Jiang Yumo’s unusual excitement naturally caught the attention of her roommates.
The roommate sitting next to her nudged her with an elbow and asked, “What’s going on? You seem so thrilled, as if you can’t wait to go on stage and crush some boulders with your chest.”
Jiang Yumo’s face almost froze in a smile. Upon hearing this, she quickly toned down her overly bright expression. Did she really show it that obviously?
The roommate nodded solemnly, “Yes, if you keep acting like this, the teacher might notice and call on you to answer a question.”
That was too serious.
Jiang Yumo hurriedly lowered her head, hoping not to be noticed by the teacher.
“Really, what happened?” the roommate inquired.
Trembling, Jiang Yumo picked up a pen and wrote on a piece of scrap paper—
[My boyfriend is here!!]
Her roommate looked surprised and wrote back on the paper : [??]
Jiang Yumo wrote : [Note, he sent me a note, he’s right here in the classroom!!!]
The roommate quickly turned her head and indeed noticed Duan Ye sitting in the corner. They had seen Duan Ye a few times at the beginning of the semester; it had only been a little over two months, so there was no way to forget.
The roommate wrote : [!! A plot straight out of a romantic drama is happening right here beside me!!!]
With a hint of pride, Jiang Yumo wrote : [It’s his birthday today. I thought he’d be busy, didn’t expect him to come!]
The roommate exclaimed : [A fairy tale romance!]
As the bell for the end of class rang, Jiang Yumo, who was usually polite and well-behaved in front of teachers, didn’t even spare a thought for the teacher who hadn’t left yet. She was the first to dash to the back of the classroom. Duan Ye also stood up. He had initially wanted to hug her, but considering that there were her classmates and teacher, he settled for holding her hand.
Jiang Yumo looked up at him, her eyes sparkling, and the elation on her face was impossible to conceal. “Why did you come!”
The teacher at the podium smiled as they looked over, closed their books, and left, humming a popular song.
Ah, youth~
Jiang Yumo’s three roommates gathered around to tease, “Is Brother Duan here for inspection?”
Duan Ye wasn’t familiar with them but gave a smile without nodding or shaking his head.
Jiang Yumo clung to his arm, that smug expression on her face. He felt like patting her head when he saw her like this.
Thankfully, her three roommates were kind-hearted. They also knew it was Duan Ye’s birthday today, so after a few words, they left together. Jiang Yumo walked hand in hand with Duan Ye around the campus. They bumped into some classmates and acquaintances, and she introduced him openly, “This is Duan Ye, my boyfriend.”
Since the start of the semester, Jiang Yumo had been approached and even pursued by a few people.
Someone said she had been in a relationship with a guy for many years, but not many people believed these rumors. After all, she was always with her roommates every day. Later, she posted on Weibo a photo of the back of her so-called boyfriend and a picture of them holding hands. People were still skeptical, and a few guys were even thinking that they weren’t from the same school. It seemed like a long-distance relationship, and it was very likely they would break up before the end of this semester. Only when they saw the real person did they truly know what’s going on.
The two of them looked very well-matched, especially in the way they gazed at each other. Outsiders could easily see it, making it difficult for others to interfere.
“How do you like this surprise?” Duan Ye asked in a low voice once they were alone.
Jiang Yumo hugged him tightly, saying, “It’s amazing, really amazing. Even better than the last time.”
Duan Ye chuckled, “Still not up to par though.”
After saying that, he paused for a moment and then said with some difficulty, “But I might not be able to stay for long. I bought a ticket to go back tonight.”
Jiang Yumo was momentarily surprised but then smiled, “Well, that’s still good. We have the whole afternoon at least.”
For him to be here today was already quite rare.
She wasn’t clear about how much effort he had put in to give her this surprise.
Duan Ye only let out a sigh of relief after hearing her words.
In order to have more time together, he deliberately bought an early morning ticket, arrived in Yanjing in the early morning, and booked a return ticket for ten o’clock at night. He wasn’t entirely sure on the way here; he just hoped that this short day wouldn’t disappoint her.
He also wanted to stay here for a couple more days, but reality didn’t allow it. This day off was scraped together after working overtime for several nights.
