Shadow Heir II: Dark Glory - Chapter 44

By this time, it was already evening. Jiang Wanxing and Mu Qianyu decided to just grab a simple meal in the school cafeteria. At this hour, the only thing left was Wanza noodles.

Jiang Wanxing slurped down the noodles in big mouthfuls, praising the taste as she ate, and even drank all the soup. Perhaps due to her long time in the military, her eating habits had nothing to do with taking small, delicate bites, yet she was dashing and neat, and her table manners were unexpectedly attractive.

Mu Qianyu, on the other hand, took small bites, inhaling sharply between them, beads of sweat forming on her nose and forehead. Even though it was only mildly spicy, this girl couldn’t quite handle it; her throat and esophagus felt like they were on fire. After all, having grown up in Linzhou, the limit of Mu Qianyu’s spice tolerance was the pepper powder in wonton soup.

She struggled to finish most of the bowl, her pretty face flushed red, and her lips even redder, more vibrant than Chanel shade 196.

Jiang Wanxing handed Mu Qianyu a bottle of ice water and said, seemingly casually, “Su Wuji seems to handle spicy food quite well.”

Indeed, during the two days they spent investigating the case in Jinyang, whenever it was mealtime, Su Wuji would squat by the roadside with her, eating steamed buns stuffed with chili sauce with great relish.

But coming from Jiang Wanxing’s mouth, these words seemed to carry a slightly different meaning, I can handle spicy food, and Su Wuji can too, but you can’t. You two can’t eat together, so you certainly can’t live together.

Mu Qianyu didn’t seem to catch the underlying implication. She drank half the bottle of ice water in one go, caught her breath, and said, “I haven’t eaten with Wuji yet, so I didn’t know he could handle spicy food so well, but I… phew…”

She exhaled and fanned her mouth with her hand, a rather cute gesture.

Jiang Wanxing immediately gleaned some information from this sentence, they haven’t even eaten together; these two are definitely not boyfriend and girlfriend.

“Qianyu, you’re so beautiful, hasn’t Su Wuji pursued you?” Jiang Wanxing asked again.

Mu Qianyu smiled. “Everyone says he’s a playboy who walks through a garden of flowers every day. Maybe he’s immune to someone like me.”

She didn’t seem intent on telling Jiang Wanxing the truth about Su Wuji. Since that guy liked to portray himself as a nightly reveler, Mu Qianyu felt she might as well help him cement that image, that way, only she would know about his “chastity.”

“Don’t be modest. There aren’t many people in the entire Capital who look better than you,” Jiang Wanxing said. Indeed, with looks like Mu Qianyu’s, it was no wonder her cousin Fang Jingyang couldn’t forget her after just one meeting.

“But Sister Wanxing is very beautiful,” Mu Qianyu chuckled. She wasn’t deliberately flattering her; she was speaking from the heart.

“Me? I’ve been in the army too long; I lack a bit of feminine charm.” Jiang Wanxing offered a polite remark, then shook her head. “But in my opinion, Su Wuji isn’t a real playboy. At most, he just likes to talk big.”

“Uh, really?”

Mu Qianyu’s feelings were a bit complicated. The secret she had worked so hard to hide had been easily seen through.

“I used to be a scout,” Jiang Wanxing said with a smile. “If Su Wuji were really a scoundrel who partied every night, would he hold back with a girl like Song Zhiyu around?”

Before this, Jiang Haobing had already told Jiang Wanxing that Su Wuji’s attitude toward Song Zhiyu seemed rather impatient.

Mu Qianyu could only offer a cover-up. “So that’s how it is. It seems I don’t know him well enough.”

Jiang Wanxing couldn’t seem to steer the conversation away from Su Wuji today. “So, what exactly is your relationship now?”

She had already deduced the truth, but she insisted on hearing the answer from Mu Qianyu’s own mouth.

“Strictly speaking, he and I are partners who work very well together,” Mu Qianyu replied.

Just like when she faced Xu Jiayan before, while she temporarily denied a relationship, she still left room in her words. But although this answer was factual, it still made Miss Mu a little unhappy.

Jiang Wanxing’s smile seemed to relax a bit. “Oh, you’re just partners. That’s good.”

Mu Qianyu: “…”

Good? What’s good about it? Big sister, what exactly are you trying to do?

