Jiang Xule was stunned. With trembling hands, she opened her phone and found that the one million had truly arrived in her account. That long string of digits was something she hadn’t dared to dream of in her entire life.
She stared at those seven figures for a long while before suddenly slapping herself across the face.
“Hey! Why are you hitting yourself?” Fang Yize caught her wrist with quick eyes and hands.
Jiang Xule looked up in shock into Fang Yize’s worried eyes and said, “Miss, one million… you just give it away just like that?”
“If this isn’t enough for us to be together, I can transfer more.”
“No…” Jiang Xule’s current mood was complex. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but then she thought, why cry? This was clearly a stroke of luck where she got both the kingdom and the beauty.
A windfall from the heavens!
Who says meat pies don’t fall from the sky?
Didn’t one just smash right into Jiang Xule’s head?
“You gave it to me, but I don’t even dare to keep it.” In truth, she had no intention of transferring it back.
“Why wouldn’t you dare? Being my girlfriend, this is only the beginning. In the future, I’ll buy you whatever you want.”
The corners of Jiang Xule’s mouth couldn’t stop turning upward, and she gave a couple of silly laughs. “There’s actually such a good deal?”
Seeing her reaction, Fang Yize was also very excited. “Does your reaction mean you agree to be my girlfriend?”
“Do I even have room to refuse?”
Fang Yize instantly leaped up from the plastic stool, hopping excitedly on one foot, nearly forgetting she was currently a “cripple” with a sprained ankle.
She ran the two or three steps to Jiang Xule and gave her a massive hug.
“Jiang Xule! I really, really like you!”
Jiang Xule chuckled foolishly; it seemed she had already decided what she was going to do with that money later.
Fang Yize was immersed in the joy of finally being with Jiang Xule, while Jiang Xule felt weak in her limbs. She let Fang Yize hold her, staring into the void, her mind filled with images of making a down payment for a luxury flat.
This was given to her by her girlfriend—it was legal, and she had obtained it effortlessly.
It made the hard work of her previous twenty-four years feel like a joke.
If this money had appeared six years earlier, perhaps her grandparents wouldn’t have passed away from untreated illnesses.
Fang Yize was hugging her so tightly she could hardly breathe, so she patted Fang Yize’s arm and said, “Alright, hurry up and eat your noodles.”
Hearing this, Fang Yize released her and stared at her with a beaming smile. Before, she could usually only see her back, but now, for the first time, she was staring at her from such a close distance, openly and honestly.
The more she looked, the more she liked her!
The moment Jiang Xule met that burning gaze, she felt a bolt of electricity surge through her body. Perhaps it was shyness, or perhaps guilt; she looked away, only daring to observe her out of the corner of her eye.
Shyness was her instinctive reaction to being stared at like that. The guilt came from the fear that Fang Yize would see through her—that she didn’t actually have that kind of “like” for her, and it was simply because she had given enough that there was no reason to refuse.
…How much longer is this person going to keep looking at me like this? Jiang Xule took a deep breath.
“Jiang Xule, can I kiss you?”
Jiang Xule was startled, and her scalp tingled… hadn’t they just confirmed their relationship? How was it already time for a kiss?
“Isn’t… isn’t this too fast?” The smile on Jiang Xule’s face was somewhat stiff.
As soon as the words left her mouth, Fang Yize’s body leaned forward. She quickly planted a kiss on her cheek and then, without any hesitation, sat back down in her seat.
Jiang Xule’s eyes widened, and she turned red from her neck to her ears. That soft, warm sensation, carrying the faint scent of her body…
It was a feeling she couldn’t describe.
Just a kiss on the cheek made her turn that red; Fang Yize was also a bit shocked. “You’re about to be cooked through, Jiang Xule.”
The power of the electric fan standing to the side was a bit too weak; it couldn’t suppress the heat rising from the depths of Jiang Xule’s heart. This time, it was purely shyness.
How can Fang Yize look so soft, weak, and cute, yet be so proactive?! Shouldn’t I be the “attacker” here?
Jiang Xule had a strangely high amount of internal monologue today, making her so noisy she was getting annoyed with herself.
“Eat quickly. After you finish, I’ll take you home.” Jiang Xule lowered her head and slurped her noodles rapidly, her chewing speed increasing.
It was quite a distance from Liu Street to where Fang Yize lived; it would serve as a walk to aid digestion. But Fang Yize had no intention of leaving.
“Eat slowly, I’m not going.”
Jiang Xule suddenly looked up and asked, “Why aren’t you going?”
“You are my girlfriend now. I want to be with my girlfriend, is that not allowed?”
Allowed or not?
Jiang Xule: “It’s… allowed, I guess.”
But this house was dilapidated. Because of wind and rain leaks, the white walls were covered in black mold and green moss, and the bed was just a simple single bed. How could Fang Yize stay here?
For someone like Jiang Xule who was used to a hard life, on the first night she moved in, listening to the neighbors’ arguments and the screams and cries of children, she felt like she was having a nervous breakdown.
Let alone a pampered young lady like Fang Yize.
She won’t realize she can’t stand it, ask for the money back, and break up with me, will she? Thinking this, Jiang Xule felt uneasy.
