The Ceo Of The Company Next Door Seems To Have A Crush On Me Chapter 10

Lost and Slandered

Lu Zhijian had always lived with his grandfather in his hometown of Haicheng. When he was very young, his parents left Haicheng to work in Jingji. Since it was inconvenient to bring a small child at the time, Lu Zhijian was left in Haicheng until he was about to start middle school, when he was finally brought to Jingji.

When he first arrived in Jingji, Lu Zhijian was very unaccustomed to it. Jingji was prosperous everywhere, with high-rise buildings and endless intersections. Even the villa area where the Lu family lived was confusing for Lu Zhijian.

In Lu Zhijian’s eyes, the houses looked mostly the same, and for the sake of privacy, the community had many forks in the road and was planted with many green plants Lu Zhijian had never seen in Haicheng.

Fortunately, a driver picked him up and dropped him off for school, taking him directly to his doorstep.

Because he couldn’t find his way, Lu Zhijian rarely went out when he had nothing to do, but he couldn’t stay in his room all the time. Occasionally, he still needed to go out. His father was busy with work, and his mother was busy taking care of his recently walking younger sister. He didn’t know any of the servants in the villa, and he felt awkward troubling others, so he had to go out by himself.

Every time he returned, he would wander around the community in a daze for a long time. Although he walked many extra steps, Lu Zhijian was lucky enough to always make it home successfully, so he never asked anyone for help.

At that time, Yan Zhu’s father had not yet passed away. Yan Zhu lived next door to him, and they were also classmates. Yan Zhu ran into Lu Zhijian wandering around outside several times and brought him back on the way. This was the beginning of their friendship.

Later, Lu Zhijian didn’t want to live at home and started boarding school in the second year of middle school. That same year, Yan Zhu’s father passed away. His mother couldn’t take care of two children at once, so she also arranged for him to board. They became roommates, and Yan Zhu became one of Lu Zhijian’s few friends.

When Yan Zhu got married, Lu Zhijian was abroad working on a major project and couldn’t attend. Coincidentally, in the three years Yan Zhu was married, Lu Zhijian never saw what his wife looked like. He didn’t expect to meet her during the divorce.

There weren’t many people in the restaurant. Yan Zhu gave the name of his soon-to-be ex-wife, and a woman in a qipao led them to the door of a private room. The woman extended a hand: “Please.”

Lu Zhijian nodded slightly and followed Yan Zhu inside.

The private room was decorated with a touch of classical elegance. Upon entering, there was a display shelf serving as a partition. Through the drooping branches and leaves of the pothos, Lu Zhijian saw a somewhat familiar figure. His breath hitched, and his pupils instinctively widened, trying to capture more light and information.

His heart suddenly pounded fast. For some inexplicable reason, Lu Zhijian felt that their relationship wasn’t like this. Perhaps it was the excitement of disbelief.

A hazy figure appeared in his mind, but he couldn’t call out his name. Lu Zhijian couldn’t help but want to quicken his steps, but when his gaze caught the sight of Yan Zhu’s back in front of him, he suddenly woke up. A sense of loss after a lively moment enveloped him.

What should he say?

Maybe the other person had already forgotten him…

No one noticed his thoughts. At this moment, Yan Zhu’s attention was already focused on his soon-to-be ex-wife.

Lu Zhijian followed him in and sat down next to Yan Zhu. Yan Zhu and Jiang Mingyi started chattering away without even greeting each other, as if they were the only two people in the world. Lu Zhijian’s deliberately avoided gaze quietly returned to Yan Xucheng. He looked very different today. His smoky blue eyes reminded him of the continuous yet sharply angled mountains of his hometown, Haicheng.

He was helping Jiang Mingyi corner Yan Zhu, not paying any attention to him.

Although he had anticipated it, Lu Zhijian couldn’t help but feel disappointed when it actually happened. He didn’t recognize me, and he probably forgot me long ago.

Yan Xucheng shifted his body, trying his best to ignore Lu Zhijian sitting across from him. He had actually recognized him long ago—the kind person from Country F who helped him retrieve his phone.

He didn’t know how Lu Zhijian got mixed up with Yan Zhu, but now wasn’t the time to think about it. Jiang Mingyi was his Eldest Daughter, and the most important thing now was to unite against Yan Zhu. Yan Xucheng had already prepared lines targeting Yan Zhu’s friends, but Lu Zhijian suddenly appeared. Yan Xucheng didn’t want to repay kindness with enmity, so he could only direct all his attacks at Yan Zhu.

Yan Xucheng didn’t have time to look at Lu Zhijian. When Yan Zhu asked why they were divorcing again, he passionately spoke up: “Why, why, why do you have ten thousand whys? I just told you so many times, didn’t you hear? If you don’t want your ears, donate them!”

It was better if he hadn’t spoken. Once he did, he attracted all the fire. Yan Zhu already disliked him, and now that he was about to split up with Jiang Mingyi, he had no reservations: “What kind of reason is that? She punched my mom and sister and sent them to the hospital. I was running back and forth between the hospital and home. What did I say? Was it easy for me? I didn’t even ask her to apologize. Did I say a single harsh word the whole time?”

