"Huh?"
Jiang Ningchu hadn't expected him to ask that at all. She froze for a second, then instinctively reached for the pills in her pocket.
While she'd been waiting downstairs, the alarm had indeed gone off, but things had been so tense at the time that she hadn't had a chance to take it.
Seeing her reaction, Jiang Heng understood.
He turned, picked up the black bone china cup on his desk, filled it halfway with warm water, then walked back and held it out to her.
"Take it now."
Jiang Ningchu hesitantly took the cup, fished out a pill, and swallowed it with the water.
After taking the medicine, she handed the cup back, lowering her eyes, her voice very quiet. "Thank you."
Jiang Heng took the cup and set it back on the desk casually, tilting his chin toward the door. "I have a meeting in ten minutes."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over her face—still carrying the weariness of illness yet forcing herself to look alert. "I'll take you to the conference room first."
Jiang Ningchu couldn't figure out what this attitude of his meant.
Apparently, the conversation was over.
No agreement, no refusal.
He hadn't even said a word about her little "formal statement" just now.
She didn't ask any more questions, silently following behind him as they stepped once more into the quiet private elevator.
Down they went, through a corridor paved with thick carpet and lit with soft lighting, until the frosted glass door of the conference room came into view.
Through the transparent upper half of the door, she could vaguely make out the figures of Ada and Xiao Song.
Jiang Heng stopped at the door, turned slightly, and gave a small nod toward the inside, signaling her to go in, then turned and left.
Jiang Ningchu stood still for two seconds, took a soft breath, composed the lingering daze and anxiety on her face, then raised her hand to knock on the door before pushing it open.
The atmosphere inside was completely different from the waiting area downstairs earlier.
Documents were spread across the conference table in front of Ada, while Xiao Song held her laptop, her face glowing with a busy sort of excitement.
Hearing the door open, both looked up at the same time.
"Jiang Jiang, you're back?" Xiao Song spoke first, her tone full of curiosity.
Jiang Ningchu walked over to an empty seat and sat down, just about to take her notebook out of her laptop bag and begin another round of waiting.
"We're not staying," Ada said, raising a hand to stop her.
Jiang Ningchu froze mid-motion, looking up at her in some bewilderment.
Ada had already closed the documents in front of her. She looked at Jiang Ningchu, no exaggerated expression on her face, but the tension that had hung between her brows all morning had been replaced by a calm sense of ease. "Let's go."
Jiang Ningchu was stunned. "…We're leaving already?"
Just as she thought.
That absurd sliver of hope in her heart—the one she hadn't even dared to examine too closely—was instantly doused by the cold water of reality.
Something this big couldn't possibly be turned around by one reckless WeChat message and a few nonsensical words from her.
She'd been too naive.
"Mm."
Ada methodically gathered the documents on the table. "Mr. Liang came over in person."
She paused for a moment, her gaze lingering on Jiang Ningchu's face for an instant—as if assessing her, or confirming something. "Jiang Corporation is willing to give our proposal a chance to be reviewed, on the condition that it needs to be more targeted."
Xiao Song couldn't help chiming in from the side, her voice brimming with barely contained excitement. "Jiang Jiang, the situation has completely changed! Mr. Liang relented and even gave us specific direction—it's absolutely… the effect of President Jiang speaking up!"
"…"
Jiang Ningchu was a bit dazed, her thoughts unable to keep up for a moment.
"So," she blinked, confirming in disbelief, "it's already… been resolved?!"
"I'd say so!" Xiao Song closed his laptop, nodding vigorously. "At least we've taken the first step!"
Ada finished packing, picked up her briefcase, and headed for the door first.
She glanced at Xiao Song and left just one terse sentence: "We'll talk downstairs."
The three of them stepped into the elevator in silence.
It wasn't until they walked out of Jiang International's revolving doors that the breath they'd all been holding escaped them in unison.
"President Jiang certainly lives up to his reputation," Ada said, tilting her head as if recalling. "He doesn't say much, but he's incredibly efficient. And once he made his attitude clear, everyone below him naturally knew what to do."
Xiao Song walked beside her, unable to hide his excitement and admiration. "Exactly! We made all those trips and talked ourselves hoarse with no results, but with one sentence from President Jiang… no wait, he probably didn't even say anything, and the whole situation opened up!"
