That night, Shen Yansheng returned home and found that Lu Jingce had not returned yet.
She was a little tired, so she sat on the sofa, picked up the pillow next to her, and lowered her eyes in a daze.
Aunt Ping poured water for her and asked with concern: “Miss, are you tired? Do you want a hot bath?”
Shen Yansheng shook her head. After being in daze for a long time, she suddenly thought of something, raised her head and asked, “By the way, Aunt Ping, is Lu Jingce’s birthday the seventh day of April?”
Aunt Ping smiled and replied, “Yes, it’s tomorrow.”
Aunt Ping also saw the cold war between Lu Jingce and Shen Yansheng these days. After getting along with her, she had a good impression on Shen Yansheng, and she couldn’t help but persuade her earnestly: “Miss, don’t blame me for talking too much,with Mr. Lu’s conditions, so many women want to follow him. To be honest, Mr. Lu is very kind to you. I have been in the Lu family for so many years and I have never seen a woman who attracted Mr. Lu so much.”
Aunt Ping really liked Shen Yansheng and didn’t want to see her fall out of favor so quickly, so she said, “Miss, if you ask me, you didn’t handle it well. You were so cold to Mr. Lu in front of so many servants that night, where did you want Mr. Lu to put his face?No matter how nice this man is to you, there is a limit. If you overdo it, this man can give up at any time once he loses his patience. Besides, there are so many women outside looking at Mr. Lu.” After saying that, she gave Shen Yansheng some advice and said, “But this is not a big deal, so just apologize to Mr. Lu, say a few nice words, and maybe it will be over.”
Shen Yansheng is not afraid that Lu Jingce will abandon her, and her relationship with Lu Jingce cannot last long in the first place. .
Now she just feels uneasy about her conscience and feels that she owes Lu Jingce.
She frowned slightly unconsciously and said, “It’s not that I don’t want to apologize to him now. He won’t come back at all. I just want to apologize to him, but I have no chance to say a few nice words.”
Aunt Ping thought for a while and said: “By the way, tomorrow is Mr. Lu’s birthday. According to previous years’ practice, he should go to Nanshan to offer incense to the old lady.”
Shen Yansheng was stunned when she heard this, and looked up at Aunt Ping, “Nanshan?”
“Yes.” Aunt Ping said: “The old lady lived in Nanshan during her lifetime. Since she passed away a few years ago, Mr. Lu doesn’t celebrate birthday often. Every year on his birthday, he goes to Nanshan alone for a day.”
Shen Yansheng thought for a moment and asked: “Can you write me the address?”
“Of course, please wait for me.” Aunt Ping said and turned around to find paper and pen .
The next day was a Saturday. Shen Yansheng drove out early in the morning to Nanshan according to the address Aunt Ping gave her.
Nanshan is in some distance from the city center. There are not many buildings on the mountain. There are only a dozen villas, which are specially built for wealthy people to go to the mountain for vacation.
The most famous thing in Nanshan is the Nanta Temple. It is said that this temple is efficacious and has great incense all year round.
Shen Yansheng went out early and arrived at Nanshan before eight o’clock.
She drove the car to the door of the address Aunt Ping gave her, an independent villa, with servants sweeping the floor in the yard.
The early morning in the mountains was so quiet that one could hear the chirping of birds. Shen Yansheng parked the car, got out of the car and walked to the iron gate.
Maybe it was because she was standing at the door looking in, the servant sweeping the floor came towards her and asked, “Who are you looking for?”
Shen Yansheng smiled politely and said, “I’m looking for Lu Jingce, is he there?”
The servant looked at her like a bit scrutinizing, and didn’t dare to let anyone in casually, so she asked again: “Who are you?” ”
“My name is Shen Yansheng, is Lu Jingce here?”
The servant thought for a moment and said, “Yes, he is here. Wait a moment, I’ll make an announcement first.”
Shen Yansheng nodded and stood at the door waiting.
When the servant entered the house, Lu Jingce had just come down from upstairs, with his coat draped on his arm, as if he was about to go out.
The servant stood at the door, looked at Lu Jingce and said, “Mr. Lu, there is Miss Shen outside looking for you.”
