Journey of Lies

Hu Junxi drove while yawning, not forgetting to tease, "When I came back yesterday, I saw you two chatting and laughing. Jiang Xia isn't angry with you anymore?"

"She's just a little sensitive and fragile, not the kind of woman who's overly dramatic." Sheng Zhi looked down at the webpage on his phone.

Hu Junxi couldn't help but turn her head to look at him, "Why do I feel like this deal of yours is a little different from the past?"

"What's the difference? I do what the client asks, maintain a good relationship with her, and try to please her when necessary."

"It's different, it's definitely different..." Hu Junxi drawled, and seeing that Sheng Zhi had been looking down at his phone the whole time, he finally leaned over to take a look while waiting at a red light.

"You want to buy a house? Oh, I remember now, you said Jiangxia went to Chiang Mai for a house. Fewer people are buying houses there these days, even in Bangkok."

Having no clue what to do, Sheng Zhi simply put away his phone and gave instructions for the next few days.

"Speaking of Grandma's illness, I saw a video last night saying there's a new drug for Alzheimer's. Do you want to let Grandma try it?"

"I was originally going to talk to the dean this time, but I'll wait until I'm done with this. Also, I just transferred this quarter's expenses to the dean."

Hu Junxi nodded in agreement. "Has the price gone up this year?"

"It's gone up to 75,000 baht a month now."

"Is this outrageous? It's almost the price of a retirement home in Bangkok. Is this reasonable?" Hu Junxi couldn't help but complain. "If all else fails, I'll ask my dad to do me a favor."

"This is already a discounted price because of your father. Moreover, the director said that if Grandma's condition deteriorates further next year, the cost will be even higher once her ability to take care of herself decreases."

Grandma is now semi-independent and emotionally unstable, only sleeping two hours a night. Therefore, we have hired an extra caregiver, which naturally costs much more than for healthy elderly people.

Sheng Zhi always gets emotional when talking about his grandmother, so he changed the subject at the right time.

"I spoke with the client on the phone yesterday; she was a woman."

"A Chinese woman? That's a good thing. With your skills, you can kill two birds with one stone. First, earn the reward for Jiangxia's job, and then find a way to squeeze some extra money out of that woman."

Sheng Zhi rolled down the car window, lit the last cigarette in the pack, and the hot air blowing into the speeding car blew up his hair.

*

Airport, waiting area.

Sheng Zhi immediately noticed Jiang Xia sitting alone on a bench with a Chiang Mai real estate brochure on her lap.

"Is this seat taken?"

Hearing the voice, Jiang Xia subconsciously looked up, her eyes widening before she could even speak. "What are you doing here?!"

Sheng Zhi smiled and sat down in the empty seat next to her, placing her bag at her feet.

"You ran so fast this morning, did you do something wrong?" Sheng Zhi teased her while taking out his plane ticket. "I'm also on this flight to Chiang Mai."

Jiang Xia glanced at his plane ticket. "You've been following me?"

I guess so.

Unexpectedly, he readily admitted it. Jiang Xia closed the brochure on her lap, sat up straight, and asked, "What exactly do you want?"

"Can't I go to Chiang Mai?" Sheng Zhi tilted her head to look at her, casually snatching the brochure. "Is this the neighborhood?"

Jiang Xia took it and put it in her bag. Seeing the curious looks from the other passengers, she could only lower her voice and say, "Of course you can go anywhere, but what do you mean by deliberately buying a ticket for the same flight as me?"

"I've already told you, I like you," Sheng Zhi said, leaning back in his chair and spreading his hands. "Consider it me being clingy with you."

Jiang Xia was both embarrassed and annoyed, her face flushed as she said, "You're really casual! Even your words are like that."

She simply leaned back in her chair and stopped talking.

Suddenly, Sheng Zhi put his elbow on his knee and said, "Okay, I'll do a magic trick. If you're happy, you can agree to let me go to Chiang Mai with you. If you think this magic trick is terrible, I'll leave right now."

Without giving Jiang Xia a chance to say no, Sheng Zhi stretched out both hands, first with his palms facing up and empty, then turned his palms over and made fists.

Jiang Xia frowned, wondering what he was up to.

"Choose one based on your intuition."

"Childish," Jiang Xia said, crossing his arms and pursing his lips. "Right-handed."

