《Cloudside Café》 CH 1.1 The First Cup of Coffee Part 1 When Jiang Ying left the office building, it was raining from the skies to the earth. There was a cold snap this spring. The temperature had recently warmed up, but then it suddenly plummeted. It was like winter had returned for a moment. The street lamps lit up the night, and the spring rain fell to the ground with the pink and white petals. She took the phone out of her pocket and looked at it. March 12 23:48. There were still twelve minutes left before her birthday was over. After working all day, her plans had not changed. If she had not been urged by the security man locking the door to go, she might have spent the night there. The rain was appropriate for the occasion. Jiang Ying heaved a long sigh and opened the long purple sticky rice colored umbrella to step into the rain. How could a company slave1 be worthy of a birthday? It was nothing more than a reminder that she was one year older and had spent another year in a chaotic state. She went out this afternoon, and when she came back, the parking space was occupied and she had to go around in circles to find a place to park. Jiang Ying walked listlessly with her head down and her shoulders hunched over. When bad luck fell on a person, there really wasn¡¯t a good thing found anywhere. She was about to reach the corner of the street when she looked up and was attracted by a small nearby caf¨¦ with its lights on. In the quiet, dark hours of the morning, the sparkling lights from the place were like a treasure box that had accidentally fallen from a magical world, hidden between trees and tall buildings. Jiang Ying¡¯s footsteps stopped and so did her eyes. She was unable to withstand her curiosity to approach it. She had heard from her colleagues that a new caf¨¦ had opened nearby and it was beautifully decorated. Was it still open at this hour? Jiang Ying could sort of see a person¡¯s shadow inside, so she went under the covering and shook the water off her umbrella after closing it. Then, she gently pushed the glass door open. There was a bell hanging on the door. When it was hit, it made a clear sound that disrupted the quiet rainy night and the person behind the work table. He was a young man with a white button up under a loose sweater and gold-rimmed glasses. His attire was mature and sophisticated. He was wearing a deep blue barista apron, but it was clear with one glance that he was not a shop assistant, but the owner. When the man saw Jiang Ying, he was a little surprised. After he came to his senses, he nodded, politely smiled, and said, ¡°Hello.¡± Jiang Ying also nodded. She looked away and quickly examined the shop. White was the primary color. The tables and chairs were wood, and there were a lot of green plants. On the left side of the door was the reception desk and the back kitchen, and there were five or six tables in the room. The room had a clean and simple Scandanavian style, but there were many cosy areas. The lights were a warm yellow, and the tablecloths were either a light green or a yellow plaid. Each table had a small pot of flowers and plants, and the chairs had floral printed pillows. "" ¡°It¡¯s so late, but you still haven¡¯t closed?¡± she asked. The man only gave a ¡°mhm¡± and continued to look down to tidy up the dishes. Yun Xian was the owner of this caf¨¦. It was raining today, and the drip-drop sound would make it more difficult for him to fall asleep since he suffered from insomnia. He might as well stay in the shop to prepare for tomorrow and kill some time and energy. But he didn¡¯t expect a customer to come in so late. ¡°Can I still order right now?¡± Jiang Ying put her umbrella on the door frame and walked over to the reception desk. When she took a closer look, she realized that the young man was quite handsome. He was very tall. Jiang Ying herself was 1.7 meters. He must be at least 1.85 meters. He had thin lips, a high nose, and double eyelids. His skin was very white and he appeared gentle. It¡¯s a handsome caf¨¦ boss. I met such an ordinary, handsome guy. Jiang Ying put her hand up and rubbed the tip of her nose. She was covering her mouth where the corners wanted to rise. She was secretly happy. It could be said that they were already closed, but Yun Xian hesitated, and then nodded. ¡°Yes, but we can¡¯t serve all food items.¡± Without looking at the menu, Jiang Ying immediately asked, ¡°Do you still have cake?¡± There happened to be one piece of cake left today. Yun Xian wanted to take it back home for himself. He told her to wait a minute, then he turned around and went into the kitchen. He came out with a slice of cake in his hand. ¡°There¡¯s this. It¡¯s a cheese ice cream flavor. Is that okay?¡± Jiang Ying was ready. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take it.¡± The shop¡¯s cash register was already turned off, so Yun Xian asked her, ¡°22 yuan, do you have any cash?¡± Jiang Ying had not brought her wallet with her since mobile payment became popular. She shook her head and thought of something. This was a good opportunity to get his Wechat. She was afraid that he would say ¡°I¡¯ll turn on the cash register¡± in the next second, so she rushed to suggest, ¡°Should I transfer the money to you on Wechat? I¡¯ll scan your code?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Yun Xian took out his cell phone from his pocket. It had a dark blue rubber phone case. His taste was very much in line with his persona. When he unlocked the screen and clicked on the Wechat app, Jiang Ying cheered on the inside. The heavens were kind to her and gave her a birthday peach blossom buff2. ¡ªUntil she saw the other person open the QR code for payment. Jiang Ying: ¡­ That little plan in her mind was mercilessly strangled by convenient and user-friendly app technology. The smile on Jiang Ying¡¯s face became stiff, and then she paid the 22 yuan. The screen showed that his name was ***Xian. Jiang Ying didn¡¯t know the word, so she asked without thinking, ¡°Ji¨¤n?¡± Yun Xian was dumbfounded for a moment, but then he thought about what she was saying and replied, ¡°Xi¨¤n, my name is Yun Xian.¡± Jiang Ying murmured the name Yun Xian in a low voice to herself. It rolled off the tongue when she read it, and it had an ethereal quality to it. Oh, so even handsome guys have unusual names. After receiving the payment, Yun Xian took out a box and was going to pack it for her. Jiang Ying reached out to stop him. ¡°You don¡¯t need to pack it. Aren¡¯t you in a hurry to close the shop? I¡¯ll just eat it here.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not in a hurry.¡± Yun Xian put the box back and took out a blue porcelain plate from the shelf. He put the cake on it and handed it to Jiang Ying. ¡°Please take your time.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± CH 1.2 The First Cup of Coffee Part 2 There was a bar next to the reception desk, so Jiang Ying sat down nearby. The shop¡¯s sound system was playing soft, soothing songs. Jiang Ying scooped a spoonful of cake. The cheese was savory and thick. She held her chin with her left hand and openly watched the handsome boss busy at the work table. Jiang Ying thought about how she knew his name, so to reciprocate, she spoke up to say, ¡°Boss, I forgot to say, my name is Jiang Ying. Jiang from ginger, Ying from welcome1.¡± Yun Xian didn¡¯t know why she suddenly introduced herself. He just thought she was bored and wanted to talk to someone. He gave a slight nod and continued along with her. ¡°Do you work nearby?¡± Jiang Ying nodded. ¡°Yeah, Zhicheng Studio. We make games. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve heard of it.¡± When Yun Xian heard the name Zhicheng Studio, his lips rose. Not only had he heard of it, he suggested the name Zhicheng. Yun Xian relaxed after knowing that she was an employee of a good friend. ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of getting fat if you eat cake so late?¡± ¡°There are still a few minutes left, but today is my birthday.¡±Jiang Ying scooped up a piece of ice cream and put it into her mouth. It was so cold that her teeth shivered, and she casually articulated, ¡°Ceremonial feeling.¡± Upon hearing this, Yun Xian looked up at her. He was slightly surprised, and thoughtfully whispered ¡°happy birthday¡± to her. The girl looked young and should have just graduated. She had long brown hair in a low ponytail. Perhaps it was because she had single eyelids that it added to her facial features for a bit of a delicate and soft, but interesting appearance. He didn¡¯t know much about Li Zhicheng¡¯s company, but he also knows that when a company started out, the boss was squeezed by the investors and the employees were squeezed by the boss. Game development was also a stressful, hair-pulling job. She was probably exhausted after just getting off of work and couldn¡¯t properly celebrate her birthday. Perhaps that¡¯s why she could only buy herself a small cake in the last few minutes of this rainy night. If he was not in the shop today, she might not even have a piece of cake. When Yun Xian briefly recalled the disheveled way he looked when he first started working, he looked at Jiang Ying again and his eyes seemed to have a bit of pain in them. Then, he thought about how the work could be regarded as an evil thing Li Zhicheng created and he lightly sighed. Yun Xian turned around and went back to the kitchen. He came back in a few minutes with a small aromatherapy candle in his hands. He turned off the lights, but left the one on top of the bar on. He took a lighter and lit the aromatherapy candle. It had a sweet apple fragrance as the flame burned in the dark. He pushed it in front of Jiang Ying and said, ¡°That¡¯s all I could find.¡± Jiang Ying did not understand, so she looked from the candle up to Yun Xian¡¯s face. She stared at him blankly. ¡°Huh?¡± Yun Xian raised her eyebrow and motioned to her. ¡°Make a wish. I didn¡¯t have any normal candles, so I took this to do the best I could.¡± Jiang Ying gave an ¡°oh¡±. She looked down instantly as the corners of her mouth rose. She muttered, ¡°What should I wish for?¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± She thought about it for a moment, but she didn¡¯t seem to have any big wishes like to have success at work, to have good health, or to find a boyfriend. The wishes she thought of were always those few. The song being played on the sound system was coming to an end. The deep male voice sang in a low voice: ¡°Goodnight dear world. Goodnight old trees. Goodnight, and goodbye.¡±2 ¡°I make a lot of wishes for myself every year, and none of them come true.¡± Jiang Ying clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. She gently said, ¡°Then let¡¯s be thoughtful to other humans. I hope that people with insomnia will have a good night¡¯s sleep and sweet dreams tonight.¡± The vocal color of her voice was very special. It was not a soft nor delicate voice, but was low with a compassionate tone, like a glass of fruit wine. It was crystal clear with a sweet twinge that matched her pure look. A few seconds later, Jiang Ying opened her eyes and blew out the candle. She raised her head and expressed her appreciation, ¡°Thank you, Boss Yun.¡± When their eyes met, Yun Xian was lost in them for a moment. The rainy night was dark and the lights in the room were dim, but her eyes contained the candle¡¯s light, as if they were gathering all the sparks in the world and secretly burned them through the night. It was rare to see such big single eyelids that could be so sparkling and magnetic. A good night¡¯s sleep. This sentence was too weak for insomniacs. Others could not understand dragging a tired body and mind around at night and the pain of not being able to sleep for a long time. There was the continuous tossing and turning; and the mental state that was weak and sensitive. The more they tried their best to calm themselves down, the more anxious they became. Their brain was running at a high speed, churning like a machine out of control. After reaching a critical point, they fell into a state of collapse, and they finally became numb and empty. That¡¯s why ¡°good night¡± were the words Yun Xian was most afraid to hear. He had to rely on drugs to force his body to shut down because his nights could never be peaceful. He would wait for his mind to fall into a dazed state before it finally fell into a chaotic dream. They were complete strangers, so it was impossible for Jiang Ying to know what troubles the man in front of her held. They met by chance and she made a wish for ¡°a good night¡¯s sleep and sweet dreams¡±. If this really was a wish, then these words were too gentle. The rain stopped and the night returned to its stillness. The anxious feeling suddenly became calm. Yun Xian tilted his head as he looked out of the window. Perhaps his body and mind had relaxed because he developed a rare drowsiness. Yun Xian straightened his watch and said with regret, ¡°If I had known it was your birthday, I would have invited you to eat this cake.¡± Jiang Ying laughed and it caused her dimples on both sides to appear. ¡°Is this a gift for new customers?¡± She pointed to the candle on the table. ¡°It¡¯s all right, you¡¯ve already helped me celebrate it.¡± Yun Xian still wanted to make up for it. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what, I¡¯ll make it up to you when you come to my shop for your birthday next year.¡± A smooth giggle flowed out from Jiang Ying as she responded okay. She cupped her hands into a fist and stated, ¡°Boss is too polite.¡± In her mind, she only regarded this as a courteous conversation. Yun Xian was actually serious and he still felt bad when he thought about it. He took out a post-it note and a pen from the reception desk drawer and leaned down to make a rough coupon. To say that it was rough, it really was rough. There were only two words, ¡°birthday certificate¡±, and a small cake that he drew on the blue post-it. Yun Xian picked it up and looked at it, and then added a small words below: ¡°This belong to Jiang Ying¡± In the lower right-hand corner of the paper, he left his signature. His handwriting was confident. He used it as a seal to ensure the post-it note¡¯s credit. He handed the post-it note to Jiang Ying and said sincerely, ¡°I mean it. Take it. Come and find me next year to exchange it.¡± Jiang Ying took it. She was amused when she saw the words on it and laughed out loud. ¡°Exchange for what? Are you going to go out with me for my birthday?¡± Not expecting her to understand like this, Yun Xian¡¯s face flashed with a trace of embarrassment and he stiffly explained, ¡°What I mean is that I¡¯ll give you a birthday cake.¡± The atmosphere suddenly became a little subtle. Yun Xian took off his apron and turned back to the reception desk. Jiang Ying coughed and brushed a strand of loose hair on her cheek to behind her ear. "" Just as she folded the paper carefully and put it in her shoulder bag, the man turned back. He still had his unfolded apron in his hand. His fingers were long and well-defined. The skin on the back of his hand was white against the apron¡¯s dark color. Jiang Ying looked up at him and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Yun Xian pushed his slipping glasses up, and Jiang Ying saw that there was a small mole below his left eye. It was not obvious before because it was blocked by the glasses frame. She didn¡¯t know where she heard it, but people with tear moles loved to cry and their hearts were sensitive. Maybe that¡¯s true, because she heard Yun Xian say: ¡°I can celebrate your birthday with you if there is no one to accompany you that day.¡± The author has something to say: I hope everyone will enjoy reading this. It is a relaxing short story. tarararawr¡¯s rararamblings: Yun means cloud, the same cloud in Cloudside Caf¨¦. Zhicheng Studio and Zhicheng¡¯s name are also the same characters. Zhicheng means sincere. Boss Yun¡¯s way of naming things is not very original. ¡¥|(???)/¡¥ CH 2.1 The Second Cup of Coffee Part 1 Jiang Ying, who was 25 years old and a new company slave1, was most afraid of her boss and the regular meeting she had with him on Friday. Currently, she had her laptop and notebook in one arm and the other hand on the doorknob. She took a deep breath and immediately pushed the door open. When she was in high school and was called into the office by her teacher, it was a nerve wracking experience for her. She was the last to sit down in the conference room. The photocopied documents had been distributed to each seat, and sitting on the main seat was her boss, Li Zhicheng. Jiang Ying pulled up a chair and nodded to greet Fang Yu, the operations director sitting across from her. She glanced at Li Zhicheng from the corner of her eyes. He was dressed in a pressed black suit with an indifferent expression as he played with the pen in his hand. The pen¡¯s metal cap was tapping on the table. The sound was not loud, but the hearts of the people present were beating along with it. Following the usual meeting agenda, Li Zhicheng inquired about the current situation and progress of each department one by one. His eyes looked around and finally landed on Jiang Ying. The man¡¯s voice was methodical and low, and contained the composed tone of a leader, ¡°I have reviewed the revised plan.¡± It was her turn. Jiang Ying only felt that her nerves were hanging by a string and she painfully suffered as she waited for him to say the second part. ¡°Overall, it¡¯s okay.¡± It was a few simple words, but it allowed Jiang Ying to breathe a sigh of relief as if the weight on her shoulders had been lifted. ¡°But¡­¡± She immediately sat up straight again to listen, holding her breath. Li Zhicheng slammed the table and he asserted, ¡°I have said before that if we want the simulation mobile game to do well, the player¡¯s sense of immersion is very important. Don¡¯t make it so romantic, make it a bit down-to-earth. The language used in the dialogue needs to be a little more life-like.¡± Jiang Ying accepted his feedback modestly. ¡°Yes, I have also seen the feedback from the players, and our team will focus on reviewing and improving this issue.¡± Li Zhicheng nodded and asked, ¡°What ideas do you have for the next update of the main plot?¡± What kind of teachers are students most afraid of? It was this kind where after they corrected your homework, they would also ask you if you had prepared for the next lesson. Jiang Ying was blank for a moment before she cleared her throat. She calmly opened her notebook and stopped on a certain page. At the same time, her brain was operating at full speed. After a simple remark, she began to report, ¡°I think we can consider a spring caf¨¦ as the theme for the next chapter. Office workers are busy every day and the caf¨¦ between high-rise buildings is their break spot. It is filled with the rich aroma of coffee, there are cabinets displaying exquisite cakes, music playing that relaxes the body and mind, and it is where tense nerves can relax for a while. The marketing department has done a survey before, and in fact, the largest proportion of our mobile games are young workers between the ages of 20 and 25. I believe a theme of caf¨¦s will have more appeal and a stronger sense of immersion than the previous chapters.¡± Before expressing his opinion, Li Zhicheng first asked the others for theirs first. ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s great.¡± Fang Yu was the first to take the initiative to express his support. ¡°The first few chapters are all about the mood, and the plot is good, but the players have also conveyed that the setting is not detailed enough. If it is a caf¨¦, then our art team will have a lot of room to be creative.¡± ¡°It really caters to the preferences of our target audience.¡± Jiang Ying got through this daunting ordeal without any problems. This sudden inspiration had been tentatively approved. ¡°The planning team will give you a detailed plan for it next week. That¡¯s all for today.¡± Li Zhicheng unfolded his legs and announced the end of the meeting. This was similar to the bell ringing to signal that it was the end of class. Jiang Ying shrugged to loosen her shoulders and let out a sigh that blew on the bangs on her forehead. Just as everyone packed up their things and walked out of the conference room one after another, Li Zhicheng glanced at her. ¡°Jiang Ying, come to my office later.¡± The teacher¡¯s finishing blow¡ªasking you to stay behind after class. The soothing joy from finishing the meeting was ruthlessly dissolved as soon as it had happened. Jiang Ying reluctantly squeezed out a smile. ¡°Okay, sure.¡± Li Zhicheng¡¯s office was in the innermost room. When Jiang Ying knocked on the door and entered, he was leaning back in his chair with a laidback posture and looking at cell phone. She walked over lightly and said, ¡°Boss.¡± Li Zhicheng put away his phone and pointed to the chair in front of him. ¡°Sit.¡± ¡°Did you work late the other day?¡± Li Zhicheng did not lay the groundwork and asked a question that was straight to the point. This question was beyond Jiang Ying¡¯s expectation. Why does he care about this? Did the security guard tell him? Does he care about the company¡¯s electricity bill? The lowly young employee hastened to explain, ¡°Oh, it wasn¡¯t very late. I saw that there wasn¡¯t much left, so I didn¡¯t want to stop. Next time I will bring it home to do it!¡± Li Zhicheng pursed his lips and let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. I don¡¯t advocate staying up late and working overtime. Don¡¯t work so late next time, go home early and rest up.¡± Jiang Ying blinked a few times quickly. Did I hear him correctly? Since when did the grim devil king show kindness? CH 2.2 The Second Cup of Coffee Part 2 Li Zhicheng asked, ¡°Is the deadline I gave too tight?¡± Jiang Ying shook her hand at once. ¡°No, no.¡± He knew she would not tell him the truth, so he got up and went to the coat hanger to pull out a card from his coat. ¡°Go and buy us some afternoon tea. It¡¯s been hard. You can decide what to buy, and I¡¯ll pay for it.¡± Jiang Ying¡¯s eyes were long and narrow. They became wide because she was overwhelmed by this unexpected request. She solemnly took the card with both hands and bowed. She thanked him, ¡°Thank you, boss!¡± Li Zhicheng waved his hand . ¡°Go.¡± As soon as Jiang Ying came out of the office and returned to her seat, Zhou Qingqing slided over on her chair and whispered, ¡°What did King Li say to you?¡± Jiang Ying¡¯s lips rose to a smile and she took out the card with her thumb and middle finger and shook it in front of Zhou Qingqing. ¡°He said he would treat everyone to afternoon tea.¡± ¡°Let me go!¡± Zhou Qingqing could not help but exclaim. She was glared at by Jiang Ying. Then, she quickly covered her mouth and lowered her voice. ¡°Has King Li become a loving father?¡± Jiang Ying made a guess. ¡°Maybe today¡¯s meeting went well so he¡¯sin a good mood.¡± Zhou Qingqing nodded in agreement. ¡°Speaking of which, when did you think of the caf¨¦ plan today? I panicked when he asked that question.¡± ¡°When?¡±Jiang Ying picked up the notebook on the desk. She turned the page and handed it to Zhou Qingqing. ¡°Just now.¡± Zhou Qingqing took her notebook. It did not have any plans on it. On the paper, there were some numbers of Jiang Ying¡¯s recent expenses, and in the lower right-hand corner, there were simple doodles from when she was daydreaming. ¡°But it was thanks to that.¡± Jiang Ying¡¯s eyes landed on the last line: Cheese cake, 22. It was when she saw this line and remembered what happened that day that she suddenly came up with the idea of a spring caf¨¦. Jiang Ying held up her notebook. The image of the man who was busy at the reception desk that night appeared. She had not seen him for a few days, and his appearance was blurry in her memory. All she remembered was a small mole under his left eye. ¡°Qingqing, I¡¯m going to buy afternoon tea.¡± Jiang Ying turned around to leave. She took her phone and the card from the table and walked quickly out of the studio. ¡ª It was sunny today and the breeze was warm. Yun Xian had ordered some seedlings that had arrived. He planted them in the open space outside of his shop. It happened to be Arbor Day a few days ago, so this could be counted as his contribution to the earth. His shirt was stained with mud and his fair hands were dirty. While he was working just now, he didn¡¯t feel the urge to clean. Yun Xian brushed his hands and walked back to the shop. He turned on the faucet with his elbow, and carefully pressed on the hand soap twice to thoroughly wash his hands. After washing his hands, he took off his long sleeve button down he wore as a jacket and put it away. Underneath he had a T-shirt. Yun Xian was born in September and was a Virgo. Although he did not have an aggressive nor annoying personality, he had a lot of shortcomings typical for a Virgo. Obsession with cleanliness was a problem. It¡¯s easy to say that being clean was a good habit, but being a little OCD about it meant that he couldn¡¯t stand white things that were dirty. No matter how small the stain was, as long as he could see it, he felt uncomfortable. He liked white the most. The majority of his shirts and T-shirts were white, and the main tone of the shop was also white. ¡ªNow enough about Virgos. Today, the shop was open, but there weren¡¯t that many customers. They had three customers come in during the afternoon, but they had many cups of coffee that were sold at noon. Spring sleepiness came with the weather warming up and affected everyone. Zhao Xin yawned while wiping each cup. It was said that yawning was contagious, so Su Cheng, who was sitting on the bench playing games, followed suit. The two men yawned one after another, like a duet. Yun Xian finally couldn¡¯t bear to watch it, so he dried his hands with a paper towel and said to them, ¡°Xiao Zhao, Su Cheng, we don¡¯t have a lot of guests today, but it¡¯ll be busy during the weekend. I¡¯ll give you a half-day off.¡± Zhao Xin¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Thank you, boss!¡± Su Cheng was brimming with tears. ¡°Brother, you are so kind.¡± They lost their sleepiness and happily took off their aprons. They grabbed their backpacks as they got off work. Yun Xian lowered his head and smiled. They left quickly out of fear that their boss would change his mind. Yun Xian¡¯s phone made a notification sound. He took it out of his pocket and unlocked the screen. It¡¯s a Wechat message from his friend Li Zhicheng. Complete Sincerity: The meeting just ended. I called the girl to the office to encourage her and invited the staff to have afternoon tea using my card. Complete Sincerity: I was moved by my benevolent self. See the Mountain: It¡¯s hard to pluck the feathers of a rooster1. Complete Sincerity: It¡¯s all because of you that I was at wits end. Complete Sincerity: Fuck, you made Laozi2 feel guilty all day. He sent out a sticker of a little fat hand with clenched fists. Yun Xian looked at the new message on the screen and laughed in a low voice. When he was signing for the saplings this morning, he thought of Jiang Ying, the girl who celebrated her birthday on Arbor Day. His mother usually liked to forward and send articles to him. The latest news included all kinds of information about maintaining health and eating healthy food. Yun Xian scrolled through a few of the messages and picked out a few articles to send to Li Zhicheng. CH 2.3 ¡°Shocking! Company Workers Died Suddenly After Being on Duty for 24 Hours Straight!¡± ¡°Fifty Dangers of Staying up Late! After Reading This, Would You Dare to Still Endure?¡± ¡°Employee Died From Overwork, the Company Will Pay 500,000 Yuan for Compensation¡­¡± Li Zhicheng received the forwarded articles and sent him a row of question marks. He also gave him a call to confirm whether his phone had been stolen. In a few words, Yun Xian briefly described how he met his employee at the caf¨¦ that night. He skipped on a lot of details, but highlighted the bleak atmosphere on that rainy night and the young woman¡¯s pitiful, tired and sad look after working overtime. Li Zhicheng felt apprehensive and extremely guilty when he heard this. Complete Sincerity: When I gave her the card today, I thought I was very powerful and handsome. Complete Sincerity: I was so cool the moment I was giving her the card, but I felt extremely heartbroken after it was over. See the Mountain: You went that far? Complete Sincerity: I was saving money for my future wife, and now I¡¯m in a pinch, you a**hole. Yun Xian didn¡¯t want to bother with his nonsense again, so he sent him a red envelope. The other side accepted it with delight and sent him a gif with a dog tilting its head. The last customers at the table in the shop left. Yun Xian said, ¡°Take care.¡± He put away his phone and got up to clean up the plates on the table. As soon as he put the plates into a pile and picked them up, he heard the bell ring behind him. ¡°Welcome.¡± There was still a pool of water under the tree from the rain a few days ago. The warm sun was shining on the earth, and the white clouds were faint. The wind breezed through the branches. The world seemed bright and brilliant. The girl stepped through the door with the light shining behind her. Yun Xian could only see the outline of a figure. She took a few steps forward, and the lighting changed. Her face could be seen under the clear light. It was Jiang Ying. She was wearing a lavender sweater, and light blue jeans that outlined her perfectly straight and well proportioned legs. Perhaps the sun was shining so magnificently that it casted her in a soft and touching light. ¡°Boss Yun.¡± Jiang Ying called out to him, smiling like a Japanese cherry blossom in the spring with her eyes fixated on him. ¡°Hello.¡± Yun Xian carried the plates back to the counter. The porcelain plates were placed into the sink, making a clattering sound. He rinsed his hands and took a paper towel to dry them. He handed a menu to Jiang Ying and asked, ¡°What would you like to have today?¡± Jiang Ying took a quick look and ordered, ¡°Ten slices of cakes, five lattes and five Americanos.¡± Yun Xian had an idea as to why she was here, but asked anyways, ¡°Are you buying afternoon tea for your colleagues?¡± Jiang Ying nodded, she reached for the card and waved it. ¡°The boss is treating.¡± After a quick swipe, Li Zhicheng¡¯s cell phone received a notification for payment, but he didn¡¯t know whose account the money went into. Ten slices would take some time to prepare. Yun Xian had regrets for allowing Zhao Xinrou and Su Cheng to leave early today, but there was at least something to keep him busy and less bored. Jiang Ying was in no hurry. She sat on the stool by the counter and propped her chin up. She watched him operate skillfully. She was in a trance as if she had returned to that rainy night. ¡°When did you learn to make coffee?¡± Yun Xian stirred the Americano and replied to her, ¡°In the last two years. I was interested in it, so I learned a bit.¡± Jiang Ying complimented him, ¡°But you look very professional.¡± Yun Xian smiled but did not say a word. When everything was made, Yun Xian found a cardboard box and packed it for her. He picked it up and realized that it was heavy. ¡°Can you carry it? Why don¡¯t you ask your colleagues to come help you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right, I can carry it.¡± Jiang Ying picked up the box carefully. It was a bit of a struggle, but it was not a problem to get it to the company. ¡°Bye, boss.¡± Jiang Ying was about to turn around and walk away. "" ¡°Hey, wait a minute.¡± Yun Xian stopped her. Jiang Ying held the box against the edge of the table and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Yun Xian handed over a post-it note with a string of numbers written on it. ¡°This is my number. If you buy afternoon tea again for the company in the future, give me a call and I¡¯ll ask the workers to deliver it to you.¡± Jiang Ying took it and crumbled it into her hand. ¡°Okay.¡± She hesitated for a few seconds before leaving, but mustered the courage to ask him, ¡°Is it fine for me to add you on Wechat?¡± Without waiting for him to answer, she hastily added, ¡°It¡¯s more convenient to contact you this way.¡± Yun Xiani nodded. ¡°Yes.¡± After getting his reply, Jiang Ying¡¯s mood was as light as stepping on clouds even though she was carrying ten cups of coffee and ten cakes in her arms. Yun Xian left the counter to see her off and helped her open the glass door. ¡°Be careful. Goodbye.¡± The girl¡¯s voice was brisk. ¡°Goodbye, boss!¡± The smile on Yun Xian¡¯s lips remained as he watched her leave with the cardboard box in her arms. Pretty soon, she disappeared around the corner. He was free again. He looked back to the empty room and suddenly felt a little bored. The days were getting longer and longer. What was he going to do to kill time? The author has something to say: The Wechat she deserves to get was going to come eventually. CH 3.1 Translator: tarararawr The Third Cup of Coffee Part 1 Jiang Ying clutched the post-it note in her hand until she reached the doors of the company. The paper became wrinkled and wet from her sweat. Fortunately, the numbers on it had not faded. She handed the cardboard box to Zhou Qingqing and asked her to hand out the afternoon tea to everyone. As soon as everyone heard there was something to eat, they stopped no matter what they were doing and gathered around like the pigeons in the square. Jiang Ying retreated from the group and returned to her seat. She clicked on Wechat¡¯s search function and typed in one number at a time, slowly and seriously. Soon, a man¡¯s profile appeared. The nickname on Wechat was three words: ¡°See the Mountain¡±, and the profile picture was the cloud and the moon at night. His area code was in Beijing. No wonder his accent didn¡¯t sound local. There were few posts in Moments, and some of them were simple everyday posts. With just a few pieces of information, Jiang Ying looked at it over and over again for a long time. She did this until Zhou Qingqing came over with the cake and asked her, ¡°Did you buy it at Cloudside? ¡°Cloudside?¡± Jiang Ying took off the lid of the coffee cup. She lifted it up and took a sip. It was a warm latte, slightly bitter and the aftertaste had a touch of milk in it. ¡°The new cafe next door. I told you about it.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Jiang Ying nodded. So the name is Cloudside. She had been there twice, but she didn¡¯t notice the name of the shop. Zhou Qingqing leaned against the edge of the table and started to eat the cake. She openly slacked off and chatted with Jiang Ying, ¡°How was it? Have you seen the boss?¡± ¡°Boss? What about him?¡± Jiang Ying pressed on the friend request. She put the phone faced down on the table and opened the box with the cake. Zhou Qingqing made a tsk. ¡°He¡¯s a good-looking, high quality man and that¡¯s hard to find. Haven¡¯t you noticed?¡± Before waiting for Jiang Ying to respond, Zhou Qingqing said to her, ¡°Recently, the main thing the women in this area talk about is him. Whether or not he is in the store and what clothes he wears. Just open up the group chat and you¡¯ll know.¡± Jiang Ying paused when she ate the cake. ¡°Does everyone know about him?¡± ¡°Well, hey, think about it.¡± Zhou Qingqing approached Jiang Ying and whispered, ¡°Young coffee shop owner, financially independent with free time, and good-looking. Heavens, who can not like him? This guy is perfect.¡± Jiang Ying poked the mango on the cake with a spoon, somewhat absent-minded. Zhou Qingqing was still chattering, ¡°Do you know about the beautiful female photographer in the studio downstairs? The very classy and artistic one. I heard that she had been going to Cloudside every day hoping he would notice her. Hey, I¡¯m a common person who¡¯s not even worthy enough to think about it. It¡¯s enough for me to feast my eyes on him and admire his looks.¡± When the piece of mango flesh was poked beyond recognition by Jiang Ying, she slammed the spoon down. ¡°Speaking of character design, think carefully about the concept and plot outline of the male lead in the new chapter these next two days, and give it to me by next Monday.¡± Zhou Qingqing withered instantly with the spoon in her mouth. ¡°Huh? But today is Friday.¡± Jiang Ying patted Zhou Qingqing on the shoulder. ¡°Then work overtime on the weekend. I¡¯ll stay with you.¡± Zhou Qingqing squeezed out a fake smile. ¡°Okay, I know.¡± With quiet around her now, Jiang Ying breathed a sigh of relief and picked up her cell phone to click on Wechat. The top of the message list showed: ¡°You have added ¡®See the Mountain¡¯. You can start chatting now.¡± Jiang Ying straightened her back and rubbed her hands. She became nervous for a moment. She clenched her fist and loosened it, and she typed out ¡°Hello I¡¯m Jiang Ying.¡± and sent it. Jiang Ying saw ¡°The other party is typing¡­¡± and she heaved a sigh of relief. She kept her eyes fixed on the screen. See the Mountain: Hello. Hello. What¡¯s next? What should she respond with? Jiang Ying became worried. She suddenly glanced at the cake next to her hand, and immediately regained her spirit. Orange Sunset: What¡¯s the flavor of today¡¯s cake? It¡¯s delicious. See the Mountain: Mango with a thousand layers. Orange Sunset: But I prefer the one I ate last time. See the Mountain: Cheese ice cream, right? Unfortunately, the little master didn¡¯t do it today. Orange Sunset: Then next time. See the Mountain: Yeah. The chat came to an end again. Jiang Ying was stuck to the back of her chair. She really should learn Zhou Qingqing¡¯s skill of finding something to say. There was still two hours to go before the end of the work week. She was going to plan out her work for the next week before the weekend and delegate tasks to the rest of the team. Although Jiang Ying¡¯s grades from a young age were not top of the class, she had one good quality: once she started something, she would devote herself to it. Her colleagues clocked out one after another, and then she was the only one left in the cubicles. Jiang Ying finally hit the enter key to save the document and packed up her things. She picked up her phone only to find that it was past five o¡¯clock when Yun Xian sent her a new message. See the Mountain: Next week, the little master is going to make a new product: red velvet with sea salt taro paste. You can come and try it. In the evening, the sunset was a deep orange and it was getting lower between the buildings and the trees. There was a breeze blowing across the horizon. Jiang Ying¡¯s mood was lighter because of the sunset and the coming weekend. And for this invitation. Orange Sunset: Okay. CH 4 shenxiaxing16-20 minutes 21.07.2022 The Spring Cafe Shop plan was progressing steadily, Jiang Ying submitted the preliminary plan. When Zhou Qing Qing sent an email to the art team and attached a picture of the character that Jiang Ying drew, they decided to follow the drawing and made the character. In the end, the result was not bad at all, Jiang Ying herself was quite satisfied. After approval, Li Zhi Cheng did not make any comments, but his eyes stayed on the new character for a long time. Finally, he did not say anything and asked the team to complete the plan quickly and hand it over to the production team as soon as possible. Everything went smoothly, it was just that there were some difficulties in finding the voice actor for the character Jian Ying. It was not hard to find a mature and gentle male voice, but after trying through several CVs, Jiang Ying was still not satisfied enough. [T/N: CV stands for Character Voice] Ji Han searched for all the voice actors who were suitable for this style, but Jiang Ying still shook her head and wanted her to continue searching. ¡°Jiang Ying Jie, what¡¯s wrong with it? I think Teacher He Feng is quite suitable.