Tang Jie said a few more words, and Lu Yan corrected her: “Their family moved to Lanzhu Garden, not in the original Nanzhu Villa anymore. Make sure you don’t go to the wrong place.”

Putting down the phone, Lu Yan noticed Jiang Chengyi watching her.

“How did you know Ding Jing’s family moved?” he asked.

Lu Yan’s eyelashes trembled as she put her phone back in her bag, saying calmly: “Oh, I saw it in the alumni group chat a few days ago.”

Jiang Chengyi looked ahead, his expression neutral: “Is that so?”

Lu Yan tucked her hair behind her ear: “Mm.”

Jiang Chengyi opened the car window and handed the parking card to the security guard. After a few seconds, he said: “Ding Jing’s family situation has been deteriorating. For the company’s survival, the Ding family had to sell off part of their assets last month and move the whole family to Lanzhu Garden. Given Ding Jing’s personality, she wouldn’t have willingly mentioned this to others.”

Lu Yan’s throat suddenly felt itchy, but she managed to suppress a cough: “I think Liu Yujie mentioned it at that class reunion. Since we’re all in the same city, some classmates would naturally know about it.”

The parking fee sensor screen seemed to have malfunctioned, as the security guard swiped several times without getting a price display. During the wait, Jiang Chengyi opened his phone and found the alumni group chat he rarely checked. As soon as he opened it, several messages popped up.

The speaker was Liu Yujie, Ding Jing’s best friend.

“Classmates, I just confirmed with Ding Jing’s parents. They’ve moved, not to Nanzhu Villa anymore but to Lanzhu Garden, Building D4, Unit 3601. Please make sure you don’t go to the wrong place.”

Lu Yan was also checking WeChat and saw this message. She stared at the screen without saying anything.

Jiang Chengyi gave her a meaningful look but didn’t pursue the matter further. He tossed his phone back onto the center console, took the parking card from the security guard, and drove out of the parking lot.

Back home, Housekeeper Liu was still nowhere to be seen. It was a sunny day, making the house appear even brighter and cleaner.

Lu Yan said, “If there’s nothing else, I’m going to my room to rest.”

Jiang Chengyi stood with his hands in his pockets, watching Lu Yan’s figure disappear at the end of the hallway before leisurely returning to his room.

His bedroom was directly opposite Lu Yan’s. After closing the door, he shouldn’t have been able to hear anything, but faintly, he could still seem to hear her sobs from yesterday.

At that time, when she didn’t answer his calls, he had been frantic with worry. He rushed to her bedroom door, and upon opening it, found her curled up on the bed, crying like a child, tears soaking her pillow.

He stood at the door watching her. Though he could probably guess what she was crying about, remembering what she had done to him eight years ago, bitterness rose in his heart, and he turned to leave.

Just then, she started mumbling in her sleep, her voice soft and sweet, almost like a whisper.

Without realizing it, he had walked to the bedside and bent down to look at her.

Her eyelashes were wet, falling in clumps beneath her eyes.

Her lips were slightly parted, full and vibrant like velvet roses.

The three syllables rolling in her throat were clearly “Jiang Chengyi.”

How they ended up kissing after that, he no longer wanted to recall the details, but he refused to admit he had initiated it.

He only knew that even now, his lips still retained the sweet taste from her gentle nibbling, and his palms could clearly remember the sensation of her warm, delicate body.

After thinking for a while, he inexplicably felt hot. Frowning, he tossed his phone onto the bed, unbuttoned his shirt collar, and went to take a shower.

Lu Yan slept until dusk before waking.

Having not eaten all day, her legs felt weak when she got up.

She was going to the Ding family’s wake that evening, so she quickly freshened up and left her bedroom.

When she reached the dining room, she saw Jiang Chengyi returning.

His complexion was much better than in the morning. He had changed into a black suit with a dark shirt and black tie underneath, paired with black leather shoes. Though it was standard mourning attire, it made his broad shoulders and long legs even more noticeable than usual.

He was on the phone, and from the conversation, it seemed he had just returned from the bureau.

Seeing he was busy, she went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Opening the refrigerator to find the ingredients, she made two bowls of Changchun noodles.

She used the chicken soup Housekeeper Liu had left, which simmered to a golden color.

Two fried eggs, a small pile of bright green vegetables, and finally, she sprinkled some scallions on top of the glistening soup noodles, creating swirls of fragrant aroma.

She deliberately put more noodles in his bowl and chose the larger fried egg for him.

After finishing, she brought both bowls to the dining room and looked them over with satisfaction, considering this her best culinary achievement to date.

