Chapter 83

Chapter 83

Yongjiang Restaurant?

Nan Shuyi didn't know why Jiang Yicen wanted to buy Yongjiang Restaurant. What was his connection to it?

He asked Jiang Yicen, "Why do you want to buy Yongjiang Restaurant?"

Jiang Yicen, mindful of his status as an international student, thought his answer might seem unreasonable, so he added, "I was just saying it off the top of my head at the time. I knew they'd already settled on what they were giving me, so I just made something up. Since we happened to have our blind date at Yongjiang Restaurant, that's what popped into my head."

Nan Shuyi didn't buy his explanation, because Jiang Yicen had looked especially serious when he answered.

During this trip to the M country, Jiang Yicen didn't know that Nan Shuyi had also gone to see someone else.

Nan Shuyi sat with him on a large rock, looking at the forest at the base of the mountain. "Yongjiang Restaurant won't come cheap."

Jiang Yicen opened his phone camera, taking photos of the clear blue sky and the distant mountains.

He nodded. "Yeah."

Nan Shuyi knew the market value of Yongjiang Restaurant. "Probably over a billion yuan."

Jiang Yicen asked tentatively, "Do we have that kind of money?"

Nan Shuyi asked, "Did you check the card I gave you?"

Jiang Yicen shook his head truthfully. "Not yet."

That was money Nan Shuyi had saved up on his own. Jiang Yicen felt awkward accepting it. He hadn't even looked at it, just treating it as helping Nan Shuyi keep the card safe.

Nan Shuyi had actually just been counting his money in his head, and realized he was pretty broke.

Actually, he thought Jiang Yicen was better suited than him to manage a restaurant business—he clearly had the edge in that area.

Nan Shuyi didn't take what Jiang Yicen said seriously anyway. He laughed. "Then we'll buy it when we've got the money."

Zhou Yi had walked over at some point and heard the second half of his sentence.

"Seriously, Nan Shuyi, aren't you embarrassed saying that? You're broke?"

"I want to buy Yongjiang Restaurant. Want to spot me some cash?"

It was reasonable for Nan Shuyi to say he wanted to buy Yongjiang Restaurant, but Zhou Yi couldn't resist teasing him.

Zhou Yi clicked his tongue. "You're getting too big for your britches. You just took over a restaurant and you're already talking about buying Yongjiang Restaurant?"

Jiang Yicen put away his phone and asked seriously, "Can Yongjiang Restaurant even be bought?"

Zhou Yi said, "Of course it can. Yongjiang Restaurant is privately owned, it's not state-owned. You guys are seriously thinking about buying it?"

Nan Shuyi asked, "Who owns Yongjiang Restaurant?"

Zhou Yi said, "I think the owner is a foreigner? The restaurant has always been managed by a local team."

The others saw them chatting and came over.

Jiao Mingjun, now that he knew Nan Shuyi and Jiang Yicen were both down-to-earth, had loosened up.

Jiao Mingjun said, "Are you guys talking about who owns Yongjiang Restaurant?"

Zhou Yi said, "Yeah, you know him?"

Jiao Mingjun said, "I don't know him, but my grandpa does. The owner of Yongjiang Restaurant has indeed been living abroad for years and hardly ever comes back."

Zhou Yi said, "Not bad, just living off his savings."

Jiao Mingjun said, "Who told you that? The hotel's business isn't what it used to be. I heard my uncle mention that the owner wants to sell the place."

Jiang Yicen asked, "Really? Can your grandpa get in touch with the owner?"

Nan Shuyi suddenly felt his wallet getting lighter.

The wind was strong and the sun was bright at the top of the mountain. They could only take in the view. Everyone chatted back and forth, getting to know each other better, and then started getting ready to head down.

Jiao Mingjun arranged for everyone to head to the orchard next. There was plenty to do there—besides picking fruit themselves, they could also go shooting. The group moved on.

Nan Shuyi and Jiang Yicen went to the orchard, while Jiao Mingjun took Zhou Yi and the others to the shooting range.