With that, he gave Jiang Ningchu a thumbs-up. "Jiang Jiang, we really owe this one to you! Otherwise we wouldn't have even gotten a meeting with President Jiang!"
Ada turned to Jiang Ningchu and said in a low voice, "Jiang Jiang, you'll work on this project proposal with us."
Jiang Ningchu was a little surprised. She looked up at her and nodded half a beat later. "Okay, Ada-jie."
Lin Wei had mentioned in casual conversation before that Ada had extremely high standards and was the least willing to bother mentoring interns—but once she nodded her approval, the people she trained tended to improve remarkably fast.
That simple "work on it with us" might have sounded unremarkable, but coming from Ada, it already counted as initial recognition.
"By the way," Ada said, speaking a little slower than usual, a casual note of curiosity in her tone, "how did you get in touch with President Jiang?"
"Yes, yes, I've been wanting to ask that too!" Xiao Song immediately leaned in half a step.
The dazed feeling in Jiang Ningchu's heart from how unexpectedly things had moved forward hadn't fully dissipated yet. Hugging her laptop bag, she replied quietly, "I… I really didn't do much. I just sent a WeChat message…"
"One WeChat message was enough to get President Jiang to come down in person?"
Xiao Song was stunned, his steps slowing, as if he finally couldn't hold back. "This connection… it must be something special, right?!"
The question was blunt, and even Ada, walking ahead, seemed to slow her pace.
The early-summer wind, carrying the city's characteristic dry warmth, brushed against their faces. Not far away was the clamor of bustling traffic.
The space between the three of them had gone eerily quiet.
"He changed Jiang Corporation's rules just for you," Xiao Song sighed from the bottom of his heart. "Could it be that he's got a thing for you?"
"Of course not!"
The barrage of questions made Jiang Ningchu's cheeks flush slightly. In her haste, she could only search for a safe, vague excuse. "He's… I guess you could call him a friend…"
"Oh~"
Xiao Song drew out the syllable, and for once, he and Ada exchanged a knowing look. "The classic 'I have this friend' story, right?"
Jiang Ningchu bit her lip.
She wanted to explain, but her identity as an adopted daughter and all the entanglements that came with it were even harder to bring up. In the end, she could only offer a weak protest: "It's not like that…"
"Come on, there's nothing to it!"
Xiao Song was easygoing, and seeing her embarrassment, he just smiled and gave her shoulder a light pat. "What era are we living in? This is a good thing! We all know what it means—no need to be embarrassed!"
He half-joked, half-seriously began to dream, "Cling onto a thigh like that, and our little Firefly will be going big and strong in no time!"
Ada, walking ahead, had remained silent the whole time, but now she suddenly quickened her pace. "That's enough daydreaming. Back to the office—revise the proposal."
Not long after they returned to Yunqi Plaza, good news came from Lin Wei as well.
Through some channel or other, Hongyuan Industries had learned that Jiang International was softening its stance, and their attitude did a complete one-eighty. The previously deadlocked negotiations went much more smoothly.
The invisible air of defeat quietly dissipated, replaced by an excitement with a clear goal in sight.
For the first time, Jiang Ningchu took part in the actual creation of the proposal—brainstorming, data collection, framework logic, copy and visuals…
She was run off her feet, yet incredibly fulfilled.
Bincheng, International Youth Conference Center.
Behind the scenes of the Frontier Symposium on Brain Science and Future Medicine, figures weaved back and forth.
In a relatively quiet corner by the wall, Pei Yi lounged on a deep coffee-colored velvet sofa, long legs casually crossed, idly toying with a commemorative conference badge.
He wore a casually cut but high-quality linen shirt, and compared to the suit-clad scholars and investors around him, he carried the air of a devil-may-care rich young man.
A few steps away, by the glass door leading to a small terrace, Jiang Heng stood silently.
His simple silver-gray suit made his tall figure look even more striking.
He stood with his side to the room, his gaze resting on the misty blue line where sea met sky over Bincheng in the evening.
"What are you brooding about?" Pei Yi raised an eyebrow, tossing the badge up and catching it. "Lingxi and Xindong have stolen the show at this symposium and are heading home loaded with gains. Still not satisfied?"
Lingxi Interactive and Xindong Technology were the two hottest leading companies in China's Brain-Computer Interface field.
And their founder was none other than Jiang Heng.
