novelraw Chapter 137 What is she after?
Chapter 137 What is she after?
Lu Xiran glanced at the time, then looked up at Fang Rui.
"Was yesterday Song Zhihe's birthday?"
Fang Rui nodded: "Yeah, it's all over the trending topics, didn't you know?"
Lu Xiran didn't speak.
Of course she didn't know.
She had gotten used to automatically blocking Song Zhihe's messages.
But Song Zhihe is too famous. You can't avoid seeing her face in any app.
So Lu Xiran simply gave up social media.
But now she suddenly thought of something—if yesterday was Song Zhihe's birthday, then why did Gu Yanshen come back to find her?
To be more precise, on his fiancée's birthday, he first went home to wait for her to have dinner, then went out for more than an hour before coming back to find her.
More than an hour.
Excluding the round-trip travel time, how long did he stay at Song Zhihe's place?
Half an hour?
Is there half an hour?
It's his fiancée's birthday, and he only spends half an hour with her?
Lu Xiran's mind began to race.
She used to be a fan of Ling Xue. During those years of following celebrities, she watched countless interviews and knew how much Song Zhihe cared about appearances and how much she valued being valued.
If Gu Yanshen truly loved her, how could he only stay for half an hour on her birthday before leaving?
unless--
He didn't need to stay with her for long at all.
unless--
That was just a "task" that had to be completed.
So what exactly is their relationship?
Gu Yanshen never celebrated Lu Xiran's birthday with her. Three years ago, they spent too little time together, so little that they never even had a chance to celebrate a birthday together.
But she remembered how he loved her.
So focused, so passionate, so eager to give her all his time.
How could someone like Gu Yanshen possibly love one person while also seeking out another woman?
impossible.
"Emma?" Fang Rui looked at her dazed expression and panicked a little. "Are you alright? I was just asking... Did I say something wrong?"
Lu Xiran came to her senses.
"fine."
She picked up her water glass, took a sip, then put it down and looked at Fang Rui.
"Besides Song Zhihe, what other gossip has been circulating lately?"
Fang Rui was stunned for a moment, then her eyes lit up.
"Yes, yes! Let me tell you, you know the youngest son of the Lin family, right? A while ago..."
She began to speak at length, from the Lin family to the Wang family, from the business world to the entertainment industry, detailing everything vividly.
Lu Xiran listened, nodding occasionally and interjecting occasionally.
In a daze, she seemed to see another Jin Qiqi.
Jin Qiqi and Yinuo are finally coming back tomorrow.
She really missed them.
I miss her loud voice, her boisterousness, and how she always seemed to want to pounce on me whenever she saw me.
I still want to keep my promise.
Although she kept receiving photos of that soft and cuddly little guy, she always felt that something was missing when she didn't see them in Haicheng, and she felt strangely unaccustomed to it.
Fang Rui continued gossiping.
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
Lu Xiran reached the fork in the road at the garage and tapped her fingers lightly on the steering wheel.
Gu Yanshen didn't send a single message today.
She sent him her location in the afternoon, saying she was having dinner with Fang Rui at Yunyuji because she was working late. (Read)
—No reply.
Lu Xiran curled her fingers.
Why is he like this?
It's hot and cold all the time.
Last night I held her in my arms and said "wait for me," but today I can't even be bothered to reply with a punctuation mark?
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
Am I being too pushy? Does he think that since she's right there and won't run away, he can just leave her hanging?
Lu Xiran bit her lip.
She turned the steering wheel and went in another direction.
Back to Lin Chen's house.
I need to pick up Qiqi from the airport early tomorrow morning, perfect timing.
and--
She'll stay with Qiqi for a week as long as Qiqi comes back. A full week. He messages her asking her to come back, but she won't.
Let him experience what it's like to wait for news.
The office lighting was deliberately kept low, barely illuminating the hand-drawn map on the desk. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was the dazzling night view of Haicheng, with countless lights flickering on and off, but the heavy curtains covered most of it, as if to block out all prying eyes.
Gu Yanshen sat at the table, his gaze fixed on the blueprint. He had been studying the outline of the island circled in red for the entire afternoon.
Li Fengche.
Three words, like a taboo, stood before him.
Lin Chen leaned against the window, staring at the map for a long time before finally sighing.
"Nobody's willing to reveal what's on the island." His voice was low and somewhat somber in the empty office. "I pulled five strings and finally found two people who had been there. One pretended to be clueless, saying he couldn't remember anything. The other..."
He paused.
"The other one has gone missing."
Gu Yanshen's fingertip stopped at the edge of the map.
"Besides, I don't dare to inquire too much." Lin Chen walked over and sat down opposite Gu Yanshen. "You know Li Fengche. He'll react to the slightest thing. If we alert him, we'll lose even this one and only chance."
Gu Yanshen did not speak.
He was just looking at the map.
I watched it for a very long time.
"Would Song Zhihe lie?" Lin Chen finally asked the question that had been weighing on his mind.
Gu Yanshen raised his head.
"The last thing she wanted to do was tell me that she had been to the island."
His voice was flat and emotionless. "She has no reason to use this as leverage to deceive me."
Lin Chen remained silent for a few seconds.
"It makes sense that Aunt Yun is on the island. In the past three years, I've searched everywhere I could, contacted every possible connection. Aunt Yun seems to have vanished into thin air; there's not even a trace of her." His voice deepened. "I thought she had already…"
He didn't finish the second half of his sentence.
But Gu Yanshen knew what he wanted to say.
Murdered.
Everyone thought that Aunt Yun was no longer alive.
"Song Zhihe said she has amnesia." Gu Yanshen's voice deepened.
Lin Chen was stunned.
Amnesia?
He stood up abruptly, the chair sliding across the floor with a screeching sound.
"What can we do then? What's the use of finding her if she has amnesia? How much does she remember about what happened three years ago? Can she still identify the person behind Su Lanzhi?"
"Let's save her first."
His voice was soft but firm: "Before my grandmother passed away, she told me that I must take good care of her no matter what."
He paused.
"Grandma believed in her from beginning to end."
Lin Chen fell silent.
He knew what Aunt Yun meant to Gu Yanshen.
That was the person closest to his grandmother, the person who watched him grow up.
"But..." Lin Chen sat down again, his brows furrowed deeply, "There's something I just can't understand."
"If it wasn't at Su Lan's behest, why would she admit to it?"
Lin Chen's voice was deep and serious. "What's she after?"
This question had been weighing on Lin Chen's mind for a long time.
When Su Lanzhi confessed, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The case was closed, the person was arrested, and everything was settled. But only those who truly knew the inside story understood that there were suspicious elements at every turn.
Su Lanzhi doesn't have that much courage, nor that much cunning. There must be someone behind her.
But who is that person?