Chapter 122

When Su Jianan finally woke up, it was already past 10′ clock a.m.

Luo Xiaoxi used to tease her about it because she would ask Luo Xiaoxi to eat and sleep regularly all the time. Nevertheless, once given a chance, she would sleep to the next day. She was simply a bully!

However, she had a perfect reason—

Her job required her to stay up late from time to time. It was common for her to be wakened up in the middle of the night to respond to emergencies. So what if she occasionally slept in!

Today, she really slept too long in the morning. She rushed to get up, washed and went downstairs.

However, there was no sight of Lu Boyan.

After asking Uncle Xu, she knew that he went to the nearby course for golf.

When he was free on weekend mornings, Lu Boyan liked to play some golf. She knew it, and she got it through Su Yicheng.

Back then when she just returned home, Su Yicheng’s company was also the right track and he gradually had time to relax. On weekends, he always talked about going to the course to stretch his legs. Later, he intentionally revealed something to Su Jianan. “Brother Boyan you knew when you were little goes to the courses too. I’ve run into him many times.”

Su Jianan thought she had hidden the excitement well and finally seized a chance to arrange for Luo Xiaoxi to go there with her and Su Yicheng. However, she did not come across Lu Boyan there. When they returned home, she even got teased by Su Yicheng. “Jianan, aren’t you upset to miss your Brother Boyan?”

She blushed at the tease and did not dare to come across anyone anymore.

She had worked up the courage to do it. It not only failed but was seen through by Su Yicheng. Later, she knew that Su Yicheng had seen her affection for Lu Boyan from the very beginning.

After breakfast, Lu Boyan still had not returned yet. Su Jianan had to nestle on the sofa surfing the Internet.

In the age of the Internet, news was all over the place. Yesterday, the Lu Enterprises anniversary celebration swept the entertainment section, today the hype cooled down. That being said, Su Jianan found that she was in the gossip column again.

—Lu Boyan & His Wife in the Supermarket, Looking Close and Lovely.

The report was not long but had many pictures. She was pictured to select the aftershave for Lu Boyan, and Lu Boyan was pictured to choose some stuff for her. They were seen wheeling a grocery cart together. At some time, she looked sideways at Lu Boyan and smiled so brightly. Even, the moment when she stood on tiptoe to kiss Lu Boyan was captured. Then, Lu Boyan picked up a can of nuts on the shelf for her. Everyone knew what was going on at first sight.

The report… was too good at taking pictures.

The texts were about them shopping in the supermarket yesterday. It described how they were in sync and how they loved each other. Su Jianan commented in her heart. “Love each other? It was just Lu Boyan pulling pranks on her.”

However, she still saved those photos one by one. She erased the watermarks with software and saved them in a locked folder.

In that folder, there were already many photos, among which were photos collected from yesterday’s news.

It was kind of sad that she could only have their photos in this way.

Just as Su Jianan closed the folder, the phone on the coffee table rang. It was from Lu Boyan.

She picked up the phone and asked, “When will you be back?”

“I won’t come home for lunch,” said Lu Boyan, “Fishermen here just came back. They brought a lot of seafood. We’ll have lunch at a friend’s place. Will you come over?”

Su Jianan subconsciously scratched at the coffee table. “Who’s with you?”

“Shen Yuechuan, and your brother.”

Luckily, she was close to them. Then, it should be fine. She heaved a sigh of relief and stood up. “I’ll come over. Tell me the address.”

“Have Uncle Xu drive you. He knows the place.”

“OK!”

Su Jianan hung up the phone and rushed to the door excitedly. When she was putting on shoes she suddenly thought of something and went back upstairs.

She returned to her bedroom and opened the closet. It had been filled with casual clothes. Yesterday, they bought several pieces of dresses and put them here. She took out the first dress Lu Boyan bought yesterday. After a short while of hesitation, she still put it on.

Lu Boyan said she looked beautiful in dresses. She was not trying to impress Lu Boyan or something. It was a shame to leave clothes gathering dust in the closet, right?

