"The weather's pretty hot. This is mint from the garden. It's great for tea. Would you like to try some?"
The two of them sat down. A chubby glass was placed on the coffee table. The tender green mint leaves bobbed gently with the ripples in the water, and a cool fragrance instantly wafted up. It was indeed beautiful to look at, pleasant to smell, and good to drink.
"Thank you. It is quite good."
Though he said it was good, he only brought the glass to his lips for a moment before putting it back down.
'He really is an incredibly picky person.'
Ni Bingyan watched Jiang Sheng, but Jiang Sheng was busy sizing up his surroundings.
The house wasn't particularly large. The rustic wood furniture looked like it had been around for quite some time.
The major layout hadn't been changed, but the details had been arranged with great care.
Compared to his lavish, European-style mansion managed by a dedicated staff, this place was cozier and more private.
Through the large French windows, he could see the raised garden beds in the backyard, built with red bricks.
The red bricks were laid quite high, so the soil inside wouldn't easily spill onto the stone-paved path outside, making it look clean and tidy.
Withered eggplant stalks and pepper branches were piled in a corner, and a worker was hauling them away with a small wheelbarrow.
The courtyard wall was covered in climbing roses. The flowers had long since withered, but clusters of reddish rose hips huddled together, looking quite lovely. The full bloom must have been breathtaking.
A border of aromatic herbs like mint and rosemary was planted along the wall, useful for daily life and for repelling mosquitoes.
The previous owner had a real zest for life, and the house was very well-maintained. It would surely be comfortable to live here.
'Given her tastes, it's perfectly normal for her to buy a house like this.'
Suddenly, a question popped into his mind.
He liked Western food, steak, and coffee; she liked Chinese food and tea. He liked luxury and grandeur; she liked elegance and charm. He chased money and fame; she had always been indifferent to such things...
In the three years she was with him, constantly compromising, was she truly happy?
It turned out he understood this girl better than he had imagined.
A short while later, the workers who had finished in the front yard moved to the back.
Bags of potting soil and saplings were brought in one after another and set down all over the ground near the yard entrance.
Some dug holes while others planted trees. For a moment, the backyard was a hive of activity.
Jiang Sheng wanted to say something private, but even though they were separated by glass and the workers were far away, he still found it difficult to speak.
Ni Bingyan smiled, pointed to the yard outside, and started telling him what it was like when she first moved in:
"I don't have anything too fancy here. I had two rows of ginger planted over there before. I dug it all up and pickled it. It's ready to eat now—tender and crisp. It's excellent with congee or used in cooking. I'll send you a jar later."
"There are a lot of pickled peppers, too, but it's a shame you don't like spicy food. I'll just keep them for myself!"
"I remember you like your pickled cucumbers less sweet, so I can give you a jar of those too."
"I also had a lot of tomatoes before. I made two jars of tomato sauce and brought them with me to the film set. My colleagues snatched it all up. They all praised my cooking skills, haha~"
She was trying to lighten the mood, but the problem between them still needed to be resolved.
His time was precious. Making a special trip out here already showed considerable effort, and he didn't want to waste too much of it.
"So, what are you angry about this time?"
He looked her straight in the eye, cutting right to the chase.
"I was busy with a project before and just freed up some time."
Seeing the smile on Ni Bingyan's face quickly fade, he hurriedly explained.
'There, that should satisfy her, right?' he thought.
'So that's why he's only coming to find me now?'
'A whole living person disappears from the house for half a month, and he never once thought to ask about it?'
'Aunt Li saw her leave, and her schedule is quite public. With his connections, if he had wanted to find her, it wouldn't have even taken ten minutes.'
But there was no need for her to be angry with him. She felt no love for him, and therefore, no hatred.
In fact, for the sake of all the jewelry, bags, and the house, she could even give him a brilliant smile.
"Why would I be angry? I'm perfectly fine!"
Her smile reappeared, saccharine sweet.
She said, "It's almost midnight. Of course Cinderella has to leave. Otherwise, her fancy clothes and carriage will turn back into what they were. How embarrassing would that be!"
'Is this because she knows Bai Jian is back, and she's afraid I'll abandon her for Bai Jian?'
'She's trying to save face, putting it so euphemistically.'
Jiang Sheng found it a little amusing.
The United Kingdom wasn't that far away. If he really wanted to do something with Bai Jian, he would have acted long ago. She was there for school, not serving a prison sentence.
Besides, even if she were in prison, he could still visit!
His older brother had mentioned a few days ago that their family was now working closely with the Bai family. If the two families were joined by marriage, it would be a great boon to the family business. If it weren't for his nephew still being young, this responsibility wouldn't have fallen to him.
Bai Jian was not only from a family of equal social standing, but she was also talented and beautiful. She could manage a household and was presentable enough to be brought to social functions.
What's more, they had a bit of history from their youth, so there was some emotional foundation.
Bai Jian had already agreed to this matter.
It was undeniable that he had indeed been considering it recently.
But nothing was set in stone yet! Why was she making such a fuss over nothing?
