The stool ladder crashed down, and Jiang Yan caught her effortlessly, avoiding any danger. The anticipated pain never came. Sang Zhi cautiously opened her eyes and saw a sensual Adam’s apple right in front of her. Realizing the opportunity, she didn’t pull away; instead, she curled closer into his embrace, arms tightly wrapped around his strong neck, practically whispering, “I’m so scared.”
“What happened? What happened?”
Her uncle heard the noise from the stairwell and called out.
“It’s nothing, just the ladder fell. No one’s hurt. You rest, I’ll handle it here.”
He was always too serious; no one doubted her lie. The old man returned indoors. With the surroundings calming, she thought she should get down, but this young woman clung to him as if glued, refusing to let go.
“Enough hugging? Let go!”
A gentle scent of jasmine wafted around him, light and soft, teasing his senses like hair brushing against his chin. Anyone else might feel flustered, but Jiang Yan didn’t understand this kind of tender sentiment. In his mind, if any man dared get that close, he’d throw them over his shoulder instantly.
Being so close, he could hear the rapid heartbeat of the other person. For the first time, it stirred a rare sense of tolerance in him. He lowered his head; her soft lips, brushing lightly against his neck, sent shivers up his spine, feather-light and fleeting. He suddenly realized how delicate her body was—slender waist, soft curves, so fragile.
Before he could scold her, she suddenly looked up, eyes flashing with a mix of anger and grievance. Her long, curled eyelashes blinked rapidly, and her large, expressive eyes conveyed every ounce of her complaint. Jiang Yan froze.
“Why did you scare me all of a sudden?” she shot back, turning the blame on him.
He wanted to defend himself but before he could, he heard her soft sobs. Two tiny tears the size of soybeans rolled down.
“I just wanted to change a light bulb. If you hadn’t scared me, I wouldn’t have fallen. And yet, you’re blaming me. If you found it troublesome, you could have just not caught me. Whether I broke bones or had internal injuries, it would have been my fault!”
Jiang Yan’s eyebrows twitched subtly. He had never faced such a tricky situation before. But seeing her pale, frightened face, his aggressiveness faded. He even patted her back in a calming gesture.
“I’m not blaming you.”
As soon as he said this, the familiar system sound rang:
“Ding! Special target emotional fluctuation detected. Merit points increased by 60.”
Sang Zhi looked directly at him, her long lashes still misted with tiny droplets, eyes shining brilliantly like they had been washed clean.
“Then I forgive you. Honestly, although your actions contributed to my fall about thirty percent, you caught me in time, so I’m very grateful to you.”
When Sang Zhi deliberately drew close, her eyes, face, and proud demeanor all worked in her favor. Today’s small accident had, in a way, brought them closer.
Sang Yun had just returned home and, delighted to hear Jiang Yan was there, ran upstairs. But the scene she saw stopped her in her tracks.
The man, trained for years, had a strong, toned back and muscular arms exuding raw strength. Even more startling—he was holding Sang Zhi tightly in his arms! She had only been gone a few hours, yet everything had changed? How long had these two been this close?
“Ah!” she screamed in disbelief.
Startled by her shout, Sang Zhi reluctantly jumped out of his arms. Her thin anger dissolved upon seeing her cousin. Jiang Yan, following her gaze, was also stunned. Then came a loud, roof-piercing laugh.
Sang Zhi pointed at her, laughing so hard she nearly bent backward. Her cousin’s face, streaked with yellow-brown, paired with the knitted cap, looked absurdly like a weasel—hilarious.
A few days ago, Sang Zhi had noticed the skincare products in her metal box were being used up too quickly. The culprit was obvious. Knowing the family’s situation, she didn’t want them to take advantage, so she had mixed brown shoe polish into the nearly empty tins. If they used it, embarrassment would follow. Sang Yun did not disappoint her—she applied it unwittingly.
Sang Yun looked at the two, confused, touching her face. Since leaving the residential compound, she had attracted everyone’s attention, thinking it was the effect of Sang Zhi’s skincare. But it wasn’t. Seeing her reflection—a grotesque, ridiculous face—she wanted to die. So she had boldly entered the lumber factory and the military compound like this? She might as well have been struck by lightning.
Sang Zhi, enjoying herself, didn’t forget to rub salt in the wound.
“Cousin, I forgot to tell you. My snow cream tin is almost empty. I liked the box, so I didn’t throw it away… and I filled it with shoe polish. You didn’t use it, did you?” she asked, trying not to laugh.
“No wonder my new tin ran out so fast… it was you using it!”
“Taking without asking is stealing. You know that, right?”
“But you always said that my using good snow cream was something a capitalist lady would do, refusing to mix with us. Turns out, behind the scenes…”
Stealing, double-dealing, a few simple words and the accusation was on. Sang Yun floundered, trying to explain, but words failed her. Her face, smeared with shoe polish, left her on the verge of collapse.
Ah! She hated this so much.
Because of this small episode, Sang Zhi had inadvertently brought herself closer to Jiang Yan. Her suspicion hadn’t been removed, but progress had been made. And from the 60 merit points gained from Jiang Yan’s emotional reaction, with a one-to-one exchange rate, she now had 60 more yuan of purchasing power.
Normally, the system did nothing, but today it worked, indicating that merit points were gained from detecting emotional fluctuations. She hadn’t done a good deed or rescued anyone—so it could only have been physical contact. Jiang Yan usually kept his distance. Yet, just a hug caused a mood fluctuation, awarding her 60 merit points. Quietly, yet secretly… he was surprisingly “shy yet intense.”
The direction was right. She would continue to explore. After all, he was a big guy.
Her uncle waved him off, face wrinkled: “This is a small matter. Xiao Zhang, bring the lunchbox.”
Once they left, Sang Zhi quickly changed clothes and followed him out of the compound.
That morning, the sentry had told her a letter had been delivered specifically for her. Inside was a photo: a thin, scholarly-looking young man participating in labor. She had seen a family photo of the three siblings in the original owner’s belongings. Though the person in the photo had aged considerably, she immediately recognized him as the original owner’s elder brother, Sang Nan.
The envelope included an address, with instructions: if she wanted to know Sang Nan’s whereabouts, meet there in the afternoon—no exceptions. They knew her connection to Sang Bei and Sang Nan, and also knew her address. No one else could be behind this.
Of course, she wasn’t naive enough to fall for it blindly. The sentry at the gate—Wu Guan—was the same one who had helped her on her first day at the compound, guiding her and protecting her interests. A long-time duty officer with a slight leg issue, she had delivered medicinal wine and plasters to him before, so they were on good terms.
Before leaving, she told him that someone from her hometown had sent her something but she couldn’t carry it herself, and asked to go pick it up when the shift changed. The young, enthusiastic soldier grinned broadly: “Leave it to me.”
“No rush. I’ll come for it later. Oh, here’s the address.” Sang Zhi smiled and handed it over. She sensed that this matter might be connected to the overseas Chinese, and that the family intended to use her for some scheme. She was more than eager to get involved.