Hearing this, Lu Jingce raised his eyebrows slightly and looked past the servant toward the yard.
The air in the mountains is clean, the green mountains are full of mist, and in the early spring weather, Shen Yansheng is wearing a milk-white coat and standing outside the iron gate, waiting.
Maybe it was a little cold, so she clasped her hands together and rubbed them, and walked around in a small area with her feet.
Lu Jingce saw this, came down from upstairs and went straight out the door.
Shen Yansheng saw Lu Jingce coming out from a distance, and couldn’t help but smile. When Lu Jingce approached her, she smiled and shouted: “Lu Jingce.” There was a bit of flattery in her smile, and Lu Jingce saw it, but he didn’t bother to argue with her, he raised his hand to open the door and asked quietly: “Who asked you to come?”
Shen Yansheng observed Lu Jingce’s face, thinking that he was probably still angry, so she took the initiative to hold his arm and looked up at him, her eyes a little pitiful, but also a bit flattering, “Are you still angry? Lu Jingce, it’s been four days, why are you so angry?”
Lu Jingce lowered his eyes and looked at her, “who’s fault is it?”
Shen Yansheng smiled and said: “My fault, my fault, don’t be angry.”
She said, taking out a delicate little gift box from her pocket, stuffing it into Lu Jingce’s hand, looking at him with a smile, and said, “Lu Jingce, happy birthday. ”
Lu Jingce looked at her and was quite surprised.
He ignored the joy that grew in his heart for a moment, opened the box without much care, and said lazily: “You still know my birthday.”
The box opened, revealing a pair of exquisite cufflinks.
Lu Jingce obviously liked it, but he didn’t show it on his face at all. He glanced at it and closed the lid, looking sideways at Shen Yansheng.
Shen Yansheng hadn’t let go of Lu Jingce’s arm. Seeing Lu Jingce looking sideways at her, she smiled and asked, “Do you like it?” Lu Jingce replied coldly, “Hardly.”
Shen Yansheng looked at Lu Jingce sincerely and said, “But I really like the gift you gave me.”
Lu Jingce looked at her and stopped talking.
Shen Yansheng really wanted to bow to Lu Jingce, but was afraid of making him angry again, so she stepped forward and kissed Lu Jingce on the cheek, and said with a smile: “Lu Jingce, thank you for helping me find the cello.”
Lu Jingce glanced at her faintly, his anger had subsided a lot, after a long while he said: “Go in and stay, your face is red from the cold.”
As he said this, he pulled away Shen Yansheng’s hand on his arm, and then walked straight towards a parked car.
Shen Yansheng saw this and followed him. After Lu Jingce got into the cab, she quickly followed the co-pilot.
Lu Jingce looked sideways at her, frowning slightly, “Why are you following me?”
Shen Yansheng looked at him openly and said, “Where are you going? I’ll go with you.”
Lu Jingce was going to Nanta Temple to offer incense for his grandma. Originally, he don’t want to take Shen Yansheng with him. She was wearing thin clothes today, and the wind was stronger on the mountain. People who are already in poor health might catch a cold if they go up the mountain.
But Shen Yansheng insisted on following, and he didn’t bother to say anything anymore. He just closed the car window, started the car, and drove towards higher ground along the winding mountain road.
The car drove into the mountains and forests, and Nanshan Tower could be seen in the distance.
There were wisps of green smoke floating on the tower, coming from the temple.
It was quiet in the mountains. Shen Yansheng leaned on the window and looked at the pagoda and temple high up. Faintly, she felt her heart calm down.
As they approached Nanta Temple, she could already smell the Buddhist incense from the temple in the air.
Shen Yansheng suddenly became curious and turned to ask Lu Jingce, “What are we doing here?”
Lu Jingce parked the car in an open space near the temple and said, “My grandma’s tablet is in the temple. It’s rare for me to come up and see it. Visiting her.”
Shen Yansheng didn’t know Lu Jingce’s family background, and Lu Jingce had never told her until the moment he told her.
The memorial tablet dedicated to grandma was in the temple. She didn’t ask anymore questions and followed Lu Jingce to Nanta Temple in silence.
