Chapter 146: So Ambiguous
Jin Shi Yue: 「Where is my girlfriend?」
Lian Li glanced sideways at the three noble young masters seated at the front of the table. After a fleeting glance, she withdrew her gaze and typed a reply: 「Here.」
Jin Shi Yue looked at his mobile phone, smiled with lowered brows, his jawline sharp and his light smile alluring.
Lu Hansheng, accustomed to delicacies, had no interest in vegetarian noodles. He put down his chopsticks and looked up, only to see Jin Shi Yue smile faintly.
“Is Second Young Master Jin getting aroused by his mobile phone?” Lu Hansheng, outwardly stern, was inwardly playful.
“My girlfriend, she’s clingy,” Jin Shi Yue lazily pulled at his lips, sneering, “She’s never seen the world.”
“You have a girlfriend?” Lu Hansheng glanced at Jin Yan Ting for confirmation. The latter’s expression was calm, unconcerned with Jin Shi Yue’s affairs.
“Does Yan Ying know?” Lu Hansheng asked.
Jin Shi Yue didn’t respond, his long fingers tapping on his phone screen as he typed leisurely.
He didn’t reply to anything Lu Hansheng asked.
After leaving the vegetarian restaurant, Lian Li and Lu Yan Ying went to the restroom.
Jin Shi Yue also parted ways with Jin Yan Ting and Lu Hansheng.
“Why did he suddenly think of visiting his aunt?” Lu Hansheng leaned against the luxury car, puzzled.
Jin Yan Ting sat in the back seat of the car, took the urgent documents handed by Assistant He, scanned them, and signed them, saying without looking up, “The one from the Zhong Family has arrived in Shanghai.”
“Zhong Yingyi? She’s back?”
Lu Hansheng knew that Second Master Duan was taking office in Shanghai and thought Zhong Yingyi would return a few months later, but he didn’t expect it to be at the same time.
*
Lian Li stood before the washbasin, bending her head to wash her hands diligently.
Lu Yan Ying twisted open her lipstick and touched up her makeup in the mirror. Her peripheral vision caught the red on Lian Li’s wrist, and she paused.
A cherry-shaped red jade, with a rich color, a jade of a million, priceless.
Once, Lu Yan Ying invited her girlfriends over, and accidentally knocked over a gold-inlaid treasure box.
The treasure box contained no gold or jewels, only an old photograph from the Republic of China era.
Upon discovering it, Mother immediately locked the photograph in a safe.
Cherry-shaped jade was rare, so Lu Yan Ying remembered it very clearly. The woman in the photograph wore a jade on her wrist that was identical to Lian Li’s, except the photo was black and white, making the color indistinguishable.
Whether it was red jade, white jade… or perhaps emerald green.
“Your bracelet is quite unique, where did you buy it?” Lu Yan Ying capped her lipstick and asked Lian Li.
Lian Li wiped her fingers, glanced at the jade pendant hanging from the chain, and said softly, “It was left by my family.”
“Oh.” Lu Yan Ying realized, “It can’t be bought.”
Lian Li smiled, “That’s right. It can’t be bought.”
As the two girls walked out, they encountered a little monk carrying a pile of red ribbons and curiously asked about their purpose.
The little monk said, “These are wish letters. On the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, visitors make their wishes and hang them on the Chinese parasol tree. Heaven is benevolent and will favor sincere people.”
“I’ve never seen this before, it must be a new custom.” Lu Yan Ying pulled Lian Li, “Today is the fifteenth, let’s hang one.”
No one could refuse the little sun, and Lian Li was no exception.
They each took a red letter and followed the monk to the lush, thick Chinese parasol tree planted in the courtyard. On the wooden table to the left were writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.
With a stroke of the brush, Lian Li chose a branch and tied the wish letter to it.
Lu Yan Ying, full of energy, was determined to tie it to the highest point, even asking a bodyguard to bring a ladder for this purpose.
“Miss, I’ll do it.”
“No, tying it myself shows sincerity.”
Lian Li ground ink at the table, waiting for Miss Lu.