“Let’s eat,” she glanced at him, set down the chopsticks, and sat at the table.

Jiang Chengyi came over after a while. Seeing the bowl of noodles, though he didn’t say anything, he didn’t show any signs of disapproval either.

While eating, Lu Yan tried to keep her eyes forward, but she couldn’t help feeling proud when she noticed in her peripheral vision that Jiang Chengyi had finished every bit of the noodles she made.

After finishing, Jiang Chengyi didn’t leave the table but kept drinking water until she finished, then stood up.

Lu Yan stared at the kiss marks on his neck. They were quite high, near his jawline, and the tie was completely inadequate to hide them.

Thinking about possibly meeting many high school classmates at the Ding family’s house later, she hesitated.

Jiang Chengyi seemed completely unaware of her hesitation. He walked to the entrance and, seeing her still standing there, looked at her: “It’s getting late.”

She had no choice but to return to her room for her bag and leave with him.

Lanzhu Garden wasn’t in the city center, but it wasn’t too far either. From Songshan District, it took less than forty minutes to reach the complex.

The residential complex was built ten years ago and was considered luxury housing in the city at that time, but now it has somewhat of a declined feel.

Driving into the underground parking garage, before they could even park, Lu Yan saw Tang Jie standing with several No. 7 High School classmates by the elevator.

Tang Jie seemed to have been watching for them, and as soon as she saw Jiang Chengyi’s car, she waved: “Lu Yan, Jiang Chengyi!”

After they got out of the car, they realized it wasn’t just Ding Jing’s Class 3 classmates, but many students from other classes had come as well.

Tang Jie was dressed all in black, her face showing more surprise than sorrow. Standing there, watching Jiang Chengyi and Lu Yan approach, seeing they still looked as well-matched as they had back then, the gloom brought by Ding Jing’s death somewhat dissipated.

In the elevator, she was about to pull Lu Yan aside to talk when her gaze inadvertently swept across Jiang Chengyi’s neck. She froze for a moment, then gave Lu Yan a meaningful sidelong glance.

This woman, acting so proper on the surface but getting so intense in private.

Although Lu Yan never mentioned it over the years, based on her judgment, Lu Yan and Jiang Chengyi must have slept together back then, and probably more than once.

After eight years apart, now that they finally showed signs of reconciliation, who knows how Lu Yan had been clinging to Jiang Chengyi these past few days? Tsk, hopefully, she hadn’t been too demanding all at once.

She looked from Jiang Chengyi to Lu Yan, finding no similar marks on her neck, and shook her head thoughtfully. As she always said, who could match Lu Yan when it came to being secretly passionate? But Jiang Chengyi was a man after all—could he be less eager than Lu Yan? That didn’t seem right.

Others had noticed too—it was impossible not to notice. Since Jiang Chengyi was fair-skinned for a man, those kiss marks were too red and particularly eye-catching.

Lu Yan and Jiang Chengyi pretended not to notice the glances around them, one looking down at her phone, the other staring straight ahead. As soon as they reached the thirty-sixth floor, they exited the elevator one after another.

The building had two units per floor, each two hundred square meters. The Ding family had connected two adjacent apartments, making the living room very spacious.

It was said that Ding’s father had previously run a film and television company, and although the company had failed, he had helped launch several new stars. Besides their No. 7 High School classmates, many of Mr. Ding’s business friends were there, including various celebrities big and small from the entertainment circle—far more people than Lu Yan had expected.

Liu Yujie, Ding Jing’s best friend, stood at the door with red-rimmed eyes, helping to receive guests.

Seeing Jiang Chengyi arrive, she hurried over to greet him.

Jiang Chengyi scanned the huge living room with his gaze, and not seeing his parents, took out his phone to call his mother.

Unable to speak with Jiang Chengyi, Liu Yujie’s gaze swept across his face, stopped at his neck for a few seconds, then turned to Lu Yan.

“Lu Yan.” Her voice was as faint as her smile.

Lu Yan looked at her quietly: “Liu Yujie.”

“Please come in,” Liu Yujie turned to welcome the classmates behind them.

“Chengyi, Miss Lu.” Suddenly someone approached.

Lu Yan looked up to see it was Jiang Chengyi’s mother.

Mrs. Jiang wore a black fitted dress and black pointed heels, with a black round hat topped with a black veil falling over her forehead. Unusually, she wore no jewelry at all and bore a somewhat sorrowful expression. As soon as she came close, under everyone’s watchful eyes, she took Lu Yan’s hand: “You’re here! Chengyi, your father is inside talking with Uncle Ding.”