Chapter 17. First Love, Ex-Girlfriend

Brother Lei attempted to humiliate Jiang Yan but was instead publicly shamed by Lin Xingzi, losing all face.

He wasn’t doing poorly; having been in business for so long, he had a wide network of friends in the area. He was glib, knowing how to talk to anyone and flatter people, and high-ranking officials and dignitaries would often give him some respect when they came to the bar for entertainment.

Since Lin Xingzi returned to China, the person she saw most often was Lin Sang, and Lin Sang was a heavy drinker. Lin Xingzi had known the owner of this bar for about two years.

He thought he had figured out Lin Xingzi’s temper and harbored a desire for personal revenge, so when he learned Jiang Yan was looking for Lin Xingzi, he deliberately caused him trouble, but it backfired.

First, he was splashed with a drink, followed by a torrent of humiliation. She swore no foul language but showed no mercy.

The man was furious, his face a spectacular mix of green and white. His eyes stared at Lin Xingzi with resentment. In his rage, all caution and consideration were thrown aside. For a moment, he was even provoked enough to roll up his sleeves and prepare to fight, but he was firmly held back by the person behind him. In Lin Xingzi’s eyes, he looked like a clown performing tricks at a zoo.

A second before he kicked over a chair, Lin Xingzi’s wrist was gripped with force, pulling her back. She shook him off without looking back.

“Are you already so angry you’re about to die?” Under the lights, she seemed to have an aura about her. “The one who provokes first is cheap. Are you suffering from Alzheimer’s or an epileptic seizure? Your hand can shake onto him from two meters away.”

“Brother Lei!” Monkey whispered a few words in his ear.

This young lady wasn’t usually one to meddle in other people’s affairs, yet she was now standing up for a poor police officer. He wasn’t stupid; after calming down, he naturally figured something out.

If things escalated, his business might not survive.

Brother Lei straightened his cuffs, coughed twice, and walked up to Lin Xingzi, fawning with a smile. As he spoke, his gaze flickered past her to Jiang Yan behind her. “Beautiful Miss Lin, calm down. It was my oversight. You have a generous heart, don’t hold it against me. How about this: tonight’s bill for you and your friends is on me, consider it my apology.”

Lin Xingzi: I’m laughing so hard I’m going to vomit.

“Do I lack the money for a few bottles of wine?” She smiled sweetly. “Apologize to him.”

“...Buddy, my apologies.”

Although unwilling, he put on a decent act.

Since he apologized, Lin Xingzi was quite magnanimous, letting the small matter go. She cleared her throat and said, “I’m sorry.”

“I’ll still scold you next time.”

“...”

________________________________________

After getting home, Jiang Yan bent down to pick up her carelessly kicked-off high heels and arranged them neatly. He went into the room to get a tube of ointment. When he came out, she was sitting on the sofa, looking down at her feet.

While lecturing the bar owner, her aura was noble, her red lips fiery, but after she reined in her sharpness, she was just a sulking little girl.

Jiang Yan walked over and sat beside her, taking her foot in his hand. She didn’t speak, just struggled with suppressed effort. Jiang Yan simply lifted her onto his lap, squeezed out some ointment, applied it around the blister on her heel, and then leaned down to blow on it gently.

“Next time you encounter danger, remember to duck away.”

The high-rise building blocked out the city’s noise and commotion. In the overly quiet environment, even the most subtle emotions couldn’t be hidden. The scent of the man, unique to him, enveloped Lin Xingzi’s breathing. His short hair brushed her arm, his breath floated on the skin of her ankle, and his fingers, stained with ointment, gently massaged around the red blister. She could even feel the calluses on his fingertips scraping against the fine hairs on her skin, like a feather tickling her heart.

He hadn’t changed his clothes; the faint smell of alcohol lingered in the air.

Lin Xingzi averted her eyes, her hand on the sofa tightening, her nails leaving a mark on the upholstery. “Sorry, I’m the type to charge in and fight.”

“Your husband can do that for you,” he said. “Men have a natural advantage in height and strength, and when provoked, they don’t consider the consequences. You’ll be at a disadvantage.”

Was the term “husband” a reminder to her, or to himself?

Ill-fitting shoes would chafe, no matter how many times she wore them.

“Jiang Yan,” her eyes were lowered, scattered strands of hair blocking the light, half her face in dark shadow, making her expression unreadable. Her voice was faint. “Do you want a divorce?”

Jiang Yan’s hand movements paused only briefly.

“No. I haven’t thought about divorce since I married you.”

“Then what do you mean by flirting and being so reluctant to part with your ex-girlfriend in public, humiliating me?”

He looked up, a smile actually in his eyes. “What ex-girlfriend?”

Lin Xingzi had vented her anger at the bar, and now she could maintain her composure calmly. “Ji Qiuchi, your pretty deskmate from senior year. Wasn’t she your first love, your ex-girlfriend?”

Her phone had been unreachable all day—she wasn’t checking WeChat or messages, or she was reading them and not replying. Jiang Yan had guessed that she must have misunderstood at the hospital this morning.

“She was my deskmate, not my first love, and not an ex-girlfriend. This morning, I was taking you to the hospital. Meeting her was purely coincidental. There was no reluctance to part, no flirting.”

“I saw it with my own eyes,” Lin Xingzi’s nose felt a bit sore. “In senior year, you were already casually hugging and kissing in the small woods...”

A flicker of emotion crossed Jiang Yan’s eyes. After a moment of surprise, his smile deepened.

Eight years ago, she had suddenly started to distance herself from him without reason. Even Lin Ke was affected. After the college entrance exam, he learned she was going to study abroad. Lin Sang had relayed a message for him, given their three years as classmates, but she hadn’t kept the appointment.

He had never known why.