Jiang Heng withdrew his gaze and gave him a faint glance without a word, his eyes clearly saying "none of your business."
Pei Yi didn't care in the slightest. Following the direction of Jiang Heng's earlier gaze with a casual look, his eyes paused on Zhuang Jingyi, who was conversing with someone not far away.
The corner of his mouth curved into a knowing smirk. Lowering his voice, he said with confident teasing, "There. My guess? She's after you again."
Jiang Heng's face remained expressionless, neither confirming nor denying.
At the edge of another cluster of people not far away, Zhuang Jingyi had just finished exchanging pleasantries with a journal editor.
She turned around, her gaze sweeping precisely across the backstage area, quickly locking onto the figure by the terrace.
She then walked slowly to Zhou Yichi's side and said in a low voice, "Senior, let me introduce you to a very important senior figure in the field."
"That's President Jiang, founder of both Lingxi and Xindong—Silas."
Zhuang Jingyi's voice was very low, carrying a note of gravity. "Back in his sophomore year at MIT, he created a project that shook Silicon Valley. Both of the hottest companies in the country were built up under his hand."
Her tone was even, and in just a few words she sketched the outline of a legendary young man—deliberately avoiding his family background and tying all his halo to his vision, boldness, and proven achievements.
Zhou Yichi's heart stirred.
He had long heard the name Silas.
In the abstracts of industry summits, in the financing announcements of cutting-edge tech companies… that name was always associated with precision, foresight, and the Midas touch.
He had never expected the man to be so young.
"His surname is Jiang?"
Zhou Yichi asked instinctively, "Which Jiang? The one from Nancheng…?"
Before the words "Jiang Corporation" could leave his mouth, Zhuang Jingyi cut him off.
Her smile unchanged, she tilted her head slightly and murmured quickly, in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Jiang Group currently has no business in this sector, and Silas himself keeps a low profile—he's never mentioned Jiang Corporation in any setting."
Zhuang Jingyi's words were tactful, but the implication was clear: perhaps he was from a branch of the Jiang family, or perhaps it was a coincidence—either way, do not bring up anything related to Jiang Corporation in front of Silas.
Zhou Yichi understood instantly, a flicker of surprise and embarrassment passing through his heart.
He fell silent at once, suppressing all associations with "Jiang Corporation."
As the two approached, Jiang Heng happened to be finishing a brief conversation with someone beside him, who nodded and left.
Seizing the opening, Zhuang Jingyi stepped forward half a pace, her smile gentle and gracious.
"President Jiang, I hope we're not disturbing you? This is my father's star student, Dr. Zhou Yichi."
"He's currently focused on the intersection of neuromodulation and precision medicine, and has published quite a few insightful papers on combining algorithmic models with clinical applications."
Zhou Yichi stepped forward, his manner humble. "President Jiang, it's an honor."
Jiang Heng gave a slight nod by way of greeting.
At that moment, Pei Yi, who had been lounging on the sofa watching, stood up and joined the conversation with perfect ease. "Dr. Zhou! What a pleasure! Not long ago I had dinner with Professor Zhuang, and he couldn't stop praising you—finally I get to meet you in person!"
He extended his hand to Zhou Yichi, his tone sincere. "That paper of yours on neural coding models—our lab's junior researchers have practically worn it out reading it. Whenever you have time, come visit us at Lingxi and give us some pointers."
Zhou Yichi shook his hand politely, insisting he wasn't worthy.
With Pei Yi's mix of banter and genuine admiration easing things along, the conversation among the three soon flowed smoothly.
The topic moved from brain-computer interface technology iterations to applications combining neuroscience, gradually deepening.
After seven or eight minutes of conversation, a conference staff member found Zhou Yichi and whispered a few words to him.
Zhou Yichi's expression turned serious, then apologetic, as he turned to Jiang Heng and Pei Yi. "I'm sorry, gentlemen—something urgent has come up that I need to handle…"
Seeing Zhou Yichi about to leave, Zhuang Jingyi quickly pressed down lightly on his forearm. "Senior, it's not often we meet—why don't we all exchange contact information?"
"Yes, yes!" Pei Yi reacted instantly, pulling out his phone and opening WeChat. "Scan me, scan me!"
Watching Zhou Yichi and Zhuang Jingyi's figures disappear down the corridor, Pei Yi leisurely put away his phone and glanced sideways at Jiang Heng.
