She was so hungry. Since arriving here just after 4:00, Lin Sangyu hadn’t eaten a single bite.
Her stomach was growling; she couldn’t take it anymore, so she bit down on Jiang Wenzhe’s knuckles: “Squeak, squeak, squeak—”
“Hungry?” Jiang Wenzhe continued to massage her delicate neck, which had just been rough-handled by someone.
“Squeak, squeak.”
Jiang Wenzhe caught on, glanced around, and finally set his eyes on a fruit platter. He picked up a blueberry with a fork and placed it between Lin Sangyu’s two little paws.
Lin Sangyu caught it excitedly, nestling right there in Jiang Wenzhe’s broad, warm palm as she ate the fruit he fed her, one by one.
With the proposal ceremony largely wrapped up, it was time for a small reception dinner. The groom, Tang Lin, approached Jiang Wenzhe with a beaming smile: “Wenzhe, thanks a lot.”
Aside from the segment where Lin Sangyu delivered the ring disguised as a sugar glider, the floral arrangements for the entire ceremony were also made possible through Jiang Wenzhe’s connections, which secured the services of an internationally renowned master gardener to personally oversee the project.
“You’re welcome,” Jiang Wenzhe glanced at the conspicuous men’s ring on his hand. “If you really want to thank me, thank you for that plot of land in Yanqiuyuan.”
“……” Tang Lin replied with a forced smile. “Jiang Wenzhe, you’d better not ask me for favors in the future, or else… or else—hey, where’s my Little Fish?”
“Little Fish” was none other than Lin Sangyu. As for why Tang Lin chose such an affectionate nickname—and who he was trying to provoke—that went without saying.
Jiang Wenzhe offered the excuse he’d prepared in advance: “She suddenly fell ill yesterday and is still in the hospital.”
“Damn, is it serious? What’s wrong with her? I’ll forgive you for being so mean just now—you actually abandoned her for my sake,” Tang Lin said, pretending to wipe tears onto Jiang Wenzhe’s shoulder. “Waaah, you’re such a true brother. I’m literally the happiest person in the world today.”
“It’s not serious, just a minor illness,” Jiang Wenzhe took a small step back without giving anything away and ruthlessly called him out, “You’re overacting.”
“It’s just acting—I’m no pro, but I can always ask my wife for some tips later.”
He’d just proposed successfully and was already bragging about it.
Jiang Wenzhe was already immune to this kind of showboating and shot him a speechless glance.
“Squeak, squeak.” Lin Sangyu, in the palm of his hand, suddenly made a sound.
Tang Lin realized belatedly and suddenly slapped his thigh: “Oh, right! Let me see—did I pinch her just now? Is she hurt?”
Seeing Tang Lin’s hand about to come down, Lin Sangyu—still shaken by the scare—hurriedly crawled into Jiang Wenzhe’s sleeve, leaving only her head exposed as she bared her teeth at Tang Lin.
Seeing this, Tang Lin gave a sheepish chuckle and withdrew his hand: “She sure holds a grudge.”
“These two twins are right here.”
A deep, steady voice came from behind them, and both Tang Lin and Jiang Wenzhe turned around at the sound.
The man who had arrived was Xie Weiting, Huang Jue’s godfather and one of the few elders who had been there for Tang Lin and Jiang Wenzhe as they grew up.
“Uncle Xie.” The two called out respectfully in unison.
Xie Weiting said, half in self-deprecation and half with genuine joy, “I never thought I’d live to see Tang Lin get married.”
Xie Weiting was now ninety-two years old. The passage of time had left deep, indelible marks on him: his aged, cloudy eyes betrayed a profound sense of gravity; age spots dotted his deeply wrinkled face; and his sparse, graying hair resembled withered grass.
“Uncle Xie, don’t say that,” Jiang Wenzhe said, taking the hand that held his cane. “Weren’t your medical checkup results fine just last month?”
Xie Weiting laughed heartily a few times. He placed his left hand on Tang Lin’s shoulder and patted it twice, his heart full of emotion; his cloudy eyes grew slightly moist. “Be happy, Little Tang.”
“I will, Uncle Xie.” Tang Lin embraced him tenderly, nestling like a child in the old man’s arms.
“Then don’t forget about Little Jiang, either. Teach him a thing or two about how to date girls.”
Tang Lin looked as if he’d been disgusted and straightened up again: “He already has a girlfriend.”
What?!
Lin Sangyu, who had just been happily munching on a snack tucked inside his sleeve, immediately poked her head out again, pricking up her ears as her gaze darted between the three of them.
Jiang Wenzhe spotted her curious little head and promptly lifted her out, then said politely to one of the ladies gathered nearby chatting: “Hello, could you please help look after her for a moment?”
“Of course.”
The woman took her right away and, the moment she had her in her arms, couldn’t resist giving Lin Sangyu’s fluffy head a little squeeze.
“Squeak, squeak, squeak—”
Lin Sangyu let out two dissatisfied squeaks at Jiang Wenzhe.
Jiang Wenzhe, however, only glanced at her briefly before quickly looking away and returning to the conversation.
What is there that I can’t hear?
This Jiang Wenzhe is way too petty and stingy!
Fine, fine—if I can’t hear it, I won’t.
Before anger could set in, Lin Sangyu caught a whiff of the older sister’s scent. She turned her head and looked closely: the one who had taken her was a beautiful older sister with big, wavy curls and bright, charming eyes.
She took exactly zero seconds to put away the teeth she’d just bared while berating Jiang Wenzhe, revealing her soft belly as she turned toward the gentle, beautiful older woman with complete trust.
