Chapter 45 When you're out in the game... to hell with emotional stability!
Early Saturday morning, Xu Jingfei was awakened by a persistent doorbell. With her hair disheveled, she opened the door menacingly, ready to unleash a torrent of abuse, only to find Luo Yan standing dejectedly at the door, carrying several bottles of beer, her eyes swollen like walnuts.
"What are you putting on this for so early in the morning?" Xu Jingfei frowned, looking at her with disdain, but stepped aside.
Luo Yan didn't say anything. She walked in, put the beer on the coffee table, opened a can, and chugged it down her throat.
Xu Jingfei crossed her arms and looked at her: "Looking like this first thing in the morning, did you cry all night? Haven't you finished draining the water from your brain yet, are you going to continue draining it today?"
Luo Yan's eyes reddened again, and she drank in silence.
Xu Jingfei gave a knowing look and sat down. "You don't usually contact me, but you remember me when you're drinking."
"I don't want to stay by myself, but I can't go to Granny Rong either..." Luo Yan's voice was muffled, with a heavy nasal tone.
"Go drink outside, why do you have to come here?"
"Civil servants are not allowed to drink alcohol outside..."
Luo Yan's tears fell in a steady stream. She felt so wronged. She was so upset that she had to be careful about where she went for a drink.
"You're not confused yet..." Xu Jingfei sneered, "Because of Jiang Sui?"
Luo Yan was startled. "You knew?"
"Ha, your little tricks might fool that dim-witted Luo Muyang, but you're my daughter! Whether you admit it or not, I'm the person who knows you best in this world, without a doubt!"
Xu Jingfei also opened a can of beer. "I warned you, you can't afford to play around with a man like Jiang Sui. You can play along, but taking it seriously is just asking for trouble!"
"Do you think I can just let my heart be unmoved? It's easy for you to say that when you're not the one suffering!"
After a few cans of beer, Luo Yan began to stagger and ramble on, accusing me incoherently: "He lied to me... saying he was on a business trip... going to a hotel with another woman... and even giving her a brooch..."
“Men are all the same, aren’t they?” Xu Jingfei opened another can for her.
Luo Yan looked around: "Where's your... male green tea? Not home?... Out fooling around too?"
Xu Jingfei retorted without hesitation: "What nonsense! I was busy at the beauty salon all day yesterday and just got back to rest. I asked him to keep an eye on things for me. You keep calling her a green tea bitch, but what if you find someone who isn't? The most important thing for a man is to be obedient!"
"Sometimes... I really envy you... for being able to control men. I... have always been... controlled by men. Isn't that... a failure?"
"I'm asking you, did you get into the civil service through the help of men? Did you earn your money through men?"
Luo Yan shook her head blankly.
"So your only failure is that you're willing to die for a man!"
Xu Jingfei took the empty can from her hand. "Men are like clothes. If they're not good-looking or comfortable, throw them away. If they're good-looking and comfortable, wear them a few more times before throwing them away. But you can never throw away the fabric! Whether it's Jiang Sui or Wu Yuzhou, in the end, isn't it all your own foolishness and self-destruction? How did I teach you? You can have men by your side, but you can't be controlled by men... Don't go out and say you're my daughter, Xu Jingfei. I can't bear the shame..."
In the evening, Luo Yan finally collapsed drunk on the sofa.
Xu Jingfei picked up her phone, which she had left aside, unlocked it with the password, and first looked through the photo album. There were many selfies of Luo Yan and Jiang Sui, as well as a few obviously "candid" photos of Jiang Sui from various angles, 360 degrees without any blind spots.
She pursed her lips, opened her recent calls, and dialed back.
"It's me, Xu Jingfei. Your girlfriend has been drinking all day and is completely drunk. I can't take care of her, so I've come to pick her up."
Half an hour later, Jiang Sui rushed over and saw Luo Yan curled up on the sofa with messy tear stains on her face. His heart clenched.
"What happened?"
"I'm asking you."
Xu Jingfei rolled her eyes. "I've never seen her this heartbroken before. Even after being dumped by Wu Yuzhou, she recovered in just one night. You're amazing, aren't you? The first man to make her cry every day! Jiang Sui, I don't care what misunderstandings you have, I'm telling you right now, no one but me can bully Luo Yan. If there's a next time, my attitude probably won't be so good."
Jiang Sui lowered her head: "I'm sorry, Auntie."
"Stop talking nonsense!" Xu Jingfei waved her hand. "Get rid of it quickly, it's annoying to look at."
Jiang Sui picked Luo Yan up and carried her outside. She unconsciously snuggled against him, muttering, "Jiang Sui...liar..."
His arm stiffened, and his eyes welled up with emotion.
Back home, after settling her in bed and covering her with a blanket, he sat on the edge of the bed and quietly looked at her for a long time.
Moonlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains, illuminating her peaceful sleeping face.
Jiang Sui took out the necklace, gently put it around her neck, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, brushed the hair from her face, and kissed her forehead.
"Did I really... cause you this much pain?"
The next morning, Luo Yan woke up with a severe headache. She sat up, rubbing her temples. Her memory was fragmented; she only remembered drinking too much at Xu Jingfei's place.
