“Wife says she’s going to treat me to dinner!”
The blind date that evening was not pleasant.
Even though Jiang Feiwan had been forced to cope with such occasions quite a few times.
Yet every single time was a torment for both body and mind.
Jiang Feiwan hunched her upper body, pressing one hand against her upper right abdomen while coughing uncontrollably. Tears of suppressed endurance welled up in the corners of her eyes, a sight that naturally tightened anyone’s heart.
Drinking on an empty stomach was truly a form of torture; that glass of wine tonight felt as though it was about to burn right through her stomach lining.
She lifted the hand that had been propped against the edge of the sink, shut off the stream of water continuously flushing before her, straightened her back, and knitted her brows into a slight curve.
Her peripheral vision quietly caught a figure sliding into view.
Hair half-twested up into a bun, wearing the same short sleeves from noon, and the ice sleeve that covered only one arm.
To run into each other twice in Qingzhou in a single day—Jiang Feiwan couldn’t help feeling surprised. She unconcernedly lowered the hand pressed against her upper abdomen, swept her gaze past the newcomer’s facial features, and prepared to yield some space so she could leave.
She wanted to pretend she hadn’t seen her.
That was completely reasonable; for strangers who had met just once, failing to remember each other was as normal as could be.
Yet this day hadn’t even ended yet.
For someone whose memory reset day by day, this day hadn’t even passed yet.
Chen Zui’s gaze followed closely behind, “This time we’re acquainted.”
She was referring to the afternoon at the coffee shop, and that somewhat presumptuous question.
“Eating here?”
It sounded a bit foolish. In a place where people ate, if they weren’t eating, what else could they be doing—sightseeing?
Chen Zui cast a glance at her complexion, then recalled the conversation she had “accidentally” eavesdropped on before dinner, a realization dawning upon her, “Need any help?”
Recognized, Jiang Feiwan’s expression slipped back into a polite boundary as she offered a faint smile, “What a coincidence, we meet again.”
Coincidental or not, Chen Zui’s gaze drifted downward, “Are you feeling unwell?”
At the entrance, she had seen Jiang Feiwan clutching her stomach.
Her tone, however, sounded as if nothing was the matter.
“Just came out to wash my hands after eating,” Jiang Feiwan denied, a few crystalline beads of water still hanging on the back of her hand.
Her hands were also exceptionally pretty; she wore no nail polish, and her fingertips were neatly rounded with a healthy pink tint, slender and fair.
Chen Zui withdrew her gaze, sinking into the pair of eyes belonging to the person before her—eyes that maintained a polite distance yet couldn’t hide their inherent gentleness.
The gentle aura precipitated by the passage of years, coupled with a proper and considerate tenderness between her brows—clearly only two years older than Chen Zui herself, she gave off a completely different vibe, like the evening breeze crushed and scattered across one’s face, gently tucking away the messy stray locks from her forehead.
Realizing her gaze had lingered a bit too long, Chen Zui lowered her eyes and nodded, “Then I’ll let you get back to it? I need to use the restroom.”
Meeting once more crossed the line into knowing each other; going deeper made them familiar.
Clearly, she and this Ms. Jiang probably only hovered around the “met once” column.
Indeed, there wasn’t much left to chat about either, otherwise, she’d feel like a total busybody, arbitrarily dragging someone she’d only met once into a conversation right outside the restroom door.
Like an elderly, meddlesome neighborhood auntie.
Chen Zui sidestepped inward, casually pushing open a half-closed door. When she came out again, there was hardly anyone left in sight outside.
Chen Zui shrugged, using her damp hands to tidy up her hair.
Encounters between strangers had a quota limit too. With a stranger she could see twice in one day, she and Ms. Jiang had probably exhausted all their mutual quotas and fate.
When it came to interpersonal relationships, Chen Zui was fairly indifferent; superfluous relationships were ones she usually chose to discard—after all, no matter how good a relationship was, you couldn’t drag each other along when you died, whispering something like, “Even as ghosts, let’s remain each other’s good friends.”
Yeah, right.
The hour was getting late; the group gathering was practically over. Chen Zui walked back the way she came while sending a message to Li Li.
[I’ll go pay the bill. You tell the others that once they’re finished eating, they can head back; I’ll reimburse the taxi fare.]
Li Li replied: [Got it, wait for me at the entrance, I’ll drive you back.]
[You’re truly a good person.]
Li Li: [……..]
Chen Zui kept her focus entirely on her phone, momentarily forgetting to watch the path ahead. She only reacted right as she was about to crash into someone, hastily dodging several steps to the side and muttering a string of apologies.
However, the person on the opposite side didn’t seem to care much about this minor interlude.
“Ms. Jiang, let me drive you back. You’ve been drinking again, and I wouldn’t feel at ease with you going back alone. If anything happened, I wouldn’t know how to answer to your mother.”