*
As soon as news broke that Huang Jue—a rising star in the film industry—was being proposed to by the Tang family, it instantly captured the attention of the entire internet.
That evening, clips of the proposal flooded major online platforms in a massive wave. Of course, this included the iconic scene where Lin Sangyu, disguised as a sugar glider, delivered the ring.
Netizens left comments one after another:
[Just when I thought every proposal trick had been done to death, someone always comes along to teach me a new lesson.]
[Folks, I already have three dogs and five cats at home. Do you think I can take in one more sugar glider?]
[What a smart and cute sugar glider! Let Mommy give it a kiss.]
[Is there a link to buy a sugar glider?]
Lin Sangyu scrolled through the comments while tugging at Jiang Wenzhe’s arm: “Aaaah, Jiang Wenzhe, I’m famous! I’m famous!”
“I know. Otherwise, do you really think I’d have let you be the ring bearer?” Jiang Wenzhe snatched Lin Sangyu’s phone away. “Alright, go take a shower now. Stop playing around—it’s almost midnight.”
They’d gotten back from the proposal dinner around 11:00, and she’d already showered and finished up the last bit of work, but Lin Sangyu was still stalling and refusing to take a shower.
Lin Sangyu sat up, reaching for the phone but falling short. While silently praying that she’d experience a second growth spurt at twenty-four, she replied to Jiang Wenzhe, “So you knew all along that I’d go viral?”
Jiang Wenzhe shrugged. “What else could it be?”
“You’re really something.”
Lin Sangyu held out her arms to Jiang Wenzhe, and as usual, he picked her up, his left hand cupping her bottom and his right arm wrapping around her slender waist.
“I want to wear that yellow nightgown to bed tonight.” Lin Sangyu wrapped her arms around Jiang Wenze’s neck, rested her chin in the crook of his neck, and said in a husky voice.
“Don’t you like the pink one?”
She even made him buy five identical ones in a row.
“It’s to match the wedding scene today,” Lin Sangyu began reminiscing again. “It was so beautiful.”
Jiang Wenzhe carefully set her down on the bathroom vanity, braced his hands in front of her, and lifted his cool gaze to look at her: “It’s already very late tonight. Take a quick shower so you don’t go to bed too late.”
“Got it,” Lin Sangyu said, nuzzling her forehead against his.
Their noses touched involuntarily, and their breaths mingled.
Cicadas chirped loudly outside the window, and Jiang Wenzhe straightened up: “Then I’ll go find you a nightgown.”
When a new person suddenly appears by your side or in your home, that feeling often takes root before you even realize it.
Take this moment, for example: as Jiang Wenzhe walked into his walk-in closet, he discovered that his once-monotonous wardrobe of cool-toned clothes had, without him noticing, been filled to the brim with all sorts of colorful garments.
Or, for instance, every so often at lunchtime, his assistant would bring small cookies and rolls from home, occasionally letting him experience the thrill of opening a mystery box—a gentle reminder that there was a clumsy, scatterbrained person waiting for him at home.
More often than not, it was the sound of “Jiang Wenzhe” echoing from every corner of the house whenever he came home from work.
The tone or inflection of each “Jiang Wenzhe” call varied from day to day.
Sometimes, the voice of “Jiang Wenzhe” would be trembling, tinged with a hint of hurt. That meant Lin Sangyu’s class that day had been too difficult, and she’d been discouraged.
When this happened, Jiang Wenzhe would pull up the day’s surveillance footage before bed and carefully review Lin Sangyu’s behavior in class. If he spotted her furrowing her brow or pouting at any point, he’d make a note of it and send a message to the teacher, asking them to go over that specific part again the next day.
Sometimes, “Jiang Wenzhe’s” voice was upbeat and cheerful, tinged with a sweet, playful tone, the very end of each phrase seeming to catch the gentle summer sun.
There were two scenarios here: the first was when Lin Sangyu felt she’d done exceptionally well and wanted some praise.
The second was when Lin Sangyu was about to start acting spoiled again, begging for a hug.Through all these little moments, by the time he came to his senses, he’d realize that Lin Sangyu—in a childish, naive, and innocent way—had shattered the shell he’d spent years building and had long since woven herself into the very fabric of his daily life.
Snapped back to the present, Jiang Wenzhe returned to the bathroom after finding the nightgown and underwear.Matte gray marble covered the floor and walls, with warm LED strips embedded in the ceiling.
The bathroom was divided into wet and dry zones, separated by a frosted glass door that kept the two on opposite sides.
“I found your nightgown,” Jiang Wenzhe said, hanging it on the bathroom rack.
“Oh, okay. Thanks, Jiang Wenzhe.” Lin Sangyu’s sultry voice mingled with the trickling sound of water, reaching Jiang Wenzhe’s ears.
Leaning against the sink, Jiang Wenzhe looked up.The silhouette of a young girl’s distinctive curves shimmered within the white, misty steam.
Although the frosted glass door blocked most of the sensual sight, it couldn’t conceal the blurred, soft contours of her body, which fell entirely into Jiang Wenzhe’s line of sight.
The moon had stolen the earth’s green, and the shadows of the trees seemed to tremble and sway chaotically within the bathroom.Jiang Wenzhe slowly averted his gaze and looked down at the watch in his hand.
Three, two, one.
Amid the sound of running water, the young girl’s voice reached him once more:“Jiang Wenzhe, why is the body wash in the bathroom all gone?”
Author’s Note:
A certain individual half an hour ago:
Hey, why is the body wash running out so fast?
Squeeze it a little more, a little more, a little more,
Heh, it’s completely gone!