Chapter 234 - 172: Silu Secretly Takes a Handsome Photo of Her Dad

Chapter 234: Chapter 172: Silu Secretly Takes a Handsome Photo of Her Dad

For a while after that, Jiang Sifan was rather absent-minded.

The main reason was a lingering sense of guilt; he felt bad for leaving Wen Wan behind to tour the campus with someone else.

Liu Shiting noticed his mood and asked curiously, "What’s wrong? Do you have to run off to do something?"

"Oh, no," Jiang Sifan said awkwardly. "It’s just... we were just talking about how your dad put together that entrepreneurship guide for you. It made me a little envious, is all. He’s really good to you."

Jiang Sifan was, in fact, very envious. He just didn’t admit that his mind had been wandering, using this as an excuse instead.

Upon hearing this, Liu Shiting immediately replied, "I think Uncle Lu is very good to you and Silu, too."

"You know about my family?" Jiang Sifan probed.

Liu Shiting faltered for a moment. "Silu mentioned it briefly before, but she didn’t say much. She just told us that you two only recently reconnected with your father. I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to pry."

"It’s fine. It’s the truth, and there’s no reason to hide the truth," Jiang Sifan replied. "It’s true that we only recently reconnected with our dad. But for now, it’s more like Silu has accepted him. I’m still not able to."

He then asked curiously, "By the way, is Silu back from her mountain trip?"

"Yep, she’s back. She took a ton of photos and showed them to us," Liu Shiting explained.

"That’s good," Jiang Sifan nodded.

Seeing that Jiang Sifan still had a poor impression of Uncle Lu, she took the initiative to say, "I’m sure Uncle Lu really wants to make it up to you both. For example, when Silu went to see the sunrise, he specially booked the top-floor suite at that hotel. That single suite costs eighty-eight thousand."

"How... how much?!" Jiang Sifan’s eyes widened in shock.

Liu Shiting explained, "Over eighty thousand. I went there a few years ago, and if I remember correctly, the price shouldn’t have changed much. I’ve never stayed in the top-floor suite, though. It’s just too expensive."

Jiang Sifan was still reeling from the price, muttering to himself, "Over eighty thousand... Is the room made of gold or something?..."

Liu Shiting saw how astonished Jiang Sifan was.

’He probably doesn’t know that Uncle Lu also took them to a five-star restaurant before this,’ she thought.

’I shouldn’t have told Sifan. I wonder if this will make him feel bad.’

In truth, Jiang Sifan didn’t feel particularly bad. He was just wondering, ’What on earth could be inside a suite that costs over eighty thousand a night?!’

’Nope, I have to ask Jiang Silu about this face-to-face next time I see her.’

’It’s not like staying in a room that expensive can add years to your life.’

Although he couldn’t see the point of staying in such a pricey room, he figured it wasn’t his money, so he didn’t say anything more about it.

Liu Shiting could see that Jiang Sifan didn’t seem to approve of such an extravagant lifestyle.

’Then again, that makes sense,’ she thought. ’He’s been frugal his whole life and is even working part-time to start his own business.’

So she decided to play along. "But you know, I think a room that costs a few hundred is perfectly fine. A suite that costs tens of thousands... if it were me, I’d be too nervous to sleep."

Jiang Sifan nodded. "Yeah, I feel the same way. If someone really made me stay in a suite that expensive, I probably wouldn’t get a wink of sleep."

He hadn’t expected someone from such a wealthy family like Liu Shiting’s to have such down-to-earth values.

This made Jiang Sifan think even more highly of her.

After they finished touring the campus, Liu Shiting didn’t linger for long. It was their first time hanging out, after all, and you had to know when to call it a day.

She understood the principle of not overstaying her welcome.

It was important to maintain a bit of novelty.

The goal was to leave him wanting more.

So, she took the initiative to say, "Alright, I won’t keep you from your work any longer. I had a lot of fun today, and I learned a lot from you."

"I had a great time too. And... could I ask you to look after my sister for me?" Jiang Sifan asked.