¡± Jiang Ying thought for a while, and said, ¡°His voice isn¡¯t bad, but it still lacks a bit of feeling.¡± Ji Han poked the pen on the table, if it was not for Jiang Ying being usually nice to her, she must have felt that this was deliberately making things difficult for her. Ji Han thought for a while, and asked, ¡°Perhaps you¡¯ve already chosen a favourite candidate in your heart?¡± Jiang Ying leaned back on the chair, changing her sitting position, and denied, ¡°No.¡± Ji Han cried without tears, ¡°I thought you already have a perfect candidate in your heart¡­ But if you want to choose someone close to that, then why don¡¯t you consider Mr. He Feng?¡± He Feng was a well-known voice actor, with a variety of timbres and voices, but he was most famous for his gentle voice. It was the best choice for him to dub Jian Ying. Ji Han¡¯s words made Jiang Ying reconsider herself. She seemed to be in the wrong direction. She was supposed to be looking for a voice actor for Jian Ying, but now, in her heart, she wanted to find a voice similar to Yun Xian. It was easy to go wrong with personal feelings. Jiang Ying rubbed her brow bone with her knuckles, and said to Ji Han, ¡°Let me listen to He Feng¡¯s recording video again.¡± As soon as Ji Han heard it, she saw that there was still hope, so she hurriedly found the video and opened it. He Feng recorded three lines that Jian Ying said when he first met Su Xiao. ¡ª¡ª¡°Welcome.¡± ¡ª¡ª¡°Perhaps¡­ We have met before.¡± ¡ª¡ª¡°Your latte, be careful not to get burned. Have a nice weekend.¡± He Feng was worthy of being a professional CV. Without adding background music and scenery, these three sentences restored the most essential tone, as clear as a stream, smooth as a pearl, polite and modest, with suppressed feelings in the heart. Everything was just on point. It was quite good. ¡°Let¡¯s choose Mr. He Feng then.¡± Jiang Ying decided. ¡°Yeah! I¡¯ll go find him right now!¡± Ji Han swept away from her previous frustration and jumped up from her chair. Jiang Ying suddenly realized something, narrowed her eyes and looked at Ji Han, ¡°So you¡¯re his fan huh?¡± Ji Han smiled shyly, ¡°Ah no, I just think that he¡¯s very suitable for the character, so seeing that he was chosen, I feel very happy.¡± Jiang Ying waved her hand with a smile, telling her to quickly contact the actor to prepare for the official recording. The conference room became quiet, Jiang Ying stood up and dragged the progress bar to play the audio again. He Feng was suitable for Jian Ying, but not like Yun Xian. After listening to so many voices, she still could not find anything close to it. The voice lines of the voice actors have been professionally trained and polished, the timbre and intonation were almost flawless, and each line captured the right speed and weight. Hence, he spoke a little less naturally and casually than usual, facing the microphone, always having to keep the image of the character. Yun Xian¡¯s voice was not that amazing, words were spoken slowly without haste, passing through the ears but not easily forgotten. Compared to He Feng, he was more like the spring wind blowing through the trees and the surging stream in the autumn forest. Jiang Ying enjoyed the process of chatting with him. A few trivial sentences may be ordinary and meaningless but could brighten her mood for the whole day. Thinking about it, Jiang Ying picked up the paper cup on the table and took a sip of coffee, the bitter taste spread on the tip of her tongue, and she frowned in disgust. How come with only a few days of drinking coffee he made, she had become picky already¡­ She suddenly wanted to go to Cloudside Cafe again now. At 6 p.m., Jiang Ying got off work. As usual, she opened the Cloudside Cafe¡¯s glass door, and the bell rang along with the word ¡°Welcome¡±. It was only April, and the weather was already hot and sultry, and it was not even cooler in the evening. ¡°Jiang Jie, you¡¯re here.¡± Zhao Xin Rou was mopping the floor when she greeted her with a smile on her face. ¡°Hm, are there many guests today?¡± Jiang Ying sat on the old seat in front of the bar, and took off the bag on her shoulder. Su Cheng brought a plate of cakes from the back kitchen, saw Jiang Ying and asked her what she wanted to drink today. Jiang Ying fanned the wind with her hand and asked Su Cheng, ¡°Do you have a cold drink? It¡¯s so hot.¡± Su Cheng suggested, ¡°How about a glass of peach soda?¡± Jiang Ying nodded, ¡°Sure.¡± This month, Jiang Ying had become a regular customer of Cloudside Cafe shop. Yun Xian was not always in the shop. If she saw him, she would sit at the bar admiring boss Yun¡¯s good looks, and occasionally chat a little. When she could not see him, she would simply order a cup of coffee and sit for a while, as a brief relaxation time after work. She and Yun Xian had not made any new progress, but she had become pretty close with the two employees in the shop. Su Cheng was 22 years old this year and was the pastry chef in the shop. With neat short hair, always dressed in black, he looked like a playful teenager, but the delicate cakes displayed in the cupboard were all made by him. Yun Xian liked to call him a small chef, and Jiang Ying joked in her heart that he was a tiger that sniffs roses. [T/N: The phrase ¡°a tiger that sniffs roses¡± means that people who are busy and rigid also have moments of being gentle and soft.] Zhao Xin Rou was a third-year English major at Xi Cheng University. She had a part-time job in Cloudside Cafe and would come to the shop to help when she had no classes. When there were not many customers in the store, she would always be seen as a girl wearing headphones mumbling English words. Su Cheng¡¯s limbs were agile, he finished the drink in a moment. The peaches were placed on the bottom of the cup, the soda water was bubbling with small bubbles, and it was decorated with a mint leaf. ¡°Thanks.¡± Jiang Ying took it and drank half a glass in one sip. The cool liquid was poured down, which relieved the sultry heat and thirst, putting her in a better mood. The glass door was pushed open again, and as the bell rang, Jiang Ying also tilted her head over. Standing in front of the door was a woman with light curly long hair and delicate makeup. A black suspender skirt made her look skinny, and Jiang Ying could smell the faint perfume on her body when she approached. Jiang Ying knew her, Wendy, the beauty photographer in the studio downstairs. Wendy walked over to the bar, looked around, and casually asked, ¡°Boss Yun is not in the shop?¡± Zhao Xin Rou smiled and replied, ¡°Yes, what would you like to drink?¡± The beauty¡¯s disappointment was expressed in her words, ¡°Then pack me a glass of Americano to take home.¡± Jiang Ying sat on the side drinking soda silently, waited after Wendy took a paper bag to leave the shop, and pretended to ask casually, ¡°Is boss Yun not in the shop today?¡± Zhao Xin Rou wiped the table and answered her, ¡°Yes, boss Yun went to the hospital today.¡± Jiang Ying¡¯s heart tightened, ¡°Is he sick?¡± Zhao Xin Rou shook her head, ¡°No, it seems to be his friend. Boss Yun received a phone call today and then left.¡± ¡°Ah I see.¡± Jiang Ying poked a piece of fruit with her straw, secretly breathing a sigh of relief. At that moment, her phone rang. Seeing the name appearing on the screen was ¡®Annoying Boss¡¯, Jiang Ying quickly picked up the phone, ¡°Hello, boss.¡± ¡°Are you off work yet?¡± Jiang Ying answered, ¡°Yes, what¡¯s the matter?¡± Li Zhi Cheng¡¯s voice sounded a bit weak and hoarse, not as decisive as usual, but still clearly instructed the work, ¡°I have to take a few days off. If there is anything, you and Fang Yu discuss and decide first, then report to me every day after work.¡± ¡°Understood,¡± Jiang Ying hesitated for a moment, remembering that Li Zhi Cheng did not come to work this whole day, she asked, ¡°Boss, are you sick?¡± The other end of the phone was silent for a few seconds, then there was a ¡°Hm.¡± Jiang Ying was still thinking about what to say next, Li Zhi Cheng spoke first, ¡°Stomach disease, it¡¯s just a small problem.¡± ¡°Ah, then you should rest.¡± Just when she was pitying him for a second, Li Zhi Cheng used a weak but cold voice to say, ¡°My phone is linked to the company¡¯s surveillance cam, monitoring everyone. You guys better be working obediently, whoever is lazy and caught by me will have their salary deducted.¡± ¡°¡­Got it.¡± This person Li Zhi Cheng was harsh, strict, demanding, and even scarier when angry, but as long as it was not a death week before the update, he would treat employees pretty well sometimes. Considering that he was still a single man with no one to take care of, times like these were an opportunity to graciously flatter him. Jiang Ying softened her voice and asked softly, ¡°Boss, which hospital are you in?¡± Unfortunately, the other party did not appreciate it, ¡°Why do you ask? Want to come to see your boss dying and then secretly laugh in your heart?¡± Jiang Ying dryly laughed, ¡°Ah no, I just want to visit you on behalf of my colleagues in the company.¡± A cold snort sounded from the other end of the phone, ¡°Floor 16 of People Hospital. Don¡¯t bring flowers or fruits when you come, bring me a bowl of eggs with lean meat porridge, I¡¯ll pay.¡± ¡°Got it, I¡¯ll be there soon.¡± Jiang Ying hung up the phone and picked up the bag as she waved goodbye to Su Cheng and Zhao Xin Rou, ¡°I¡¯m leaving.¡± Room A76 on the 16th floor of People Hospital, Li Zhi Cheng was lazily lying on the bed in a plaid patient uniform, his hair was dark and bushy, making his face even paler. ¡°Not eating anymore?¡± The lunch box on the table was still full, even the chopsticks had not been used yet. Li Zhi Cheng was lying on his side of the bed playing with his phone, acting like a young master, ¡°I feel bitter in my mouth, and yet you gave me white porridge?¡± Yun Xian crossed his arms and looked at him, feeling like he was raising a rebellious son. ¡°If you¡¯re feeling uncomfortable right now, don¡¯t drink that wine last night.¡± Feeling like being stabbed in the heart, Li Zhi Cheng pulled the blanket over his head, unilaterally cutting off the conversation. Yun Xian scolded him as he packed his lunch box, ¡°When Zhou Yi went abroad, you borrowed wine to relieve your sorrow, and now that she has returned, you¡¯re still drinking. You really haven¡¯t changed at all.¡± From the blanket came a sad voice, ¡°Who said that? Can¡¯t I drink a few cups when I¡¯m not in a good mood?¡± Yun Xian stretched his arm and pulled off his blanket, ¡°A few cups? You drank half a liter of white wine on an empty stomach, and you still think it¡¯s a trivial matter for stomach perforation?¡± Li Zhi Cheng was a man over 8 meters tall and can stretch, ¡°Yun Xian, you should go home quickly, Ta Ta is still waiting for you to come back and feed it.¡± Yun Xian shook his head helplessly and put the blanket down, ¡°Then I¡¯ll leave, if there¡¯s something, call me.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Li Zhi Cheng pouted his lips and blew him a kiss, so nauseated that Yun Xian got goosebumps, scolding him for being an idiot. Ta Ta was the orange cat that Li Zhi Cheng raised, with its name implying that money would come to him soon. He slept dreamily until noon, woken up by stomach pain, Yun Xian sent him to the hospital to find out that it was a gastric perforation. Tormented all day, the poor little master still had not been fed. Yun Xian came out of the hospital room and sighed. Why was it that he was always the one who suffered in the end every time Li Zhi Cheng and Zhou Yi fought? He was thinking about how to reveal the news of Li Zhi Cheng¡¯s hospitalization to Zhou Yi naturally and without any trace when he heard someone in front of him calling him. ¡°Boss Yun!¡± That voice, carried with surprise, suddenly resounded in the quiet corridor. The hospital should not be noisy, perhaps realizing that her volume was too high, Jiang Ying hurriedly covered her mouth and walked toward him. Just as she was about to ask why he was at the hospital, she remembered Zhao Xin Rou said earlier that today he came to visit his friend. The words in her heart twisted around and turned into, ¡°What a coincidence.¡± Yun Xian nodded and asked her, ¡°Why are you here?¡± Jiang Ying raised the bag in her hand, ¡°To visit my boss, he¡¯s sick.¡± Hearing that, Yun Xian¡¯s eyes fell on the bag in her hand, he then raised his eyebrows. Thinking of Li Zhi Cheng¡¯s cowardly appearance in the hospital room, Yun Xian twitched his lips and mumbled, ¡°Even when he¡¯s sick, he still didn¡¯t forget to exhaust his employees.¡± Jiang Ying did not hear clearly, so she asked him, ¡°What did you say?¡± Yun Xian shook his head, ¡°Nothing, you go first, I¡¯ll leave now.¡± ¡°Oh I see, goodbye.¡± ¡°Goodbye.¡± Farewell to Yun Xian, Jiang Ying found the hospital room. She gently opened the door and saw Li Zhi Cheng on the innermost hospital bed. She went over and called, ¡°Boss.¡± At this time, Li Zhi Cheng looked at her as if seeing a relative. For the first time, he said in a very enthusiastic voice, ¡°You¡¯re here!¡± ¡°The porridge is still hot, you should eat it.¡± Jiang Ying pulled out a small table. Other than the porridge, she also ordered a portion of custard buns. As soon as the lid was opened, the aroma came out. Li Zhi Cheng, who had not eaten much for the whole day, already felt satisfied after smelling it. He just picked up the spoon and scooped a mouthful of porridge into his mouth when the screen of his phone lit up, and a new WeChat message came. Li Zhi Cheng glanced at the message popping up, his hand trembled slightly, and the spoon fell into the bowl. Seeing The Mountain: [Is the preserved egg and lean meat porridge delicious?] Seeing Li Zhi Cheng looking left and right in fear, Jiang Ying asked in confusion, ¡°Boss, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Li Zhi Cheng slightly calmed down and asked her, ¡°Did you run into anyone on the road just now?¡± Jiang Ying was confused and shook her head, ¡°No.¡± Then this was weird¡­! Li Zhi Cheng lifted the blanket, grabbed his phone, and started typing. Zhi Cheng: [Where did you install the surveillance cam?!] Seeing The Mountain: [In your head. While you were in a coma, I told the doctor to implant a chip in your head.] Zhi Cheng: [???] Not knowing if this was a psychological effect, Li Zhi Cheng really felt a dull pain in his head. Jiang Ying saw him holding his head and asked with concern, ¡°Boss, do you have a headache? Do you want me to call a doctor?¡± ¡°No need. Xiao Jiang, put away the preserved egg and lean meat porridge, I suddenly have no appetite anymore.¡± ¡°Ah okay, then you can eat when you¡¯re hungry later.¡± The phone lighted up again. Seeing The Mountain: [I just happened to meet Jiang Ying earlier, you told her to buy the porridge, right?] Seeing The Mountain: [Eat a little less, just take two bites to satisfy your cravings.] Li Zhi Cheng was extremely speechless in his heart and sent Yun Xian an emoji of a person throwing a fist. Zhi Cheng: [You scared me so much that I almost peed in my pants!] On the other side of the screen, Yun Xian chuckled lightly, scolding ¡°Idiot¡± in a low voice. When the suspenseful sci-fi movie came to an end, Li Zhi Cheng waved his hand, like a king sitting in the court pointing at the slaves, ¡°Xiao Jiang, bring the porridge here, I want to eat it again.¡± Jiang Ying, who had just finished clearing the table, pursed her lips and glared at Li Zhi Cheng, feeling speechless. On the way back home, Jiang Ying opened WeChat, blocked her boss and colleagues and posted a status line. [My boss is sick, yet his brain is also damaged. To my surprise, it turns out he also has a brain.] Ten minutes later, Yun Xian clicked ¡°Like¡± on her status. CH 5 shenxiaxing14-17 minutes 23.07.2022 Yun Xian soon returned to the apartment. After he changed his shoes, he turned on the light, put the shopping bag in his hand on the shoe cabinet, and quickly called out, ¡°Ta Ta.¡± The little master slowly came out of the living room and rubbed its fat face against the legs of his trousers. Yun Xian squatted down and hugged the cat in his lap, stroking its fur, ¡°Are you hungry yet?¡± After changing the bowl of water and adding food for Ta Ta, Yun Xian then sorted the items in the shopping bag into neat order. Then, he sighed and sat down on the sofa. Ta Ta was satisfied with its dinner, meanwhile, Yun Xian was still hungry. His stomach was empty, but he was too lazy to cook for himself. He just took a pack of Li Zhi Cheng¡¯s bear biscuits from the coffee table in the living room, picked up one piece and put it in his mouth. The taste of chocolate was too sweet, Yun Xian did not like it at all, but high-calorie food like this made him feel full easily. After eating two more pieces, he brushed the crumbs off his hand and took a sip of cold water. The sky was completely dark and the night was heavy, while the city lit up with thousands of lights. It was a bit boring. Normally, if the two of them were at home, Li Zhi Cheng would drag him to watch football or play games. Now that idiot was lying in the hospital, the house suddenly became quieter. Remembering that he still had something to do, Yun Xian opened his phone and posted a status on his circle of friends. [Commemorating Li Zhi Cheng¡¯s youth revival] Below was a photo he took of Li Zhi Cheng staring blankly at the camera in his plaid patient shirt with a pale face. Considering Li Zhi Zheng¡¯s 30-year-old image, Yun Xian set the number of viewers that only Li Zhi Cheng and Zhou Yi could see, but to increase the effect, he intentionally left a few comments below. [Drinking too much alcohol, stomach perforation.] [Juniors, no need to worry about your senior Li.] [Thank you for everyone¡¯s concern, the patient¡¯s mood is not stable at the moment.] Yun Xian amused himself as he typed, looking at how much effort he put in for his brother¡¯s love. Soon he received messages full of question marks from Li Zhi Cheng. Zhi Cheng: [ ? ] Zhi Cheng: [ ?? ] Zhi Cheng: [ ??? ] Zhi Cheng: [Delete it right now!!!] Zhi Cheng: [Which juniors worry about me? Why can¡¯t I see the comments?] Seeing The Mountain: [There are no juniors, I just shared for the chosen ones, only Zhou Yi can see.] Zhi Cheng: [What the¡ª Not blocking her, but letting her see it??] Five minutes later, Yun Xian saw Zhou Yi¡¯s comment and could not help but burst out laughing. [Tell the doctor to treat his rebellious disease.] Li Zhi Cheng also saw it and immediately opened the chat box to ask Yun Xian. Zhi Cheng: [What does she mean?] Seeing The Mountain: [Saying you¡¯re childish.] Zhi Cheng: [I¡¯m childish? How about she cure her princess disease first!] Yun Xian rubbed his neck, unintentionally seeing the two of them mocking and insinuating each other through the screen. Seeing The Mountain: [Rest early.] Exiting the chat box and then returning to the circle of friends, he casually scrolled down. He did not have many friends, most of them were classmates and former colleagues. Yun Xian stopped swiping when he saw a familiar profile picture. Jiang Ying¡¯s profile picture and WeChat name seemed to match, the orange sun on the horizon during sunset. Her timeline was mostly texts as if she would post any time she wanted to express something. Got pissed off at the boss, complained about the weather, looked forward to the weekend, or shared some paintings that she drew. Including now, showing a simple bowl of duck blood noodles. [Boss invited me for a late night snack! He¡¯s the most handsome and best man in the world!] Yun Xian saw that Li Zhi Cheng clicked ¡®Like¡¯ on the post and felt a little pity for this idiot. He probably was secretly happy because of this flattery, but little did he know Jiang Ying was mocking him just now. Jiang Ying was actually quite different from the first impression she left on others. From her appearance, she seemed to be a gentle and simple girl, with nothing special, as light as a cloud and impossible to catch. However, as you got to know her, you would realize that she was quite an interesting girl. In his spare time, Yun Xian liked to scroll through her timeline, especially when she mentioned Li Zhi Cheng. Perhaps it was because her flattery and sarcasm were both so casually and unexpectedly that showed her fresh and bright personality. The food in the photo became even more attractive after being edited, Yun Xian touched his empty stomach, feeling hungry again. Starving was really painful, Yun Xian struggled for a while, and finally decided to follow his heart, following what Marquez said, ¡°The real way of life.¡± He opened Jiang Ying¡¯s chat box, typed down a message and sent it over. Seeing The Mountain: [Where did you buy the duck blood noodles?] The other party responded almost in a split second. Orange Sunset: [Wait a minute, I¡¯ll share that store with you.] Orange Sunset: [If you like to eat, you should go to Nan Jing to eat authentic ones when you have time.] Seeing The Mountain: [Okay.] Orange Sunset: [I didn¡¯t expect you to eat this kind of food too.] Seeing The Mountain: [ ? ] Orange Sunset: [Cause you look so fairylike as if you only drink morning dew.] Yun Xian read the words on the screen and was amused by the other party¡¯s words. This was the first time he had seen such a description, he did not even know if this was even praise or criticism. Seeing The Mountain: [I don¡¯t really eat it often.] Orange Sunset: [This store in Xi Cheng has very delicious dishes, rest assured! It¡¯s on the street next to the coffee shop, very clean and hygienic.] Seeing The Mountain: [Alright, thank you.] Jiang Ying sent an emoji, a pink rabbit slurping noodles, Yun Xian guessed its meaning was ¡°Have a good meal¡±. At ten o¡¯clock that night, Li Zhi Cheng, who only ate a bowl of porridge a day, received a photo from Yun Xian. In the photo was a bowl of duck blood noodles sprinkled with red chilli oil, rich juice, soft spicy duck blood, and garnished with coriander, the colour and flavour of it were perfect. Seeing The Mountain: [Let¡¯s go to Nan Jing someday.] Zhi Cheng: [Hehe, I¡¯ve cast a spell, tomorrow you¡¯ll gain 10 kg more, and all your muscles will turn into fat!] Seeing The Mountain: [Rebound.] On Friday, Jiang Ying planned to go to Cloudside Cafe to buy a piece of cake to bring home for the weekend after work. As soon as she entered the store, she saw Yun Xian who was about to go out. Today, the other party wore a sports suit, looking refreshing and healthy. Jiang Ying asked him, ¡°Are you going to work out?¡± Yun Xian tightened the cap of the bottle and gave a ¡°Hm¡±. Jiang Ying¡¯s eyes rolled halfway, then she asked, ¡°In the gym?¡± Yun Xian replied, ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s the one on that corner of the street.¡± ¡°Oh, that one?¡± Jiang Ying smiled, ¡°I have a card there.¡± Yun Xian looked at her, the corner of his mouth slightly curved up, ¡°Do you often go there?¡± Jiang Ying nodded, stretched out her arm, and lied without blinking, ¡°I like to exercise a lot.¡± The card was indeed there, it was the prize that she won at the annual party last year. She highly doubted that after Li Zhi Cheng made the card, he was too lazy to go to the gym, so he turned it into such a boring prize. Other people got iPads, switches, or a foot bath, yet a person who did not like exercising like her ended up picking up a gym card. Yun Xian lowered his eyes and looked at her silently. The weather was warm in April, Jiang Ying wore a T-shirt with a denim skirt today. She was not fat and could be considered as thin, her exposed legs were fair and well-proportioned. Just by looking at the lines, he could tell that she rarely exercised. He suddenly wanted to tease her, ¡°Let¡¯s go together then?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Jiang Ying obviously did not expect this suggestion, so she forced a stiff smile, ¡°¡­I have something to do today, so next time¡­¡± Yun Xian suppressed the corner of his lip that wanted to curl up, ¡°Then I¡¯ll go first, goodbye.¡± Jiang Ying waved, ¡°Bye.¡± Seeing the other party go out, Jiang Ying lowered her face and weakly walked to the bar as she ordered, ¡°Pack me a piece of creamy cheesecake.¡± ¡°Ting!¡±, her phone suddenly rang, and Jiang Ying slid the screen to unlock it. It was a seven-second voice message. [Although I¡¯m the owner of a coffee shop, I still want to remind you a bit, have you eaten too many sweets lately?] His voice rang in her ears, Jiang Ying instantly blushed, and muttered in her heart, ¡°Isn¡¯t it your fault that I eat too much!¡± Leaving Cloudside coffee shop, Jiang Ying then drove to her parents¡¯ house. After going to work, she rented a house outside. The reason she told her family was that it was very close to the company and more convenient to go to work. But in fact, considering that she often stayed up late at night to work overtime to write plans, she was afraid that her parents would complain about it. As soon as she took out the key to open the door, her one sentence ¡®I¡¯m back¡¯ stuck in her throat and could not be said. Mother Jiang was sitting on the sofa making a phone call. With a serious tone, she aggressively scolded someone. ¡°Isn¡¯t a meal eaten until eight o¡¯clock enough? Do you still want to come back home?¡± ¡°Before you left, I already told you not to drink too much! I won¡¯t care about you when you come back drunk tonight!¡± Jiang Ying stopped breathing and carefully changed her shoes to enter the house. Mother Jiang angrily hung up the phone and vented her dissatisfaction with her daughter, ¡°You see your father, he¡¯s already old, the last time he went to the hospital, the doctor said he had high blood pressure and fatty liver, and yet he¡¯s still drinking!¡± ¡°Okay, don¡¯t be angry, I¡¯ve packed a cake for you.¡± Jiang Ying opened the box and scooped a spoonful to feed it to Mother Jiang. ¡°Why is it so sweet, I¡¯m so fat already!¡± ¡°Eating sweets will make you feel better,¡± Remembering Yun Xian¡¯s words, Jiang Ying only ate a small piece, ¡°Where did dad go to eat? I¡¯ll go pick him up.¡± Mother Jiang then said the address. Although she said she would not care about him, she still got up and went to the kitchen to make hangover food for him. Jiang Ying, who had just sat down for less than five minutes, now had to pick up the car keys again to go pick him up. The restaurant was not far from home. She called Father Jiang, but did not expect someone else to receive it. ¡°Jiang Ying?¡± The other party was a young man with a familiar voice. When Jiang Ying was still trying to figure out who this was, he told her his name, ¡°I¡¯m Fu Chen, do you remember?¡± Fu Chen. That name was like a stone, dragging her down, making her feel uneasy. Jiang Ying was frozen, her hand holding the phone as her brain was blank for a while. Until the red light turned green and the car behind her honked its horn, she finally recovered and quickly said, ¡°Tell my dad that I¡¯m coming to pick him up.¡± It took her a few minutes to get there. Jiang Ying parked the car but did not get off. She lowered the car window halfway, licked her lips, and wanted to smoke. After rummaging in the small box of miscellaneous items for a while, she only found a pack left over from before, and there were only two cigarettes left. The flame burned the tip of the cigarette, and Jiang Ying¡¯s slender fingers grabbed the cigarette and spewed smoke into the dark open car compartment. It was not until the cigarette was burned out that she opened the car door and stepped on the cigarette butt to extinguish it. Then, she wrapped it in a tissue and threw it into the trash can. As soon as she turned around, she saw Father Jiang being helped to walk out of the gate. Her dad¡¯s face was red, and his steps were staggered. It was very clear that he was drunk, he did not even know what he was mumbling in his mouth. Jiang Ying hurriedly ran up, frowned and complained, ¡°Why did you drink this much? You¡¯ll be scolded again when you get home.¡± The drunkard could not hear her, he just staggered and said he could still drink. ¡°Let¡¯s help him get into the car first.¡± Jiang Ying raised her head and glanced at the man. She did not say much but just nodded. Fu Chen was much more mature than before, wearing a shirt and trousers, his hair combed back with hairspray. He had monolid and the corners of his eyes were curved up, he had a fierce appearance. When Jiang Ying was still in school, the girls secretly discussed him. Some people said that Fu Chen was manly and made people feel safe, and some people said that he had an aggressive face that might lead to domestic violence in the future. Regardless of the two poles of comments, for Jiang Ying, he was an unavoidable nightmare when she was a student. Haven¡¯t seen each other for many years, she did not expect to meet him again on such an occasion today. Jiang Ying suppressed her hatred towards him, trying to calmly say, ¡°Thank you, we¡¯ll go first.¡± ¡°Hey, wait.¡± She had just turned around when Fu Chen grabbed her arm. Jiang Ying cautiously took a step back, almost subconsciously dodging. Seeing her reaction, the other party shrugged, calmly retracted his hand and put it in his pocket, ¡°I heard from your dad that you¡¯re working in the science and technology field now?¡± Jiang Ying lowered her head to avoid his gaze, ¡°Hm.¡± ¡°Have a chance to go out and gather?¡± ¡°Talk about it later.¡± Father Jiang sitting in the car started mumbling, Jiang Ying seized the opportunity and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go first.¡± Hastily starting the car, she turned the steering wheel to change direction. When she looked in the rearview mirror, she saw that Fu Chen was still standing there looking at her. The man raised his hand and waved while shouting, ¡°See you next time.¡± Jiang Ying frowned and secretly said in her heart, ¡°See you never¡±. Next, she stepped on the accelerator and drove away. CH 5.2 tarararawr5-6 minutes 08.07.2021 Translator: tarararawr The Fifth Cup of Coffee Part 2 See the Mountain: Can I ask which restaurant the duck blood vermicelli is from? The other side replied back in a second. Orange Sunset: One sec, I¡¯ll share the restaurant with you. Orange Sunset: If you like it, you must go to Nanjing to eat the authentic version. See the Mountain: Okay. Orange Sunset: I didn¡¯t think you would eat this kind of food. See the Mountain: ? Orange Sunset: You look like an immortal, like you only drink dew. Orange Sunset: Like you would skim out the oil when you eat vegetables. Yun Xian finished reading the words on the screen and was amused by her words. This was the first time he had seen such a description. She was not boastful nor derogatory. See the Mountain: I really don¡¯t eat very often. Orange Sunset: This is the best food in Xi City. Don¡¯t worry! It¡¯s on the street next to the caf¨¦. It¡¯s very sanitary and clean. See the Mountain: Okay, thank you. Jiang Ying sent a gif with a pink rabbit sucking down noodles. 1 Yun Xian guessed that she meant to say ¡°enjoy your meal.¡± At ten o¡¯clock that evening, Li Zhicheng, who had only a few mouthfuls of congee that day, received a picture from Yun Xian. The picture showed a bowl of duck blood vermicelli with spicy oil poured on top. The broth was rich, and the duck blood was fresh and tender. It was sprinkled with coriander. It smelled, looked, and tasted great. See the Mountain: Let¡¯s go to Jinling2 one day. Complete Sincerity: Haha, I will cast a spell on you, and you will gain 20 jin tomorrow. Your abs will become fat! See the mountain: Reflected. ¡ª On Friday, Jiang Ying planned to go to Cloudside to get a cake for the weekend after work. As soon as she entered the shop, she saw that Yun Xian was about to go out. He was wearing athletic clothes today. It was cool and fit. Jiang Ying asked him, ¡°Are you going to work out?¡± Yun Xian tightened the lid of the water bottle and made a sound to acknowledge it. Jiang Ying¡¯s eyes looked around and asked, ¡°Gym?¡± Yun Xian replied, ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s the one around the corner.¡± ¡°Oh, that one!¡± Jiang Ying beamed with happiness. ¡°I have a card there.¡± Yun Xian looked at her and lightly smiled. ¡°Do you go often?¡± Jiang Ying nodded, stretched her arms and lied with a straight face. ¡°I like exercising.¡± She really did have a card. She won it as a prize at last year¡¯s annual meeting. It was reasonable to assume that Li Zhicheng did not want to go so he set up this kind of trifling award. Everyone else had iPads or the Switch. No matter how bad the prizes were, they also had water boilers and foot soaking tubs. She, a chubby homebody who didn¡¯t like sports, got a fitness card. Yun Xian lowered his eyes and looked at her silently. The weather was warm in April. Jiang Ying wore a T-shirt and denim skirt today, which showed a pair of fair and well-shaped calves. She was not fat or thin. Just looking at her shape showed that she didn¡¯t exercise very much. He came up with an idea and he deliberately teased her, ¡°Then why don¡¯t you go with me?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Jiang Ying obviously did not expect this to happen, and put on an awkward smile. ¡°I have something to do today, next time, next time.¡± Yun Xian pursed the corner of his lips that wanted to turn into a smile. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go first. Goodbye.¡± Jiang Ying waved. ¡°Goodbye.¡± As they left each other Jiang Ying put away her smiling face and went to the counter and ordered weakly, ¡°Give me a cheesecake to go.¡± Ding¡ª Her cell phone let out a notification. Jiang Ying swiped the screen to unlock it. It was a seven second long message: Although I am the owner of the caf¨¦, I would like to warn you, have you been eating too many sweets recently? His voice was heard close to her ears. Jiang Ying rubbed her blushing face, her cheeks were hot. She muttered inside, Why do you care if I¡¯m eating too much! After leaving Cloudside Caf¨¦, Jiang Ying drove to her parents¡¯ house. After she started working, she rented an apartment. The reason she gave her family was that it was close to the company and she could sleep for an extra 20 minutes every morning. But the truth was because she often stayed up late to write out plots as she worked overtime, and was afraid of her parents nagging about it. As soon as she pulled out the key and opened the door, the ¡°I¡¯m back¡± got stuck in her throat and she failed to say it. Mother Jiang was sitting on the sofa on the phone. Her tone was serious, and she was scolding someone in the Wu dialect. ¡°Why can¡¯t you only eat dinner at eight o¡¯clock? Do you want to come back?¡± ¡°I told you not to drink so much before, and I won¡¯t care if you come back after completely drunk!¡± Jiang Ying heaved a sigh and carefully changed her shoes before she went into the room. CH 5.3 tarararawr4-5 minutes 08.07.2021 Translator: tarararawr The Fifth Cup of Coffee Part 3 Mother Jiang hung up angrily and vented her discontent with her daughter. ¡°It¡¯s your dad. He¡¯s an old man! The last time he went to the hospital, they said that he had high blood pressure and a fatty liver. But he still drank!¡± ¡°All right, don¡¯t be angry. I have a cake for you.¡± Jiang Ying opened the box and scooped a spoonful to feed Mother Jiang. ¡°Why is it so sweet? It¡¯ll make me so fat!¡± ¡°Eat something sweet and you¡¯ll feel better.¡± Remembering Yun Xian¡¯s words, Jiang Ying only took a small bite. ¡°Where did dad go to eat? I¡¯ll pick him up.¡± Mother Jiang told her the place and said she was not going to care. Yet, she still got up and went to the kitchen to cook sobering soup. Jiang Ying had sat down for less than five minutes before she picked up the car keys to pick her dad up. The restaurant was not far from their home. She called Father Jiang, but she didn¡¯t expect someone else to answer it. ¡°Jiang Ying?¡± The other side of the phone was a young man with a familiar sounding voice. Jiang Ying was still thinking of who it was, so he gave her his name. ¡°It¡¯s Fu Chen. Do you remember?¡± Boom. The two words were like boulders, dragging her heart down. Jiang Ying froze. She held her cell phone with a blank mind until the traffic light changed and the car behind pressed their piercing horn. Jiang Ying said quickly, ¡°Tell my dad I¡¯m coming to pick him up.¡± After a few minutes, Jiang Ying parked the car, but didn¡¯t get out immediately. She lowered half the window and licked her lips. She wanted to smoke. After rummaging through the glove box for a long time, she found a box that was left there. There were only two cigarettes left. With a flame lit on the cigarette butt, Jiang Ying blew out the smoke from the cigarette in the dark car with her slender fingers. Once the cigarette burned out, she opened the car door and stamped out the cigarette butt. She wrapped it in a napkin and threw it into the garbage can. As soon as she turned around, she saw Father Jiang being supported out of the door with a red face. His footsteps were uneven and he was drunk, and he didn¡¯t know what he was saying. Jiang Ying quickly went ahead, frowning and complaining, ¡°Why did you drink until you are like this? When we go home, you will be scolded again.¡± The drunkard could not hear, staggering and shouting that he could still drink. ¡°Let¡¯s help uncle get in the car first.