The orchard had its own caretakers. Jiao Mingjun left the two of them with the orchard manager, an older man, and his "employees."

The older man's employees were a pack of big yellow dogs, led by an extremely intelligent one with white fur and a black mouth.

When his employees came charging over, Nan Shuyi almost stepped forward, ready to step in front of Jiang Yicen to protect him. But when he saw that Jiang Yicen wasn't scared at all, he stepped back.

Nan Shuyi asked him, "Are you scared of dogs?"

Jiang Yicen was looking at the dogs. "No, dogs are a man's best friend."

Jiang Yicen used to have a big dog at home—a German Shepherd they'd gotten from a friend's house. Among his brothers, his second brother was the trendiest.

However, after the dog was brought home, his second brother was often away, so he was often the one who ended up walking the dog.

At home, he was closest to the Shepherd, and it listened to him the most.

Jiang Yicen asked the older man, "Hey, Uncle, do they all have names?"

The older man's face was deeply tanned. He introduced them with a big smile. "They do. See, this one with the black mouth is their leader, named Black Whirlwind. He's the fastest one. This one, all yellow, is Sofia. This goofy-looking one is Wangcai. And there are a few more running around somewhere in the orchard."

Jiang Yicen petted Wangcai, the goofy-looking one that was wagging its tail the most.

After introducing the orchard's "employees," the older man showed them around. Black Whirlwind and Sofia soon ran off, leaving only Wangcai to follow Jiang Yicen.

The dog he used to have, Xiaotian, would follow him the same way when it wanted to go out—trotting along beside him, constantly rubbing against his legs, which was completely at odds with its fierce look.

Jiang Yicen began to miss Xiaotian and played with Wangcai as they walked.

"Wangcai, let's run, run, run!"

The man and the dog were having a blast together.

The older man cheerfully introduced the orchard to Nan Shuyi, but Nan Shuyi was clearly not listening—he couldn't take his eyes off Jiang Yicen. The older man told them to feel free to look around and handed them a basket to put the bayberries they picked into.

Nan Shuyi carried the basket and followed Jiang Yicen, once again thinking about the materials he'd obtained during his trip to the M country. Something seemed off.

The guy he'd met in America was a good friend of Jiang Yicen's. He'd originally wanted to ask if Jiang Yicen had ever been involved in any shooting incidents there, but during their conversation, the friend told him that Jiang Yicen had gone silent a month after returning to China—he couldn't even get through to him on the phone.

A month after Jiang Yicen returned to China—wasn't that right around the time they'd agreed to get married?

Nan Shuyi had, of course, also had someone look into this friend of Jiang Yicen's from America, who was also Jiang Yicen's classmate.

His name is Fang Zhixue. The two were classmates in high school, and once they got to the U.S., they became friends, though they studied different majors. He didn't have any bad habits, and his family was middle-class back in China—they'd sold a house to cover his tuition in the U.S., and he still had to work part-time to make ends meet.

After they met, Nan Shuyi offered him a pretty good chunk of money in exchange for telling him all about Jiang Yicen.

That morning, right after he got off a video call with Jiang Yicen, he headed to the coffee shop they'd agreed to meet at.

Nan Shuyi ordered him a pretty expensive breakfast.

Fang Zhixue didn't really keep up with Chinese entertainment news, but he still knew who Nan Shuyi was. Still, he had no clue why Nan Shuyi was asking about Jiang Yicen.

Nan Shuyi told him, "Jiang Yicen is my partner. I want to get to know him better."

Fang Zhixue was surprised. "So the guy you married is him?"

Nan Shuyi was just as surprised. "You're his close friend—he didn't tell you he got married?"

Fang Zhixue shook his head. "Well, after he went back to China, we lost touch within a month. I don't know what he's been up to over there lately."

Nan Shuyi: "What was your relationship like before?"