She went downstairs to find Uncle Xu, who understood everything just when he heard the word “seafood”. After getting onto the car, he added, “It’s not a restaurant. Some old chef got tired of city life and went to live in a fishing village. Later, he got close to the fishermen and could always buy fresh seafood. He likes to cook them himself and invite friends over for a meal. Not everyone can taste those delicacies.”

Su Jianan was left speechless.

She used to consider Luo Xiaoxi and herself the top experts at finding the best food in City A. However, Lu Boyan had brought her to several restaurants she did not know, and the food there was beyond expectations. Now, there was a secret seafood gourmet in some fishing village…

He was the real deal top expert, right?

The village was located in the real suburbs, in a town forgotten by the downtown dwellers. Sunshine in the early summer cast golden rays on the surface of the sea. Fishing boats tied to the dock swayed with the waves slapping. There were tan, simple and industrious fishermen onshore, and the drone of working machines could be heard in the distance.

Uncle Xu opened the door for Su Jianan and pointed at a Japanese-style dwelling. “There it is. Young Madam, please go ahead.”

“OK!”

Su Jianan got off the car. After a few steps, she saw Lu Boyan walking out of the room.

He wore simple casual clothes today and did not look formal and serious as usual. The clothes revealed his broad shoulders and long legs. He was tall and conspicuous, looking young and charming.

“Alas, such poison.”

Lu Boyan had been looking at the time to pick up Su Jianan outside. He estimated that she should arrive at this time, but he did not expect that she wore the dress bought yesterday.

The noon sunshine was scorching hot. She held a parasol and the corner of her dress rustled in the wind. She walked to him slowly and he could not take his eyes off her anymore.

At the door, Su Jianan folded the parasol. “We should get in.”

Lu Boyan naturally held her hands into the room. The Japanese-style house’s doorframe was a little short, and he needed to lower his head to enter. Su Jianan wondered why there was such a unique dwelling in such a fishing village. She let Lu Boyan lead her while she scanned the entire room at will.

The courtyard held an important place in a Japanese-style home and was often vivid with plants, making people feel they were in the wilds. The courtyard here was not big but was carefully arranged. If he did not have someone arrange it, then the house owner must have been half a gardening expert himself.

Wooden and latticed rooms hidden in the courtyard perfectly blended in, leaving people in peace and tranquility. Su Jianan could imagine what kind of atmosphere would be created when the night fell and when the dim yellow light shot through the paper windows.

Lu Boyan opened the shoe cabinet and took out a pair of cloth slippers for Su Jianan. “Change your shoes.”

Su Jianan asked while taking off her shoes. “Does the old chef Uncle Xu talked about own this house?”

“After he decided to live in solitude, he especially had people built it.” Lu Boyan asked, “Do you like it?”

“I can’t say I like it.” Su Jianan said, “I just thought there must be a story behind his decision. Right, how did you know him?”

Lu Boyan paused and continued, “He’s a friend of my father.”

“I see.” Su Jianan remembered that night when Lu Boyan was calling “father” in his dreams, so she deliberately avoided the topic. She smiled and held his hand. “Let’s go inside.”

Lu Boyan led Su Jianan into a tatami room.

This kind of Japanese-style building could always make people feel quiet and comfortable. Su Jianan took off the shoes and walked barefoot on the rush tatami. A cool feeling crawled onto her by her arches. Gradually, she started to forget the heat of summer.

On a wooden table in the middle of the tatami room, a fish grilled on coal was giving off an intense aroma. Below the grill on the table, there were many other both good-looking and aromatic seafood, which whetted her appetite.

“Here. Jianan, come and sit with me.” Shen Yuechuan invited her. “We’re all waiting for you. Lucky you! Uncle Teng hasn’t grilled a fish for us in a long time.”

Lu Boyan brought Su Jianan to sit down. He handed her a pair of chopsticks. When she tasted the grill, her eyes immediately lit up.

It was no that she had not eaten any delicious fish grill before, however, it was the first time that she had tasted one so freshly-roasted. The aroma of the coal combined with the intense-flavored marine fish, resulting in a peerless taste.

She stared at Lu Boyan and could not say a single word. She was merely nodding her head hard.

Lu Boyan seemed to know what she wanted to say and smiled. “Take your time. There’s still plenty.”

