Chapter 37 The Abandoned Damp Puppy

Chapter 37: The Forsaken, Soaked Puppy

"Dad! Mom!"

At S City airport, Qin Shuyi stood on her toes, waving her arms high.

A middle-aged couple pushing luggage looked over at the sound, smiles spreading across their faces.

"Mom, I missed you so much." Qin Shuyi threw herself into Zhou Yunhe's arms, clinging like a child.

Zhou Yunhe patted her head. "We told you we'd come to the capital to see you in a few days. Why did you make the extra trip?"

"I wanted to see you sooner." She shook Zhou Yunhe's arm.

Zhou Yunhe's face was full of smiles. Qin Yuan chimed in, pretending to be jealous. "Only missed your mom?"

Qin Shuyi immediately used her free hand to link arms with her dad. "I missed you too, Dad!"

Qin Yuan was satisfied. Taking all the luggage, he gave a grand wave. "Let's go home. We'll make a feast for our darling today."

On the way home, Qin Shuyi looked at Zhou Yunhe expectantly. "Mom, how long can you stay this time?"

Zhou Yunhe replied, "We can stay for a little over a month."

She patted her daughter's hand, both pleased and a little guilty. "Next time we come back, we won't leave again."

Qin Shuyi hugged Zhou Yunhe's shoulder, her eyes curving into happy crescents.

Actually, Zhou Yunhe and Qin Yuan hadn't planned to have a child. Their jobs meant they couldn't give a child much companionship. So they figured it was better to just be the two of them.

Qin Shuyi's arrival was an accident.

When they didn't have a child, it was one thing. But since she came, the couple never considered removing her.

To make sure she never felt like an unwelcome child, they were always careful to show their love. Qin Shuyi's well-adjusted personality largely stemmed from the confidence her parents gave her.

She had experienced love; she knew what love looked like.

Ling Jue might have had a tiny, insignificant bit of genuine feeling for her too, but he was lofty, coldly observing from the sidelines.

For them to be together, she would have had to strain to reach up, and still receive everyone's comments about how they 'weren't right for each other.'

How could an unequal love, driven by a thirst for novelty, last long?

He wasn't even willing to explicitly ask her to stay.

"I want sweet and sour pork ribs, beer-braised duck, garlic eggplant, and boiled fish." She cheerfully listed the dishes.

Compared to exhausting herself trying to change a wind that wouldn't stay, she preferred solid, graspable happiness.

"Alright, alright, we'll make it all. Do you want silver ear and lotus seed soup? Haven't you been craving it?" Qin Yuan, the family's head chef, knew the mother-daughter duo's tastes inside out.

Qin Shuyi said, "Yes!"

Zhou Yunhe held her hand, smiling. "Later, your dad and I will go grocery shopping together."

"I'll go too. It's been so long since I've been to the market."

...

Qin Shuyi had already tidied up the house. Both Qin Yuan and Zhou Yunhe were in good shape. After resting briefly, the family of three happily headed out.

While they were enjoying their rare family time, the capital was anything but peaceful.

Early in the morning, Qin Shuyi's boss, Jiang Mulan, received a relentless barrage of calls. She answered irritably, only to hear a voice that was both unfamiliar and vaguely familiar.

"Is Qin Shuyi... still at your company?"

The man's low, gravelly voice had a certain texture, carrying a hint of exhaustion.

She tentatively asked, "May I ask who's calling?"

A cold reply came from the other end. "Ling Jue."

Jiang Mulan's heart skipped a beat. Just as she was about to answer, a thought struck her, and she changed her response. "No, she's not. She went back home."

This wasn't exactly a lie. Qin Shuyi had indeed asked for several days off, citing a breakup and visiting family.

There was silence on the other end for a moment. Just as Jiang Mulan thought he would continue questioning, he hung up.

Jiang Mulan clicked her tongue, in high spirits as she got dressed.

It seemed the story wasn't over, but to be continued.

Meanwhile, at the Jiang family's gate, Jiang Yuzhou, who had just stepped out, got a shock from the Bugatti that had been parked in front of the villa for who knows how long.

Seeing the man in the car with obvious dark circles and eyes red from lack of sleep, he averted his eyes.

It couldn't be helped. Seeing him always reminded Jiang Yuzhou of that slap in the parking lot.

Who knew Master Jue and his sister interacted like that in private?

It wasn't far from training a dog.

But surely today wasn't about him sobering up and coming to cause trouble, right?

Hesitantly, he went over and knocked on the car window.

"Master Jue, are you here waiting for my sister?" he asked cautiously.

Ling Jue looked at Jiang Yuzhou. After hearing Special Assistant Li's call last night, he had gone to Qin Shuyi's home. She hadn't returned.

Then he tried sending her a message, saying he wanted to discuss the breakup settlement. What he got in return was a red exclamation point.

She had already deleted him.

And he had been so restrained, thinking she would contact him again.

Thinking of places she might be, Ling Jue unconsciously drove to the Jiang family's gate and waited until the first person walked out.

This behavior of searching for her traces all over the world was meaningless, even a bit ridiculous.

But earlier, sitting in the car, staring at the dark windows of Qin Shuyi's apartment for a long time, he felt a panic, like falling into a black hole, at the thought that from now on, he would never see that heartless woman in this city again—that even a chance encounter on some street corner had become a luxury.

He suddenly realized that apart from the Jiang family and her company, he knew nothing about her life.

It was always him taking her out to play, him taking her to meet his friends. Qin Shuyi's own social circle, her plans for the future—he knew nothing about any of it.

If she wanted to disappear, she could vanish without a trace.

Perhaps in her heart, even Jiang Yuzhou, that unrelated "cousin," mattered more to her than he did.

Thinking this, his gaze toward Jiang Yuzhou was tinged with jealousy.

Jiang Yuzhou felt prickly under the stare and wanted to slap himself for his earlier question. He clearly knew the two had broken up, so why did he have to bring up his sister?

What if the man really was just passing by?

Ling Jue's expression was actually kind of scary.

He gave an awkward, forced laugh, "Well, if there's nothing else, I should get going. I have classes at school this morning."

Just as he was about to slip away, the man in the car finally deigned to speak, "Qin Shuyi isn't at the Jiangs'?"

Jiang Yuzhou's eyes darted around, "Do you need something from my sister?"

Ling Jue didn't answer, just fixed him with a cold, piercing stare.

Jiang Yuzhou flinched, "No! She's not here!"

Even if she were, she wasn't.

"Will she be back?"

Jiang Yuzhou found the phrasing a bit odd. The words turned over in his mind a few times before he finally replied honestly, "I don't know. She said she's not sure when she'll be back."

His honesty only further solidified that Qin Shuyi had left the capital.

Why?

Was she afraid he would pressure her, afraid he would take his anger out on the Jiang family?

Did she despise him so much that she couldn't even bear to stay in the same city?

Did the past year mean nothing to her?

Receiving no further response, Jiang Yuzhou had no choice but to excuse himself, "Master Jue, I'm really going to be late for class."

After walking a few steps away, he threw a look back over his shoulder.

For some reason, though this was someone you usually looked up to, seen through the lowered car window at that moment, he gave off the illusion of a soggy, abandoned puppy.

He suddenly remembered that night in the parking lot, remembered the kiss he had tenderly placed on Qin Shuyi's hand.

He stopped in his tracks.

"Master Jue."

Ling Jue looked at the person who had jogged back.

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