Cong Yixing was very important to her.
Jiang Ting tossed and turned in bed, her mind racing. One moment she thought: I must be a “love-brain.” And since when does a love-brain not end up getting hurt?
The next moment, she thought: But Cong Yixing is a love-brain too. When one love-brain meets another, it’s hard to say who will end up hurting whom!
Cong Yixing, who had been sound asleep, felt the light summer quilt on his body disappear one moment and return the next. It happened repeatedly, just like the little fool lying next to him—when she was in a good mood, she’d say she wanted to be with him forever; when she was in a bad mood, she couldn’t wait to kick him into outer space.
In the darkness, he stretched out an arm, accurately catching her waist, and with a single tug, he had her pinned against his chest.
Having been woken up mid-sleep, his throat was a bit tight. His voice was slightly raspy as it drifted down from above Jiang Ting’s head, his breath ruffling her hair. Once again, Jiang Ting realized: Cong Yixing’s voice really is beautiful.
Then she snapped back to reality. Cong Yixing was just asking her, “What are you daydreaming about in the middle of the night?”
She retorted, “I’m not!”
“Not admitting it? As if I don’t know you. If I hadn’t woken up just now, you probably would have sentenced me to death in your own head, then packed your bags and run away while I was still sleeping.”
“…” Jiang Ting remained stubborn. “Is your conscience guilty? Otherwise, why are you afraid of me overthinking!”
Cong Yixing pulled back slightly, tilting Jiang Ting’s face up from his chest. He gave that “hardest mouth in the world” a firm kiss and patted her back. “I originally wanted to have a good talk with you after work, but you turned it into such a mess that we never got around to it.”
Jiang Ting asked, “What did I mess up?”
Cong Yixing said, “Baby, let’s not argue first.”
Jiang Ting didn’t speak, but she gave his waist a pinch to show her resistance.
Cong Yixing didn’t dodge; he cooperated with a hiss of pain. Sure enough, Jiang Ting immediately let go and, a second later, carefully rubbed the spot for him.
In the darkness, Cong Yixing smiled silently, feeling that Jiang Ting was like a delicate and soft cat.
He let Jiang Ting use one of his arms as a pillow while his other hand gently stroked the hair at the back of her head. He organized his thoughts before speaking. “At noon, didn’t you say you wanted to find a different place to rent?”
“You’ve mentioned this several times, and I’ve thought about it seriously. Do you want to hear my thoughts?”
Jiang Ting whispered, “Mhm.”
Cong Yixing first called her name: “Jiang Ting.”
“Yeah?”
“When I said in the car that I wanted to take you home, you were unwilling. Is it because you don’t want to marry me?”
Jiang Ting shook her head. “It’s not that. It’s just… I feel like things are great the way they are now. We’re happy every day…”
“You think you’ll be unhappy after marrying me?”
“Of course not! I’m just a little scared.”
“Scared my family will bully you, make you cook for everyone, and wash everyone’s clothes?”
Jiang Ting reflected on herself. “I shouldn’t have said those things, making assumptions about your family and thinking the worst of them.”
She knew Cong Yixing wasn’t mad at her, but she still wanted to apologize. However, she had been “riding on his head” for so long that she found it a bit hard to lower her own.
But Cong Yixing understood. He said, “Didn’t I tell you? You never have to apologize to me. I’ll automatically forgive you.”
“Who’s apologizing to you…”
Cong Yixing patted the back of her head twice, his voice so tender it seemed ready to melt. “Babe, I can promise you that they won’t bully you. No one will force you to do things you don’t want to do. My parents are very good people. They won’t mistreat you, and they won’t look down on you just because you’re on your own.”
Jiang Ting: “…”
Although Jiang Ting could loudly and aggressively shout her worries, she found it hard to accept Cong Yixing pointing out her cowardice in such a compassionate tone.
It was true. She had no family, no safe harbor where she could seek comfort and protection if she were wronged. That was why she was afraid.
She knew Cong Yixing could see through her frailty, but she hadn’t expected him to call it out.
If he hadn’t said it, she could have pretended he didn’t know, continuing to act tough—acting as if she would decisively turn and leave if he ever hurt her.
But he had said it.
Jiang Ting felt a pang of sadness, but it was a fact she was powerless to refute, so she remained silent.
Cong Yixing suddenly touched the corner of her eye.
Jiang Ting reached her limit and was about to jump up and start a fight with him. But just as she made a move, he pressed her back down.
He kissed the moisture at the corner of her eye and said in a very solemn tone, “Jiang Ting, you aren’t alone.”
“I will always be with you.”
“No one will bully you because you’re alone, because I will always stand in front of you. We are two people.”
Jiang Ting’s tears fell in torrents. She looked up to search Cong Yixing’s eyes, wanting confirmation. “If someone tries to bully me, they’re bullying both of us.”
“Yes, we are one entity.”
“Double-layered people.”
“Mhm. Double-layered people. Hamburger people.”
“Pfft.”
The two of them stayed awake in the middle of the night, acting mushy for a long time.
One demanded reassurances, while the other kept making promises.
Finally, Jiang Ting said, “Then swear that you’ll stay with me every day from now on, twenty-four hours a day, and never leave me for even a second!”
Cong Yixing: “…That won’t work. I still have to go to work.”