Before I could react, Jiang Sui Consort walked into the bedroom and placed a glass of honey water on the bedside table. "Awake?"
Luo Yan paused, the bitter taste in her throat still lingering.
"Explain, I want the truth."
Jiang Sui sat down and fell silent, so silent that Luo Yan could almost hear his suppressed breathing.
She waited, her heart sinking deeper and deeper.
Finally, Jiang Sui spoke, her voice tinged with weary calm: "I haven't done anything to wrong you. This necklace was originally meant for you."
"Anything else? Who is that woman? Why did you go to the hotel with her and give her a brooch?"
Jiang Sui lowered his head and fell silent again.
Luo Yan's voice trembled involuntarily: "I'm giving you a chance to explain, speak!"
Jiang Sui looked up at her and said, "I have explained everything I could. It is all the truth."
In an instant, all of Luo Yan's expectations and composure crumbled.
"There's still something you can't explain, right? Jiang Sui, do you know what's most despicable about you? You gave me the illusion of being loved, and then you tore it up with your own hands. I'm in so much pain, and you're still here pretending to be all 'kapi bala'!" She ripped off the necklace from her neck and threw it hard on the ground.
"If being with me causes you so much pain..."
Jiang Sui looked at the necklace that had been thrown away, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Then... let's compromise."
Luo Yan stared at him in disbelief, her mind a jumbled mess.
What is he hiding? Why would he rather break up than tell me?
Jiang Sui got up and put on her coat: "Don't drink so much in the future."
Hearing the door close, Luo Yan was left feeling utterly bewildered.
After a long pause, she inexplicably opened Lu Xingyao's WeChat; now, only she might know the inside story.
- Sister Xingyao, excuse me, but I wanted to ask if Jiang Sui has some kind of trouble? Is it related to his father?
A few minutes later, Lu Xingyao replied:
I can't say much more, but I assure you with my integrity that Jiang Sui is absolutely a trustworthy person. Give him some time.
But with a thorn in her heart, how could she trust him?
Jiang returned to the car and picked up her phone.
"I've already left Luo Yan... This is the biggest concession I can make; anything else is off the table... If you continue to pressure me or bother Luo Yan, don't blame me for being ruthless as her son." With that, he decisively hung up the phone, his gaze falling on the Q-version spaceship figurine on the center console, which Luo Yan had placed there herself to commemorate their first movie together.
As I looked, my eyes suddenly welled up with tears.
On Monday, Luo Yan, with dark circles under her eyes, forced herself to go to the meeting.
As soon as she entered the conference room, she noticed something was wrong. It wasn't Jiang Sui from Fei Yang's side, but a slightly overweight middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. Even the team members had all been replaced.
Director Zheng introduced: "This is Sun Zhicheng, the vice president of Feiyang. He will be in charge of the final work of the smart tourism project. Vice President Jiang has other work arrangements and will not be involved in this project."
Luo Yan felt as if her heart had been suddenly tugged.
My first thought was that Luo Muyang knew about their affair and had transferred Jiang Sui away as punishment.
The person they got in return was certainly impressive, but seemed... not very bright.
As expected, Mr. Sun started acting up as soon as the meeting began, nitpicking the plan that Jiang's team had finalized earlier.
"With our advanced technology, this data model could definitely have its parameters improved further. Vice President Jiang is being too conservative."
"Was the feedback from the scenic area... too mild? Were they being too perfunctory?"
"Vice President Jiang is still too young, and he may not have considered everything thoroughly, which is understandable..."
As Luo Yan listened to his veiled criticism of Jiang Sui, her anger flared up. When Sun Zhicheng questioned the technical details personally decided by Jiang Sui once again, she finally couldn't help but slam her pen on the table.
“Mr. Sun, as the client, we believe that your ‘optimization suggestions’ are not very pertinent. We have conducted detailed analysis and simulation tests in the early stages, and the conclusion is that the existing solution is the optimal solution in terms of stability, cost, and control precision. If you have a better alternative, you can bring it up for discussion. As for the communication method, we all agree that the cooperation between Mr. Jiang’s team and the scenic area is on a very good foundation. Changing the method rashly will affect the scenic area’s cooperation.”
The conference room fell silent as everyone stared at Luo Yan in surprise, never expecting that the usually easy-going Luo Yan would be so assertive.
Director Zheng quickly tried to smooth things over, "Luo Yan! Everyone's doing this for the good of the project..."
The meeting was still in progress, but Luo Yan had lost all interest in listening to Sun Zhicheng's continued rambling.
"Director Zheng, I need to use the restroom." After saying that, he quickly rushed to the stairwell and dialed Luo Muyang's number.
"Old Luo, why did Feiyang suddenly change its personnel? Where did you put Jiang Sui?!"
Luo Muyang seemed somewhat embarrassed: "Yanyan, it was Jiang Sui who suggested it himself. I asked him why, but he wouldn't say. He just told me he had to go to the county below to follow up on the new project. He handed over his work to Sun Zhicheng this morning and just left..."
Luo Yan was stunned.
He wasn't transferred; he left voluntarily to avoid her? He even handed over a project he built himself?
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