Su Jianan thought of something at that time and asked Su Yicheng, “Brother, have you came here before?”

Su Yicheng said, “A few times.”

“A few times and you didn’t bring me.” Su Jianan resented his act. “Talk about how much you care for me!”

“Every time I’m here, the one that sits beside you is also here.” Su Jianan teased her. “If I asked you before you two got married, I didn’t think you’d come.”

After a failed attempt to come across him, Su Jianan really did not have the courage to create a chance to see Luo Boyan again. Her voice died down involuntarily. “If you dared to tell me how delicious it was, why shouldn’t I come?”

Su Yicheng smiled meaningfully. “Really?”

Su Jianan lowered her head with a slight blush on her face. “Go away!”

Shen Yuechuan could not watch it anymore. “Su Yicheng, aren’t you a pot calling the kettle black? Said we’ll play some golf this morning. Who did you see this morning?”

Su Jianan jerked her head up and asked Lu Boyan, “Who did my brother see this morning?” If she asked Su Yicheng directly, he would definitely dodge the question.

Nevertheless, Lu Boyan would spill the beans for sure. “Luo Xiaoxi.”

Su Jianan was guessing that it was Zhang Mei, but… it was Xiaoxi? Her instincts told her that it was implausible.

She shot a doubtful glance at Su Yicheng. “If you don’t tell, I can always ask Xiaoxi myself.”

Su Yicheng could not imagine how Luo Xiaoxi would describe things between them, so he had to surrender and told her what happened yesterday himself briefly. After the story, Su Jianan felt somewhat scared as well. However, as long as Xiaoxi was fine, everything would be OK. Nevertheless, here came the question—

“Brother, why did you drive past Lu Enterprise Media’s gate? If you headed home from the company, you shouldn’t have passed there.”

Lu Boyan put a slice of fish on Su Jianan’s plate and slightly raised his lips. “Jianan, don’t ask a question when there’s obviously an answer.”

Su Jianan found it hard to believe and fixed her eyes on Su Yicheng. “If so, Brother, did you really detour to see Xiaoxi?”

“As her friend, shouldn’t you worry about Luo Xiaoxi’s condition more at this time?” Su Yicheng trying to change the topic.

—————

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“Well.” Su Jianan chuckled. “Brother, I know Xiaoxi better than you. She must be taking classes in training in the company. She’ll never have nightmares because

Su Yicheng was feeling a headache and could not suppress his anger anymore. “Lu Boyan, get your wife under control.

Lu Boyan ignored his request and helped pick out the fish bones for Su Jianan. “She’s having fun. I’ll just have to stand and watch.”

Su Jian unconsciously raised her lips. The satisfaction and happiness almost escaped from the corner of her lips. She became more confident and readily ate the flesh Lu Boyan picked for her.

Su Yicheng sighed in grief. “I can’t watch it anymore.”

Shen Yuechuan snapped his fingers and suggested. “Do not think I’m a poor friend, cause I have a plan for you: Go find a girlfriend and give more PDA than them—it’s called an eye for an eye, and tit for tat! Nah, don’t tell me it’s diffiult to find a girlfriend and stuff because you’ve already got one, and that is Luo Xiaoxi!”

Su Yicheng was speechless. “… get out!”

“Do you really feel nothing for Luo Xiaoxi?” Shen Yuechuan touched his chin meaningfully. “Then I’ll go after her! A girl with a pretty face and a hot body is something really rare!”

Su Yicheng just sneered and Shen Yuechuan felt that Su Yicheng was laughing at… himself.

“What do you mean?” Shen Yuechuan rolled up his sleeves and put on a posture that he could go all out anytime.

Su Yicheng said slowly. “You don’t think that anyone has chased after her?” By that, he meant that if they did not succeed, neither would Shen Yuechuan—because Luo Xiaoxi had had her heart set on him.

While Shen Yuechuan was still digesting the words, Su Jianan already let out a laugh.

At that time, Su Jianan finally found someone missing, and she asked, “Where’s Mu Sijue?” If Lu Boyan and Shen Yuechuan were both here, Mu Sijue should be here too.

