Chapter 52 Stealing a Glance

Jiang Ying called her father the next day at noon, explicitly stating her terms to him. As expected, Jiang Zhiwen reacted with intense emotion, sighing repeatedly and claiming that she could not comprehend a father's feelings. He added that she would only understand him when she reached the age of forty or fifty.

Some people live through a long life without ever truly understanding it, finding no logical basis for their actions, yet they love to use their age as leverage, declaring that life is simply meant to be this way.

For half his life, Jiang Zhiwen had been trapped in the singular mire of a failed marriage. Divorcing Wang Xin was not merely an emotional failure to him; it felt like a total negation of his worth as a person. Therefore, when Wang Xin returned to seek him out, Jiang Zhiwen derived a profound sense of psychological validation from it.

Jiang Ying saw the situation with crystal clarity and exhausted every pleasant persuasion on Jiang Zhiwen.

She offered her father one final piece of advice:

"Dad, this has nothing to do with age. Deep down, you know very well that both when Mom left back then and when she came back now, she did it entirely for herself, without ever taking you seriously. Think about it for yourself—if the two of you really get back together, will your life be any better than it is now? The two of you can barely scrape by supporting yourselves."

Hearing her words, Jiang Zhiwen fell into a prolonged silence on the other end of the line. In the end, he reluctantly accepted her terms and promised to make things clear to Wang Xin.

This was also Jiang Ying's explicit demand. Having her father address this with Wang Xin directly was far more effective than her intervening personally, and it would also force Wang Xin to see that Jiang Zhiwen actually held very little genuine affection for her.

With the matter settled, Jiang Zhiwen could not help but feel saddened. Choking back tears, he said, "Yingying, once again, Daddy only has you left now."

In the past, Jiang Zhiwen frequently kept this phrase on his lips, and every time Jiang Ying heard it, a pang of heartache would pierce her, prompting her to comfort him and assure him of her love. But now, having experienced much herself, Jiang Ying realized that this statement was a perilous trap.

It was a self-imposed prison of Jiang Zhiwen's own making, as well as an attempt to hijack her life.

"Dad, we are family, but you have your own life, and I have mine. Look forward and live the second half of your life well."

For the first time, she made her stance explicitly clear, her voice resolute.

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Ying sat at her dormitory desk, dazed for a moment, before letting out a long, heavy sigh.

She felt a wondrous sensation, one that reminded her of an abandoned drainage ditch in the corner of her childhood residential complex.

Back in elementary school, every weekend, Meng Shao would drag her around the neighborhood. He was as restless as a monkey, constantly leaping about. On one occasion, he challenged her to a standing broad jump across that drainage ditch to see who dared to clear it.

The ditch was half a meter wide and shallow, yet pitch black and filthy. Because she was short, Jiang Ying had not dared to jump. For a very long time afterward, she felt that ditch was insurmountable, as wide as an abyss.

It was not until after the national college entrance examination, when she received her acceptance letter from Huada University and Meng Shao was preparing to study design in England, that they took one last stroll through the old neighborhood and happened to pass by the ditch once more. By then, both of them had grown up and grown taller; with a light stride and a gentle leap, they effortlessly crossed the hurdle that once seemed impossible in their childhood.

At this moment, Jiang Ying felt that her relationship with Jiang Zhiwen was just like that drainage ditch.

She had crossed it.

Yet she hardly knew how to describe her relationship with Lu Zhixi; at the very least, it did not resemble a filthy ditch.

Following her breakup with Yu Siyan, Lu Zhixi had closed in step by step, forcing her attention onto him. And when Jiang Ying cast her gaze toward him once more, reason and emotion invariably plunged into a prolonged and arduous struggle.

When Lu Zhixi held her, grasped her hands, and kissed her, countless memories intertwined with complex, obscure emotions, crowding together inside her chest.

Happy, yet sorrowful.

Reluctant to let go, yet unable to hold on.

Desiring to draw close, yet wishing to retreat.

Both she and Lu Zhixi had slipped into a state of nervous tension, ill at ease.

Jiang Ying thought Zhou Ningning was right: all relationships are meant to bring a sense of ease. If they brought only discomfort, she might as well look ahead and move on.

Over these past few days, she had figured out how to communicate such matters with Lu Zhixi, provided she found the right moment and the appropriate approach.

She believed he would accept it.

Her phone chimed with several notifications. Snapping back to reality, Jiang Ying unlocked the screen to find messages from a multitude of people.

There was Meng Shao asking if the situation with her parents had been resolved; Yu Siyan inquiring if her flu had fully cleared; Zhou Ningning, having just finished discussing her thesis with her advisor, urging her to hurry out to the cafeteria together; and Professor Lin, her academic advisor, reminding her to review the target journals once her graduation thesis was finalized.

The lively barrage of messages pulled her out of her somewhat gloomy mood. After replying to them one by one, she scrolled down her chat list and spotted a message from Professor Cheng.

That morning, Jiang Ying had sent Professor Cheng a photo of herself playing tennis over the weekend, prompting the professor to quickly send an encouraging digital red packet in response.

Upon opening it, Jiang Ying discovered it contained 66.6 yuan! She immediately replied with a "Thank you, Boss" sticker.