There was a lot of incense at the entrance of the temple, and Lu Jingce would come there every year on the seventh day of April. He came in a low-key manner and did not enter the main hall. Instead, he went directly to the ancestral hall in the west wing where the tablets are enshrined.
Shen Yansheng followed Lu Jingce over. When she saw Lu Jingce talking to an old abbot outside the ancestral hall, she stood far away and wisely did not follow him.
Lu Jingce said a few words to the old abbot, then went into the ancestral hall to offer incense to his grandma.
Shen Yansheng didn’t follow him, and Lu Jingce didn’t call her.
She waited patiently outside. After waiting for about half an hour, Lu Jingce finally came out.
There was no seriousness in his brows, and he was still in the mood to tease her when he got closer, saying, “Your face is red from the cold, don’t know how to find a warm place to stay?.”
Shen Yansheng said, “It’s not very cold.”
She looked at Lu Jing Ce’s pale face, and although there was no sign of serious emotion, his body was tainted with the ethereal scent of sandalwood from the temple, and his figure seemed to be somewhat lonely.
A young master came over to talk to him, and Shen Yansheng found out that Lu Jingce was going to perform a ritual for his grandma.
When he was about to go to the main hall, he turned to look at her. He pinched her cheek if he was in good mood, and teased her with a smile: “I told you not to come, but you insisted.”
Shen Yansheng shook his head and said seriously: “It doesn’t matter, anyway. I have nothing to do.”
Lu Jingce gave her the car keys and said, “Just wait for me in the car. It will take about an hour. I’ll try to be early.”
Shen Yansheng nodded, but in fact, she didn’t go back to the car and stayed outside the hall waiting.
It was almost noon when Lu Jingce finally came out. He looked a little tired. When he left the hall, he saw Shen Yansheng sitting in the distance waiting for him.
He was stunned for a moment, then walked over and saw that Shen Yansheng’s lips were turned pale by the mountain wind. He pulled her up and frowned slightly, “didn’t I ask you to wait in the car?.”
Shen Yansheng borrowed Lu Jingce’s hand and stood up and said, “It’s boring in the car. I can still see the scenery here.”
She looked at Lu Jingce and asked, “Is it over already?”
Lu Jingce said “hmm” and said, “Let’s go.”
On the way down the mountain, Lu Jingce remained silent. Shen Yansheng turned her head and looked at him twice. Seeing that he seemed to have something on his mind, she didn’t bother him.
When he got home, Lu Jingce drove the car into the yard and went straight into the house.
The servants had already laid out the meal, but Lu Jingce disliked the smoky smell on his body, so he told Shen Yansheng, “You can eat it yourself, I’ll go upstairs and take a shower.”
Shen Yansheng looked at Lu Jingce’s back and felt that he was not in a good mood, on the way back from the temple, it was even more obvious that he was in a bad mood.
When the servant came to ask her to eat, Shen Yansheng suddenly had no appetite.
She sat in the living room for a while, and until two o’clock in the afternoon, Lu Jingce didn’t come downstairs to eat. But today is still his birthday, he didn’t not even eat…
She got up and walked to the kitchen.
The servants were clearing away lunch when they saw Shen Yansheng coming over and asked, “Miss, do you want to eat?”
Shen Yansheng looked at the dishes that had been put away, shook her head and said, “I’ll borrow the kitchen for a while.”
Shen Yansheng grew up pampered and was not really good at cooking .Her mother used to laugh at her and say that the best thing our Shengsheng could cook was instant noodles.
But today was Lu Jingce’s birthday, so she couldn’t cook him a bowl of instant noodles.
So she carefully cooked a bowl of egg noodles. She was afraid it would taste bad, so tasted it before bringing it upstairs.
She felt it wasn’t delicious, but it wasn’t so bad that she couldn’t swallow it. Thinking that Lu Jingce hadn’t eaten anything all day, she didn’t bother to worry about it anymore and took it upstairs directly.
On the third floor, Lu Jingce’s study door was closed.
Shen Yansheng held the tray in his hand and couldn’t free his hands, so he gently kicked the door with his foot.
When Lu Jingce heard the knock on the door, he knew who it was without even thinking. After all, no servant in the house dares to knock on the door with his foot.
