Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
It was winter in Ning County, and the cold wind was biting. The moment Duan Linbai got out of the car, he sneezed several times.?Thereâs nothing in this lousy place, and the wind is so cold.
Xu Jiamu thought that since Duan Linbai was going to eat, it would definitely be her treat and that perhaps he was preparing to extort her. She hadnât expected him to choose an extremely ordinary barbecue restaurant.
âYouâre here again?â The boss had already gotten to know Duan Linbai. âYouâre here early today.â
âYeah, sheâs not working today.â Duan Linbai had always blocked Xu Jiamu at her part-time job. She went to the hotel to work early and got off work very late.
âGirlfriend?â
âNo!â Xu Jiamu hurriedly said.
Duan Linbai was speechless.?There are so many people eager to be my girlfriend, yet this woman is so anxious to draw lines with me. Am I a calamity or what?
âCome in and have a seat.â The boss welcomed the three of them into the restaurant. âYour usual? Twenty lamb skewers, a pair of chicken wingsâ¦â
âWhat do you want to eat? Order yourself. Itâs my treat.â Duan Linbai sat down, speedily folded his blind cane, and placed it beside his hand.
Xu Jiamu didnât have much of an appetite and just casually ordered a few vegetable dishes.
âWhere are you going with your luggage?â Duan Linbai pretended not to know about what had happened in the Xu family residence.
âI have something to do at school, so I want to go back a bit earlier.â Thinking about what had happened at home, Xu Jiamu felt a sting on her nose, and her eyes reddened once again. Little Jiang sat at the side and kept his head lowered to reduce his presence.
She wasnât close with Duan Linbai, so she naturally wouldnât mention it here.
She had originally wanted to go to her friendâs place for a few days, but the people she knew were either still out of town or already married, so it wasnât convenient for her to go over and disturb them.
âIâm going back to the capital too. Do you want to go together?â Duan Linbai suggested.
Xu Jiamu was stunned.?Why is this person suddenly so kind?
Some time ago, he even swore that he would teach me a lesson, and he even went to my workplace to block me, which was really childish.
âDonât worry. Itâs the new year. Itâs not like Iâll sell you.â Duan Linbai indeed felt pity for her.?If I make things difficult for her and provoke her now, am I still considered a human??âWhen are you going back?â
âIâm going to the train station tomorrow morning to see if I can get a ticket.â Xu Jiamu naturally wouldnât agree to take his car.?Wouldnât this be like a lamb entering the tigerâs den?
âMiss, itâs the Chunyun?period1. Tickets are so scarce that people might not even be able to buy any even if they go a few days in advance. Thereâs a free ride, yet you donât want to take it. Are you crazy?â
âYouâre the one whoâs crazy.â?Canât this person talk nicely? Must he do personal attacks?
âAre you going to take my car or not? Iâm returning to the capital tomorrow morning.â Duan Linbai gritted his teeth.?This woman is really⦠I already invited her like this, but sheâs still not taking up the offer?
âAre you going to drag me to a deserted place to beat me up and then throw me away?â Xu Jiamu was suspicious.
âIâ¦â?If I wasnât blind, I would definitely kill this woman.?
Am I such a vicious person in her heart?
âIf you donât want to take up the offer, then forget it.â Duan Linbai snorted arrogantly.
âIn that case, thank you.â Xu Jiamu bit her lip and didnât say anything else. It was the Chunyun period now, so train tickets were indeed hard to buy.
After the three of them finished eating, Xu Jiamu got a room at 7 Days Inn as well. Duan Linbai said directly, âPut it on my tab and settle the bill together.â
âItâs fine. I can pay for it myself.â Xu Jiamu hurriedly refused.
âIâm a member here, and I can save money,â Duan Linbai said unhappily. Only then did Xu Jiamu stop.
***
The next day, at around eight in the morning, the three of them set off to return to the capital.
Xu Jiamu hadnât slept well all night because she had been paying close attention to her phone. Other than two calls from her father, there had been no calls from anyone else. She had laid on the bed and thought about the grievances she had suffered all these years while her tears soaked the pillow.
She really didnât have much money on her. In addition to her scholarships for doctorate studies, she also received monthly subsidies. She scrimped and saved all the money she could, and she had already given whatever she could to her brother.
Even if it was money she had earned from her part-time job, she wasnât stingy with it either. But she was unhappy that her money went to him so that he could please his girlfriend.
He had a relationship, but she had to pay for it? How ridiculous.
Because of this dispute, she couldnât spend this new year at home, so she had just packed her things and left.