Professor Cheng sent a string of thumbs-up emojis: "Keep reporting your workouts next time for more rewards. Strive to build up your physical strength and fight for the academic cause for another sixty years!"

Girls of any age seemed utterly incapable of resisting pink things, as Professor Cheng even asked where Jiang Ying had bought that pink tennis ball so she could use a pink one herself next time she played.

After chatting for a while, Professor Cheng mentioned that an academic forum would be held in Hong Kong in half a month. She would be giving a presentation at the forum and planned to take three students along to participate and exchange ideas, asking if Jiang Ying would like to go.

With that, Professor Cheng forwarded an electronic brochure introducing the forum.

When Jiang Ying opened it, a wave of instant excitement washed over her.

This academic forum was scheduled in Hong Kong partly to accommodate scholars traveling from many different countries, choosing a city with relatively convenient travel as a compromise. On the list of attendees, she spotted the name of Professor Laura Brown from the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Professor Brown's research focused on cognitive and clinical directions, exactly the specialization she hoped to pursue for her master's and doctoral program.

Coincidentally, Jiang Ying had applied to Professor Cheng's research team precisely because she intended to study under Professor Brown eventually, and thus wished to accumulate more clinical research experience.

The wondrous aspect of life was that opportunities always emerged unexpectedly, provided one kept moving forward.

Jiang Ying did not even realize that her face had blossomed into a radiant smile as she replied to Professor Cheng. Perhaps due to her overwhelming excitement, her message lacked its usual formal and conventional tone.

Bug: "Going, going, going!"
Professor Cheng: "Wonderful."

Clearly, Professor Cheng was a teacher who kept pace with the times and was quite adept at utilizing the various features of WeChat.

Thus, just when Jiang Ying thought the conversation had concluded, she saw a line of text appear in the chat window—

"Jasmine Ching" patted Bug's antennae and was poisoned to death.

Professor Cheng: "I knew patting a student's profile picture would always bring surprises [grin]"

***

"I am going to Hong Kong with you as well."

That evening, Lu Zhixi called Jiang Ying as usual. The moment he heard the news of her upcoming trip to Hong Kong, he immediately declared that he would tag along, even offering to purchase first-class tickets for her professor and classmates.

"There's no need, it's only for five days. Besides, you aren't convenient to travel right now, there's no need to come with me," Jiang Ying said.

She could detect a distinct weariness in Lu Zhixi's voice and could roughly guess the reason.

The media was still reporting on his family's affairs these days. Even without professional expertise, she could sense that the farcical drama seemed to have entered its white-hot stage.

Old Mr. Williams had come out of retirement to steady the ship and barely maintain the stock price, but the elderly gentleman was frail and in poor health. Anthony was entangled in investigations, Lu Zhixi's whereabouts were unknown, and Anthony's illegitimate offspring had been exposed for various scandals as early as January, utterly ruining their reputations in the public eye. These developments left major shareholders and ordinary retail investors perpetually doubtful regarding the succession.

The earthquake triggered by this internal family feud was truly breathtaking.

Jiang Ying guessed that Lu Zhixi's continued absence from the public eye was likely due to him negotiating terms with his family behind closed doors.

She had originally intended to schedule a meeting with him that night to sort out the matters between them, but seeing his exhausted state—and knowing she would be just as busy preparing materials for Professor Cheng's trip to Hong Kong over the coming days—she hesitated once more.

After much deliberation, Jiang Ying decided to wait until everything was settled before having a calm conversation. Swallowing back the words hovering on her lips, she asked instead, "You seem very tired. Did you run into something tricky?"

Delighted by her unprompted concern, Lu Zhixi spoke in a gentle voice, "It's nothing. Negotiations are just mentally draining, that's all. Don't worry."

"Then focus on handling your family matters; coming to Hong Kong with me would be a waste of time and effort. We can meet up after you've dealt with things on your end."

For foreigners, entering and exiting Hong Kong was far simpler than crossing the border into the mainland. If Lu Zhixi came along, while it wouldn't pose any grave danger, he might still attract unwanted attention that could disrupt his negotiations.

Yet Lu Zhixi insisted, "I am worried about you."

"This is a society governed by law; I won't be in danger in Hong Kong. Besides, the accommodations and schedule are already fully arranged. Even if you tag along, we won't have much time to see each other."

"It's not a matter of safety..."

He paused, knowing well that Jiang Ying disliked him being overly clingy, and ultimately took a step back. "If you don't want me to go, at least let me arrange bodyguards and a car to pick you up and drop you off, so your travel will be more convenient. If your teacher and classmates ask, just tell them it's a favor from a friend."

Seeing him compromise, Jiang Ying ceased her objections and agreed.

The academic forum in Hong Kong would last for three days, but the organizers had generously provided scholars with five days of accommodation.

Aside from Professor Cheng and Jiang Ying, two other students from Beijing Normal University were attending: a doctoral student named Su Renyuan and a master's student named Liu Jin.

On the very first day of their arrival in Hong Kong, no meetings were scheduled. Not sparing any expense on lodging, the organizers had arranged for the attendees to stay at a five-star hotel located in the Tsim Sha Tsui district. The hotel possessed a long history, appearing both classical and refined. Though their rooms were standard types, they were more than spacious enough and offered magnificent views. Looking out through the bright, square windows, one could catch sight of hillside villas nestled amidst verdant woods.