Marriage Seduction Addiction

Chapter 354 Stranger

The moment their eyes met, Ji Yan wondered if it was just her imagination, but she felt as if a complex, indescribable emotion flashed in the man's eyes. Upon closer inspection, however, it seemed as if there was nothing there at all.

Those eyes, though deep, held an undisguised calm and indifference.

That's true, how could there be any ripples between strangers?

Ji Yan glanced at the phone the man handed to the cashier, then quickly picked up the foreign currency in her hand again. "Do you mind?"

The man replied, "I don't mind."

While the cashier was helping her organize her things, Ji Yan glanced at the bill, then hastily counted out some foreign currency and handed it to the man.

The man took them, glanced at them, and handed two of them back, saying, "You gave me too much."

Ji Yan glanced at it but didn't reach out to take it. She simply said, "Thank you. It's nothing."

The man didn't say anything more.

After the cashier finished organizing the two full bags, Ji Yan turned around and called the driver that Yan Shiyu had arranged.

However, after two consecutive calls, the call was not answered.

Just as she was about to try making a third call, the man behind her, having already paid his bill, stood behind her again and asked, "Need any help?"

"No need," Ji Yan replied almost without thinking, and then continued dialing the number.

Seeing that she still couldn't get through on the phone, the man simply reached out and picked up the two bags in front of her. "Are you going to the parking lot? I'll carry them down for you on my way, since you gave me quite a bit earlier."

Ji Yan wanted to say something, but seeing that the man had already taken the lead, she didn't bother to argue anymore. She continued making the call while following the man toward the elevator.

Once inside the elevator, seeing that the phone call still wouldn't go through, Ji Yan seemed to have run out of patience and directly called Gao Yan—

"What's wrong with the driver you assigned? I can't get through to him on the phone. What use is this driver to me?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Yan quickly said, "Please wait a moment, I will check what happened right away."

After hanging up the phone, Ji Yan crossed her arms and waited. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man beside her carrying the two heavy bags, still standing straight.

Just as Ji Yan was about to say something, Gao Yan called back: "I'm sorry, Ms. Ji, there might be a problem with the driver's phone. I can't reach him right now. Where are you? I'll send another car to pick you up."

Ji Yan was already in a bad mood, and now it was even worse. She didn't bother to answer a single word and hung up the phone directly.

Upon reaching the floor of the underground parking garage, the elevator doors slowly opened.

The man, who had remained silent all along, finally turned to look at her. "Can't you get in touch with the driver? If you need a ride, I can give you a lift."

If the man's previous two acts of kindness were understandable, his next words finally aroused Ji Yan's slight suspicion.

She glanced at him, her previously anxious emotions suddenly suppressed. "I didn't know you also worked as a driver."

She shut him up with one sentence, but the man's mood didn't change. He actually replied, "Housekeeper, shopping, driver, maintenance... I'll do everything."

Upon hearing this answer, Ji Yan looked him up and down again, then leaned against the elevator wall and remained still.

The man seemed to have noticed something and asked, "Aren't you going out?"

"No, thank you for your help. I won't bother you any longer." Ji Yan replied.

"And your things..."

"Just put it on the ground," Ji Yan said. "If you don't want to put it down, you can take it with you."

In just two short sentences, his defensiveness and aggression were at their peak. The man glanced at her again, remained silent for a moment, then placed the two bags he was carrying at her feet, said nothing more, and turned to walk out of the elevator.

As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, the elevator doors slowly closed. Ji Yan remained motionless, letting the elevator take him back upstairs.

Out of her sight, the man stood motionless at the elevator entrance, watching the floor numbers slowly rise on the display screen.

……

As dusk fell, Tang Xu met Lu Xingyan at a riverside restaurant.

When Tang Xu arrived, he was sitting by the window, staring absently at his phone.

Tang Xu pulled out a chair and sat down opposite him. Only then did Lu Xingyan look up from his phone and look at her.

Tang Xu guessed what was going on as soon as she saw his expression. "You've seen her?"

"Ah."

"Did you talk to her?"

"Ah."

"How did she react?"

"How would you react to a stranger who suddenly appears out of nowhere?" Lu Xingyan asked in return.

After he said that, Tang Xu was able to guess most of the situation at the time.

“Your reaction was calmer than I expected,” Tang Xu said.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xingyan remained silent for a long time before suddenly laughing, "This isn't the first time she's been so cold to me. Wasn't she the same when we first met? Now that she's back, we can just get to know each other all over again... as long as she's still here."

These words were spoken casually, yet they left the listener feeling deeply melancholic.

Because Tang Xu was almost certain of the turmoil in Lu Xingyan's heart when he said those words.

However, when she spoke again, Tang Xu simply nodded and said, "Yes, as long as she is still here, everything can start over... especially between you and her. As long as you have this intention, you will definitely be able to find her."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xingyan glanced at Tang Xu again and asked, "What do you mean by 'between her and me'? What about between you and her? Can't you get it back?"

After listening, Tang Xu remained silent for a moment before chuckling softly and saying, "Our situations are different."

Lu Xingyan raised an eyebrow slightly, "How are they different?"

“Right now, what’s extremely advantageous for you is that she treats you like a stranger. Being a stranger means there’s no preconceived notion, and it means you can gradually get to know her as an ordinary person.” Tang Xu exhaled. “But I’m different. In her eyes, I’m a bad woman who stands on the opposite side of her. She’s built an impenetrable wall around me, and I’m afraid it won’t be so easy to penetrate.”

"So what?" Lu Xingyan leaned forward slightly. "You're just planning to give up on her?"

"Of course not," Tang Xu said. "I still hope she can go back to being the Xu Xingyang she used to be, and that she can live the life she dreamed of back then... But in such a life, whether I am there or not is not that important... She has her brother and you, so to a certain extent, she can already be considered fulfilled."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xingyan frowned slightly and looked at her, "What's wrong with you? Is it because her attitude towards you hurt you? You're not such a fragile person."

"You know that's good," Tang Xu said. "So, it's not that she upset me, but that I want to handle this as lightly as possible. She has no memory of her past at all, and facing Yan Shiyu is already difficult enough. Adding me on top of that, how much pressure would she have to bear? Can you bear to put her in that situation?"

Lu Xingyan was speechless for a moment.

Tang Xu continued, "I think my performance today must have scared her. If I keep going, it will only make her more disgusted. So, I'll stay out of this relationship for now... I'll leave the rest to you. As long as she gets better, that's good for us, isn't it?"

Her tone was relaxed, and what she said was reasonable. After a moment of silence, Lu Xingyan finally nodded.