"Please, don't mention it," Lu Fan explained. "I'm Yixia's husband. She runs the flower shop here, and I'm sure we have you to thank for looking after her all this time."
Li Li was stunned by his words.
She had never heard Jiang Yixia mention a husband before.
'Could he be the biological father of her two children?'
Just as Li Li was about to ask Jiang Yixia about it, Jiang Yixia immediately cut her off. "Don't listen to his nonsense."
Then, she walked up to Lu Fan. "Are you leaving or not? If you don't, I'm closing up shop and going home right now."
"Alright, alright, I'm going," Lu Fan said, nodding as he prepared to leave.
After he left, a curious Li Li came over and asked Jiang Yixia, "Yixia, what's going on? Is he really the father of your two children?"
Although Jiang Yixia didn't want to admit it, she finally nodded. "Yes, he's Silu and Sifan's biological father."
"How did he find you again? He hasn't been back all these years," Li Li asked, puzzled.
Jiang Yixia explained, "He couldn't find me for the past few years. I was hiding from him."
"No wonder." Li Li then looked in the direction Lu Fan had gone. "If you ask me, your ex-husband isn't bad at all. He's handsome, has a good air about him, wears a suit... He looks like he must be very rich, too."
Jiang Yixia said dismissively, "Whether he has money or not has nothing to do with me. I just want to live my own life peacefully right now."
"Hey, you can't say that. You're the one who left him and went into hiding. It's not like he abandoned you. That proves he still has you in his heart," Li Li said, trying to smooth things over.
Jiang Yixia frowned, looking sullen. "Sister Li, he just caught a scammer for you. Why are you suddenly taking his side?"
"Oh, come on. He seems like a good guy to me. I doubt he's a bad person," Li Li said with an awkward laugh.
'He *is* a bad person,' Jiang Yixia cursed resentfully in her heart. 'Nineteen years ago, he was a total womanizer.'
She glanced at Li Li and said, "Sister Li, I'm not talking about this anymore. I'm going to tidy up and close the shop."
"Closing up so early today?" Li Li asked curiously.
Jiang Yixia replied, "I'm worried that guy will come back again. It's better to close early and get some rest."
"Alright, alright. It's not my place to meddle in family matters, so I won't say any more about it," Li Li could only say.
Jiang Yixia then reassured her, "Don't worry, Sister Li. I'm doing just fine on my own. Really."
With that, she closed the shop door and waved goodbye.
Not far away, Lu Fan watched this scene unfold. He turned and asked Chen He, "You've had people protecting Yixia and buying flowers from her shop for the past two days. Have you found anything else out?"
"She always opens at nine in the morning and closes at ten at night," Chen He explained.
"She closes that late?" Lu Fan glanced at the time, curious. "Then why did she close so early today? It's only seven o'clock."
Chen He gave an awkward laugh. "Isn't it because you showed up, Boss?"
Lu Fan shot him a speechless look. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack, kid?"
"Boss, I..." Chen He scratched his head, trailing off.
Then, as if remembering something, he continued, "Oh, right. Our investigation into Jiasheng from the convenience store next door suggests he seems to have a thing for Ms. Jiang."
"The convenience store owner..." Lu Fan raised an eyebrow, deciding to go check him out.
So he got out of the car again and walked back to the commercial street.
At that moment, Jiasheng was watching a TV drama.
Lu Fan walked into the store, glanced around, and asked, "Excuse me, where are the potato chips?"
"First aisle on the left," Jiasheng said, pointing without looking up.
Lu Fan took the opportunity to size him up.
While this Jiasheng wasn't exactly unkempt or scruffy, he clearly had the look of an ordinary, middle-aged man.
Seeing this, Lu Fan no longer felt any sense of threat.
After all, he knew his own wife.
No matter how much Jiang Yixia might long for a man, she was obsessed with looks.
She would never fall for a guy like this.
He then grabbed a drink and a few bags of chips and walked up to Jiasheng. "I'd like to check out."
"Okay." Jiasheng scanned the items, his eyes still glued to the TV.
He glanced at the computer. "That'll be seventeen yuan. I can scan your code."
"Okay."
Just then, Lu Fan casually remarked, "Strange. I wonder why my wife closed up shop so early today."
Jiasheng didn't pay much mind, chuckling as he said, "Your wife runs a shop on this street, too?"
"Yeah, the flower shop right next door," Lu Fan replied.
At his words, Jiasheng's head shot up. He frowned. "What? The flower shop next door? Your wife is Jiang Yixia?"
"That's right." Lu Fan nodded. "My wife is Jiang Yixia. You know her?"
Jiasheng froze, instantly awkward.
"That's not right. I remember her saying she was divorced. You must be her ex-husband, right?" Jiasheng asked, confused.
"Not ex-husband. Husband," Lu Fan said, seeing his chance to twist the knife.
Jiasheng grew flustered and stammered, "But... but for the last couple of years... you..."
"I wasn't around for the last couple of years. We were temporarily separated, but we never stopped loving each other. And now, I'm back." Lu Fan didn't want to explain too much to him; he had already conveyed the essential information.
With that, he waved a hand and prepared to leave.
This completely ruined Jiasheng's mood for watching his show.
He hurried outside and stared at the flower shop next door.
Sure enough, Jiang Yixia had closed up early today.
"Yixia never closes this early... Could it really be because her husband is back?" Jiasheng didn't dare let his imagination run any further.
Could it be that Jiang Yixia closed early just so she could go home with her husband?
The thought made Jiasheng both anxious and furious.
"How could she... suddenly have a husband again!"
...
Lu Fan didn't look back. Instead, he walked straight toward the dry-cleaning shop.
As soon as he walked in, Li Li saw him.
She exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, you're still here?"
Lu Fan smiled. "I came back specifically to see you, ma'am."
"To see me?" Li Li lit up. "What can I do for you?"
"It's like this," Lu Fan began to explain. "Yixia and I had some misunderstandings a few years ago. I've been looking for her ever since, and I only just found her. She's been running this flower shop for the past two years, and as an older sister figure to her, I'm sure you've taken good care of her."
Hearing this, Li Li naturally took the credit. "Oh, that's absolutely right. Whenever she gets busy in her shop, I'm always the one who goes over to help. My dry-cleaning business is pretty steady, anyway."
"I'm truly grateful for your help, Sister Li. And I hope you'll continue to help Yixia out in the future. By the way, I happen to own a garment factory in Yangcheng, and we're actually in need of a dry-cleaning partner. How about this: I'll get your number, and you can discuss the specifics of a partnership with my assistant," Lu Fan said.
Li Li's eyes widened, and she grew excited. "Oh, that would be wonderful! Thank you so much!"
Just like that, Lu Fan got Li Li's contact information.
Before he left, Lu Fan put on an awkward expression. "Actually, Sister Li, I came here to ask a small favor. Yixia and I still have some misunderstandings to clear up. If it's not too much trouble, I was hoping you could put in a few good words for me with her."
"Of course, no problem! Don't you worry, leave it to me. Your Sister Li is famous on this street for being a chatterbox. This little tongue of mine never stops wagging," Li Li said, even pointing to her lips.
Now that he had Li Li on his side, Lu Fan turned his gaze to the steamed bun shop across from the flower shop.