Chapter 11 Cemetery
"Jiang Le!" A loud shout exploded in her ears.
Jiang Le's thoughts were suddenly pulled back, "..."
"Come with us to watch the meteor shower during the National Day holiday! It's the kind that only happens once in a century!" Li Yan clasped his hands together, his eyes brightening dramatically. "With you, there are exactly six of us. We can rent a comfortable seven-seater car!"
Jiang Le, who was in puberty, grew up slowly, only beginning to show some semblance of beauty in high school. Her sharp features conveyed a sense of distance, while her cheeks still retained a hint of baby fat, creating a contradictory aura of coldness and indifference.
She was folding the last few papers and slowly stuffing them into her bag. Just as she was about to say no, she suddenly heard Jiang Congyue's constant nagging about making more friends. She pursed her lips and finally nodded softly, "Who are they?"
Li Yan reported a few names that Jiang Le was familiar with.
She likes to be alone and doesn't like making friends, so her classmates are just acquaintances, and she can't even recognize some of their faces and names.
"Call me before you leave tomorrow." Jiang Le put on his schoolbag and stood quietly by the side waiting for Li Yan who was dawdling.
Ever since the two became familiar with each other, Jiang Congyue asked the driver to pick up Li Yan along the way, calling it "having a companion on the road."
Li Yan pounded the table happily, but his eyes wandered around guiltily.
Jiang Le could guess what she was thinking without even opening his eyes, not to mention the clear voice that came into his mind.
[Is Xiao Kexin really capable? If it were Jiang Le...]
This name made Jiang Le pause, and a corner deep in her memory was turned over. It seemed to be a boy from her former class. It seemed that he had contributed to the pile of love letters that she had received but had no memory of.
In fact, she would not have remembered it, but he had hidden the love letter so cleverly that Jiang Congyue found it before she had time to deal with it.
Jiang Le still felt her ears burning when she recalled Jiang Congyue's teasing smile. Not only did he smile, he also seriously lectured her on the 108 dangers of premature love, keeping her awake for days.
Therefore, she remembered the name of the owner of the love letter very clearly.
"I'm not going tomorrow." Jiang Le's face suddenly darkened.
The love letter alone caused a huge mess. If Jiang Congyue knew that they were still hanging out together, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Ah?!" Li Yan wailed, his face falling. "Why did you suddenly change your mind? You were fine just now!"
Jiang Le's brows furrowed even tighter, and his voice was filled with urgency and coldness: "Hurry up and pack up."
Watching Li Yan pout and mutter to herself with a look of grievance, Jiang Le finally grasped the key information from her chaotic thoughts. It turned out that this silly girl was looking for someone to embolden her to confess her feelings, but was too embarrassed to tell her directly.
She didn't even notice this.
"...Forget it," Jiang Le pretended to check his phone, swiping his fingers across the screen a few times, and then changed the subject in a slightly exaggerated manner, "Tomorrow... I'm free again."
Even though Li Yan was slow-witted, he instantly believed it. His eyes lit up, and he excitedly grabbed Jiang Le's hand and shook it up and down: "Really?! That's great! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you..."
On the way home, Li Yan was like an overly excited spinning top, spinning around Jiang Le, hesitant to speak.
It wasn't until she got into the car and caught a glimpse of the parents in the front seat that she pulled out her phone and quickly typed: [I'll tell you something in detail when we get home!]
When Jiang Le opened the door, a faint smile still lingered on his lips, provoked by Li Yan. But when his eyes fell on the familiar figure on the sofa in the living room, that smile instantly disappeared.
Jiang Congyue was wearing a blue and white long dress, leaning lazily on the armrest of the sofa, her fingertips casually turning the pages of the book on her lap.
Hearing the movement at the door, she turned her head slightly to look in. The afterglow of the setting sun outside the window just happened to pass through the glass, giving her delicate profile a soft golden edge.
Over the years, time seems to have miraculously flowed backwards on her. The fine lines at the corners of her eyes have quietly faded away, and even the new hair roots at her temples have a dark and shiny luster, intertwined with her silver hair, exuding incredible vitality.
Is this the benefit of not having to work?
Ever since Jiang Congyue had deliberately let her get involved in the company, she had fallen in love with the joy of being a hands-off boss, not wanting to worry about anything. If Jiang Le hadn't still been in high school, she would have almost completely retired.
"Lele is back?" Jiang Congyue put down the book, smiling warmly as usual, "Go wash your hands and get ready for dinner."
Jiang Le nodded and picked up the slightly cold bowl of rice.
At the dinner table, Jiang Le's manners were calm and elegant, impeccable. The etiquette Jiang Congyue had meticulously instilled in her over the years had long since become ingrained in her, and her every gesture betrayed the meticulous upbringing of someone from a wealthy family.
"I'll take you somewhere after dinner." Jiang Congyue naturally picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs and put it into her bowl.
Jiang Le lowered his eyes, chewing his food quietly, not asking where she was going. But his heart felt like a small stone had been dropped, causing a slight ripple. He wouldn't sell her anyway.
Jiang Le slowly swallowed a bowl of rice, put down his bowl and chopsticks and looked at Jiang Congyue.
"Let's go, I'll take you to meet your parents." After dinner, Jiang Congyue put his arm around her shoulders, his tone as relaxed as if he were talking about the weather, even a little joking, "Huh? Our Lele seems to have grown a little taller."
parents?
Her whole body suddenly stiffened, her blood seemed to freeze instantly, and her mind went blank. Why so suddenly? Was he tired of her trouble? Or had he found a more suitable successor? A huge panic and cold suspicion instantly gripped her.
After getting on the bus, she unconsciously clenched her hands, supported her chin and looked out the window helplessly.
