Chapter 214: Like a sewer rat, darkly peeking

Ke Zhongyu sensed his sister's doubts, and a chilling glance swept over.

Ke Zhongying withdrew her gaze and chimed in: "Exactly, a key that can't open a door is just an ordinary pendant; only this pigeon's-blood ruby is worth anything, and it's not big—just this tiny thing. Speaking of which, my brother is also quite stingy."

She didn't forget to step on her own older brother's foot.

Ke Zhongyu couldn't be bothered to argue with her, sat down and calmly ate the cake.

It was the most ordinary street-side cake; to Ke Zhongyu, who had grown up eating mountain delicacies and seafood, the cake's taste was quite average—ordinary things wouldn't even enter his mouth, let alone appear before him.

Mo Yi also knew this well, so when she saw her young master not only eat without changing expression but finish it completely, she felt slightly surprised.

The next second she saw the young master's message sent to her.

【Tomorrow order her the cake shop Ms. Nian usually eats at】

【Okay, Young Master, this cake was bought by Miss Jiang herself】

Ke Zhongyu knew.

"Let's have dinner." Jiang Lai looked at Mo Yi, indicating she could serve the food.

Ke Zhongyu raised his eyes to Jiang Lai: "You didn't eat first?"

Jiang Lai: "By the time the food was ready, you were almost here."

Ke Zhongying: "Yeah, yeah, some people aren't moved at all—Jiang Lai sister specially said she'd wait for you to come back before eating dinner, while some people's sisters are starving."

"It's not that I ate cake." Ke Zhongyu replied to his sister.

Ke Zhongying glared at him.

After all the dishes were served, the four sat down.

As Jiang Lai bent over, the brass engraved key swayed slightly before her chest; Ke Zhongyu's glance flicked over, seeing she had already put it on, and the corner of his mouth lifted in a faint arc.

Ke Zhongying also saw it and said: "My brother's gift is quite fitting—Jiang Lai sister's sweater works perfectly as a sweater chain."

Jiang Lai reached out to touch the brass engraved key hanging before her chest; it felt warm and smooth, with a sense of weight.

She looked at Ke Zhongyu: "Thank you."

Ke Zhongyu grunted an acknowledgment, accepted her thanks, then ladled her a bowl of hot soup and urged: "Eat."

It's already eleven o'clock; that small piece of cake definitely won't stave off hunger.

Mo Yi also ladled a bowl for Ke Zhongying: "Miss, your soup."

Ke Zhongying said with a giggle: "Mo Yi is the best, thank you Mo Yi."

The dining room had a huge floor-to-ceiling window, the curtains merely loosely draped and not closed; everyone only needed to look up to see snowflakes drifting down outside the courtyard, the ground already covered with a thick layer of snow, pure white.

Jiang Lai's lips held a faint smile as she gazed out the window and said: "Tomorrow morning we should be able to build a snowman."

Ke Zhongying shook her head straight: "I can't, it's too cold—I'm not playing at building a snowman."

Ke Zhongyu asked Jiang Lai: "Want to build a snowman?"

Jiang Lai always had a feeling that if she nodded, Ke Zhongyu could have a snowman ready for her by morning.

It was strange but didn't make her feel repulsed.

Jiang Lai shook her head: "Just saying that—I have something else tomorrow."

Ke Zhongyu knew what it was and asked: "Are you going back to G Province?"

Jiang Lai also spoke up at the same time: "I want to go back to G Province."

After speaking in unison, the two simultaneously glanced at each other with hidden surprise.

Ke Zhongying silently let out a "wow" beside them, quietly scooting her chair closer to Mo Yi.

From Mo Yi's angle, the view was good enough to let the two see each other face to face.

Only then did Jiang Lai notice a hint of fatigue in Ke Zhongyu's brow.

"Yes, we need to go back to G Province; Assistant Zhou asked me to discuss it with you."

