Chapter 208: Fiancé is a College Student?
Xu Jingxi was dressed simply, just like last time, in jeans and a white shirt. Her figure was slender, her face fair and rosy, like a newly bloomed gardenia, possessing a subtle and elegant beauty.
Her demeanor was exceptional, clearly indicating she was a young lady from a scholarly family.
Lian Li watched the graceful white figure approach and stop in front of her. She smiled and said, “Miss Lian, what a coincidence. I didn’t expect to run into you in Shanghai.”
Lian Li politely stood up and extended her hand for a handshake. “It is quite a coincidence.”
Xu Jingxi glanced at Tao Su beside her, a slight curve at the corner of her mouth, clearly aware of his identity.
“Isn’t the Second Young Master accompanying you?”
“He’s busy with work and doesn’t have time.” Lian Li gestured for Xu Jingxi to sit down, suggesting they chat over food.
Xu Jingxi glanced at her wrist to check the time. Her appointment wasn’t for a while yet, so she sat down with Lian Li and Tao Su.
Tao Su opened a new, untouched box of pizza and offered it to Xu Jingxi. Xu Jingxi, being naturally sociable, didn’t hesitate or stand on ceremony. She put on a glove and tried a slice.
“How did you and the Second Young Master meet?” Xu Jingxi asked.
Lian Li thought for a moment and said, “My Senior Sister and his friend are childhood friends, so we got acquainted through them.”
Xue Shufan and Pei Qingji should be considered childhood friends.
Xu Jingxi understood. “You two have a good relationship. He, who never posts on Moments even once in a blue moon, specifically posted for you.”
Xu Jingxi’s words held no hidden meaning; they were purely literal.
Lian Li smiled. “Is that so?”
Regarding her relationship with Jin Shiyue, she wasn’t entirely sure if it could be considered good. She had no reference point for comparison, but the only thing she was certain of was that they both enjoyed this relationship.
“Yes,” Xu Jingxi said, smiling at Lian Li. The other woman seemed unaware of just how cold and detached Jin Shiyue could be.
Lian Li shifted her gaze to Xu Jingxi’s face and asked, “Are you working in Shanghai?”
“Yes, I’m here for an interview at the television station.”
The mobile phone on the table lit up. Xu Jingxi apologized and picked up her phone to reply to a message.
Lian Li happened to glance over and saw that Xu Jingxi’s phone wallpaper was a picture of her with a man in a military uniform, smiling brightly. The style of the uniform was identical to the one Jin Shiyue had worn before, but the man was clearly not Jin Shiyue.
Was this the friend Jin Shiyue had mentioned before?
“Do you plan to work in Shanghai in the future?” Lian Li asked, seemingly casually.
“No, I’m just here on a business trip this time,” Xu Jingxi replied. “It’s rare for me to return to China, and my family really doesn’t want me to leave the Capital City to work in another city.”
“What about you, what do you do for work?”
“I haven’t started working yet. I’m preparing to study abroad in August.”
Xu Jingxi nodded with a smile. “A student of Professor Lu Huier, I know.”
Lian Li also smiled. “Do you visit your aunt often?”
Jin Shiyue had said that Jin Shuyu treated Xu Jingxi like a daughter and took care of her, so their relationship should be good.
“Not very often. I’m out on field assignments more frequently.” Xu Jingxi paused, then added, “My aunt really likes you. It took me a lot of time and effort to get my aunt to like me, I’m so envious of you.”
“My aunt loves me because she loves him,” Lian Li said in a calm tone.
Jin Shuyu liked Jin Shiyue, so she liked her. Wasn’t that how family was?
The two chatted back and forth, occasionally eating pizza and fries, and talked for quite a while.
Xu Jingxi’s phone rang. She answered it, looked around, and spotted someone. Her smile faded slightly. “Wait for me there, I’ll be right there.”
After hanging up, she said to Lian Li, “Miss Lian, the person I’m meeting has arrived. Let’s chat another day.”
“Goodbye.”
Lian Li watched Xu Jingxi walk away, observing her step by step out into the corridor, where she finally stopped in front of a youthful-looking young man wearing a white t-shirt.
Lian Li looked closely and noticed that the young man’s facial features bore some resemblance to the man in Xu Jingxi’s phone wallpaper, but they were clearly from different age groups.
One was a male university student, the other a cheerful, mature man.
The young man shyly took Xu Jingxi’s hand, and they disappeared from Lian Li’s sight together.
Jin Shiyue’s friend probably wasn’t a university student, right?
Lian Li felt a bit confused and curiously turned to look at Tao Su. Tao Su had a serious expression, unlike the simple-minded Ling Yu who would spill everything.
Lian Li gave up on trying to communicate with Tao Su and decided to ask Jin Shiyue directly.
Just as she was about to send him a message, his call came through first.
Lian Li thought to herself, “Oh,” surprised by the coincidence.
The call connected, and the man’s casual voice came through, “Where are you?”
“At Pizza Hut, eating.”
“Aren’t you coming back to have lunch with me?”
“No, I’m not,” Lian Li said. “I’ll have dinner with you later.”
She refused to have lunch with him without hesitation, which made Jin Shiyue both annoyed and amused.
“I just ran into Xu Jingxi. She seemed to be with her boyfriend,” Lian Li chose her words carefully. “Didn’t you say her fiancé was your friend? Is your friend still in school?”
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line.
Jin Shiyue said, “Come back and have lunch with me, and then I’ll tell you.”
“Okay,” Lian Li said, getting up. She packed the uneaten food to take back, not wanting to waste food.
Tao Su, carrying several bags, followed behind Lian Li. They hadn’t encountered any members of the Lu family in the mall, but in the underground parking lot, they ran into Lu Yan Ying.
She was also followed by a bodyguard.
One might think the bodyguards were picking up children from kindergarten, one for each child.
Lian Li was about to leave after greeting her, but Lu Yan Ying called out to her, “Lian Li, can we talk?”
Out of a sense of humanitarian duty, Lian Li eventually agreed to Lu Yan Ying’s request.
The two arranged to meet at a coffee shop. The entire place had been booked by the eldest miss of the Lu family, so it was just the two of them and two bodyguards stationed at the entrance.
“I only have fifteen minutes, so please be brief,” Lian Li said, her tone and demeanor still impeccably polite and well-bred, showing no displeasure or impatience.
“I only found out about your relationship with my aunt two days ago,” Lu Yan Ying said, placing her hands on the table and clenching them. “My brother said that if you don’t forgive our aunt and don’t want to acknowledge her, we will all respect your decision.”
Lian Li found it amusing.
It was Ji Tan who knew of her existence and didn’t want to acknowledge her, yet now it was being framed as Lian Li not wanting to acknowledge Ji Tan.
“So?” Lian Li’s focus wasn’t on Lu Yan Ying, but her tone had clearly cooled.
“I want to tell you that my aunt has been paying attention to you; she truly cares about you,” Lu Yan Ying said, taking out a document. “The new scholarship program at your school was established specifically for you by her. She knew you would receive it, and the people Brother Yan Ting introduced you to were also subtly influenced by my aunt…”
“She was also a victim back then, forcibly sent abroad by the Zhong family. Later, the Zhong family wanted her to enter into a marriage alliance with someone else, but her heart belonged only to you, and she refused to yield, even to the point of death. The Zhong family then confined her in a castle, preventing her from contacting the outside world or interacting with others.”
“When my aunt returned to the country, she immediately looked for you, only to learn of your father’s passing. She was deeply affected and couldn’t bring herself to see you in that state. She also suffered a great deal.”
Lian Li listened, her expression unchanged. “Are you finished?”
