"Th-that, I'm going to take a shower first."
Jiang Ningchu stood frozen in place, her ears turning bright red.
She wanted to flee back to her room, but her feet felt like they were filled with lead—she couldn't take a single step.
"Sure." Lin Wei, completely oblivious to the shifting atmosphere on the other end of the phone, kept her voice cheerful. "Didn't you say that once classes ended you'd come intern at the company? When are you coming?"
After graduating from college, Lin Wei had used her family's backing to open a small advertising agency.
Jiang Ningchu was very interested in advertising and had invested a little in it, making her a minor shareholder.
Now that her postgraduate recommendation had been settled and all her undergraduate graduation matters were wrapped up, she and Lin Wei had agreed she'd spend the summer at the ad agency to get a feel for the industry.
Jiang Ningchu snapped back to her senses and, almost reflexively, tossed out the word "tomorrow" into the phone before scrambling back into her room and hanging up the call.
Ah…
Jiang Ningchu hurled her phone onto the soft bed, then flopped face-down onto it, burying her face deep in the covers.
An overwhelming wave of embarrassment and mortification engulfed her completely, and her ability to think shut down entirely.
Her mind went blank—she couldn't think about anything.
Drowsiness mixed with exhaustion gradually washed over her, and her consciousness began to blur and sink.
Just then.
Knock, knock, knock.
A crisp rapping at the door broke the silence.
The suffocating embarrassment from minutes ago came flooding back.
Jiang Ningchu jolted awake, her heart pounding wildly, her eyes fixed on the door.
Jiang Heng?
What was he here for?
Should she open the door? And if she did, what would she say?
Thinking of the conversation on the terrace that he might have overheard, she grabbed the fluffy, round long-tailed tit plushie beside her and clutched it tightly to her chest.
The poor chubby little bird was squeezed so hard its head deformed, squashing flat, its innocent black-bead eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
Maybe she should just pretend to be asleep—hide, and it would all blow over.
Jiang Ningchu made up her mind, held her breath, and waited quietly.
"Xiaochu, are you asleep?"
The knock came again, and Su Wanqing's tentative voice drifted in from the doorway. "Were you frightened tonight?"
Jiang Ningchu quickly answered, rubbed her tired eyes, and shuffled over in her slippers to open the door. "Godmom?"
"After I lay down, I couldn't sleep—I kept tossing and turning. Chu, were you frightened tonight?"
Su Wanqing was wearing soft silk pajamas with a dark wool shawl draped loosely over her shoulders, her face etched with worry.
"Your favorite corn and pork rib soup—you only had that one little bowl today…"
"If anything's upsetting you, you must tell your godmom. Don't ever keep it bottled up, okay?"
Jiang Ningchu thought of the bowl of soup Su Wanqing had specially served her at the dinner table.
The atmosphere at the table had been so heavy that when Jiang Zhenting put down his chopsticks, she had stopped eating too.
Normally, she would indeed have had another bowl.
Jiang Ningchu had grown up soaked in Su Wanqing's meticulous, doting love.
Su Wanqing had once been on the verge of collapse from postpartum depression, her somatic symptoms at one point so severe that she needed a professional psychologist living in the house for long-term treatment.
During those years of illness, little Jiang Ningchu was the only driftwood she could hold onto.
If Jiang Ningchu was well, she was well; if Jiang Ningchu felt even slightly unwell, her worry would mount, and more often than not she would have to increase her medication as well.
It was only as Jiang Ningchu grew older, day by day, that Su Wanqing's condition gradually began to improve.
"Godmom~"
Jiang Ningchu came back to her senses and naturally linked her arm through Su Wanqing's.
She pressed her cheek lightly against Su Wanqing's cool silk sleeve, acting coquettish. "Dad's face looked pretty bad earlier, so I… didn't dare eat much. Mom understands me best—I really am a bit hungry now."
Hearing Jiang Ningchu say this, Su Wanqing's tense shoulders seemed to relax a little.
She patted the back of Jiang Ningchu's hand, her tone tinged with mild reproach. "Your dad wasn't upset with you—why worry about him! Hungry? Mom will go fix you something to eat!"
"Okay!"
Jiang Ningchu knew that in Su Wanqing's heart, only after watching her finish this late-night snack would tonight's scare truly be put to rest. "Thank you, Mom!"
Su Wanqing gathered her slipping shawl, a hint of a smile finally appearing on her face. "What do you want? Noodles? Dumplings? Or should I make a sweet soup?"