Just then, Mu Qianyu’s phone rang. A look showed it was actually a call from Su Wuji!

She instinctively glanced at Jiang Wanxing and said, “Wuji is looking for me.”

“Oh, then answer it quickly.” Jiang Wanxing hurriedly added, “Don’t tell him I’m here.”

Mu Qianyu looked at Jiang Wanxing again. She didn’t see a trace of disappointment on the other woman’s face.

After answering the call, Mu Qianyu said, “What made you think of looking for me?”

Whether intentionally or not, her finger rested on the volume “+” button and pressed it gently a few times.

Su Wuji asked, “You still owe me a meal. You haven’t contacted me for days. What, trying to welch on the meal?”

“No, I haven’t. With the opening of Linmu Bank, I still have a few people to visit, so I have to delay my return for a few days.” Whenever Mu Qianyu spoke to Su Wuji, her eyes would unconsciously curve into crescents, and a smile would play on her lips.

Jiang Wanxing looked at the slight upturn of Mu Qianyu’s lips and turned her head away. But because Mu Qianyu’s phone volume was quite high, their conversation still drifted clearly into her ears.

Pretty practiced at lying, Jiang Wanxing muttered in her heart.

Su Wuji asked again, “Since you rejected the marriage proposal with Fang Jingyang last time, the Fang family hasn’t made things difficult for you these past few days, have they?”

“No, I haven’t even seen them,” Mu Qianyu said. “Though Fang Jingyang did call me once, wanting to meet in person. I didn’t agree.”

Jiang Wanxing hummed internally. You’re far away in the deep forests of Liangshan; of course Fang Jingyang can’t find you.

“If the Fang family troubles you, remember to tell me,” Su Wuji said.

Mu Qianyu glanced at Jiang Wanxing and chuckled lightly. “I know. Thanks for your concern.”

Su Wuji changed the subject. “By the way, I met Fang Jingyang’s cousin, Jiang Wanxing, over the last two days.”

Jiang Wanxing, who was pretending to look elsewhere, immediately sat up straight.

“She’s quite nice. Knows right from wrong, sensible, has a good moral compass, very smart, and the key is she’s very beautiful… Ah, that’s not important…”

Hearing this, Jiang Wanxing’s expression also transformed into crescent eyes and a smiling mouth.

Mu Qianyu also smiled as she looked at the beautiful woman opposite her. “It seems this Sister Wanxing left quite a deep impression on you, making you use so many adjectives in a row.”

Su Wuji said, “Don’t worry, she will definitely stop Fang Jingyang and keep him from acting recklessly.”

Jiang Wanxing rested her chin on one hand, in a great mood, but mentally retorted, That’s not necessarily true.

Mu Qianyu chuckled. “Next time, bring me to meet this Sister Wanxing. I’m getting more and more interested in her.”

Su Wuji asked very seriously, “If two beautiful women meet, won’t they be at each other’s throats?”

Mu Qianyu: “Maybe she and I will hit it off immediately and become very good friends.”

Su Wuji laughed loudly. “If you two can get along harmoniously, that would be great.”

Mu Qianyu raised an eyebrow. “Hmm? Be specific, get along how?”

Su Wuji laughed sheepishly. “Nothing, nothing. Hanging up now.”

After the two ended the call, Jiang Wanxing said, “At least that guy has a conscience and didn’t badmouth me behind my back…” Then she immediately added, “Oh, I didn’t mean to listen; your phone volume was just too loud.”

Mu Qianyu suddenly regretted turning the volume up.

At that moment, Jiang Wanxing’s phone also rang. Seeing the caller ID, the corners of her mouth tilted up slightly. Out of courtesy, and retaliation, she subtly turned up her volume as well!

“Hello, what do you need?” Jiang Wanxing asked.

Su Wuji got straight to the point. “Are you coming back to sleep tonight? I don’t want to sleep alone; it’s a little lonely, empty, and cold.”

[Translator’s Note: Two old friends will be meeting everyone in the next chapter.]

NOTES

“Shura Field.” Originally a Buddhist term referring to the battlefield of the Asuras (demigods of war), in modern slang, it refers to a tense, chaotic situation involving romantic conflict or rivalry, often a “love battlefield” between multiple interests.

Wanza Noodles. A famous spicy noodle dish from Chongqing/Sichuan featuring peas (wandou) and a meat sauce (zajiang).