With the help from the assistant and Zhao Meng, Lu Jinnian shoved the things into her car, then they said their goodbyes to the two of them. He started up the car and drove Qiao Anhao back to Mian Xiu Garden.
When Qiao Anhao got into the car, she saw a bouquet of fresh flowers in the back seat. Just as she was going to ask where Lu Jinnian had gotten them from, she saw there was a card between the beautiful and delicate flowers. She grabbed it and saw the three simple words Lu Jinnian had written, "For Qiao Qiao."
A lovely smile blossomed on her face, and she pulled out her phone. She hugged the fresh flowers up to take a selfie with the peace sign, a pout, a puppy dog eyes look, and a joyful smile.
Lu Jinnian, who was focused on driving at the time, saw her small motions in the rear view mirror. His expression was cold as usual, yet there was an obvious hint of a smile in his eyes.
The previous night at the bar, Xu Jiamu had drank until he passed out. When he opened his eyes, he got this feeling like he didn't know what day or year it was. He drunkenly lay on the sofa in deep asleep. He remembered that people couldn't find a number to call to take him away last night, so all they could do was leave him there in a private room.
Xu Jiamu's head hurt like crazy from his hangover. He lay there dizzily for a while before searching through his pockets. After rummaging for a really long time, he couldn't find his phone. Then he remembered that he had thrown it in the car, upset with Han Ruchu's constant calls.
He rubbed his slightly painful head and got up from the sofa. He slept in a poor position, so his entire body was exhausted and in pain. The bartender was fast asleep, so Xu Jiamu didn't disturb him. Instead, he pulled out a wad of cash, placed it by his ear, and left.
When Xu Jiamu went outside, he realized that it was already nightfall. Though he was sober again, he was still a little dazed. He went round the row of cars parked outside to find his own and got in. He grabbed his phone to find that it had turned itself off because there was no more battery left.
Xu Jiamu plugged it into the car charger and lay down against the steering wheel with squinted eyes for a while. When he heard the phone ring as it turned on, he turned his head and glanced over to find a series of text messages and missed calls.
The calls and texts mostly came from Han Ruchu's number. As Xu Jiamu saw several pages of the screen fill up with her messages, he felt even more down. He only felt slightly better after he deleted all of them. With that, he started up the car.
He drove around aimlessly, before finally heading for Mian Xiu Garden. He stopped the car in the courtyard of his own villa, pulled down the car window, and lit up a cigarette. He stared at Lu Jinnian's courtyard behind the fence in a daze.
Xu Jiamu wasn't even sure how long he'd been staring, when suddenly he heard the sound of a car door opening up. He snapped back to reality, and looked over at the courtyard next door. Qiao Anhao was hugging a bouquet of flowers with a warm smile on her face as she got out of the car. Soon after, the driver's door opened and Lu Jinnian also strode out.
The very moment Xu Jiamu saw Lu Jinnian's side profile, he didn't quite know why he was in such a panic, but he suddenly pulled his hand away from the car window. Then he pressed the button to pull it up.
Because he moved far too suddenly, he accidentally flicked the cigarette butt in his hand right onto the photocopy on the front passenger seat.
It was like Xu Jiamu had been shocked by electricity, and he couldn't feel the burn or pain. He stretched his arm straight out and extinguished the fire from the cigarette.