The Black Swan Trap - chapter 8

Wen Ning shook her head.

“I’d better not go into my sister’s bedroom without permission. How about I wait for her at the school gate instead? Getting some fresh air will make me feel better.”

Since Wen Hua only stayed here occasionally, she had just bought a small apartment near the school.

There were only two rooms: one was a bedroom for sleeping, and the other was completely filled with Wen Hua’s clothes, bags, and valuables.

Liu thought Wen Ning made sense. If anything got lost or damaged, it would be a real hassle.

She nodded. “Alright, miss, be careful.”

And just like that, Wen Ning managed to slip away perfectly.

She had checked the weather forecast on purpose; there was an 80% chance of rain today, which was why she decided to go out with Liu.

Wen Ning stood at the gate of Capital City University (Jingda).

Today, she wore a light blue dress, which she had bought herself with money from Wen Jiming.

The waistline was tightly cinched, and only a faint hint of her collarbone could be seen at the neckline-very modest.

But the dazzlingly fair calves beneath her skirt and the arms exposed at the sleeves looked as if they were made from crushed jade powder.

Passing students kept turning their heads, discussing whether she was the new campus beauty.

Wen Ning glanced at the dark clouds gathering overhead and lowered her head to send Wen Hua a message:

[Where are you, sis?]

It was a vague question, and since Wen Hua rarely replied to messages anyway, Wen Ning never got a response.

In fact, just as Wen Ning expected, Wen Hua glanced at the message and then turned back to chat with her friends.

She had no idea Wen Ning was waiting for her at the school gate.

Sullen thunder rumbled as dark clouds gathered above Wen Ning’s head. It started to rain.

Tiny raindrops began to fall, gradually increasing in number until the once-dry ground was soaked.

Wen Ning stood motionless, letting the rain wash over her. She stood in the rain for a full twenty minutes.

She waited patiently until she saw a low-key black Maybach approaching from a distance.

It was exactly the same car Jiang Nie had driven last time.

Because it was at the school gate, with lots of people and cars, the vehicle moved extremely slowly.

Wen Ning followed the crowd to the roadside and saw that it was a driver behind the wheel, not Jiang Nie, which meant the car was here to pick him up.

Wen Ning lingered by the roadside for a few more minutes until she finally saw a familiar figure holding an umbrella, walking out from the school.

Wen Ning sprang into action, breaking into a jog.

“Ah!”

As she neared Jiang Nie, Wen Ning ‘accidentally’ twisted her ankle and fell right at his feet.

Hearing the commotion, Jiang Nie looked down and saw Wen Ning, drenched by the rain.

When Wen Ning looked up, raindrops clung to her eyelashes.

Her wet hair stuck to the back of her neck, revealing faint blue veins, like ink-washed orchids spreading on rice paper.

“Jiang… sir?”

Wen Ning’s voice was soft, trembling with the coolness of the rain, her sharp canine tooth unconsciously grazing her lower lip.

Jiang Nie said nothing, but his gaze remained fixed on Wen Ning as she slowly got up from the ground.

“Hey.”

Jiang Nie handed his black umbrella to Wen Ning, getting himself wet in the process, which surprised even him for a moment.

Seeing Wen Ning unresponsive, Jiang Nie urged impatiently, “Take it.”

“What about you?” Wen Ning hesitated, not taking it right away.

Jiang Nie found her talkative, but still explained, “Stop fussing. My car is already here. Just take it.”

Wen Ning smiled as she accepted the umbrella. Jiang Nie turned and walked away without a moment’s pause.

But then he heard a soft hiss behind him: “Hiss~”

Jiang Nie turned his head and saw Wen Ning’s ankle, red and swollen beneath her skirt.

Wen Ning hobbled forward with difficulty, limping a few steps.

In the end, whether out of sympathy or something else, Jiang Nie helped Wen Ning into his car.
Looking at the girl in the car, shivering from her soaked clothes, Jiang Nie thought there must be something wrong with him for meddling in other people’s business, but he also felt a bit curious.

“What are you doing at Capital City University (Jingda)?”

When Wen Ning heard “Capital City University (Jingda)”, she trembled even more.

Jiang Nie instructed the driver to turn on the heater, then took a spare jacket from the car and tossed it to Wen Ning to wear.

“Can you tell me now?”

Wen Ning thought of the guaranteed admission quota, and a look of disappointment flashed across her face.

She had carefully adjusted her angle so that Jiang Nie could see her expression clearly.

She lowered her eyes and was quiet for several seconds, then tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, a faint smile appearing on her face.

As if the person who had just looked disappointed wasn’t her at all.

“I’m here to wait for my sister. Today, my family and I came to bring her lunch.”

“Oh.”

Is that so?

Jiang Nie felt that something was odd.

“Wen Hua’s apartment is nearby. Why didn’t you wait at home? Why did you specifically come to Capital City University (Jingda)’s gate and get caught in the rain?”

Wen Ning’s lips curled slightly. “I heard Capital City University (Jingda) is the top university in the country, so I wanted to see it for myself. I didn’t expect it to suddenly rain.”

“You wanted to see Capital City University (Jingda)? Why not have your sister show you around?”

Instead, she ended up getting drenched at the gate.

The rain was getting heavier. If he hadn’t happened to see her today, who knows what this silly woman would have done.

Wen Ning glanced awkwardly out the window. “My sister is quite busy…”

Busy?

Jiang Nie thought for a moment. Earlier, before leaving campus, he had called Wen Hua to ask if she wanted to leave together, but she said she was going to have dinner with friends.

She did seem busy.

“Mr. Jiang, could you please take me back to my sister’s apartment? I’ll wait for her there. Thank you.”

“Mm.” After all, it wasn’t far, and she was Wen Hua’s younger sister, so it was on his way.

Jiang Nie told the driver to turn around and take Wen Ning back first.

When the car stopped at the apartment entrance, Jiang Nie naturally wanted to get out and help Wen Ning, just as he had helped her into the car earlier.

Although Wen Ning kept her distance from him on purpose, Jiang Nie could still clearly feel her slender waist as he supported her.

Just as he was about to get out, Wen Ning opened the door first, and a middle-aged woman approached from outside.

“Miss Wen Ning, are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Luckily I ran into my sister’s friend. Liu, could you help me?”

“Of course, Miss, please be careful!”

Liu glanced into the car and saw that it was Young Master Jiang. Since he often visited the Wen Family, everyone there was familiar with him.

“Thank you, Young Master Jiang. Take care.”

As Liu thanked him, Jiang Nie’s raised hand paused in the air for a moment, not sure what he was feeling disappointed about.

“No problem.” He glanced at Wen Ning’s slow steps and awkwardly reminded her, “Wen Hua won’t be coming back today.”

He thought to himself that she should hurry home and put on some medicine, but he didn’t say it aloud. Instead, he irritably ran his hand through his hair and rolled up the car window before she could respond.

With Liu’s help, Wen Ning returned to Wen Hua’s apartment. “Miss, there’s no medicine box at Wen Hua’s place. We should go home soon.”

“Mm.”

After Jiang Nie left, he looked at a blue butterfly-shaped hair tie in the car and fell into thought.

Earlier, Wen Ning had tried to tie up her hair in the car, but it was too wet to gather it all up neatly.

She fiddled with it for a few minutes, and because of a sudden brake from the driver, nearly lurched forward. After that, he never saw her try to tie her hair again.

So the hair tie had ended up in his car.

After parking, Jiang Nie glanced at it before getting out and going home. He neither threw it away nor took it with him; the hair tie just lay quietly on the back seat.