Chapter 116: Chapter 114: Yixia in Haute Couture

Lu Fan was surprised. He hadn’t realized when Jiang Yixia had gotten so witty.

He immediately started teasing her. "I guess we’re finally untangling the bad karma from our past lives."

"Who said anything about bad karma with you? Hmph," Jiang Yixia retorted.

Just as the two were bantering, Director Huang was the first to emerge from the interrogation room.

Seeing this, Lu Fan stood up. "Director Huang."

Director Huang saw him and hurried over. "Hello, Mr. Lu."

Then he turned to Jiang Yixia. "Ms. Jiang, we’ve completed our investigation. She confessed. She was jealous of your shop’s success, so she deliberately bought a bouquet, went home, and ate peanuts. She has a peanut allergy and wanted to use the reaction to frame you."

"I see." Jiang Yixia nodded. "So my name is cleared."

"What’s going to happen to her?" Lu Fan asked tentatively.

Director Huang didn’t dare hesitate. "According to administrative procedure, she’ll be detained for seven days for disturbing the peace. As for suing her for slander and defamation like you mentioned earlier, that would have to go through the court system."

Just then, an elderly man hurried over.

He grabbed Lu Fan’s hand and pleaded, "I’m so sorry. My wife wasn’t thinking straight. I’m truly sorry. Please, I’m begging you, forgive her."

"Why didn’t you ask us to forgive her when she was busy framing us?" Lu Fan said, unmoved.

’People this malicious need to be taught a harsh lesson they won’t forget.’

Hearing this, the old man looked like he was about to drop to his knees and beg. "I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I was watching TV; I had no idea she would do something like this. How about this? We can pay you. Just please don’t sue her."

"I don’t want your money," Lu Fan said calmly. "I want your wife to go to jail."

"I’m sorry, I’m truly sorry..." the old man apologized again, his voice full of sincerity.

Just then, a police officer led Aunt Chen out of the interrogation room.

Aunt Chen was in tears, clearly regretting her actions from earlier that evening.

Seeing her husband desperately begging them for forgiveness made her heart ache even more.

Through her tears, she looked at Lu Fan and Jiang Yixia. "I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. My brain just short-circuited for a moment."

Jiang Yixia remained silent.

Finally, she looked at Lu Fan and said, "Forget it. Let’s drop the lawsuit. There’s no need to blow this out of proportion."

She wasn’t about to play the saint, though. She emphasized, "But the seven days of administrative detention is my bottom line. If people can do wrong without facing any consequences, then everyone will start acting recklessly."

As soon as Jiang Yixia relented, the old man was immediately grateful. "Yes, yes! As long as... as long as she doesn’t go to jail, a few days in a detention center to reflect is fine."

He then turned to Aunt Chen. "Hurry up and thank them! Otherwise, you’ll go to jail! This is slander, it’s defamation! You’d have to face criminal charges."

Although Aunt Chen still didn’t want to go to the detention center, she knew this was probably the best possible outcome.

So she nodded and thanked them. "Thank you!"

And just like that, the whole farce was finally over. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

As they walked toward the entrance of the police station, Lu Fan asked Jiang Yixia, "Why did you forgive them?"

"I didn’t forgive them," Jiang Yixia replied. "Isn’t she still getting seven days in detention?"

"But we could have pressed criminal charges. I have a legal team; we could have dragged it out," Lu Fan explained.

Jiang Yixia shook her head. "I was planning to, at first. But when I saw her husband apologizing over and over, I just thought, ’Forget it.’"

"You’re too kind-hearted," Lu Fan remarked.

As they walked out of the police station, he saw Jiang Yixia start to walk off on her own. "Yixia, wait up!" he called out. "Get in, I’ll give you a ride home."

"No, thanks. I’ll get home on my own," Jiang Yixia refused flatly.

Seeing this, Lu Fan said to Chen He, "In that case, I’ll walk back with her. You can head off."

"Understood, Boss."

So Lu Fan got out of the car and hurried to catch up with Jiang Yixia. "Hey, wait for me, Yixia!"

When Jiang Yixia saw Lu Fan catching up, she said with a sigh, "You have a luxury car, but you insist on walking with me."

"Walking is good for your health," Lu Fan said with a smile.

"A big-shot boss who’d rather walk than ride in his car. I don’t know if you’re dumb or just an idiot," Jiang Yixia retorted mercilessly.

Lu Fan just teased her back. "Call me dumb, call me an idiot, I don’t care. It’s been a long time since we walked down the street together. This is a perfect chance for us to grow closer."

"Who wants to grow closer to you..." Jiang Yixia muttered in protest.

But Lu Fan didn’t mind.

As they walked, he said, "Silu’s been working really hard these last couple of days. When she’s not in class, she’s drawing. I think her piece for the competition is due in a couple of days."

"She told me. You even got her a presidential suite and bought her a ton of new clothes."

Jiang Yixia frowned, speechless. "I get that you want to make it up to her, but this isn’t the way to do it. A nice single room would have been fine. Did she really need a presidential suite? You know the saying: it’s hard to go from lavish to lean."

Lu Fan nodded. "Of course I understand that. At first, I was thinking I shouldn’t go too fast, worried Silu wouldn’t be able to handle it. But then a thought occurred to me: Why should she have to go back to being lean at all? I can just let her live lavishly forever."

"Money isn’t infinite. It’ll run out someday," Jiang Yixia shot back. "Don’t you go messing up Silu’s values."