“He’s gone back to City G,” said Lu Boyan, “He’s got all his business in City G. He doesn’t come often to City A.”

“That explains.” Su Jianan nodded and continued chewing the bone-free grill fish on her plate.

Shen Yuechuan was so envious that he almost wanted a girlfriend. He did not ask for much because all he wanted was to watch her being happy and satisfied.

After finishing the grill, Su Yicheng and Shen Yuechuan left first. Just when Su Jianan wondered what Lu Boyan and she would do next, Lu Boyan suddenly held her hand. “I’ll introduce you to someone.”

In fact, Su Jianan already guessed who that was, but she did not expect such an old man.

The study faced the sun’s direction, and Amboyna wood incenses were burning in the room. Fragrant smoke swirled out of the hollow wooden box, leaving the entire room in a quite Zen atmosphere.

A nearly 60-year-old old man was standing behind the desk holding a brush, at the tip of the brush was an almost finished ink painting.

Su Jianan did not know about painting, but it was the first time that she had seen someone handle both the ink-covered parts and the remaining white space so well. Anyone would feel comfortable when seeing this painting.

“Jianan, this is Uncle Teng.” Lu Boyan introduced the old man to her. “He’s been my dad’s best friend and helped him a lot.”

“Uncle Teng, hello.”

Su Jianan smiled and her eyes were filled with respect and gratitude for the old man.

She respected him because of his belief in his own life, and she thanked him because she had helped Lu Boyan.

If someone helped Lu Boyan, that meant it must have been something so tricky that even Lu Boyan himself could not deal with it alone. If Uncle Teng had lent a helping hand, he must have done it during Lu Boyan’s worst days. Thus, she appreciated him a lot.

Uncle Teng sized up Su Jianan quietly and walked out laughing. “Boyan has shown photos of you. Now I realize now how bad the photographers were. You look much better than the photos.”

Su Jianan slightly blushed and turned her eyes full of embarrassment to Uncle Teng’s ink painting, but Uncle Teng just said, “It’s just for killing time.”

“Your painting is really good.” Su Jianan said, “I don’t know much about ink painting, but the remaining white parts do feel right to me.”

“If you say so—” Uncle Teng looked at Lu Boyan. “Go take off the painting on the tatami room’s wall.”

The painting took Uncle Teng three years to finish. A collector once offered a seven-digit price, but Uncle Teng still did not sell it.

Lu Boyan hesitated, while Uncle Teng already urged him. “Go!”

After Lu Boyan walked out, Su Jianan asked first, “Uncle Teng, do you have something to say to me?”

Uncle Teng was dazed for a while and smiled immediately. “You’re smarter than the young girls I’ve met. Jianan, I’m not trying to nag you. I just want to tell you that sometimes, Bo Yan is not the person he appears to be.”

Su Jianan fell silent for a while and said slowly.

“When we first got married, I saw him as cold, proud, unreachable, and unreasonable. But I knew that’s not who he was. We’re married when did not know each other too well. After our marriage, he’s done all the things a husband should do. And he’s also nice to me. Actually, I know that in his status, he can get whatever companion he wants in a snap. But the truth is, after our marriage, his only scandal proved to be a mistake.”

“Lu Boyan is reliable and responsible, I know that.”

Uncle Teng eyed Su Jianan for a moment and then chuckled. “You’ve said what I wanted to say. Jianan, tell me, do you love Boyan? Are you willing to spend the rest of your life with him?”

His words touched Su Jianan’s biggest secret and made her face even redder and heart pounding. She was never nervous like this before. “I… I don’t hate him. But our future… I don’t know.”

Uncle Teng just smiled. “As long as you don’t hate him. That’s all it takes.”

What? What did that mean? If they really wanted to spend a lifetime together, then Lu Boyan had to not hate her either.

Su Jianan suppressed her curiosity to make her ask further, neither did she ask Uncle Teng about Lu Boyan’s father.

It was Lu Boyan’s biggest scar on his heart. She was hoping that one day, she might get Lu Boyan’s full trust, and Lu Boyan could even tell her personally how much it had hurt.

Before long, Lu Boyan came back with a piece of painting and Su Jianan really liked it.

