Chapter 73: Dinner with Chen Jiadong

Chapter 73: Dinner Plans with Chen Jiadong

Wen Lan was in the middle of serving food to Little Star when his words made her pause. She looked up at him. "What's wrong?"

"You said you're finding a marriage partner for Song Jiyao?" Lu Hechi put down his chopsticks. "Then he—"

He stopped mid-sentence, glancing at Little Star, who was busy gnawing on a rib sitting beside him.

Little Star was eating intently, not listening to the adults' conversation.

Lu Hechi looked away and lowered his voice. "Does he know about it himself?"

Wen Lan set down her chopsticks and wiped her hands with a napkin. "Jiyao has to agree to any marriage, so of course he knows about it."

Lu Hechi gritted his teeth, wanting to curse, but with Little Star present, he could only hold it in.

He felt agitated and immediately wanted to pull out his phone to tell Chen Jiadong about this.

But he was afraid of hurting him.

Chen Jiadong acted carefree on the surface, always appearing indifferent to those around Song Jiyao, as if he had no feelings at all.

But Lu Hechi, looking from the outside, could see it clearly.

There was love in Chen Jiadong's eyes. He would feel sad whenever the topic of Song Jiyao being with someone else came up. He had placed himself too low—so low, down into the dirt.

Dammit!

"Jiyao's matters are his own business. Stay out of it."

Wen Lan's voice wasn't loud, but her tone was firmer than before.

"I know you're close with that minor celebrity, but his character really isn't good. Back when you went abroad, he saw that you'd become successful and came by the house asking to borrow money."

"So young, asking for hundreds of thousands without batting an eye. Later he went into the entertainment industry, latched onto Jiyao, and made himself look like..."

Wen Lan frowned slightly. "Anyway, your dad telling you to stay away from him is for your own good."

Lu Hechi stayed silent.

He looked down at the half-eaten bowl of rice in front of him, suddenly losing his appetite.

He knew Chen Jiadong's character better than anyone—there was no way he was the way Wen Lan described him.

Something must have happened that made him need money urgently.

Lu Hechi didn't press further. Silence fell over the table for a few seconds.

Wen Lan grabbed another piece of broccoli for Little Star. "Xingxing, you need to eat more vegetables."

Little Star, his mouth full of meat, mumbled an "mm" in response and went back to gnawing on his food.

Wen Lan watched him for a moment, then grabbed a tissue and wiped the sauce from the corner of his mouth.

After dinner, Lu Xiuran headed upstairs first.

Wen Lan stayed in the living room with Little Star, watching the koi fish in the tank. Lu Hechi stood by the window, holding his phone.

He felt restless for no clear reason. A page of the past had been turned, and as someone involved, he only knew part of the story—and even that was just fragments.

This feeling of everyone moving forward while he alone was stuck in place was too hard to bear.

He was the kid, the fool, the one everyone could lie to.

Lu Hechi opened his chat with Chen Jiadong and stared at the screen for a long, long time.

Wen Lan got up from next to Little Star, walked over to him, and gently patted his back.

"Xiaochi, don't stick your nose into other people's business. Mom hopes you can live your own life well—happy and content."

On the way back, Little Star fell asleep in the back seat. Streetlights lit up on both sides of the road, and the banyan trees had turned gold.

Lu Hechi drove quietly. The evening breeze blew in through the window, bringing a wave of warmth.

When they got home, he carried Little Star upstairs, tucked him into bed, sat by the bed for a moment, then leaned down and gently kissed his forehead.

"Good night, baby."

He carefully left the room. After showering, he sat on the carpet beside the sofa, his hair still wet.

Moonlight filtered through the gap in the curtains, casting a hazy glow across Lu Hechi's profile. He lowered his head, silent and still, as if a gust of wind could turn him into mist and blow him away.

The air felt heavy and still.

Lu Hechi didn't know what to do. He felt so lost.

Contacting Chen Jiadong, searching for memories of the past—both seemed urgent, but every time he thought about them, a barrier blocked him.

He sat in the darkness for a long time. His phone vibrated on the coffee table, giving off a faint glow.

Lu Hechi blinked, reached over, and picked it up. The lock screen was a photo of the three of them at the zoo that day.

His gaze instinctively landed on Shen Lanxue's face. His thumb moved to gently touch his face.

His breath hitched.

Lu Hechi's heart suddenly raced. A wave of longing hit him—he missed him so, so much.

After unlocking his phone, he opened WeChat and saw a new message from his pinned conversation.

Shen Lanxue had sent a photo of his lunch.

The photo showed a neatly arranged salad and a cup of black coffee, with the corner of a laptop visible on the desk.

Lu Hechi stared at it for a few seconds, then replied:

"That looks delicious."

Shen Lanxue: "It's okay."

Shen Lanxue: "Did you have dinner yet?"

Lu Hechi scrolled up through the chat history and realized he hadn't sent his brother a photo of his dinner today.

He hesitated for a moment, then decided to be honest: "I had dinner at the Lu family home with Little Star today, so I didn't take a photo."

After chatting back and forth with Shen Lanxue for a while, his mood improved considerably.

Shen Lanxue still had things to do, and told him to go to bed early before disappearing.

Lu Hechi went through their chat history again from top to bottom, then took a shower in the bathroom before getting into bed and sleeping on Shen Lanxue's side.

The next afternoon, he set up a lunch with Chen Jiadong.

Since their variety show had blown up recently, Lu Hechi was worried about being recognized, so he made sure to pick a place with private rooms.

When he got there, Chen Jiadong still hadn't arrived. The waiter brought over some tea and a fruit plate. After Lu Hechi had a couple of cups, he saw Chen Jiadong push open the door and walk in, all covered up.

The first thing Chen Jiadong did after sitting down was yank off his mask and hat.

Once he became a celebrity, he really had gotten more handsome. Chen Jiadong had been good-looking even in his youth, and now with his lean, straight-backed build and glowing face, he was even more striking.

"Damn, I'm burning up."

He had zero celebrity attitude. As soon as he walked in, he slumped into the chair, running his fingers through his tousled black hair a couple of times.

Lu Hechi ordered a few dishes using the tablet and handed it to Chen Jiadong. "Check it out—anything else you're craving?"

Chen Jiadong took it, gave it a quick swipe, and picked out a few vegetable dishes.

"What made you wanna invite me out?"

Lu Hechi opened his mouth, wanting to ask if he knew that Song Jiyao was about to get into an arranged marriage.

Forget it, he'd bring it up later, after the meal.

"Do I need an excuse to ask you out to lunch?" Lu Hechi said. "I went back to the Lu family house yesterday. A few minutes of conversation and I already felt out of place. It's my house, but it doesn't feel like home."

"So melancholic, huh. Think about your big villa and your bank account—99% of the world's problems can be solved with money. If they can't be solved, it just means you didn't throw enough at them."

Money...

Lu Hechi hesitated for a moment. "Did you come to see me abroad once to borrow money?"

Chen Jiadong chuckled. "What, you didn't lend it to me back then. Don't try to pin that on me."

"I didn't."

Lu Hechi recalled how pale Chen Jiadong had looked when he came to see him abroad, and now looking at his smiling, bright-eyed expression, he felt a sense of dissonance.

He asked, "Did something happen back then?"