Chapter 54

Since she mentioned that silence is golden, the man across from her had fallen completely silent. The food arrived quickly, and if she tried to justify Jiang Sixun’s quietness again, she could only attribute it to the age-old rule of “food before words.”

Qi Zhengchen, unfazed by the change, interjected with an explanation for Xu Zhiyi: “That’s just how he is. When he’s in a mood to spar with words, he’s unstoppable; when he doesn’t want to talk, it’s like prying open a vault.”

He added a precautionary note, “If he goes quiet one day, it’s not personal. Don’t go home wondering what you said wrong to upset your boss.”

“Are you still going to intern at Yuanwei during the winter break?” Qi Zhengchen suddenly asked.

Xu Zhiyi replied, “I should be.” She glanced at the man, and this time, their eyes locked. He met her gaze openly, making her feel surprisingly self-conscious.

Fearing he might read her thoughts, she forced herself not to look away until he finally averted his gaze. She let out a quiet sigh of relief before turning back to her brother. “I’ll be going over the weekend to assist Jiang as a temporary aide.”

“That means you won’t have any time to rest,” he remarked.

“Classes aren’t too overwhelming, so it should be fine,” she reassured him.

Qi Zhengchen took a slice of bread and dipped it in tomato sauce for a few seconds. If he didn’t let it soak long enough, it wouldn’t absorb the flavor; too long, and the bread would lose its crispness. He handed her the perfectly dipped slice.

“Are you still living in the same rental?” he asked.

Xu Zhiyi took a bite of the bread. “Yeah, I talked to my dad about continuing to share.”

Jiang Sixun stayed silent the entire time, simply listening to the conversation between the two of them.

Inviting Xu Zhiyi to be his assistant had happened before Qi Zhengchen confessed his feelings for her. Back then, he assumed her crush on Qi Zhengchen was one-sided and thought helping her move on would be best. But now, it turned out the feelings were mutual.

So, should he still have her assist him on weekends?

He mulled it over throughout the entire meal.

After paying the bill and leaving the restaurant, he still hadn’t reached a clear decision.

“Are you heading back to your apartment or…” He paused, realizing Qi Zhengchen was still present. “Or should I take you to Xu Heng’s place?”

Standing several meters away, Xu Zhiyi didn’t catch what he said clearly over the busy street filled with cars and pedestrians. “What did you say?”

Jiang Sixun replied, “Let Qi Zhengchen take you home.”

“Alright.” She waved and said, “Goodbye.”

He nodded. “Goodbye.”

Jiang’s car arrived first. After greeting Qi Zhengchen, he stepped into the car. Before the door closed, he glanced out the window one last time.

In the backseat of her brother’s car, Qi Zhengchen asked, “Do you want to head back to the apartment or explore a bit more?”

“Let’s head home. You need to rest and adjust to the time zone,” she replied.

“I’m fine,” Qi Zhengchen said, turning on the car’s overhead light so she could elevate her foot, the one she had sprained before. “Let me see how it’s healing.”

“It’s fine now. I can walk normally without any pain.” She raised her foot and pressed the injured area herself. “See? No pain.”

“Make sure to let it heal completely,” he advised. “Try not to play basketball for the next three months.”

“I’ll be careful,” she promised, lowering her foot.

Qi Zhengchen turned off the light, plunging the car into soft darkness.

He said, “Once November comes and I’m more settled at work, I’ll fly over on weekends and play ball with you.”

“No need for that. It’s exhausting to keep flying back and forth. Besides, I play with my roommates a lot, and now I’ve got two more practice partners.”

“Your brother and Jiang Sixun?”

“Yep.”

“They can’t play,” he chuckled. “I have nothing to do most weekends in Boston, so coming over would be a nice excuse to hang out with you guys.”

Just as they were talking, Xu Zhiyi’s mother, He Yi’an, called.

These days, her mom called every single day.

During the days she was home with a sprained ankle, He Yi’an had slept beside her, massaging her foot and applying medicine each night. Xu Zhiyi had started to grow attached to this routine, no longer feeling the need to ask if something was wrong when her mom called.

“Hi, Mom,” she answered.

He Yi’an knew she had dinner with Qi Zhengchen and Jiang Sixun that night. “Have you eaten yet?”

“We’re already on our way back.”

“Your dad’s coming to see you tomorrow. Is there anything you want me to pack for you?”

Her dad treated traveling between Shanghai and Manhattan like it was just across the city. He visited often, but she worried about the toll those long flights might take on him. “It’s such a long flight; it must be exhausting.”

Her mom chuckled, “He’s excited to see you.”

