Chapter 388: Dark Lights and Long River (X)

On the road, cars were speeding along, kicking up dust.

Song Nian was still in a daze. She looked at Jiang Ci's profile with some disbelief and whispered, "Is it really you? You're back?"

Jiang Ci turned his head and smiled at Song Nian. He said softly, "Yes, Nian Nian, it really is me."

Song Nian's eyes turned red, her voice choked, and she said, "I thought you were dead. Why didn't you contact me for so many years?"

Jiang Ci's eyebrows were slightly wrinkled, and he didn't know what he was thinking. The next moment, he smiled calmly and said, "I didn't know you and Lu Zhinian were getting married today. I'm really sorry for disturbing your wedding."

"It's okay." Song Nian paused and said, "Jiang Ci, please send me back first. I want to continue the wedding."

The smile on Jiang Ci's face faded.

He parked the car on the side of the road.

This area is very desolate. Wild birds fly by, their wings drawing arcs, adding a bit of beauty to the silent air.

Song Nian looked out the window and asked in confusion: "Why did you stop here?"

"Niannian, do you like Lu Zhinian?" Jiang Ci took out a cigarette from the outer layer of his black jacket. He half-rolled down the car window and placed his hand outside the window, letting the smoke drift away. Occasionally, he would withdraw his hand and take a deep breath.

Song Nian was silent for a long time, then she said, "I don't know, but I want to marry him."

Jiang Ci obviously didn't expect Song Nian's answer to be so firm.

He pulled his lips, smiled, and said, "Why? I'm back now. I can take you wherever you want to go, Nian Nian. I have the ability to protect you now."

Song Nian didn’t know how much Jiang Ci had changed, but she was very aware of her own changes.

The moment Jiang Ci appeared, the knot in her heart that had been there for years finally dissipated.

"I always thought that Lu Zhinian killed you." Song Nian took a deep breath and smiled, a helpless and desolate smile. "It's ridiculous, right? But I really think so. For this, I plan to live in the guilt of killing you for the rest of my life."

She used the word 'guilt'.

This is completely different from what Jiang Ci imagined.

He snuffed out the cigarette in his hand. He didn't know if he was speaking to himself or for emphasis, but every word he said was laced with gnashing teeth. "Nian Nian, we were in love back then."

Back then, he clearly left when she loved him the most, didn't he?
Why does such a relationship still deteriorate?

Song Nian's eyelashes trembled. She lowered her head and looked at her clasped hands. "Ah Ci, what we did back then was not called love. We simply regarded each other as another self in the world. Love at that age was not mature enough in itself."

Jiang Ci looked at Song Nian silently.

He held the broken cigarette in his hand, the scorching temperature burned his palm. He sneered and said slowly: "Song Nian, do you know why I disappeared?" Song Nian was stunned and looked at him silently.

Jiang Ci's eyes flashed with sarcasm, and he said: "Because everyone in the Lu family has wronged me, I want to make them all regret it. My life has been ruined in their hands!"

Song Nian was at a loss and looked at him, "I don't know what you mean, Ah Ci, don't scare me."

"My father was once a well-known entrepreneur, but it was Lu Zhinian's business trap that made him bankrupt and lose everything. Song Nian, I shouldn't have lived such a miserable life, but Lu Zhinian's existence made me lose everything."

Song Nian was speechless. She didn't know what to say and could only look at Jiang Ci silently.

Jiang Ci continued, "I had already accepted my fate. Isn't it just a matter of starting over? What's the big deal? Since my life has hit rock bottom, I will slowly climb up. I will do better than my father and get everything I want, but then I met you. Song Nian, ah Song Nian, I really like you, but... you happen to be Lu Zhinian's person."

Song Nian's mind went blank. She felt bewildered and spoke slowly and with difficulty, "You approached me because of Lu Zhinian."

"Yes! I approached you just to get revenge on Lu Zhinian." Jiang Ci suddenly looked at Song Nian, his eyes full of resentment, and said with gritted teeth: "But you chose Lu Zhinian. After so many years, you still didn't choose me!"

Song Nian blinked. She was still digesting Jiang Ci's words. After a while, she slowly said, "What did you and Lu Zhinian say on that last phone call?"

"Lu Zhinian wants me to stay away from you. He said he already knows my life experience and he won't let me get close to you. If I continue to pester you, he doesn't mind letting me disappear from this world." Jiang Ci sneered, "If he wants me to disappear, then I will disappear. I carefully planned a death and made you doubt him. I wanted to use this death to make you hate Lu Zhinian, or to make Lu Zhinian love you but not get you. But... you are getting married!"

Song Nian just thought all this was ridiculous.

Why would someone plan for years just for a meaningless revenge?

Song Nian's eyes were red, her lips couldn't stop trembling, she reached out and grasped Jiang Ci's wrist, she said angrily: "Do you know that I haven't had a good night's sleep in all these years because of your death? Jiang Ci! I'm not the one who is sorry for you, you schemed against Lu Zhinian, what did I do wrong? Why should I become a part of your revenge!"

"Because Lu Zhinian loves you! He loves you!" Jiang Ci smiled crazily, his eyes were bloodshot, and he growled, "Song Nian, you are his only weakness! Apart from you, I have no way to hurt him! You ask me why! I want to know why too! Why do I have to lose everything? Why do I even use the woman I love! What can I blame? I can only blame our bad luck. Song Nian, you and I are both pitiful people."

Song Nian's expression has returned to normal.

She looked at Jiang Ci. The young man in front of her was no longer the person in her dream.

He had planned everything, but now he was at his wit's end and was doomed to fail.

Song Nian opened the car door and got out without looking back.

Jiang Ci looked at her, still smiling, but with a desperate smile. He said, "Niannian, even if you go back now, Lu Zhinian will not forgive you. No one will forgive someone who abandons them at a wedding."

Song Nian smiled. She looked at Jiang Ci with such certainty. She said, "You are wrong. Even if I stab him, he will forgive me. Lu Zhinian will never blame me."

The lights in the Lu family's house were brightly lit, and doctors were coming and going, consulting with Lu Zhinian.

The man lay on the bed, breathing weakly, and no one knew what he was thinking, until the door was pushed open and a woman in a wedding dress stood outside. Lu Zhinian's eyes, which had been dead all along, finally stirred up a wave.