Liu Shiting nodded. "Of course, no problem!"

With that, Jiang Sifan got out of the car. They waved at each other, and Liu Shiting drove off.

Watching the BMW slowly pull away, Jiang Sifan was filled with mixed emotions.

He really wanted a car of his own, too.

At the very least, he’d be able to drive his mom and sister home for the holidays.

’Come on, Sifan, you can do it!’

Jiang Sifan gave himself another pep talk.

He believed that through his own hard work, he could make all his dreams come true.

With that thought, he started walking toward the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Building.

...

Meanwhile, after a short rest, Jiang Silu began transferring the photos from her phone to her computer.

She had taken a lot of pictures during her trip: of the mountains, the sea of clouds, the sunrise.

She examined each one carefully.

It was as if she was trying to relive every moment from her memories.

When she clicked to the next picture, she suddenly froze.

It was a profile shot of Lu Fan that Jiang Silu had secretly taken while he was drinking water at the scenic viewpoint.

Even though her father was nearly forty, to the average person, he looked thirty at most.

She had to admit, he had kept himself in great shape, both in terms of his looks and his physique.

This was something her friend, Lu Yao, was constantly telling her she was envious of.

Lu Yao’s own father was a balding, middle-aged man.

He had a big belly, and his face was full of wrinkles when he smiled.

In Lu Yao’s words: "I can’t even imagine. If my dad were as handsome as yours, I’d be showing off pictures of him every single day."

Jiang Silu would console her, "Well, our parents work so hard for us. Of course they’re going to get older as time passes. But that doesn’t stop them from loving you, right?"

"That’s true, but I want a dad who’s both loving *and* handsome," Lu Yao would say with a laugh.

Jiang Silu knew Lu Yao was just trying to remind her that she now had a good father who was doting, handsome, and rich.

And how could Jiang Silu not know about all of Lu Fan’s good qualities?

But she couldn’t just ignore her mother’s and brother’s feelings because of them.

That was why she hadn’t immediately agreed to visit Lu Fan’s estate.

She wasn’t mentally prepared.

’What if I go, and I get so sucked into the lifestyle there that I can’t leave?’

’That would be letting Mom and my brother down.’

Just as she was lost in thought staring at Lu Fan’s picture, Lu Yao leaned in beside her and said, "Lulu, your dad is seriously handsome."

Jiang Silu jumped.

She immediately snapped her laptop shut and said with embarrassment, "Oh, stop it~"

Lu Yao teased her, "What’s the big secret? Your dad’s so handsome, and it’s not like we’ve never seen him."

"Haha, I’m not showing you," Jiang Silu replied.

After Lu Yao and the others left, she opened her laptop again and looked at the picture.

Jiang Silu decided to do something for her dad, so she sent the photo to her mother, Jiang Yixia.

At that moment, Jiang Yixia was busy working in her flower shop.

For some reason, business had been getting better and better lately.

Although Jiang Yixia suspected Lu Fan was pulling strings behind the scenes.

But after analyzing the orders and customer addresses, it didn’t look like he was manipulating things.

’Did my financial luck change after moving to a new shop?’

Jiang Yixia wondered.

As she was busy working, her phone screen lit up.

At first, she thought it was a customer’s message.

But it turned out to be a message from Jiang Silu.

She tapped it open, and her face instantly flushed red.

Jiang Silu had sent her a profile shot of Lu Fan.

In the photo, Lu Fan was clearly unaware he was being photographed. His expression was natural, and the corners of his lips were turned up in a slight smile.

It looked like a candid shot Jiang Silu had taken during their mountain hike the day before.

Before Jiang Yixia could reply, another message came from Jiang Silu: "Mom, I’m guessing you haven’t had a recent photo of Dad on your phone for a long time, so I’m sending you one."

Even though Jiang Yixia was always sharp-tongued but soft-hearted when it came to Lu Fan...

...the message was from her own daughter, so she could only reply, "Alright. Thank you, dear. Did you two have fun?"