Jiang Ting slapped his chest. “Oh, right! You have work tomorrow! Look at what time it is! Go to sleep already!”
Cong Yixing sighed helplessly. “We haven’t discussed the serious business yet.”
Jiang Ting had completely forgotten. “What business?”
“About moving to a new rental.”
Jiang Ting finally remembered. Because he had mentioned this morning that the car got too hot parked on the roadside, she had brought up moving again.
Cong Yixing hadn’t replied at the time, and she thought he’d forgotten. But he just said he had thought about it seriously. What had he been thinking?
Jiang Ting asked, “So, what are your thoughts?”
“That brings us back to meeting the parents,” Cong Yixing said. Seeing that she wasn’t as resistant as before—though she pouted, she still looked like she was listening—he continued. “Babe, we’ve been together for almost four years. Normally, after dating this long, since you don’t seem to want to dump me, shouldn’t we consider marriage?”
Jiang Ting mused, “Has it been that long? Time goes so fast.”
“Exactly. Time goes by so fast. If you don’t give me a ‘legal status’ soon, I’ll turn into a thirty-year-old leftover man.”
Jiang Ting muttered, “We’re the same age. I’m twenty-four by actual years, and you’re twenty-five by the lunar calendar. Even though you’re a bit older than me, thirty is still a long way off!”
Cong Yixing’s hand under the quilt gave her backside a swat. “You’re getting off-topic!”
“Go on, you tell it.”
“My mom asked once during the New Year, and she brought it up again when she called a few days ago. She said she wants me to bring my girlfriend home.”
“Actually, I wanted to take you back last New Year, but you refused no matter what, so I didn’t force you. But while I was at home eating and drinking well for the New Year, seeing you in Yu City on the video call eating a self-heating hot pot all by yourself for New Year’s Eve dinner… it really hurt my heart. I wanted to fly back immediately to be with you.”
Jiang Ting tried to recall that feeling of loneliness, but her memory wasn’t very good. She only thought of one thing: “That brand of self-heating hot pot isn’t good. I won’t buy it next time.”
“…” If they kept getting off-topic like this, they really wouldn’t need to sleep.
Cong Yixing skipped a long section of his inner monologue and said directly, “I know you’re a bit confused about the future and afraid of change. You’re just a little scared; it’s not that you don’t want to marry me.”
“As for me, I want to very much.”
“I want to become your legal husband. I want to have a romantic wedding with you. I want to become your family. I want to take care of you and protect you always.”
Jiang Ting felt like she was going to cry again.
She blinked hard. “You like me this much? Are you a simp?”
Cong Yixing: “…” This person was so cheeky he wanted to bite her.
Jiang Ting waved her hand arrogantly, her tone rising with obvious joy. “Fine, fine. I know you love me and can’t live without me. Let’s talk business. What does this have to do with renting?”
Cong Yixing: “…This is what I’m thinking. I’ll take you to meet my family during the Mid-Autumn holiday. If everything goes well, we’ll probably get engaged first. After the engagement, we have to start preparing for the wedding.”
“Babe, housing prices in Yu City have been rising steadily in recent years. With my current ability, I definitely can’t afford a house here for now. So, we might have to buy a house in our hometown to get married.”
“Can you accept that?”
Jiang Ting had no plans of her own. She nodded. “Mhm.”
Cong Yixing continued, “If we buy a house in our hometown, we have to consider the balance between work and family. Currently, there are two options. One is that our jobs stay the same, and we continue to rent in Yu City after marriage. The other is that I quit my job and find one closer to home.”
“I want to hear your opinion on how to choose.”
As long as they weren’t separated, Jiang Ting didn’t really care about the rest. She said, “Then it’s definitely the first one! When we make a choice, we definitely have to prioritize your career development. After all, we have to rely on your salary to support the family!”
Cong Yixing gave a light laugh. “That’s not necessarily true. Although my Jiang Ting babe doesn’t earn as much as I do now, self-media represents infinite possibilities. Your ceiling is very high! Maybe in a few years, your videos will go viral and you’ll become a big gaming influencer. Then I might even get to live off you as a kept man.”
Jiang Ting pinched the thin muscle on his chest and asked him, “Have you had too much ‘internal heat’ lately?”
“Huh?”
“Is your pee so yellow you can’t see your reflection anymore? You can’t see your own dark face, so you’ve started hallucinating about becoming a ‘pretty boy’ living off a woman!”
“I might be a bit dark, but don’t you like it?”
“It’s not your looks that I like!”
“Then what do you like about me? Tell me, and I’ll strive to make even more progress in that area.”
Jiang Ting giggled, saying mischievously, “I like most that you’re like a simp, putting me first in everything and revolving around me every day!”
“Is that so…”
“Woof! Woof!” Cong Yixing leaned in to bite her, nuzzling his head against her neck—her most ticklish spot—and giving her gentle nips from time to time. Jiang Ting couldn’t stop laughing, her whole body shivering.
She quickly begged for mercy. “I was wrong! Let me go, stop biting! Ahhh, it tickles—”
The two of them fooled around for a while longer. Only when Jiang Ting had laughed until tears were in her eyes did Cong Yixing let her go.
He didn’t move away, remaining sprawled on top of her in that position. He whispered into her ear, “I’m a simp. Jiang Ting’s little puppy dog.”