"Noodles, please."
Jiang Ningchu affectionately wrapped her arms around Su Wanqing from behind, resting her chin lightly on her warm shoulder. "Your tomato and egg noodles are the best, Mom. My mouth waters just thinking about them!"
"Silly child. Are you almost done with graduation things?"
Su Wanqing's tone carried an air of doting affection taken for granted. "Once you have no more classes, move back home right away. Whatever you want to eat, Mom will make it for you every day!"
"…"
Thinking of the internship about to begin, Jiang Ningchu's breath caught. She froze for a moment before barely maintaining the curve of her lips. "Okay~"
"It's cold at night. Put on a jacket before you come down." Su Wanqing fondly pinched her arm.
After taking just two steps, as if suddenly remembering something, she stopped and turned back to look at Jiang Ningchu. "Oh right, A-Heng barely touched his chopsticks tonight either. Ask him if he wants to eat something too—I'll make extra."
With that, Su Wanqing headed downstairs with light steps.
Jiang Ningchu stood frozen in place.
The faint, comforting scent of the older woman's face cream still seemed to linger in the air, along with… that casually spoken request that weighed a thousand pounds.
Compared to the storm that could erupt if her internship were discovered, the awkwardness from the "impotence" remarks hardly seemed to matter at all.
In the eyes of the Jiang family elders, she had always been a well-behaved, almost invisible good child.
Throughout her upbringing, aside from a slightly weak constitution, her studies had never been a concern, and she had never caused the Jiang family the slightest trouble.
Though she couldn't compare to a natural talent like Jiang Heng, who had skipped grades into MIT without even trying, she had still steadily earned her place through her own ability—a standout student at her school.
For over a decade, Jiang Zhenting and Su Wanqing had rarely made any demands of her. The only exception was when she was filling out her college applications, when they gently offered a suggestion: finance or law.
Jiang Ningchu understood their good intentions and knew the love behind that suggestion.
She was drawn to the creative advertising industry, and with Lin Wei's influence, she had wavered for a time between law and advertising.
In the end, it was the interpretation of the word "gatekeeper" in a legal education video that moved her.
If she could give anything back to the Jiang family, she wanted to become their "gatekeeper."
Commercial law for her bachelor's, international law for her master's, then into the Jiang Corporation's legal department after graduation—everything had proceeded step by step, along the prescribed track.
Except for this summer—her small act of "rebellion," a brief glimpse into the advertising world.
She had never intended to tell her family about interning at Lin Wei's company anyway.
Su Wanqing was sensitive and delicate-natured, extremely anxious. Jiang Ningchu entering any new environment, even a brief internship, would send her into prolonged worry, unable to eat or sleep.
Four years ago when Jiang Ningchu started university, Su Wanqing insisted on personally seeing her to her dorm.
She arrived a week early, spent three days tidying everything inside and out, then stayed two more nights with her. Only after confirming the bed was soft enough, the roommates kind, and the cafeteria food tasty did she finally leave, looking back every few steps, leaving Jiang Ningchu to begin her "independent" university life.
And now she had graduated……
Jiang Ningchu paced slowly to the bed, casually picking up the jacket draped over the bench at its foot, her gaze blurring for a moment.
She wanted to hide it.
But—could she really?
And there was Jiang Heng.
That conversation on the terrace……
A thread of hope wormed its way through her muddled thoughts.
Even if he really did hear, it was night, there was wind, the distance wasn't exactly close—how much could he have actually made out……right?
The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
She put on the jacket and walked toward the door.
The two rooms were only a few steps apart.
She raised her hand, hovering before the dark door, unable to bring herself to knock.
She flexed her fingers and instinctively turned her head to distract herself—her gaze landing on the Gyrfalcon at the end of the corridor.
In the dim glow of the wall lamp, the proud bird of prey stood with its head held high.
Its pitch-black pupils glinted with an indigo sheen in the shadows, staring at her unblinking in a frozen, sharp posture.
Like owner, like pet.
Jiang Ningchu's breath caught.
Those deep, dark eyes in the firelight from ten-odd minutes ago flashed back before her eyes.
Don't panic……just, just take a quick look.
She closed her eyes, drew a deep breath, and lightly knocked on the door.
Knock knock knock—
The crisp sound rang out clearly in the silent corridor, then was swiftly swallowed by the quiet.
No answer.
Jiang Ningchu's hand hung in midair. Just as she was about to try again, the door opened.