Fang Zhixue: "Pretty good. We were high school classmates. He came to the U.S. before I did—I got my offer before I even graduated high school. We weren't that close in high school, but once we got to the U.S., since we were from the same hometown, we slowly got closer."

Nan Shuyi: "So you've known him for a while now. What's he like?"

Fang Zhixue: "How should I put it? What do you want to know about him?"

Nan Shuyi: "Everything. Don't leave out any detail."

Fang Zhixue, being the brainy type, quickly went from academics to everyday life, giving Nan Shuyi tons of details about Jiang Yicen's life in the U.S.—even more detailed than what Nan Shuyi had heard from his own friends. This guy really knew Jiang Yicen well.

Fang Zhixue: "Academically, no need to say much—he was top ten in his grade in high school. In terms of daily life, he's pretty handy. After his family sent him over, he rented a place and was pretty frugal. He shared the apartment with another friend who helped split the rent."

Nan Shuyi: "What do you mean, 'handy'?"

Fang Zhixue chuckled at this. "Takeout here can't compare to back home, and the cost of living is crazy high. We're all students, so money's tight. He didn't need to work, but his family gave him a year's allowance at a time, which obviously wasn't as much as what other rich kids got. He was just as frugal as the rest of us. To save money, we all learned to cook, and he was the best cook out of all of us."

Nan Shuyi thought back to when they first moved in together—Jiang Yicen didn't even know how to turn on the gas stove or which button to press on the rice cooker.

He was doubtful. "Are you sure?"

Fang Zhixue: "Of course. We used to go to his place all the time to cook hotpot. It's not a secret."

Nan Shuyi made a mental note. He was sure Jiang Yicen really couldn't cook, but he sure could eat.

If it was on purpose, could he really act that well?

Nan Shuyi didn't dig into that for now and moved on. "Did you ever run into a shooting? Is he scared of gunfire?"

Fang Zhixue: "Shootings are pretty common in the U.S. We didn't go out much at night. Scared? No—if he were, he couldn't survive living here."

Nan Shuyi: "Can he drive?"

Fang Zhixue: "Of course. The school was far from where he lived—without a car, he couldn't even get to the grocery store."

Nan Shuyi: "Does he have any personal quirks? Like food allergies?"

Fang Zhixue: "No food allergies, but he seems a little scared of dogs and doesn't like pets."

Nan Shuyi made a note of that: Jiang Yicen was scared of dogs.

He remembered that He Nuanqing had a pet dog, but every time they visited, the dog was nowhere to be seen. He Nuanqing must have deliberately sent the dog away, probably knowing Jiang Yicen was scared of dogs.

If he hadn't actually asked Fang Zhixue and heard about this fear, he never would've known Jiang Yicen was scared of dogs. But now, Jiang Yicen wasn't scared at all—he was even happily playing with the little dog.

Could Fang Zhixue have made up this personal detail just to squeeze out more money? That didn't seem necessary—Nan Shuyi was the one who'd reached out.

But when he asked Fang Zhixue why Jiang Yicen went abroad, Fang Zhixue said that back then, someone found a gay video on his phone and made it public. Jiang Gongming felt this son was a disgrace and shipped him off abroad to study.

Would high school Jiang Yicen watch stuff like that? Based on what he knew about Jiang Yicen, that was simply impossible.

When they first kissed, Jiang Yicen was super shy. They'd been married for six months and still hadn't gone all the way—Jiang Yicen was just too shy.

The Jiang Yicen Fang Zhixue described and the Jiang Yicen he knew were completely different people.

Could it be that the Jiang Yicen he knew wasn't the real one, but a twin brother instead?

He watched Jiang Yicen playing fetch with the dog, then texted his lawyer—he wanted to meet He Nuanqing.

The two picked a bunch of bayberries in the orchard and carried them down the mountain.

Zhou Yi and the others were back too.

Around noon, they had lunch with the Jiao family.

The Jiao family served up a feast, keeping the dishes light to suit their tastes.

After the meal, there were dumplings hand-wrapped by Mrs. Jiao.