¡± Jiang Ying looked up and glanced at the man. She didn¡¯t say much, and only nodded. Fu Chen was more mature than before. He wore a shirt and trousers, and his hair was combed back with gel. He had monolids, the end of his eyes tapered up. He had a fierce look. In the past, girls secretly discussed it when they were at school. Some people said that Fu Chen was very manly and made them feel safe; while others said that he had an aggressive ¡°domestic violence face¡±. Despite the polarizing comments, for Jiang Ying alone, he was a nightmare she could not avoid when she was a student. Jiang Ying suppressed her repulsion of him and tried to be as calm as possible to say, ¡°Thank you. We will go first.¡± ¡°Hey, wait a minute.¡± No sooner had she turned around than Fu Chen grabbed her arm. Jiang Ying stepped back warily, almost instinctively dodging. Seeing her reaction, he raised an eyebrow and quietly put his hands in his pockets. ¡°I heard uncle say that you are working in the tech field?¡± Jiang Ying lowered her head to avoid his gaze. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Do you have some time to meet up?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡± Father Jiang snorted a few times in the car, and Jiang Ying took it as an opportunity to say, ¡°I¡¯ll go first.¡± She rushed to get into the car and turned it on. She turned the steering wheel and saw Fu Chen through the mirror. He was still standing in place looking at her. The man raised his hand and waved and called out to her, ¡°See you next time.¡± Jiang Ying frowned and said in her mind, See you? Like hell. She stepped on the accelerator and left. CH 6.1 tarararawr7-9 minutes 08.07.2021 Translator: tarararawr The Sixth Cup of Coffee Part 1 Jiang Ying didn¡¯t like to hold grudges, especially with something that happened so many years ago. It was all in the past now. Since it had nothing to do with her now, it would be nice if they could greet each other calmly, ask about their current situation, and keep a respectable distance from each other when they accidentally met. Faced with Fu Chen¡¯s Wechat friend request, Jiang Ying decided to leave it alone first, but he was very persistent. She didn¡¯t know how he got her cell phone number, but he sent three text messages in a row. Jiang Ying was afraid to ignore it for any longer, since Fu Chen might even send her an e-mail. Sending a text on Wechat took too much time, and Jiang Ying was in no mood to talk too much with him. Thus, she quickly gave him a phone call. When the phone was connected, the other side said first, ¡°Have you been busy lately? I¡¯m only getting a reply to my message now.¡± Jiang Ying held back her displeasure and said in a business tone, ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m really busy. What are you looking for me for?¡± Fu Chen laughed from the other end of the phone. ¡°It¡¯s nothing much, I just want to catch up with you.¡± Hearing this, Jiang Ying was silent for a while, and asked sarcastically, ¡°Catching up? We should just call this even between us.¡± Before Fu Chen could answer, she said, ¡°I¡¯m really busy, I¡¯ll hang up first.¡± After pressing the red button to end the call, Jiang Ying, without pausing, put him on her blocked list. Fuck off! ¡ª Fu Chen¡¯s appearance in her life was only brief, so Jiang Ying did not take it to heart. She went to Cloudside more and more frequently recently. Sometimes she feels inefficient at home on the weekends, so she brought her laptop to Cloudside. Jiang Ying was cautious of the noise on the first floor, so she often sat alone in the corner of the second floor. The lighting on the second floor was not very good. Yun Xian saw her several times while she was working. He bought another floor lamp to adjust the brightness, and he replaced the wooden stool with an armchair. That seat was not occupied often unless it was by Jiang Ying. Gradually, it seemed to be hers exclusively. It was sunny that afternoon. Jiang Ying massaged her neck and pushed open the glass door. Yun Xian was mixing coffee and glanced up at her. ¡°Is your neck uncomfortable?¡± Jiang Ying gave a casual yeah. She sat down on the stool at the counter. ¡°I¡¯ve been sitting without getting up. I¡¯m sore.¡± ¡°Sitting for a long time is bad for your neck. I sometimes get up and move around.¡± Yun Xian handed her the menu. ¡°What would you like to have today?¡± Jiang Ying rubbed her deflated stomach. ¡°Fresh taro milk and double cheese1, I need sugar urgently now.¡± Yun Xian saw how weak she looked and asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you eat?¡± Jiang Ying nodded. ¡°I was busy and realized that my lunch break was almost over. I snuck out. I¡¯m starving.¡± Yun Xian took away the menu. ¡°Then you have to remember to eat.¡± Jiang Ying smiled at him. ¡°Jiang Ying?¡± Hearing someone calling her name, Jiang Ying looked back. It was a man of her age, dressed casually. Jiang Ying thought he looked familiar, but she couldn¡¯t remember who he was. Seeing her frowning and thinking hard, the man came closer and introduced himself. ¡°I¡¯m Xu Hang. Do you still remember me? We were in the same class in the first year of high school.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Jiang Ying remembered as soon as he said that. ¡°I remember you. What a coincidence that you are here.¡± ¡°It is a coincidence,¡± Xu Hang said. ¡°I was going to contact you.¡± Jiang Ying froze, pointed to herself and asked, ¡°Me?¡± She hardly knew Xu Hang. For that one short year, her life didn¡¯t have anything to do with this classmate. She only remembered that he was on the sports committee member for the class back then. He was a sporty guy and he was very popular. Jiang Ying put her hair behind her ear and asked, ¡°What are you trying to contact me for?¡± Xu Hang looked down at his watch. ¡°Are you free now? I want to talk to you.¡± Jiang Ying hesitated for a few seconds, nodded and agreed, ¡°Okay.¡± They went to sit elsewhere. When the drinks and desserts were ready, Jiang Ying rubbed her thighs and said to Xu Hang, ¡°Tell me, what are you looking for me for?¡± Xu Hang drank a strong Americano. He swallowed the bitterness. It went down and he didn¡¯t even frown. He asked, ¡°Have you met Fu Chen recently?¡± Jiang Ying¡¯s heart jumped. ¡°Did he tell you that?¡± Xu Hang concentrated and smiled. ¡°He has been mentioning you often in the group recently and asked everyone about you.¡± This sentence was unclear, and uncomfortable for Jiang Ying to hear. ¡°If you have something to say, then just say it.¡± ¡°He had at least seven or eight girlfriends in high school, and he knew a lot of girls, but now.¡± Xu Hang paused. ¡°Isn¡¯t it strange that he only remembers you?¡± There was a weird feeling at the bottom of her heart, like a cup of stale tomato juice was knocked over. The thick brown-red liquid smelled spoiled and disgusting. Jiang Ying leaned back in her chair and smiled silently. ¡°What is this? Reverse Stockholm syndrome?¡± Xu Hang put down his coffee glass, and his attitude was also unpredictable: ¡°I don¡¯t know what he¡¯s thinking. I just wanted to tell you that he made a bet at a dinner party the other day and let everyone know that he will court you in a month.¡± Truthfully, Xu Hang changed the wording. What Fu Chen said that day was: Guess who I met? Jiang Ying, do you remember her? I can¡¯t believe she has become really beautiful now, but she still holds too much of a grudge and is so cold to me that she didn¡¯t even look at me. Hm, Laozi still doesn¡¯t believe it. You guys just watch, I¡¯ll make her captured by me before it¡¯s too late. When Jiang Ying heard this, she only felt funny. ¡°Why?¡± Xu Hang just warned her. ¡°Stay away from him. You don¡¯t know how crazy he is.¡± Jiang Ying looked at Xu Hang warily. ¡°Then why did you come to tell me this? Do you think I¡¯ll really be fooled by him?¡± Xu Hang smiled and shook his head. ¡°I just think I should tell you.¡± Jiang Ying lowered her eyes and rubbed the mouth of the glass with her fingers, as if she was remembering something. Xu Hang was always smiling. He treated everyone equally and seemed to be friends with everyone. She didn¡¯t have any good classmates at school before, and the reason why she was able to remember Xu Hang¡¯s name was because he was one of the few people who had shown her kindness. Jiang Ying said in a low voice, ¡°Thank you.¡± Xu Hang¡¯s real emotions were hidden behind his smiling face as usual. ¡°No need to thank me.¡± Jiang Ying looked up and said, ¡°I owe you those words. You opened the door of the sports equipment room for me.¡± After saying goodbye to Xu Hang, Jiang Ying sat at Cloudside for a while, slowly thinking. Her hand supported her chin as she looked outside the room in a dazed state. She watched people come and go. As soon as the glass door opened or closed, the clear bell would ring. A black Porsche parked in the open space in front of the door. Jiang Ying glanced at the license plate number that seemed familiar. Before she could react, she saw Li Zhicheng get out of the car. What could be more terrible than sneaking out during office hours and being caught in front of the boss? CH 6.2 tarararawr6-7 minutes 08.07.2021 Translator: tarararawr The Sixth Cup of Coffee Part 2 With a loud alarm ringing through her mind, Jiang Ying¡¯s voice lowered and cursed out a dirty word. She got up quickly and looked around, looking for a place to hide. Yun Xian noticed her actions and asked her, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Jiang Ying had no time to think. The door was about to be pushed open. She glanced at Li Zhicheng, who was not far away, then looked back at Yun Xian. Her mind was blank and her heart was jumping out of her throat. As the bell rang again, Jiang Ying just crouched down behind the counter. She listened to the sound of Li Zhicheng¡¯s leather shoes against the floor. She was nervously about to explode. She clutched Yun Xian¡¯s trousers without realizing it. Her chest was heaving. She covered her mouth and did not let herself make a sound. After a busy day, Li Zhicheng¡¯s complexion had turned pale. ¡°Give me a cup of lemon tea so I can keep living,¡± he said to Yun Xian. Yun Xian glanced at the tea bag on the shelf faraway and said, ¡°No, you can drink something else.¡± Li Zhicheng did not believe it. ¡°Is that possible?¡± ¡°Well, I forgot to get more. Drink something else.¡± Li Zhicheng could only compromise. ¡°Fine, make me a glass of sparkling water.¡± Yun Xian looked at the refrigerator. It was obviously not in an area where he could move to now. His eyes locked in on a coffee machine in front of him, Yun Xian asked without a change in his expression, ¡°Only coffee, do you want it?¡± Li Zhicheng, who had been begging investors all day, was still being treated like this. He became annoyed and slammed the table, he raised his voice and shouted, ¡°Shit, is that the kind of service your shop has towards its customers? Are you doing it on purpose?¡± Jiang Ying, who was curled up, was startled and her fingers holding onto him turned white. Help! Why are you fighting? It was terrible for Li Zhicheng to get angry, but Yun Xian was not afraid of him. He knew how to smooth things over with him. ¡°Just drink coffee, I just learned to pour flowers.¡± Hearing this, Li Zhicheng stared at him and examined him. He snorted and said, ¡°Oh, if you want me to taste your skills, then I guess I will have to reluctantly drink coffee.¡± Hearing Li Zhicheng grab a chair and sit down, Jiang Ying breathed a sigh of relief and loosened her hand that had been holding onto Yun Xian¡¯s legs. He was wearing khaki trousers, and the part she clenched onto was a little wrinkled. Jiang Ying stroked it gently. Yun Xian felt the grip disappear and saw her small movement. He rubbed his nose with his hands to try and cover up the smile creeping from the corners of his lips. The crisis had been temporarily relieved. Under the reception area, Jiang Ying took out her cell phone from her bag and stealthily pulled on Yun Xian. Yun Xian looked down at her calmly. He coughed and the metal spoon fell to the ground from the desk. The sharp sound alarmed Li Zhicheng, who looked at him. He saw nothing else and turned away. He continued to look down and play on his cell phone. Yun Xian took a small step back and squatted down. He looked at Jiang Ying and mouthed, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Jiang Ying showed him the words she had typed up: That¡¯s my boss! He wasn¡¯t here this afternoon, so I snuck out. Hell, I don¡¯t know what¡¯ll happen if he sees me here! My bonus will be gone! Help! Let me hide for a while! After quickly scanning through the words on the screen, Yun Xian picked up the spoon on the ground and got up. ¡°Not going to the office today?¡± He asked Li Zhicheng. Li Zhicheng replied, ¡°I¡¯ll go and have a look later. There are only a few hours left before work is over.¡± Hearing this, Jiang Ying wanted to die. Yun Xian glanced at Jiang Ying¡¯s many changing expressions from the corners of his eyes. He pursed his lips to stop smiling. He handed over the coffee he had just made and urged Li Zhicheng, ¡°Come on, so this is what a lazy boss looks like?¡± Li Zhicheng replied in a way that looked like he was in the right. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the boss being lazy? I just don¡¯t need to be lazy with the employees.¡± Ironically being the lazy employee, Jiang Ying closed her eyes and silently recited a Buddhist mantra in her mind. Fortunately, Li Zhicheng drank half of the cup of coffee and sat for about ten minutes before he left. When the man disappeared from his sight, Yun Xian lowered his head and said, ¡°He¡¯s gone. Get up.¡± Jiang Ying put her hands on the edge of the table and tried to stand up. Just as she was trying really hard, she was hit with the pins and needles feeling that quickly went up her legs. ¡°Ss!¡± She squatted awkwardly, not knowing whether to stand or not. Yun Xian asked, ¡°Is your leg numb?¡± Jiang Ying frowned and nodded. She was ready to cry, but didn¡¯t have any tears. When she moved, she would pull on the numbness and inhale with pain. Yun Xian stepped forward to support Jiang Ying and gave her a hand. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, just stand for a while.¡± Jiang Ying bit her lower lip and nodded. No matter how embarrassed she was, he could only stand firm with his help. They stood strangely in place for three or four minute. The wait took a while before Jiang Ying tried to take a few steps forward. She felt fine, so she was ready to run out. ¡°I¡¯ll go first.¡± Looking at her hurrying back, Yun Xian shouted, ¡°Concentrate on your work, and I won¡¯t cover for you next time.¡± Jiang Ying waved, pushed open the door and ran out. After a while, Yun Xian received Jiang Ying¡¯s Wechat message. Orange Sunset: I¡¯m at the office! See the Mountain: Your boss didn¡¯t say anything about you, did he? Orange Sunset: My colleague lied and said I went to the bathroom. Nothing happened! See the Mountain: The colleague is nice. Orange Sunset: Yeah, I bought her afternoon tea in return for helping me out. See the Mountain: What about me? CH 7.1 tarararawr5-7 minutes 08.07.2021 Translator: tarararawr The Seventh Cup of Coffee Part 1 Jiang Ying bit her fingernail and sent a sentence to see what his response would be. Orange Sunset: Then I¡¯ll treat you to dinner some other time? See the Mountain: No, I¡¯m just kidding. See the Mountain: Concentrate on your work, don¡¯t get caught again. Jiang Ying pouted her lips. Don¡¯t say no. I can invite you, why are you being so polite? Since she was asked to concentrate on her work, Jiang Ying could not say anything else. Just as she opened a document and began to review, the colleague at the front desk called her and said there was a delivery for her. Jiang Ying couldn¡¯t remember if she had sent anything to the company and walked over doubtfully. Xiao Wu at the front desk saw her, and handed it over to her. She smiled and said, ¡°Sister Jiang Ying, the flowers are beautiful. Is it from your boyfriend?¡± With the large bouquet of roses in her arms, Jiang Ying was stunned. She blinked. She saw the card in the flowers and quickly picked it out and opened it. Let¡¯s have dinner together Friday night. ¡ªFu Chen PS: Blocking is impolite behavior. After reading through the two lines as quickly as possible, Jiang Ying rolled her eyes angrily and cursed, ¡°Psychopath¡±, in a low voice. She held the flowers away from her and threw them away. These burdensome flowers could only be received through the front desk. Jiang Ying was worried before she left, so she approached Xiao Wu and whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t say anything about this.¡± Xiao Wu nodded understandingly. Jiang Ying could only keep a low profile and didn¡¯t want to make it public. When Jiang Ying was back at her desk, she took a sip of coffee and calmed herself down again. She took Fu Chen off from the blacklist and sent, ¡°Ok, I won¡¯t see you on Friday night.¡± The other party replied quickly, but Jiang Ying ignored him and concentrated on the task in front of her. Maybe her response gave Fu Chen a shot of courage. In the next few days, there were a lot of Wechat messages: Daily greetings in the morning and afternoon, and every now and then he would ask, ¡°What are you doing?¡± Jiang Ying occasionally replied ¡°Oh¡± to end the conversation. She definitely did not say more than that. Fu Chen really wanted to talk and flooded her with messages like he was talking to himself. On Friday, it was time to get off work at the six o¡¯clock bell. Her colleagues got up and left one after another. Jiang Ying took her bag and did not go downstairs immediately. She first went to the bathroom to fix her makeup with the mirror. She usually wore light makeup at work, but today was different. Her eye makeup was carefully done, her eyelashes were clearly curled, her eyeliner was drawn out, her lips had red lip gloss on and her blush was heavier than usual. Her features were beautiful and pretty. It belonged to the light countenance1. She rarely wore such colorful makeup. The exquisite, slightly aggressive makeup gave Jiang Ying a lot of strength. After cleaning up her makeup, she re-tied the tie around her dress into a bowtie. She took off her ponytail and shook her hair, and put the hairband around her wrist. She checked herself repeatedly in front of the mirror to make sure that there was nothing wrong. Jiang Ying took a deep breath and went out. Fu Chen said he would pick her up, but she refused. After getting in the car, she set the navigation to the location he sent. Jiang Ying turned the steering wheel to the destination. Dinner was at a new western restaurant, perhaps the large bouquet of roses made Fu Chen decide that being materialistic was the key strategy to get toJiang Ying, and that the most important thing he needed was money. Jiang Ying did not like complicated and exquisite western food. She felt that such a formal and quiet environment made people uncomfortable. She stood in the doorway, tied up her hair, and followed the waiter¡¯s instructions to the table booked by Fu Chen. ¡°You¡¯re here?¡± Fu Chen looked up and saw her and smiled flirtatiously. When he was about to come over to be a gentleman, Jiang Ying pulled out her chair and sat on it. Fu Chen could only put his hand away. He smiled and said to her, ¡°You have changed a lot.¡± Jiang Ying unfolded the napkin onto her lap and asked him, ¡°Oh, what was I like before?¡± The question was too cunning for Fu Chen to answer. He said that he wanted to catch up, but he knew in his mind that if he wanted to talk to her tonight, it was better for him to not say a word about the past. He quietly turned the topic elsewhere and asked about Jiang Ying¡¯s current life. Jiang Ying answered every question and did not change her expression. She looked at the well-dressed man in suit with good manners in front of her and sighed. Years of hard work in the business field made him smooth. The arrogant and domineering dude from the past did not leave any traces. Eventually, some insignificant topics rose to the table one after another. The scarlet wine was poured into the glass. Jiang Ying raised the glass and took a small sip. It was not astringent. Instead, it was smooth and sweet. She had to take another sip. CH 7.2 tarararawr5-6 minutes 08.07.2021 Translator: tarararawr The Seventh Cup of Coffee Part 2 Fu Chen stared at her meaningfully and said, ¡°Jiang Ying, I have always been thinking of you over the years.¡± Jiang Ying put down her glass. The corners of her lips rose and she asked, ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t understand it either, but when I saw you that day, I seemed to know the reason. You are special to me.¡± Jiang Ying listened to him quietly, keeping a smile on the corner of her lips. ¡°Special? Truthfully, I have a deep memory of you, too.¡± Fu Chen smiled with satisfaction. ¡°Really?¡± Jiang Ying picked up the knife and fork and cut the ribeye on the plate. ¡°It¡¯s really unforgettable. You insisted that rumors were spread by me without any evidence, you isolated me, you excluded me, you locked me up in the equipment room and made me late for class, and for the sports competition you signed me up for 800 meters race. What else was there?¡± As each thing was listed, Fu Chen¡¯s face sank. He touched his neck and said awkwardly, ¡°There¡¯s no need to mention these things.¡± Jiang Ying let out an exaggerated ¡°Oh¡± and continued, ¡°You also only gave me one side of the tests, you tore up my homework so I couldn¡¯t finish it, and you hit me with a basketball in the gym. It was on purpose, right? I heard you and the boys laughing at me.¡± Fu Chen cleared his throat. ¡°Hey, Jiang Ying, those things don¡¯t mean anything now.¡± Jiang Ying¡¯s lips became flat. She looked coldly at the person in front of her. ¡°I used to suffer in silence. I thought it was better to avoid causing more trouble and wait for you to be bored with me. Of course, I don¡¯t have the ability to fight against you. But there is no need to mention the past. I had forgotten you a long time ago, and now you are and it disgusts me.¡± The tip of the knife cut across the porcelain plate and made a high pitch shrill sound, which made him jittery. ¡°Now, I¡¯m not afraid of causing more trouble. Let¡¯s settle things and be reasonable. Fu Chen pulled at his tie. He grimly laughed and said with disdain, ¡°Jiang Ying, don¡¯t you think I know what you are like?¡± Jiang Ying looked at him calmly, remembering that she had once been cowardly and afraid to speak up. She nodded to acknowledge it. ¡°You really do, I used to be weak.¡± With a creak, the chair slid. Jiang Ying walked around the table and stood in front of Fu Chen. She gave him a sharp slap in the face, firm and hard. Fu Chen instantly went, staring at Jiang Ying speechlessly. The noise alarmed the other guests in the restaurant. Jiang Ying¡¯s hand was tingling. She tried her best to restrain the tremor in her voice and asked Fu Chen, ¡°What am I like now?¡± ¡°Damn it.¡± Fu Chen¡¯s anger was lit. He glared at her ferociously, and suddenly stood up and raised his hand. Without thinking, Jiang Ying put her arms up to cover her face, but she was suddenly pulled into someone¡¯s arms. Her hip hit the corner of the table, and the knife fell to the ground. It clinked a few times. Jiang Ying gasped and looked up. Their eyes met and Yun Xian frowned and was also short of breath. This was the first time she had seen him in such a state. With this familiar face in front of her, Jiang Ying¡¯s anger instantly cleared up. She opened her mouth and didn¡¯t know what to say. How could he be here? What did he see? How much did he see? And what does he think of her now? Yun Xian took Jiang Ying¡¯s arm, and put her behind him. He asked Fu Chen in a serious voice, ¡°What are you trying to do?¡± Fu Chen looked at the people around him that were watching. Many of them were holding up their cell phones and whispering. He had a reputation. His face turned flushed. He pointed at Jiang Ying, and left her with these words: ¡°I owe you this slap, we are settled now.¡± Then he ran away quickly. Behind Yun Xian, Jiang Ying couldn¡¯t help it and shouted after him with threatening words, ¡°Settle a damn what? You owe me a lot!¡± Sensing that someone was filming, Yun Xian grabbed Jiang Ying¡¯s waving hand and deliberately covered her face. He picked up the bag on the table and took her out of the restaurant doors. At seven o¡¯clock in the evening, it was a busy time. People were everywhere on the streets and the city lights were turning on. As the cool night breeze blew, Jiang Ying shook her head and took a deep breath. The impulsive feeling slowly subsided. ¡°Why are you here?¡± She asked Yun Xian. Yun Xian replied, ¡°I was having dinner with friends.¡± Jiang Ying scratched her head and questioned, ¡°Did you see everything?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jiang Ying picked a step to sit down on and covered her face with her hands. She let out a sigh of regret. Yun Xian walked over and sat next to her. ¡°Now you feel embarrassed?¡± Jiang Ying hugged her knees and whispered, ¡°No, I didn¡¯t expect you to be there.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think you would be like this either¡­¡± Yun Xian paused and did not go on. Jiang Ying finished it positively for him, ¡°So fierce and so brave, right?¡± Yun Xian smiled and figured he should agree. CH 7.3 tarararawr5-7 minutes 08.07.2021 Translator: tarararawr The Seventh Cup of Coffee Part 3 Jiang Ying tilted her head and bit her lower lips as she looked at Yun Xian. Yun Xian asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Jiang Ying replied honestly, ¡°I am hesitating.¡± ¡°Why are you hesitating?¡± In order to make a good impression, she has always held herself back in front of Yun Xian. However, she was seen taking part in such a tough fight tonight, and now she wanted to break a jar. ¡°Forget it, it¡¯s all like this anyway.¡± Jiang Ying opened her bag and took out a cigarette box and lighter. She skillfully pulled one out to light. She sandwiched it between her fingers and began to smoke. The smoke clouding the air had a sweet, fruity aroma. She tapped the cigarette. She looked at the street and asked Yun Xian, ¡°Are you disappointed in me?¡± Yun Xian only asked her, ¡°Why would I be disappointed?¡± Jiang Ying put out her finger to list his crimes: ¡°Smoking, swearing, and fighting.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a little unexpected,¡± Yun Xian replied. Jiang Ying nodded. He was being tactful in expressing his disappointment. She knew that Yun Xian had questions he wanted to ask, and fortunately she told him. At this moment, she was upset and really wanted to talk to someone. ¡°That is my high school classmate, and my father is his father¡¯s employee. When I was at school, someone spread a rumor that his father paid for him to enter our school. He did a lot of bad things, and all those things were taken care of by his father with money. Later, I don¡¯t know why, but he insisted that I had spread the rumor. To be honest, although I have heard a little about what he had done, I never said anything about it. But it doesn¡¯t matter. He insisted it was me, so it was useless for me to argue. Then, I became targeted by criticism. I was ostracized and isolated by my classmates. His brain cells were probably used every day to torture me.¡± What was once a nightmare from a long time ago could now be said in a few words. Jiang Ying sighed gently, ¡°It was a long time ago, but this sicko didn¡¯t realize the wrongs he committed. He made a bet with his scumbag friends that he could pursue me in a month. I came here today to make it clear to him that he should not bother me again in the future. I lost my temper and got angry, so¡­¡± Jiang Ying muttered regretfully, ¡°If I had known you were there, I definitely would not have acted so impulsively.¡± Yun Xian listened silently, and did not comment on her actions. He only told her, ¡°When a girl is alone outside, she should try not to enter a conflict with others.¡± Jiang Ying honestly admitted her mistake, ¡°I know. In the future, I will definitely¡­¡± What she was going to say came to an abrupt end because Yun Xian suddenly grabbed her right hand and opened it up. The man¡¯s warmth and voice were gentle, ¡°If you hit him, then it¡¯s you who will get hurt.¡± With the cigarette in her mouth, Jiang Ying looked down at her red palm. There was now a burning pain. Yun Xian held her hand up and blew softly. Maybe this man is too decent and modest. This kind of behavior was neither intimate nor frivolous. How can he be so good? This was the only sentence left in Jiang Ying¡¯s head. When the wind blew, the cigarette ash flew to her arm. Jiang Ying was burned by it and she came back like she had just woken up from a dream. She took away her hand, turned her head and tried to hide her crimson cheeks. ¡°Well, can you forget what happened today?¡± Yun Xian laughed. ¡°I know, I will delete it from my memories.¡± Jiang Ying tried to save her own image. ¡°Although this may be the real me, it is definitely not all of me.¡± Yun Xian smiled and said nothing. The pretty girl in front of him wore a red dress that was as charming as a bloody rose. With the little spark between her fingers, her face was submerged in smoke. She was very beautiful today. Yun Xian was not too clear about what was going through his mind. There were accidents, there was disbelief, there were worries. And there was one thing he was certain of. That scene would be engraved in his mind forever. Just like Zhu Yin¡¯s Zixia Fairy blink1, Lin Qingxia in Invincible East drinking wine2, it became a classic scene similar to the ones in movies. It made a person feel all sorts of emotions from those scenes.. They were next to a pedestrian street. There was a dazzling array of vendors on both sides, and the smell of various snacks floated through the air. Jiang Ying didn¡¯t eat anything all night. She smelled the food and suddenly felt hungry. Yun Xian followed her eyes and saw that it was busy close by. The city lights were brighter than the stars in the skies, so he suggested, ¡°Let¡¯s go walk around.¡± Jiang Ying got up and patted her dress. She went down a few steps and realized that Yun Xian did not follow. So, she looked back and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Yun Xian shook her head and followed in her footsteps. ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve forgotten something. Forget it. Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡ª At the western restaurant. Li Zhicheng was typing frantically: Where are you? Where are you? Where have you been since I went to the bathroom? Hello? Yunxian? Moshi moshi?3 Have you been kidnapped by aliens? The author has something to say: Jiang Ying¡¯s new ID: Orange Sunset (Blackened) CH 8.1 Translator: tarararawr The Eighth Cup of Coffee Part 1 The pedestrian street was buzzing. The street lights were shining with a saffron yellow. The vendors were shouting one after another, and the narrow roads were crowded with pedestrians. Yun Xian and Jiang Ying walked forward side by side. They didn¡¯t walk fast or slow, but at the perfect pace. Jiang Ying saw someone selling oden on the side of the road and bought a cup. The fresh and tender fish meat was covered with tomato sauce1. It was much more delicious than the salad just now. She chewed on the deep fried fish cake2 and Arctic wings3 contentedly. Her mood rose little by little to a decent level. After a few steps, Jiang Ying noticed something felt strange and glanced down. ¡°Yun Xian,¡± she called out to him. ¡°Wait a minute, my shoelaces are loose.¡± When he heard this, Yun Xian lowered his eyes and looked at her shoes. Today, Jiang Ying wore a French-style dress4 that reached the knee. The neckline was low, showing her collarbone. Her long brown curls draped over her shoulders, and she was wearing a pair of white canvas shoes. She was usually a white moon in a cold, clear pond, but today she looked bright like a phoenix flower5 on a branch in full bloom, and also like a cherry fruit ripening in spring. Jiang Ying¡¯s features were not considered exceptional. Jiangnan had so many beautiful women, so she was just considered attractive. But Yun Xian looked at her for a long time under the moonlight. It wasn¡¯t until Jiang Ying was about to pass him the paper cup to him, that Yun Xian suddenly returned to his senses. ¡°It¡¯s not right for you to do that while wearing a dress, let me do it.¡± Before Jiang Ying could react, Yun Xian knelt down on one knee. The man¡¯s fingers were slender and nimbly tied a beautiful bow. Every part of Jiang Ying froze when she realized what the man was doing. She only felt a cluster of fireworks explode throughout her body. Sparks were flying around, her heart was pounding, and even her breathing was uneven. Even though she knew in her heart that he was only being a gentleman, Jiang Ying was still falling for him without even trying. She stared in a daze at the bow on the white canvas shoes, and suddenly felt like her heart was a mess. She just convinced herself a few minutes ago that she had no chance with him, and that it would be good to just be friends with him. But at this moment, her pounding heart was set off because of him and it could not be restrained. Seeing that she wasn¡¯t following him, Yun Xian stopped and turned around. ¡°Jiang Ying? Let¡¯s go.¡± Jiang Ying bit her lower lip without saying a word, and could only walk to him silently. The pedestrian street was very long, and each end of the street had a different scene. They walked to the end, and their surroundings gradually became quiet. The evening breeze messed up her hair, and Jiang Ying pushed a few strands from her face to behind her ears. "" ¡°Boss Yun,¡± she called out to Yun Xian. Yun Xian stopped and looked at her. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Jiang Ying said, ¡°I forgot to say thank you.¡± Yun Xian nodded. ¡°Okay, you¡¯re welcome.¡± Jiang Ying: ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m really sorry that I¡¯ve caused you trouble.¡± Yun Xian: ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Jiang Ying wanted to say something, but saw Yun Xian stop in front of a jewelry stall. The owner was a young girl who was sitting in a chair and playing games. She heard them coming and quickly looked up. She glanced at them, and said anxiously to his teammate. ¡°Customers are here, I need to go now.¡± Jiang Ying smiled at her and said thoughtfully, ¡°You can keep playing, we can look through it ourselves.¡± ¡°Okies, okies, sorry.¡± The girl rushed back to her cell phone to attack the canyon. Jiang Ying saw Yun Xian leaning over and looking carefully. She asked him, ¡°Is there something you want to buy?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± He nodded, and picked up a pair to show Jiang Ying. ¡°How about this?¡± Yun Xian picked a pair of earrings in the shape of cherries, with golden leaves. The round fruits were bright red and sparkling. Jiang Ying nodded. ¡°It¡¯s pretty.¡± The lady boss looked up while playing the character, and asked, ¡°Does the handsome brother want this pair?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll take this pair.¡± Yun Xian quickly scanned the code and paid the money. The lady boss pointed to the gift box next to her. ¡°Do you want me to pack it up?¡± Yun Xian shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± Yun Xian held the earrings and turned to Jiang Ying. He asked, ¡°Can you try it on?¡± Jiang Ying reacted at that moment. She pointed to herself with a face of disbelief. ¡°You bought this for me?¡± ¡°Who else?¡± Yun Xian handed the earrings to Jiang Ying. ¡°Put it on and have a look.¡± Jiang Ying took the earrings while she was a bit in a daze. She leaned down in front of the mirror. She didn¡¯t know if it was because the light was not very bright that it caused her to not be able to put it in. ¡°Hiss¡ª¡±Jiang Ying let out a soft cry as the sharp part scraped her skin. ¡°Let me.¡± Yun Xian took an earring from her hand and gently rubbed Jiang Ying¡¯s earlobe with his thumb and index finger. Under the lamp, Yun Xian found her ear hole. His movements were awkward, but he was very careful to not hurt her. When Yun Xian leaned closer, Jiang Ying held her breath. She looked away and tilted her head to look at the shadows on the ground. ¡ªThey were so intimate, like in the middle of a hug and kiss. The lady boss looked up at them and said with a smile, ¡°Your boyfriend has such good taste, it matches your dress today.¡± When both sides were put on, Yun Xian straightened up, stepped back and took a look. He commented with satisfaction. ¡°Yes, it suits you very well.¡± There was a little more weight on her ears. Jiang Ying swallowed her saliva. The tips of her ears turned slightly pink. The lady boss killed an enemy, and a domineering female voice announced: ¡°You have slain an enermy.¡±6 Jiang Ying only felt that she was losing blood frantically and was about to be killed by the other party. ¡°Why did you buy this for me?¡± she asked. Yun Xian replied, ¡°I think it suits you, it¡¯s not anything expensive, so just wear it for fun.¡± After a pause, he added, ¡°Jiang Ying, with what happened tonight, you only need to remember what happened here on this street.¡± As the evening breeze was blowing, Jiang Ying touched her earrings. The world was vast. It was like this man was the only thing in her world, and she couldn¡¯t see anything else. CH 8.2 Translator: tarararawr The Eighth Cup of Coffee Part 2 When they returned to the restaurant, Jiang Ying drank and couldn¡¯t drive, so she called for a taxi. Before getting into a taxi, Yun Xian told her to tell him when she got home safely. Jiang Ying calmly waved goodbye to him, calmly returned home, calmly messaged Yun Xian that she was home, and calmly prepared to take off the makeup. But the moment she took off the earrings, she could no longer hold back her feelings. The corners of her lips rose wildly. The excitement at the deepest part of her heart made it critical for Jiang Ying to share her feelings now with someone. As soon as Shen Xuan answered the phone, she heard a series of ¡°AAAaahhhhhh!¡± ¡°What the fuck are you doing? I¡¯m going to be deaf!¡± Shen Xuan complained while rubbing her ears. Jiang Ying said passionately, ¡°Shen Xuan, spring is here!¡± There was silence for a few seconds on the other end of the phone. Then, she asked, ¡°Did you drink?¡± ¡°I drank a little. I¡¯m okay, I¡¯m not drunk.¡± Jiang Ying raised her hand and touched her hot cheek. ¡°Then why are you pretending to be a magpie and tell me it¡¯s spring?¡± ¡°No, I mean,¡± Jiang Ying let out a silly giggle, ¡°my spring is here.¡± Shen Xuan immediately understood. ¡°Oh, did something happen? Who is it?¡± Jiang Ying turned over. ¡°It¡¯s the one I told you about, the coffee shop owner downstairs.