Lu Shuicheng’s gaze fell on Yu Juan while the latter was lost in thought.
After not having met for half a month, Yu Juan seemed to look even better. He had a pair of green eyes inherited from his mother that appeared to have a calm spring lake reflected in them. He seemed to have lost some weight, most likely due to having fallen sick. The curve of his lower jaw had become more pronounced, appearing fragile but also revealing some sharp edges.
Lu Shuicheng had hoped that Yu Juan would look good– after all, she wanted to use him as a tool to negotiate marriage. However, she didn’t want him to be so overwhelmingly handsome that he would overshadow her own son. She might be Yu Juan’s mother by name, but she was actually his aunt.
But now wasn’t currently a suitable time to think about these. Lu Shuicheng carefully sized up Yu Juan, and was certain that with his character, he would have definitely reacted if he had heard her words earlier. With a gentle and soft smile, she said, “You fell sick right after the college entrance exams ended, you must feel really exhausted.”
Yu Juan pushed open the glass door of the greenhouse and walked in, shaking his head.
Lu Shuicheng feigned concern and asked a few perfunctory questions about the exams, then got back to the point and talked about the engagement with the Zhou family.
This marriage arrangement could be traced back to nearly twenty years ago. The mothers of Yu Juan and Zhou Huiyue had been good friends since childhood. When Yu Juan was still in his mother’s womb, the two joked and said that their children should get married so that they could be regarded as family.
After Yu Juan was born, he hadn’t even turned one yet when his parents had unexpectedly died and left him alone. Zhou Huiyue’s mother, Kang Mian, was worried that the child would grow up without anyone’s protection and made that joke a reality, thus arranging an engagement between the two.
Later, Kang Mian passed away from a serious illness while Zhou Huiyue went missing. Yu Juan was then raised by his aunt and uncle, and was treated as their own biological child.
The Yu family’s capital was no match for the Zhou family. On one hand, raising and taking good care of Yu Juan was to block the mouths of outsiders as they inherited all the property of Yu Juan’s parents. On the other hand, it was because they could seek connections with the Zhou family through Yu Juan’s engagement with Zhou Huiyue.
Lu Shuicheng had always hoped that Zhou Huiyue would come back to the Zhou family to inherit the family business, then marry Yu Juan and give their Yu family a helping hand.
However, it was no longer the same at present.
Zhou Huiyue was indeed found, but he no had lost his value while Yu Juan was still as handsome– turning the marriage into a loss instead.
Lu Shuicheng remained calm and asked, “What do you think about Huiyue’s situation?”
Yu Juan hesitated before slowly mumbling an “ah”, looking as if he didn’t understand Lu Shuicheng’s words– as if he didn’t know about any worldly matters.
Lu Shuicheng’s brows furrowed, seeming very dissatisfied with Yu Juan’s answer. However, she quickly concealed her expression before continuing, “Your marriage has been decided a long time ago. It could originally be said to be a good thing, but now that he’s in such a state… I heard that he can’t even stand, what would other people say…”
She paused for a moment, then sighed. “This is really wronging you.”
Auntie Xu took advantage of the opportunity to urge Madam Yu to not feel too unhappy about this matter, and the two people echoed each other for a while.
Yu Juan, “…”
The arrangement had to be cancelled, but Lu Shuicheng didn’t want to do it herself since it would tarnish her reputation. She knew Yu Juan very well– or, rather, it was more precise to say that she knew the Yu Juan she had raised. He was extremely keen on keeping up appearances and didn’t want to lose face– and marrying Zhou Huiyue, who was in such a state, would be tantamount to making himself the laughing stock of Baicheng.
“Isn’t he still recuperating after being in a car accident?” Yu Juan could understand the meaning in Lu Shuicheng’s words, so he said according to her wishes, “I’ll go see him. If it’s really inappropriate, then I’ll ask to break off the engagement with the Zhou family when the time comes.”
Madam Yu beamed with joy. “That’s right. Juanjuan has really grown up.”
Yu Juan gave a casual nod, as if he didn’t take this “important life event” to heart.
The main reason for this decision was to seek revenge on Zhou Huiyue. Appeasing Madam Yu was just done in passing.
Rather than staying here and letting this so-called plot control his fate, it would be better to leave.
In any case, with the college entrance exam over, he’d be starting university soon.
Yu Juan really didn’t want to continue this act any longer.
It was much too troublesome.
*
That afternoon, Lu Shuicheng learnt about the whereabouts of Zhou Huiyue from the Zhou family.
Zhou Heng was indifferent to emotions and attached more importance to his career. Not too long after his wife’s death, he got married to someone else before he could even find his lost child– all because he needed a person to manage the household matters. In recent years, he was busy expanding into the overseas market abroad. He had no time to care about the disabled son he hadn’t seen for nearly twenty years at all, and instructed Madam Zhou, Su Li, to fully take care of the matters concerning Zhou Huiyue.
Zhou Huiyue had poor health and mood, which was attributed to missing his deceased mother, so Madame Zhou’s “care” was to move Zhou Huiyue into a suitable place– which is his mother’s, Kang Mian, former beloved home.
The residence was quite far, located about several hundred kilometres away in Bu Yu Mountain.
Yu Juan simply packed his luggage, booked a flight, and hired a taxi with some difficulty to finally arrive at this remote Bu Yu Mountain.
On the way, Yu Juan pondered over the whole matter again.
He had no intention of using the same means to treat Zhou Huiyue. Even if Yu Juan could lock him up for a few months, he didn’t feel like wasting so much time and effort on an enemy.