He teased, "So, what do you think of Dr. Zhou? Does he pass muster with your esteemed self?"
Jiang Heng withdrew his gaze from the direction Zhou Yichi had departed.
After a two-second silence, his thin lips parted, and his words were concise. "Solid foundation, clear thinking. He has potential."
"Just potential?"
Pei Yi smiled, with a touch of worldly shrewdness. "Top-tier technical skills, remarkably forward-looking industry insight."
He tilted his head toward where Zhuang Jingyi had been standing, his meaning unmistakable. "Add in Professor Zhuang's daughter paving the way and making the introductions—given that path, that setup, his ceiling won't be low."
"So, big boss Jiang—what do you say?"
It was rare to see Jiang Heng show such clear approval toward anyone, so Pei Yi skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point. "Next time there's a suitable occasion, bring him along, let him get to know people? The position of head of the Lingxi Lab has been sitting vacant for a while now."
"Mm." Jiang Heng gave a low hum of assent.
Outside the window, the last streak of golden sunset was slowly swallowed by the deep blue dusk.
Lights flickered to life on the distant shore, their reflections shimmering on the dark water.
Jiang Heng gazed toward the horizon where sea met sky, something flickering in his unfathomably deep eyes.
Friday night.
The 28th floor of Yunqi Plaza finally enjoyed a rare moment of quiet after days of chaos.
Jiang Ningchu stared at the complete proposal finally taking shape on her screen, leaned back into her chair, and let out a long breath.
"Here—why are you still here? What are you waiting for?" A piece of elegantly wrapped dark chocolate was held up to her lips.
Jiang Ningchu turned her head and bit into the chocolate, answering vaguely, "I'm not familiar with it yet, so I want to go over it a few more times and review it."
Lin Wei leaned against the partition of her workstation, looking somewhat worn out. "How does it feel? Getting thrown into such a big project on your first try—are you nervous?"
"Nervous out of my mind!"
Jiang Ningchu took the rest of the chocolate from Lin Wei's hand and broke off another small piece, popping it into her mouth. "Ada has been really patient teaching me. I was so tense the whole time, terrified I'd mess something up and cause trouble for everyone."
"Ada says you're a quick learner."
Lin Wei looked at her, lowering her voice. "About the Jiang Corporation matter… having your brother help out."
She paused, as if choosing her words carefully. "That you were willing to ask… I…"
After racking her brain for words of thanks, she still couldn't get them out smoothly, and Lin Wei sighed. "Ah, I've been run off my feet these past few days, never had a chance to talk to you about it."
"What's there to talk about?"
Jiang Ningchu was smoothing out the chocolate wrapper, and she clicked her tongue without ceremony. "Oh, enough already. Look at you, putting on an act."
She looked up, shooting Lin Wei a glare, and called out her thoughts directly. "You should've just said so from the start. If you'd spoken up earlier, maybe we could've avoided some detours. Didn't you say it yourself—if you can help, help; if not, forget it. Just try first."
Lin Wei was left speechless by this barrage, and most of the complicated feelings in her heart scattered at once.
She couldn't help laughing, her shoulders relaxing. "Well, well, Jiang Jiang. You've had an epiphany? When did this happen? I never even noticed."
"Bad company corrupts, you know." Jiang Ningchu laughed too.
Looking at her relaxed profile, Lin Wei suddenly remembered something. "Oh right, how are things with your Senior Zhou? Any progress on what we talked about before?"
Jiang Ningchu's chewing slowed for a beat.
Before she could answer, the phone on the desk lit up, and both their eyes landed on the screen.
Zhou Yichi.
Lin Wei raised an eyebrow, mouthing silently: "Speak of the devil!"
Jiang Ningchu picked up the call, and half a minute later, she said quietly, "Okay, I'll come down now."
Hanging up, she looked at Lin Wei.
Lin Wei had already grabbed her coat and bag, an all-knowing look on her face. She winked at her. "Go on. Dr. Zhou rarely shows this much initiative. I'm heading out too—back to battle tomorrow."
Jiang Ningchu nodded, said nothing more, gathered her things, and headed downstairs.
The automatic glass doors slid open, and the slightly cool summer night breeze brushed her face.
Zhou Yichi's car was parked in a temporary spot by the roadside, hazard lights blinking.