Her mobile phone suddenly rang.
She glanced at it and saw it was a call from the Eldest Young Master.
As soon as she answered, a familiar voice came from the receiver: “Turn around.”
Lian Li did as she was told and saw the man lazily leaning against the wall in the distance.
Their eyes met.
After a moment, Lian Li turned to Lu Yan Ying and said, “I accidentally dropped something in the restroom, I’m going back to get it.”
“OK, do you need help?” Lu Yan Ying stood on the ladder, while the bodyguard on the ground held it nervously, afraid the Lu Family’s little princess would fall.
“No, thank you.”
Time was pressing, so Lian Li jogged over. She wasn’t used to exercising, and by the time she reached Jin Shi Yue, fine sweat had beaded on her forehead, and she was panting.
“Why are you here?” Lian Li asked, her breathing unsteady.
Jin Shi Yue looked composed, his gaze appraising her fair and translucent face, “To see someone.”
His answer was concise.
Lian Li then said, “Then why haven’t you left after seeing them?”
Jin Shi Yue looked at her with lazy eyes, “My girlfriend.”
“Here.” Lian Li raised her head, her black, glassy eyes reflecting his image, and said softly.
She didn’t understand why he asked again, but she still answered truthfully.
Hearing the answer in person.
Jin Shi Yue raised an eyebrow, a hint of a smile in his deep black eyes, “I’ll return to the capital a couple of days later.”
Lian Li blinked her thick long lashes, “Oh.”
“When you return to the capital, come directly to my place. Wait for me at home.”
They had previously agreed that she would move into his home and live with him upon their return to the capital.
The Eldest Young Master was condescendingly staying in her humble abode. He could tolerate a lower standard of living, but she couldn’t stand him disrupting her home.
Lian Li looked at him, “Have my things been moved over?”
“Partially,” Jin Shi Yue said.
Lian Li wasn’t clear about which part he was referring to, but the Eldest Young Master’s home would surely have everything, so she could move in directly.
She only asked to stay three days a week; she wasn’t demanding, as long as she could sleep.
“Okay, then I’ll be going back. Yan Ying is waiting for me.”
Just as Lian Li was about to leave, Jin Shi Yue suddenly reached out, wrapped his arm around her waist, turned her, and pressed her against the wall.
Behind her was the hard wall, and in front of her was the man’s fierce body.
With mere inches between them, their bodies pressed together. Jin Shi Yue raised Lian Li’s chin with his other hand, lowered his head, and kissed her passionately.
Lian Li’s pupils dilated instantly.
In a sacred Buddhist place, what was he doing?
Why was he kissing her for no reason?
…
Her younger sister hadn’t returned for a long time, and her phone calls went unanswered. Lu Hansheng decided to check on the situation.
He peered into the hall. The entire place was dark. The eternal lamps couldn’t dispel the gloom, and the candlelight on both sides illuminated the canopy. The Buddha looked down with compassion, indifferent to all living beings.
Lu Hansheng continued to walk forward.
Hearing a sound nearby, he stopped.
In broad daylight, in an ancient and elegant temple.
In a secluded corner behind a yellow wall, a man’s long arm was around a girl’s slender waist, pressing her against the wall, kissing her intimately.
How ambiguous.
Having an affair in such a solemn and sacred temple was truly refined.
Adults liked new games. Beautiful girls and handsome men, the wildness beneath their respectable appearances was exciting.
Lu Hansheng was unfazed. He averted his gaze, and suddenly the faces of the man and woman flashed in his mind… familiar, very familiar! He stopped abruptly.
The whistling wind in his ears seemed to vanish instantly. Lian Li’s heart grew warm from the kiss.
Jin Shi Yue gradually softened his intensity, slowly kissing her soft red lips.
Lian Li pushed against his chest with both hands, and with all her might, she pushed him away, panting, “You…”
Before she could finish speaking, she unexpectedly saw Lu Hansheng’s stern and handsome face in her vision. He was staring at them with an incredulous expression.
Lian Li was stunned, “Brother Hansheng?”