Jiang Heng was still in his all-black outfit, shirt buttons undone by two, collar open, revealing a sliver of collarbone.
He stood with one leg propped against the doorframe, body leaning at an angle.
Seeing her standing there, his face showed no reaction, and he didn't speak either—just looked at her with lowered eyes, waiting for her to speak.
"Um……"
Jiang Ningchu's palms were sweating, her grip whitening her knuckles.
She forced herself to meet his gaze and, gathering her courage, said in a low voice, "Godmom is cooking noodles, she sent me to ask……if you want to come down and eat with us?"
She rattled it all off in one breath, and the corridor sank back into a suffocating silence.
All Jiang Ningchu could hear was her own heartbeat, pounding like a drum.
"One second."
Jiang Heng finally moved.
He straightened up a little, raised one hand, and with slender fingers casually pulled a small black earbud from his ear, while his other hand tapped a few times on his phone screen.
!
Noise-canceling earbuds!
Jiang Ningchu's gaze instantly locked onto his movement, tracking it closely. A faint ripple of hope suddenly spread through her dimmed eyes.
Noise-canceling earbuds have excellent physical sound isolation. Even if nothing was playing in them……
The heavy boulder pressing on her heart seemed to shift, opening a tiny crack under some invisible force.
Her taut nerves quietly loosened. She could even feel the rigid muscles of her back softening, bit by bit.
Jiang Heng finished operating, lowered his phone, screen facing up, and held it out between them.
The next second, an unfamiliar yet overly familiar-sounding young man's voice came from the speaker:
"Little Jiang!"
"I'm your Big brother Pei Yi!"
"Stop eating noodles at home—so boring. Come eat with us and your Big brother!"
"…"
Jiang Ningchu struggled to match the jumbled images in her memory with the names. She had met Jiang Heng's close friends at his birthday party—one of those rich young men was apparently called Pei Yi.
Jiang Heng lifted his index finger slightly, subtly nudging the phone closer to Jiang Ningchu, signaling her to reply.
"It's late," Jiang Ningchu quickly composed her words, her voice carrying just the right amount of politeness. "I won't be going out. Thank you, Big brother Pei Yi."
She instinctively glanced up, stealing a quick look at Jiang Heng. Confirming there was nothing unusual on his face, she added with a smile, "Have fun, you guys. I'll head downstairs."
"You heard that?" Jiang Heng spoke into the phone, his voice low and heavy. "Hanging up."
So… Jiang Heng had probably been wearing noise-canceling earphones out on the terrace too?
Jiang Ningchu secretly let out a long breath of relief, her rigid shoulders finally going slack, her tone much lighter now. "I won't keep you from heading out."
She turned to leave.
Jiang Heng idly toyed with the phone between his long fingers, his gaze resting on her slender back. A faint, almost imperceptible curve tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Calling other men 'Big brother'—that rolls off your tongue rather easily, doesn't it?"
It was an ordinary question on the surface, yet the words were laced with threads of elusive meaning.
Jiang Ningchu's steps faltered slightly.
Jiang Heng pocketed his phone, and a small silver candy tin had somehow appeared in his other hand.
He flicked it open with his thumb and held the tin out to her directly.
Jiang Ningchu instinctively opened her palm.
He tilted his wrist slightly, and a round candy dropped into her hand.
She picked it up and popped it into her mouth.
The moment the candy coating touched her tongue, a domineering sourness exploded across her palate.
Like lime juice concentrated several times over, wrapped in powder sharp as ice shards, it savagely swept over her taste buds and shot straight to the top of her skull.
Jiang Ningchu's whole body went rigid, her teeth aching.
The sourness forced a mist of tears into her eyes, her temples throbbing violently.
So sour her brain hurt.
She bit down hard on her lower lip, covering her mouth and nose with her fingers, forcibly smothering a muffled groan in her throat—but her body trembled uncontrollably.
Only her slightly widened almond eyes stayed fixed on him, unblinking.
Jiang Heng lowered his gaze, watching her trembling figure as she forced herself to endure it. His thin lips slowly curved into an arc, though there was no trace of amusement in his eyes.
"Heh."
He gave a low chuckle, tinged with the knowing clarity of someone who saw through everything, mixed with a hint of cold amusement. "It's that bad, and you still won't spit it out?"
His gaze lingered for a moment on the back of her reddened hand, then his voice dropped sharply, each word landing like a blow. "Quite the tolerance."