Seeing her, he pushed open the car door, got out, and walked around to the passenger side to hold the door open for her. "You've waited a while, haven't you? I just got off the plane and came straight over."
Inside the car was the familiar smell of disinfectant.
Zhou Yichi held the steering wheel, his tone as calm and even as always, talking about what he'd seen in Bincheng and what he'd gained from the conference.
Jiang Ningchu listened quietly, occasionally responding softly during his pauses.
She briefly mentioned her internship, omitting the anxiety, the setbacks, and the most dramatic turn of events.
The atmosphere in the car was peaceful, even warm, much like the many times he had picked her up after class in the past.
"Xiaochu."
Zhou Yichi suddenly turned his head to glance at her and said, inexplicably moved, "You seem… more composed than before."
Before she could respond, his gaze had already returned to the road ahead, as if talking to himself. "Getting out and about was the right choice. I met a lot of people in Bincheng this time, and I realized…"
As if recalling a particular scene, he said quietly, "There's always a higher mountain, and learning never ends. I met someone backstage at the conference…"
Before he could finish, the car's screen lit up—a call from the laboratory.
There appeared to be an urgent technical problem on the other end, and they needed him back immediately.
"Okay, I understand. I'll be right back."
Zhou Yichi hung up, his brow slightly furrowed. "Xiaochu, there's an issue with some critical data at the lab. I have to go back and take a look…"
He pulled up the navigation and changed the destination. "Late-night snacks another day, okay? Let me take you home first."
"It's fine, go take care of your work." Jiang Ningchu answered quickly. "I can get home on my own."
"That won't do. It's so late."
Zhou Yichi refused without a moment's hesitation. "It won't take long. I don't mind the delay."
With that, he had already turned the car around at the intersection ahead, accelerating toward the hillside villa.
Jiang Ningchu watched the streetscape fly backward outside the window and suddenly found it a little ironic.
The weather was so nice, yet he insisted on driving her home.
Her lips twitched slightly, but in the end she said nothing, silently accepting the arrangement.
The car left the main city area and turned onto the ring road leading to the hillside villa district.
Night deepened, the streetlights grew sparse, and on either side were dark mountain silhouettes and dense forest. Traffic thinned out.
Just as they were on an uphill stretch, the car jolted without warning, letting out a muffled, strange noise.
Immediately after, several warning lights lit up on the dashboard in succession.
Zhou Yichi tried pressing the accelerator, but the engine only produced a weak, idle whine.
He quickly switched on the hazard lights and pulled over to the side of the road.
"The car's broken down." He tried restarting it several times, but it was no use.
Zhou Yichi sighed and picked up his phone, his brow furrowing even tighter. "…No signal."
"I'll have to walk ahead a bit and find a spot with signal to call for roadside assistance."
After getting out to inspect the car for a moment, Zhou Yichi looked at Jiang Ningchu, who had gotten out from the passenger side. "Xiaochu, wait in the car. It's dark out here—it's not safe."
The mountain wind swept through the trees with a mournful howl, and the surroundings were vast and deathly silent.
A chill shot up Jiang Ningchu's spine, straight to the top of her head.
She had been afraid of the dark since she was a child.
"I… I'll come with you." She stepped forward, her voice a little tight.
"Stop fooling around!" Zhou Yichi's voice rose sharply, full of irritation, all his usual gentleness gone.
Jiang Ningchu froze where she stood.
Realizing his tone was too harsh, he took a deep breath and slowed his speech when he spoke again: "You'd only slow me down if you came along. It gets cold in the mountains at night—waiting in the car is safest for you."
"Be good. I'll be back soon." With that, he grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair and turned to walk along the road.
"Zhou Yichi!"
Jiang Ningchu couldn't help calling out.
The voice drifted down the empty mountain road, quickly swallowed by the night.
Zhou Yichi's steps were hurried. Hearing her shout, he only waved a hand over his shoulder without even turning around.
The night wind came howling through, carrying the damp scent of earth and vegetation from deep in the forest.
It was too quiet.
Unsettlingly quiet.
Jiang Ningchu pulled out her phone. Only one bar of signal.
She opened WeChat, trying to send something.
That ever-spinning gray circle slowly, slowly spun away the last of her hope.
She leaned against the cold edge of the road and sat down.
An enormous wave of loss and despair rose up in her heart again.