He frowned and sat on the chair behind the desk to smoke, and said quietly: “Come in.”
Shen Yansheng raised his fingers to open the door, then opened the door further with his shoulder, and entered the room openly carrying the tray.
Seeing Lu Jingce smoking, she frowned unconsciously, “You haven’t eaten anything all day, just smoking?.”
She put the tray on the desk, reached out and took away the cigarette between Lu Jingce’s fingers, and pressed it for him into the ashtray.
Seeing her like this, Lu Jingce gave a rare smile and said, “It’s just a cigarette, will I die?”
Shen Yansheng frowned even more, simply feeling that Lu Jingce’s words were unlucky, so she looked at him and said, “It’s your birthday, could you please stop saying such unlucky words?”
Lu Jingce smiled, said nothing more, and looked at him and suddenly was surprised to see the bowl of noodles Shen Yansheng brought, “Did you make it?”
Shen Yansheng was a little embarassed, looked at Lu Jingce, and asked, “How do you know it was made by me?”
Lu Jingce laughed sarcastically and said, “At home if the cook did this, he would have been fired a long time ago.”
Shen Yansheng was a little embarrassed for a moment. After all, she was a girl. The first time she cooked something for others, she was disliked. She lost face for a while. She picked up the tray and started to leave, saying, “Forget it if you don’t want to eat.” Before she could even take a step out, she was pulled away by Lu Jingce. When she came back, she saw him saying with a smile: “Did I say I won’t eat?”
“Put it down.”
Shen Yansheng put down the tray with no shame and said: “Anyway, I know how to do this. If you like it, you can eat it. If you don’t like it, I will take it out and throw it away. .”
Lu Jingce laughed, picked up the chopsticks, and said, ” You argue back no matter what what I say.”
Lu Jingce said it’s not good, but in the end he ate the bowl of noodles cleanly.
When Shen Yansheng saw that Lu Jingce had eaten all the food in a dignified manner, Shen Yansheng felt better again. She smiled and asked seriously: “Is it delicious?” Lu Jingce looked at her with a smile, and said: “Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?”
When Shen Yansheng saw him smiling like this, she guessed what he was going to say. Her face fell and she interrupted him, “Forget it, I don’t want to hear it.”
Lu Jingce’s grandmother is Si He passed away years ago, and since then, Lu Jingce has stopped celebrating his birthday. After all, the only relative in the world has passed away, so there is no need to celebrate another birthday.
Every year on the seventh day of April, he would return to Nanshan to stay for a day, go to the temple to offer incense sticks to his grandmother, perform rituals, and donate incense pens.
At night, he sent his servants away, and he wanted to be alone. This year was different. With Shen Yansheng in the house ,Lu Jingce felt less lonely for the first time in a long time.
In the afternoon, Lu Jingce was leaning on the sofa and reading a book in boredom, while Shen Yansheng was sitting on the other side, holding her mobile phone and not knowing whether she was chatting or surfing the Internet.
Lu Jingce was not in high spirits today and didn’t bother to care what she did.
In the evening, the doorbell suddenly rang. Before Lu Jingce even looked up, Shen Yansheng had jumped off the sofa and ran out like the wind.
After a while, Shen Yansheng came in again, with a beautifully wrapped birthday cake in her hands.
Lu Jingce looked up from his book and raised his eyebrows subtly when he saw the cake in Shen Yansheng’s hand.
Shen Yansheng carried the cake into the house and put it on the coffee table. She squatted in front of the coffee table, looked up at Lu Jingce with a smile, and said, ” Let’s have birthday cake tonight.”
Lu Jingce looked at her with a smile in his eyes and teased her, ” Why don’t you say you’ll help me cook dinner?”
Shen Yansheng said, “If you’re not afraid that I’ll blow up your kitchen, I can give it a try.”
Lu Jingce thought about the possibility for a moment and then stopped fantasizing.
As night fell, Shen Yansheng wandered around several rooms looking for something. Lu Jingce was still leaning on the sofa reading a book. His head hurts as Shen Yansheng moving around so much . He finally looked up at her and asked, “What are you looking for?”
Shen Yansheng’s brain was short-circuited for a moment and said: “Lighter.”