¡± Shen Xuan urged her. ¡°Hurry up and tell me more! What did he do?¡± Jiang Ying grabbed the phone and was about to speak but stopped. She still couldn¡¯t talk about the conflict between her and Fu Chen today. After thinking for a while, she skipped the previous part and began to remember what had happened at the long street. While sharing, Jiang Ying¡¯s mind was flashing through those scenes. The throbbing feeling came to her heart again. She grinned and her cheekbones rose to the sky. ¡°I want to stop and pinch myself several times tonight. I¡¯m really going to faint.¡± Shen Xuan knocked the melon seeds and couldn¡¯t help sighing. ¡°This is too sweet!¡± ¡°I was going to give up, and show him my true self,¡± Jiang Ying¡¯s voice lowered. ¡°But Shen Xuan, I really like him.¡± Spring was here. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and the beetles were back after a silent winter. The kittens in the community were lazily meowing day and night. The ambiguous throbbing grew wildly during this season. Unlike her soft heart with countless knots1 , Shen Xuan said straightforwardly on the phone: ¡°If you like him, then go after him!¡± ¡°But I¡­¡± Don¡¯t have the courage to. Shen Xuan was trying to get her best friend to make a move. Jiang Ying heard her say, ¡°My husband is back, I can¡¯t talk anymore. I hope you and your Xiangqin2 seal your love with a kiss.¡± Before Jiang Ying had time to say anything, the other side had already hung up the phone. ¡°I¡¯m speechless!¡± She angrily made a note about what this married woman said. Jiang Ying¡¯s birthday was on Arbor Day. Her surname was Jiang, so she got the nickname ¡°Jiang Zhishu3¡±. Xiangqin? It didn¡¯t go well with Yun Xian¡¯s image. Jiang Ying opened WeChat and found Yun Xian¡¯s chat box. She clicked on the settings, and gave him a new note. She kept changing it and having fun with it. She was smiling so much that her cheeks were hurting. This memory could not be erased, nor could it disappear. In the future when she remembered that night, she would not remember the nonsense with Fu Chen in the restaurant. She only remembered the busy, long street and the cherry earrings. ¡ª When Yun Xian stood at the entrance of the restaurant, he finally remembered what he had forgotten. He saw a list of WeChat notifications and scanned through it quickly. All the notifications were from Li Zhicheng. He quickly gave him a call. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Were you kidnapped? Kill the hostage. I won¡¯t pay the ransom.¡± Yun Xian¡¯s voice was full of happiness, ¡°Are you still in the restaurant?¡± Li Zhicheng asked, ¡°Are you still on the earth?¡± Yun Xian knew that he was in the wrong and sincerely apologized. ¡°I suddenly left a bit in advance. I forgot to tell you. I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Get out, stinky man.¡± Li Zhicheng finished scolding, and asked in a low voice, ¡°Where are you? Do you want me to pick you up?¡± Yun Xian laughed. ¡°No, I¡¯ll go back by myself.¡± When he came home, Li Zhicheng was sitting in the living room playing games. Yun Xian took two bottles of beer from the refrigerator and threw a bottle to Li Zhicheng. Li Zhicheng held the controller and asked him, ¡°What happened that was urgent?¡± Yun Xian pushed the tab and took a sip of cold beer. He lied without a change in his face, ¡°Su Cheng asked for a break and I had to go to the store to make a sample.¡± ¡°And you forgot to tell me?¡± Li Zhicheng picked up a pillow and slammed it at Yun Xian. Yun Xian caught it steadily. ¡°I¡¯m old and have a bad memory.¡± Li Zhicheng snorted and said, ¡°But you missed a good show today. I heard later on that a man and a woman were fighting in the hallway.¡± Yun Xian said yeah absently and leaned on the sofa to give Jiang Ying a reply. Orange Sunset: I¡¯m home. See the Mountain: Okay, rest early. Li Zhicheng: ¡°It seems like that the man was beaten, and he was slapped ruthlessly. Tsk tsk. People think he was caught cheating. How is he still alive? What kind of woman did he provoke?¡± The scene in the restaurant went through Yun Xian¡¯s mind. Jiang Ying did not hesitate when she hit him with her hand. It was fast, accurate, and fierce. He patted Li Zhicheng on the shoulder, and warned sincerely, ¡°Be nice to your employees in the future.¡± The author has something to say: Li Zhicheng, when all is said and done, you will pay for what you¡¯ve done. CH 9.1 The Ninth Cup of Coffee Part 1 On the weekend, the skies were clear, and the warm wind blew through the wisteria by the window. Jiang Ying was holding her laptop as she pushed open Cloudside¡¯s glass door.. As soon as she entered, she saw Yun Xian standing in front of a white wall with his arms crossed. He didn¡¯t move, as if he was reflecting on his past. She walked to the reception desk and asked Zhao Xinrou, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him?¡± Zhao Xinrou explained, ¡°Yesterday some children in the store were naughty and stepped on the wall a few times. The boss is staring at the footprints.¡± Jiang Ying was puzzled, ¡°What¡¯s so great about the footprints?¡± Zhao Xinrou shrugged. ¡°Who knows.¡± People always seemed to make things difficult for themselves. The more unpleasant things were, the more they couldn¡¯t control their eyes and wanted to look there. Yun Xian passed by the wall four or five times today, knowing that the footprints on the white wall would make him feel uncomfortable like crumpled white paper being flattened. His eyes were still drawn to it involuntarily. Every time he looked at it, he frowned and sighed. Jiang Ying couldn¡¯t watch anymore, and suggested to him, ¡°Do you want to cover it with paint?¡± Yun Xian shook his head. ¡°It will still get dirty.¡± Jiang Ying looked at the white wall. From a distance, the small footprints were actually inconspicuous. She realized something and asked with a smile, ¡°Yun Xian, are you a Virgo?¡± Yun Xian: ¡°¡­¡± He was silent instead of answering. Jiang Ying had ¡°I knew it¡± written all over her face. She glanced at the wall. It was located at the entrance of the stairs, with a row of decorative picture frames hanging on it. Children often run up and down the stairs, so it was particularly easy for the wall to get dirty. Jiang Ying suggested, ¡°Why don¡¯t you try a mural? It¡¯s quite suitable.¡± Yun Xian moved his gaze from the wall to her and nodded. ¡°I can, good idea.¡± ¡°Draw a scene at night.¡± Jiang Ying sat on a high stool. She stretched out her hand and measured. ¡°Here is the night sky, the moon is on the right, and here is the outline of the caf¨¦ with a big tree next to it. What do you think?¡± Yun Xian touched his chin and imagined the scene Jiang Ying had described. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go find someone now.¡± Jian Yin saw he was about to take out his phone and stopped him. She patted her chest and said proudly, ¡°Don¡¯t bother. You have me, I¡¯m a professional.¡± She got up from the stool and walked to the wall. ¡°I painted school murals when I was in college. It¡¯s not difficult. It can be done in a few hours.¡± Yun Xian was direct and asked her, ¡°Then when can you paint for me?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do it today. It just so happened that I don¡¯t need to work this weekend.¡± Jiang Ying tilted her head to look at Yun Xian. She said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that if we don¡¯t hurry, our Virgo Boss Yun will go crazy.¡± After Cloudside Caf¨¦ closed that night, Yun Xian and Jiang Ying stayed and started to work. Jiang Ying first worked out a draft. Yun Xian was responsible for filling in the large parts while Jiang Ying was responsible for sketching out the details. Even though they were wearing a gray apron, paint still got on their clothes and bodies after a while. Jiang Ying held the palette to paint, but didn¡¯t forget to tease Yun Xian. ¡°You are dirty, can you stand it?¡± Yun Xian glanced at her helplessly, and solemnly defended himself. ¡°I have no obsession with cleanliness or OCD. I just don¡¯t like seeing stains on white things.¡± Jiang Ying quickly appeased him, ¡°Okay, okay, I know, I understand, I understand.¡± The two of them focused on painting. When they were almost halfway through, Yun Xian got up, and shook his somewhat sore arms. He asked Jiang Ying, ¡°Are you thirsty?¡± Jiang Ying didn¡¯t feel thirty at the moment, but she realized her throat was dry when he asked. ¡°A glass of water please.¡± Yun Xian returned to the reception table. He poured a glass of water and put a straw in it. E walked to Jiang Ying and handed it to her. Jiang Ying held it with both hands. She lowered her head and bit the straw. She drank half a glass of water in one slurp. Yun Xian watched how she drank and smiled. ¡°If you are tired, we can paint up to this part today.¡± "" Jiang Ying waved her hand. ¡°It¡¯ll be over soon. I¡¯m not tired. It¡¯s not good to put a semi-finished product out.¡± They continued to work. Jiang Ying was sweating and felt a little stuffy. Her long hair was wet and sticky on her neck. It was very uncomfortable. After drawing the outline of the caf¨¦, she got down from the retractable ladder. She put down the palette and brush. She took off the hair tie on her wrist and tied a ponytail for herself. Jiang Ying was wearing a white blouse with a square collar today. Her long hair was held up, exposing the smooth outline of her neck and shoulders. Yun Xian¡¯s gaze fell on the tattoo on her left shoulder¡ªit looked like a planet and a red rose. Jiang Ying drank the water. Then, she stood far away and looked at her work. She asked Yun Xian, ¡°This is the general look, it¡¯s just missing the details. What do you think?¡± The monotonous white wall became colorful. A bright moon hung from the black night sky. The stars were scattered all around it. The caf¨¦ was lit with warm yellow lights, and a man stood under the tree. Yun Xian pointed to the man. ¡°Let¡¯s draw another person next to him, he looks so lonely.¡± Jiang Ying nodded. ¡°Okay.¡± It was late at night when Jiang Ying finished the last stroke. The moonlight outside the window was bright, and everything was silent. She stretched her waist and let out a long sigh of relief. ¡°The mural is finished!¡± Yun Xian gave her some water to drink. ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard.¡± Jiang Ying rubbed her sore shoulders, and her exhaustion disappeared because of Yun Xian¡¯s smile. No matter how hard it was, it was worth it. They stood side by side, which happened to be just like the two figures on the wall. ¡°He¡¯s not alone now.¡± ¡°Yeah, not alone anymore.¡± CH 9.2 The Ninth Cup of Coffee Part 2 When Yun Xian sent Jiang Ying back home, it was past 2AM at night. After washing briefly, he took two cans of beer from the refrigerator and pushed the door to Li Zhicheng¡¯s room open. The keyboard and mouse made a clicking sound. Li Zhicheng was sitting cross legged on a chair with headphones, concentrating on the game. Yun Xian sat down on the edge of the bed. He put the can of beer next to him, and asked, ¡°When will the fight be finished?¡± Li Zhicheng was busy with both hands. He glanced at him, and quickly returned to the screen. ¡°Ah, wait, wait¡ªfuck, I¡¯m not asking you to wait, just give it to me!¡± Yun Xian sometimes admired this idiot. If he wasn¡¯t sleeping, then it could only be because he was playing games or watching a ball game. He¡¯ll lie down and sleep until dawn once he had played until he was tired or finished watching the game. His ability to sleep was surprisingly good. Li Zhicheng excitedly communicated with his teammates in the game. ¡°Fuck, can you pay attention to big brother? Laozi is playing with a gun and won¡¯t be a wet nurse for you. I haven¡¯t done anything other than support you for more than ten minutes.¡± Yun Xian frowned, showing an expression of disdain. ¡°What are you doing so angry today? What happened to Zhou Yi?¡± It was better if he didn¡¯t mention it. When he did mention it, Li Zhicheng was upset again. It¡¯s okay that he didn¡¯t mention it. When he mentioned Li Zhicheng, he was upset again. After shots were fired, he let out some curses. Li Zhicheng¡¯s entire venting battle soon ended. He took off his headphones and sighed wearily. He took the beer on the table and pushed the tab. He took a sip. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? It¡¯s midnight.¡± Yun Xian sipped his drink. ¡°My mom called me again and asked me to go back.¡± Li Zhicheng found two packs of beef jerky from the snack box next to the computer, and threw a pack of beef jerky to Yun Xian. ¡°Then what do you think you¡¯ll do?¡± Yun Xian said, ¡°I am not happy of course, but if I can bear it for one day. It¡¯s not like when I resigned as soon as I got promoted.¡± Li Zhicheng chewed the beef jerky and nodded. ¡°Well, yes, you left such a good job. If I was your mom then I would scold you too.¡± Yun Xian rolled his eyes at him and continued, ¡° I used to think I came to Xi Cityto escape, and that I would leave when I get bored here one day. But the past few days¡­ I suddenly wanted to stay. It¡¯s good here too.¡± ¡°Did you meet someone you like?¡± Yun Xian raised his eyes to look at Li Zhicheng, with a complicated expression. ¡°I guessed right?¡± Yun Xian was silent. Li Zhicheng hit the nail on the head and that shocked Yun Xian. It was probably because they had known each other for too long. Li Zhicheng was always called an ¡°idiot¡± by him. He had forgotten that the man in front of him was smart and sensitive, and knew him the best. Whether it was a close friend or a former teacher, Yun Xian was said to be much more balanced than Li Zhicheng. But in fact, Yun Xian knew in his heart that Li Zhicheng was more mature than him and more wise than him. He was a mess during the past few days. All kinds of thoughts were stuck together and he couldn¡¯t find a way to vent it out. This was when he came to talk to his friend at night. ¡°Pretty much that. But you know, to put it nicely, I came to Xi City to change how I live my life. But really, I came to treat my condition. I don¡¯t understand my own life yet. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s the right time to go there and talk about it.¡± ¡°So when is the right time?¡± Li Zhicheng looked at Yun Xian, sighed and shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re thinking about it in a more complicated way than it should be. Is it only those who have achieved success and live a happy life that can talk about love? You can only leave it to chance, do you understand? It¡¯s not easy to pick someone you like out of asea of people. You always have so many worries. Be careful or you¡¯ll miss out on the one you love.¡± When Li Zhicheng finished being serious, he approached Yun Xian with an evil smile. He said with a meddlesome tone, ¡°Is that girl beautiful? Which one? What do you like about her?¡± Yun Xian shrank back and looked away. He took a sip from the beer. Li Zhicheng became interested and chatted, ¡°I¡¯m being honest here. If you really want to live your life, then you have to fall in love. Do you get it? There are endless things you can learn from a woman¡­¡± Yun Xian rubbed his temples. He stood up and said, ¡°I¡¯m going. You should go to bed earlier.¡± ¡°Hey, wait.l Li Zhicheng stopped him. ¡°I haven¡¯t finished talking yet.¡± Yun Xian ignored him, waved, and walked out of the room. After returning to his room, Yun Xian laid on the bed, rubbing his sore eyes. However, he did not feel sleepy. The heavy black curtains blocked out all the light, and the room was completely dark. The silence of the night could only comfort him to an extent. He hated not being able to sleep, but ironically liked the hours before dawn. Yun Xian closed his eyes and played the playlist¡ªfrom the sound of a drizzle to the waves crashing against the rocks. Recalling what Li Zhicheng had just said in his head, his heart became irritated again. He opened his eyes. He touched his phone to unlock the screen. He scrolled through Moments with boredom. Then, he saw Jiang Ying sharing the roses grown on her balcony. He stopped his finger from swiping and gave a thumbs-up. There was nothing interesting scrolling further. Yun Xian wanted to exit out of WeChat, but saw that Jiang Ying had sent a message a minute ago. Orange Sunset: Still not asleep? See the Mountain: Yeah, I¡¯m a little restless, can¡¯t sleep. A voice call popped up on the page just after sending his message . Yun Xian clicked to accept and put the phone to his ear. ¡°I¡¯ll read some English for you,¡± Jiang Ying said. ¡°I¡¯m very hypnotic when I read English. When I was in school, every time I read English in the morning class, my desk mate would become sleepy. It¡¯s a super ability.¡± Her voice sounded close to his ear. Yun Xian smiled. ¡°Okay, read to me.¡± Jiang Ying made a shuffling noise, as if she was getting up and looking for something. She asked, ¡°What do you want to hear?¡° Yun Xian remembered the tattoo on her left shoulder and said, ¡°How about The Little Prince? Do you have it?¡± "" ¡°Yes.¡±Jiang Ying opened the blue-covered paperback book, and her touch made a slight noise on the pages. She imitated the tv hosts in sleep aid shows and intimately whispered, ¡°Lie down now, and change to a comfortable position. Close your eyes, and put your phone next to your ear.¡± Yun Xian obediently followed her instructions, and let out a passive okay. Jiang Ying softened her voice and spoke slowly, ¡°Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal¡­¡± With the standard American accent, Yun Xian¡¯s emotions relaxed in her gentle voice. Maybe he was really tired, or maybe it was rare for him to not to worry about other annoying things, or maybe Jiang Ying¡¯s super powers had taken effect. Yun Xian became sleepy, and his mind gradually went blank. ¡°Yun Xian?¡± He seemed to hear someone calling him, and muttered in a daze. On the other side of the phone, Jiang Ying said softly, ¡°Good night.¡± Yun Xian couldn¡¯t remember whether he had said his good night. It was a rare night to sleep well without waking up in the middle. When he opened his eyes again, Yun Xian picked up the phone that fell on the pillow and got out of bed. He first opened the curtains. The sun came in and he squinted his eyes to adjust to the light. In April on this world, the crabapple flowers downstairs opened, and the warm sun projected specks of light through the gaps of the branches and leaves, and the birds were chirping. He rarely got up with so much energy and he stretched happily. Li Zhicheng was right. Precious things could only be found by chance. Just like how he passed by that abandoned factory building and decided to open a caf¨¦ here; just like that rainy night in early spring, when Jiang Ying opened the glass door and appeared in front of him. His parents told him from an early age that he had to learn to weigh the pros and cons, and learn to choose and abandon things. He once seriously weighed his situation and gave up. However, they said again¡ªAre you messing around? Are you crazy? He was not messing around, and he would not regret it. It¡¯s not about quitting a high-paying job. It¡¯s not about leaving Beijing where he had lived for 30 years. Compared to the foolish life he used to live, he was now living better. He was not awake and staring at the ceiling every night, disgusted with everything about himself and this dull life. At this moment, Yun Xian looked out at the ordinary scenery outside the window, and suddenly felt that his heart was swollen, like a new bud during spring that was breaking out of the ground¡ªhe had never looked forward to a new day so much before. CH 10.1 The Tenth Cup of Coffee Part 1 In early May, Little World had an update to the main storyline. The staff at Zhicheng Studio was busy all day, and they had to be on guard against their boss, who had been more erratic and unpredictable lately. After working nonstop for two weeks, Jiang Ying could not take a break until the Labor Day holiday. During previous vacations, Jiang Ying usually went everywhere around the world with Shen Xuan. They went to any city they wanted to go to. But at the beginning of this year, Shen Xuan found out she was pregnant, and her ambitious plans could only be temporarily set aside. It was also good to take her vacation at home. Jiang Ying planned on taking advantage of the Labor Day1 holiday to make up for her lack of sleep. She was woken up by a phone call early in the morning on the first day of the holiday. Jiang Ying felt for her phone, ¡°Hello?¡± Her eyes were still closed, she was still half asleep. ¡°Who is it?¡± ¡°Sister! Help!¡± ¡°Jiang Yuanyuan?¡± Hearing her cousin¡¯s voice, Jiang Ying thought she was in trouble and instantly became awake and sat up. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Jiang Yuanyuan complained on the phone to her, ¡°I was stood up by the model! Everything is ready now, but she told me she can¡¯t come.¡± When Jiang Ying heard this, she fell down, and pulled the blanket around herself. ¡°Then why are you looking for me?¡± ¡°Sister,¡± Jiang Yuanyuan called out pleading. ¡°Can you help me and be a model for me for one day?¡± ¡°Me? I can¡¯t.¡± Jiang Ying¡¯s voice became smaller and smaller, as if she could fall asleep again at any time. ¡°You can help me~ It¡¯s just taking two promotional pictures. It¡¯s very simple, help me~¡± Jiang Yuanyuan squeezed her throat and imitated a spoiled Taiwanese girl¡¯s accent. Jiang Ying was unmoved. ¡°I want to sleep.¡± ¡°What damn sleep! Your sister¡¯s ass is on fire!¡± Jiang Yuanyuan¡¯s simple tricks didn¡¯t work, so she went harder. ¡°Sister, if you don¡¯t help me, if you really don¡¯t help me, then I will tell the uncle that you are a chain smoker and go to bars often.¡± Jiang Ying took a deep breath. ¡°Are you threatening me?¡± ¡°Help me, sister, the photographer is here, and so is the male model. I was already busy during Labor Day since I made plans with someone today. If you don¡¯t come to help me, then it¡¯ll really be all over for me!¡± There was silence on the other end of the phone, and Jiang Yuanyuan knew that her sister was about to compromise. She struck the iron while it was hot and used her trump card: ¡°Today¡¯s model is soo handsome, you won¡¯t regret it!¡± Jiang Ying: ¡°¡­Come and pick me up.¡± ¡°I love you! Muah muah muah muah!¡± Jiang Ying hung up the phone. She rubbed her head to try and wake herself up. She reluctantly washed up and changed clothes. She was just done putting on a layer of sunscreen when Jiang Yuanyuan arrived with a bunch of energy. In the car, Jiang Yuanyuan first gave Jiang Ying a warm bear hug. After seeing her face more clearly, she pushed away in disgust. ¡°How come you haven¡¯t put on makeup?¡± Jiang Ying rolled her eyes. ¡°Where do I have the time?¡± Her eyebrows were there, and she was not ugly without makeup. But, she looked pale. She had dark circles under her eyes from working overtime, so now she looked haggard. Jiang Yuanyuan took out her cosmetic bag from her bag and patted Jiang Ying¡¯s face without any explanation. ¡°Fortunately, it¡¯s fine to shoot JK ??today with light makeup,¡± Jiang Yuanyuan said while drawing Jiang Ying¡¯s eyebrows. Jiang Ying was sleepy and closed her eyes to make up for her lack of sleep. She didn¡¯t care what Jiang Yuanyuan said and only gave a half-hearted ¡°yeah¡±. There were many vehicles around on Labor Day, and traffic was bad. The drivers slowly moved forward. Ten minutes later, they were still on the road. Jiang Yuanyuan anxiously waited, but Jiang Ying didn¡¯t mind being stuck like this, so she slept a lot for a while. When Jiang Yuanyuan woke her up, Jiang Ying had finished a short dream and looked confused. She wanted to rub her eyes, but Jiang Yuanyuan stopped her. ¡°Don¡¯t rub your eye makeup. There are mints in my bag, you can have one to refresh yourself.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Jiang Ying took a mint and stuffed it into her mouth. She felt that the surrounding area was a bit familiar. She got out of the car and saw Jiang Yuanyuan take out the clothes needed for today¡¯s shoot from the trunk¡ªa white blouse, a fancy bow tie, and a colorful plaid skirt. Jiang Ying sensed something was wrong. She opened her eyes more. She pointed to the pile of clothes and asked, ¡°Today you want these for the shoot?¡± ¡°Yeah, JK has been very popular recently. What do you think? Isn¡¯t it pretty innocent?¡± Jiang Yuanyuan said, shaking the skirt in her hand with a face full of expectations. Jiang Ying only felt dizzy from all the colors swaying, and her brain crashed. When Jiang Yuanyuan¡¯s online shop had just opened, she couldn¡¯t afford to hire a model. She would ask her cousin, Jiang Ying, to help with the shoots. The clothes that were going to be put on the shelves had a soft, elegant style or a sweet, sexy style. These were styles that Jiang Ying could put on. But the girl¡¯s high school uniform was obviously out of her range. Suddenly, the cool mint taste alerted her senses. Jiang Ying woke up and looked around. The delicate and warm room, the familiar decoration in the shop, and the logo hanging on the white wall beside the door, the blue sky background, and the elegant white characters¡ª¡°Cloudside¡±. CH 10.2 The Tenth Cup of Coffee Part 2 If Jiang Ying could go back to an hour ago, she would not have let Jiang Yuanyuan threaten her, even if her father broke her leg. She hadn¡¯t been here for a while since she finished painting the wall for Yun Xian. She usually made a cup of instant coffee in the company break room, but she missed the expensive coffee machine at Cloudside. It was one thing to miss Cloudside, and it was another thing to pretend to be an innocent high school girl in front of Yun Xian. Crazy. It¡¯s really crazy. Jiang Ying was dragged in by Jiang Yuanyuan reluctantly. She covered her face with her hands the entire way. She quickly glanced at the reception desk, only to see Zhao Xinrou was busy, and Su Cheng should be in the back kitchen. Jiang Ying secretly breathed a sigh of relief when she didn¡¯t see Yun Xian. She tugged at Jiang Yuanyuan and made her last plea, ¡°Business is still going on, isn¡¯t it bad to shoot here?¡± ¡°I talked with the boss, and he agreed to the shoot. Plus, there are no customers in the morning.¡± Jiang Yuanyuan stuffed the skirt and clothes into Jiang Ying¡¯s arms and pushed her into the bathroom, ¡°Hurry up and change.¡± Since she couldn¡¯t escape, she made a quick decision to finish the shoot as soon as possible and leave. As long as she was not in front of acquaintances, Jiang Ying was actually not shy. Once, on the island with Shen Xuan, a performer dressed as an aboriginal dragged them to dance and she confidently had fun with it. After changing her clothes, Jiang Ying pulled the collar and straightened the bowtie. She pushed the bathroom door open. She gave a twirl and asked Jiang Yuanyuan, ¡°What do you think?¡± Although this was different from her usual style, the knee-length pleated plaid skirt fit her. She was young, pretty, and very vibrant. Jiang Yuanyuan examined her, and nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Sister, you maintain yourself so well. I can¡¯t tell at all that you are 25.¡± The corners of Jiang Ying¡¯s lips flattened instantly. ¡°You better stop talking.¡± The male model working with her was wearing a white button down and plaid pants of the same color. Jiang Yuanyuan tied a high ponytail for Jiang Ying and pinned a bow to her hair. ¡°Sister, be confident in the future. You have to believe that you are the delicate woman in all of Xi City today!¡± Jiang Ying frowned and warned her in a low voice, ¡°Shut up.¡± The photographer chose a well-lit seat and ordered two drinks and cakes to decorate the table. ¡°Later, the two of you can create some small interactions. Don¡¯t be too intimate, but a bit like a shy campus love feeling.¡± The photographer gestured and explained to them patiently. Jiang Ying nodded from time to time, and occasionally looked at the male model. She secretly let out a sigh on the inside that kids these days were really grown up. Why didn¡¯t she meet such a handsome boy when she was in college? Zhao Xinrou came to their table with the plate, with surprise on her face. ¡°Sister Jiang Ying, you¡¯re doing the photoshoot!¡± Jiang Ying scratched her head and pointed to Jiang Yuanyuan. ¡°Well, she¡¯s my cousin. I came to help her take a few photos.¡± Zhao Xinrou nodded and complimented, ¡°You are so cute today.¡± Jiang Ying smiled and waved her hand. ¡°Pretend to be delicate, be delicate.¡± The shooting officially started. The photographer set up the decorations on the table and adjusted the equipment to the light. ¡°Lower your heads¡­ the boy looks at the girl¡­ look at each other.¡± The guy model seemed to be very experienced and dedicated. His movements were very natural and his expressions were just right. Jiang Ying gradually relaxed and got into the zone because of how easygoing he was. The scene for this set was that they were sitting face to face in a cafe. It wasn¡¯t hard to do. After taking a few more close-ups of the clothes, Jiang Yuanyuan asked her to change to another outfit. On the other side of the reception desk, Zhao Xinrou called out to Su Cheng from the back kitchen. They got together and watched the photoshoot as if they were watching a play. Zhao Xinrou wiped the cup and sighed, ¡°Sister Jiang Ying is so beautiful and girly today.¡± Su Cheng took a plate of leftover fruit and ate it as he wondered, ¡°Why is the boss not here today?¡± Zhao Xinrou stopped moving her hand and looked at Su Cheng. They exchanged glances and understood each other. ¡ª ¡°Do you also see that there is something between them?¡± ¡ª ¡°Damn! I thought I was thinking too much!¡± Their support for the CP1 in their hearts ignited. ¡°I have been observing them for a long time,¡± Zhao Xinrou whispered. ¡°As long as the boss is there, Jiang Ying will stay in the shop. And when he isn¡¯t, she will either ask for take out or sit down and play with her cellphone for a while before she leaves.¡± Su Cheng also searched for clues from his memory. ¡°There was also that one afternoon, the boss put a piece of cheesecake in the refrigerator in the back kitchen. A customer ordered one, and I was about to get it, but he said it was sold out. Later, sister Jiang Ying came, and I knew he left it for her.¡± After they shared their information, the two high-fived and reached an agreement for their alliance¡ªthese two people must have feelings for the other! Zhao Xinrou pondered for a while, and then asked Su Cheng, ¡°Do you want to tell the boss that Jiang Ying is here?¡± Su Cheng glanced at the photoshoot. Oh boy, they were feeding each other cake. ¡°Say! If it was me, I wouldn¡¯t be able to hold myself back. That guy is quite handsome.¡± Making a quick decision, Zhao Xinrou took out her cell phone and secretly took a few pictures of the shooting scene from a distance and sent them to the employee group chat. Zhao Xinrou: Boss, Sister Jiang Ying is doing a photoshoot. It looks like she¡¯s taking promotional pictures for her cousin¡¯s online store. Su Cheng: The male model wiped her mouth. Zhao Xinrou: So sweet! Sister Jiang Ying smiled so happily! Su Cheng: Yes, I think they are a good match. ¡­ They echoed each other and embellished their broadcast of the situation. They came up with dozens of details in a row, and the more they said, the more enthusiastic they became. Suddenly, Yun Xian, who had been silent for a long time, finally appeared. Yun Xian: Is the shop idle? Do you have nothing to do? The group was silent for a moment. The boss was usually so kind that they forgot who was in charge of their salary. Su Cheng returned to the kitchen and continued to make cakes. Zhao Xinrou picked up a cup and wiped it carefully. The shop went back to normal instantly. CH 10.3 The Tenth Cup of Coffee Part 3 ¡°Yun Xian? Stop playing with your phone. Look at your pole, I just saw it move.¡± Li Zhicheng sat on the folding chair with his legs crossed, in a relaxing old man posture. Yun Xian put away his phone and checked his fishing rod. There was no movement in the water. He sat down again and looked at the distant mountains on the other side of the lake. His calm mind was in a mess. He was at ease, but now he suddenly became restless. Early this morning, Li Zhicheng dragged him to go fishing in the mountains. He had been sitting for more than two hours. Yun Xian gave a dry cough and said, ¡°I think it¡¯s almost time, so let¡¯s stop here.¡± Li Zhicheng took off his sunglasses and expressed his doubts, ¡°One fish for you and one fish for me, is that enough?¡± ¡°The shop is busy today. I can¡¯t justify idling around as the boss. If you aren¡¯t done having fun, then you can fish by yourself for a while.¡± Yun Xian got up and put away the rod. Li Zhicheng didn¡¯t want to be in such a remote area alone. ¡°?¡±Okay, let¡¯s stop here today. How about a barbecue in a few days?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s talk later.¡± Li Zhicheng carried the fish back. Spring was warm and the water was rising. The fish in the lake were plump. Although they only caught two fish, it was quite big. He washed his hands by the sink and asked Yun Xian, ¡°Let¡¯s have lunch before you go. We¡¯ve been fishing all morning, don¡¯t you want to try it?¡± ¡°No, please tell uncle and aunt. I¡¯m going.¡± Yun Xian waved. He took his keys and got into the car. It took nearly an hour to return to the city from the countryside. Yun Xian picked up the speed and it took only 40 minutes for him to reach Cloudside¡¯s door. Rays of sun shone through the clouds. The spring flowers were spreading, the crows were perched on the rooftop, and the laughter of young people blended with the warm wind. Jiang Ying looked out of the window unintentionally and happened to see a man coming as he stepped on the fallen petals. He wore a white T-shirt with an open button down, light blue jeans, and white sneakers. His style was so refreshing that she couldn¡¯t take her eyes off of him. It rained last night, and the spring breeze blew around the pink and white petals on the ground. It was as if a road surrounded by flowers was being paved for him. Sensing something, Yun Xian suddenly stopped and looked at the glass window. The second they looked at each other, Jiang Ying only felt her heart pounding. The spring breeze filled the air. His lips slightly rose and he nodded to her. Then, he looked away and continued walking. ¡°Sister? Sister?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Jiang Ying came back. Jiang Yuanyuan asked, ¡°What are you looking at?¡± "" ¡°Nothing.¡± The bell on the door rang. Jiang Ying heard Zhao Xinrou say at the reception desk, ¡°The boss is back!¡± The photographer was explaining the next shoot, but Jiang Ying wasn¡¯t paying attention and only heard a few words. The next photoshoot location was under a tree. The models stood there posing. ¡°Why are you two standing so far away? Get closer.¡± The photographer crouched on the ground, holding the camera to direct the two models. Jiang Yuanyuan was nearby watching and asked Jiang Ying, ¡°Sister, are you being shy?¡± Jiang Ying raised her voice and asked, ¡°Why would I be shy?¡± With that, she took a step next to the guy model. They became shoulder to shoulder. The photographer nodded with satisfaction. ¡°Great, that¡¯s it.¡± Jiang Ying swallowed her saliva and felt guilty for no reason. She glanced in Yun Xian¡¯s direction, only to find that he was also looking at her. They were separated by the window. One of them was in the room, one of them was outside. She was instantly pinned to the spot and her limbs were stiff. The model squatted down and picked a clean and complete flower from the ground. He put it behind Jiang Ying¡¯s ear. The photographer pressed the shutter to capture this scene. ¡°Yes, come on, face me and hold hands.¡± Jiang Ying looked away and continued to feel like Yun Xian¡¯s eyes were still on her own. She suddenly became tied up and had no idea what to do next. It was too strange. It was like she was having an affair with someone in front of him. This idea came to her mind, and Jiang Ying could not help but scorn herself: What affair?! Bah! Bah! What are you afraid of! What are you feeling so shy for?! She continued to brainwash herself: Today is May Day! I¡¯m supposed to love the work I do! I should be dedicated to my work! Yes, dedicated! Jiang Yin calmed her heart. She raised her arm and took the guy¡¯s hand. ¡°Good, come on, look at each other and smile.¡± The shutter went off continuously, as if it was reminding her that it was just work. ¡°Okay! Thank you for your hard work!¡± The photographer confirmed that the last photo was fine and announced that today¡¯s shoot was over. ¡°Thank you for your hard work.¡± Jiang Yuanyuan handed them a bottle of mineral water. Jiang Ying opened the lid and took a gulp. Her face was red from the sun and her forehead had a thin layer of sweat. The model and the photographer packed up their things and left first. Meanwhile, Jiang Ying and Jiang Yuanyuan stayed to tidy up the clothes and props. Jiang Ying felt more comfortable when she changed back to her T-shirt, jeans and canvas shoes. Jiang Ying thought it was better to say hello, so she asked Jiang Yuanyuan to wait in the car first. ¡°Is it over?¡± Yun Xian stood behind the reception and rolled up his shirt sleeves. ¡°Yeah.¡± Jiang Ying nodded. Yun Xian smiled and teased her, ¡°I didn¡¯t know you had this kind of side job.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± Jiang Ying quickly waved her hand. ¡°I was just pulled into it by my cousin. It¡¯s not a side job.¡± ¡°It was pretty.¡± Yun Xian scooped a spoonful of ice into the plastic cup and poured half a cup of milk. Jiang Ying only thought he was being polite and answered casually, ¡°Oh, do you like cosplay?¡± Yun Xian was stirring matcha with a bamboo brush. He heard her and looked up at Jiang Ying in confusion. ¡°What I mean is¡­ Pure and lovely. Do you like the pure and lovely look?¡± Yun Xian raised an eyebrow and poured the stirred matcha into the cup. The dark green blended with the milky white to form a fresh and sweet iced matcha latte. ¡°I just think it looks pretty on you. It looks like you¡¯re still in school.¡± After covering the lid, Yun Xian wiped the cup with a towel and handed it to Jiang Ying with a straw. ¡°Take it and drink it. You look thirsty.¡± Jiang Ying took the drink and the redness on her cheeks deepened. Yun Xian put his hands on the edge of the table. He looked out at the place where she was just standing, and suddenly asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t the cherry blossoms in Turtle Head Isle 1 very beautiful?