“Oh, can you pack that turquoise halter dress I left behind? I forgot to put it in my suitcase last time.”

“You really like that dress?”

“Yeah.”

As for why she liked it so much, that was something she wasn’t ready to tell her mom just yet.

After hanging up, He Yi’an told her husband, “She only wants me to pack one dress—nothing else.”

Xu Xiangyi commented, “From now on, buy her two of everything she likes. That way, she won’t miss anything or have to wait to wear her favorite clothes.”

“I didn’t know she liked that one so much,” He Yi’an mused. “It’s a pretty basic design, and she’s got more than one turquoise dress in her closet.”

Xu Xiangyi shrugged while sorting through some of their daughter’s old competition certificates. “Kids today have different tastes from us.”

While they chatted, he continued organizing the certificates, taking photos of each one and stacking them in chronological order. There were two packages on the floor, containing some of Zhiyi’s old textbooks, notebooks, and sketchbooks—sent by her grandfather, who had cleaned out his study and deemed these items precious enough to mail over.

---

Meanwhile, back in Manhattan.

Jiang Sixun arrived home to find his father watching a live basketball game on TV. A rare sight—his dad was usually the type to watch games in person at the stadium.

His father had been in Manhattan for over a week now and had stayed at his place the entire time. Something that never used to happen.

A bottle of soda sat on the coffee table. Jiang Sixun grabbed it, opened it, and took a swig. “Staying here this long—are you planning to use my landline to call Mom?”

Lu Jianbo frowned. “Jiang Sixun, stop being so petty.”

Jiang wasn’t in the mood to argue and carried his cold drink upstairs.

Lu Jianbo watched his son’s retreating figure. Ever since that night in the office when Jiang Sixun had taken a call from Qi Zhengchen, he had become noticeably quieter.

Back in his room, Jiang checked his watch, estimating whether Xu Zhiyi had arrived home.

[Let me know when you get home.]

Xu Zhiyi replied instantly: [Okay.]

A moment later, another message came in: [What about you? Are you home yet?]

[Just got home.] he texted back.

She sent an “OK” hand gesture emoji.

Jiang tossed his phone aside and began unbuttoning his shirt on the way to the bathroom.

Suddenly, the phone buzzed again. He paused, debating whether to check. Normally, he would wait until after his shower to look, but today, he found himself walking back to the bedside table.

[Why didn’t you say much at dinner tonight?] Xu Zhiyi had texted.

Jiang Sixun: “Just thinking about something.”

Xu Zhiyi: “Have you figured it out yet? Got any time to give me some advice?”

Jiang paused for a few seconds before replying, “You could always ask the person sitting next to you.”

After about three minutes, she finally responded.

Xu Zhiyi: “Am I bothering you?”

Jiang Sixun: “Not at all.”

He planned to leave it at those three words, but after a few seconds, he added: “You can always reach out to me.”

Switching the topic away from Qi Zhengchen, Jiang asked: “So, what kind of advice do you need?”

Xu Zhiyi: “It’s not really about advice.” In truth, she just wanted an excuse to chat with him for a bit. Lately, he seemed busy and hadn’t reached out to her as much.

She continued typing:

“I’ve been worrying that he might see me as immature.” That he only saw her as a younger sister.

“I wish I’d already finished my master’s degree, or that I were 24 or 25.”

Jiang Sixun: “No need to overthink it.”

It was clear from her messages that she was troubled. If the person she liked was really Qi Zhengchen, Jiang could help her clear things up. Why let her remain in a state of uncertainty?

“Zhiyi, just tell me who this person is. That way, I can give you advice that actually applies. If I don’t know them, I can always find out—it’s easy for me to gather information on someone.”

Xu Zhiyi nervously but subtly hid the truth in her next message:

“Jiang, I wanted to ask you…”

After a few seconds of hesitation, she sent another message:

“Do you, with your experience and age, see me as immature?”

Jiang assumed that first message, where she only typed “Jiang,” was sent by accident—probably an unfinished thought. He often did the same, sending half a message by mistake.

He responded: “You’re only 20. You haven’t entered the workforce yet, haven’t led your own projects, and haven’t been exposed to the complexities of people. How mature do you think you could be?”

Xu Zhiyi: “You’ll know who it is when I confess to him.”

Jiang stopped pushing for answers and instead asked: “How long until you get home?” He wanted to talk to her about the assistant position over the phone.

Xu Zhiyi: “Almost there—five more minutes, max. How about you call me?”

Jiang didn’t quite get her logic; she could just call him once she got home. But he still agreed. “Sure.”

He waited five more minutes, then ten, before finally dialing her number. She picked up immediately.