'Why must she always overthink things? Isn't it better to just live a quiet, steady life like before?'
"Did someone come and say something to you again?"
He was well aware of the ghouls and goblins that surrounded him. He usually didn't bother with them, not because he didn't care, but simply because he paid them no mind. As long as he put his mind to it, he could guess what had happened with considerable accuracy without even being there.
"All of that is in the past. It's not important to me anymore."
Ni Bingyan smiled, looking remarkably magnanimous.
'Before, I even took screenshots, wanting to teach that bitch a lesson and get some revenge for the original owner. But later, I realized it was completely unnecessary.'
'It's best to stay away from people like that. Getting entangled with them is just a waste of time that could be spent on self-improvement. What's the point?'
After speaking, Ni Bingyan picked up her mint water and downed half the glass in one go, only then did her emotions begin to settle.
What's past is past. The original owner did it willingly, and she herself had gained so much from Jiang Sheng. She really had no right to fight injustice on her behalf.
But she still felt suffocated inside and really didn't want to see him again.
Right now, all she wanted was to make a clean break from him without causing offense—a clean and clear separation.
"So, why did you come here today? Did the prince find the lost glass slipper and now wants to find his Cinderella?"
The smile on her face was like a mask. Her beautiful eyes looked at Jiang Sheng, and she said no more, yet her gaze seemed to say everything.
Her eyes said, 'The prince searched everywhere for his Cinderella to make her his wife. So what is this supposed to be?'
Her eyes said, 'You want to take me back? In what capacity?'
Her eyes said, 'I'm a decent girl. Why should I leave with you under such ambiguous terms?'
He had come today intending to ask why she had left without a word. But looking into those eyes, he realized he no longer needed to ask.
She wasn't throwing a tantrum. She genuinely wanted to leave him.
It wasn't because someone had upset her. She had simply grown up and begun to understand that love isn't everything in life.
She was starting to realize that her own home was the most comfortable place to live, and her own family's food tasted the best.
Because she had discovered that he couldn't be her support, and that it was best to rely on herself to get by.
The two of them had never signed a contract, nor had they sworn an oath to grow old together. There were no marriage certificates to bind them, nor a child born of their love. Wasn't breaking up just a matter of moving out?
The affairs of two people couldn't be dictated by him alone forever.
She didn't want him anymore. She was dumping him, plain and simple, clean and decisive.
In all his life, this was the first time Jiang Sheng had ever felt like life had punched him square in the face.
'Isn't it better to remain polite and maintain the dignity of adults?'
Seeing her frown, he instantly understood what she meant.
He just wasn't used to it.
How had the gentle, considerate girl from before suddenly become so sharp-tongued?
It felt like his Little Fairy was gone, and the one talking to him now was a chili pepper spirit—the kind that grows on the border between the mortal and nether worlds.
Just a few words from her had left him flustered, red-faced, and utterly speechless.
"So, goodbye, Jiang Sheng. Let's part ways here and never see each other again."
Ni Bingyan's voice was hoarse, and the rims of her eyes were red.
Saying those words to his face was difficult for her, too.
It wasn't that she couldn't bear to part with this man who was a stranger to her, but that her heart ached for the original owner of this body.
After he appeared, memories of everything the original owner had done for this man kept flooding her mind. She pitied her, pitied her so terribly.
So many sweet yet painful nights!
A girl in her early twenties, fresh as a flower, desperately clinging to a hopeless love, trapped in a dilemma.
She wanted nothing more than to give him a good beating, but she also knew that silly girl would have been heartbroken. And he hadn't committed such a terrible crime, so it really wasn't warranted.
"You probably don't know this, but my dad is a great cook. And my family... we're not poor."
'So I don't need you to feed me, nor do I need the clothes and jewelry you buy for me.'
'I wasn't with you for that house, or in the hopes that you'd give me some great resources.'
'If she had really been that ambitious, with her experience acting in movies since her sophomore year of college, she could have coasted and still been better off than she is now.'
In the past, she had shackled herself for love, willing to chase it one-sidedly, all for the slim possibility of a "one life, one world, one pair" kind of love. But now, she was no longer willing.
The original owner's head wasn't clear, but she was different. She was sobriety personified.
She had a father now, too.
Her father had raised her like a precious jewel in the palm of his hand, not so she could debase herself like that.
The original owner felt this man was more important than her own father, but she didn't see it that way.
Watching the tears fall one by one from her eyes, Jiang Sheng suddenly became restless and agitated.
He had always thought he treated her very well. He never expected she harbored so much resentment in her heart.
She wanted to marry him.
He knew all along.
But he had never once considered the possibility.
Both his own convictions and his family's traditions told him that a girl like her was not suitable to be his wife.
For a moment, he was utterly lost.
'Go back, Jiang Sheng. Just leave it like this, Jiang Sheng,' he thought to himself.
But another voice deep inside him kept him from standing up, from taking a step away.
His intuition told him that if he just left like this, he would definitely regret it.