Back Then, I Adored You

After hearing the words “Lu Bancheng,” Xu Wennuan was stunned. She gently retracted her gaze from the view outside the window but, before she could decide where she wanted to look, she caught sight of Lu Bancheng out of the corner of her eye, the first time she’d seen him in a long time. They’d completely lost touch since the day they had divorced last year.

It was only when she had gone out for dinner with Qin Zhi’ai at the end of the year that she had heard Qin Zhi’ai mention by chance that, because of work, he had left for America a month ago with no return ticket. Because they were both acquainted with Qin Zhi’ai, Xu Wennuan knew in her heart that she would meet Lu Bancheng eventually; however, she hadn’t expected to meet him so soon and, thus, the moment she saw Lu Bancheng her mind went blank.

The butler helped Lu Bancheng get a pair of shoes from the shoe cabinet. Lu Bancheng thanked him politely and bent down to change his shoes before he straightened back up. Just when he was about to walk into the house, he caught sight of Xu Wennuan, who was seated on the sofa rigidly and staring at him. His back instantly stiffened, and a familiar sense of pain seized his heart.

“Brother Bancheng, didn’t you just get off the plane this afternoon? How did you get here so fast?” Qin Zhi’ai, who had walked some distance away from the sofa, chuckled. When Lu Bancheng heard her, he quickly looked down to hide his eyes, which were looking at Xu Wennuan. He then forced himself to suppress the emotions that were roiling in his body before he calmly replied with a smile on his face, “I was afraid they might cancel the later flight due to weather, so I took an earlier flight and got here late in the morning.”

“I see…” Qin Zhi’ai’s lips curled up and she pointed toward the sofa before she continued to say, “Brother Bancheng, take a seat here.” As she spoke, she looked at the butler. “Get Brother Bancheng a cup of tea.”

“Yes, Madam.” The butler hurried to the dining room upon receiving the instruction. Lu Bancheng took a few steps into the living room and, when he was only a short distance away from the sofa, he recalled how Xu Wennuan would always become anxious and restless whenever he got close to her before their divorce and he reactively slowed his footsteps.

Without any expression on his face, he glanced at where Xu Wennuan was seated. Overall, she seemed much more relaxed than before, but she was still slightly dazed.

Since I left her world without hesitation, now that she’s living peacefully, why should I disturb her?

Lu Bancheng subconsciously curled up his fingers and balled them up into fists beside his body before he turned his gaze to Xu Wennuan’s face. As if he recalled something, he asked casually, “Where’s Brother Sheng?”

“He had something urgent come up with work, so he’s upstairs in the study,” Qin Zhi’ai said.

“I’ll go look for him then.” As Lu Bancheng said this, he looked directly at Xu Wennuan. As if he was seeing a stranger, he gave her a polite but alienated nod of acknowledgment before he turned and walked to the stairs.

Lu Bancheng only stopped when he was at a corner on the second floor that was not visible from the ground floor. He tilted his head slightly until he could see Xu Wennuan and Qin Zhi’ai seated downstairs in the living room.

After having not seen her for a year, he noted how her complexion and health seemed to have improved significantly as compared to the last time he had seen her. She had also matured and become even more beautiful and moving than before. He admired her for some time while she chatted about something with Qin Zhi’ai with her crescent eyes and radiant smile.