Early in the morning, Jiang Yumo was awakened by a burst of chord music, annoyed to no end. Groping around, she found her phone and pressed the answer button without even opening her eyes. Lazily, she said, “Hello,” until she realized that the phone’s texture felt different, bringing a hint of clarity back to her.
On the other end of the line, Zhou Ji heard a female voice.
He thought he had dialed the wrong number, so he moved the phone away to check the number, confirming it was indeed Lao Duan’s.
So…
Zhou Ji : “???”
He tentatively asked, “Sister?”
Jiang Yumo and Duan Ye had the same ringtone for their phones. Last night, Duan Ye’s phone had been in Jiang Yumo’s hands. When she got tired of playing, she had casually placed it by the pillow. When the phone rang, she thought it was her own phone and answered it by mistake.
Duan Ye was still in the kitchen boiling eggs.
He came out upon hearing the ringtone.
Jiang Yumo was curled up, holding his phone.
He walked over and first patted her head to soothe her. Then, gently and slowly, he took the phone from her hand and softly said, “It’s mine.”
Jiang Yumo widened her eyes and turned to look at him.
Duan Ye glanced at the caller ID and added, “It’s Zhou Ji calling.”
…Oh.
Jiang Yumo regained her composure in a second, feeling a bit embarrassed. After all, this was the first time she had seen him after waking up. She quickly buried herself under the blanket, pretending to be asleep.
Duan Ye pulled the blanket over her a little more.
Then he walked out of the room with the phone and stood in the hallway to answer the call, saying, “What’s up?”
It was still early, just seven o’clock. Zhou Ji was usually a heavy sleeper who couldn’t be woken up no matter how hard you knocked on the door. Why was he calling at this hour?
Zhou Ji set aside his envy, jealousy, and resentment, and started talking about the matter at hand. “I’m going to pick up Zhiyu later. I got up early and unexpectedly ran into an acquaintance in the hotel lobby. Well, not exactly an acquaintance, but rather a driver-secretary my maternal grandfather used to hire when he was active on this side of the mainland. He’s now doing business as well. I chatted with him for a few sentences. He’s partnering with someone to develop a vacation resort on a piece of land near our city. From what he implied, if we’re interested, he can hand over the project details to us. It’s not the same as a barebones construction project; he’s focusing on interior decoration. Apart from aluminum alloy windows and reinforcement, there are tiles, wooden flooring, and the panel materials used for making cabinets.”
As Duan Ye listened, he asked, “This big? Handing it over to us?”
“How could that be,” Zhou Ji chuckled. “If we took on the entire thing, could you handle it? There are several big bosses involved, and they all have their own people. He’s asking if we’re interested. If we are, he’ll also make an effort. Lao Duan, I’m leaving this decision to you. If you say let’s do it, we’ll do it.”
“Can we trust him?” Duan Ye asked.
They were just a couple of young and inexperienced guys.
Zhou Ji laughed, “I said, Lao Duan, did you forget who I am? Let me put it this way : this person achieved today’s results, my grandfather also helped a bit. He’s quite grateful to my grandfather. I’m not the one who mightily asked him and stubbornly use my family’s name to make money and do business. Now, he was the one who took the initiative to ask if I’m interested. Lao Duan, just tell me, should we go for it?”
Duan Ye pondered for a moment and replied, “Sure.”
They originally had nothing.
Of course, they had to give it their all.
Zhou Ji said, “Alright, I exchanged contact information with him. He should be coming over at the end of October. We’ll talk more then.”
After discussing this matter, both Zhou Ji and Duan Ye were quite excited.
Duan Ye remembered something, cleared his throat, and provided some unnecessary explanation, “I laid the makeshift bed yesterday.”
Zhou Jile responded with a puzzled expression.
He leaned against something, “Don’t brag to me!”
After going through this experience together, Zhou Jile and Duan Ye had become close friends. Why Duan Ye explained, Zhou Jile understood. In fact, they could be considered as kindred spirits, both in similar situations. Who wouldn’t understand each other’s struggles? Before they had the ability to provide a clear future for her, who dared to be presumptuous?
Duan Ye smiled.
“Alright, I’m going to buy breakfast,” Duan Ye said.
“Okay, we’ll talk about the details when I get back,” Zhou Ji was still excited, “Lao Duan, just wait. We will definitely succeed.”
Who wouldn’t be excited?
Even though things hadn’t been finalized, there was a glimmer of hope.
Duan Ye leaned against the wall, thinking about Jiang Yumo still sleeping in the room. His mood was uplifted as if he had taken a step closer to that future.
Duan Ye hung up the phone, returned to the room, and saw Jiang Yumo hiding under the covers while looking at her phone.
With a new month, she had more mobile data again. Hearing his movements, she quickly slid her phone under the pillow and pretended to continue sleeping.
Duan Ye thought she had fallen asleep again, so he walked over as quiet as possible and glanced at her.
Shortly after, Jiang Yumo heard the rustling sound. She really wanted to turn over a bit and see what he was doing.
In reality, Duan Ye was writing a note.
He was going out to buy breakfast. Buying breakfast was just a pretense; mainly, he wanted to give her some space since he thought she might be shy. He had woken up before dawn today too.
Looking at her sleeping face, the feeling was even better than he had imagined.
