saved for a month, accumulating huge debts, only to find out in the end that Jiang Sui had set her up.
That bastard! If I didn't like him and couldn't bear to hit him, I would have loved to shoot him with a bullet!
I feel so humiliated and angry.
Luo Yan snatched the box away, her voice harsh: "We're not even! I'm going to put it on Xianyu (a second-hand marketplace app) and sell it to recoup my losses!"
"How about selling it to me?" Jiang Sui looked at her. "At the original price, you won't lose a single penny. I can transfer the money to you right now."
"Are you crazy?" Luo Yan asked incredulously. "Why would you need an exact replica if you already have one? Are you just wasting money?"
"Never mind that, just tell me if you're selling or not."
"I won't sell! I'm going to put it up for sale online, who knows if you're up to something again and trying to scam me!"
Jiang Sui didn't insist any further. Looking at her cheeks puffed out like a hamster hoarding food, a hint of a smile flashed in his eyes.
The atmosphere inside the car strangely eased.
After finishing the last bite of cake and the last sip of milk tea, Luo Yan's anger was almost neutralized by the sugar, leaving only a deep sense of embarrassment and exhaustion.
"I've taken the things, we're even now."
"So we're even?" Jiang Sui unlocked the car door, looking at her with a half-smile. "You trust me that much? Don't you need to sign some kind of settlement agreement?"
"..."
Luo Yan rolled her eyes at him, pushed open the car door, and was about to get out when she felt a chill on her shoulder. Looking down, she saw that one of the thin straps of her dress had completely broken due to the tugging in the stairwell, and the other was also in danger of breaking, revealing glimpses of her chest.
"Ah!" she gasped, quickly retreating back into the car, her face instantly turning bright red.
Jiang Sui paused for a moment, then quickly looked away, silently took off his suit jacket, and handed it to her.
Luo Yan bit her lip and hesitated for three seconds before taking it and quickly putting it on.
His oversized coat, still warm from his body, wrapped her up completely.
"Thank you..." Her voice was barely audible, and she didn't dare to lift her head. She pushed open the door again, got out of the car, and quickly walked towards the elevator.
When the two reappeared in the banquet hall one after the other, they instantly attracted a lot of attention.
Luo Yan was wearing an ill-fitting men's suit, her hair was slightly messy, her face was flushed, and her eyes were darting around. Jiang Sui followed closely behind her, wearing only a shirt and vest, but he seemed quite composed.
This combination and this style are hard not to evoke the imagination.
Luo Muyang's eyes lit up, and he almost burst out laughing on the spot, but Xu Jingfei rolled her eyes at him and shut him up. She frowned, looked at the suit Luo Yan was wearing, then looked at Jiang Sui, raised her eyebrows coldly, and said nothing.
Not far away, Wu Yuzhou and Yang Xin looked quite grim. The couple, who had been beaming with joy, now looked as if they had swallowed a fly.
Jiang Qiming, standing in the corner, watched this scene with a cold eye, his gaze sharp as a knife.
At this moment, Xu Jinglan, holding a wine glass, gracefully walked to Jiang Qiming's side and chuckled, "Chairman Jiang, look at young people these days when they fall in love. Once they're in love, they don't care about anything else. They're inseparable, like glue. Jiang Sui is someone who has plenty of women throwing themselves at him, but he's completely under the thumb of President Luo's daughter. It seems that President Luo is definitely going to be his son-in-law!"
Jiang Qiming glanced at Xu Jinglan expressionlessly, said nothing, turned around to get a glass of red wine, and his eyes grew colder.
In the latter half of the banquet, Luo Yan felt extremely uncomfortable under the curious and gossipy gazes from all directions, wishing she could just evaporate on the spot.
Finally, the ordeal came to an end, and Jiang Sui was naturally assigned by Luo Muyang to take Luo Yan home.
On the way, I unexpectedly received a message from Xu Jingfei:
Although it's none of my business, I'll still remind you: if it's just an act, don't take it seriously. You can't afford to play with a man like Jiang Sui.
Looking at this message, Luo Yan felt a tightness in her chest.
She didn't reply, silently put away her phone, and couldn't help but glance at Jiang Sui who was driving. Everything that had happened today was flashing through her mind like a revolving lantern, making her inexplicably upset, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was bothering her.
Upon arriving at the entrance of the residential area, Luo Yan felt as if she had been granted a pardon. She quickly thanked him and was about to take off her coat to return it to him.
"Keep it on," Jiang Sui said. "I'll return it next time."
Luo Yan didn't want to argue any further, so she nodded, opened the door, and got out of the car.
"Oh... well, it's getting late, you should head back too."
She took a few steps and heard Jiang Sui call her name. She paused and turned around in confusion: "What's wrong?"
Jiang Sui also got out of the car and looked at her from a distance, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just waved his hand and said, "It's okay, you can go now."
Upon entering the building, Luo Yan subconsciously reached into her coat pocket, feeling something hard.
Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be two exquisitely made VIP tickets for a renowned international dance troupe's Lunar New Year performance, scheduled for tomorrow night.
So, not only did he pick them up and have dinner with them, but he also went to see a performance? And it was a VIP ticket with the best seats!
The delicate atmosphere that had just been in the car was instantly shattered, and all the barely suppressed emotions erupted at that moment.
Luo Yan turned around abruptly, walked quickly back to the car, covered her chest with one hand with her swaying bra, and forcefully threw her coat into Jiang Sui's arms with the other.
"President Jiang is very busy and has to rush to a performance tomorrow. I'll return the clothes to you now, don't delay!" After saying that, she turned and ran, quickly disappearing into the dim light.
Jiang Sui held the jacket that had been thrown back at her, looking bewildered and confused.
Didn't we even things out? What happened to her again?
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