"You must have had something going on with A Yan, right?"
Jiang Li was taken aback for a moment. Her tone immediately turned a bit unnatural and noticeably colder. "I don't know what Miss Yu is talking about. He and I were just former superior and subordinate."
Yu Wan smiled. Judging from Jiang Li's reaction, she already had a clear idea in her mind.
"Don't be nervous. I'm not here to interrogate you."
Suddenly, she broke into a gentle laugh. "I used to be part of the entertainment industry, so I'm well aware of all the inside stories."
"A Yan is not a very patient person. But tonight, when I asked him about you, he answered all my questions one by one. And the way you looked at him just now was off, as if your heart had been broken by him."
As Yu Wan said these words, there was a hint of certainty in her tone. "Am I right?"
Jiang Li listened quietly to her analysis. She knew that she was completely exposed in front of Yu Wan.
Even so, she still felt as if she had been stripped naked and seen through.
Jiang Li stopped beating around the bush and instead behaved in a natural and generous manner. "Okay, you've found me out. But a man as outstanding as President Xiao is really hard not to fall in love with."
She laughed brightly, even with a bit of self - deprecating playfulness. "But a man like the moon in the sky, it's quite common to love him but not be able to have him. Besides, who hasn't had an unrequited young love?"
Jiang Li spoke very appropriately. After this conversation, she offended no one and even flattered Xiao Yanzhi a bit.
Yu Wan agreed with her. Her voice was light and casual. "Indeed, I was deeply infatuated with him back then. For his sake, I chose to retire from the entertainment industry. We were almost married."
These simple words about the old days made Jiang Li stunned for a moment. It was as if her chest had been hit by a blunt object.
Although she had suspected something in her heart before, now countless images of the two of them from falling in love, getting engaged, to getting married emerged in her mind.
It must have been very romantic.
She took a deep breath, and her tone was a bit colder than before. "Miss Yu, I have no intention of listening to your love story. Our relationship is not close enough for us to talk about everything."
"Don't get me wrong. I'm already married."
Yu Wan's voice came again. "But when I saw you, I always remembered my acting days in the past. I felt so kind that I just wanted to talk to you more."
"It might be a bit offensive, but I can see my younger self in you."
Yu Wan was the same age as Xiao Yanzhi, four years older than Jiang Li. So her tone took on a bit of an elder's attitude. "In my opinion, you and A Yan are well - matched."
"Back then, we had no choice but to break up. Now our feelings have faded a lot, but at least we're still friends." When she sighed, there was a kind of inexpressible sadness.
"As a friend, especially a married one, I sincerely hope that he can be happy and not be alone all the time."
"No matter how well he does in his career, he's not young anymore. He'll be thirty in a couple of years. I'm really afraid that he'll be alone and lonely for too long. It's time for him to settle down."
Her words were full of care and concern for her friend, but Jiang Li felt uncomfortable when she heard them.
It wasn't a straightforward and obvious kind of discomfort. Instead, it seemed harmonious on the surface, but there was something vaguely unpleasant.
But she couldn't tell exactly what was bothering her.
Jiang Li wanted to end the conversation. She said calmly, "Miss Yu, aren't you still looking for a house? I'm about to rest. I have to catch a flight early tomorrow morning."
She tried to make her tone sound kind.
"If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten. It's really nice talking to you." Yu Wan smiled gently. Her words were also very polite. "I'm very glad to know you. I'm sorry for disturbing your rest tonight."
"Let's talk again if we have a chance. Good night."
...
Finally, the phone call ended.
Jiang Li dried her hair, did some body care, and carefully checked her luggage before going to bed.
She was so tired today, but she just couldn't fall asleep.
She tried hard not to think about it, but those words kept echoing in her mind.
"We were almost married."
"He's too lonely. It's time for him to settle down."
"I can see my younger self in you."
That familiar and kind tone really made people wonder how romantic their past had been.
The lights in the room were off, and the darkness surrounded her. Jiang Li took out her phone and lit up the screen.
She tried to search for "Yu Wan", but there was no content about her.
If she had been a star before, there should have been some traces. It was impossible that not a single item could be found, unless someone had paid to clean up the information.
The only person who could do such a thing was Xiao Yanzhi.
He must have wanted to protect her, Jiang Li thought.
So she tried to search for "Xiao Yanzhi".
Most of the entries under his name were financial and business news. There were also a few photos of her and him taken by entertainment tabloids. There was nothing else.
She scrolled down many pages. When her eyelids began to droop and she was about to give up and go to sleep, she suddenly saw a Weibo account at the very bottom named "Xiao Lian Yu".
Xiao Lian Yu, Xiao loves Yu.
When she clicked in, she found that it was a love blogger with only a few followers.
The blogger would share her love life from time to time. Sometimes there were a few pictures of the backs of the two people, but their faces were not shown.
It seemed that this Weibo account had been inactive for many years. The last post was from five years ago.
Jiang Li calculated the time in her mind. Five months after the date of the last post was exactly when she first met Xiao Yanzhi.
Scrolling up further, she saw a group photo taken by the sea. It was still the backs of the two people.
The sunset by the sea in the photo was very beautiful. The coastline stretched as far as the eye could see. A man and a woman were holding hands and stepping on the waves step by step.
Their hands were clasped tightly and hard to separate. Their shadows were cast on the beach.
Not only this one, but there were also many others. Some were taken under the Eiffel Tower in Paris, some in front of the Big Ben in London, and one in a lavender field in Provence...
They had been to many places together.
It turned out that when Xiao Yanzhi loved someone, he would hold her hand and go all over the world with her, showing off their love.
And what about her?
She was a cheap substitute, a pastime for him to heal his wounds after losing contact, and the second - best choice.
So that's why he had suggested that she try to become a star in the entertainment industry at that time. That's why he was willing to spend a lot of money to train her and even set up "Jiang Entertainment" for her.
Suddenly, Jiang Li remembered that she had taken guzheng lessons before. At that time, she had pestered Xiao Yanzhi to choose a piece of music, saying that she would play it for him after she learned it.
She clearly remembered that he had chosen "Fishermen's Song at Dusk".
It was "Fishermen's Song at Dusk".
"Fishermen's Song at Dusk".
Yu Wan.