Hearing that voice, Chen Zui tilted her head.
It seemed… their meeting quota hadn’t run out just yet.
Jiang Feiwan clearly noticed her too, though she only swept a calm glance her way before answering the man: “No need, I’ve already called a car, it’ll be here in a moment. Thank you for your kind intentions.”
Having been rejected multiple times, the man grew a bit anxious, reaching out a hand toward the wrist of the person before him: “Why waste that money? Women need to learn how to save, only then will they be home-oriented in the future. Besides, me giving you a ride is—”
“Jiang, are we good to go?” Chen Zui coldly interrupted the man’s words. When looking toward Jiang Feiwan, her tone softened down by several degrees: “I went to the restroom just now and meant to ask you to wait for me by the entrance, but I didn’t expect to run into you here.”
Her intention was spot on. Hearing her voice, the man finally turned his head to look at the person beside them, a flash of blank surprise crossing his eyes, “This is…”
Jiang Feiwan lifted her eyes, picking up the thread of the narrative: “My friend has come to pick me up. Please feel free to do as you wish.”
She urgently needed to escape.
Jiang Feiwan’s gaze swept past Chen Zui’s line of sight, and she turned to walk ahead.
Chen Zui curled the corners of her lips, batted away the man’s outstretched hand, and hurried to catch up, though she didn’t dare pull too far ahead, trailing behind Jiang Feiwan at a distance of half a step.
They weren’t close, and she had merely stepped in as a passing hero to rescue someone from injustice. Since the woman was having a perfectly fine blind date, what if her intervention happened to ruin it?
Chen Zui didn’t want to be the executioner on anyone else’s path of romance.
As she was pondering this, the person in front suddenly slowed down by half a step, closing the deliberate gap Chen Zui had kept, and used a soft voice to offer words of thanks before asking: “How did you know what my name is?”
Chen Zui snapped out of her thoughts and had her explanation ready: “That man called you that just now.”
Jiang Feiwan was slightly startled, furrowing her brows in a second of recollection—ah, right, that had happened.
In such an awkward and bizarre atmosphere, expressions of gratitude were the only way to smooth things over again: “Thanks for earlier. If we get the chance to meet again, I’ll treat you to dinner.”
So polite, so clear-cut, the very picture of stranger-like courtesy.
Yet, so gentle as well.
Like a pair of hands holding up something crumbling to the ground, enveloped in warmth, resembling the evening clouds returning to the mountains, leaning against soft, tender vapor.
Normally, the proper response here would be to say “you’re welcome,” then each go their separate ways to part on good terms.
Yet, as luck would have it, Chen Zui fell squarely into the abnormal category. She didn’t utter a single routine pleasantry; instead, she unhurriedly pulled out her phone from her pocket, opened a certain green messaging app’s friend QR code, and said: “Let’s add WeChat then. In case you want to avoid treating me to dinner and try dodging me next time.”
Jiang Feiwan froze, staring fixedly at the phone handed over to her, a faint, unexplainable flutter stirring in her heart.
Adding WeChat?
Clearly, refusing wasn’t an optimal choice.
Jiang Feiwan smiled, took out her phone to scan the code, and with a flash of the interface, a personal name card popped up.
Not daring to let her gaze linger too long on the screen, Jiang Feiwan pressed straight down on the add-request button. Not long after, a notification showing the request had been accepted popped up.
“Could you give me a note/remark?” Chen Zui asked her.
“Sure, I’ll send it to you.” Jiang Feiwan lowered her head to type.
Very soon, a clean chat dialog box popped up with three characters.
[Jiang Feiwan]
So her name was Jiang Feiwan.
The person lived up to her name.
Chen Zui noted it down and edited the contact remark on her end.
In a display of reciprocity, she sent her own name over as well.
Just as she was about to ask if the other party needed a ride, the words on the tip of her tongue were interrupted by a sudden phone ringtone.
Chen Zui instinctively glanced down at her own phone.
It wasn’t ringing.
She lifted her gaze to look at Jiang Feiwan.
Seeing the incoming call display, the latter answered without a second thought. After a brief few responses, her expression instantly grew a few shades more serious, her tone picking up a hint of urgency.
Looks like she didn’t need a ride after all, Chen Zui pressed her lips together.
Bound by her years of fixed biological clock, Chen Zui checked out with her luggage early in the morning.
Li Li had asked about the schedule last night, so she had requested half a day off to help with the move.
There were three suitcases in total; all her quilts and daily necessities had been thrown out cleanly before boarding the plane.
Her belongings weren’t bulky, but handling the system setups was a bit troublesome. Li Li tried to persuade her to change her mind: “Why don’t you take that top-floor unit after all? That one comes fully furnished.”
“Nope.” Chen Zui rejected it decisively.
“So today you still have to go buy daily necessities, a refrigerator, a washing machine, and a sofa.”