Jiang Yicen loved the sour cabbage and pork filling the most, so he had two more.

Nan Shuyi asked him, "You like the sour cabbage ones?"

Jiang Yicen nodded. "It's really good."

Nan Shuyi: "When's the last time you had sour cabbage dumplings?"

Jiang Yicen: "During last year's New Year."

Their family had a chef from the northeast, and his dumplings were especially tasty—the wrappers were rolled super thin. Being southerners, their family had also grown to love northeastern dumplings.

He'd spent a simple, quiet New Year in the Republic of China before coming here. The northeastern chef was still there and had made a bunch of sour cabbage and pork dumplings, but unfortunately, the person who used to eat them with him was gone.

Nan Shuyi: "Did you make them yourself?"

Jiang Yicen: "Nah, the chef did."

After saying that, he realized his slip-up. He hadn't been here last year, so he smiled and picked a cabbage and pork dumpling from his own plate and put it on Nan Shuyi's.

"Here, try this one."

"Alright." Nan Shuyi ate the dumpling he'd offered and didn't push it.

He'd recently noticed that when Jiang Yicen smiled at him innocently, it meant he was hiding something, then subtly changing the subject.

They left the Jiao family's place around two in the afternoon.

Mrs. Jiao had prepared a ton of gifts for them, all loaded into the back of their car—she wouldn't take no for an answer.

As they were leaving, Mrs. Jiao said warmly to Jiang Yicen, "Dear, if you like Auntie's sour cabbage dumplings, come back again next time."

Jiang Yicen: "Then I'll be counting on you from now on, Auntie."

Mrs. Jiao: "No trouble at all. I've got nothing better to do anyway."

Jiang Yicen had wanted to ask about Yongjiang Restaurant, but unfortunately, he didn't get to see Jiao Mingjun's grandfather today.

Meng Zhangling also pulled Jiang Yicen aside and gifted him a piece of his own calligraphy.

Only then did the group finally leave the Jiao residence and head home.

·

After getting back from the Jiao family's place, Jiang Yicen noticed Nan Shuyi had gotten busy. Sometimes, when he wanted to consult him about project issues, he couldn't find him anywhere. He had no idea what Nan Shuyi was so busy with, and he'd even gone on a business trip over the past couple of days.

Jiang Yicen set down the phone he'd just used to call Nan Shuyi. There was a minor issue on the proposal he wanted to confirm with Nan Shuyi, but no one had picked up.

He was driving to the business trip, not flying, so there was no need to turn off his phone, right?

Hu Miao called out to Jiang Yicen twice: "Director Jiang, the meeting's starting."

Jiang Yicen grabbed his phone and laptop and headed to the conference room: "Oh, okay."

Meanwhile, Nan Shuyi hadn't actually left Lincheng yet. He'd sent his lawyer to visit He Nuanqing at the detention center.

He Nuanqing was already in the detention center, not yet sentenced. She'd only be moved to prison after the court handed down its verdict.

In a blue vest, He Nuanqing's eyes flickered with disappointment when she saw the visitor was Nan Shuyi. She no longer had the air of a wealthy wife; even her hair had lost its shine, but her gaze was much clearer now.

She said, "I thought it was Yicen. What are you doing here?"

Nan Shuyi: "He doesn't know I came to see you."

He Nuanqing: "I don't think we have anything to talk about. We're not exactly close."

Nan Shuyi: "We're not close, true, but I want to talk to you about Jiang Yicen."

He stressed the three words "Jiang Yicen."

He Nuanqing sighed. After spending a few days in the detention center, she'd had time to calm down and felt her life these past years had been so unreal. She'd even replayed the words Jiang Yicen had said to her before his wedding many times. Back then, she hadn't listened to a single word, and now it was too late for regrets.

She wanted to atone for her sins, having nearly caused an irreparable mistake: "What do you want to know?"

Nan Shuyi said expressionlessly, "I want to know everything about Jiang Yicen from childhood to now. Tell me everything you can remember."