Jiang Yumo squinted her eyes, listening to the sound of the door closing. She cautiously feigned turning over and quietly opened her eyes to take a peek. The room was quiet, and Duan Ye was nowhere to be seen. Without putting on her shoes, she tiptoed on the ceramic tiles and peeked into the kitchen and bathroom—both empty!
Twisting her head again, she saw a note under the cup on the table.
This was the cup handcrafted by her last winter during their trip to Yanjing.
There were the words ‘Drink more water’ on the cup’s surface.
[I’ve gone out to buy breakfast. You can give me a call once you wake up.]
Seeing this note, Jiang Yumo finally let out a sigh of relief. All the awkward things wouldn’t happen now! Duan Ye was truly considerate. The meaning of this note was that she should call him after she had everything tidied up, and only then would he return. Her time had come—next on the agenda was washing up, changing clothes, and maybe putting on some light makeup. She originally didn’t know how to, but during the summer vacation, following Yan Qing’s video tutorials, she learned quite a bit, though she still felt like a novice. Novices shouldn’t attempt heavy makeup; that would be a disaster…
She didn’t even dare to draw her eyebrows, fearing she’d end up looking like Crayon Shin-chan.
She only dared to apply some foundation, brush on blush, and lightly apply lipstick to brighten her complexion.
But even with just this, she already looked quite beautiful. After all, she was young and had good skin.
Once everything was done, Jiang Yumo gave Duan Ye a call. She even exaggerated a yawn, pretending she had just woken up!
After another ten minutes of waiting downstairs, Duan Ye finally returned with breakfast. In a small pot on the kitchen stove, eggs were being boiled. He had brought soy milk and small steamed buns… Jiang Yumo followed him and glanced at the bag he had placed on the floor, curiously asking, “You bought grapefruit too?”
“Yes. The vendor said they’re very sweet.”
Duan Ye had seen someone selling grapefruits from a cart and was reminded of that night during their third year of high school when he had also bought her a grapefruit on a whim and brought it back.
Clearly, Jiang Yumo also recalled that incident.
Though it had only been a little over a year, thinking back on it now felt like a long time ago. The emotions and sensations from that time were so youthful and naïve. In the hallway of the teaching building, when there was nobody around, she had secretly fed him a piece of grapefruit.
Now she finally understood why people said that the feelings from wearing school uniforms to wedding dresses are so romantic.
Marriage wasn’t something she had thought about yet.
They shared youthful memories that made them nervous and excited about holding hands, unable to sleep at night.
But they also had the intense passion of the adult world.
Her youth was with him, her adult days was with him—it was all with him.
This was her first time here, and Duan Ye had only been here a month longer than her. During the vacation, they had been contemplating whether to visit a park or a tourist attraction. However, seeing the blazing sun, Jiang Yumo insisted on staying indoors. She had a solid argument, “Parks and tourist spots all look the same across the country. It’s Golden Week now, so everywhere will be crowded. Even if we go, we’ll just be looking at people. I’m so tired!!”
As she spoke the latter sentence, she playfully sat on his lap, cuddling up to him, “You have no idea how I’ve survived this past month! Sunburned and exhausted, I just want to lie down forever.”
And that was the truth.
If the eight-person small group is present, she is willing to go out and play together with everyone, even climbing mountains.
With more people, everything becomes interesting. But now there are only the two of them, and in a few days, she will leave for school again. Naturally, she wants to stick together whenever possible.
Duan Ye also thinks this way, but he’s afraid she might find it boring. That’s why he suggested whether they should go out for a stroll.
He just wants to be with her.
For the next two days, the two of them are like newlyweds. They hold hands and go out shopping every day. Sometimes, when they’re in the mood, they go to the market and cook a meal together. Other times, when they’re feeling lazy, Duan Ye takes her to nearby malls to eat hotpot. This is probably what being married is like, Jiang Yumo thinks.
Every night, they chat until very late.
They talk about anything and everything.
Every morning when they wake up, the first thing they see is each other.
This small rented space is their little paradise. They are the happiest immortal couple.
Who else could experience such things?
Jiang Yumo couldn’t have imagined it, and neither could Duan Ye.
Even though they are both so young, they never thought they would do such things together in this lifetime.
One afternoon, Duan Ye was cutting fruit in the kitchen, while Jiang Yumo was taking out the trash. The phone on the table rang, and she picked it up. The caller ID showed Ning Zhiyu.
Without much thought, she answered the call.
“What’s up?”
There was a noisy background on the other side. Ning Zhiyu went to a quiet corner with her phone and said with a headache, “Yumo, I just wanted to let you know in advance, Zhou Ji is going back.”
Jiang Yumo was also frustrated by the thought of this!
Now she and Duan Ye will have an extra third wheel : Zhou Ji, who lives next door!
Ahhh!
“Okay.” Jiang Yumo still tried to restrain herself, not wanting to show her disdain for her friend’s boyfriend. It wouldn’t be good.
Ning Zhiyu : “The point is, I’m coming too.”
She couldn’t take it anymore. Even she, who is usually calm and composed, started venting, sounding frantic : “I’ve never seen anyone like this, really. How can there be such a person in the world? We had agreed that I would take him to the station. He promised me that he would work hard when he goes back. But when we got to the station, he started buzzing in my ear like Tang Monk chanting scriptures. And the most infuriating thing is, I don’t know if I’ve been possessed or what, but I actually agreed to him. By the time I realized it, he had taken my ID card and bought a ticket!”