¡± During cherry blossom season, Turtle Head Isle was covered with blossoms for ten miles. It was gorgeous with clouds at sunset. It was a wonderful scenery famous all over the country and it attracted countless tourists. Jiang Ying nodded. ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s already May. I want to thank you soon. Do you want to go?¡± Yun Xian moved his eyes and looked at Jiang Ying¡¯s eyes. ¡°Yeah, I want to go. Why don¡¯t we catch the last bus and you show me? ¡± The author has something to say: He¡¯s jealous. He¡¯s jealous. He¡¯s jealous. CH 11.1 The Eleventh Cup of Coffee Part 1 On the second day of the Labor Day holiday, Jiang Ying learned her lesson from yesterday and set her cell phone to silent mode. She satisfied her small desire to sleep until she woke up naturally. She dodged all phone calls. But unexpectedly, she could not avoid the doorbell ringing at eight o¡¯clock in the morning. The person pressed it a lot. It was like the person knew that Jiang Ying would not open the door immediately and pressed it again with a rhythm. Each ring happened to be pressed at the moment Jiang Ying was between ¡°waking up¡± and ¡°falling asleep¡±. After being tortured for almost five minutes, Jiang Ying really couldn¡¯t go on. She squinted and stumbled to the door. ¡°Who is it?¡± ¡°Meituan Delivery.¡± There was a passive female voice outside the door. Jiang Ying recognized the owner of the voice and instantly woke up. She opened the door with surprise. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Shen Xuan smiled at her. She picked up the two big bags on the ground and went into the house. ¡°I came to hang out with you.¡± Jiang Ying closed the door and went to the bathroom to wash up. She squeezed the toothpaste and asked Shen Xuan, ¡°Did you take the high-speed rail?¡± ¡°Lao Zhou drove the entire way to your door.¡± Shen Xuan took out the things in the bag and brought them to Jiang Ying. Yang¡¯s Dumplings1, trendy qingtuan2, salted egg yolk puff3, fried pork chop burger4 and pork ribs braised rice cake5. The two big bags were full of stuff. Jiang Ying did not know if she was a purchasing agent for snacks in Shen City. Jiang Ying showed a gloating smile. ¡°Did you two fight?¡± ¡°A damn fight? Would he dare to piss me off now?¡± Shen Xuan touched her slightly swollen belly. ¡°He¡¯s going to Yang City on business this afternoon. I¡¯m bored when there¡¯s no one at home.¡± Jiang Ying washed her face and smugly walked up to the coffee table. She looked at everything and pointed to the pan-fried pork dumplings with surprise and said, ¡°I¡¯ve been craving this for a long time!¡± Shen Xuan got up. She put the fried pork from the box in the microwave for two minutes. She asked her, ¡°Did you ask out Xiangqin on May Day?¡± It took Jiang Ying a few seconds to realize that she was talking about Yun Xian. ¡°I have plans to go to Turtle Head Isle, but there are too many people there during May Day. We plan to go next weekend.¡± Shen Xuan said, ¡°Aren¡¯t the flowers gone by now?¡± Jiang Ying did not mind, ¡°Do you think we¡¯re going to see the flowers?¡± Shen Xuan knocked on her shoulder. ¡°You can, Jiang Zhishu.¡± Jiang Ying had a pan-fried pork dumpling in her mouth as she winked at Shen Xuan. After breakfast, Shen Xuan took Jiang Ying to go shopping. Her baby was not doing well during the first three months and she did not dare to go out of her home. Now that her condition is stable, she was restless and always wanted to go out for a walk. While Jiang Ying was changing clothes, she took out her usual white T-shirt and jeans. Shen Xuan gave a tsk and asked her, ¡°Is that what you are wearing?¡± Jiang Ying looked at the clothes in her hand: ¡°What¡¯s wrong with it? It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to the club.¡± Shen Xuan took away the loose T-shirt in her hand and stuffed a purple one shoulder blouse to her. ¡°Try to look a bit beautiful, you don¡¯t want to lose to me.¡± Jiang Ying concentrated on her and looked her up and down. Shen Xuan was elegant and beautiful at all times. She used to change her hair color every once in a while, from flax green to grape purple. When she painted, she would tie her hair up into a loose bun. She looked like an artist. Jiang Ying always said this of Shen Xuan. Now she was an expecting mother, who was four months pregnant and had dark brown medium-long hair. She was still as slim as other girls except for her slightly bulging stomach. She wore a thin tied green knit cardigan and denim shorts that revealed a pair of straight and slender legs. Shen Xuan rolled up her sleeves because it was stuffy in the room. The tattoos on the inside of her arms were faint, and it extended from her wrist to an unknown length. It was simply so hot that it couldn¡¯t be hotter than her. Jiang Ying nodded thoughtfully and gave a respectable bow to Shen Xuan: ¡°I will follow your example, give up on being crude, and strive to be an urban beauty.¡± While Jiang Ying was putting on her makeup, Shen Xuan was lying in bed and sending Wechat messages to her husband. She said, ¡°When people look at us, they all say that I lead you astray. But really, I am being accused wrongly. Jiang Ying, you have more courage than me. You just pretend to be virtuous and kind every day.¡± Shen Xuan had a bright appearance. She had an easygoing personality and was liberal. She was so beautiful when it showed. Meanwhile, Jiang Ying looked quiet and introverted. She always retained the image of a good girl in front of people. But truthfully, as she said to Yun Xian the other day, what people see may be the real her, but definitely not all of her. CH 11.2 The Eleventh Cup of Coffee Part 2 Her life was in a modern city and her heart was in all parts of the Jianghu1. This was Jiang Ying. She learned to smoke with Shen Xuan at 19. At the age of 21, she had a planet and a rose tattooed on her left shoulder. One second she was complaining on Moments that her boss had caught her making changes to her vacation, and that capitalism was inhumane; and the next she was cheerfully writing a small entry on her personal Weibo, recording that she ran into an unnamed singer at three o¡¯clock in the morning at the seaside and received a special moonlight concert by the beach. ¡ª ¡°At the cheapest venue with barely any audience, the smell of malt beer was mixed with the salty sea breeze. I was listening to music that had a steady tempo and I suddenly thanked myself for going crazy the night before: I spent ten minutes buying a plane ticket and booking a hotel to escape to Erget Island.¡± Jiang Ying was just an ordinary girl, but she was also the most romantic person in the world. Even if the adults in the world always lived in fragmented ways and her life and work were boring and dull, she still had to draw a few colorful, but perhaps abrupt lines in her book. Jiang Ying picked up her eyeliner. She leaned towards the mirror and raised her chin slightly. She said, ¡°I really want to travel somewhere with you. We haven¡¯t been out in such a long time.¡± Shen Xuan touched her stomach and replied with worry, ¡°Me, too, but I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have a chance to do that.¡± ¡°Why would you not have a chance?¡± ¡°The mother of the child is not free.¡± Jiang Ying looked at Shen Xuan through the mirror. It was like she was seeing who they were eight years ago through the glass in a trance. When they first met, they had a similar loneliness and drifted out of the crowd. It was like that was the reason they became friends. Jiang Ying applied lipstick and finished her makeup. She picked up the perfume on the table and sprayed it on her wrist¡ª Luo Yiwei¡¯s romantic perfume that was full of desire and gentleness, which lingered from early morning to the next day¡¯s dawn. She got up with a smile, her face as bright as spring. ¡°But you will always be Shen Xuan, your name is not someone¡¯s wife and not someone¡¯s mother.¡± Shen Xuan once told her this. Every time she was doubting herself and her self-esteem was low, Shen Xuan would not say any words of encouragement. She would only say this sentence¡ª¡°But you will always be Jiang Ying.¡± So just be yourself, you are unique. Now, Jiang Ying said this sentence back to her. While being a wife and mother, Shen Xuan was still Shen Xuan. She could always be her fresh and bright self. Shen Xuan looked at her and smiled. It might be because she was emotionally sensitive due to her pregnancy that she breathed in deeply. Her eyes were twinkling and she said, ¡°Jiang Ying, why do I feel so much better now that my daughter has just grown up?¡± Jiang Ying giggled at her, ¡°Let¡¯s travel to Western Sichuan next year. I heard that the starry sky there is beautiful.¡±2 Shen Xuan clapped her hands together and cheered, ¡°Hey! I want to see a Khampa3 man!¡± "" Shen Xuan had been to Xi City twice. Each time she was here, she would go to the wonton restaurant that was on the street opposite Jiang Ying¡¯s middle school. Pregnant women¡¯s tastes were fickle. This time, Shen Xuan put down the spoon without eating two bites. Jiang Ying worried about her and asked her if she wanted anything else to eat. Shen Xuan put her hands to her chin and deeply wondered, ¡°Hm¡­I want to eat cake.¡± ¡°Cake? It looks like there¡¯s a bakery nearby. I¡¯ll go buy it,¡± Jiang Ying said as she was about to get up. ¡°Hey, wait a minute.¡± Shen Xuan grabbed her and smiled with intent, ¡°What I mean is, I want to eat the cake from your Xiangqin¡¯s shop.¡± Jiang Ying understood what she had in mind and sat down. ¡°Were you waiting on me this morning for this? No wonder you asked me to dress up today.¡± Shen Xuan shook her hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go. I¡¯m looking forward to seeing how handsome he is that he blew you away!¡± Jiang Ying thought about it and described it, ¡°Let¡¯s put it this way. Every time I go to the break room to get water, I can hear the girls in our company talking about what he is wearing today. He is going to be a celebrity in the technology community.¡± Shen Xuan smacked her lips and reminded her, ¡°Then you have to hurry and not let him be caught by another woman first.¡± ¡°No way.¡± Jiang Ying shook her head. ¡°As far as I know, the beautiful photographer downstairs of our company hasn¡¯t even asked for his Wechat.¡± Shen Xuan narrowed her eyes on her slightly and asked, ¡°Then how did you get it?¡± Jiang Ying was so happy with herself and drank the soup. She smiled with delight and replied, ¡°He gave it to me first.¡± CH 11.3 The Eleventh Cup of Coffee Part 3 Ding-a-ling¡ª ¡°Welcome.¡± Yun Xian was busy with the latte art in his hand. Without looking up, he asked, ¡°What would you like to drink?¡± Jiang Ying proficiently ordered, ¡°One latte, one lime Yakult, and a slice of cheesecake.¡± Hearing the familiar voice, Yun Xian looked up. His eyes stopped on Jiang Ying for a few seconds, and then moved to the girl next to her. ¡°Your friend?¡± He asked Jiang Ying. ¡°Yeah¡± Jiang Ying held on to the people next to him and introduced, ¡°Shen Xuan. She lives in Shen City and came to have fun with me.¡± Yun Xian smiled and nodded to Shen Xuan. He didn¡¯t know why, but he felt that she did not look at him in a very friendly way. To be precise, it felt like a direct examination and inspection. Like the mother-in-law checking on her son-in-law. Yun Xian thought of this comparison and couldn¡¯t stop his smile from emerging. He laughed at his conclusion. After making the order, Yun Xian handed the receipt to her. ¡°Please find a seat and wait a moment.¡± "" As soon as Jiang Ying was about to walk to the main hallway, Shen Xuan pulled the chair at the counter and sat down. ¡°You want to sit here?¡± Jiang Ying asked. Shen Xuan nodded, ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s just sit here.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jiang Ying also sat down and took off the bag on her shoulder. They were very close to the reception table. Shen Xuan got closer to Jiang Ying and said in a low voice, ¡°Not bad, he¡¯s an attractive person.¡± Jiang Ying raised an eyebrow, and as if she was praising herself, she said, ¡°Can my eyes be wrong?¡± ¡°How old is he?¡± ¡°Thirty.¡± ¡°Local?¡± ¡°No, he is from Beijing. He just came to Xi City last year.¡± ¡°What does his family do?¡± ¡°¡­Are you investigating what his hukou1 is ?¡± ¡°I must ask carefully for when I marry my daughter off.¡± Jiang Ying laughed and said, ¡°My own mom is not as protective as you.¡± Soon, two drinks and cakes were placed on the table. Jiang Ying asked Yun Xian, ¡°Is Xinrou here today?¡± ¡°No, I gave her a break and she went to have fun with her classmates.¡± ¡°Oh, I see.¡± As soon as Yun Xian left, Shen Xuan teased her: ¡±Oh ho ho, you are so familiar with the employees of the shop. You are worthy of being the future wife of the boss.¡± Jiang Ying glared at her and gritted his teeth and warned, ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense.¡± They sat and chatted for a while. From gossip to their family situations, there was a lot to talk about when they hadn¡¯t seen each other for a long time. Suddenly, Shen Xuan slapped the table and shouted, ¡°Where did my memory go? I forgot about that.¡± Jiang Ying was startled by her and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Shen Xuan looked down into her bag. ¡°An unexpected joy, but not yours.¡± Jiang Ying had a bad feeling. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Congratulations, a wedding invitation.¡± Shen Xuan took out an invitation from her bag and handed it to Jiang Ying. She corrected her words, ¡°No, this could be a missile.¡± Jiang Ying took the invitation. As soon as she untied the ribbon, she heard Shen Xuan slowly say, ¡°Lu Tingyang¡¯s wedding got moved up. This is the invitation.¡± Jiang Ying looked up abruptly and her voice rose without realizing it. ¡°Isn¡¯t he holding the wedding later this year?¡± Shen Xuan said, ¡°His wife is pregnant. Otherwise, the wedding wouldn¡¯t be set for his birthday. And you two have the same birthday.¡± Jiang Ying clenched her fist and resisted the impulse to swear. Shen Xuan didn¡¯t mind watching her reaction and said, ¡°Why do I remember how someone said that she would be there and bring her boyfriend with her?¡± Jiang Ying defended herself in a low voice, ¡°I was thinking that it would still be far away, I was bragging okay? Who told him to break up with me and say that people like me are not fit to fall in love?¡± Shen Xuan shook her head and gave her conclusion, ¡°Just go through hell to keep up with appearances.¡± ¡°What do I do now? If I don¡¯t go, it will look like I¡¯m afraid. I¡¯ll go alone, I will be embarrassed again.¡± Jiang Ying stirred the latte, and the beautiful flower latte art could not be seen anymore. Shen Xuan cleared her throat and fondled her hair. She said, ¡°That¡¯s what I thought, so when Lu Tingyang gave me the invitation, I said great, Jiang Ying would definitely bring her boyfriend to it.¡± Jiang Ying only felt funny with what she heard. She asked weakly, ¡°Where can I get a boyfriend?¡± Shen Xuan¡¯s voice was as light as a feather as she said, ¡°He asked me what your boyfriend¡¯s surname was so I said it¡¯s Yun.¡± Jiang Ying¡¯s eyes widened. She gasped and gave her a what-the-fuck-are-you-talking-about look. She was breathing heavily as she quickly untied the ribbon. She opened the wedding invitation, and the impressive red paper with golden sparkle said ¡°We sincerely invite Miss Jiang Ying¡± and added to it was ¡°and her partner Mr. Yun¡±. Her heart thumped and she blurted out four words: ¡°Yun¡ªWhat the fuck!¡± The sound resonated, and the room full of people looked at her, including Yun Xian. When their eyes met, Yun Xian pointed to himself and asked, ¡°Me?¡± Jiang Ying immediately shook her hand, ¡°No, no.¡± Yun Xian nodded. He looked away and continued to make coffee. Jiang Ying put her hand to her forehead and gritted her teeth and said to Shen Xuan, ¡°I really have to thank you.¡± Shen Xuan replied, ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± Jiang Ying stared at the invitation in her hands. She opened and closed it, and confessed, ¡°I have to admit, if he can go with me, then I would be able to raise my head high in front of Lu Tingyang. But how can I ask him to do this?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it easy?¡± As soon as Shen Xuan started talking, Jiang Ying saw her raise his arm and shout, ¡°Xiang¡ªoh, that¡¯s right, Boss Yun, Jiang Ying is looking for you.¡± Jiang Ying didn¡¯t have time to cover Shen Xuan Mouth, so he could only glare at her before Yun Xian heard her voice. ¡°What is it?¡± Yun Xian put down the cup and wiped his hands on his apron. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡± Jiang Ying¡¯s mind went blank. Embarrassed, she touched her cheeks. ¡°That, I¡­¡± Yun Xian smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine, tell me.¡± Jiang Ying twisted her finger and toughened up to ask, ¡°Can you help me out with something?¡± Yun Xian asked, ¡°Help with what?¡± Jiang Ying felt complicated. She raised her voice and blurted out, ¡°Can you be my boyfriend?¡± The author has something to say: Yun Xian: Did something wonderful just happen? CH 12.1 The Twelfth Cup of Coffee Part 1 While Jiang Ying and Yun Xian stared at each other, Shen Xuan interrupted, ¡°Jiang Ying, what are you talking about?¡± Jiang Ying came back to her senses and realized her randomness just now. She quickly tried to explain, ¡°Oh, well, I have a wedding to attend, so¡­¡± Yun Xian then asked her, ¡°So you want to find a boyfriend to go with you?¡± Jiang Ying clapped his hands and exclaimed, ¡°Yes!¡± A new customer came to the store, so Yun Xian asked Jiang Ying, ¡°Wait a minute.¡± He turned around and went back to the reception counter. Shen Xuan propped up her chin and her eyes moved on Jiang Ying and Yun Xian. She stirred the drink in the glass. The Yakult with lime was refreshing and sour and it was to her pregnancy taste. It was very much like the subtle atmosphere between the two at this time. Jiang Ying lowered her head and looked worried. She glared at Shen Xuan and complained, ¡°It¡¯s all because of you. I¡¯m not ready to ask for a favor so suddenly.¡± Shen Xuan smiled and looked at Yun Xian, ¡°Do you think Xiangqin will say yes?¡± Jiang Ying snorted and said, ¡°Only someone who has nothing else to do will agree to it.¡± Shen Xuan¡¯s cell phone started ringing. It was her husband. ¡°I¡¯m going out to answer the phone.¡± Jiang Ying told her, ¡°Be careful, don¡¯t go too far.¡± On the other side, Yun Xian called Su Cheng out from the kitchen. He looked towards Jiang Ying¡¯s direction and signaled her to come over to the door. Jiang Ying nodded and took herbag. She followed him out. Yun Xian took her into the car parked in the backyard. The car was narrow and private. The seats were separated from each other, and there was no need to face each other. It is very suitable to have a conversation there. Jiang Ying didn¡¯t like the smell of strong car perfume or the smell of leather seats. Yun Xian¡¯s car didn¡¯t have these two smells. It only had a faint sweet citrus fragrance, which seemed to be coming from him. ¡°Whose wedding is it?¡± Yun Xian asked first. Jiang Ying didn¡¯t want to lie, but she didn¡¯t tell the truth. ¡°It¡¯s a college classmate.¡± ¡°Why do you need someone to come with you?¡± Jiang Ying pulled on her bag¡¯s shoulder strap and said after a moment of silence, ¡°I¡­ was out of my mind back then and said I must bring my boyfriend with me to congratulate the couple in person. The wedding date ended up being earlier, and I haven¡¯t found a boyfriend yet. There will be a classmate reunion, and a lot of people will be there. They are all waiting to see what will happen during the wedding.¡± Yun Xian asked, ¡°So you want to find someone to help you deal with it?¡± Jiang Ying nodded. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m childish? Shen Xuan also scolded me for trying to not embarrass myself and suffer.¡± Yun Xian felt for the metal box inside the glove box. He put his hands on the box and opened and closed it. Psychologically, this was a sign of some anxiety and irritation. ¡°Then why don¡¯t you decline and not go?¡± Jiang Ying was still trying to think of an answer, and Yun Xian asked, ¡°Is he an ex?¡± His frank exposure made Jiang Ying blush. ¡°Yes.¡± The car fell into silence, with only the clatter of the iron box opening and closing. After a long time, Yun Xian opened his lips and said faintly, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go with you.¡± Jiang Ying turned to look at Yun Xian. The contour of the side of his face was smooth, like a carefully carved piece of art. It was sharp and prominent. Truthfully, his facial features were also masculine, but his personality was usually gentle. He seemed to be easy to get along with. Now his displeasure was all over his face. It was like a thick fog, and the pressure made her breathless. Jiang Ying sensed his mood and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to force yourself.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not forcing myself.¡± Yun Xian softened his tone a little. ¡°Last time you helped me make a mural. I didn¡¯t have time to thank you. It¡¯s the proper thing to do to pay you back. I¡¯ll help you.¡± ¡°Pay me back¡­¡± Jiang Ying thought over these words and nodded intently. ¡°Okay then you¡¯ll pay me back.¡± After Jiang Ying got out of the car, she saw Shen Xuan under the peach tree after answering the phone call. Shen Xuan saw that she had reacted strangely and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Xiangqin doesn¡¯t want to?¡± Jiang Ying shook her head and said, ¡°No, he said yes, but why do I feel¡­¡± Jiang Ying recalled the look and tone that Yun Xian had in the car just now and tried to find an adjective, ¡°He seems to be angry?¡± Shen Xuan put her tangled hair from the wind behind her ear: ¡°Why is he angry?¡± Jiang Ying tilted her head with doubt, ¡°Yes, why is he angry?¡± With the breeze blowing, the spring flowers swayed and fell from the branches. The pink petals landedon Jiang Ying¡¯s shoulder, and covered her bright red rose tattoo. Shen Xuan took off the petals for her and put them in her hand. She pulled her to the street. ¡°Don¡¯t think too much about it. Xiangqing just agreed, so let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s not waste such a good spring day.¡± Jiang Ying pulled Shen Xuan back to control how fast they were going. ¡°Slow down!¡± CH 12.2 The Twelfth Cup of Coffee Part 2 In the car, Shen Xuan looked at the warm and delicate caf¨¦ from the rearview mirror and asked Jiang Ying, ¡°If you got Xiangqin to be your fake boyfriend this time, when will you make him become your actual boyfriend?¡± Jiang Ying shook her head. ¡°We aren¡¯t there yet.¡± Shen Xuan laughed and pinched Jiang Ying¡¯s arm. ¡°Then when? You¡¯re still enjoying the ambiguous period, right?¡± Jiang Ying cried out in pain, ¡°Then you tell me when.¡± Shen Xuan said, ¡°Going to Shanghai will be a good opportunity. You have to seize it.¡± Jiang Ying thought about it for a moment and nodded, ¡°Yeah, it¡¯ll be a good opportunity. Then tell me, how should I confess? If it¡¯s expensive or cheesy, then forget it.¡± Shen Xuan was shocked for a second, and then laughed, ¡°You really like Xiangqin. I asked you to build up the relationship, but you made up your mind to confess?¡± Jiang Ying frowned and asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t that what you mean? For me and him to quickly become a real couple.¡± ¡°I want you two to fall in love sooner, but¡­¡± Shen Xuan paused. ¡°I thought you would never take the initiative in your life. To be honest, I had suspicions that you are frigid.¡± She added more context, ¡°After all, when you were in love with Lu TingYang, you didn¡¯t openly show your love to him. I thought you would always be used to being passive and accepting things the way it is.¡± "" Jiang Ying lowered half the car window. The spring air was full of the smell of flowers. In the past during late spring and early summer, a boy came to her with a sincere heart and full of joy and expectations. The trees on the street outside the window flashed by, and her voice was scattered into the breeze. ¡°I remember what Lu TingYang and I had talked about, so I am determined to not make the same mistakes again.¡± ¡ª¡ª When Jiang Ying walked out of the office building that day, it was already dark and it was drizzling. She saw the silver car. She put her hand in front of her forehead and jogged over quickly. When Jiang Ying sat in the passenger seat, Yun Xian looked at her wet hair. He took out a few napkins and handed them to her. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you bring an umbrella?¡± Jiang Ying took it and wiped herself randomly. ¡°I forget. It¡¯s all right, it¡¯s just light rain.¡± During the rainy season, the humidity swept through the cities south of the Yangtze River. It was hot and damp everywhere Yun Xian told her, ¡°It will rain next week. Don¡¯t forget it again.¡± Jiang Ying nodded obediently. They were going to leave for Shanghai in two days, and were going to buy outfits for the wedding today. A few days ago, Yun Xian had asked her for her opinion and if she wanted to prepare matching outfits with him. Jiang Ying thought that since she had troubled him with a favor, she proposed that she would buy the clothes. Yun Xian thought about it for a moment before he nodded and agreed to her proposal. They made arrangements to go shopping today. Jiang Ying prepared a French dress for herself. It had an orange pattern on a white background, a vintage square collar, and was down to the calves. The slit on the lower half added a touch of charming sexiness with elegance. She also made the hard decision of buying a pair of 8 cm suede heels. The weather during May was muggy, and a formal suit was too thick. Jiang Ying thought a button down with trousers would fit Yun Xian. He was tall and had long legs. His body type was very appropriate for just entering a store and trying on clothes. Jiang Ying sat on the sofa, watching the two shop assistants laughing and whispering as they stroked their hair unnaturally. Yun Xian came out of the fitting room. He tidied up the buttons, turned around and asked Jiang Ying, ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°It¡¯s great, it suits you really well.¡± The shop assistant nearby said, ¡°Dear, your boyfriend is so handsome that he looks good in everything.¡± Yun Xian nodded at her slight smile, then he looked at Jiang Ying. ¡°I want to ask, do you think it matches your dress?¡± Before Jiang Ying could speak, she heard two shop assistants excitedly clap their hands and exclaimed, ¡°Oh, my gosh, he¡¯s so sweet!¡± Jiang Ying and Yun Xian looked at each other, and the latter shrugged helplessly. ¡°Let¡¯s go with this.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Yun Xian went back to the fitting room to change clothes, and Jiang Ying went to the checkout to pay for it. While paying, the shop assistant said to her enviously, ¡°The first time I saw you shopping with your boyfriend, I thought you two have a really good relationship.¡± Jiang Ying only smiled. The outfit situation was resolved in less than half an hour. As they walked out of the men¡¯s clothing store, Yun Xian asked Jiang Ying if she was hungry. Jiang Ying shook her head. ¡°I need to lose weight soon, I won¡¯t be eating dinner.¡± Yun Xian raised the corners of his lips gently and teased her, ¡°I only thought that the bride should go on a diet before the wedding.¡± Jiang Ying asked him, ¡°Who wouldn¡¯t dress up when she meets her ex?¡± CH 12.3 The Twelfth Cup of Coffee Part 3 Yun Xian stopped walking and said, ¡°So it¡¯s like that. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ve never had an ex, so I didn¡¯t know.¡± Jiang Ying¡¯s eyes widened and remarked, ¡°Really?¡± Yun Xian started walking again and stopped at the doors of a congee restaurant. ¡°Is congee okay?¡± Jiang Ying acted like she knew a huge secret and had to ask him, ¡°Why? With how you are, you don¡¯t have an ex?¡± Yun Xian lightly glanced at her. He walked through the restaurant door and sat down by the window. ¡°Puppy love was strictly prohibited at home when I was a student, and later I was too busy to think about it.¡± Jiang Ying nodded and said with jealousy, ¡°There are a lot of people chasing after you.¡± Yun Xian marked a few things on the order form and handed the paper and pen to Jiang Ying. ¡°To tell you the truth, not really.¡± Jiang Ying looked unconvinced. ¡°How is that possible?¡± Yun Xian poured a cup of tea and said in a general pace, ¡°I took the CET-4 and CET-6 as a freshman, joined the student union as a sophomore, and I learned a few foreign languages in my junior year, followed by graduate school, internship, and work. I was left with little time to socialize, and I was not in the mood to be in a relationship.¡± Jiang Ying asked tentatively, ¡°Have you ever met someone you like? Or let it slip by you?¡± Yun Xian looked up at her: ¡°When I was at school, there was one. She was my deskmate. She was a really great girl.¡± Jiang Ying sipped her tea and felt jealous. ¡°Oh, your white moonlight.¡± Yun Xian smiled and said, ¡°What white moonlight? She already has a child.¡± Jiang Ying secretly breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Yun Xian. She only felt that she knew too little about the man in front of her. ¡°I thought you were a very easy going and laid back person,¡± she said. ¡ªGrowing up in a well off and liberal minded family, she had gentle and kind parents. She liked reading and watching movies in her spare time. Romantic, mature, stable, mellow, good finances, and free time. Yun Xian smiled and accepted her words. ¡°But you did not expect me to be a corporate slave1?¡± Jiang Ying¡¯s lips rose. ¡°At the very least, I admire how you live your life now.¡± Yun Xian¡¯s smile became faint, and there was a bit of indifference from an accumulation of many experiences. ¡°Don¡¯t admire me, you will always be who you want to be.¡± He put down the teacup and leaned against the back of his chair. He looked out of the window and watched the people passing by that were probably in a group or alone. He said in a gentle, courteous and calm tone, ¡°Before I came to Xi City, someone asked me why I was in such a hurry to get out of my comfort zone. Didn¡¯t you work hard in previous years for your current life?¡± ¡°Having a stable job, a home, and a car, and getting married at the right age may be an ideal life for many people, but that¡¯s not the comfort zone I want. After living life the proper way for 30 years, I don¡¯t know why, but I suddenly wanted to rebel. I quit my job, packed my bags, and didn¡¯t even think about where I was going when I got to the airport. I came to Xi City because my good friend from college was here. I just wanted to not be bored, and I opened a caf¨¦ on a whim.¡± Jiang Ying listened to the hints behind his words and asked, ¡°So Cloudside is just you trying something new?¡± Yun Xian nodded. ¡°It made me happy without realizing it. I¡¯m very satisfied with my current way of life.¡± Jiang Ying became nervous and asked carefully, ¡°So when you feel bored again, will you go somewhere else? Don¡¯t you want to settle down in Xi City? ¡± The light in the restaurant was dim, the bowl of congee in the earthenware pot created a barrier of steam between them. Jian Ying could not tell how he was feeling through his eyes. Yun Xian continued to have a vague smile. ¡°Maybe. I¡¯ll have to see if there is any reason for me to stay.¡± Jiang Ying asked, ¡°Is Cloudside not enough?¡± Yun Xian shook his head. ¡°I just wanted to have fun. After a few years, when the business is dying, I¡¯ll stop doing it.¡± Jiang Ying frowned, but not at what he just said. She still felt the jealousy expanding in her heart because Yun Xian could easily disappear at any time and anywhere. She made a poor attempt to get him to stay. ¡°Xi City is next to mountains and lakes. The air is good, and it¡¯s a good place to settle down.¡± The waitress gathered the new customers to sit down. All kinds of voices in the restaurant mingled together. Jiang Ying heard a short chuckle from Yun Xian. ¡°If I marry a girl from Xi City, I may have to stay.¡± "" He was half-joking and half-serious. His eyes landed straight on her, with a bit of subtle probing. The hot steam curled up on the table, and Jiang Ying blushed. The author has something to say: Jiang Ying, he is desperately hinting at you. CH 13.1 The Thirteenth Cup of Coffee Part 1 It was about a two hour drive from Xi City to Shanghai. Yun Xian and Jiang Ying decided to drive there on Friday afternoon, just in time for dinner and turn in for the night once they reached Shanghai. Jiang Ying left her suitcase at Cloudside before going to work in the morning. There was not much to do this week. She left an hour early. When she went downstairs, Yun Xian was in his usual spot waiting for her. Before he could honk his horn, Jiang Ying walked to the side of the car and sat in the navigator seat. ¡°There are quite a lot of people traveling during the weekends. There will be a bit of traffic on the highway today. Eat something first.¡± Yun Xian took a paper bag from the back seat and handed it to Jiang Ying. It contained a sandwich and a bottle of squeezed orange juice. ¡°Thank you.¡± Jiang Ying accepted it. She took out the sandwich and unwrapped it. Two pieces of soft toast were filled with tomatoes, eggs and sliced ham. She took a small bite and asked, ¡°Did you make it yourself?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Yun Xian pointed to the paper bag. ¡°There is also a bottle of orange juice. It has a bit of sugar, so it won¡¯t be too sour.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Jiang Ying licked the condiment off her lips and took a sip of orange juice. The sweet and sour taste was balanced. It was refreshing and a nice palate cleanser. Jiang Ying was really hungry. She took a few bites of the sandwich and drank most of the orange juice. As dusk approached, the sky gradually darkened. The vehicles on the highway moved forward smoothly. There was still an hour left. Jiang Ying took out her iPad and pencil from her bag and opened the drawing app. Occasionally, she would draw some simple sketches to kill time when she was bored. Jiang Ying skillfully drew the outline and colored it in. Soon, there were several lovely drawings on the canvas. Whenever she started to do something, she would put her heart and soul into it. Yun Xian saw that she was painting and turned on the lights of the car roof for her. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail. Her head was lowered, and the loose hair next to her cheeks covered the side of her face, which produced a platonic beauty. The car was quiet except for the small sound of Apple pencil touching the screen from time to time. Yun Xian couldn¡¯t help but be curious and glanced at her hand. When he caught a view of the drawings on the screen, he felt that it was a little familiar. When Yun Xian realized it, he asked, ¡°Are the emojis you often post on Wechat drawn by you?¡± Jiang Ying replied, ¡°I draw things for fun when I am bored. Many people use it when I add them to Wechat.¡± Yun Xian recalled that she used two sets pretty often. One was called ¡°Why did the boss do that¡± and the other was called ¡°day in the life of a corporate slave¡±. He thought of the chibi version of the little girl lying on the table in front of the computer in tears, with bubbly letters saying ¡°I volunteered¡±1 written over her head. Yun Xian¡¯s lips rose to a smile. Jiang Ying often sent him this emoji. And as soon as she sent it, he knew that Jiang Ying was going to work overtime today and he would remember to save a piece of cheesecake for her. ¡°It¡¯s very cute,¡± Yun Xian commented with a smile. ¡°When I was in college, I would do commission and earn a lot of money for living expenses.¡± Jiang Ying finished painting the last stroke. She clicked save, but did not quit the drawing app. She created another canvas. She had an idea in mind, and drew it very smoothly. Yun Xian listened to her show off, and his smile grew. Jiang Ying continued while drawing, ¡°In fact, if I hadn¡¯t met my boss, I would be a freelance artist.¡± Yun Xian asked, ¡°Is it your dream?¡± Jiang Ying shook her head. ¡°Not really, I just think drawing is very interesting. Because of Fu Chen in high school, I was a little lonely and had low self-esteem. Of the things that changed me, one is Shen Xuan, one is my¡­¡± Jiang Ying paused and quickly spoke the next few words, ¡°One is my ex, and there was also drawing. When I was in college, I would post my drawings on Weibo. There were about 10,000 fans. They always called me madam, which gave me a lot of confidence.¡± Yun Xian frowned and repeated, ¡°Madam2?¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Jiang Ying realized that although she and Yun Xian were both born in the 1990s, there was still a generation gap between someone born in 1990 and 1995. She patiently explained to him, ¡°Madam is a kind of title, which means someone who is a little more powerful than Dada3. If I draw fan art, there will be fans of the original work who will follow me.¡± After listening to the pop culture explanation, Yun Xian couldn¡¯t fully understand these children¡¯s brain holes, but he still felt it was very interesting. He then asked, ¡°Then does your fanart¡­ have a format?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Jiang Ying thought for a few seconds and tried to explain it in terms he could understand. ¡°Fanart is something where if you really like a work, such as manga, movies, or novels, you can draw the characters or scenes with your own style. It is a type of creation based on the original.¡± Yun Xian vaguely understood and laughed. After a while, he laughed at himself, ¡°Do you think I¡¯m an old man?¡± Jiang Ying quickly denied, ¡°How can I? It¡¯s normal that you don¡¯t understand these things. It¡¯s like how I don¡¯t know any C# or any programming language, and you are also really skilled with your hands4 This word was ambiguous, and Jiang Ying suddenly realized it was inappropriate. Awkward silence unfolded in the car for a few seconds. Jiang Ying coughed and said, ¡°What I mean is you¡¯re skilled with making coffee by hand.