Jiang Congyue tilted his head, taking in her nervous and worried look, without interrupting or explaining, but the smile in his eyes became even more intense.
The car drove smoothly, and the scenery outside the window quickly receded in the twilight. When the solemn and majestic white stone archway finally came into view, Jiang Le's tense heartstrings suddenly broke.
It's a cemetery.
She followed Jiang Congyue, silently passing through rows of silent tombstones, and finally stopped in front of two tombstones side by side.
The man and woman in the photo were still young, their expressions strikingly familiar, especially the woman's, whose facial features bore a striking resemblance to Jiang Le's. The cold inscription on the tombstone etched their brief lives: Jiang Yunling, Ji Qing, died in the prime of life.
The sweltering heat was shielded from the coolness of the cemetery, and as Jiang Le walked, her heart calmed. Upon seeing the photo of someone so similar to her, her first reaction wasn't grief, but a sigh of relief.
Her parents turned out to be dead.
"They are a loving pair of high school teachers." Jiang Congyue gently placed two bunches of white chrysanthemums in front of the tombstone and lit paper money.
The orange flames danced, illuminating her calm profile. Her voice was as soft as a sigh, "It was a car accident. You were less than two months old at the time, and they were rushing back to their hometown for the New Year..."
Jiang Le squatted down and mechanically took the stack of paper money. He knelt on the cold stone slab and threw each piece into the fire. The flames devoured the paper, making a subtle crackling sound.
"Don't I have any other relatives?" Her voice was dry.
"They were all only children. Your grandmother..." Jiang Congyue paused, her tone becoming lighter. "The old lady couldn't bear the shock and passed away a few days later. The bodies were not discovered by the neighbors until a few days later. As for you, maybe a kind-hearted person sent you to an orphanage."
In the firelight, Jiang Le's drooping eyelashes cast a heavy shadow under her eyes, and her fingertips trembled almost imperceptibly. A huge, cold question silently hit her heart: she was lying.
If grandma was not discovered until many days after her death, how was she delivered to the welfare home in time in her cradle?
But she didn't intend to delve into it. It was a waste of time to ask about something someone was determined to hide. She simply threw the paper money in faster.
After a while, she suddenly raised her head, her eyes like torches, shooting straight at Jiang Congyue: "My surname is Jiang, and yours... is also Jiang." Her voice was strangely calm, "Is this also part of the fate you talked about before?"
Jiang Congyue slowly squatted down in front of her, his eyes level with hers. Her deep eyes reflected the firelight, as well as Jiang Le's pale face. She shook her head gently, her tone extremely firm: "Not really."
Hearing this, Jiang Le gave an unpleasant smile, lowered his head, and said in a muffled voice, "Why didn't you tell me before and only brought me here today? Don't tell me you just found out now, I don't believe it."
"When you were young, you were too small, and I couldn't bear to tell you. When you grew up, I felt that... maybe it was unnecessary." Jiang Congyue stretched out his hand, and his warm and dry palm gently covered the top of her head, his action full of pity.
Her voice was as gentle as a feather, yet it carried a heartbreaking weight. "But, Lele, you never considered me family, right?"
Under Jiang Le's shocked gaze, Jiang Congyue hammered his legs and slowly stood up. In a voice so gentle it seemed to melt, he said slowly, "You only see me as a benefactor, but Lele, you are an orphan, and I am also alone without any relatives or friends. Neither you nor I need a benefactor or a benefactor. What we need is family, right?"
"I don't want you to feel lonely after I die, longing for family affection, and wanting to find your parents, only to be faced with three cold tombstones."
"I think you can still act like a spoiled child to me while I'm still here. But by then, what will happen to my baby?"
She opened her arms and gently embraced the stiff girl. She rested her chin on the top of her head and whispered with a sigh, "But at least now, you can still cry in my arms."
Hot tears burst out without warning, instantly soaking the fabric of Jiang Congyue's chest.
Family, how could Jiang Le not long for family.
No one longs for a mother's embrace and a complete family more than she does.
Jiang Le clutched the corner of her clothes tightly, his knuckles turned white, and his body trembled violently and uncontrollably, like a child who finally found shelter in a storm but was still terrified, and suppressed sobs came out muffled.
Jiang Congyue sighed again and patted her back carefully.
"I'm not a child who was deliberately abandoned, right? My parents love me very much, right?" Jiang Le asked in a muffled voice while hugging Jiang Congyue.
However, Jiang Congyue just chuckled and said nothing, but the answer was self-evident.
On the way back, Jiang Le sat there like a piece of wood, with red eyes and looked at Jiang Congyue helplessly.
"Before, I always felt that you didn't really take this place as your home." Jiang Congyue seemed to sense her gaze, opened his eyes, smiled and pulled her over to lean against his shoulder, his tone was a bit playful and scolding, "Are you always thinking about going to find your biological parents one day? Don't you want an old woman like me anymore?"
"No!" Jiang Le sat up straight, his voice still tinged with tears, and he retorted urgently and loudly. Then, realizing his own gaffe, he lowered his voice again, his voice thick with a nasal sound, like the whisper of a mosquito, "I treat you as a relative..."
"Hahaha, okay, then I believe you. Now I'm the only relative you have in this world. If not me, who else can you kiss?" Jiang Congyue smiled so much that the wrinkles on his face deepened a little. He was obviously amused by her words.
The driver in the front seat couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Le Le is the most filial and sensible. Boss Jiang, please stop teasing her."
Jiang Le lowered her head in embarrassment, blushing all over her cheeks and ears, and she didn't know what to say for a moment.
Naturally, he also missed the cunning look of success that flashed across Jiang Congyue's eyes.
——
Jiang Congyue:34
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