"Have Secretary Guan book your tickets, handle the travel arrangements, keep the exact destination confidential, and tell Xu Rong to covertly manage this." If Shen Xun learned that Jiang Lai had returned to G Province, he would certainly take precautions, making it harder to find people.

Ke Zhongyu settled the matter in a few sentences, without obstruction or extra words.

He was skilled at preparing for contingencies and solving problems. Jiang Lai thought to herself.

The next second, Ke Zhongyu asked again: "What time frame for departure?"

Jiang Lai came to: "Afternoon or evening; I have to go to my teacher's mother's place for lunch in the morning."

Ke Zhongyu grunted an acknowledgment and didn't ask further.

Although the two seemed quiet and cold, Ke Zhongying felt their vibes matched well—others found it hard to break in, and sometimes even struggled to understand what they were silently communicating.

Not wanting to figure it out, she'd been bringing junior and senior classmates to do experiments lately, and her brain was near exploding.

Eat, eat.

Heaven and earth are vast, but eating is supreme.

After Shen Xun returned from his social engagements, he saw exactly this warm scene of the four eating together.

Outside snowflakes flew; at the indoor dining table, Jiang Lai sat beside Ke Zhongyu, holding her bowl, eating slowly and deliberately, bite by bite, very slowly, and occasionally someone would pass her a dish or a napkin.

There was Ke Zhongyu, but not only Ke Zhongyu.

Also Ke Zhongyu's sister, and the caretaker Ke Zhongyu sent to look after Jiang Lai.

Ke Zhongying kept saying things that from time to time made Jiang Lai break into a full-face smile.

He had never seen such a scene before.

If he were sitting beside Jiang Lai, he certainly wouldn't wear the same indifferent face as Ke Zhongyu.

If Shen Xi were sitting across from Jiang Lai, Shen Xi…

Shen Xi wouldn't cheer Jiang Lai up.

If his parents were also there, his parents…

His parents wouldn't be there.

For three consecutive years, Jiang Lai's birthday had only him keeping her company, buying a bouquet of flowers, buying a cake.

He wasn't able to live to see the fourth birthday he would spend with Jiang Lai.

The sight through the glass window made Shen Xun's eyes redden; he stepped out of the car, stood in the snow outside the villa, and gazed for a long time.

It was snowing tonight; the bodyguards and the two German Shepherds were not outside, which instead gave Shen Xun a chance to get closer.

Shen Xun watched silently for a long time, until his whole body stiffened, until only Mo Yi's figure clearing the dishes remained in the restaurant.

He couldn't see what was happening in the hall.

But he remembered the scene from last time when he went in and saw: Jiang Lai and Ke Zhongyu were sitting on the sofa, with Ke Zhongyu's arm around Jiang Lai's waist.

Shen Xun's fingers gradually tightened, forming a fist.

He wanted to go in again to have a look.

But as soon as he approached the main gate, the bodyguard standing under the eaves would spot him, and the two dogs lying on the doormat would immediately lunge at him.

Jiang Lai might not show up.

He knew that when he used Ping'an to threaten Jiang Lai into maintaining the appearance of a marital relationship outwardly, Jiang Lai had already come to hate him to the core.

Shen Xun's eyes reddened again.

The lights inside the house dimmed, and as Ke Zhongyu left, he saw Shen Xun lurking darkly like a sewer rat.

The man narrowed his long, narrow eyes.

The bodyguard, sensing something amiss, walked over with the dogs; Ke Zhongyu turned his head to stop him: "Don't disturb her rest."

The disturbance caused by the big virtue small herder was relatively big.

Ke Zhongyu saw the snowflakes on his hair and shoulders, and asked coldly: "President Shen, you still know how to behave tonight, you didn't go disturb her meal."

"Are you satisfied with what you saw tonight? President Shen."

Every time Ke Zhongyu said "President Shen," it carried a condescending sneer; Shen Xun already often felt inferior in his presence, and could hear it even more clearly.

"President Ke is so overbearing, Jiang Lai won't like you." Shen Xun said, "Jiang Lai likes gentle, polite people."