Night blurred softly. The moon had set, the stars had dimmed, and silver light shifted across the sky.
From the living room came a haze of laughter and cheerful voices. Jiang Wanju rose onto her toes, and Chen Zhouren wrapped an arm around her waist, lowering his head to bite her lips.
He murmured, “Haven’t seen you in a while. Your kissing skills have improved a lot.”
Jiang Wanju said, “Thanks to Mr. Chen’s careful upbringing and excellent guidance.”
The meaning in her words was bright as day, so blatant and warm it was almost overflowing. Chen Zhouren tightened his hold on her, but when he heard laughter from the living room, he relaxed his grip again.
Here he was, a guest in someone else’s home, kissing their daughter on the balcony.
Jiang Wanju reached for his waist, but he caught her wrist.
Zhouren let out a quiet laugh. “Don’t move around. Your parents are still inside.”
Jiang Wanju replied, “My parents are inside—what are you afraid of?”
“Exactly because your parents are here, I’m scared, Miss Jiang,” Chen Zhouren sighed. “I value my life.”
Jiang Wanju pouted. “You drink and smoke without restraint. I don’t believe for a second that you ‘value your life.’”
She withdrew her hand. Across the balcony, the neighbors had hung two bright red lanterns in their window, swaying softly, casting warm red light. It felt as if she could even smell the scent of dumplings from over there.
While Jiang Wanju was staring at the lanterns, she heard Zhouren say, “Then I’ll quit smoking.”
Wanju turned. “What?”
“I’ll quit smoking,” Zhouren repeated. He looked at her with a smile. “Is that your New Year’s wish, Miss Jiang?”
“No,” Jiang Wanju refused immediately. “My New Year’s wishes are for my career to go well, for my parents to stay healthy, for life to be smooth, and for everything to go my way.” Get faster updates on novelping.com.
Zhouren listened with interest. “Nothing about romance?”
Jiang Wanju looked up at the moon. “Nothing about romance.”
If giving up her dignity was the price of falling in love, then she would never step into the water.
Zhouren said, “What if—”
He never finished the sentence.
Inside the room, her father called out with excitement, “Hurry, Wanju, come watch! Hao Jian is on! The comedy sketch is starting!”
Jiang Wanju answered him and turned back inside.
Her parents often stayed up late playing mahjong, so watching the Spring Festival Gala until the end wasn’t considered staying up at all. Zhouren had gone to rest. Jiang’s father sat on the sofa, thinking more and more that something felt off. He couldn’t hold it in anymore. Pulling his daughter closer, he asked, “Why does your friend look so familiar to me? What does he do? Did you go to school together or—”
Jiang Wanju said, “No. You two couldn’t have met. He went to university in Beijing and did his master’s in Hong Kong. Hong Kong University.”
Just then, Chen Zhouren passed by on his way to the bathroom. He only heard the last part. “What?”
Wanju said, “Nothing. I was complimenting your educational background.”
Zhouren chuckled. “Compared to you, I’m far inferior.”
Her father laughed along happily. Now that he was older, he especially loved hearing people praise his daughter—it made him feel he had raised her well. He pretended to be humble, saying polite things like “Oh, not at all, not at all.”
Even after they returned to France, Jiang Wanju never mentioned that old incident to her parents.
The person involved barely remembered it anymore—why drag it out now and annoy everyone again? Wanju knew her own personality well. Put nicely, she had pride and self-respect; put bluntly, she was arrogant and stubborn.
So what? Jiang Wanju would never show weakness—not to anyone.
When she left home, Jiang Wanju still couldn’t help the redness in her eyes. As a child, she couldn’t wait to leave home and be independent. But now, she couldn’t bear to go. She held back her tears until her parents were no longer in sight. After boarding the plane, she finally lay down and pulled the blanket over her head in silence.
She didn’t make a sound.
A hand lifted the blanket away. Jiang Wanju reached out to grab it back, only to see Chen Zhouren’s face.
He said, “Don’t bottle it up.”
Jiang Wanju turned her face away. “None of your damn business.”
Chen Zhouren bent one knee and half-knelt beside the seat. He touched her cheek and said, “Don’t be sad. Let me tell you something interesting.”
Wanju’s voice was muffled. “What’s interesting?”
“Back then, I was pretty clueless,” Zhouren said. “I took a liking to someone. Wanted to keep looking at her. Best case, I wanted to support her—keep her close, see her every day, see her whenever I wanted.”
Jiang Wanju said nothing.
“But she wasn’t willing,” he continued. “You can’t force a deal. If she doesn’t want it, that’s that. Better to part on good terms. Negotiate peacefully—if it works, it works, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”
He ran his fingers through her hair. “Later, I realized I wasn’t the one who could let go.”
“During the New Year, I was smoking on her balcony, wondering what was wrong with me,” Zhouren said. “Before I figured it out, she came over, grabbed me, and kissed me. And afterward, she didn’t take any responsibility.”
“That, I can’t ignore,” Zhouren said as he gently squeezed Wanju’s hand. “That day, I wanted to ask her why she kept showing up in my dreams every night—unfortunately, I got interrupted.”
At that, Zhouren pressed a soft kiss to the back of her hand and murmured, “Little Orange, you’re the smartest. Do you know what’s going on with me?”