After closing her bedroom door, she asked, “What did you want to talk about?”

Jiang got straight to the point. “I’ve realized that it wasn’t a well-thought-out plan to have you be my assistant on weekends—you’d lose your free time.”

Xu Zhiyi’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly reassured him, “I’ve spent my weekends studying for years; I’m used to it. It’s not tiring at all.”

Jiang, unable to refuse her determination, gave in after some internal struggle. “Alright, you can be my assistant until the end of winter break.”

“Just six months?”

“Yeah.”

Six months was better than nothing.

After the call, Jiang sat on the sofa, staring out the window in silence. He didn’t move to the bathroom or even check his phone. An hour passed before he snapped out of his thoughts.

He stood up, still skipping the shower, and grabbed his phone as he headed to the study next door.

He had promised to personally mentor her, but now that clearly wasn’t an option.

With six months ahead of them, Jiang decided to make the most of it. He drafted a plan on how to teach her as much as possible while she worked as his assistant.

By the time the plan was ready, it was already dawn.

---

The next day.

After running 10 kilometers and taking a shower, Jiang headed downstairs. His father was at the dining table, in the middle of a video conference. It was likely with someone from the London office, given the time.

Lu Jianbo glanced at his son before wrapping up the meeting in Cantonese.

Removing his headset, he asked, “Are you going to the Austin Grand Prix in October? If you want to go, I’ll save you a ticket.”

Remembering that Xu Heng was planning to take Xu Zhiyi, Jiang said, “No, I’m not going.”

Lu Jianbo didn’t argue—whether his son went or not was up to him.

Closing his laptop, he handed it to the butler and stood up, grabbing his suit jacket to leave.

Jiang eyed the lavish breakfast spread on the table. “Aren’t you having breakfast?”

“It’s all for you. I have a breakfast meeting.” Without turning around, Lu Jianbo walked out of the villa.

---

After driving for half an hour, Lu Jianbo arrived at the restaurant he had agreed upon. Though he usually ate breakfast alone, today was a rare exception.

“Uncle Lu!” Yu Rui waved eagerly, having arrived 20 minutes earlier.

As he approached, she stood and apologized, “I’m flying back to Hong Kong this afternoon. I only found out last night that you were also in Manhattan, so I could only arrange this quick breakfast. I’ll make sure to thank you properly next time.”

Lu Jianbo sat down, pulling out a chair. “There’s no need to be so formal.”

Yu Rui smiled. “Well, I’m also thanking you on behalf of my boyfriend. He’s the outsider, after all.”

Her boyfriend had taken some friends to a basketball game recently, and Lu Jianbo had provided VIP tickets—exclusive seats that weren’t available to the public, no matter how much you were willing to pay.

When it came to young people, Lu Jianbo was always kind and approachable. “You’re engaged now, so he’s hardly an outsider. Next time you want tickets, just ask Secretary Cai to reserve them.”

Yu Rui smiled and agreed, but if you looked closely, her smile had dimmed slightly.

She had no feelings for her fiancé. Their engagement was purely a business arrangement. They had dragged it out for a long time before finally deciding to make it official. Ironically, not long after their engagement, she heard that Jiang Sixun and Ning Yun had broken up—a topic that was hot gossip in their social circles. Some said their relationship had always been fake, a strategic move, while others believed it had become real, but Jiang wasn’t ready to settle down. To save face, Ning Yun claimed they had never truly been together.

“Is it real or not? There’s no way Uncle Lu doesn’t know,” Yu Rui thought.

She knew her thoughts couldn’t escape Lu Jianbo’s sharp perception. No matter how well she tried to hide it, if he wanted to figure something out, all it took was a glance.

So she asked him directly, “Uncle Lu, is Jiang Sixun and Ning Yun’s relationship real or not?”

Lu Jianbo responded calmly, “What do they say about it? I haven’t been paying attention lately.”

Yu Rui suspected that his lack of interest had more to do with the shock of Lu Jianliang marrying Shen Qingfeng. That must have hit him hard, enough that he stopped caring about even his own son’s engagement plans.

She replied, “Ning Yun says it’s fake.”

Lu Jianbo responded simply, “Then it’s not real.”

Yu Rui was left speechless.

That answered nothing.

But the oil painting Ning Yun received for her birthday was real. Yu Rui had confirmed it—Jiang Sixun had bought it and given it to her as a gift. Maybe, at some point, the rumors were true: a fake relationship that became real.

Since Lu Jianbo had already brushed it off, there was no point in pressing further. Yu Rui decided to shift topics.

“Uncle Lu, as your junior, I’m not sure if I should say this.”

Lu Jianbo said plainly, “There’s no such thing as should or shouldn’t.”

