Chapter 509: Jiang Yixia: I Don’t Hate You Anymore

The past few days of the New Year holiday passed by leisurely.

Without any visits to relatives or social banquets to attend, the family simply stayed at the villa, eating, drinking tea, chatting, and watching TV.

Jiang Silu turned on the colorful lights every night. They wound from the living room up the staircase railing, twinkling and making the whole villa look like a fairy-tale castle.

On the afternoon of the second day of the New Year, Lu Fan suggested they go out for a while.

“It’s boring to always be cooped up in the house. The scenery by the lake is nice, and it’s only a twenty-minute drive,” he said. He stood in the middle of the living room, a cup of tea in his hand, looking at everyone.

Jiang Silu was the first to respond. She jumped up from the sofa and ran upstairs to change her clothes.

Wen Wan went with her. Jiang Sifan remained on the sofa. Lu Fan glanced at him, and he stood up, said, “I’ll go change my shoes,” and went upstairs too.

Jiang Yixia was sitting by the dining table with a book in her hands. She flipped through a couple of pages, but the words weren’t sinking in.

Lu Fan walked over, stopped beside her, and looked down at her.

“Are you going?” he asked.

Jiang Yixia looked up at him, then lowered her head back to her book. “You guys go ahead. I’ll stay home.”

“It’s the New Year. Why stay home all by yourself?” Lu Fan said cheerfully. “Come on, go get changed.”

Jiang Yixia didn’t move.

Lu Fan tried again. “Silu is hoping the whole family can go out together. Can you bear to disappoint her?”

Jiang Yixia closed her book, sighed, and stood up to go upstairs.

Lu Fan stood in the living room and smiled to himself as he watched her go upstairs.

Chen He drove the car to the entrance.

Lu Fan sat in the front passenger seat. Jiang Yixia sat behind him, with Jiang Silu in the middle, Wen Wan by the window, and Jiang Sifan in the last row.

The car headed toward the lake. The trees on both sides of the road were still green, with the occasional Bauhinia tree in pink bloom.

The winters in Yangcheng weren’t cold. A breeze slipped in through the crack in the window, cool but not biting.

Jiang Silu rolled the window down a crack. The wind blew through her hair, and she squinted, took a deep breath, and turned to shout at Jiang Yixia, “Mom, the air out here is so fresh!”

“Close the window. What if you catch a cold?” Jiang Yixia said with a frown.

“I won’t. It’s just open a tiny bit,” Jiang Silu refused to close it.

“Even a tiny bit is not okay. The wind gets in, and it’ll be cold for the people in the back.”

Wen Wan said with a smile, “Auntie, I’m not cold.”

Jiang Yixia glanced at Wen Wan, then at Jiang Silu, and sighed, saying no more.

After a drive of over twenty minutes, they arrived at the lake.

The lake wasn’t large, but the water was very clear. Sunlight shone on its surface, making it sparkle.

In the distance were mountains. They weren’t high, but they were a rolling range, layered one after another, their colors fading from deep green to light green, with the farthest layer a grayish-blue.

There was a wooden boardwalk by the lake, winding along the shore.

Metasequoia trees were planted on both sides of the boardwalk. They stood perfectly straight, their leaves already yellow and fallen, creating a soft carpet underfoot.

Jiang Silu was the first to jump out of the car. She ran onto the boardwalk, spread her arms, spun in a circle, and turned to shout at the others, “Hurry up!”

Wen Wan followed her. The two walked side-by-side on the boardwalk. Jiang Silu pointed at a water bird in the distance and said, “Sister Wen Wan, look!” Wen Wan followed her gaze and saw several egrets flying over the lake, their wings glinting in the sunlight.

Jiang Sifan walked behind them, his hands in his pockets, his pace unhurried.

Lu Fan and Jiang Yixia walked at the very back. There was a half-step’s distance between them—not too far, not too close, like two parallel lines.

Halfway down the boardwalk, Jiang Silu had already pulled Wen Wan along and run far ahead.

Jiang Sifan, following them, was also some distance ahead. Lu Fan watched the backs of the three of them up ahead, then glanced sideways at Jiang Yixia.

Her hand hung at her side, fingers slightly curled. His hand also hung at his side, fingers slightly open.

He slowly reached out his hand, his fingertips brushing the back of hers.

Jiang Yixia’s hand shot back as if scalded.

She turned and shot him a glare, her voice low. “Don’t try anything funny. The kids are here, and I’d rather not have to hit you later.”

Lu Fan pulled his hand back and smiled, not reaching out again.

The two of them continued walking forward at an unhurried pace.

A gust of wind blew across the lake, sweeping Jiang Yixia’s hair into her face.

She reached up to brush it away, but it fluttered back. She brushed it away again.

“Yixia,” Lu Fan said.

“Yes?”

“Have you still not forgiven me?”

Jiang Yixia didn’t look at him. She stared at the lake ahead, her voice calm. “Right now, I just don’t hate you anymore. That doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you, that I love you, or that I want to get back together with you.”

Lu Fan didn’t say anything.

Jiang Yixia glanced at him, looking as if she wanted to say something, but she swallowed her words.

‘Actually, she had forgiven him long ago.’

‘When did it start?’

‘She couldn’t say for sure.’

‘Maybe it was that time he stayed by her side in the hospital all night. Maybe it was when he saved Silu from the sea. Maybe it was when he kissed the back of her hand in front of everyone at the talk show. Or maybe it was even earlier, so early that she herself hadn’t realized it.’

‘But she didn’t want to tell him so soon.’

‘She was afraid.’

‘Afraid that once he had her, he would stop cherishing her.’

‘Afraid that his promise of “it won’t happen again” was just a spur-of-the-moment impulse. Afraid that, over time, he would revert to his old self.’

‘How did that Eason Chan song go?’

‘The one you can’t get is always the most alluring, while the one who’s adored takes it all for granted.’

‘Jiang Yixia wanted to see if he would give up halfway just because she hadn’t forgiven him yet.’

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep trying,” Lu Fan said suddenly. His voice wasn’t loud, but it was earnest. “Until the day you forgive me.”

Jiang Yixia froze for a moment, then turned to look at him.