Seeing that her mother didn’t refuse or lecture her, Jiang Silu was overjoyed. "We had a great time! I even made a wish when the sun came up that our whole family could come here together to see the sunrise one day."

Jiang Yixia hesitated for a long time.

Not wanting to spoil her daughter’s mood, she finally replied, "That day will come."

’Even if I never forgive Lu Fan,’ she thought.

’For the sake of my daughter’s wish, I’ll probably have to do it sooner or later.’

Jiang Silu’s messages continued: "Mom, Dad and I talked a lot about the past. I told him about the time you carried me to the hospital on your back, and it started pouring rain, and then you came down with a high fever. I wished so badly that Dad could have been there back then."

Jiang Yixia: "Why does it feel like you’re writing a school essay?"

Jiang Silu: "But it’s all true! Don’t you remember?"

Jiang Yixia: "Mom forgot."

In truth, Jiang Yixia hadn’t forgotten at all. She was simply unwilling to recall those painful memories.

Since Jiang Silu had to prepare her project for the next round of the competition, the mother and daughter ended their chat after a few more messages.

Jiang Yixia went back to looking at the photo.

As she was staring at it, lost in thought, a figure quietly appeared behind her.

Lu Fan saw Jiang Yixia admiring the photo of him. ’Jiang Silu must have sent it to her,’ he thought, then called out softly, "Yixia, what are you up to?"

Jiang Yixia jumped in fright and hurriedly stuffed her phone into her pocket.

But in her haste, she dropped it on the floor.

Seeing this, Lu Fan bent down to pick it up. "So clumsy. How did you manage to drop your phone?"

Jiang Yixia was in a panic. Terrified that Lu Fan would see the photo on the screen, she immediately lunged to grab the phone.

But the more she rushed, the more flustered she became.

She grabbed Lu Fan’s hand and snatched the phone away from him.

Jiang Yixia expected Lu Fan to tease her about it.

But to her surprise, Lu Fan just smiled and said, "Who would have thought, Yixia. After all these years, your hands are still so smooth."

’I can’t believe his mind works like that,’ Jiang Yixia thought.

She said in exasperation, "What are you doing here? Didn’t you just get back to Jinling from Huang Mountain?"

"I did. And the second I got back to Jinling, I rushed straight over to Yangcheng," Lu Fan explained. "Couldn’t help it. I missed my Yixia too much."

Jiang Yixia couldn’t help but frown at his cheesy pickup line.

Lu Fan probed, "So, what were you looking at? You seemed completely absorbed."

Jiang Yixia instantly grew flustered. "I wasn’t looking at anything."

"Really? Because it looked to me like you were looking at a picture... a picture of a man. You haven’t fallen for someone else, have you?" Lu Fan tested.

Jiang Yixia stammered, "So... so what if I have? What’s it to you if I like another man?"

"So you like the guy in the picture? What’s his name? Tell him to come out and face me!" Lu Fan said deliberately.

Jiang Yixia almost burst out laughing, but she suppressed it and played along. "That’s right. He’s more capable than you, more handsome than you, gentler than you, and more considerate than you."

"Impossible. You couldn’t find a man like that anywhere in the world... unless it’s me," Lu Fan joked.

"You narcissist," Jiang Yixia retorted.

But in reality, her heart was already pounding.

Because the man in the photo *was* Lu Fan himself!

The guy had actually guessed it right!

But of course, Jiang Yixia wasn’t about to admit it.

Lu Fan then asked, "By the way, are you hungry? Want me to get you a bowl of oden?"

"No."

But Lu Fan didn’t seem to hear her refusal.

He walked into the shop and started preparing a bowl for her anyway.

Just then, a middle-aged woman came in and ordered, "Boss, I’ll have one, please."

"Alright."

Although he didn’t really need the business, when you’re open for business, you serve the customers who walk in.

He had to, lest Jiang Yixia complain about him behind his back again.

As Lu Fan skillfully prepared the order, the middle-aged woman looked up at him and thought he looked familiar.

After a few seconds, she asked tentatively, "Are you... Lu Fan?"