She pulled her left hand free from Ye Que’s grasp.
This time, Ye Que didn’t stop her. His fingers slid across her palm before letting go.
She turned aside to answer, lowering her voice. “Captain Lu.”
The bubbling of the sukiyaki could be heard from inside the booth.
Jiang Nuan listened for a few seconds, then blinked. “…The gala? The opening dance?”
After hearing a little more, a hint of confusion entered her voice. “My dance partner?”
A few seconds later, she couldn’t help laughing. “All right. See you then.”
She exchanged a few more brief words to confirm the time, then ended the call.
The moment she put down her terminal, three pairs of eyes turned toward her.
Picking up her chopsticks again, she took a piece of eel and bit into it before speaking. “Four days from now, the Lighthouse Team is holding a gala, and there’ll be an opening dance. It was arranged by the Investigation Department. Every team member is required to find a dance partner from outside their own team.”
The moment she said the words “dance partner,” the temperature around the table seemed to drop by a degree.
Ye Que frowned. Qinian propped his chin up with one hand, while Jiang Ce stopped fishing for slices of beef.
Jiang Nuan swallowed the eel with difficulty and continued, “Lu Zhaoming invited me to be his partner.”
Ye Que’s voice dropped a little. “You accepted.” It was a statement, not a question.
Qinian’s chair creaked as he leaned back a little too forcefully. “So, Nuannuan, you’re going to dance with a man who looks exactly like the captain, in front of everyone, with your hand on his shoulder and his arm around your waist?”
Why did he have to make it sound so specific?
Jiang Nuan glared at him. “Could you stop taking everything in such a weird direction?”
“Me?” Qinian sat up straight and planted both hands on the table, speaking in a low voice. “How am I supposed not to think that way when you tell me something like this?”
“Lu Zhaoming…” Jiang Ce thought for a moment before speaking. “He seems to have a very good impression of you.”
“It was young Lu Shiyan’s idea,” Jiang Nuan said. “He said he wanted to meet me ahead of time, so he suggested to his father that he invite me as his dance partner. That way, I can go to the base early for rehearsals.”
The atmosphere suddenly became very strange.
Qinian opened his mouth, but the jealous remark on the tip of his tongue refused to come out.
He had every right to criticize Lu Zhaoming. But when his rival became a seven- or eight-year-old child—even if that child was the captain when he was young—even Qinian wasn’t shameless enough to stoop that low.
Jiang Ce lowered his head and smiled helplessly, seemingly finding the reason absurd but having no way to argue with it.
Ye Que was silent for several seconds before taking her left hand again. His tone returned to its usual cool detachment. “How early will you need to go for the rehearsal?”
“The day before the gala.” Jiang Nuan straightened her expression. “The rehearsal means I can enter the Lighthouse base ahead of time. That’s the reason I agreed.”
At last, the three men’s emotions shifted from “My woman is going to dance with another man” into mission mode.
“The Serpentwood,” Jiang Ce said quietly.
Jiang Nuan nodded. “We’ve never had a legitimate reason to approach the clues inside the Lighthouse Team’s base. The Lighthouse team is extremely wary of outsiders. Entering as a dance partner will at least give me a reasonable excuse to appear within the base’s perimeter and hopefully create more opportunities to investigate.”
“Fine,” Qinian said, folding his arms across his chest. “But the dancing is only for the mission.”
Ye Que said coldly, “You don’t need to point that out.”
“Brother Ye Que, you didn’t understand what I meant.” Qinian smiled wickedly. “I mean, if she’s going to be Lu Zhaoming’s opening-dance partner, she has to look the part.”
“Otherwise, what if she dances too badly and gets thrown out before she can investigate anything?”
“What exactly are you implying?” Jiang Nuan asked warily.
“I’m saying you need practice.” Qinian tilted his head and glanced at Ye Que and Jiang Ce before adding leisurely, “Which raises the question: who’s going to be her practice partner?”
The booth fell silent again.
The sukiyaki continued to bubble. Through the rising steam, the three men stared at one another, each harboring his own thoughts.
“I will.” Ye Que spoke first.
“When the restricted zones aren’t active as frequently, the Investigation Department’s training program includes standard ballroom dancing,” he said coolly. “I got full marks in every assessment, including this one.”
“Who asked about your assessment scores?” Qinian leaned forward indignantly. “That was just robotic dancing by the book. An opening dance requires natural interaction!”
“My height is closest to Lu Zhaoming’s,” Jiang Ce cut in. “She’s used to dancing with someone my height. That way, she won’t make mistakes during the actual dance.”
His reasoning was impossible to fault. Qinian bit his lip. Ye Que said nothing, but the hand holding hers beneath the table tightened.
“One day each. Stop arguing!” Jiang Nuan felt a headache coming on.
Ye Que lowered his eyes, his fingers brushing against her palm now and then. It was as if he had made a tremendous concession before finally nodding reluctantly.
“Fair,” Qinian said, tilting his head as he considered it. He didn’t object.
Jiang Ce nodded as well. “Since that’s what Nuannuan wants, I agree.”
Jiang Nuan opened her mouth, then closed it again.
Fine. She had dug this hole herself, so she would have to jump in, tears and all.
Her toes curled. Three men, three completely different kinds of strength and rhythm.
The trip to the Lighthouse hadn’t even begun, yet she could already foresee the tragic fate awaiting all ten of her toes.
And she had an even bigger problem now.
How was she supposed to tell Lu Shiyan: I’m going to be your biological father’s dance partner?
…Maybe she should write her will first.
