After having lunch at her grandmother’s house, Jiang Wanxi took advantage of the afternoon break and rode her bicycle out.
She had already made plans with her aunt, so she couldn’t be late.
By the time Jiang Wanxi arrived at the department store, her aunt and uncle were already waiting at the entrance.
Her aunt was wearing the dress her husband had brought home yesterday, though she had made some alterations to the details. Once she put it on, her entire appearance seemed transformed.
Several women had even approached her to ask where she had bought the dress.
Her aunt told them it was a new sample from the garment factory and would soon be put into production. The women left looking both disappointed that they couldn’t buy it immediately and excited for its eventual release.
When her aunt spotted Jiang Wanxi approaching from a distance, she waved excitedly.
This niece of hers was truly amazing!
The previous night, her aunt had stayed up late altering the clothes and dresses she’d brought home from the factory. Early this morning, she had put on one of the modified dresses and gone with her husband to meet the factory director.
The director became extremely excited after seeing the clothes they had brought and immediately entrusted the project to the couple.
One of the factory’s deputy directors had gotten into trouble the previous year, leaving the position open, and Jiang Wanxi’s uncle very much wanted to compete for it.
Since there had been quite a few garments to work on yesterday, her aunt had only made relatively minor alterations. Even so, the results looked far better than the clothes currently sitting in the factory warehouse.
The colors hadn’t changed, but the designs no longer looked monotonous and repetitive.
Her aunt had also taken the altered clothes to the factory’s designer and discussed the changes with him.
That designer was notoriously arrogant within the factory.
Yet after seeing the clothes her aunt brought in today, even he looked at her with newfound respect. He had even taken the initiative to ask her for advice, wanting to understand more about the details behind the alterations.
As a result, her aunt had spent the entire morning proudly basking in everyone’s admiration.
She affectionately linked arms with Jiang Wanxi and eagerly told her everything that had happened that morning.
Her uncle had already arranged a meeting with Manager Wang of the department store, so the group headed directly to his office.
Her aunt had brought along one altered dress and one shirt from the factory. Coincidentally, Jiang Wanxi happened to be wearing a shirt today as well.
The moment Manager Wang saw Jiang Wanxi’s outfit, his eyes lit up.
When they had spoken over the phone, he hadn’t entirely believed what he’d been told.
But now, with two living examples standing right in front of him, he had no choice but to believe it.
The young girl in particular clearly had an exceptional sense of style.
It didn’t take long for them to finalize an order.
Manager Wang then personally took them to the warehouse to choose some yarn.
The yarn was also excess inventory that had been sitting unsold.
It was the middle of summer, after all, and yarn was expensive. Even without requiring ration coupons, it still wasn’t easy to sell. They couldn’t even move much of it through internal sales.
Manager Wang figured he might as well use it to do them a favor.
Besides, the yarn belonged to the state-owned store, not to him personally. As long as he sold it to them at the approved internal price, he wouldn’t lose anything.
Jiang Wanxi selected the colors and quantities she wanted, paid for everything, collected the yarn, and left ahead of the others.
She knew her aunt and uncle would be discussing their business cooperation with Manager Wang next, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to remain there.
She was in an excellent mood.
Not only had she managed to buy plenty of yarn today, but the colors were beautiful as well. Most importantly, she had spent far less money than she’d originally budgeted.
Jiang Wanxi happily rode her bicycle home, humming a tune along the way.
As she rounded a corner, someone suddenly stepped into her path.
Neither of them had expected the other to appear.
There was no time to brake.
Seeing that she was about to crash straight into him, Jiang Wanxi instinctively jerked the handlebars to the side.
The movement was too sudden.
She lost her balance, and the bicycle toppled sideways.
Just as she was about to become intimately acquainted with the ground, a pair of powerful hands grabbed her firmly by the shoulders.
The man lifted her effortlessly off the bicycle.
With a quick turn, he placed her steadily back on her feet before immediately releasing her.
Jiang Wanxi didn’t even have time to recover from the shock.
She raised her head and stared at the man who had just lifted her as though she weighed nothing.
At that moment, the entire world seemed to fall silent.
She didn’t hear the bicycle hitting the ground.
She couldn’t hear anything else around her either.
She simply stared blankly at the man standing before her.
He was tall and straight-backed, easily around 188 centimeters in height.
He looked quite young, probably only twenty-two or twenty-three years old.
His hair was cut short, emphasizing the sharp contours of his handsome face. He had strong brows and striking features, with deep, bright eyes beneath his sword-like eyebrows. They seemed to shine like stars, yet there was something cold and intimidating about them.
His skin was a healthy wheat-colored tan, giving him a distinctly masculine air and a unique charm.
Sunlight fell across his body, seemingly wrapping him in a layer of golden light and making him even more dazzling.
His lips moved slightly as he spoke.
His voice was deep, rich, and magnetic, like the low notes of a cello drifting through the air and reaching her ears.
“Comrade, are you all right?”
Jiang Wanxi had no idea how she answered him.
She didn’t even remember how her bicycle ended up back in her hands.
All she could do was stare as the man who perfectly matched every one of her preferences turned around and walked away.
A white shirt.
Military-green trousers.
That man was ridiculously handsome!
He was even better-looking than all the older and younger brothers from both branches of the Jiang family.
An absolute top-tier specimen!
In her previous life, handsome young celebrities had been everywhere, along with faces enhanced by cosmetic surgery.
But even when she occasionally found one pleasant to look at, they often seemed too delicate, lacking the strong masculine presence she personally found attractive.
And now, after finally encountering such an exceptional man, he had simply walked away!
Wait…
She hadn’t been drooling just now, had she?
Jiang Wanxi quickly touched her chin.
Fortunately, she hadn’t embarrassed herself in front of the handsome stranger.
She had lived two lifetimes without ever truly liking anyone.
She didn’t even know what being in love was supposed to feel like.
Her shoulders seemed to retain the warmth of his hands.
Perhaps that sudden flutter in her heart had been like a firework—brilliant, beautiful, and gone in an instant.
Maybe she would never experience something like it again.
The memory probably wouldn’t remain vivid forever.
Perhaps one day, she would forget him entirely.
Maybe she would eventually live like everyone else in this era, listening to her family’s arrangements or accepting a matchmaker’s introduction.
She would meet a man whom everyone considered suitable.
They would find each other acceptable, get married, have children, and slowly grow old together amid the ordinary concerns of daily life.
Perhaps they would never truly fall in love.
But they could still respect and support each other as husband and wife.
And maybe, one day when she was old, she would suddenly remember this moment.
She might look down at her children and grandchildren gathered around her knees and tell them a story.
She would tell them that once, on a day when the sunlight was just right, she had unexpectedly crossed paths with an extraordinarily handsome man.
Jiang Wanxi didn’t know how long she remained standing there.
Only after the man’s figure had completely disappeared from sight did she finally climb back onto her bicycle and continue home.
Suddenly, she remembered a song from her previous life called *Love Around the Corner*.
And as she rode away, she quietly began humming its melody.