After getting into the car, she didnât say anything and fell asleep leaning against the window.
When the car was nearing Beijing Medical University, Xu Jiamu looked at the person beside her. âYoung Master Duan, letâs add each other on WeChat.â
Duan Linbai raised his eyebrows.?Oh?
This girl actually took the initiative to ask for my contact info? Sure enough, sheâs interested in meâ¦
She finally took the initiative to ask for my WeChat.
Duan Linbai took out his phone, unlocked the screen with his voice, and opened WeChat. But it wasnât easy for him to do it, so he could only let Xu Jiamu take his phone and open up his QR code to scan it.
[Little White Dragon in the Waves]
Xu Jiamu was speechless.?This silly name really suits him.
âDone.â Xu Jiamu passed his phone back to him.
The car drove all the way into the school and stopped at Xu Jiamuâs dormitory.
âItâs almost the new year, and the school is on holiday. Are you still able to stay in school?â
âMany grad students donât go home, and we can stay in our dorms all year round. Thanks a lot, and thank you, Assistant Jiang. Iâm really grateful to you guys this time.â
âYouâre welcome.â Little Jiang stopped the car and turned off the engine. âIâll help you carry your luggage.â
After Xu Jiamu left, Duan Linbai got Little Jiang to drive him home. On the way, his WeChat notification rang a few times, but he couldnât check them, so he could only hand his phone to Little Jiang. âSee whose message it is.â
Little Jiang stopped the car at the side of the road and took the phone.
âItâs Miss Xuâs.â
âHehâI knew sheâd definitely text me to thank me. Just tell her thereâs no need to thank me.â Duan Linbai rubbed his nose. âPeople should do more good deeds. Happiness stems from helping others.â
âNoâ¦â Little Jiang hesitated. âLittle Boss, Miss Xu transferred some money to you.â
âHuh?â
âShe transferred three hundred yuan. She said itâs for the ride and accommodations last night. She even sent a âthank youâ below it. Also, when you randomly touched the phone just now, you already accepted the money.â
Duan Linbai was dumbfounded. âHow did she calculate it? Three hundred?â
So she added me on WeChat just to make it easier to transfer money to me?
This damn womanâ¦
Does she not know how many people out there want my contact info but canât get it??She infuriated him so much that his heart and liver hurt.
Xu Jiamu had calculated the amount. Even on a certain taxi app, a ride from Ning County to Beijing was only around 130 yuan, and the accommodation fee for last night was 117 yuan, so returning him 300 yuan was more than the actual amount.
Duan Linbai specially called Fu Chen to complain about this.
âSay, do you think this womanâs head has been squeezed by a door? Do I lack this money?
âI gave her a ride home out of kindness. Did she really treat my car as a taxi? What a heartless woman.
âThird Fu, Iâm telling you, Iâm not done with her!â
Fu Chen smiled. âLinbai, you just said that something happened to her at home, so you donât plan on pursuing her for beating you up. And now, youâre being conflicted over three hundred yuan. She transferred the money to you, so you two are even. Isnât that good? Donât you think youâre caring too much about her?â
Duan Linbai choked. âI canât explain it to you clearly!â
He hung up the phone straight away.
Fu Chen chuckled softly.?Heâs starting to care about her. Thatâs not a good sign. Heâs dumb.
Fu Chen rubbed his phone. Song Fengwan had just sent him a message.
[Iâm accompanying Uncle Yan to the airport to pick someone up. Iâll call you later.]
As Song Fengwan had just returned to Yuncheng, she didnât go to school the next day. Qiao Aiyun let her rest for a day before reporting back to school.
Senior high school students would probably have to attend another week of classes before going on holiday. During the new year period, they might only have a few days off and would have to return to school before the fifth day of the new year.
Old Madam Yan naturally hoped that Qiao Aiyun and Song Fengwan could go to Nanjiang to celebrate the new year, but the situation didnât allow it. Seeing that her son and Qiao Aiyun had made some progress, she couldnât bear to ask Yan Wangchuan to come back, so she directly came to Yuncheng to celebrate the new year.
This caused Qiao Aiyun to be surprised and very embarrassed. She had yet to visit Nanjiang, so how could she let her go back and forth at such an old age? She felt even more apologetic towards the Yan family.
Initially, she hadnât wanted Old Madam Yan to come. But Old Madam Yan had only called them when she was about to board the plane. Otherwise, Qiao Aiyun would have asked Yan Wangchuan to go back to Nanjiang long ago.
As Old Madam Yanâs visit was sudden, Qiao Aiyun was unprepared. She asked Yan Wangchuan to bring Song Fengwan to pick Old Madam Yan up while she went out to buy groceries and cook. She planned to make some old chicken soup.