Lu Jingce was really pissed off by her, so he took out a lighter from his trouser pocket, “I really want to open your head and see what’s going on inside.”
Shen Yansheng’s brain was indeed short-circuited just now, thinking in such such a big house it wouldn’t be easy to find a lighter, but she didn’t even think of asking Lu Jingce for once.
She walked over and took the lighter from Lu Jingce’s hand, and said, “I’m celebrating your birthday, and you still attack me personally. Do you have any conscience?”
As she spoke, she knelt down in front of the coffee table and untied the ribbon on the outside of the birthday cake box and took out the white cream cake inside.
It was getting dark at this moment, there was no light in the room, only a little twilight came in from outside the yard.
Shen Yansheng inserted the candles on the cake, and then lit the candles one by one with a lighter.
Lu Jingce had also put down the book in his hand. He sat up slightly, but his eyes were not on the birthday cake.
He looked at Shen Yansheng’s fair face, the candlelight reflected on her face, and in this quiet evening, more emotions seemed to grow in his heart.
He stared at Shen Yansheng for a long time, until she accidentally burned her finger by the candle flame and let out a low cry. He frowned and almost immediately pulled her hand away, keeping her away from the fire.
He pulled Shen Yansheng’s hand in front of him, frowned and looked down at her fingers. The ring finger of her right hand was a little red from the burn. He frowned even more tightly. Without saying a word, he lowered his head and opened the drawer in front of him and rummaged through it for a long time. Found a burn ointment.
When the burn ointment is applied to the finger, it feels a little burning. Shen Yansheng subconsciously curled up her fingers, and Lu Jingce pulled them open. He looked up at her, his face clearly unhappy, “What are you hiding from?”
Shen Yansheng whispered, “It hurts.”
Lu Jingce sighed almost imperceptibly, and lowered his head to her. Applying an extra layer of medicine and said, “It won’t hurt in a while.”
That night, Shen Yansheng sang a birthday song to Lu Jingce, blew out the candles, and then cut the birthday cake.
Lu Jingce didn’t eat sweets, so he reluctantly took a bite and stopped eating.
Shen Yansheng couldn’t finish the cake alone, so she put the rest in the refrigerator and planned to have it for breakfast tomorrow.
That night, she and Lu Jingce almost slept together.
She had been with Lu Jingce for some time, and Lu Jingce had never forced her. But when she went upstairs that night, Lu Jingce suddenly said to her, “Sleep in my room.”
Shen Yansheng froze there for a moment, but she quickly let go. He has done too much and it’s time to ask for something in return.
After entering the room, she took shower first. Since she didn’t bring any clothes, she wore Lu Jingce’s shirt when she came out.
Lu Jingce was leaning against the balcony door, smoking, looking at the dim street lights in the distance. He heard movement behind him, and turned around to see Shen Yansheng standing at the bathroom door.
She seemed to still have wet vapor on her body. She was wearing his loose shirt, which barely covered her thighs. Her two slender white legs fell into Lu Jingce’s eyes.
At that moment, how could Lu Jingce not have any desire in his heart. He had been in love with Shen Yansheng for many years. When he saw Shen Yansheng and Fu Shiyu together, he never thought of breaking them up.
Even in the end, he still didn’t make up his mind to destroy them. Now it was Fu Shiyu who gave up. Since he kept Shen Yansheng by his side, he had no intention of letting her go again in this life.
At night, he made up his mind to have Shen Yansheng tonight, but when he really felt that Shen Yansheng was so nervous under him that she dared not breathe, and was like a piece of wood letting him manipulate her, he suddenly felt completely bored.
He let go of Shen Yansheng, sat up from the bed, with his shirt half open, leaned against the bedside, took a cigarette from the bedside table and lit it.
Shen Yansheng turned her back to Lu Jingce and curled up in the quilt. She slowly sat up hugging the quilt until she felt her heartbeat returned to normal.
She looked at Lu Jingce with apologetic eyes, and after a while, she said, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t ready just now. Do you want to do it again?”
Lu Jingce looked at her indifferently, was silent for a while, and then reached out to rub her head: “Forget it, go to sleep.”