Sheng Zhi turned his hand over and placed it in front of her, gesturing for her to blow on it.

Jiang Xia reluctantly cooperated with him, blowing lightly on it. Sheng Zhi slowly opened his right palm, and the lost wedding ring was lying in his palm.

"How could this be...?"

Jiang Xia couldn't hide her surprise as she picked up the wedding ring. The inside of the ring was engraved with the initials of her and Xu Xiujie's names.

Holding the wedding ring that he had lost and found again, Jiang Xia's feelings were extremely complicated.

"How is it? Are you happy now?"

Jiang Xia lowered her head and remained silent, not putting the wedding ring back on her ring finger for a long time.

"How did you find it?"

"I mentioned it to the hotel manager when I picked up my luggage. They needed an emergency water change after the earthquake, and they found one that afternoon. Junxi helped me get it."

It turns out that Hu Junxi went out yesterday to pick up her ring.

"Thanks."

"Keep it for Chiang Mai to thank me. You owe me three times already." Sheng Zhi leaned back in his chair again, seemingly casually observing Jiang Xia's changes.

When she lost her wedding ring a couple of days ago, she was frantic with worry. Now that she has found it again, she doesn't feel the usual joy.

Is it because her husband cheated on her?

Jiang Xia put away her wedding ring and composed herself. "If we're just friends, that's fine, but don't even think about anything else."

Sheng Zhi smiled; at least there was progress.

*

The plane landed at 12:30.

Sheng Zhi helped her take her luggage off the carousel and asked, "Has your friend arrived yet?"

"They should have arrived by now. I'll give her a call."

The two walked out one after the other, their phones remaining silent.

Jiang Xia searched everywhere at the arrival gate. After six years, she could hardly remember what Ren Jiayi looked like.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called her name: "Jiang Xia—"

"It seems to be over there." Sheng Zhi pointed in the direction she was looking.

Pushing through the crowd, Jiang Xia finally saw a woman with wheat-colored skin and short curly hair carrying flowers walking quickly toward him.

"Xiaxia!"

Jiang Xia almost didn't recognize her, and hesitated before saying, "...Jiayi? You've changed so much."

Back in college, Ren Jiayi had fair and rosy skin, and everyone nicknamed her Sister Peach.

"I've fallen in love with sunbathing since coming to Thailand, and I've completely forgotten about skin whitening," Ren Jiayi said, holding Jiang Xia's hand. "You've lost weight; you've even lost the baby fat you had when you were in school."

As she spoke, Ren Jiayi suddenly paused, "And this is...?"

Jiang Xia then remembered to introduce Sheng Zhi, but when the words reached her lips, she didn't know how to explain their relationship. She mumbled, "He's a friend I met in Bangkok. It just so happens that he's coming to Chiang Mai."

After Sheng Zhi finished her introduction, he simply took off his sunglasses and greeted Ren Jiayi.

"Let's go then. I have some things to do this afternoon. I'll treat you to a welcome-back dinner tonight," Ren Jiayi said, linking arms with Jiang Xia as they walked towards the parking lot. She didn't forget to ask, "Where does your friend live? Why don't you ride with me?"

Jiang Xia turned to look at Sheng Zhi, who readily agreed without any hesitation.

When Jiang Xia arrived at the parking lot, he was taken aback when he saw Ren Jiayi's Land Rover. He remembered that when he was in school, a guy from outside the school drove a Land Rover to pursue Ren Jiayi. At that time, Ren Jiayi thought that the guy was an old cow trying to eat young grass, so she went to her dormitory and complained for a long time. She even said that the car she hated most in her life was the Land Rover.

While Sheng Zhi was putting away his luggage, Ren Jiayi noticed that Jiang Xia seemed hesitant to speak.

"It's cheaper here, maybe because I'm getting older and I like this kind of car."

Jiang Xia smiled faintly, "We took our driving tests together back in college. How's your driving now? Still stalling as soon as you start the car?"

"Everyone drives automatic now. I'm a great driver. Get in and let me show you."

As soon as Jiang Xia opened the passenger door, he saw a men's tie on the seat.

Ren Jiayi casually crumpled it up and stuffed it into the car door. "It's my boyfriend's. He's so forgetful. Europeans are so careless. His stuff always seems to grow in the car."