MY - 12

Will you please look at me?

She had looked at him countless times, and he, too, seemed to bask in boundless affection.

In the end, she became deeply invested, while he remained an outsider, skillfully withdrawing.

Jiang Xi didn’t turn around, her voice calm: “Let go.”

“You still blame me,” Lu Nandu said.

Emotional attachments are those not yet let go; true, calm forgetting is neither hatred nor love.

“No,” Jiang Xi said calmly, “So many years have passed, it’s not that serious.”

“You’re lying.” A few seconds later, Lu Nandu said, “You still dislike me.”

Jiang Xi remained silent.

Lu Nandu repeated: “You dislike me.”

He used to pamper her so much, there wasn’t even time for dislike.

Another car sped past, the old streetlight flickered, and the night was silent.

“I’ll be good to you in the future. Will you please not dislike me anymore?”

After a long silence, Jiang Xi spoke: “Lu Nandu, not everything has a future.”

Both remained silent.

“It’s been eight years,” Jiang Xi paused, “I’ve been doing very well, and so have you. We’ve been fine without each other. There’s no need to bring ourselves unhappiness.”

As her words fell, Lu Nandu tightened his grip around her: “I haven’t.”

Like a child, he candidly expressed his emotions to her: “Jiejie, I haven’t been doing well.”

Not doing well?

Young and accomplished, with power in his hands, thousands bowing before him. He had achieved everything he desired.

How could he not be doing well?

Jiang Xi felt powerless: “Lu Nandu, are you trying to trick me again?”

After a few seconds of silence, she said: “But after all these years, how could I not have made any progress?”

Jiang Xi could smell a faint scent of alcohol on Lu Nandu, not strong.

He seemed to know that nothing he said would work. He held her tighter, lowered his head, and rested his eyes on her shoulder.

Defeated, confused, helpless.

Jiang Xi looked up at the sky. Perhaps it was because she had been drinking tonight that she had stood there talking to Lu Nandu for so long.

She lowered her head, raised her hand, and tried to pry open Lu Nandu’s arms around her.

Lu Nandu suddenly spoke: “I didn’t lie to you.”

As his words fell, Jiang Xi paused, but only for an instant, then unhesitatingly pried his hands away.

Like every other time, she didn’t look back and walked straight across the road.

________________________________________

Lu Nandu’s flight landed in Beijing early this morning, and he stayed at the Lu Family Mansion that night.

Nestled near mountains and water, the mansion stood solemn and grand under the dim sky.

On a second-floor open-air balcony, there were several cigarette butts on the ground.

The man was only a silhouette, his arm resting on the stone railing, a cigarette held between his fingers. It was late autumn, and the chill in Beijing was intense, yet the man wore only a short-sleeved shirt.

The night wind was strong, lifting a corner of his short sleeve, revealing his slender, powerful waist.

He lowered his head slightly, brought the cigarette to his lips for a puff, and slowly exhaled a plume of white smoke.

A lonely ghost in the hours of slumber.

________________________________________

The next day, Beijing’s sky was clear and bright. At six in the morning, the servants of the Lu Family Mansion had already risen early and were busy.

The Lu family was a prominent lineage. The Huahong Group was founded by the elder Mr. Lu, Lu Jinghong. After nearly a century of operation across three generations, it had become a giant in multiple industries today.

Lu Jinghong was a business genius, known for his ruthless methods in his youth. His son, Lu Kaiyang, though slightly less distinguished, was also considered a prodigy, but Lu Jinghong had only this one son who died prematurely. Later, Huahong experienced a period of chaos, and finally, Lu Kaiyang’s eldest son, Lu Nandu, ascended to power and took charge of the group.

Grandpa Lu and Madam Lu were having breakfast in the dining room.

Only Grandpa Lu and Madam Lu sat at the long table in the spacious dining room.

Servants moved back and forth, bringing dishes to the table.

Madam Lu, Liang Sirong, asked the person beside her: “Where’s Young Master?”

Liang Sirong was Lu Kaiyang’s wife; at fifty years old, there were no traces of time on her face.

The servant replied: “Still sleeping in his bedroom.”

Grandpa Lu, who slept early, didn’t know Lu Nandu had returned. He looked up at Liang Sirong: “He’s back?”

Liang Sirong gently put down her chopsticks: “He’s back.”

Lu Jinghong told the servant: “Go wake him up. It’s already late morning.”

Just then, Lu Nandu’s playful voice, mixed with laughter, came from outside the dining room.

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

Liang Sirong looked up, saw Lu Nandu leaning against the doorframe, and smiled brightly: “Awake?”

Lu Nandu was dressed in a casual T-shirt and slacks at home, looking like he had just woken up, his hair still slightly tousled.

Liang Sirong waved Lu Nandu over: “Come, A-Du, come sit next to Aunty.”

Lu Nandu walked over, pulled out the chair next to Liang Sirong, and sat beside her.

A servant brought Lu Nandu cutlery. Liang Sirong picked up some vegetables with her chopsticks and put them in his bowl: “Did you sleep well?”

Lu Nandu, whenever he wasn’t working, was exceptionally sweet-mouthed: “Of course, I slept well. How could I not with Aunty at home?”

Liang Sirong was pleased: “You’re just a chatterbox, always saying nonsense to coax Aunty.”

“Aren’t you happy about it?”

Liang Sirong laughed: “If you come back to see Aunty often, Aunty will be very happy.”

Lu Nandu said: “What’s difficult about that? It’s easy.”

