Chapter 175: Chapter 175: Almost Thought I Was Going to be Assassinated
The lights went out in the basement, and Shang Xu huddled by the door, trembling and whining, “Scared, Xuxu scared, obedient, I’m obedient.”
Jiang Nanshu sighed softly, then pulled out her phone from her bag—it had only five percent battery left and no signal bars; the floor had a signal blocker.
Then, she turned on the flashlight and walked over to Shang Xu to pick him up.
Feeling the warmth of a person, Shang Xu whimpered and buried himself in Jiang Nanshu’s arms, his small body shaking continuously.
She had only been at school for a week; how could Shang Xu’s temperament have changed so much?
She sat with Shang Xu on the small bed and asked him, “Is this the room where you study?”
Shang Xu shook his head, punctuated by a sobbing hiccup, “No, no… hic, mine, mine is next door.”
“You sit here for now,” Jiang Nanshu stood up.
In the next second, Shang Xu clutched her hand, his voice plaintive with baby talk, “Sister Nanshu, don’t leave.”
“I won’t leave; I’ll just look around. If the lights don’t come back on, we might end up locked in here and starve.” She was just teasing him.
If she didn’t return home for one night, surely her two brothers would symbolically come look for her?
She was a bit curious about this basement room.
So she walked to the desk, which was covered with a thin layer of dust, clearly untouched for a while.
Using her phone flashlight, Jiang Nanshu flipped through the books on the desk.
Shang Xu stopped crying; his eyes followed Jiang Nanshu’s every move, terrified that she would disappear the next second.
She pulled out an economics book, and before she could open it, a middle school math exam paper floated to the ground.
Jiang Nanshu had to put the book down and pick up the paper. When her eyes touched the neatly written three characters at the top, she froze slightly and whispered, “Lu, Qing, Yan?”
Her gaze shifted back to the desk, where it seemed a notebook was wedged under the leg of the desk.
Jiang Nanshu moved closer, swiped the dusty cover of the notebook, the table slumped to one side, but she paid no mind.
The original book hadn’t mentioned anything about Lu Qingyan’s childhood. It started with Su Ran returning to the country, with the original owner being jilted as the starting point of the plot, depicting the male lead as having normal values, very responsible, temperate, cool on the outside but sunny in nature.
Otherwise, considering the extreme measures the original owner took to chase him, he could endure it for three years before calling off the engagement—she wouldn’t have been able to endure it for even a second.
The biggest plot twist in the book also happened after the entire Jiang Family was written off. Later, because he learned the true reason why the female lead went abroad, he fell into madness and darkness from unrequited love, right?
Jiang Nanshu thought about it, picturing a madman in the darkness, twisted and dark, paired with Lu Qingyan’s ethereally cool face, his peach blossom eyes shimmering…
Sorry, she had veered off, dreaming of a uniform seduction cosplay scenario from a fanfic.
She shook her head, casting aside those improper thoughts.
Her slender fingertips flipped open the first page of the grubby notebook.
It was filled with complex formulas, but the handwriting was faint and childlike, likely written when he was much younger. Towards the middle, the pages turned blank, so Jiang Nanshu flipped a few more pages.
The dim light shone on the childish handwriting.
The next second, her phone died, and darkness enveloped them again.
Luckily, Shang Xu calmed his emotions, sitting on the small bed swinging his legs.
“Sister Nanshu, what are you looking at? It’s so dark. Can you come sit next to me, please? I’m scared.” Shang Xu’s baby voice sounded.
Jiang Nanshu heard him start to hold back tears again.
She stood up, closed the notebook, holding it in her hand, and went to sit next to him, teasing him, “What if no one discovers we’re here?”
Shang Xu nestled in her arms shaking his little head, “No, tomorrow morning Old Housekeeper will let Xuxu out.”
Jiang Nanshu thought of the kind old housekeeper and ended up not saying anything.
Because she was too tired, she eventually fell asleep on this small bed while holding Shang Xu.
It was not until she heard the door open that she sleepily opened one eye, the orange light from the corridor outside the basement shining in.
Seeing the figure against the light, Jiang Nanshu woke up and sat up directly, making such a noise that the notebook that was on her lap rolled onto the floor, making a heavy thud.
Lu Qingyan’s gaze fixed on the notebook, one in the light and one in the dark.
Finally, he walked calmly into the darkness. Jiang Nanshu’s gaze briefly flickered over the notebook, and she hugged Shang Xu somewhat guiltily.
He stepped forward and said warmly to Jiang Nanshu, “Were you frightened? This light is on a timer, it won’t be on until tomorrow morning. This door is automatic, it needs to be controlled by a remote from the outside. Housekeeper Shang might have accidentally pressed it and locked you and Xiao Xu in here. Your brothers have been going crazy looking for you.”
“I wasn’t really scared. What’s the big deal?”
It was just that he suddenly showed up.
She was sleeping soundly.
She wiped the corner of her mouth with her hand, making sure she wasn’t drooling, then tearfully hugged him, “Mmm, I was so scared, I almost thought I was going to be assassinated.”
“I’m so sleepy, I want to sleep! Ahhh!! Who isn’t crazy? Just enduring it, just enduring it!!!”
Lu Qingyan looked at her as she yawned, a mist forming under her eyes, making her eyes particularly beautiful.
He smiled and pinched her face, “It’s very safe here, no one will assassinate you. If you don’t believe me, you can stay here a few more days to try.”
Jiang Nanshu: “???”
“Look at what you are saying, why would I sleep on your tiny broken bed when there’s an 800,000 luxury soft mattress at home. I’m not crazy.”
“What are you pinching me for? Don’t make me hit you! Just endure it, just disgust for a while.”
She playfully clutched the corner of his shirt, “It’s not that I can’t, as my boyfriend, you should stay with me, otherwise I will really feel scared.”
She blinked her watery almond-shaped eyes at him, casting a coquettish glance.
“Is that how the original person seduced before? I remember he just turned and walked away.”
Lu Qingyan chuckled softly, the spring light melting the sparse chill between his eyebrows, “Stop joking, the kids are watching.”
Jiang Nanshu turned her head and saw Shang Xu looking at her as if viewing a heartbreaker, tears in his grape-like eyes stubbornly refusing to fall.
“…”
What are you doing! What are you doing!
Shang Xu jumped down from the bed and ran off, leaving Little Ha behind.
“Wuuu, I’ll never trust women again, you only deceive my sincerity.”
Jiang Nanshu: “…”
It seemed like she just played a child.
“This…”
Lu Qingyan pushed her towards the door, “Go check on him, I will come soon.”
Jiang Nanshu glanced at the notebook, her face full of sighs, her tone soft and sticky, “Mmm, I’ll wait for you outside.”
“If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have known you had such a tough childhood. But it seems like it’s none of my business… cough cough.”