Lanting was located in the center of the city and built alongside the river. At night, the scenery along the river shone brightly, there were countless exploding fireworks and fiery lanterns drifting down the river that decorated this scenic belt which had an endless flow of pedestrians and tourists.

The large floor-to-ceiling window was behind Yi Yang and the night sky outside the window was decorated with the ten thousand lights of City A. Meanwhile, in front of Xu Xinyi, there were three high candles surrounded by three or four shorter candles. The table was carefully decorated and set with champagne, red wine, and steak salad.

It was so romantic... My ass!

Xu Xinyi, chewing on some steak, ruthlessly brought her knife down on the shiny and reflective plate in front of her to cut another piece.

--"I thought there was something important. But he didn't even remember our wedding anniversary. To think he was in such a hurry to have me come home."

--"With this time I’m spending on this dinner, I could be reading a script or looking over contracts for the company."

Xu Xinyi forked the steak she just cut into her mouth and a pair of eyes full of resentment stared at Yi Yang. 

Although Yi Yang didn't look up, his Adam's apple rolled up and down uncomfortably under Xu Xinyi's eyes. He picked up his red wine and took a sip to hide his embarrassment.

Their wedding anniversary turned out to be on the 27th.

But when he was at the company yesterday, he remembered that he checked the date, and should have been today.

Could it be that Xu Xinyi got things mixed up?

Thinking about it, that really seemed possible. She liked to say she liked him on the surface but she couldn't even remember his birthday.

Yi Yang unlocked his phone and looked at his calendar. It was written that his wedding anniversary was on 3/27.

The problem was that the date was near the edge of the screen so he had mistaken the 27 as a 21.

Yi Yang put down his phone as if nothing had happened. Then he cleared his throat, looked at Xu Xinyi, and said, "I’m sorry. I remembered the wrong date, it won't happen again."

Xu Xinyi was stunned.

--"Could this be an apology to me?"

--"But if you remember your wedding anniversary incorrectly, do you think things will be over with just an apology?"

As she was thinking about how to respond, Yi Yang suddenly handed over the jewelry box that he had prepared.

"There's no reason for me to take back a gift. You keep it first. I'll give you something even better on our anniversary."

It was kind of sincere to apologize with a gift.

But on the surface, Xu Xinyi felt that she still needed to act upset.

"How could I take it for no reason? It’s such a valuable thing."

"Take it." Yi Yang saw through her hypocrisy instantly and pushed it back to her.

Xu Xinyi ‘reluctantly’ took it. "Well, I suppose I can take it."

She opened the jewelry box and inside was a bracelet. It was studded with a few valuable diamonds and was made in a style she didn’t recognize. Also, there was no logo or brand name.

Xu Xinyi accepted it with satisfaction.

Things without a logo were generally more expensive.

Now that she had received his gift, Xu Xinyi felt it was necessary to say some words of understanding.

"Remembering our wedding anniversary wrong isn’t a big deal. What matters is the thought you put in. Tonight’s elaborate candlelit dinner is so romantic, I feel touched."

"Really?"

Xu Xinyi nodded.

Yi Yang gave a smile that was not a smile, "Then eat more."

"Husband, you eat more too."

Yi Yang sighed in his heart. Women.

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The city center of City A was a brightly lit place where many people gathered every day, but it became much quieter the further away you moved from the city center.

Huaming Court* was an old community with twenty years of history. The seven-story buildings had no elevators, the mottled walls were drab and gray, and the facilities of the aging community had long been left in disrepair. The cement floors were pocked with potholes, and a lot of debris had accumulated in the corners of the corridors over the years until it occupied more than half of the passageways. Many aging power lines near the electricity meter on the first floor were exposed, it looked very frightening and dangerous.

The only advantage was that there were many big trees planted inside the community, so it was comfortable and enjoyable to cool off under the trees during the summer.

Jiang Nian, who had been busy all day at the studio, dragged his tired body back to Huaming Court that night. He used his key and opened the door but unexpectedly the room was not dark and silent, instead, it was lit up by a dim yellow lamp in the living room.

Jiang Nian, who was holding the doorknob, felt his heart tighten.

Someone was there.

Someone stood up from the living room.

"You’re back?"

Hearing the voice, Jiang Nian pressed his lips into a line and then closed the door and entered the room.

In the living room, Jiang Nian's father was sitting on the sofa and Jiang Huai was standing by his side and looking toward the door.

It seemed they entered his home without a key or even saying hello. Jiang Nian’s face sank and his tone was unhappy. "What are you doing here?"

Jiang Huai didn’t say anything. Jiang Cheng’s lined face was covered with deep grooves, he worriedly asked: "We came to see you. Your brother told me that you borrowed a million yuan from him yesterday, what happened? Is there something wrong? Are you still short of money?"

Jiang Nian did not answer. He just glanced at Jiang Huai, went inside a room, took out a card, and handed it to Jiang Huai.