“Okay, I’m done eating! I’ll help you wash the dishes, Jiang Xule.”
Before Jiang Xule could snap back to reality, Fang Yize had already taken the bowl—which contained only noodle soup—and the chopsticks from her hand, limping toward the kitchen.
“I’ll do it, you’re a guest.” Jiang Xule chased her to the kitchen, but because the kitchen space was so narrow it could only fit one person, she had to stand at the doorway.
It didn’t look like she was taking care of a guest at all.
“I’m already washing them,” Fang Yize laughed again. “You cooked the noodles, so it’s my turn to wash the dishes.”
Jiang Xule leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed, staring at her reasonably practiced dishwashing movements, her thoughts drifting away again.
Regardless, she still couldn’t understand: what exactly did Fang Yize like about her? Was it just her face? Because of a face, she was willing to throw in a million?
Willing to wrong herself by coming to such a broken, small place to wash dishes for a good-for-nothing person.
She felt like having a cigarette again.
If she smoked, would there be a smell in her mouth? What if Fang Yize asked for a kiss?
Jiang Xule’s gaze slowly moved from Fang Yize’s wet hands to her face. It was indeed a breathtakingly beautiful face. When she had no expression, she had a sense of aloofness, but as soon as she looked up, her eyes seemed to be filled with ten thousand stars—warm and bright.
“Fang Yize, if you don’t go back, how will you shower? What about a change of clothes? You have classes tomorrow, right?”
Only then did it dawn on Fang Yize. Today was Sunday; she had new classes on Monday. She hadn’t prepared her lessons yet, she didn’t have a change of clothes with her, and her textbooks were all in her rental apartment.
But if she woke up a little earlier tomorrow to go back and get her things, then used the early self-study period to briefly preview the content she was going to teach, would there be enough time?
While she was hesitating, Jiang Xule took the bowl from her hand, set it aside, and said, “Don’t wash anymore. I’ll take you back.”
Without giving Fang Yize a chance to refuse, Jiang Xule picked up the bag on the sofa, put on her shoes, and opened the door.
On their first day together, Fang Yize didn’t really want to part ways so soon. The sky had only just turned dark; even if she couldn’t stay the night, staying a bit longer would be fine.
But Jiang Xule was already shod and out the door.
“Fine…”
“Don’t put on your shoes. I’ll carry you.”
Fang Yize’s eyes lit up again. Her emotions were truly like a roller coaster, rising and falling.
With Jiang Xule’s arm strength, carrying the 166cm, 45kg Fang Yize was no problem at all. She could even give Fang Yize a little toss upward to adjust her position at will.
After confirming their relationship, Fang Yize’s movements were significantly more relaxed than when she arrived. Her head rested on Jiang Xule’s shoulder, and her hands were wrapped around the front of her body.
This scene was one she had dreamed about countless times.
“Jiang Xule, I really like you.”
Jiang Xule’s pace wasn’t fast; she carried her like she was taking a post-dinner stroll. It had been less than half a month since she reunited with Fang Yize, and the other had already confessed to her many times.
She didn’t demand that Jiang Xule respond; as long as she could express her thoughts and let her know, she was very satisfied.
Because in the past, she had very few opportunities to get close to her—or rather, she didn’t dare to get close. After experiencing the pain of separation, she had figured many things out.
You have to bravely pursue the person you like and bravely express your love. Although there might not be a result, if you never say it, there will never be a result, and you’ll live with that regret forever.
Therefore, Fang Yize really wanted to say “I like you” to Jiang Xule a hundred times every day.
She also really wanted her to know that she wasn’t alone anymore.
Jiang Xule didn’t put her down until they reached the front door. Fang Yize grabbed her wrist and looked at her reluctantly.
“Since staying at your place is no good, then why don’t you come to my house? I’m very scared living alone…”
Fang Yize’s eyebrows knitted into the shape of the character for “eight”, looking at Jiang Xule pitifully.
Scared? No matter how scared she was, she had lived alone for a year.
“Besides, my foot hurts so much, Jiang Xule. What if I want to get up for a glass of water tonight?”
You didn’t say it hurt when you were hopping around just now.
But who could withstand a close-range “spoiled brat” attack?
“Just for one night.” Jiang Xule was inherently a person with a sharp tongue but a soft heart.
“Okay!”
Although Fang Yize had sprained her foot, walking on the ground wasn’t a major issue; she just simply wanted to act “extra” in front of Jiang Xule.
She had many clothes, so Jiang Xule would have a change of clothes staying there. There were even many pairs of underwear that had been washed but never worn. The house had one bathroom in the master bedroom and a public one outside, so it was convenient for two people to shower at the same time.
The toiletries in the public bathroom were a one-to-one replica of those in the master bedroom. Moreover, Fang Yize mostly used the bathroom by the living room, only using the master bedroom one if she needed the toilet at night.
Jiang Xule looked at the sink full of skincare products and the shelf full of bath supplies, falling into deep thought.
Halfway through her shower, she had to stop to look at the words on the bottles: which one was shampoo, and which was body wash.
As it turned out, besides shampoo and body wash, there was hair mask, hair conditioner, body lotion, body scrub, body lotion number two, body lotion number three…
With such a love for applying body lotion, no wonder she smelled so good.