How could this be…
With Zhou Yichi, there always seemed to be something more important, more urgent, that came before her.
Last time, it was his advisor, his labmates.
This time, it was experimental data, a broken-down car.
And her—she could always seem to wait a little longer…
Wait for what?
Wait for him to come back, wait for him to finish being busy, wait for a chance…
Her eyes grew wet without warning, and the darkness in her vision began to blur and sway.
She bit down hard on her lower lip and buried her face deep in her arms.
Just as she was about to break down—
Two blazing columns of white light approached from the distance, the car slowing noticeably until it came to a complete stop not far ahead of her.
It was a black Mercedes SUV with hard, clean lines.
Jiang Ningchu flinched away from the glare, squinting.
Against the light, she could only make out a blurry but tall, upright silhouette.
A familiar, silent sense of pressure struck her with perfect precision.
Her heart skipped a beat, then pounded even harder against her chest.
The person inside seemed to turn his head to look at her, and after a brief pause, the driver's door opened.
It was Jiang Heng.
He got out of the car and walked toward her.
For some reason, the moment she saw his figure clearly, all her grievances and bitterness came pouring out.
The tears she had been holding back fell like a snapped thread.
Her mind went completely blank.
Even her ability to speak went offline.
Jiang Heng stopped in front of her and unhurriedly unzipped his shell jacket.
He took it off, then crouched down, his gaze level with her tear-streaked face.
He raised a hand and draped the warmth-retaining jacket over her shoulders, pulling it snug around her.
As if afraid the wind might get to her, he even lifted the hood and settled it over her head, pressing it down gently.
Jiang Ningchu was wrapped up like a rice ball, only a small, sorrowful face showing.
"What are you crying for?"
Jiang Heng crouched there, quietly meeting her eyes.
A few seconds later, his knuckle-defined middle finger brushed ever so lightly across her eye, wiping away the two teardrops clinging to her lower lashes.
"Don't recognize me?"
The jacket draped over her was full of his signature scent—a crisp, oceanic cedar coolness—and yet, it was warm.
Jiang Ningchu bit her lower lip, the tip of her nose aching all the more.
After a few seconds of choked silence, she spoke in a low voice, "…Brother.”
"Mm."
Jiang Heng remained crouched in place, eyes fixed unblinkingly on her, his dark pupils unreadable. "Got detained here for stealing a car?"
Jiang Ningchu frowned, her damp eyes blinking as she looked up in confusion.
The broken-down car with its hazard lights flashing, herself sitting wretchedly at the roadside…
Stealing a car?
Where did he get that idea?!
She burst out laughing with a snort. "No…"
"Then what are you waiting for here?"
Seeing her laugh, Jiang Heng casually rubbed the tears from his knuckles and stood up. "Get up."
Jiang Ningchu looked up at him, her still-scrambled brain momentarily unable to process the scene of such an unlikely coincidence before her.
She lowered her head, braced one hand against the rough ground, and tried to stand up.
Having crouched for too long, her legs had long since gone numb, and her body swayed involuntarily.
A hand opened, palm up, before her.
Not in a gesture of support—simply extended, calm and steady.
She hesitated a moment, then placed her cold hand into his palm.
His hand was dry and warm, the pads of his calloused fingers brushing unintentionally against the cool skin on the back of her hand.
A solid, dependable force pulled her up firmly to her feet.
Then, Jiang Heng reached out his other hand, his arm circling around her from the side, half-drawing her into his embrace.
At that very moment, a faint glow of light appeared around the bend of the distant road.
Zhou Yichi's figure emerged from the darkness, his silhouette gradually becoming clear.
He had clearly been running back the whole way, his breathing rapid.
When he saw the unfamiliar off-road vehicle parked in front of Jiang Ningchu, and Jiang Ningchu being pulled to her feet by the tall man beside it, his steps abruptly froze.
"Xiaochu!" he shouted, quickening his pace.
Almost simultaneously, the phone in Jiang Ningchu's bag began to vibrate.
It was Zhou Yichi.
Jiang Ningchu stood frozen in place.
As if he hadn't heard the shouting drawing nearer, nor paid any attention to the intrusive ringtone, Jiang Heng said—
"Jiang Ningchu."
For the first time, he called her name in full.
He released her hand, turned, and pulled open the passenger door for her. "Get in. We're going home."