“Already bought them, same-city delivery,” Chen Zui checked the time, “They should be waiting over there by now.”
Li Li was left speechless, her jaw dropping.
She was practically a born working-cattle deity—punctual when she wanted punctuality, decisive when she needed decisiveness.
Chen Zui always seemed this way, never fretting over choices, as if nothing could ever trap her.
Li Li envied such carefree detachment.
Just as she said, the moving workers had already arrived downstairs, tossing two or three cigarette butts onto the ground, looking like they’d been waiting for a while.
The 20th floor wasn’t overly high, and after four trips up and down, most of the furniture had been moved in. The final wave left only Chen Zui’s three suitcases and two large backpacks.
Li Li wanted to share the load by taking one of the backpacks, hoisting it up by the straps, but it didn’t budge. She let go of the suitcases and used both hands instead.
Damn it, that thing was genuinely heavy!
“What kind of ghost items do you have in here?! Eight hundred pounds?!” Failing entirely to lift it, Li Li resignedly gave up on helping with the backpack, choosing to push the two suitcases instead.
Hearing that, Chen Zui poked half her head out from the trunk of the vehicle, her hands never stopping: “My tools. I’ll carry the backpack.”
“Can you even lift it?” Li Li expressed profound doubt.
Chen Zui chuckled, closed the trunk, walked over, and then—effortlessly, as if it weighed nothing—swung the backpack onto her back.
“Can’t lift it, but I can wear it.” With that, she even patted Li Li’s skinny arm and clicked her tongue twice.
The insult factor was off the charts.
Li Li endured it, vowing inwardly to start working out seriously tomorrow to build up her physical strength.
So what if she did outdoor work! Being a bit stronger didn’t mean anything! Strength couldn’t be eaten as a meal! Li Li glared at her, swallowing her frustration silently.
Though it wasn’t her favorite top floor, the layout was vastly superior to that top-floor unit. The open-kitchen design gave the apartment a much more spacious feel, and the kitchen-island dining table integration saved plenty of redundant furniture. The living room was also large; instead of a television, it featured a projector.
“A tatami sofa? You’ve got an eye for this.” Li Li praised.
Chen Zui didn’t deny it: “I do have an eye, yes.”
Not just the sofa, the bedroom bed was also a soft-furnished tatami low bed, surrounded by a ring of slightly lower anti-roll buffers. By stripping away as many superfluous furniture pieces and decorations as possible, the apartment of over 140 square meters looked almost as empty and expansive as a 200-square-meter place.
As for this design, Chen Zui considered it very much to her liking.
Though she didn’t have many items, pottering around tidying this and organizing that pushed the clock past noon. Considering Li Li had to go back to work in the afternoon, Chen Zui called a halt to the final finishing touches and suggested they go get lunch first.
The elevators at midday were exceptionally hard to wait for. When the floor number finally ticked down to Chen Zui’s floor, the elevator showed zero intention of stopping, shooting straight up to the upper floors instead.
Li Li grew anxious, “Two elevators aren’t even enough for your building, you need at least four.”
“Coming soon. Once it comes down from the upper floors, it’ll be here.”
Though placated, it felt like nothing had been done; ants were crawling inside Li Li’s heart.
Finally, the elevator ground to a halt on the 20th floor. The double doors slowly slid open, and a woman was standing right in the corner inside.
Chen Zui glanced over, her vision freezing and stalling in stunned surprise. A faint, imperceptible wave of joy welled up from the bottom of her heart, fluttering like a swallow’s wings near its nest—thump, thump.
The other party clearly noticed her as well, identical surprise flashing in her eyes, her lips parting and moving, though no sound came out.
Chen Zui pressed her lips together, walked in following Li Li, and pressed the button for the basement level. Wanting to greet her, she hesitated over her wording, and before she could decide, the elevator stopped again.
Descending seemed equally arduous, with two or three people squeezing in at various floors along the way.
Li Li had long since pinched her nose in disgust, squeezing herself into a corner as if she wanted to turn around and face the wall in repentance.
You couldn’t really blame her for acting like this; it was midday in the height of summer, and sweating was unavoidable. The worst part was that most of the people stepping in were men.
In Li Li’s original words:
Men were basically walking biochemical weapons, desperate to make everyone else subject to their “effluvia.”
Chen Zui knitted her brows, finding herself agreeing with that statement even more. She tilted her head slightly, trying to dodge the heavy scent of body odor wafting from the sweating head right in front of her.
Almost the exact second she tilted her head, Chen Zui felt the hem of her clothes on her side being gently tugged. The force was light, yet carried an irresistible gravitational pull.
Chen Zui couldn’t help curving her lips, her eyes asking the owner of that gentle tug for an explanation.
Jiang Feiwan lowered her gaze and shifted a bit further inward, widening the space between them: “There’s still room in the back, you can lean over this way a bit more.”