¡± Yun Xian couldn¡¯t hold back any longer. He held the steering wheel with one hand, and covered his mouth from the low laugh coming out with the other. The man¡¯s voice was pleasant and clear. His laugh had a su5 feeling. He rarely laughed like this, his eyebrows and eyes were curved, and his little mole was shaking at the moment. Jiang Ying was ashamed that she had accidentally said something dirty. While her heart was pounding from his laughter, her ears turned red. Yun Xian laughed for a while. After the laughter stopped, the smile lines on the corners of his eyes and eyebrows couldn¡¯t stop. He returned to the topic just now and asked her, ¡°Then why did you choose to be a game planner later?¡± CH 13.2 The Thirteenth Cup of Coffee Part 2 Jiang Ying said, ¡°Truthfully, the model for the game we are doing now is a drawing of mine. My boss, don¡¯t look at how he usually is, he¡¯s a dog1.¡± Yun Xian nodded silently in agreement. ¡°He¡¯s actually the one who recruited me. After graduation, my family wanted me to have a stable job. So, I went to several companies for interviews, but the outcomes were not great. At that time, my boss contacted me and said that he liked the concept of ¡®Little World¡¯ and asked me if I had considered presenting it in the form of a game. He later told me some of his ideas. I was very excited when I heard it, and did not hesitate to start a business with him.¡± Jiang Ying was probably thirsty from speaking so much. She took out the orange juice from the paper bag, opened the bottle and took a sip. As she talked about these experiences, Jiang Ying¡¯s mood rose. She continued to share, ¡°You should know my boss. I saw you two chatting last time.¡± Yun Xian nodded. In order not to let Jiang Ying connect the dots on his relationship with Li Zhicheng, he said with a blank expression, ¡°I¡¯m not very familiar with him.¡± ¡°He has a bad temper and is unpredictable. But his business acumen is really excellent. He understands technology, marketing and creativity. Although I always make fun of him, I still respect him.¡± Jiang Ying glanced at Yun Xian and slowed down her pace, ¡°But I actually admire you the most. I heard from Xinrou that you used to be a director of an Internet company? The monthly salary is probably equal to me working for one year.¡± Yun Xian was a little distracted for a moment and answered modestly, ¡°It¡¯s not that extreme. When I first entered the company, I was pretty much like you. I worked overtime all the time and was also corporate slave.¡± Jiang Ying twirled the pencil and lightly smiled, ¡°Although I always complain about how exhausting overtime is, every time I see the players¡¯ comments, I become very happy and feel like I¡¯ve achieved something. ¡°It¡¯s good to find pleasure at work,¡± Yun Xian said. He could feel the love and enthusiasm in Jiang Ying¡¯s heart when she talked. Her eyes were shining. "" In fact, he envied her. This was something he didn¡¯t have¡ªsomething he passionately loved and strived for, something he looked forward to in life and in the future, something full of purpose, something young and alive. In what seemed like a smooth life, the greatest feeling he had ever felt was: it¡¯s boring to live. He could try his hardest for something, but he never had the ambition and desire for it¡ªit¡¯s all because a voice kept telling him what he should want and what he should do. He played the role of a filial son, a mature older brother, an excellent student, and a dutiful employee. He stood out among the crowd. On the surface, it was a polished and beautiful life. Everyone admired him, but Yun Xian knew that he would always be a mediocre human being. He pushed forward, passing goal after goal, and when he looked back, he found nothing worth remembering. ¡°Do not be afraid of dying, and spend it in passing.¡± Yun Xian once regarded this as the meaning of life. ¡ª¡ª When they got to a service area, Yun Xian turned the steering wheel and went in. He stopped the car and turned off the engine. He turned his head to look at Jiang Ying. She was focused on drawing again and was ignorant to the changes outside of her world. The girl always seemed to give him nice, unexpected surprises, like a box of chocolates2. Yun Xian thought of Jiang Ying¡¯s Moments, where her exciting life was recorded. She had been to many cities, rock climbing, bungee jumping, diving, and checked in at the roller coasters of six amusement parks. She tried to learn to skateboard on a whim, and injured her leg from a fall during the first week. She wanted to see the sunrise, but overslept. She simply changed her plans and enjoyed an orange-pink sunset. She also shared interesting dreams. In the dream, she explored South America alone with her luggage on her back. She made three exclamation marks to express her excitement of meeting a lion deep in the forest, and used a series of ellipses to express the abrupt end of the dream when the alarm clock rang. He remembered the way Jiang Ying was smoking on the steps that day, and the tattoo on her left shoulder¡ªplanet B612 and the rose in the glass globe. Was she the little prince who was visiting the universe? Jiang Ying was a reckless rebel and a romantic risktaker. She was like a flame on the wasteland that was impossible to extinguish. She was young and burning with enthusiasm, and was invincible despite testing the limits. She struggled to break free from the secular world, and illogically loved it with determination. If there was a soft, warm, beating heart in front of you, would you resist being attracted to it? It¡¯s been cloudy and rainy recently. Dusk came earlier than usual, and it was completely dark at this moment. The branches outside the window were swaying from the wind. Yun Xian raised his hand and turned off the light on the roof. With a click, the car fell into darkness. The distinct smell of citrus fragrance spread everywhere. It was unclear whether it was the bergamot on his body or the orange juice that Jiang Ying had drunk. Yun Xian took a light breath and leaned over, getting closer and closer. Ding¡ª A notification came from the mobile phone, and a new message arrived. ¡°Yun Xian, look!¡± Jiang Ying had just finished sending the message and was trying to look up, but she slammed into a hard object. She let out a soft cry and covered her head. She asked Yun Xian, ¡°Why are you suddenly leaning over?¡± Yun Xian¡¯s eyebrows scrunched together and he rubbed his chin. He pointed to the compartment. ¡°I was getting change for the toll.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± The chin was a little more fragile, so Jiang Ying asked apologetically, ¡°Is it okay, does it hurt?¡± ¡°Xiang¡­ qin?¡± Jiang Ying¡¯s eyes suddenly widened. She hugged her iPad and looked warily at Yun Xian. ¡°Why did you give me this nickname?¡± ¡°You¡¯re wrong. It¡¯s not you. It¡¯s a colleague of mine. Her name is Xiangqin.¡± Yun Xian looked at her suspiciously. He took out his cell phone and unlocked the screen. He¡¯s not wrong. She had just sent him a message, and the app was the same. But soon, Yun Xian¡¯s attention was drawn to the drawing on the screen. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°You and Cloudside.¡± The drawing was in soft colors. It had patterned clouds on the blue background. The chibi version of the person was holding a cup of coffee. The speech bubble next to him was written with Jiang Ying¡¯s unique handwriting: ¡°Welcome to Cloudside Caf¨¦¡±. It was easy to tell who the drawer of the simple and cute style was with one glance. It had Yun Xian¡¯s hairstyle, the white shirt he liked to wear, and included the mole below his eye. Jiang Ying held the iPad in her arms and looked at Yun Xian with high expectations, as if she wanted to be praised. Yun Xian tapped the screen a few times. He saved the picture in an album, and rubbed Jiang Ying¡¯s head. ¡°Nice painting, madam.¡± The author has something to say: An intelligent male lead will know how to learn and apply it well. CH 14.1 The Fourteenth Cup of Coffee Part 1 ¡°What did you call me?¡± ¡°Madam, isn¡¯t that how you use it?¡± Jiang Ying took a deep breath and looked away, and said in a strange tone, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s how you use it. You¡¯re so smart.¡± Jiang Ying saw that Yun Xian had parked the car in the service area, so she asked, ¡°Do you want to get out of the car and have a cigarette?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t smoke. Do you want to smoke?¡± Jiang Ying remembered that she didn¡¯t seem to have ever seen Yun Xian smoke, and shook her head. ¡°No, I¡¯m quitting.¡± Yun Xian suggested, ¡°Let¡¯s get out of the car and walk around. We¡¯ve been sitting the entire time.¡± Jiang Ying agreed. Jiang Ying went to the bathroom in the service area. Yun Xian bought a cup of oden outside. He saw Jiang Ying come out and handed her the cup. ¡°I¡¯m actually not hungry,¡± Jiang Ying held the warm oden. The tasty smell accompanied by the sour and sweet tomato sauce infiltrated her nose. She was half full at most from the sandwich, but she didn¡¯t want Yun Xian to think she could eat a lot. Yun Xian pursed his lips and glanced at her. He couldn¡¯t tell her the truth. ¡°I bought it for myself. I¡¯m hungry. Help me hold it please.¡± With that, he opened the door and got into the car. Jiang Ying stood in place for a few seconds, secretly scolding herself for imagining things, and slowly climbed into the car with embarrassment. Back in the car, Jiang Ying sat upright with the cup of oden, like she was the car¡¯s mascot. Yun Xian took a stick of Arctic wings and neatly bit it into his mouth. He chewed carefully and started the car to get back on the road again. The car kept moving forward on the highway. Jiang Ying felt that the cup of oden would be cold if he didn¡¯t eat it. So, she took a stick of fish balls and put them near Yun Xian¡¯s mouth. Yun Xian looked down at the fish ball in front of him, and quickly looked forward again. His head leaned forward slightly and he bit into a ball. Jiang Ying offered the wooden stick over again when she saw that he had finished chewing. After eating a stick of fish balls, Yun Xian laughed and joked, ¡°This is the first time I felt that having someone next to me while I drive is great. When I am hungry, she can feed me.¡± Jiang Ying continued to give him a stick of deep fried fish cake. ¡°Yes, we can talk, too.¡± Yun Xian said he was full after eating two sticks. Jiang Ying happily took on the job of eating the remaining food based on her principle of not wasting food. ¡°Jiang Ying,¡± Yun Xian suddenly said her name. ¡°There is water in the back seat. Help me get one.¡± ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Jiang Ying reached for the mineral water bottle. She unscrewed the cap and carefully put it to his mouth. "" Yun Xian raised his head slightly to match her movements. Without a good idea of how high to go, Jiang Ying lifted the bottle a little higher than she should have, and water flowed down the corner of Yun Xian¡¯s lips. As it was about to drip from his chin, Jiang Ying wiped it on the back with her hand. This action wasn¡¯t processed through her brain at all. When the skin on the back of the hand touched Yun Xian¡¯s lower lip, Jiang Ying immediately retracted her hand as if she had been scalded. She cleared her throat and sat up straight again. There was still a bit of water on the back of her left hand. Jiang Ying did not dare to touch it and did not know how to deal with it. Yun Xian took a napkin from the glove box and handed it to her. Jiang Ying took it and said, ¡°Thank you.¡± While she wiped her hands with the paper towel, Jiang Ying thought of the soft touch. There seemed to be a bug crawling on the back of her left hand. It was itchy. She wiped it and put the napkin in her hand. She felt aroused and had naughty thoughts. Jiang Ying shook her head vigorously, as if she was trying to drive out all the images that appeared in her mind. ¡ª¡ª They reached the hotel they had booked in Shanghai. It was almost seven o¡¯clock in the evening. First, they went to their rooms to put away their luggage. After a short rest, Jiang Ying took Yun Xian to a baked fish1 restaurant she used to go to when she was in college. She had not been here for a long time. As soon as Jiang Ying entered the restaurant and smelled the air, her stomach became ready. After the food was served, she took one bite after another, and her chopsticks couldn¡¯t stop at all. Yun Xian picked up the fishbone in the bowl and asked her, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you were going to lose weight?¡± Jiang Ying grabbed a piece of cold seaweed 2 and said, ¡°I¡¯ll walk around the hotel a few times later. I can digest it.¡± Yun Xian smiled and put the deboned fish from the tray to her plate. ¡°You¡¯re not fat, eat more.¡± After eating, Jiang Ying touched his stomach and suggested, ¡°Do you want to go for a walk by the river? It¡¯s quite close to here.¡± Before Yun Xian spoke, she snapped at herself, ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s not go.¡± Yun Xian asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°Nothing, let¡¯s go back. I¡¯m a little tired.¡± Jiang Ying looked like she had completely lost her interest. Yun Xian didn¡¯t say anything else. He picked up the cup of water on the table and drank it. If it had been some other day, Jiang Ying would not have responded so badly. Unfortunately, tomorrow was Lu Tingyang¡¯s birthday and his wedding day. CH 14.2 Translator: tarararawr The Fourteenth Cup of Coffee Part 2 Six years ago, Lu Tingyang, who was still a junior in college, invited Jiang Ying to the Huangpu riverbank and said to her, ¡°I come here every birthday to take a picture for the memories.¡± Back then, Jiang Ying gave a ¡°wow¡± and excitedly took out her cell phone to take pictures of him. That year, Lu Tingyang had a clean youthful energy. He smiled, took Jiang Ying¡¯s cell phone, and put his arm around her shoulder. He raised his arm to take a selfie. At the moment he pressed the button, Lu Tingyang lowered his head and kissed Jiang Ying¡¯s cheek. Although Jiang Ying felt shy, the photo was finally developed by Lu Tingyang and placed on the dresser in his dormitory. From that moment on, it made sense to be together. But then there were Lu Tingyang¡¯s accusations about her when they broke up¡ªfrom the beginning, he was constantly moving forward and taking 99 steps bravely, while Jiang Ying always stood in place, waiting to accept his kindness. After a long time, they would be tired of each other and fed up. They were not suitable lovers. Jiang Ying wouldn¡¯t argue, but she was good at screwing up a relationship. When they really broke up, she maintained a silence and was extremely calm. Even when Lu Tingyang coldly mocked her that ¡°people like you really don¡¯t deserve to fall in love¡±, Jiang Ying didn¡¯t say anything. She only stopped Lu Tingyang when he was about to leave and asked him, ¡°Did you like all of me, or just the part of me you wanted to see?¡± After so many years, the past was no longer important. She just sighed when she thought about it, and that¡¯s it. Later, Jiang Ying also reflected on herself and this relationship. She was really not a competent lover. Love was a two-way street. You can¡¯t always wait for others to come to you. At this moment, she looked at the man sitting across from her. He was gentle and steady, and anything he did not was not done arrogantly or impatiently. This was what she longed for and admired. Jiang Ying thought of what Shen Xuan said, and her fingers gently tapped on the table. Hold on tightly to what you like. ¡ª¡ªIt was time to take a step towards him. ¡ª¡ª When they arrived at the hotel, Yun Xian and Jiang Ying said goodbye to each other at the entrance of the stairs and went back to their respective rooms. The next day, Jiang Ying got up early in the morning. She didn¡¯t sleep well last night. She only slept for two hours. Right now, she had dark circles and bloodshot eyes. She gritted her teeth and drank half a cup of black coffee. She frowned in disgust. At ten o¡¯clock, Jiang Ying dressed up and went out of the room to the lobby on the first floor of the hotel. Yun Xian was sitting on the sofa waiting for her. He had a glass of iced americano in front of him. Jiang Ying walked over as he looked up. Yun Xian got up and waved to her. With his height, it was easy to become the focus in the crowd. He was dressed in an ironed white button down, with the hem tucked into the light colored trousers. It showed his narrow waist and long legs. He also had on a pair of clean white casual shoes. He was composed and undeniably handsome. Jiang Ying walked up to him. WIth her high heels today, she could almost reach his nose. Yun Xian raised his arm slightly to her, and Jiang Ying put her arms around his. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Today was a rare sunny day recently. The sun permeated through the clouds and the world was full of gold colors. Cicadas chirped for a long time, and the early summer wind blew through the long streets and pedestrians. The girl¡¯s hair was elegantly fluttering, and her dress swayed. The wedding was held outdoors. Jiang Ying took out the wedding invitation. She registered the gift at the front desk, and followed the staff¡¯s instructions. Lu Tingyang didn¡¯t accept her gift money, so she asked Shen Xuan¡¯s husband to prepare a bottle of good wine as a wedding gift. The wine was expensive. Before coming, Shen Xuan told her and Yun Xian to remember to choose expensive food to eat. The meal was buffet style, and a banquet dining room was arranged for the guests. The wedding would begin at an auspicious hour. The waiting guests were in different groups: some were chatting about the past, and some lingering over the delicious food on the table. Jiang Ying competed with a five or six-year-old girl in the dessert area. The tray only had the last bowl of strawberry ice cream. It was obvious they both wanted it, and were determined. A little girl naturally couldn¡¯t win against Jiang Ying. When she saw that the ice cream was in someone else¡¯s hand, she screamed and was about to cry. Jiang Ying wouldn¡¯t really bully her, so she told her to stop crying and gave her the ice cream. The little girl instantly changed and ran away with ice cream. Yun Xian quietly stood to the side and witnessed the entire event. He caressed Jiang Ying¡¯s head with his big hands and asked, ¡°Why are you like a child?¡± Jang Ying smiled at him and pointed to the little girl running away. ¡°That is Lu Tingyang¡¯s sister¡¯s daughter. When she was just born, I went to the hospital to see her. She has grown so big.¡± Yun Xian drank the tea in the cup. His eyes dimmed and he did not answer. The greatest benefit of a buffet was that they didn¡¯t have to share the table with someone they didn¡¯t know or sit with someone they didn¡¯t want to sit with . Jiang Ying didn¡¯t know many of Lu Tingyang¡¯s relatives and friends. They just met his roommates and said a quick hello. They didn¡¯t try to do any small talk with them. At 12:18, the wedding finally began. Yun Xian and Jiang Ying chose the last row and sat down. The most dazzling part of the wedding was always the newlywed. Everyone cheered and applauded. As the petals everywhere fell, the beautiful bride in a white wedding dress was holding her father¡¯s arm and slowly walked to the groom. Then, there were the vows, the ring exchange, and the affectionate kiss in front of everyone¡¯s blessing. Jiang Ying looks at the well matched couple from afar across the crowd. Yun Xian looked at her for a while and asked in a low voice, ¡°Is it hard to feel calm?¡± Jiang Ying asked back, ¡°Why would I feel that?¡± CH 14.3 While the wedding was still going on, they whispered on the outskirts of the excited crowd. ¡°When I was with him, I was very childish. He liked to be clever, clingy, and spoiled. As for me, I have a free spirit.¡± When Jiang Ying said this, her voice was calm and she smiled a little. Yun Xian¡¯s eyes landed on the bride. She looked really sweet and petite. Jiang Ying sighed softly, ¡°Our personalities were not suitable. It¡¯s natural that we broke. There¡¯s just some regrets.¡± Yun Xian asked, ¡°What regrets?¡± Jiang Ying replied in such a low tone she rarely used, ¡°Your ex helps you grow up and teaches you how to love. Afterwards, he has nothing to do with you. What happened in the past with your ex is a silver lining. Therefore, timing is very important. There is a saying: you may end up meeting each other later on in life, but you end up loving each other for a long time.¡± Yun Xian lowered his eyes and said softly, ¡°I¡¯m lucky.¡± Jiang Ying didn¡¯t hear him clearly. She looked at him in confusion and asked, ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Yun Xian looked at her and smiled at her, ¡°Nothing.¡± After the ceremony, they returned to the banquet dining room. The bride and groom went around proposing toasts with the guests. Jiang Ying finally met Lu Tingyang and his new wife. He was wearing a neat suit and his hair was meticulously combed with hair gel. He took his wife to Jiang Ying¡¯s table and looked at her. They both smiled. Their past and their fights disappeared with these smiles. Lu Tingyang held a wine glass with one hand and introduced them to his wife. ¡°This is my classmate, Jiang Ying. The game you love to play recently is made by her company.¡± The beautiful bride looked surprised. ¡°Really?¡± Lu Tingyang said, ¡°Yeah, she is the chief planner.¡± Jiang Ying smiled and pulled Yun Xian closer. ¡°This is my boyfriend, Yun Xian.¡± Yun Xian reached out and shook hands with Lu Tingyang. Lu Tingyang said, ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± Yun Xian replied, ¡°Congratulations to the newlyweds.¡± The bride examined Yun Xian, and excitedly pulled on Jiang Ying¡¯s arm. She said, ¡°Your boyfriend¡¯s personality is similar to Jian Ying¡¯s!¡± Jiang Ying was surprised and admitted generously, ¡°To be honest, he¡¯s the inspiration.¡± If it wasn¡¯t for the other tables waiting for a toast, these two women probably would have liked to meet sooner to chat for a while. When the bride and groom left, Yun Xian had to curiously ask Jiang Ying, ¡°What did you talk about just now?¡± Jiang Ying put a piece of pork into her mouth and vaguely replied, ¡°Just that when I was designing the characters, I used you as inspiration.¡± ¡°Oooohh¡± Yun Xian deliberately dragged it out. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± Jiang Ying choked as she swallowed. How should I tell him? Back then I thought you were so handsome that I was captivated by you, and anything I drew looked like you? She continued to chew on the pork and replied with silence. Fortunately, Yun Xian had no intention of going further. It was almost three o¡¯clock in the afternoon when they came out of the hotel. Jiang Ying asked Yun Xian if he wanted to go out for a walk. Yun Xian readily agreed. Jiang Ying lived in Shanghai for four years. Every time she came back, she had more places she wanted to go to. They first went to Nanjing Road, which was full of snack shops. Jiang Ying thought nothing of her high-heels at first. But after walking a lot, she realized that her heels were digging into her. Yun Xian noticed her abnormal walking and helped her sit down on the bench next to the street. The heels had dug through a layer of skin. It was bleeding and painful. Jiang Ying looked at the terrible wound and whispered, ¡°If I had known I wouldn¡¯t have fricken worn this beauty.¡± "" They sat on the bench and looked at the busy street. She relaxed and her mind started to wander. Just when Jiang Ying didn¡¯t know where her mind was going, Yun Xian suddenly declared, ¡°I want to confirm one thing.¡± She came back and asked blankly, ¡°What is it?¡± The cell phone rang. Jiang Ying was about to lift up her cell phone when her wrist was grabbed. ¡°I¡¯m certain it¡¯s Xiangqin.¡± After confirming, Yun Xian stopped calling. Jiang Ying¡¯s eyes widened at the cell phone she was holding tightly in her hand. She questioned with distress, ¡°What are you doing?¡± Yun Xian only asked, ¡°Why did you give me this nickname?¡± She was caught red handed. Jiang Ying¡¯s brain was working fast, but she couldn¡¯t think of any good reasons. She simply told the truth, ¡°My birthday is Arbor Day, and my surname is Jiang. Shen Xuan always loves yelling Jiang Zhishu, Jiang Zhishu at me.¡± Jiang Ying thought of something and cautiously asked, ¡°You should know who Jiang Zhishu is.¡± Yun Xian chuckled, ¡°I¡¯m not that old.¡± Jiang Ying went on, her voice getting smaller and smaller, ¡°I had a brain fart and gave you this nickname.¡± With her back to the light, she could not see the expression on Yun Xian¡¯s face. "" Nanjing Road was usually busy. The sun radiated brightly on everything in late spring and early summer. All kinds of shops were crowded with people, and the firework smoke was curling up to the skies. After quite a while, Jiang Ying heard Yun Xian say, ¡°Since we are Xiangqin and Zhishu, why don¡¯t we start it with a kiss?¡± The author has something to say: Soon. CH 15.1 The Fifteenth Cup of Coffee Part 1 Jiang Ying got up slowly. She quickly said, ¡°There is a shopping mall nearby. I¡¯m going to buy a new pair of shoes.¡± Before Yun Xian could say anything, she walked forward without hesitation, and had to stop when she made her wound worse. Yun Xian held her and asked, ¡°Can you walk?¡± Jiang Ying nodded vigorously, ¡°I can go through this part of the road.¡± Yun Xian lent her his arm. They slowly walked to the mall, Jiang Ying picked a section and sat down. ¡°Pick something first, I¡¯ll be back soon,¡± Yun Xian said and went out. Jiang Ying sat on the sofa while the shop assistant showed her some different styles. She looked like a mermaid walking on spikes. The only criteria she had was if the shoes were comfortable. When Yun Xian came back a few minutes later, he had a box of band aids in his hand. He asked, ¡°Did you choose?¡± Jiang Ying pointed to the two pairs of shoes by her feet. ¡°Which pair do you think looks good?¡± ¡°Black.¡± As he spoke, he bent down and squatted. He took out a band aid from the box and tore it open. He held Jiang Ying¡¯s ankle and gently pressed it to her wound. His actions were done smoothly. Before Jiang Ying could react, Yun Xian was already putting the band aid on her other foot. She put her hands to her side and stared at the serious man in front of her. Her heart had softened, as if all the warmth and glow during spring were in front of her. After putting on the band aid, Jiang Ying put on the pair of shoes that Yun Xian had picked. The shoes were pointy black velvet flats decorated with pearls and studs. Jiang Ying put it on and stomped lightly. The outside was soft and the sole was flat. It was much more comfortable than high-heeled shoes. Yun Xian helped her to stand up and complimented, ¡°It matches your skirt.¡± It was already evening when they walked out of the mall. The day and night scenes in Shen City 1 were different. Dusk, when there is a shift in daylight, was extremely romantic. The clouds in the sky were tinted with a rosy color and dissolved into the buildings and trees. The peak of the evening was coming. Before a new round of activities began, the city became quiet and listless. Jiang Ying looked at the sky and said, ¡°Let¡¯s take a double deck bus.¡± They started at the People¡¯s Square, then they went around The Bund2 and City God Temple3. It took 35 minutes. The second floor of the double deck bus had a great view of the city. They were very lucky, there were not many tourists today. Yun Xian and Jiang Ying sat side by side in the back of the bus. When the bus started to leave, Jiang Ying took out her earphones from her bag and gave Yun Xian one. The song they listened to was ¡°Strawberries & Cigarettes¡± by Troye Sivan4. Strawberry smoke seemed to be the most appropriate way to describe a lover: Giving you sweetness and making you intoxicated. Jiang Ying was distracted for a while and confirmed with the flower shop when the flowers would be received. She had never confessed to anyone and had no experience. She did not dare to think about whether the end result would be good or bad. While there were thousands of people in the world, at this moment, only this man next to her was sharing the music and sunset glow with her. That night, Jiang Ying was willing to take a chance no matter what¡ªa chance to find out if Yun Xian was willing to be her real boyfriend or not. They sat side by side. The evening wind blowing through their hair. The three minutes and twenty-one seconds song was played for the third time, and the dreamy male voice sang ¡°Strawberries and cigarettes always taste like you¡±. Jiang Ying realized that Yun Xian seemed to be looking at her, so she turned her head. She looked at the man¡¯s eyes, and saw that he had a smile in his eyes and on his lips. Jiang Ying pushed the scattered strands of hair behind her ears and asked, ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Maybe it¡¯s the enhanced dusk background, maybe it¡¯s the small mole below his eye. The look Yun Xian gave to Jiang Ying was full of love and affection. While Jiang Ying was flustered by this look and her heart was pounding, Yun Xian leaned closer to her, held her face, and kissed her. The orange-yellow lights of the street lamps illuminated them, and the moon climbed to the clouds. At that moment, Jiang Ying¡¯s chest suddenly tightened, her breath was hot. She heard her own heartbeat accelerate crazily, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, like thunder. Once the music in the earphone came to an end again, Yun Xian withdrew from the girl¡¯s soft lip with longing. He still held her face, pressed her forehead against his, and rubbed the tip of her nose. The look on a man after he had fallen in love seemed to contain the moon and flowers. It was incredibly gentle. Jiang Ying breathed unsteadily and asked in a trembling voice, ¡°I-isn¡¯t it sudden?¡± Yun Xian gave a short chuckle, and his voice was husky and low, filled with desire as he said, ¡°Sudden? I¡¯ve been planning it for a long time.¡± CH 15.2 After that, Yun Xian lowered his head and gave another soft kiss to Jiang Ying¡¯s lips, as if he needed to finish the long kiss just now. They sat up straight again and looked ahead. They understood without saying anything more. They continued to listen to the songs, enjoy the night scenery with the evening wind, and let the ambiguity grow into firm roots. When they were getting off the bus, Yun Xian stood and turned to give Jiang Ying a hand. She went down the last step with his help. Yun Xian took her hand into his and didn¡¯t let it go. They walked while holding hands under the street lamps. Around their feet was a tall and short shadow that was close to each other. Yun Xian rubbed the back of Jiang Ying¡¯s hand and asked, ¡°Are you hungry?¡± Jiang Ying shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m so full from this afternoon. Are you hungry?¡± Yun Xian smiled and shook his head. Jiang Ying was dazzled by his smile. In her flustered state, she looked away and stared at the pearls on top of her shoes. She asked, ¡°What are we going to do now?¡± According to the truth, she should arrange it, but now she was in no condition to think Jiang Ying was also embarrassed when she just got up from her seat and did not know how to walk. Yun Xian was still thinking about the injury on her foot. ¡°Are you tired? Do you want to go back to the hotel to rest?¡± Jiang Ying replied anxiously, ¡°I¡¯m not tired. Let¡¯s wait a little longer, it¡¯s not time yet.¡± ¡°Time for what?¡± Jiang Ying accidentally said something. She licked his lips and made up an excuse, ¡°What I mean is, I can still walk for a while.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± There was a small park nearby. It had healthy and energetic middle-aged and elderly people dancing in the public space. Several kids were learning to skate in the open area. There were also couples walking around together. A little boy skated across a row of obstacles. Jiang Ying cried out, ¡°Wow, he is so powerful.¡± Yun Xian saw a group of young kids skateboarding in front of them and asked Jiang Ying, ¡°Can you still skateboard now?¡± Jiang Ying followed his eyes and saw that the girl with pink pigtails had completed a big flip from the steps. This was a move that had a high degree of difficulty, and the success rate professional skaters had for this trick was not very high. After she finished it, she had a huge grin. Her young and beautiful face looked proud. Jiang Ying couldn¡¯t express how inspirational she was. The other skaters at the bottom burst into cheers and applause. The girl made a gesture of acceptance and sat down again with her skateboard. Jiang Ying looked at the girl and expressed her admiration, ¡°No, I¡¯m not even at a beginner level. Shen Xuan used to skate so well, but now she can¡¯t anymore.¡± Yun Xian said, ¡°There is a big difference between you and the first impression you give people.¡± Jiang Ying nodded in agreement. ¡°You are not the first to tell me that.¡± Yun Xian tugged her hand to keep walking forward. He asked without changing his expression, ¡°Who else? Your ex?¡± Jiang Ying concentrated on him. ¡°You seem to care about Lu Tingyang.¡± Yun Xian shrugged his shoulders and did not make a comment. When they arrived at a place with fewer people, Yun Xian admitted, ¡°Actually, I didn¡¯t want to accompany you to Shanghai.¡± Jiang Ying recalled his reaction that day and asked, ¡°Why were you angry that day?¡± Yun Xian let go of her hand, and they stood facing each other. ¡°I was not angry.¡± ¡°Then what?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t want other people involved in my relationship with you. I don¡¯t want to be a tool for you to let go of your ex.¡± Jiang Ying was nervous. ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand me. I don¡¯t have any feelings left for him.¡± Yun Xian¡¯s smile rose. ¡°I know.¡± He took a step forward and put his hands around Jiang Ying¡¯s waist to hug her. Jiang Ying suddenly rose into the air. She was on the railing against the rolling river waters. Jiang Ying was unsteady. She hugged Yun Xian¡¯s neck and demanded, ¡°What are you doing?¡± Yun Xian looked into her eyes with the light of the street lamp. ¡°Do you know why I wanted to accompany you?¡± Jiang Ying¡¯s voice suddenly lost all strength. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°First, I wanted to meet your ex. Second, it seemed like a good idea to turn our fake relationship into a real one.¡± Jiang Ying held his neck tightly and asked, ¡°What are you doing now?¡± ¡°You have two options. You agree, and I¡¯ll let you down.¡± Jiang Ying frowned and replied, ¡°Are you going to throw me into the river if I don¡¯t agree?¡± Yun Xian chuckled in a low voice, and the small mole under his eye was pulling on her heartstrings. ¡°If you agree, I¡¯ll let you down, or you can kiss me and then you can come down.¡± Jiang Ying¡¯s mind was restless. She only felt that her entire body was hot and she had gone soft. She bit her lower lip and buried her face into Yun Xian¡¯s shoulder. She whispered in a coquettish voice, ¡°Let me down first, okay?¡± Yun Xian¡¯s breathing became uneven. His heart softened into a pool of water, but he did his best to hang on and asked her, ¡°Do you agree?¡± Jiang Ying buried herself deeper into his neck again. Her soft hair brushed his skin. It was like a feather sweeping past his heart. ¡°Put me down. Go back to the hotel first, and I¡¯ll come find you.¡± Yun Xian took a deep breath. He put his arms around her waist and put her down. Jiang Ying landed on her feet. She took out her cell phone and took a look at the time. She said to Yun Xian very quickly, ¡°Go back to the hotel and wait for me. I¡¯ll come back right away.¡± After that, she was about to run out. Yun Xian called out to her, ¡°Jiang Ying¡ª¡± Hearing this, Jiang Ying stopped and returned to him. She stood on tippy toes and kissed him on the cheek. ¡°Wait for me, I¡¯ll come back right away!¡± Her eyes were sparkling like the stars in the sky. "" Yun Xian looked at her quick departing figure and laughed softly. He wanted to see what this brave little warrior was going to do. CH 15.3 Yun Xian returned to the hotel alone and waited in his room for about an hour. During this time, he tried to send a message to Jiang Ying countless times, but he forced himself to hold it in. When he heard the door knock, he almost ran to open the door. When the door was opened, the first thing he saw was a large bunch of roses. Delicate red petals were still adorned with dew, and the sweet fragrance drifted everywhere. Jiang Ying held the bouquet of roses and gasped as she explained, ¡°The entire night before we came to Shanghai, I was thinking about how I should confess to you. Shen Xuan said that if you like me, then it doesn¡¯t matter what I say. If you don¡¯t like me, then it¡¯s useless to keep supporting this1. So I finally decided to just cheesily buy you a bunch of roses.¡± There was silence for a while. Yun Xian took the bouquet of flowers from Jiang Ying¡¯s arms and put it on the counter. Then he pulled her into an embrace and shut the door. Jiang Ying was pressed against the wall by him. The cold ceramic tiles were behind her and his warm chest was in front of her, which was stimulating. Yun Xian¡¯s lips moved closer to her but did not make the next move. He lowered his eyes and asked in a low voice, ¡°Do you want to be with me?¡± Her breathing that had just recovered began to quicken again. Jiang Ying went forward and kissed his lips. She declared seriously and firmly, ¡°Yes.¡± Yun Xian¡¯s heart was empty for a moment. Then, he put his arms around her waist, pressed forward a bit, and lowered his head to deepen the kiss. Their lips intertwined. Their breathing became shallow as they embraced and went deeper.Yun Xian licked Jiang Ying¡¯s lower lip, as if he was trying to entice her. Jiang Ying¡¯s lips were easily pried open, and his soft tongue gently invaded. He led as she entered an aroused state of mind. It felt like there was a tingling feeling running down her back, and a numb feeling flowed through her. Jiang Ying could only hold Yun Xian¡¯s neck tightly to prevent her legs from becoming soft and being unable to stand. She didn¡¯t know how long they kissed. Jiang Ying only felt dizzy. Her feet were stepping on a cotton cloud. She had lost her sense of reality. Yun Xian raised his hand. He stroked her flushed cheek, then her moist lips with his thumb. His voice was hoarse, ¡°We really did start it with a kiss.¡± The air conditioner was turned on in the room, but Jiang Ying¡¯s forehead was covered with a layer of sweat. Her breath had become hot. ¡°Can you not mention this?¡± Yun Xian smiled. He held her hand with one hand and took the roses with the other. He took her further in. ¡°Follow me.