After thinking about it, he eventually decided to tie Zhou Huiyue into a sack and beat him up. It could be counted as making things even and letting go of the hatred in his heart, and he could put down this matter from then on.
As for ten years later, Yu Juan wasn’t worried about the male protagonist seeking revenge. The latter had too many enemies, each with bitter and deep-seated hatred. As for himself, an insignificant cannon fodder, breaking off an engagement wouldn’t directly hurt the other. Just like what was written in the novel, the protagonist wouldn’t even remember the Yu Juan who had attempted to steal confidential business documents.
After getting off the car at the agreed place, Yu Juan waited for more than ten minutes before a short, middle-aged man walked over.
That person said with a smile, “Hello, I am the one responsible for looking after the eldest young master.”
This place was quite far from Baicheng. To save face, Madame Zhou at least arranged for the bare minimum and had someone take care of the injured Zhou Huiyue.
The man was called Sun Qibai, and he was currently also responsible for receiving Yu Juan.
Sun Qibai was eagerly attentive and said, “Young master, you’ve come from afar and should likely be tired. I arranged a place for you to stay, so why don’t you rest first?”
The weather was excessively hot, and Yu Juan felt dizzy from the wait. He nodded at Sun Qibai and said, “No need, please bring me to see Zhou Huiyue.”
Sun Qibai revealed a troubled expression. “Young master, honestly speaking, since the eldest young master woke up and learned about his legs…nowadays, his temper has been quite bad. He doesn’t interact with others. It would be better if you don’t meet.”
Yu Juan tilted his head, his face a bit red as he looked at Sun Qibai without speaking.
Sun Qibai thought he had convinced him, and lowered his voice to say, “I know why you came here, the madam has already told me about it clearly. Why insist on seeing him?”
After Lu Shuicheng informed Su Li about Yu family’s intention of breaking the engagement off, she successfully managed to obtain news about Zhou Huiyue. However, Su Li was a careful person and instructed Sun Qibai in advance to send away Yu Juan.
She didn’t want anyone to see Zhou Huiyue at present.
Yu Juan finally opened his mouth and spoke in a voice that was neither cold or warm, and which was obviously distant– it was the tone he usually used to deal with people he didn’t like.
“For the time being, he’s still my fiancé.”
Sun Qibai merely smiled, not saying anything.
Yu Juan didn’t make any more demands and simply said, “Otherwise, how about I call Mr. Zhou?”
He had looked for Zhou Heng’s office phone number previously in case of an emergency, though he didn’t think he would actually need to make a call.
However, just having it was enough.
When Sun Qibai heard those words, his face changed as he said through gritted teeth, “If you really want to go, there’s no way it cannot be arranged.”
Yu Juan gave a casual smile, “Alright then.”
Once in the car, Yu Juan sat in the back and closed his eyes to rest. He had been travelling for most of the day and was really tired.
Sun Qibai secretly informed Madame Zhou about what had happened in a brief manner.
A dozen minutes later, Madame Zhou replied and said that it wasn’t a big issue.
After being tossed around during the ride for nearly two hours, Yu Juan felt that his bones were on the verge of falling apart when the car finally came to a stop.
Sun Qibai said, “We’ve arrived.”
He turned around and added, “The eldest young master doesn’t like seeing people, so I won’t be going. His room is on the second floor, on the far left.”
Those words were exactly what Yu Juan wanted to hear. He nodded and got out of the car, then found himself in front of a dilapidated manor.
The garden was overgrown with weeds, and tall trees and green vines covered almost half of the walls. There wasn’t the slightest trace of someone living here. Had it not been for the blazing sun above his head, it would seem like a haunted house.
Bu Yu Mountain was originally a remote place. For some unknown reason, Kang Mian bought a place here. She liked it very much and would often come here for vacation. However, after she passed away, it quickly became bleak and desolate.
Until Zhou Huiyue was sent here.
The iron gate wasn’t locked. Yu Juan followed the stone path that was surrounded by overgrown plants and trees, and came to the front door that was left slightly open.
The stairs were wooden, and it had been a long time since they were maintained. The sound of Yu Juan’s footsteps mixed with the creaking of the wood, echoing through the almost deathly silent manor.
Yu Juan walked to the end of the corridor on the second floor, where the door wasn’t closed.
The paint on the walls had come off, revealing large patches of the bare and pale inner walls. The window frames were intact, but one side of the glass was broken.
There was someone sitting by the window, his body covered by the shadow of the swaying trees.
Yu Juan could see his side profile.
It was Zhou Huiyue.
His chest felt stuffy as he once again remembered that person he saw before his death, and his memory instantly dragged him back into the middle of that nightmare.
Yu Juan gazed fixedly at Zhou Huiyue.
The latter didn’t look curious about the noise, and also didn’t make any movement. He didn’t even blink. Yu Juan almost thought that this person was already dead.
Zhou Huiyue looked even more like a dead person than Yu Juan was when he was sick.
Yu Juan thought that it was rather odd.
A few minutes later, Yu Juan finally uttered a “hey”, but Zhou Huiyue pretended not to hear.
Yu Juan should’ve obviously left– his temper wasn’t that good. Yet, he still called out this person’s name: “Zhou Huiyue.”
After a few seconds, Zhou Huiyue turned his head. With a weak and listless expression, he asked in an indifferent voice, “Who are you?”
His tone was the same as when they last met.
Cold and apathetic.
On this hot summer afternoon, Yu Juan lifted his chin. The sunlight fell into his half-lidded eyes, like a hidden glimmer in a pool of slowly flowing deep water, making him look noble and aloof.
He slowly said, “Your fiancé.”