“You might take it as a welcome gift,” said Uncle Teng, “Young girls are usually into jewelry, but I kind of want you to have this.”

“Thank you, Uncle Teng.” Su Jianan was more than happy to have the painting. “I really love it.”

When they took their departure, Su Jianan refused to have Lu Boyan carry the painting frame for her. She was already treating the painting as a piece of treasure. When Uncle Teng saw them off at the door, she thanked him again.

After getting on the car, Su Jianan asked, “Does Uncle Teng really paint just as a hobby?”

“If he wanted, he’d already been a famous painter.” Lu Boyan was holding the steering wheel and said slowly, “The one you just got, once a collector offered a seven-digit price for it.”

Su Jianan was dumbounded—If that was true, then it was much more expensive than jewelry and stuff!

She had to exclaim from the bottom of her heart. “People really love fame these days. Why does Uncle Teng take it so lightly?”

“Dad used to be a famous lawyer in the law and political circle. A network invited him on a show about the law. He used to help the show get the number one ratings, and some even said that he’d be a star in the law community. But in the end, he died young in a car accident.” Lu Boyan said, “It affected Uncle Teng a lot.”

It was the first time that Lu Boyan had talked about his father in front of her. He kept his eyes on the road and wore his usual gloomy and unfathomable eyes. Su Jianan could not catch his feelings and in fear of revealing his scar, she changed the topic quietly.

It was already after 4 pm when they arrived home. Su Jianan called the police department to make sure that they know she would be back on duty tomorrow.

During the period of time, she went to City G with Lu Boyan and then came back to help plan the company’s anniversary celebration, and became the heroine of all the tabloids news. She had been away from her work environment for far too long. She did not seem like a medical examiner anymore, but half a celeb who created the latest buzz in the showbiz. Or… during this time, the only person she had been was—Mrs. Lu.

Ah, she actually did not hate that, because she used to love her work so much…

At night, Su Jianan got downstairs for water before going to sleep, while Uncle Xu told her that Lu Boyan was alone in the cellar.

Compared to a wine geek like Su Yicheng, Lu Boyan was nothing, because Lu Boyan would only collect the few kinds of wine he liked.

In some year, because of the weather, grape production in some chateau in France sharply fell, but their wine was very good. In the end, they only produced around a dozen bottles of wine, but Su Jianan found more than 10 bottles on Lu Boyan’s rack.

She walked down the stairs to open the door to the cellar, and saw Lu Boyan as expected.

“How did you come down here?” In the dim light, there even seemed to be a lot of pain in Lu Boyan’s furrowing brows.

Su Jianan picked up a wine glass and pushed it in front of Lu Boyan, and then she jumped onto the stool beside him. “Drinking without me, Brother Boyan, I’m so hurt.”

Lu Boyan smiled and filled a quarter of her glass. Su Jianan looked at the bottle and found it was one of the dozen bottles.

She swirled the drink in her glass. “My brother had two and drank one of them. Since then, the other one has been being worshipped on the rack, and even I can’t touch it. How come you have so many of them?”

Lu Boyan cocked an eyebrow proudly. “I own that chateau. The production was low that year, but the taste is really good. I saved some for myself, and sent the rest to friends as gifts. I sent two to your brother.”

“…” Su Jianan was lost for words at the moment.

Lu Boyan seemed satisfied at her reaction and stroked her head. “That chateau is beautiful, especially when the sun is setting in summer. I’ll show you sometime.”

Su Jianan raised the glass to clink his. “You said it!”

“I said it.” Lu Boyan sipped at his wine gracefully, his profound eyes infused with unknown emotion.

Su Jianan supported her chin with her hands and finally asked after a while. “Lu Boyan, are you in a bad mood?”

Lu Boyan secretly paused for a second and then slowly twisted around to face Su Jianan. Just as he was about to say something, she suddenly threw herself onto him and cuddled him.

Her skinny arms could in no way completely wrap around him, but she still tried hard clinging to him. It did not look like she was comforting him, instead, she seemed to run to him for shelter.

“Lu Boyan, in the past days, you’ve done so much for me. To be fair, now you can lean on my shoulder.” She deliberately took on a light tone