Jiang Shuyin stared at Lu Yan unblinking, afraid to miss a single expression on his handsome face.
She didn't know how much time had passed. Perhaps it was a minute, or maybe just a few dozen seconds, but to Jiang Shuyin, it felt like a long century.
"Jiang Shuyin." He called her by her full name, his eagle-like eyes exceptionally deep and cold.
Jiang Shuyin's heartbeat seemed to quicken.
She had a faint, ominous premonition.
Before she could say anything, she heard his low, hoarse voice. "You clearly hated me to the bone before. Did you change your mind just because you read my diary? Are you sure this isn't some sort of Stockholm syndrome?"
After saying that, he rolled up her sleeve, wanting her to look at the scars on her arm.
However, he found that the scars on her arm had faded considerably.
Jiang Shuyin followed his gaze to her arm, a smile playing at the corners of her lips. "I've had scar removal surgery recently. Let the past unpleasantness fade away with the wind. Life is only a few short decades; what matters most is the present and the future."
Once Jiang Shuyin understood her own heart, she was never one to be timid or submissive.
Despite her fear of rejection, she bravely and honestly opened her heart.
"Actually, in the Black Desert, I didn't just feel hatred for you; there must have been fondness and reliance as well. At the time, I thought you were a criminal, so I didn't dare to admit it. I could only constantly hypnotize myself into hating and despising you to the core just to find some peace of mind."
"Your diary just happened to give me the opportunity to accept you. If the roots of love hadn't already run deep, how could I have fallen for you based on a single diary?"
Her bold and direct confession, repeatedly mentioning her fondness for him, made Lu Yan's tall body uncontrollably tense.
Her clear-cut love and hate, her decisive and valiant nature, were so charming and so heart-stirring.
It was just that—
He was no longer worthy of her affection.
His deep, eagle-like eyes gazed at her delicate and beautiful face. Under the lights, her skin radiated a translucent white glow.
He couldn't help but recall the year she was still in the special forces, only nineteen years old.
She and her teammates had gone to the primeval jungle for training. At the time, he was executing a mission and got injured while pursuing criminals. He rolled down a hillside, his life hanging by a thread.
It was Jiang Shuyin who found him first.
He still clearly remembered the scene where she crouched in front of him, held him in her arms, and fed him water.
Her eyes were clear, and her features carried a valiant and heroic spirit rarely seen in girls.
After giving him water, she fed him painkillers.
Not long after, his teammates found them.
At the time, his face was disguised, so she hadn't seen his true appearance.
But he had always remembered her. The first time he saw her in the Black Desert, he recognized her immediately.
The little girl who had helped him all those years ago.
Fate was strange. When he wanted her affection, she hated him to the bone.
When he could no longer love her, she took the initiative to confess to him.
Lu Yan sighed helplessly. "I'm sorry, Jiang Shuyin. I can't accept your feelings."
His rejection made Jiang Shuyin's heart feel as if it had been gently stung by a bee.
A dense, subtle pain spread through her limbs and bones.
Her nose tingled, and her eyes felt a bit swollen and painful.
She hadn't expected her first confession to someone to fail so completely.
But she wasn't a little girl anymore. Having experienced great ups and downs in life, she could still restrain her emotions, or at least keep them from showing on her face.
"Our relationship, as you said before, is limited to being the mommy and daddy of our little girl and boy, each fulfilling our duties and responsibilities. As for romantic matters, we will go our separate ways and be well."
Jiang Shuyin felt an unbearable sourness in her heart. She wanted to say something and opened her mouth, only to find her throat felt as if it were blocked by something.
She lowered her long eyelashes, her slender body frozen in place.
Her hands and feet grew slightly cold.
"Why don't you go back first? I'll cook this meal myself," Lu Yan said in a low voice.
Jiang Shuyin tried hard to adjust her emotions. She lifted her long eyelashes to look at the man. "What, just because we can't be a couple, you won't even let me eat a meal? Besides, I bought all these ingredients."
Lu Yan froze slightly.
He had thought that after he rejected her, she would leave in humiliation and anger.
"I was just afraid it would be awkward for you to stay."
Jiang Shuyin chuckled softly. "You were rejected by me so many times before, and you never felt awkward. I've only been rejected once, what's there to be awkward about?"
Lu Yan: "..."
After collecting her emotions, Jiang Shuyin took out a document and several bank cards from her bag. "Your assets. I'm giving them back to you."
Lu Yan didn't reach out. He shoved both hands into his trouser pockets. "I gave them to you, so they're yours. If you don't want to use them, leave them for the two kids later."
Jiang Shuyin's long eyelashes fluttered gently. "You can give them to them yourself in the future."
"Just take it since I gave it to you. It's not like I'm a billionaire and the money is too hot for you to handle."
Jiang Shuyin: "..."
Since he refused to take them back, Jiang Shuyin couldn't say much more.
Anyway, she wouldn't use his money. If he left it with her, she would only pass it on to the two children in the future.
Although she appeared calm and indifferent on the outside after her confession was rejected, her heart was filled with bitterness.
While washing the crabs, she got slightly distracted and accidentally got her finger pinched by a crab claw.
The skin broke, and bright red blood oozed out.
She remembered a time in the Black Desert when she accidentally hurt her finger. When Lu Yan saw it, he had sucked on her finger without a word.
But right now—
He was standing right beside her, clearly seeing that she was hurt, yet his face remained calm and indifferent.
His body had been poisoned by the highly toxic Five-Color Flower, but Qin Xiaoxiao had given him the antidote.
Why on earth did he reject her?
Could it be that he had never liked her, and it was merely a man's possessiveness at work?
At this moment, Jiang Shuyin admitted that she truly couldn't understand him.
After finishing the cooking, Jiang Shuyin didn't stay to eat together. Lu Yan's subordinates tried to persuade her to stay several times, but they couldn't keep her.
Lu Yan remained silent from beginning to end.
Jiang Shuyin left in a hurry.
It wasn't until she reached downstairs that she realized she had left her phone on the kitchen counter and forgot to take it.
She had no choice but to head back upstairs.
The apartment door wasn't closed tightly. Jiang Shuyin walked over and was just about to ring the doorbell when she suddenly heard Qin Chuan say,
"Captain Lu, do you actually like Miss Jiang or not?"
Lu Yan pressed his thin lips tightly together and didn't speak.
"Chuanzi, I remember now. Captain Lu has a first love hidden in his heart. About seven or eight years ago, Captain Lu was injured once, and I heard a young girl saved him. Later, when Captain Lu returned to headquarters, I even secretly saw him drawing a portrait of that girl. It's just been too long, and I can't remember what she looked like, but I have the impression she was very beautiful."
Saying this, Dalong seemed to realize something. He suddenly slapped his head. "I remember now! The first love Captain Lu likes looks somewhat like Miss Jiang. No wonder Captain Lu took special care of Miss Jiang in the Black Desert—he was treating her as a stand-in!"