"You don’t have to worry about that. Silu’s values are much better than I ever imagined," Lu Fan said with a smile. "I even had some of the lemonade she made herself. It’s the first time I’ve ever had a drink made by my daughter."

Jiang Yixia saw how happy he looked. ’Even though I don’t want to see this bastard so pleased with himself...’

’...seeing that he and our daughter were getting along a little better did make me feel a sense of relief.’

After all, she didn’t want Silu and Sifan to grow up without a father’s presence.

But Jiang Yixia still shot back, "If you’d had a shred of conscience back then, you could have been drinking your daughter’s homemade drinks years ago."

"Yixia, I really was a bastard back then. I admit it. And I have to apologize to you. You’ve been through a lot because of me all these years," Lu Fan replied earnestly.

Jiang Yixia didn’t say anything, but after hearing his words, she started walking a little faster.

Just then, a little girl holding a bouquet of flowers walked up to Lu Fan. "Mister," she said, "buy a flower for your sweetheart."

Hearing this, Jiang Yixia quickly shook her head and explained, "Little miss, you’ve got it wrong."

Lu Fan, however, just grinned. "Sure. How much for the bouquet?"

"You want the whole bouquet, Mister? It’s fifty yuan," the little girl explained.

As he spoke, Lu Fan started to pull out his phone to pay.

Seeing this, Jiang Yixia frowned. "You’re really going to buy it for that much?"

"Some things are priceless," Lu Fan said, completing the payment.

After receiving the money, the little girl immediately handed the bouquet to Lu Fan. "Mister, I hope you’re happy every day, and that you and the pretty lady will be happy together forever."

With that, she scampered off.

Jiang Yixia heard this and was about to say something, but seeing the girl had already run off, she just let it go.

Lu Fan then held out the bouquet to Jiang Yixia. "Here, for you. The most beautiful flowers for the most beautiful woman."

"I have flowers at my own shop. I don’t need you to give me any," Jiang Yixia said, unappreciatively.

Hearing this, Lu Fan said with a sigh of mock regret, "Well, in that case, I guess I’ll just throw them out."

He started walking toward a nearby trash can.

Seeing that he was actually going to throw the bouquet away, she couldn’t bear it. Gritting her teeth, she finally snapped, "Give it here!"

She knew he was waiting for her to give in.

And he wasn’t really going to throw them away.

They both knew exactly what the other was thinking.

Lu Fan walked back to her and shamelessly placed the flowers in her hands. "Like I said, the most beautiful flowers for the most beautiful woman."

With no other choice, Jiang Yixia accepted them.

The two continued walking, and Lu Fan took the opportunity to bring up the past. "Hey, back when I was running that street stall, we used to sing a song on our way home together. Do you remember it?"

"I don’t remember," Jiang Yixia said immediately.

"But I haven’t even said what song it was," Lu Fan said with a smile.

’She knew he was trying to trap her again.’

She had no choice but to double down. "I don’t remember singing any songs."

"We used to love singing *You Are My Eyes.* Why don’t we sing it together now?" Lu Fan suggested.

Not wanting to make a fool of herself in the middle of the street, Jiang Yixia said flatly, "If you want to sing, you can sing by yourself. I’m not singing."

That was exactly what Lu Fan wanted to hear.

He began to sing softly, "You are my eyes, showing me the changing of the seasons. You are my eyes, leading me through the jostling crowds~~"

Jiang Yixia didn’t say a word while he sang.

But the sound of his singing did stir something in her.

After so many years, this was the first time she’d heard Lu Fan sing that song again.

Back then, her favorite thing had been listening to him sing on their way home.

But after she left, a full eighteen years had passed before she heard it again.

Now, Jiang Yixia’s heart was filled with a complex mix of emotions, and she didn’t know what to say.

Soon, they arrived back at Jinmei District.

After walking her to the entrance of her apartment building, Lu Fan said, "Alright, Yixia, I won’t go up. Get some rest."

"Oh."

Jiang Yixia didn’t linger, stepping straight into the elevator.

The reason Lu Fan didn’t go up was that he had a surprise planned for her.

A little while earlier, he had asked Chen He to place some custom-designed dresses from an international designer in front of her door.

He was just waiting for her to go upstairs.

’If his daughter gets gifts, her mother has to get them too.’

Sure enough, as the elevator doors opened, Jiang Yixia immediately noticed several exquisite boxes sitting by her front door.

She wasn’t stupid; she instantly understood why Lu Fan hadn’t come up with her.

She then bent down and carried all the boxes inside.

’Jiang Yixia wasn’t one to be needlessly difficult. If the things that guy gave her were useful, she might as well use them.’

’Besides, using things that bastard bought for her didn’t weigh on her conscience much.’

Once inside, she opened a box and saw an incredibly exquisite long dress.

It was so beautiful that even a composed woman like Jiang Yixia was a little stunned.

It’s just a woman’s nature.

Seeing a beautiful piece of clothing, you can’t help but marvel.

She carefully carried the dresses to her bedside, held them up to herself in front of the mirror, and after a moment’s hesitation, changed into one.

A moment later, a poised, beautiful, and effortlessly elegant woman appeared in the mirror.

Jiang Yixia looked herself over, checking the fit, then blushed and muttered to herself, "That guy... after all these years, he still bought clothes in my size from eighteen years ago. It’s a good thing I haven’t gained any weight..."