Lu Nandu was not Liang Sirong’s biological son, yet Liang Sirong treated him as her own, never caring about his illegitimate status.

While the two talked, Grandpa Lu had already finished his meal.

Grandpa Lu wiped his mouth with a napkin.

Lu Nandu saw he was done and asked: “Grandpa, won’t you eat a little more?”

“No manners,” Grandpa Lu said this, but he smiled, “I’m an old man now, eating too much is bad for digestion.”

Lu Nandu clicked his tongue: “This age is perfect for strengthening the body, you know.”

Grandpa Lu put down his napkin, propped himself up with both hands on the armrests, and announced: “Come to my room after you’ve eaten.” With that, he left the dining room, leaning on his cane.

Lu Nandu wasn’t planning on eating. He put his hands in his pockets and stood up.

Liang Sirong saw him get up and asked: “Not eating anymore?”

“I’m done,” Lu Nandu said, then slightly turned and placed a plate of pre-cut fruit in front of Liang Sirong, “Aunty, eat more. This makes you pretty.”

Liang Sirong was amused by him again: “Hurry up and go, your grandpa is looking for you. I’ll prepare a breakfast bento for you later, take it to the office and eat it. You shouldn’t skip breakfast.”

Grandpa Lu’s bedroom was decorated in a modern Chinese style, predominantly black and white.

The door wasn’t closed. Lu Nandu leaned against the doorframe.

Grandpa Lu was playing Go, thinking he was still dining downstairs, so he didn’t expect him to have come up already.

Seeing his casual posture, Lu Jinghong smiled and said to him: “No proper standing posture.”

Lu Nandu, with his hands in his pockets, heard this and said: “This isn’t the company, so don’t be so demanding, alright?”

Lu Jinghong knew this eldest grandson had been a scoundrel since childhood. When he was brought back to the Lu family at seventeen, he was still a small-time hoodlum.

Even now, dressed in suits every day, once he sheds his CEO identity, he’s still a rascal.

Grandpa Lu waved him over: “Come play a game of Go with me.”

“Alright,” Lu Nandu gently pushed off the wall with his shoulder to stand straight, then walked to the opposite side of Grandpa Lu and sat down.

Grandpa Lu had the white pieces, Lu Nandu the black.

“You’re managing Huahong now, not those small companies abroad,” Lu Jinghong said earnestly while playing chess, “Don’t be so lazy in your demeanor, manage the company well.”

“Is the current state of the company not satisfactory to you?” Lu Nandu asked, “Alright then, I’ll work harder.”

Grandpa Lu looked up at him and chuckled: “Is this how you show me you’re working hard? Sleeping until late morning.”

“Are you still micromanaging so much?” Lu Nandu said, “Don’t worry, I only slept after finishing all my tasks.”

“Butler Chen said you took a day off yesterday.”

Lu Nandu was candid: “Indeed, nothing escapes your notice.”

Lu Jinghong chuckled, not asking where he went.

After the grandfather and grandson finished a game of chess, Grandpa Lu suddenly said: “You, now is not the time to be looking for women.”

Lu Nandu, who had been listening idly with his eyelids lowered, looked up at this.

Grandpa Lu picked up the tea beside him and took a sip: “Business first; those matters can be discussed later.”

Lu Nandu seemed to think of something, and his eyes turned a little cold: “Why are those matters meaningless?”

The next second, however, he became playful again and chuckled: “Who wasn’t born from such matters?”

Grandpa Lu had good family upbringing from a young age, well-read and sensible. Even his son, Lu Kaiyang, was well-mannered. Only this eldest grandson had no sense of propriety in his words.

But he didn’t get angry, smiling and shaking his head: “Not a single serious word out of your mouth.”

Lu Nandu’s phone rang just then. He pulled it out of his pocket and put it to his ear to answer. It was Qin Jin calling, saying he was already downstairs.

He hummed: “Wait.”

After hanging up, Lu Nandu asked Grandpa again: “Grandpa, anything else? If not, I’m rushing to work,” and then added, “Got to work hard.”

Grandpa Lu squinted at him: “Still holding a grudge.” Then he waved his hand, “Go on, go on.”

________________________________________

Jiang Xi was on wirework all day today.

Since joining the crew, she rarely had such high-intensity work, and by evening, her entire body ached.

When she called Ji Yuanzhou that night, Ji Yuanzhou told her she lacked exercise.

“What kind of exercise do you mean?”

Ji Yuanzhou seemed to be smoking on his end, his smoker’s voice a little hoarse. He chuckled lazily: “Find someone.”

Jiang Xi let out a small laugh.

Ji Yuanzhou: “It’s easy, you can feel pleasure, is there a better way to exercise than that?”

Jiang Xi nestled in the single sofa, tapping the armrest with her fingertips, and lightly chuckled: “Did you just finish exercising?”

Ji Yuanzhou laughed, followed by a few coughs: “Quite perceptive, aren’t you?”

Jiang Xi didn’t press for details and asked about other things: “How’s work recently?”

“It’s alright,” Ji Yuanzhou said, “Just the usual.”

As soon as his words fell, a man’s voice came from his end.

Ji Yuanzhou, however, was calm and unhurried. He told Jiang Xi: “I have something else to do, I’ll hang up first.”

Soon after Ji Yuanzhou hung up, Tong Yun’s call came in.

Jiang Xi glanced at it and answered.

Before she could speak, Tong Yun already spoke, her voice not very pleasant: “I heard you rejected Lu Nandu?”