"I called you yesterday to borrow money because of a TV show. It was a punishment for losing a game. This is the one million you gave me yesterday, I didn't touch it. It's all still there. I'll give it back to you now."

Jiang Huai did not reach to take the card, instead, he said with a smile: "Between brothers, there is no reason to take something like this back. Just think of it as pocket money I gave you."

Jiang Nian was stubborn, he kept his face expressionless and put the card on the coffee table in front of Jiang Huai. His attitude was very clear.

He wouldn’t take a stitch of cloth from the Jiang family and he would not accept any gifts from the Jiang family either.

"I heard that your identity was revealed on the show. Since that happened, what do you think? Do you want me to cooperate with you?" Jiang Huai asked.

Jiang Nian frowned, "There’s no need."

Jiang Huai, who had been rejected over and over, still spoke with a good temper. He asked, "Today I received the news that someone smeared you online. What's going on? Has it been solved?"

"Smeared?" This remark attracted Jiang Cheng's attention, "What's going on?"

Jiang Huai explained: "Some people from the entertainment industry are jealous of Jiang Nian's popularity, so they paid someone to release some false black material about Jiang Nian."

"If you know about this kind of thing, why haven't you solved it?"

Jiang Huai was briefly stunned. He had only recently heard the news himself because he been busy with the cooperation with the Yi Group, so he naturally had less ability to pay attention to other things.

Jiang Nian didn’t want his help. If he could, he would rather not have anything to do with the Jiang family at all.

"My company will help me handle this kind of thing, you don't have to bother. Was there anything else? If that’s all, please go back. I'm tired and want to have a rest."

Jiang Huai was dissatisfied with Jiang Nian's attitude. He raised his voice, "Jiang Nian!"

Jiang Cheng glared at Jiang Huai to remind him to mind his own attitude.

Regarding Jiang Nian's unruly attitude, Jiang Huai only felt very helpless. He softened his tone. "Dad and I came to see you specially. After we’ve waited for you for a few hours, you can't even pour us a glass of water?"

"Did you get my permission to enter this house?" Jiang Nian glanced at him but didn't want to waste too many words. "You can leave whenever you want. I'm tired so I'm going back to my room to rest."

"Stop!" Jiang Huai stopped him angrily. "What's with your attitude? Sit down!"

"Alright," Jiang Cheng interrupted, "If he is tired, let him go and rest. Why are you yelling at him?"

Jiang Nian stopped in front of the bedroom door and clenched the door handle, he gritted his teeth and said, "If it's alright with you, please leave as soon as possible. My mother wouldn't want you here."

Then he closed the door behind him.

The whole living room fell silent.

The night outside the window was thick and black, it blanketed Huaming Court so tightly that there was not a trace of light, even the lamp inside the house seemed dim and powerless.

After a long time, there was a heavy sigh.

Jiang Cheng stood up slowly.

He was more than fifty years old, it was not too old, but his body had aged beyond its years. In the last three or four years, he had gone from a strong middle-aged man to an old withered tree and he only got worse and worse each day.

He stroked the shabby sofa in the living room and looked at the shabby bamboo rocking chair on the balcony, he could almost see the gentle and beautiful woman who used to get up from that rocking chair and throw herself into his arms with a smile. His eyes stopped on a vase with some flowers in it.

Jiang Cheng's voice trembled. "This is the place where your mother used to live. You see, this kind of white lily was always her favorite. She always put a bunch of lilies where she could see them."

Jiang Huai trailed behind Jiang Cheng in silence.

"I have a feeling that I’ll go to see your mother soon."

"Dad, don't say that."

Jiang Cheng smiled. "I wronged her first so it doesn't matter if I go to see her early. It looks just like the first time I was here." He looked up and around at the whole house. "It wasn’t like this the last time I was here, you restored the house?"

Jiang Huai nodded.

"Well, that’s fine."

As he finished speaking he gripped the table and coughed violently, his heart tightened and the pain felt like he was being stabbed by a needle.

"Dad, are you all right?"

Jiang Cheng waved his hand. When he spoke he was out of breath. "I’m fine, it's an old problem."

"I'll accompany you to go to the hospital tomorrow."

"No, I know my own body. You don't need to mess around. Aren't you going to talk about cooperation with the Yi's in a couple of days? After you finish talking about the cooperation, I will go to the hospital. "

Knowing that he could not influence Jiang Cheng's decision, Jiang Huai took a final look at Jiang Nian's room and had to say, "It's getting late. You should go back and have a rest early. Don’t worry about Jiang Nian, I'll take care of him."

Jiang Cheng nodded and the two left.

The night turned even darker.

Jiang Nian stood by his window and watched Maybach leaving. Eventually, he slowly lowered his eyes.

-----------

*this is the place Jiang Nian lives in. It was mentioned back in chapter 22 so I’m keeping the translation I used back then