***
Yuncheng Airportâ¦
Song Fengwan rarely spent time alone with Yan Wangchuan because she always felt a little uncomfortable, and he was also a person of few expressions and words. On the way to the airport, she tried to chat with him a few times, but he always ended the conversation in an instant.
He was a complete conversation terminator.
Song Fengwan complained to Fu Chen a lot on her phone.
[Third Brother, Iâve really never seen someone whoâs so bad at having conversations. I said his companyâs new year and Valentineâs Day jewelry series this year were beautiful, but he said to me: Not as good as last yearâs.]
[I said they look pretty good and asked why they arenât as good as last yearâs. He said he was the one who designed last yearâs jewelry⦠Third Brother, what else can I say?]
Song Fengwan sent an emoji of a person rolling all over the floor.
[I asked if designing jewelry is his hobby. He said itâs work, and everyone has to earn money to eat after all. Hey, have you ever seen such a practical person? Canât he be more tactful?]
[I canât continue this topic anymore. Itâs killing me.]
â¦
Song Fengwan sent Fu Chen more than ten messages complaining about Yan Wangchuan. Just by looking at the messages, he could feel that the little girl was on the verge of going crazy.
Fu Chen had already imagined the expression of her scratching the wall.
[Be goodâ]
Fu Chen sent a head-patting emoji.
[I really canât calm down. I changed the topic and asked if itâs okay for him not to go to work for such a long time. Do you know what he said to me?]
Holding his phone, Fu Chen smiled. [What?]
[He said that heâs the boss, so itâs his freedom to be on leave anytime. Thereâs nothing wrong with what he said, but I just feel that he deserves a beating so much. Donât you agree?]
Fu Chen suddenly felt that his little girl was so pitiful yet cute. [Itâs just you and him?]
[Yeah, Iâm about to suffocate. How am I supposed to chat with such a person? I really canât talk with him.]
While typing messages, Fu Chen called her. Song Fengwan looked at the person beside her and still answered the call. âHelloââ Her voice was very low, and she inevitably felt a little guilty.
âItâs alright. He knows. Thereâs no need to hide it when heâs the only one around.â
âHe really wonât tell my mom?â
âNo.â Fu Chen knew very well how Yan Wangchuan had gotten together with Qiao Aiyun, so he had something on him.
âThatâs good.â Song Fengwan then talked on the phone with Fu Chen at ease.
âDo you miss me?â
Song Fengwan hesitated. After all, Yan Wangchuan was still driving beside her, so she replied softly with a flushed face.
Yan Wangchuanâs grip on the steering wheel tightened. Even without thinking, he knew who Song Fengwan was on the phone with.
Fu Chen was totally using him as a cover. At this moment, he was already worried about when the truth would be exposed in the future. Everything would be fine if Qiao Aiyun accepted it gladly, but if she didnât, he would probably suffer as well.
This brat really dug this pit too deep.
***
The two of them arrived at the airport and waited for more than 20 minutes before Old Madam Yan came out.
âGrandma Yan.â Song Fengwan smiled and waved at her. Old Madam Yan was wearing reading glasses and squinted for a long time to focus her vision on Song Fengwan before smiling. She walked toward them with her walking stick.
âWanwan, youâre here. How long has it been since we last met? Why have you become so thin?â
âIâve been taking exams all this time, so of course Iâm a little thin, but itâs okay.â Song Fengwan reached out her hand to support Old Madam Yan.
âYou have to take care of your health.â Old Madam Yan grabbed her hand and smiled extremely kindly.
âEldest Uncle.â Suddenly, an unfamiliar manâs voice sounded. Only then did Song Fengwan notice that there was someone following behind Old Madam Yan.
Many people had come out together just now, and she had also seen this man, but she hadnât expected him to come together with Old Madam Yan.
He was around 1.8 meters tall and looked about 24 years old. He was slender, tall, and had elegant facial features. In the crowd, be it his aura or looks, they were all very outstanding. But right now, Song Fengwan only had Fu Chen in her eyes, so she had only taken a glance at the crowd and didnât take him to heart.
At this moment, the man was standing diagonally behind Old Madam Yan, and he was dressed in a British style. Perhaps because he noticed Song Fengwanâs gaze, he turned his head to look at her. There was a hint of him sizing her up in his gaze, but he took his gaze back from her without leaving a trace. He nodded in greeting, giving off a distant and aloof feeling.
Isnât Uncle Yan an only child? This person called him Eldest Uncle?