Jiang Mingyi scoffed lightly: “Don’t you know why they stayed in the hospital for two months without being discharged? Is your head just for height?”

Jiang Mingyi had practiced martial arts since childhood and had fought countless times. Her control over force was masterful. Yan Mother and Yan Mo only had superficial injuries. They fainted purely out of shock and had recovered long ago. Everyone knew this.

Yan Xucheng quickly followed up on Jiang Mingyi’s words without missing a beat, speaking sarcastically: “Could it be because they like the smell of disinfectant?”

Lunatic!

Yan Zhu ignored Yan Xucheng and said to Jiang Mingyi: “I’ve been trying hard to balance your relationship. Give me a little more time. My mom is just—”

“Three years isn’t enough?” Jiang Mingyi interrupted him, her eyes full of coldness.

Yan Zhu’s eyes quietly reddened. This incident was difficult to resolve. His mother was still waiting in the hospital for Jiang Mingyi to apologize and refused to go home. Every day after work, he had to go to the hospital to take care of Yan Mother and Yan Mo. If he missed a day, he would be scolded for “forgetting his mother for his wife.”

But he couldn’t live in the hospital forever, leaving Jiang Mingyi alone at home. After settling Yan Mother to sleep, he had to rush back home. By the time he arrived, Jiang Mingyi was usually already asleep. The nights alone were particularly sleepless, and he would toss and turn, wondering what to do.

It was always Yan Mother who started the trouble. He didn’t want Jiang Mingyi to suffer, but…

Yan Zhu blinked hard: “Mingyi, my dad passed away very early. It’s always been my mom raising me and my sister. She used to be a pampered young lady who never lifted a finger. She suffered so much over the years. Lu Zhijian knows all this…”

Lu Zhijian, who instantly became the center of attention, stiffened. Although his previous relationship ended awkwardly and messily, it wasn’t like this, dragging on and on. Their breakup was clean and decisive. Such a chaotic scene was truly difficult for him, especially with Yan Xucheng present…

He could feel Yan Xucheng’s gaze. The skin on the right side of his neck felt scorching hot.

Only then did Yan Zhu realize that since entering, his good brother had been quieter and less noticeable than the vase on the display shelf behind him. He almost forgot there was such a person.

Meeting Yan Zhu’s urging gaze, Lu Zhijian spoke his first words of the day: “Yes, that’s right.”

Yan Zhu didn’t know what was wrong with Lu Zhijian today. Although he was generally quiet in daily life, he was usually articulate when it came to serious matters. Why was his social anxiety so severe today?

He suspected that his condition had worsened after his trip abroad. He should introduce him to a reliable psychologist later. The immediate priority now was to deal with Jiang Mingyi.

Seeing that this tactic seemed to be working a little, he continued: “Please be more tolerant of her. Give her some time. Just pity her, pity us, okay?”

Lu Zhijian was originally just listening like an outsider. After all, Yan Zhu hadn’t brought him here to argue, and he wasn’t good at arguing. But when he heard the word “us,” he suddenly frowned, wondering what he was thinking.

Yan Xucheng also caught this detail. He didn’t say much, but seeing Jiang Mingyi remain silent for a long time, letting Yan Zhu ramble on, he tugged at Jiang Mingyi’s sleeve, urging her not to be fooled.

Fortunately, Jiang Mingyi was still very clear-headed. A light flashed in her eyes when she looked closely: “Are her sufferings all my fault? Why should she take revenge on me? What did I do wrong?”

Yan Zhu was speechless.

After saying this, Jiang Mingyi seemed to lose her strength and pulled a tissue from the table.

Yan Xucheng, however, didn’t let him off: “I’ll tell you what she did wrong. She shouldn’t have been with you in the first place, so now she’s going to make up for the mistake she made.”

Yan Xucheng lifted his eyelids, his smoky blue eyes like a cold spring night, staring directly at Yan Zhu: “That is to divorce you.”

Those eyes seemed to see into Yan Zhu’s heart. He knew Yan Xucheng wasn’t wrong, which made him feel particularly humiliated.

This was the real reason Yan Zhu hated Yan Xucheng. It had been like this since he started dating Jiang Mingyi. Yan Xucheng was the only one who didn’t approve of the relationship, causing him countless troubles. He finally looked forward to him leaving Jingji to go abroad, but now he was back.

“Does our divorce have anything to do with you?”

“What?”

“What?”

He wasn’t asking a rhetorical question, but a genuine inquiry. He seemed to truly suspect that Yan Xucheng was behind the scenes, causing his divorce from Jiang Mingyi.

Even Lu Zhijian felt that Yan Zhu’s words were excessive. Even if he disliked Yan Xucheng, he shouldn’t speculate about his ex-wife like that, especially since they weren’t divorced yet.

Lu Zhijian was the first to stand up, the chair scraping against the floor with a harsh sound: “That is slander.”