Yu Rui took a breath. “Please forgive me if I’m being too forward. I’ve met Shen Qingfeng before, and she is indeed very beautiful. Even I couldn’t help but take a second look. But it’s not about her beauty. Greed and ambition are one thing—I won’t claim to be free of those myself. But at the very least, a person should have some sense of decency and integrity, right? Uncle Lu, don’t you agree? No matter how pretty someone like her is, she’s not worth your time.”

Lu Jianbo remained calm, smiling as he asked, “And what kind of person is she, exactly?”

Yu Rui couldn’t tell him the whole truth, so she simply said, “Let’s just say, she’s not a good person. Please don’t let her cause any more trouble between you and Jiang Sixun. For years, he’s had unresolved issues with you because of her.”

Lu Jianbo gave a polite smile, “Thank you.”

After breakfast, Yu Rui hurried to the airport.

Back in the car, Lu Jianbo sent a voice message to his son: “Tell Xu Heng that there’s no point wasting any more time at the hospital. He won’t find any useful evidence.”

Jiang Sixun responded, “Did Second Uncle say that?”

Lu Jianbo replied, “I haven’t been in contact with your uncle,” though he was certain this was connected to him somehow.

He then instructed his assistant, Secretary Cai: “Keep an eye on my brother, and while you’re at it, watch Old Yu’s side too.”

Jiang Sixun received the voice message just as he arrived at his office building. He hadn’t even set foot on the steps when he heard someone call out, “Good morning.”

It was Xu Zhiyi.

She skipped the formal “Mr. Jiang” greeting.

Turning around, Jiang saw her already standing in front of him. “It’s Sunday,” she said, reminding him. It was her first official day as his weekend assistant.

Jiang checked his watch. “There’s no need to come this early in the future. Arriving before nine is fine.”

Xu Zhiyi stepped up onto the first stair, meeting his gaze directly. “Coming early gives me more time to learn.”

They entered the building together.

Since her internship had ended, Xu Zhiyi had returned her ID badge and access card, so she had to check in at the reception desk to enter the building.

“You go ahead and scan your face. I’ll check in at the desk,” she told Jiang.

Jiang said, “No need for that. Just follow me in.”

The building had strict security, and Xu Zhiyi cast a glance toward the guards. “They won’t let me through.”

Jiang replied, “If you’re with me, they won’t stop you. This building is owned by my father, Lu Jianbo.”

Xu Zhiyi was surprised. “He owns the whole building?”

“Yes.”

No wonder Jiang Sixun seemed so uninterested in the Lu family’s assets.

He led her to the leftmost turnstile, and she followed, keeping about 20 or 30 centimeters between them. Jiang was over a head taller than her, so all she could see was his broad back.

The machine beeped as Jiang passed through after scanning his face.

She rushed to get through before the gate closed, moving so quickly that she almost collided with him. Instinctively, she put her hand out to prevent the impact, bracing herself against his back.

Jiang paused, didn’t look back, but reached out slightly to steady her. “No need to rush. You have plenty of time.”

“I was worried I’d get stuck in the middle,” Xu Zhiyi admitted.

They walked to the elevator in silence, with Xu Zhiyi trailing two steps behind.

Once inside, Jiang broke the quiet. “Did Qi Zhengchen leave?”

“He’s heading to Boston today,” she answered.

“Will he be coming back to New York?” Jiang realized only after asking that he was paying far too much attention to Qi’s schedule.

“Yes, he’s flying back to China from here.”

Jiang nodded, saying nothing more.

When they reached his office, Jiang offered her his desk and computer, pulling up another chair and opening a second laptop for himself.

They had worked like this before, but Xu Zhiyi still needed a moment to calm her racing heart.

Jiang gave her some tasks to do, then got busy with his own work.

Looking at the projects in front of her, Xu Zhiyi commented, “I’ve never worked on anything like this before.” The workload was heavy, and the tasks were difficult.

Jiang reassured her, “I’m right here. If you don’t understand something, just ask.”

Xu Zhiyi switched to a more formal tone. “Mr. Jiang?”

“Hm?” He looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

“You promised to mentor me, remember?” she reminded him.

“I haven’t forgotten.” He had already begun mentoring her—but there were only six months left.

The man asked her, “Why bring this up all of a sudden?”

Xu Zhiyi replied, “I still have to go to Boston for grad school. I’m worried you’ll get too busy and forget about me. You might end up mentoring someone else and won’t have time for me.”

Jiang Sixun stared at her for a few seconds, carefully keeping his voice steady. “You should focus on your work. If you don’t, you won’t finish by the end of the day.”