¡± There are two gift boxes on the coffee table in the living room. Yun Xian put the roses on the armchair and pointed to the two boxes. He said, ¡°It¡¯s for you.¡± Jiang Ying raised an eyebrow. She knelt down on the carpet and began to open the two gift boxes. The first box contains Hermes¡¯s Un Jardin Sur Le Nil. It was a classic citrus scent. It was sweet and slightly tart, surrounded by fresh grass and trees. It was like a plump orange hanging on the branches of a tree by the river. She opened the lid and sprayed a pump on her wrist. Then she sniffed it. Yun Xian took her arm to one side and asked her, ¡°Do you like it?¡± Jiang Ying nodded. ¡°I like it.¡± ¡°Look at the other one.¡± Jiang Ying went on to open the second box. To her surprise, the second box also contained a bottle of perfume¡ªTom Ford¡¯s controversial Lost Cherry. Some people describe it as the sweetness from a red cherry on a cake with icing, while others said its smell was full of passion, like a cup of warm cherry wine during winter. It had notes of warm Turkish Rose, the sweetness of black cherries, and the animosity of bitter almonds. It made a person insatiable. It was a very seductive fragrance. Jiang Ying put the two bottles of perfumes on the table and asked Yun Xian, ¡°Why did you buy two bottles?¡± Yun Xian put down his folded arms. He got up and walked over to her. ¡°They felt like you when I picked them, so I bought both.¡± Jiang Ying raised her eyebrow and put the two bottles of perfume into the boxes again. The night was deep and the night wind had dispersed the clouds. The stars flickered above the branches, and the scarlet fantasies of humans were ready to move in the vast universe. ¡°I like both of these bottles, but among all perfumes, I like Loewe 0012.¡± After saying that, Jiang Ying looked at Yun Xian and realized that his expression was somewhat complicated. She leaned back slightly. ¡°I¡¯m not suggesting anything to you.¡± ¡°What I said just now wasn¡¯t sarcastic!¡± The author has something to say: I always feel like this chapter will be censored¡­ tarararawr¡¯s rararamblings: I would like these perfumes too considering they all cost more than $100 for a full size bottle. CH 16.1 The Sixteenth Cup of Coffee Part 1 Before the atmosphere became awkward, Jiang Ying picked up the boxes on the table and walked to the door. She quickly said to him, ¡°I¡¯m tired. I¡¯ll go back to bed first. You should rest early.¡± Yun Xian watched her reach the door and lowered his head with a smile. This day was really brimming with vibrancy. Yun Xian laid on the bed after showering. He didn¡¯t feel too sleepy. He didn¡¯t want to take any sleeping pills today. He felt a little idle. He thought about how Jiang Ying talked about being an artist with him a few days ago. Yun Xian opened up Weibo, which he rarely used, to search her name. It was impossible for him to find Jiang Ying directly. Yun Xian thought about it and entered ¡°Orange Sunset¡±. There were several duplicate names in the list results, but it was not difficult to find her. Yun Xian clicked on the Weibo user whose profile had ¡°draw what you want to draw¡± on it, and scrolled through it. Most of it was reposted. Occasionally, a few of her original artwork were published. Yun Xian was not an expert about these kinds of things by fan artists. From the perspective of a normal person and from the view of someone who was her boyfriend, he thought Jiang Ying¡¯s art was very good. The lines were smooth, the proportions were appropriate, the characters were delicately drawn, and the colors were complimentary. Anyone could see that she had a solid foundation in art. Yun Xian read the comments at the bottom while looking at the drawing. It was all praises. He looked at it with a sense of pride in his mind. It was just like he was watching his own daughter be rewarded with a little red flower in kindergarten1. Occasionally, there were posts that only a few fans could see that had an emoji on it and the caption was ¡°you know¡±. Know what? Is this a code word? Yun Xian frowned and opened the comment area. Heavens. ¡°AAAAHHHH! Madam, I salute you!¡± ¡°Thank you, sensei2! I¡¯ve blown up!¡± ¡°Let me pay you my respect first!¡± ¡°I rushed over after receiving the notification for the colored version!¡± ¡°Once I saw the Three Protect One3 I knew that Orange Sunset had done a good job again!¡± Yun Xian: ??? Wasn¡¯t it an emoji bundle of a shiba inu? He saw the words ¡°enlarge¡± displayed in the lower right corner, Yun Xian clicked on the picture and swiped down a few times. He kept swiping until the end, and finally saw something different after the first three identical pictures. From his screen, he saw an upside down drawing. Yun Xian turned his phone around. When he saw the details of the drawing clearly, his hand shook. The small black phone fell and hit his nose with a bang. Yun Xian gave a low yelp of pain. He picked up his cell phone from his face and rubbed the injured part. With a sigh of relief, he looked at the drawing on his cell phone again. For a moment, he was a little confused. What the hell is ¡°Three Protect One¡±? ¡ª¡ª At nine o¡¯clock the next morning, Yun Xian and Jiang Ying were ready for the return trip. Jiang Ying walked out of the room with her suitcase. Yun Xian was waiting for her at the stairs. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you wearing glasses today?¡± Before Yun Xian could answer, Jiang Ying noticed something strange on his face and asked anxiously, ¡°What¡¯s happened to your nose?¡± Yun Xian touched the bruise. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I was just hit by my phone.¡± Jiang Ying tiptoed up to look at his injury. His nose bridge was black and swollen. She gently breathed out a breath. ¡°What did you do that ended up like that?¡± Yun Xian touched his nose and looked away. At this time, the elevator arrived. He took Jiang Ying¡¯s hand and stepped into the elevator. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just an accident, so don¡¯t worry.¡± The weather was great in the morning. After nine o¡¯clock, the sun was a little harsh. Yun Xian pointed to the glove box in front of the navigator seat and said to Jiang Ying, ¡°Jiang Ying, help me get my sunglasses.¡± ¡°Oh, okay.¡± She opened it. It didn¡¯t have a lot of things: a black glasses case, a small paper bag, and a bottle of medicine. The medicine bottle looked like some kind of healthcare product. Jiang Ying glanced at the words on it and asked casually, ¡°Are you taking melatonin?¡± Yun Xian was surprised for a moment and replied, ¡°Yeah, I have a hard time sleeping sometimes.¡± Jiang Ying took the sunglasses out of the box and handed them to Yun Xian. ¡°Is it because of the pressure?¡± ¡°Before it was. It¡¯s much better now.¡± ¡°When I was working on my graduation project and couldn¡¯t sleep, I would eat. Then I would get dizzy the next morning. Do you?¡± Yun Xian shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Yun Xian didn¡¯t want this topic to continue, so he picked something else to talk about and asked, ¡°I see that a lot of your screen names are Orange Sunset. Does it have a special meaning?¡± "" CH 16.2 The Sixteenth Cup of Coffee Part 2 Jiang Ying thought for a while and replied, ¡°I changed my name when I was a child. It was originally called Jiang Mucheng, because my father said that I was born in the evening. The sunset on that day was orange and very beautiful.¡± Yun Xian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s a nice name. Why did you change it?¡± ¡°When I was six or seven years old, I went swimming in a lake once and swam far away from my father when he wasn¡¯t paying attention. I almost drowned. If my father didn¡¯t turn around to rescue me, I don¡¯t know where I would have drowned.¡± Jiang Ying put a hand on her left shoulder. ¡°There is a long scar here. It was from that. Now it is covered by my tattoo.¡± After hearing this, Yun Xian frowned and had to lecture Jiang Ying, ¡°How could you be so dumb when you were young? Do you know how dangerous that was?¡± Jiang Ying pursed her lips. ¡°Don¡¯t scold me. I was reprimanded by the whole family. Later, my grandmother found a fortune teller in the village and said my name was conflicting and would cause misfortune. She was so frightened that she quickly changed it for me.¡± ¡°Well, if you survived a disaster, then you would be blessed.¡± Jiang Ying said with some regret, ¡°But, I still like the name Mucheng. Later, I used Orange Sunset as my screen name for everything.¡± After saying this, Jiang Ying finally sensed something was wrong. ¡°How do you know that all my IDs are Orange Sunset? Aren¡¯t you only on Wechat?¡± Yun Xian didn¡¯t know what to say and could only honestly explain, ¡°I read your Weibo.¡± Jiang Ying suddenly covered her mouth to prevent her curses from spewing out. ¡°What did you see?¡± ¡°Your drawings. It¡¯s very good.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t follow me, right? You didn¡¯t open it, right?¡± Yun Xian was silent towards her. Jiang Ying¡¯s mind was in ashes. Yun Xian glanced at Jiang Ying. ¡°Sorry, I shouldn¡¯t look at your Weibo?¡± Jiang Ying shook her head. Since it was an open platform, everyone could see it. There was no reason to stop her boyfriend from seeing it. She whispered, ¡°I¡¯m just afraid you¡¯ll think I¡­¡± Yun Xian added fuel to the fire. ¡°You really don¡¯t need to care about your image in front of me. It has already crumbled.¡± Jiang Ying frowned and gave a cry. She turned sideways and leaned her head on the head rest. ¡°Don¡¯t talk anymore, I need to recover.¡± She was quite adept at running away. Yun Xian took a jacket from the back seat of the car and put it on her. He adjusted the AC and patted her on the head. ¡°Go to sleep. I¡¯ll call you when we get there.¡± The road from Shanghai to Xi City was still the same, but something was different. When Jiang Ying got home, they waved goodbye. Jiang Ying took a few steps before turning back. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Yun Xian on the cheek. She said, ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± Yun Xian pulled her closer and hugged her. ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± Finally, before the end of spring, they have entered a new stage of love. ¡ª¡ª Summer was coming. Yun Xian was planning on changing the plants to a new batch of green ones at the caf¨¦. The flower shop sends several pots. Su Cheng was responsible for moving the flowers, while Zhao Xinrou was directing. They were discussing whether to put a monstera plant at the door or at the counter. Yun Xian saw how they were fighting endlessly and said, ¡°Put it at the door.¡± ¡°See, you should have listened to me.¡± Zhao Xinrou took apart the roses to trim the leaves, and put them in a vase. Su Cheng had never been able to win a fight against her. He watched as she carefully tried to cut the leaves with the scissors, and took it from her. ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± Yun Xian was holding an Americano and looked at how they went from being annoying to being sweet. He chuckled and joked: ¡°Su Cheng really knows how to take care of someone. Who knows which lucky girl will be blessed in the future.¡± Su Cheng looked at Zhao Xinrou and said nothing. Zhao Xinrou cleaned up the bags on the table and pretended not to hear him. After a while, Zhao Xinrou remembered something and asked Yun Xian, ¡°By the way, boss, has sister Jiang Ying been here the last few days?¡± "" Su Cheng still remembered the last time Yun Xian called him out of the kitchen with a cold face. After talking with Jiang Ying, he didn¡¯t look good either. It¡¯s not over, is it? Yun Xian saw the worry in their eyes. He put down his cup and got up and walked to the front counter. ¡°She¡¯s been busy working these past few days. She¡¯s probably going to get off work now.¡± There was only one pink flower left. Yun Xian took a piece of tissue paper that was usually used for the cakes, and wrapped it around the flower. He took a ribbon to wrap it and tied a beautiful bow. ¡°Xiao Zhao, help me pack a slice of red velvet cake.¡± ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Zhao Xinrou quickly took out a piece of red velvet cake from the glass cover. It was a new flavor made by Su Cheng today. It sold well. Now there was only one left. Yun Xian took the packaged cake and said to them, ¡°This one is on me. If there are no customers tonight, go home early today.¡± Su Cheng saw that he was leaving and asked, ¡°Hey, boss, where are you going?¡± Yun Xian held up the rose and cake in his hands. ¡°I¡¯m picking up my girlfriend from work.¡± The timing was just right. He saw Jiang Ying come out as soon as she came down. Today, he didn¡¯t drive. He was standing under the streetlamp that had already lit up with a dim yellow light. Jiang Ying saw him from far away. She waved and ran over with a smile. CH 16.3 The Sixteenth Cup of Coffee Part 3 Yun Xian saw the worry in their eyes. He put down his cup and got up and walked to the front counter. ¡°She¡¯s been busy working these past few days. She¡¯s probably going to get off work now.¡± There was only one pink flower left. Yun Xian took a piece of tissue paper that was usually used for the cakes, and wrapped it around the flower. He took a ribbon to wrap it and tied a beautiful bow. ¡°Xiao Zhao, help me pack a slice of red velvet cake.¡± ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Zhao Xinrou quickly took out a piece of red velvet cake from the glass cover. It was a new flavor made by Su Cheng today. It sold well. Now there was only one left. Yun Xian took the packaged cake and said to them, ¡°This one¡¯s on me. If there are no customers tonight, go home early today.¡± Su Cheng saw that he was leaving and asked, ¡°Hey, boss, where are you going?¡± Yun Xian held up the rose and cake in his hands. ¡°I¡¯m picking up my girlfriend from work.¡± The timing was just right. He saw Jiang Ying come out as soon as she came down. Today, he didn¡¯t drive. He was standing under the streetlamp that had already lit up with a dim yellow light. Jiang Ying saw him from far away. She waved and ran over with a smile. Yun Xian opened his arms and steadily caught her. He asked, ¡°Are you hungry?¡± ¡°I¡¯m starving.¡± Jiang Ying wrapped her arms around his entire body. ¡°After changing the plans throughout the day, I finally gave up.¡± Yun Xian put his chin on Jiang Ying¡¯s head. A sweet citrus fragrance lingered on his nose: ¡°What¡¯s wrong with your boss? He¡¯s been working you overtime for a week.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I got off work very early today. It¡¯s mainly because the update and event were at the same time. I also have to go to Shanghai for business soon.¡± Yun Xian let go of Jiang Ying and handed over the things in his hand. ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard. Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll take you to eat first.¡± This was the wonderful ability of having a lover to cure all the fatigue and unhappiness in life. Jiang Ying took the flower and cake with one hand and held Yun Xian¡¯s with the other hand. ¡°I want to eat pan-fried pork dumplings.¡± ¡°Okay, pan-fried pork dumplings.¡± This restaurant had a very good reputation. Jiang Ying often came to eat there when she was young. The restaurant had been renovated twice, and the dining area was double the size it was before. Jiang Ying and Yun Xian sat down by the window and ordered two bowls of red bean porridge and a plate of pan-fried pork dumplings. While waiting, Yun Xian talked about his plans for the next month, ¡°I have to go back to Beijing at the beginning of next month, I¡¯ll come back after a while.¡± Jiang Ying asked, ¡°Did something happen?¡± ¡°My brother has the college entrance examination. After thinking about it, I should go back. I¡¯ll take him somewhere to relax after the exams.¡± Jiang Ying nodded. ¡°Is there anywhere he wants to go? Does he want to visit Xi City?¡± Yun Xian looked at her. He was smiling but not speaking. Jiang Ying cleared her throat. ¡°What I mean is, Shanghai and Hangzhou are both very fun to visit¡­ You guys can think about it.¡± Yun Xian responded to her obvious hint, ¡°Okay, I know. I¡¯ll ask him.¡± Since Yun Xian mentioned his younger brother who was a senior in high school, the topic at dinner naturally revolved around him. Yun Xian¡¯s younger brother was Yun Qian and he had just turned 18 this year. According to Yun Xian, whether it was his appearance or personality, Yun Qian was a smaller version of him. That¡¯s why Jiang Ying was curious about his brother. ¡°I brought him up. Like father, like son. It¡¯s normal for him to be like me,¡± Yun Xian explained. ¡°You brought it up? Were your parents busy working?¡± ¡°That¡¯s one reason. Another was that they divorced very early. My brother and I went with my mother.¡± When Yun Xian said these things, his face did not change at all. Jiang Ying was somewhat embarrassed. She bit into a pan-fried pork dumpling, and did not know whether she should continue the conversation. Yun Xian read her mind. ¡°Ask what you want to ask. I¡¯m your boyfriend. You should know more about me.¡± Jiang Ying spoke very carefully. ¡°What about your father? I think it is very tiring for a woman to raise two children alone, so¡­¡± Yun Xian didn¡¯t answer immediately, but seemed to be thinking about what he should say. ¡°My father is a geologist. He is always traveling and doing research investigations. He has visited a lot of places. He was in Hubei when I was born, and in Shaanxi when my younger brother was born. I saw him only a few times a year. Sometimes he had to leave without staying at home for two days.¡± Yun Xian¡¯s tone was calm, as if he was just introducing his family. ¡°My mother was a high school Chinese teacher. When they first met, she was a young woman who loved literature and he was a traveler who cherished going everywhere. It was not hard for them to be attracted to each other.¡± Jiang Ying put down her chopsticks and listened to him carefully. ¡°What happened later? Why did they separate?¡± Yun Xian smiled and said only one word, ¡°Reality.¡± CH 17.1 The Seventeenth Cup of Coffee Part 1 Love meant being surrounded by flowers and being under the moonlight where everything was beautiful. But marriage was not like that. In the face of reality, those feelings of love were the fastest to disappear. ¡°After giving birth to my brother, my mother was depressed for a long time. It wasn¡¯t that long before they got divorced. After they went through with it, my father wanted to leave me. He said that he was planning on staying in school to teach students, and would cut down on the time he spent being away in the future. I remember my mother was very calm at that moment, and said: ¡®I had so many fights with you. I just wanted you to be there for me and the children more. Why did you wait for the divorce? You could have done that so easily.¡¯¡± Jiang Ying did not know what to say to comfort him. She could only hold his hand and rub the back of his hand with her fingers. ¡°I don¡¯t blame my father. He has his dreams and ambitions. He had been to many places, and every time he came back he brought different souvenirs to tell me and my brother what he saw on his journey. But he was really not ready to be a father. Since I was young, he has never been to a parent-teacher meeting. He didn¡¯t even know which class I was in.¡± Yun Xian put a pan-fried pork dumpling on Jiang Ying¡¯s plate and said to her, ¡°You would probably get along with my father. You both like to run around the world.¡± Jiang Ying chewed on the crispy skin and said, ¡°It¡¯s boring to stay within my own world all the time, especially when there are so many interesting places to travel to in the real world.¡± Yun Xian nodded his head to agree. ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± ¡°What about your mother? How is she now?¡± ¡°She¡¯s fine. She still teaches literature at school.¡± "" ¡°Is she a very strict teacher? My high school Chinese teacher was really tough. I still remember how she taught us.¡± Yun Xian raised an eyebrow. ¡°As far as I know, her students are afraid of her.¡± Jiang Ying made an ¡°oh¡± sound and repeated, ¡°It¡¯s over for me.¡± Yun Xian didn¡¯t know what to say for a moment. He raised his hand and poked her forehead. ¡°Now you¡¯re worried about your relationship with her as mother-in-law and daughter-in-law?¡± Jiang Ying covered her forehead and denied, ¡°No way!¡± ¡°You really don¡¯t have to worry about it. If she knew I was in love, she would probably worship you1.¡± Jiang Ying glared at him as if he was joking. But after thinking about it, she and Yun Xian had just started their relationship. It would be a long time before they met their parents. It¡¯s really unnecessary to worry about it now. After that brief second of worry, Jiang Ying took a bite of the red bean porridge. The sweet taste spread through her tongue. It is more important to enjoy the moment. ¡ª¡ª When Li Zhicheng said that she could finally get off work, Jiang Ying felt that she had returned to being 17 years old for a second. She was in her first class of the morning: math. It was long and boring. She would fiddle with her watch to count how long it would be before the class was over. The moment the bell rang, the whole world lit up. ¡°Go home, clean up, and have a good sleep. Everyone has worked hard,¡± Li Zhicheng yawned and sluggishly comforted his employees. ¡°When we arrive in Shanghai, I¡¯ll treat everyone to dinner.¡± Two chapters of the main story had to be updated in order to align with the mid-summer promotion and the anime expo in June. The schedule was tight and there were many important tasks to accomplish. In addition to that, there are many things that need to be changed and adjusted according to the feedback from players. By the time everything was done by the deadline, the whole office had been squeezed dry. Zhou Qingqing couldn¡¯t sit straight and fell asleep at her desk. Jiang Ying covered her with a blanket and packed up her things to get off work. It¡¯s only ten o¡¯clock in the morning, but after staying up the whole night, she was sleepy. She couldn¡¯t do anything to help her fatigue, so she stayed awake. When she reached Cloudside, Su Cheng was squatting at the door smoking. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Jiang Ying asked him. ¡°Sister, why are you here?¡± When Su Cheng saw her, he immediately got up and took out the cigarette in his mouth. He looked like he had seen a ghost. Jiang Ying looked at the caf¨¦ and answered , ¡°I just got off work. I wanted to come by the caf¨¦ for something to eat.¡± Su Cheng: ¡°Oh, so it¡¯s like that.¡± Jiang Ying looked at the way he stood at the door in shock and felt amused. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? I¡¯m not allowed in yet?¡± ¡°Hey, no, that, sister¡­¡± Su Cheng did not know how to explain it to her. He could only rub his stubbles and worry about it helplessly. Jiang Ying saw his strange expression and sensed something was wrong. She put away her smile and asked him, ¡°Where is your boss?¡± ¡°Inside, fighting¡­¡± As Su Cheng was speaking, an angry outburst came from the room inside. ¡°Have you ever thought of me as a person? Have you ever treated me as an actual person? Do you know how we felt since we were little when you told me and Yun Qian that it would be better if we were never born?¡± ¡°In the past 20 years, did you think I was happy when you were sad and miserable?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. Giving birth to me was the worst decision you have ever made. I really believe that!¡± ¡°More than you, more than you and your ex husband, I hope I don¡¯t exist!¡± CH 17.2 The Seventeenth Cup of Coffee Part 2 The voice came from past the hallway, and Jiang Ying could not hear everything that was said in the room. But with the few words she was able to catch, it struck her like thunder. She was confused and did not know whether to go in or not. The person who was having an outburst at this moment was like a trapped animal screaming in despair. It was the same person who was the most gentle existence she had ever met in her 20+ years of living. And she had never dared to imagine that Yun Xian would say something like ¡°I hope I don¡¯t exist¡±. Su Cheng pulled Jiang Ying out and closed the door. He said in a soft voice, ¡°The boss answered the phone and it sounded like it was someone from his family. I guess something happened because he started fighting without saying a greeting. He is never happy whenever he answers a phone call from his family.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going in to see him,¡± Jiang Ying stated and tried to go in. ¡°Hey, sister.¡± Su Cheng stopped her. ¡°It¡¯s better to not go in. He¡¯s upset, so let him deal with it for a bit.¡± Jiang Ying opened her mouth, but could not say anything. With a heavy sigh, she leaned against the door and put her hand out in front of Su Cheng. ¡°Give me a cigarette.¡± Su Cheng was surprised. He took out a cigarette and the lighter from his pocket and handed it over to her. Jiang Ying was about to light the cigarette in her mouth when she remembered that she had told Yun Xian she would quit smoking. She closed the lid of the lighter with a snap and tousled her hair impatiently. ¡°Forget it.¡± Not long after that, Yun Xian came out and shouted to Su Cheng, ¡°Su Cheng, I¡¯m going back to Beijing for a few days. Call me if something comes up.¡± Su Cheng quickly replied, ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Yun Xian briskly walked to the door and saw Jiang Ying standing there. After what had just happened, he hid his annoyed expression and forced himself to put on a smile. He asked her, ¡°Why are you here?¡± Jiang Ying didn¡¯t answer his question and asked instead, ¡°Are you going back to Beijing? Did something happen?¡± Su Cheng intentionally went back in to leave them alone to talk. It was hard to explain, so Yun Xian only said, ¡°Something happened at home. I¡¯ll tell you later. I have to go to the airport now. Wait for me to come back.¡± ¡°Yun Xian.¡± Jiang Ying took his arm. ¡°I¡¯m going with you.¡± Jian Ying saw that he didn¡¯t respond immediately and grabbed his hand. She said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to get involved with whatever is happening to your family. I just want to be with you. Maybe there is something I can help you with. Let me go with you, okay?¡± The gloom that surrounded him seemed to have suddenly diffused. Yun Xian raised his hand to touch Jiang Ying¡¯s cheek. His heart was aching. ¡°Okay.¡± It took 40 minutes to get to the airport. Jiang Ying drove the car, while Yun Xian was talking with different people. The first question was always ¡°Is Yun Qian with you?¡± After going through all the people in his address book, Yun Xian finally put down his cell phone and leaned back into the chair. Jiang Ying glanced at him and asked, ¡°Did your brother run away from home?¡± Yun Xian said weakly, ¡°He hasn¡¯t been doing well with his studying lately and had a fight with our mother. Today, the teacher called and said that he didn¡¯t go to class. I don¡¯t know where the kid went.¡± Jiang Ying comforted him, ¡°He¡¯s not a kid and knows what to do. Maybe he is tired and wants to run away for a while.¡± Yun Xian rubbed his temples. ¡°I know.¡± Yun Xian was in a bad mood, so Jiang Ying didn¡¯t say anything else. They hastily bought tickets for the next flight, and it was past two o¡¯clock in the afternoon when they landed. After they took a look at the surveillance cameras at the community¡¯s gate, they knew that Yun Qian had walked in the opposite direction of the school that morning. However, it was difficult to find out where he went afterwards. Xia Zhi, Yun Xian¡¯s mother, had two public classes in a row that morning and had no time to check her cell phone. Teacher Tao, Yun Qian¡¯s homeroom teacher, thought that he was sick and that was the reason why he didn¡¯t go to school. He was a good student with great grades, so she never thought that he would skip class. Xia Zhi¡¯s first reaction when she knew that her younger son had not gone to class was to call her older son, who she also couldn¡¯t control. In her view, part of Yun Qian¡¯s sudden rebellion was something he had learned from Yun Xian, and Yun Xian¡¯s defiance was inherited from Yun Chengfan. They couldn¡¯t bear it, so they tried to escape from reality. Father and son were the same: cowardly and shameful. The mother and son argued after a few words. They have been sitting in the police station the entire time. Each person was on different sides, and neither of them paid attention to the other. Jiang Ying was standing next to Yun Xian. This was her first time meeting his mother, so she was very reserved. Since the atmosphere was awkward now, she was even more uncomfortable. When the police officer heard that it was a senior in high school who had gone missing, he was pretty relieved. He asked them, ¡°Where does the kid usually go? If he doesn¡¯t want to go to class, then he probably went to the Internet caf¨¦.¡± Xia Zhi shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s impossible for him to go there. His ID card is at home, and he doesn¡¯t have a cell phone. Where else can a child go?¡± Yun Xian calmly explained the situation to the police officer, ¡°He usually stays at home or goes to school. I contacted my relatives and his friends and they all said that they didn¡¯t see him. There¡¯s only a few places he could go alone and he only has a few hundred yuan on him. Can you check the surrounding surveillance cameras?¡± While smoking, the police officer was writing the report, ¡°It¡¯ll take too much time to look through it. Maybe he will come back on his own if we wait.¡± Jiang Ying pulled Yun Xian¡¯s sleeve and asked in a low voice, ¡°Does he have any hobbies? For example, if he likes astronomy, then he might go to the museum, or maybe he likes to play basketball?¡± Yun Xian lowered his head and said nothing. Jiang Ying thought he didn¡¯t understand, and continued, ¡°When you are in a bad mood, you will probably do something you like. Maybe he just wants to find a place to vent.¡± ¡°Jiang Ying.¡± Yun Xian finally looked up. The light landed on the side of his face and shoulder. It highlighted his dark circles from the lack of sleep and the fatigue in his eyes. ¡°Yun Xian most likely doesn¡¯t have any hobbies.¡± It was better to say he couldn¡¯t. Anything that was not related to learning was a waste of time. Anything he liked would be shut down by these words: ¡°Wait until the college entrance exams are over. Your main duty now is studying.¡± Over time, any hobbies and interests that could have brought him joy would lose that effect. During the long silence, the light shifted. Yun Xian¡¯s entire body was in the shadows. He finally remembered that his brother used to like flying machines. When did Yun Qian stop talking to him about spaceflight, or mentioning space probes, or bringing up terms that were so fascinating in his eyes? It seemed like it happened one weekend, when Xia Zhi took the brothers to the bookstore. Yun Qian was very happy to have a copy of The Vastness of the Universe. The book was very thick, and the specialized topics it discussed were too hard for a child at seven or eight years old to understand. However, the pictures alone made Yun Qian interested in it. He did not know what was needed to invest in a manned spaceflight, he just couldn¡¯t resist the curiosity he had about the deepest parts of the universe. However, the book Yun Qian liked so much could not be taken home. No matter how persistent he was and how much he described how interesting the book was, Xia Zhi ultimately retorted, ¡°Can your test scores be higher than it?¡± He was so crushed that he had no words to talk back. That day, Yun Qian didn¡¯t throw a tantrum and obediently put the book back on the shelf. Xia Zhi patted his head with satisfaction and stated with a smile, ¡°How about I take you and your brother to eat pizza tonight?¡± As for whether his brother was happy later, Yun Xian did not remember. Maybe he forgot it pretty soon. He was a child then after all. ¡°Isn¡¯t it pathetic?¡± Yun Xian asked Jiang Ying in a hoarse voice. ¡°He doesn¡¯t even have anything he likes.¡± He was talking about Yun Qian, but he seemed to be talking about himself. CH 18.1 The Eighteenth Cup of Coffee Part 1 Checking the surveillance cameras really took a lot of time and energy. Xia Zhi¡¯s patience had worn thin. Her worry from the beginning had transformed into agitation and she couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. She frowned and complained, ¡°He¡¯s already that old and caused so much worry, everyday he only knows how to cause trouble!¡± Yun Xian did not have the energy to reason with her. He only concentrated on the screen to try and find a familiar figure in the crowd. Yun Qian had always been sensible and obedient. He could take care of himself and was familiar with the area. Because of this, Yun Xian was even more worried. No one knew where exactly he would go, what he would do, and what his mental state would be. About an hour later, Yun Xian took off his glasses and rubbed his red eyes. Jiang Ying took a bottle of eye drops out of her bag and gave it to him. Yun Xian took the small black bottle and asked her softly, ¡°Are you tired?¡± Jiang Ying shook her head. Her body was worn out since she had stayed up all night. The trip to another city already exhausted her physically, but her mind was tense and she couldn¡¯t relax. While they were going through the cameras, Xia Zhi had answered a few phone calls. She was the faculty head and was in charge of an important class. She had a lot of things she needed to take care of. Jiang Ying got up and poured a cup of water. With a small smile to Xia Zhi, she put the paper cup next to her. Xia Zhi had been busy all day and had no time to think about anything else. She stopped Jiang Ying and apologized, ¡°I¡¯m really sorry about today. You traveled from so far away and ended up here.¡± Jiang Ying smiled and shook her head. Xia Zhi¡¯s mobile phone rang again. Seeing that it¡¯s from Yun Qian¡¯s homeroom teacher, she quickly picked it up. ¡°Hello, Teacher Tao¡­ he came back to the school? That¡¯s good, really good. We¡¯ll come right away.¡± Yun Xian also heard it and sighed with relief. He got up and said to the police behind him, ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, we wasted your time.¡± The policeman waved his hand. ¡°I¡¯m just doing my job. Go back and properly talk to the kid!¡± Yun Xian repeatedly replied that he would and walked out with a long stride. Jiang Ying and Xia Zhi followed him and rushed back to school. In the office, Yun Qian, who had been missing the entire day, was sitting on the armchair with his head down. Yun Xian stopped at the door, panting. He took a few breaths to calm down. Teacher Tao saw that the family had come. She got up to leave and give them some space. ¡°He has already admitted his mistakes to me. You must have a proper talk with him. Yun Qian has always been a good one.¡± Yun Xian nodded. ¡°Thank you, teacher.¡± Jiang Ying was standing behind Yun Xian. She wasn¡¯t sure what was going through his mind and she was wondering how to stop him if there was a fight later. Yun Xian stepped forward and put his hand on the boy¡¯s head. He asked in a low voice, ¡°Did you eat anything? Are you hungry?¡± Yun Qian was quite surprised, and shook his head blankly. The school uniform shirt was loose, and it looked airy on the boy¡¯s thin body. His facial features are very similar to Yun Xian¡¯s, but they were younger and softer. He probably knew that he had caused trouble, so he was sitting quietly, as if waiting for his fate. ¡°Let¡¯s go home first. You won¡¯t be able to study this evening. I¡¯ll request a leave of absence for you from the teacher.¡± Yun Xian took his book bag. He even jokingly said, ¡°You brought so many books with you to run away from home. The top student really can¡¯t fail.¡± Yun Qian blushed at what he said, and wondered whether his brother had said something ironic to chastise him. Xia Zhi was standing to the side and finally said, ¡°Take him back first. I still have two self-study night classes.¡± Then she turned and went out without looking back. Jiang Ying silently sighed. This family is really hard to figure out. On the way back, Jiang Ying thought Yun Xian would have an interrogation, but he didn¡¯t say anything besides asking if they had anything they wanted to eat and whether beef noodles were okay. It was probably the first time that Yun Qian had done something bad, and he was ready to be severely criticized. In the end, no one scolded him, which made him even more nervous. He glanced cautiously at Yun Xian, who was opening a take out app to seriously put in an order. ¡°Brother, don¡¯t you have anything to scold me about?¡± Jiang Ying couldn¡¯t help it, and bursted out laughing, ¡°You really wish he was scolding you.¡± Yun Xian also thought it was funny and pinched his cheek. ¡°Yes, how dare you skip school and end up running back to school. Are you terrified?¡± Yun Qian grimaced and covered a part of his face, muttering, ¡°I didn¡¯t want to skip.¡± ¡°Then what did you want to do? Is the world so big that you want to go and see it?¡± ¡°I just didn¡¯t want to go to school.¡± Yun Qian¡¯s voice got smaller and smaller. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I scored well on my exams or if my homework is correct or not. Teacher Tao told me that the exams will be finished in two weeks, and if I endure it, then it will soon be over. But for me, it¡¯s the same if it¡¯s a year, two weeks, or tomorrow. I feel numb. I can¡¯t pay attention in class, and I feel sick when I see an exam. I don¡¯t know what I want to do. When I sit in the classroom, I just feel pain. I feel like I¡¯m suffocating.¡± After that, Yun Qian leaned his head against the window in a daze and stared at the buildings that were flashing by. After a while, he spoke again, ¡°Brother, do you think I¡¯m a hypocrite? I really feel like I¡¯m suffering.