The Vicious, Vain Stepsister (4)
The people in the private room left quickly. Jiang Xuefu smiled as she said goodbye to the last classmate to leave. "It's fine, I'll head back in a little while."
With that, she turned to look at Lu Zhiyan, who still hadn't moved from his spot in the corner. "Senior, aren't you going back yet?"
Catching the strong smell of alcohol on her, the man frowned, a rare sight.
Why did she drink so much? Was she feeling unwell? She might have a headache tomorrow morning, right?
"Mm, let's go."
He rose as he spoke, but as he passed Jiang Xuefu, he stopped at the sight of her lowered head and seemingly dejected expression.
For some reason, he felt that leaving first would be a heinous crime.
"I'll walk you out."
The girl lifted her head the very next second, her alluring face still flushed with drunkenness. She stood up, then tipped forward into Lu Zhiyan's arms.
"Then thank you, Senior~"
Her soft, coquettish voice sounded by his ear, and her warm breath brushed his collarbone through his thin shirt. Heat flared in Lu Zhiyan's chest, and the tips of his ears turned terribly red.
He couldn't help looking down, but all he could see was the round crown of her head and her carefully styled hair. The rich fragrance of gardenias filled his nose.
Her burgundy hair ribbon had somehow come loose and now hung slack in her slightly disheveled curls.
The man's gaze darkened. He reached out and tugged, and the next second, the ribbon was in his hand.
"Mmm~"
As if she had felt the tug on her hair, Jiang Xuefu raised her head and gave a slightly disgruntled whine.
Her long hair spilled loose, a few strands playfully falling against the forearm Lu Zhiyan had bared by rolling up his sleeve. They tickled, yet made him want to chase after them.
In fact, this wasn't the first time Lu Zhiyan had seen Jiang Xuefu.
They had first met in Shanghai.
He had gone there to attend a business seminar. While caught in traffic on the way, he had glanced outside at random and spotted a dazzling figure by the roadside, a sight all her own.
The girl was wearing a school uniform and carrying a backpack, and seemed to have just gotten out of class. With her were a frail little girl in a school uniform and a maturely dressed woman.
The woman said something that made the girl, who had her arm linked through hers, laugh without stopping.
But the next second, after the woman got into a car and left, the smile vanished from the girl's face. She crossed her arms over her chest and stood with her nose in the air before the frail girl, who had shrunk into a corner.
Though her behavior was awful, Lu Zhiyan, who had witnessed the whole thing, saw nothing wrong with it. Instead, he found her exceptionally adorable, whether she was laughing or angry.
So adorable... he wanted to kiss her.
The memory gradually faded.
He looked at the drunken girl before him, so much like a cat, and his heart softened. Bending down, he scooped her up.
If Tan Shu had still been there, he would probably have cried out in shock again.
Lu Zhiyan carried her all the way to his car. Only after he had arranged the back seat and made Jiang Xuefu comfortable did he give the driver the Su family's address.
Lu Zhiyan had thoroughly investigated her information on the very day she submitted her application form to the student council, so naturally he knew her address by heart.
Jiang Xuefu slept in a daze throughout the ride, finally stirring awake as they neared their destination.
She leaned bonelessly against the backrest, her cheeks flushed. Her eyes, clear and dewy as a sea of stars, stared blankly at Lu Zhiyan, as though her mind had yet to catch up.
Lu Zhiyan couldn't resist leaning a little closer. "Awake?"
"...Mm."
Jiang Xuefu nodded a little sluggishly. The air-conditioning kept the car at a comfortable temperature, and its gentle rocking made it a wonderful place to sleep.
At the thought, she couldn't help yawning again.
"Don't go back to sleep. You're home."
Looking at her like this, Lu Zhiyan felt his heart melt completely. There was no trace left of the aloofness he had shown in the private room.
Jiang Xuefu reclined in the car a little longer, getting out only after her drowsiness had faded.
She looked at Lu Zhiyan, who had personally brought her home, and recalled the room on the villa's second floor whose light she had seen still on when she got out of the car.
The corners of her lips curved up almost imperceptibly. Then she moved close to Lu Zhiyan, rose on tiptoe, and caught him off guard with a hug.
The embrace was over as soon as it began. Standing beneath the warm yellow streetlight, Jiang Xuefu waved at Lu Zhiyan, her beautiful eyes full of a smile she couldn't hide.
"Good night, Lu Zhiyan."
This time, she didn't call him Senior, using his name instead.
Lu Zhiyan's heart stirred, but by the time he thought to say something more, all he could see was her retreating figure as she ran off.
Her slightly tousled black hair swayed through the air. Like a little sprite in the dark of night, flapping her wings again and again, she was unbelievably lovely even from behind.
He smiled, the red ribbon its owner had failed to notice still wrapped suggestively around his wrist.
By the time Jiang Xuefu came in, the villa was already quiet.
Jiang Sheng knew she liked to have fun and had never restricted her in such matters, as long as she kept him informed.
She went into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and got herself a glass of ice water. Even after she finished it, the smile hadn't left her lips.
This was too amusing. She could almost imagine the expression on Su Jiu's bland, insipid face.
What would it be? Anger? Sadness? Jealousy? Envy?
But whichever it was, it would be enough to keep her happy all day.
As she thought about it, Jiang Xuefu even began to hum.
The little princess who had once lived in a castle now had to live at the mercy of Jiang Xuefu's moods.
Jiang Xuefu had been only five when she first came to the Su family.
The little girl, a backpack on her back and her hand in her father's, had walked step by step into a beautiful, castle-like house unlike anything she had ever known.
There, for the first time, she had a princess bedroom of her own. For the first time, she learned that she could open a window and see a beautiful garden, and for the first time, she tasted food so, so delicious...
At Jiang Xuefu's first dinner with the Su family, Su Jiu had just come home from kindergarten.
The little girl ran in wearing an exquisite, beautiful princess dress, followed by a maid who looked after her.
Su Jing picked up her daughter dotingly and began to introduce them. "Xiao Jiu, starting today, you have a big sister."
Little Su Jiu looked in confusion at Xiao Xuefu, whose hand Jiang Sheng was holding. Her round eyes were full of the innocence and curiosity of a child who had grown up cherished.
Jiang Sheng smiled, walked over, and rubbed Little Su Jiu's head. "You must be Xiao Jiu. How cute. Uncle made all the food today. Have a taste and see if you like it, okay?"
"Okay! Thank you, Uncle!"
Five-year-old Little Su Jiu was well-behaved, obedient, and polite, and everyone wore loving, friendly smiles.
But Xiao Xuefu, feeling her own hand empty and watching the little girl smiling happily amid the crowd, had a flicker of emotion in her beautiful eyes that was utterly at odds with her age-envy.
She envied Su Jiu, even when she was very little.
She envied her for having such a beautiful mother, for living in such a beautiful house, and for having so many pretty clothes to wear every day.
But now, she had crushed Su Jiu beneath her feet.
In a room on the second floor.
Su Jiu sat at her desk, quietly staring into space at the diary before her. Tears fell from time to time, soon smudging the black writing on the page.
The scene she had witnessed downstairs kept flashing through her mind.
The two had held each other intimately, Lu Zhiyan's hand pressed firmly against the girl's waist, looking just like a perfect couple.
Su Jiu closed her eyes, a deep sense of unwillingness welling up in her heart.
It was me. I was the one who met Senior Lu first.