Su Qian had the desire but not the nerve, so her palm landed obediently on Jiang Ji’s stomach.
Even through his clothes, she could feel the coolness of his skin.
Su Qian’s hands and feet were naturally warm, like a little furnace.
Seeing that Jiang Ji didn’t resist, she placed both hands on him.
The lamplight fell across his refined, striking features, and his furrowed brow gradually relaxed.
After about ten minutes or so, Su Qian’s hands were getting a little sore.
The doorbell finally rang.
She got up to answer the door.
“Here, take your medicine.”
Su Qian had read the instructions. She shook out six pills, placed them on the cap, and handed him a glass of water.
“It’s warm water. I tested it—it won’t burn you.”
Jiang Ji gave her a weak glance. “You tested it? You drank it?”
“No, I didn’t drink it. I dripped it onto the back of my hand. That’s how you test the temperature when mixing formula for babies.”
“Oh.”
Jiang Ji didn’t ask how she knew how to prepare infant formula. He just took the pills and swallowed them.
His Adam’s apple bobbed, and a drop of water clung to his lips, glistening.
Su Qian was bewitched all over again.
If Jiang Ji hadn’t been dressed head to toe in designer brands, looking even wealthier than she was, Su Qian might genuinely have had a rash impulse to offer to keep him as her kept man.
After all this commotion, the clock on the wall showed it was almost midnight.
Su Qian hesitated for a moment, then took out the little cake she’d ordered along with the stomach medicine, stuck a single candle in it, and held it out to Jiang Ji.
“Happy birthday. Make a wish.”
Jiang Ji froze.
Su Qian smiled softly. “When I was little, I loved birthdays, because on my birthday, Mom and Dad would stay by my side.”
“And later?” Jiang Ji asked.
“Later, my father had an affair and they got divorced. My mom remarried and had a son. After that, no one ever celebrated my birthday with me again.”
Jiang Ji said nothing.
The flickering candlelight played across his handsome, aristocratic face, his expression unreadable.
Su Qian rubbed her nose. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have told you all that.”
She awkwardly lowered the cake she’d been holding up in midair.
Then she heard Jiang Ji speak. “Why aren’t the lights off?”
“Huh?”
“You’re supposed to turn off the lights to make a wish.”
Su Qian caught on, grinned, and switched off the lights.
The candle became the only source of light in the room, dancing in the young man’s dark eyes.
His eyes closed. He made a wish.
Then opened them again and blew out the candle.
The room fell into brief darkness, so quiet it felt as if he were once again the only person in the world.
Jiang Ji felt his stomach begin to ache again.
Until, out of the darkness, a gentle female voice sounded. “Happy birthday, Jiang Ji.”
The lights came back on.
The clock on the wall had just struck midnight.
The birthday was over.
A new year of life had begun.
Neither of them spoke as they shared the cake, the air filled only with its sweet fragrance.
Until Su Qian’s phone rang, breaking the quiet.
The moment she answered, Xia Jie’s deep, gravelly voice came through the receiver—
“Babe, I miss you so much! Come out and party!”
Su Qian’s forehead twitched.
Every time Xia Jie used that voice with her, it meant she wanted to drag her out clubbing.
There was no way she could keep up with that dancing.
Once, out of curiosity, she’d gone to a nightclub with Xia Jie.
The result: one hour inside, deaf for an entire day.
The next day, when someone told her she shouldn’t drink too much,
she heard it as “you don’t have long to live.”
She nearly sent the poor guy off to the great beyond.
Su Qian politely declined, “No thanks, I’m a bit tired.”
Xia Jie whined playfully, “Come on, come on! Am I not your favorite little puppy anymore?”
Su Qian hesitated.
Just then, a cool, slender, fair hand took her phone away, and a cold voice rejected Xia Jie’s invitation.
“She said she doesn’t want to go. Can’t you understand?”
Su Qian froze.
Before she could say anything, Jiang Ji hung up the phone.
Su Qian stammered, “How did you…”
Jiang Ji glanced at her, his expression growing even colder.
“Su Qian, you have a boyfriend and yet you came on to me. What do you take me for?”
“No, it’s not like that…”
This was a huge misunderstanding.
She and Xia Jie were different genders, but they had the same orientation.
He liked men. So did she.
If they got together, wouldn’t that make them a “couple” in name only?
Su Qian tried to explain, “No, he’s not…”
But Jiang Ji’s face was icy as he cut her off, “So that night, you were waiting for him?”
“What?”
“Do you really not remember, or are you pretending?” Jiang Ji narrowed his eyes and leaned closer. “In any case, between him and me, you can only choose one.”
Su Qian’s head buzzed, and she stuttered.
“You mean… you want to be my boyfriend?”
“I didn’t say that.” Jiang Ji arched his handsome brow. “I’m just agreeing to give you the chance to pursue me.”
“Thump, thump, thump—”
Su Qian’s heart wouldn’t stop pounding.
Since it was a beautiful misunderstanding, there was no need to explain.
The words blurted out of her, “I choose you.”
Jiang Ji gave a light scoff, “Then call him right now and tell him.”
“Okay, okay, okay!”
Afraid that any delay would make Jiang Ji change his mind, Su Qian immediately dialed Xia Jie.
She said coldly, “Xia Jie, let’s break up. I’ve met someone I like, and he’s at my place right now.”
Xia Jie instantly caught on.
He transformed into a full-blown drama queen.
“No! I don’t believe it! You must have found some other man to provoke me, haven’t you?”
“No, it’s true.”
“I don’t believe it—unless you two French kiss for me to see!”
Su Qian: “!”
Thanks a lot, bestie.
She looked at Jiang Ji with feigned difficulty.
Jiang Ji’s face flushed red, the pink spreading all the way down his neck.
So beautiful.
Su Qian leaned in and kissed him.
But not on him—she kissed the back of her own hand, making a loud “mwah.”
“Will that do?”
Xia Jie slipped into tragic-hero mode, “Fine, Su Qian… When we were dating, you wouldn’t even touch me, but now you can’t control yourself around some pretty boy you’ve known for barely a few days? You never truly loved me at all!”
Xia Jie sighed heavily, “We’re done!”
The call ended.
Su Qian looked at Jiang Ji with sparkling eyes.
“So I can pursue you now, right?”
Jiang Ji’s expression remained indifferent.
“You can, but I’m only giving you ten days.”
Su Qian breathed a sigh of relief.
She’d been wondering how to tell Jiang Ji that she was leaving for Hong Kong City in ten days.
Well, this worked out perfectly.
“No problem. Jiang Ji, don’t worry—if you still don’t like me after ten days, I won’t pester you anymore.”
She paused. “Calling you ‘Jiang Ji’ feels a bit distant. How about I call you A-Ji instead?”
Jiang Ji turned his face away. “No.”
But Su Qian wouldn’t listen—how could you chase a handsome guy without a thick skin?
She leaned in close. “A-Ji, A-Ji, A-Ji.”
Jiang Ji’s ears turned red, and he turned to leave.
Su Qian grabbed him. “Don’t go.”
Jiang Ji’s face grew even redder as he said coldly, “I’m going home. I’m not staying at your place.”