¡± Yun Xian¡¯s hand was clenched into a fist. After a while, he loosened it and patted Yun Qian on the shoulder. How should he comfort his younger brother? Tell him that the future was far away and that it wasn¡¯t a big deal? But Yun Xian looked back at the 30 years he had lived and only saw endless pain. When his brother was two years old, his parents divorced. In Yun Qian¡¯s mind, he did not have one memory of a complete family. But Yun Xian did. He witnessed the collapse of a peaceful and happy family. When his parents argued, he could always hear something like ¡°I¡¯ve sacrificed ___ and ___ for this family¡± as if he and his brother¡¯s existence was constantly depriving them of their happiness and future. He kept his head down to study, to work, to live. Why did he resign? Why did he leave Beijing? It was because he realized one day that he did not have any emotions. He suffered from insomnia every night and was unable to sleep. Almost asleep but conscious, Yun Xian always saw himself trapped at the bottom of the ocean. His body falling with no end, unable to see the sun or take in the fresh air. On the verge of death, the blood gradually slowed down, and the weak pulse was only beating to maintain the last breath to live. If a person felt pain while breathing, how could he continue to be alive? CH 18.2 ¡°Life is really hard. Day after day, you always have something to worry about. However, no matter whether it is sunny or rainy tomorrow, there will always be something worth looking forward to.¡± The branches outside the window quickly passed by, and the rays of the setting sun landed on Jiang Ying¡¯s cheek, alternating between light and shadow. Her voice was gentle and calm, like the evening wind in early summer that wrapped around the sweet cherry and gently brushed over the pedestrians who had been busy all day. ¡°I¡¯ve been working overtime for a week, and I haven¡¯t slept for 30 hours right now. However, I feel very happy when I think about how there will be a bowl of warm beef noodles later.¡± ¡°You see, happiness is actually very simple. As for those painful and bad memories, you will find that it is nothing but empty chatter.¡± When Jiang Ying finished talking and looked back at them, she saw that the brothers were staring at her. She coughed awkwardly and turned away from them. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Is chicken noodle soup for the soul stuff too cheesy for you?¡± Yun Qian quickly shook his head. ¡°No, not at all. Thank you. I understand what you said.¡± Even the driver who was silent the entire way could not help it and had to give her a thumbs up. ¡°Young miss, what you said is very good!¡± Yun Xian smiled and looked at Yun Qian. He asked the questions that everyone had been worried about all day. ¡°Where did you go alone today?¡± Jiang Ying quickly followed, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right, where have you been today? Have you eaten anything delicious?¡± Yun Qian concisely summed up his day of skipping school: ¡°I picked a bus at random, went on it for half the ride, came across a second-hand bookstore on the road, and read the parts of The Three-Body Problem1 that I haven¡¯t finished yet.¡± It was only then that Yun Xian remembered that there was one time his phone had died, so he borrowed a classmate¡¯s copy of The Three-Body Problem to watch. He did not pay attention to the time and watched it until it was two o¡¯clock at night. After his mother found out, she thoroughly checked his room the next day and threw away anything unrelated to his study. Back then, Yun Xian was also scolded, and his mother warned him not to cover it up or be sneaky. Yun Qian was probably very upset. He was only a few chapters away from finishing it. It was not easy to reserve it and sometimes took more than half a year to get it. Yun Xian asked him, ¡°How was the ending?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Yun Qian lowered his head and looked depressed. ¡°I don¡¯t know why. When I was reading, I was always distracted. I was wondering how other people had done on the exam or what unit they had reviewed up to. I forced myself to finish reading it, and when I closed the book, I realized that I didn¡¯t remember anything.¡± ¡°So you finally went back to school?¡± Yun Qian smiled shyly, ¡°I¡¯m a little embarrassed to say that. The moment I saw the school logo, I felt so peaceful.¡± Yun Xian sighed and said with unhappiness because iron didn¡¯t turn into steel2, ¡°So you¡¯re ashamed. It¡¯s the first time I saw a deserter come back and surrender.¡± Jiang Ying immediately glared at Yun Xian and motioned him to shut up. She turned around and smiled and said to Yun Qian, ¡°Is a student¡¯s main task running away? This is a record for us in the future to show that we fought a battle. Besides, it is not shameful to run away. I love running away.¡± Yun Xian chuckled. ¡°You really know how to comfort him.¡± Jiang Ying glared at him again. He pursed his lips to show that he would shut up and made a gesture to tell her to continue. Jiang Ying went on, ¡°But it¡¯s true that running away can¡¯t solve the problem. You can disconnect yourself for a brief while, think about what you should do, or simply distract yourself and change your mood. After that, you still have to face the problem.¡± "" After Jiang Ying¡¯s encouragement, it was Yun Xian¡¯s turn to give him advice. He put on an older brother¡¯s attitude and said with a stern face, ¡°I didn¡¯t scold you because I know you¡¯ve worked hard and I understand the reason why. But you really did something bad today, and made everyone worry about you all day.¡± Yun Qian confessed, ¡°I know, it¡¯s my fault.¡± Seeing his honesty, Yun Xian nodded with satisfaction and asked, ¡°Do you regret it now?¡± Yun Qian replied without hesitation, ¡°I don¡¯t regret it. At least when I took the first step, I felt relieved.¡± ¡°The college entrance exam is nothing to be afraid of. Haven¡¯t you always done well?¡± When Yun Xian finished speaking, they had just arrived at their destination. It was already five o¡¯clock, and the sun was still shining in early summer. It rained two days ago. The air today was clean, and the sky was blue with white clouds floating. Yun Qian finally showed his first smile today, and his eyes brightened. It looked like he had relieved the pressure he had on himself, and really went into the battle dressed lightly. ¡°I know, I have passed so many tests, and I won¡¯t do badly on this last one!¡± While the atmosphere gradually turned warm, Jiang Ying silently raised her hand. ¡°I don¡¯t want to ruin the mood, but there are still many horrible exams in college.¡± Yun Qian was an innocent high school student and his naive eyes widened. He asked a question that made them laugh so hard that they couldn¡¯t answer. ¡°Isn¡¯t college fun?¡± It¡¯s better to not frighten the student preparing for the exam. Yun Xian handed him the book bag and the key to the house. ¡°Go up first. The delivery should be arriving soon. If you are hungry, you can eat first.¡± Yun Qian asked, ¡°Where are you going?¡± ¡°I¡¯m taking sister Xiao Jiang to buy some necessities. She will stay at our home tonight.¡± When Yun Qian went upstairs, Jiang Ying realized something: she was suddenly staying at someone¡¯s home. She was embarrassed. ¡°Actually, I can go to a hotel.¡± Yun Xian looked down at her. ¡°What are you embarrassed of?¡± Jiang Ying¡¯s eyes widened. She raised her voice and bluffed, ¡°How am I embarrassed?¡± Yun Xian pointed to himself and then pointed to Yun Qian, who was going upstairs. ¡°You will sleep in my room and I will sleep in Xiao Qian¡¯s room. It¡¯s more convenient to stay at our home and go to the airport tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s like that.¡± Jiang Ying nodded and walked away to hide her guilt. But before she could take a step, Yun Xian grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Aren¡¯t we going to the supermarket?¡± ¡°I want to do something first.¡± As soon as he spoke Yun Xian held her wrist and walked to the corridor. The sun was setting in the west, and the street lamps were not on yet. The corridor was dark and empty. Any subtle sound was amplified and could be heard clearly. Jiang Ying was lightly pushed by Yun Xian, and her back pressed against the concrete wall. She felt a small rough sensation against her back. She moved uncomfortably, but he recognized that she had a tendency to run away. Yun Xian had always shown his gentle side, so she was unprepared. When he held Jiang Ying¡¯s wrists over her head with one hand and held her waist with the other hand, he leaned in and kissed her. Jiang Ying¡¯s heart was suspended in the air and she felt more nervous than ever before. The author has something to say: It¡¯s almost done. CH 19.1 Such a strong and open display of love from Yun Xian almost instantly ignited a spark in Jiang Ying¡¯s body and exploded all the way. They shared the same joy that came rushing to their heads. This was not their first time ever kissing, but it was the first time that it was so intense and tender. It was like in the next second, all their desires and desires poured out. They were standing on cloud nine and their background was the ocean. The only thing left in their eyes was their feelings for each other. Yun Xian kissed Jiang Ying¡¯s lip and nibbled on it occasionally. When Jiang Ying felt sore and wanted to push him away, he softened the kiss. Then, he circled her tongue and gently went deeper. When Jiang Ying was about to be out of breath, Yun Xian finally withdrew. Lipstick was left on the corner of his lips, and the faint red color made it hard for Jiang Ying to look. Yun Xian raised his hand and wiped Jiang Ying¡¯s wet lips with his thumb. Then, he wiped his own with the back of his hand and asked, ¡°How is it so sticky?¡± Jiang Ying turned red and looked away. She found a napkin in her bag and handed it to him. ¡°I applied lip gloss.¡± Yun Xian took the napkin and opened it up. After that, he wiped the saliva, which he didn¡¯t know whether it was his or hers, and the sticky lip gloss from his hand. Jiang Ying took out another one and wiped his lips for him. She did not forget to take the chance to grumble, ¡°Do you always like to make surprise attacks?¡± Yun Xian pinched her cheeks and did not explain what he had been aroused by. He only said, ¡°It¡¯s hard to hold it in.¡± He took half a step forward, forcing Jiang Ying closer. He asked in a low voice, ¡°Did you put on makeup today?¡± ¡°Strictly speaking, it was yesterday¡¯s.¡± Yun Xian asked another question, ¡°Does the neck have makeup?¡± ¡°Of course, otherwise there will be a color difference. Did I wear makeup for too long¡­¡± And it cracked? Before Jiang Ying finished speaking, Yun Xian pulled on her collar a bit. She wore an extremely loose T-shirt today, and most of her shoulders were exposed. Yun Xian stroked the tattoo on her left shoulder. Then, he lowered his head, and moved her bra strap with his teeth. Jiang Ying almost forgot to breathe for a moment, and her heart was swaying in the air. Yun Xian gently lightly sucked on her shoulder skin. The strength gradually increased. The pain and the tickling from his hair mingled. Jiang Ying couldn¡¯t stop a light moan from coming out. The intellectual gold wire glasses were still on his nose, but his eyes and the surrounding features were so unrestrained and passionate. Jiang Ying was numb all over. She raised her hand and touched his face. Yun Xian grabbed her hand and moved it to his waist to let her hold onto it. The meticulous kiss continued with a little sting. At last, another rose bloomed beside the red rose. Yun Xian kissed the red and swollen spot and pulled the collar up for her. They both had a bit of desire to go further. Jiang Ying sensed a change in Yun Xian. After calming down her breathing and heartbeat, she asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Yun Xian hugged her more tightly. He hesitated for a few seconds between dodging it or telling her the truth. He chose the latter. ¡°I didn¡¯t want you to follow me and endure the suffering.¡± Jiang Ying stroked his back and said, ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want you to see my family. I can be honest with everything I have, but my family is the only thing I can¡¯t. I can talk to you about it occasionally though. I need to face it head on, but sometimes I don¡¯t want to, and I don¡¯t want to take you with me.¡± Yun Xian paused for a few seconds. He was thinking about where he should start the explanation. ¡°My mother gave up graduate school and married my father because she was pregnant with me. She often said later that if she had not given birth to me, then her life would not have been like this. When Yun Qian was two years old, they divorced and had a long fight over the custody agreement. She raised me and her brother alone. It was very hard, but I stood by her all my life. But gradually, I felt that her existence was like a shackle. I didn¡¯t have anything I liked to do or didn¡¯t like to do, just whether I was obligated to do it or not. I was tired from work, and I was even more tired when I came home and had to deal with her.¡± Yun Xian sighed softly, ¡°Sometimes I don¡¯t know who¡¯s fault it is.¡± ¡°Do you remember when we first met?¡± ¡°Yesh, it¡¯s your birthday. What is it?¡± ¡°Meeting you was the best thing that happened to me that day. So Yun Xian, thank you for existing in the world.¡± Before Yun Xian could say anything, they heard footsteps coming from the building. Jiang Ying immediately pushed him away and took a step back. She urgently said to him, ¡°Let¡¯s go, quickly.¡± They walked out of the corridor, Yun Xian saw that the back of her white T-shirt was dirty from being against the wall. Guilty, he touched the tip of his nose and took off her thin sports jacket to cover her. Jiang Ying didn¡¯t understand. ¡°I¡¯m not cold?¡± Yun Xian pointed at her back. ¡°Your clothes are dirty.¡± Upon hearing this, Jiang Ying¡¯s eyes widened. While twisting her body to look at her clothes, she muttered, ¡°Let me tell you, you really chose a great place.¡± Yun Xian could only smile apologetically and nudged Jiang Ying to keep walking. ¡°I¡¯ll wash it for you.¡± CH 19.2 When they came back from the supermarket, they saw that Yun Qian had fried two eggs for them. They didn¡¯t have any time to eat lunch after such a busy day. Jiang Ying rubbed her stomach when she smelled noodle soup. She couldn¡¯t resist the hunger anymore. Yun Xian saw that Jiang Ying took big bites. The eggs were gone in two or three bites. He asked her, ¡°Do you want any more eggs?¡± Jiang Ying shook her head. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine¡­ Why don¡¯t you give me a bite of yours?¡± Yun Xian smiled and put the entire fried egg that he had not touched into her bowl. ¡°It¡¯s for you.¡± Yun Xian was attentive about these small things. He always remembered what other people liked. He had been an older brother for a long time, and he habitually let others have their way. However, Jiang Ying did not feel comfortable seeing Yun Xian like this, especially after he became closer with his family today. She hoped that Yun Xian could also act like a spoiled child and not be so sensible and caring forever. Yun Xian saw that Jiang Ying was lost in her thoughts and pinched her earlobe with a smile. ¡°What are you thinking? Eat the noodles quickly.¡± After deciding on only one bite, Jiang Ying bit off a small piece of fried egg and chewed it happily. She returned the rest to Yun Xian. ¡°Your baby brother fried it for you. Why don¡¯t you try it? Xiao Qian¡¯s egg is much better than mine.¡± Yun Xian said, ¡°He can cook.¡± Jiang Ying also took a few pieces of stewed beef from her bowl and gave it to Yun Xian. She patted him on the head. ¡°Today, our previous older brother has also worked hard, so eat some more meat.¡± Yun Xian was surprised. He raised his hand and lightly flicked Jiang Ying¡¯s forehead with his index and middle finger. He smiled and asked, ¡°Are you coaxing a child?¡± Jiang Ying shook her head and replied, ¡°I am coaxing my boyfriend.¡± After dinner, Yun Xian cleared the table and Jiang Ying wandered around the living room. Almost every family had a wall that was filled with their children¡¯s certificates growing up. Whenever someone came to visit, that wall would always be a tourist attraction that everyone checked out. Jiang Ying¡¯s family also had a wall with a few awards. The highest award she had received was only a class ¡°three-good¡± student award1. At this moment, Jiang Ying was facing a whole cabinet of certificates and trophies. It was only then that she understood the history of a top student¡¯s achievements. She randomly took out a few to have a closer look. There was second place award in the national mathematics competition, first place award in a physics competition, and a second place trophy in the Morningstar Sci-Fi Essay Competition¡­ The top two shelves were Yun Xian¡¯s, and the lower one was Yun Qian¡¯s. There were trophies from when they were young to adulthood, and they had one for almost every subject. In addition, there are also a large number of municipal level ¡°three-good¡± student awards and outstanding class representatives. Everything was arranged by year. Jiang Ying could not help it and sighed, ¡°It¡¯s too frightening.¡± She turned to the man who was cleaning the table in the restaurant and sincerely said, ¡°Your genes are too strong.¡± Yun Xian glanced at the cupboard without a trace of emotion. ¡°There¡¯s still more. The award for first place in the kindergarten origami competition was also put away by my mother.¡± Jiang Ying carefully put the certificate in her hands back to the original position. She secretly put her hands together and respectfully bowed when Yun Xian was not looking. ¡°Jiang Ying.¡± Jiang Ying hurried over after hearing Yun Xian call her from the kitchen. Yun Xian shook the water off his hands. He picked a cherry and fed it to Jiang Ying. He handed the plate to her. ¡°Bring the cherries to Yun Xian and ask him if he wants water or something else to drink.¡± The cherry was sweet and sour. Yun Xian has already removed the core. She only ate the fruit itself. It was so good. ¡°Okay.¡± Jiang Ying took the plate and couldn¡¯t resist wanting another one. Yun Xian swatted her hand and said, ¡°I have another plate for you. Don¡¯t steal a third year student¡¯s food.¡± Jiang Ying giggled and brought the cherries to Yun Qian. The door was not closed tightly. Jiang Ying went to the door and looked in. She saw Yun Qian sitting on the chair and staring blankly. She knocked on the door, and the boy looked at her. Jiang Ying put the plate of cherries on the table: ¡°Your brother bought cherries. Try it. It¡¯s very sweet.¡± Yun Qian politely thanked her, ¡°Thank you, sister.¡± Jiang Ying asked another question, ¡°Well, are you thirsty? Do you want water or something to drink?¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right. I¡¯m not thirsty.¡± Jiang Ying nodded. ¡°Okay, then I guess you can go back to reading.¡± She walked to the door. She hesitated for a moment, but then turned back and said to Yun Qian, ¡°When I was small, I fell off my bike once. My left arm was almost dislocated, and I had a lot of scratches. I went home crying to find my mother. Guess what she did?¡± Yun Qian shook his head in surprise. ¡°Comfort you?¡± ¡°She beat me up and took me to the hospital while she scolded me.¡± Yun Qian was completely shocked. Jiang Ying¡¯s eyes curved and she said with a smile, ¡°Isn¡¯t it strange? She told me later that she was scared and worried to death. She didn¡¯t know what to do. She was so anxious that she gave me a beating.¡± ¡°Sometimes parents just don¡¯t know the right way to express themselves. Scolding you might not really mean that they blame you, but loving you doesn¡¯t need to be doubted.¡± Jiang Ying didn¡¯t know how much Yun Qian took in what she said at this moment. She smiled and left one last word, ¡°Don¡¯t think too much, just do your own thing without worrying.¡± Then, she went out and gently closed the door. CH 19.3 Xia Zhi came back at eight o¡¯clock. She held a thick stack of papers in her arms, still had the composure of a teacher. She went past Yun Xian on the sofa and asked Jiang Ying, ¡°What did you have for dinner?¡± ¡°Beef noodle soup.¡± Xia Zhi glared at Yun Xian. ¡°You don¡¯t know how to take a person to eat something good.¡± Jiang Ying quickly explained, ¡°Oh no, I said I wanted to eat noodles. I really wanted to eat it.¡± Xia Zhi immediately smiled and took Jiang Ying¡¯s hand. ¡°Have you been to Beijing before?¡± Jiang Ying replied obediently, ¡°I came with my friend a few years ago, but I only stayed for three days.¡± Xia Zhi said, ¡°There are many interesting places in Beijing. You can ask Yun Xian to take you to some places to visit in the future. He has nothing else to do anyway.¡± Yun Xian opened his mouth. He wanted to argue that a caf¨¦ owner was not a person who had nothing to do, but after thinking about it, he gave up and continued to watch his game. Yun Xian saw that Xia Zhi was about to go to Yun Qian¡¯s room, he immediately got up to stop her, ¡°I¡¯ve already talked to him. Don¡¯t upset him any more.¡± Xia Zhi turned around and shook the folder in her hand. ¡°Oh, so I can¡¯t give this quiz to your baby brother this evening? What kind of evil villain am I in your hearts?¡± Jiang Yin thought the atmosphere was not right. She looked at him, then her. She was caught in the middle and didn¡¯t know what to do. Fortunately, they were both tired after today, and didn¡¯t really have the strength to give the other a hard time. It looked like Xia Zhi really just went in to deliver the quiz and quickly came out of the room. Jiang Ying knew that Xia Zhi and Yun Xian had something to say, so she made an excuse to go back to Yun Xian¡¯s room to take a bath. When it was only the two of them left in the living room, Yun Xian and Xia Zhi realized that they had never really sat down and talked. In this type of ordinary situation, both sides did not know how to begin. They were unfamiliar with each other, like they were strangers. The commentator on the sports channel was pumping his arms in the air excitedly. At a decisive moment, the ball flew in the air, and the entire audience was focused on it. Yun Xian realized that he had seen the live broadcast earlier. He reached for the remote control and wanted to change the station. Xia Zhi sat on the sofa and asked softly, ¡°Do you always think I don¡¯t understand you?¡± Yun Xian pressed the button. ¡°No one knows better than me what shoe size you wear, what you like to eat, what you don¡¯t like to eat, and what your personality is like.¡± ¡°Are you certain?¡± Yun Xian¡¯s voice was calm and affirmative. ¡°What I like, what I am happy about, and what I am unhappy about. Are you really certain?¡± He turned to Xia Zhi and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know if Yun Qian has the same feelings, but sometimes I really feel like I¡¯m just your student.¡± After a pause, he said, ¡°Actually, I¡¯m not even as good as one of your students.¡± He didn¡¯t know which sentence was a direct hit to Xia Zhi. She frowned and raised her voice to question, ¡°What are you talking about? Aren¡¯t the things I do for your own good? Which student do I worry more about than you? In order to give you a life, don¡¯t you know how much I have suffered for you?¡± ¡°Of course I know! How many times do you think you have said that in front of us over the years? What you have sacrificed, what have you had to give up, what you have paid for this family? I¡¯m tired of hearing you talk about it all the time.¡± Yun Xian tried his best to control his emotions and lowered his voice, ¡°You think my resignation is nonsense. You think Yun Xian¡¯s truancy today is nonsense, but do you know?¡± He suddenly stopped and looked away. Tears formed at the bottom of his eyes. ¡°How fucking depressing it is to be at home.¡± Xia Zhi put a hand to her heart and gasped a few times. She was so choked up that she could not say anything. She looked at Yun Xian. They were physically very close but felt very distant. She remembered when Yun Xian had just learned to walk, she stood there and let her hand go. The little child staggered forward a few steps before he turned his head to look for her. Then, he waddled into her arms. He was so attached to her when he was young. Why did he want to run away from her and his family the more he grew up? Xia Zhi doesn¡¯t want to argue with Yun Xian. He rarely went home. She doesn¡¯t want them to leave on bad terms like last time. Yun Xian didn¡¯t even come back for New Years. Okay. That¡¯s it, Xia Zhi thought. She always said that Yun Chengfan was a failure as a father. Now, it seems like she didn¡¯t score as well either. There was a long silence in the living room. When the movie channel¡¯s evening programming was about to start, Xia Zhi pushed her glasses up and asked Yun Xian, ¡°When will you leave tomorrow?¡± The tone was the usual one, as if the hostility just now had not happened. Yun Xian answered in a hoarse voice, ¡°Eight o¡¯clock in the morning.¡± ¡°Go to bed early. You and Xiao Jiang are tired.¡± After that, she took the stack of papers and went back to her room. Jiang Ying hid behind the door and listened for a long time. Finally, when Xia Zhi returned to her room, she opened the door softly. Seeing her coming out, Yun Xian asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Nothing, I just wanted to tell you that I¡¯ve taken a bath. Go and take one.¡± Then, she yawned. Yun Xian took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. They were bloodshot. ¡°If you¡¯re sleepy, go to sleep first.¡± Jiang Ying nodded and went back to the room. Yun Xian¡¯s bed sheets were dark blue. There was no other furniture in the bedroom except a black desk and a dresser. Jiang Ying lied down under the blanket. She closed her eyes, and vaguely heard someone enter the bathroom. The dresser opened and closed. Just before her mind was about to go blank, she suddenly remembered that her mobile phone was still in her bag in the living room. Also, she forgot to set an alarm. She could only use all her will power to get up. She squinted and saw Yun Xian laying on the sofa with a blanket. ¡°Are you going to sleep here?¡± Jiang Ying asked. ¡°Yeah, Yun Qian¡¯s small bed can¡¯t fit both of us. He has to get up early to go to school tomorrow.¡± ¡°The sofa is too small.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right, it¡¯s just one night. Go to bed.¡± Jiang Ying touched the back of her neck and contemplated for a while. She decided to not let her boyfriend, who went through so much today, be mistreated. ¡°Don¡¯t sleep on the sofa. So, um, remember to turn off the light when you come in.¡± With that, she took her bag and quickly shuffled back to the room. She left the door open. Behind her, Yun Xian held the blanket and thought about it for a long time before he came to a decision. He smiled helplessly. He folded the blanket, turned off the light in the living room and went into the bedroom. The switch clicked and the room fell into darkness. A corner of the bed was left uncovered. Jiang Ying felt someone lay down beside her. She turned around and put her arms around Yun Xian¡¯s waist and buried herself into his arms. Yun Xian held her and she adjusted her position to make it more comfortable. ¡°If you can¡¯t sleep, then I can talk with you.¡± Jiang Ying¡¯s voice was tired and softer than usual. ¡°Do you remember the wish you made on your birthday?¡± Jiang Ying thought for a while and realized that she did not remember. Perhaps she was too sleepy, or perhaps she really forgot. ¡°What did I wish for?¡± ¡°You said that the wish you made last time did not come true, so you wished that all those who suffer from insomnia would have a good sleep tonight.¡± Yun Xian kissed Jiang Ying on the forehead. ¡°Your wish came true. I slept well that day.¡± Before falling asleep, Jiang Ying said her last words drowsily, ¡°Then in the future I will make all my wishes about you.¡± CH 20.1 That might have been something on Jiang Ying¡¯s mind. At five o¡¯clock the next morning, she woke up and saw that Yun Xian was still sleeping. She turned off the alarm on her cell phone and gently got out of bed to wash up. There was already someone in the living room. Jiang Ying went out and saw that Xia Zhi was busy in the kitchen. ¡°Auntie.¡± Xia Zhi saw her and smiled. ¡°You¡¯re up so early? Come and have breakfast first.¡± Jiang Ying nodded. There was plain congee on the table. She didn¡¯t know when Xia Zhi got up to prepare it. The birds in the trees outside chirped a few times and fluttered away. Jiang Ying held the bowl that was half filled with plain congee and took small sips. She felt warm and comfortable in her stomach. When the clock in the dining room reached 5:40, Yun Qian came out of the room and rubbed his eyes sluggishly. He went to the table and handed the quiz to Xia Zhi. ¡°I finished it, take a look.¡± Xia Zhi didn¡¯t take it. She scooped a bowl of congee and gave it to Yun Qian. ¡°Check your own quiz. The two classes you missed yesterday didn¡¯t mention anything important. You should be able to study the exercises. If you don¡¯t understand, go to the office and ask the teacher.¡± Yun Qian rubbed his eyes again. He looked like he saw a ghost. In the past, Xia Zhi wanted to look over every assignment and quiz. Seeing this, Jiang Ying handed the congee to Yun Qian. ¡°Put it away and have breakfast.¡± Yun Qian¡¯s mind came back. ¡°Oh.¡± Xia Zhi looked up and glanced at the clock. ¡°Yun Xian still isn¡¯t up?¡± Jiang Ying quickly explained, ¡°He slept late last night. It¡¯s fine, let him sleep some more.¡± Xia Zhi sighed and shook her head. ¡°Oh, Xiao Jiang, you don¡¯t have to be good to him. He looks like he is so magnificent, but he has many shortcomings. You¡¯ll have to suffer from it when you get married. By all means, don¡¯t spoil him.¡± Jiang Ying choked on her congee. Yun Qian interrupted his mother, ¡°Did you really say that about your own son?¡± Xia Zhi straightened up and stated, ¡°I can say that about my own son.¡± ¡°Brother tried so hard to find a girlfriend. Don¡¯t scare her away.¡± ¡°If I wanted to scare her away, then you already have by being the bad younger brother who cut class.¡± ¡­ On the way to the airport, Jiang Ying remembered what had happened at the dining table earlier in the morning and said to Yun Xian, ¡°Auntie seems a little different today.¡± ¡°What¡¯s different?¡± Jiang Ying thought while tapping her cheeks, ¡°It¡¯s like she has become cute?¡± ¡ª¡ª After the last spring rain, the weather gradually became hot. The sun outside was dazzling, the sky was cloudless, and the grape vines in the yard had fruit. In the summer, Cloudside Caf¨¦ had another worker¡ªYun Qian, who was hired to be a new employee just after the college entrance exam. On the last weekend of June, Jiang Ying was on a business trip in Shanghai. During the two-day anime expo, ¡°Little World¡± had a caf¨¦ themed booth on the floor. Jiang Ying had put away her work ID and was secretly hiding to slack off. The customers entering the caf¨¦ were all young girls wearing beautiful dresses and delicate makeup. Jiang Ying looked at the group of young girls and sighed to Yun Xian, ¡°It¡¯s nice to be young. Youth is eternal.¡± Yun Xian chuckled at the other end of the phone. ¡°Why are you shedding tears over the changing seasons1 at the anime expo?¡± Jiang Ying asked him, ¡°Are you busy at the caf¨¦?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. Xiao Qian is very quick in doing things, but I, as the boss, have it quite easy. How about you? Aren¡¯t you busy? You have time to call me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not busy. There are handsome waiters outside, so what else do they need me for?¡± Jiang Ying said this and got excited. ¡°Let me tell you, the cosplayer we found this time is awesome. He¡¯s so handsome. Oh, you should know what cosplay is, right? It¡¯s role-playing.¡± Yun Xian was silent for a few seconds. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Oh yes, I¡¯ll show you the photos.¡± Jiang Ying hung up the phone and sent Yun Xian the photos she had secretly taken on her cell phone. The handsome guy cosplaying as Jian Ying had well defined features. He was wearing a button down and trousers with gold wire glasses. A refined degenerate was on the verge of being exposed to the open. When Jiang Ying took the photo, he was standing at the register and taking orders for two customers. Half a minute later, a message popped up on her cell phone. See the Mountain: Imitation. Jiang Ying let out a chuckle. Orange Sunset: I don¡¯t think he¡¯s inferior to the genuine one. After that, Yun Xian didn¡¯t reply. Something came up for Jiang Ying to do, so she put away her cell phone and got up to work. Jiang Ying did not expect that on the next day she would receive a phone call from Yun Xian. He said that he was at the gate of the exhibition hall. ¡°Do you have a ticket? How did you get in?¡± Yun Xian didn¡¯t answer. He only asked, ¡°Where are you? I¡¯ll go to find you.¡± Jiang Ying told him the place, and within a few minutes she saw Yun Xian coming closer. She jogged the entire way over and asked while she gasped for air, ¡°Why are you here?¡± Yun Xian put a hand in his pocket and looked around the caf¨¦? He said lightly, ¡°I¡¯m cracking down on fake goods.¡± Jiang Ying nodded helplessly. The man was so jealous that he was acting incredibly childish. ¡°Then how did you get in?¡± CH 20.2 Yun Xian held up the work ID to Jiang Ying¡¯s eyes and replied, ¡°Li Zhicheng gave it to me.¡± Jiang Ying looked at him suspiciously. ¡°When did you have such a good relationship with my boss?¡± Yun Xian pushed his glasses up and cleared her throat. ¡°I have told you before that I came to Xi City because of a friend. That friend is Li Zhicheng.¡± Before Jiang Ying could comprehend these words, Yun Xian continued, ¡°He is my college classmate and my roommate right now.¡± Jiang Ying: ¡­ ¡°Then why did you tell me you didn¡¯t know him well?¡± Yun Xian poked her forehead. ¡°If I told you that I was your boss¡¯s friend, would you still be comfortable with me?¡± Jiang Ying nodded and suddenly brought up something. ¡°Then you didn¡¯t tell him what I said to him behind his back, right?¡± Yun Xian chuckled. ¡°Do I look like that?¡± Jiang Ying breathed a sigh of relief. "" Yun Xian¡¯s eyes became fixated on the young man nearby. ¡°But if you try to provoke me again, then I don¡¯t know if I will not snitch.¡± Jiang Ying crossed her arms to protect herself and took a deep breath. Why did she suddenly give Yun Xian the upperhand? She frowned and sniffed to look extremely hurt. ¡°You lied to me first, and now you are threatening me. I know that I¡¯ve made a mistake.¡± Yun Xian didn¡¯t know how to react, so he could only pinch her cheeks. ¡°You¡¯re just copying me and putting on a performance, aren¡¯t you?¡± Jiang Ying took the chance to put her arms around Yun Xian¡¯s neck and hung onto him. ¡°Then you are not allowed to snitch. Li Zhicheng¡¯s anger is frightening.¡± Yun Xian firmly hugged Jiang Ying and was defeated by her flirtatious attack. ¡°There¡¯s really nothing I can do against you.¡± After work ended in the evening, Yun Xian and Jiang Ying went down memory lane. They went on the double deck bus on that same route on the same seat with the song playing on the headphones. Jiang Ying remembered something and asked Yun Xian, ¡°Why did you kiss me at that time?¡± Yun Xian¡¯s eyes went from the busy street to Jiang Ying. It took a long time for him to speak. ¡°Cherries, oranges, strawberries, roses, cigarettes or wine¡ªI want to know what you taste like.¡± The summer sun lingered on the world, and the world was still bright at dusk. Jiang Ying leaned over with a smile and kissed Yun Xian. ¡°I have more than one taste.¡± ¡ª¡ª Yun Xian recently fell in love with making cocktails. One day, Jiang Ying came to Cloudside after work. He was busy in the back kitchen alone, with all kinds of glasses in front of him. Jiang Ying jumped onto the table to sit, and asked Yun Xian, ¡°Are you tired of running a caf¨¦ and want to change it to a bar?¡± Yun Xian didn¡¯t answer, but took a piece of mint leaf and put it in carefully. He pushed the glass to Jiang Ying and said, ¡°Try it.¡± Jiang Ying carefully lifted the glass. There was a gradient effect: Orange mixed with pink in floating ice, then orange fruit mixed with whisky. Jiang Ying took a sip with a straw and critiqued, ¡°It¡¯s good, but it would be better if the alcohol was stronger.¡± Yun Xian put his arms on the table and leaned on it. He explained, ¡°This drink is called orange sunset.¡± Hearing this, Jiang Ying looked and stirred the liquid in the glass. She was joking as she said seriously, ¡°I¡¯ll have to charge the copyright fee.¡± Yun Xian smiled and tidied up the glasses on the table. ¡°I plan on adding some alcoholic drinks soon. This is one of them.¡± ¡°Cloudside¡¯s business seems to be doing well recently. Every time I come here, it¡¯s full of customers.¡± Jiang Ying jumped down from the table and helped Yun Xian clean up. ¡°Boss Yun, why don¡¯t you consider letting me invest? Let¡¯s make money together.¡± Yun Xian glanced at her as he wiped the glass and said in a flat tone, ¡°Forget about investing.¡± Jiang Ying felt like she was wronged. ¡°I help with the taste test every time there¡¯s a new product! When you said you couldn¡¯t fall asleep, I thought of ways to coax you to sleep! I even painted the mural on the wall for you! *sigh* If I can¡¯t even invest, then I¡¯m at too much of a loss!¡± ¡°Oh, it is a bit of a loss,¡± Yun Xian said when he learned about her reasoning. ¡°Then I can only let you make up for it by being the boss¡¯s wife.¡± After a pause, he added, ¡°This is even better, I¡¯ll save on the copyright fee.¡± After a long time, Jiang Ying came to a realization and asked, ¡°Did you just propose to me?¡± Yun Xian took the glass of alcohol and spent a bit of time adjusting the color. The bright orange concealed the light pink. It was like the sunset, peaceful and filled with warmth. Like Jiang Ying. ¡°Do you like Cloudside?¡± ¡°I like it.¡± ¡°How about I give it to you as a betrothal gift?¡± ¡ª¡ªThe End¡ª¡ª The author has something to say: It has been completed. I hope to present this story to everyone who has insomnia. See you in the next novel. Thank you for enjoying it. tarararawr¡¯s rararamblings: Extras will come later~ The author has also written a novel for Li Zhicheng (Jiang Ying¡¯s boss) and Zhou Yi. What are everyone¡¯s thoughts on me translating it? Thumbs up or comment below if you think I should (but it won¡¯t happen until maybe next year)! Title: Summer Solstice Rose (aka Good for You, Miser) Description: Li Zhicheng x Zhou Yi President of a Game Company X University English Teacher ¡ª¡ª Li Zhicheng before falling in love: the rich and stingy contemporary Eug¨¦nie Grandet1 Li Zhicheng after falling in love: the reincarnation of Jia Baoyu2 who is willing to spend a thousand dollars for a beauty¡¯s smile Zhou Yi before falling in love: a black belt in Taekwondo, an awesome woman who can lift a bucket with 18 liters of water to the sixth floor in one go Zhou Yi after falling in love: (only a blackout) squeals into his arms, pulling a corner of his jacket and whining, ¡°Senior, I¡¯m afraid~¡±