“Coincidentally, I don’t have any classes this afternoon,” Jiang Yumo pulled him along, “Let’s go, I’ll take you to eat. Today, you’re the birthday star, and I’ll be in charge of planning. How does that sound?”
Duan Ye looked deeply into her eyes and said, “Sounds good.”
The last time they had met was already a month ago.
There was nothing particularly special about birthdays; what made it special was celebrating it with the person you like.
They went to the cafeteria for a meal, and Jiang Yumo took him to a nice cake shop to buy a small cake.
“Make a wish,” Jiang Yumo coaxed the store attendant with sweet words, so the attendant gave her a birthday candle.
She inserted the candle into the small piece of mousse cake and lit it, urging Duan Ye to make a wish.
Duan Ye pondered for a moment, “I’ll give you my wish. You make it.”
From a very young age, he had heard that wishes made on birthdays come true. He had gone through such a phase himself.
If one could only make one birthday wish a year, he wanted to give all his shares to her.
He was no longer naïve, but he still hoped she could be happy forever.
“For me?” Jiang Yumo tilted her head, thought carefully, folded her hands together, closed her eyes devoutly, and made a wish, “Birthdays allow for greediness. I want to make three wishes. The first wish is for Duan Ye’s mother’s good health.”
Duan Ye focused his gaze on her and softly hummed in agreement.
“The second wish is for Duan Ye’s work to go smoothly.”
“The third wish,” Jiang Yumo quietly opened one eye, saw Duan Ye looking at her, quickly shut her eyes again, “The third wish, that when Duan Ye turns twenty, we can also be together.”
She wouldn’t say ‘together forever.’
The word ‘forever’ didn’t seem quite suitable for them, it felt too heavy to bring up.
Only next year. Each year wish for the next year.
Both of them had prepared rings for each other, the only difference being that Jiang Yumo bought a pair of couple rings. She hadn’t earned much money and could only afford silver rings. Duan Ye had only bought one ring, and it was even a diamond. Jiang Yumo was extremely surprised.
How could he break the norm again?
She gave silver, and he actually gave a diamond.
With Jiang Yumo’s astonished gaze, Duan Ye spoke somewhat sheepishly, “The diamond is too small.”
Very, very small, so tiny that it was hard to see the minuscule diamond from a distance.
Jiang Yumo was deeply moved. She hugged his neck and gave him several loud kisses, “How could that be! Haven’t you heard a saying? The thought is what’s important, I think it’s special!”
She kissed him like she was coaxing a little child, sitting on his lap, pecking his cheek, pecking his eyes, as if stamping on his body.
In the end, she did indeed leave a stamp.
At least when Duan Ye went back, Zhou Ji was once again ‘impressed’ after seeing the mark on Duan Ye’s neck.
In late January of the following year, a software named ‘WeChat’ was launched.
Jiang Yumo and Duan Ye were each other’s first friends on it.
Their WeChat names were interesting too. Jiang Yumo’s nickname was ‘Teacher Xiao Jiang, and Duan Ye’s was ‘Classmate Xiao Duan.’
The launch of WeChat seemed to accelerate the pace and rhythm of this era. Time suddenly became very fast, over and over again in meetings and separations. Jiang Yumo celebrated her twentieth birthday.
Her birthday falls in August, during the summer vacation. As the number of students increased, in order to earn more money and repay the housing loan earlier, after discussing with her parents, she stayed in Yanjing during the summer break.
More and more children called Jiang Yumo ‘Teacher Xiao Jiang.’
Among them, two children were Jiang Yumo’s hardcore fans. After class that day, they quietly entered Jiang Yumo’s rest area. Jiang Yumo was sitting aside putting on makeup. From the age of eighteen to twenty, her techniques had become more and more skilled. The two little girls hid by the doorway, peeking inside and whispering, “Teacher Xiao Jiang’s lipstick looks so good! Ah, she’s spraying perfume!”
“I really like the scent on Teacher Xiao Jiang. My mom even asked me to inquire about the perfume she uses.”
“Being an adult seems really nice! I want to wear high heels too~”
The two little girls thought they were whispering secretly, but Jiang Yumo heard everything. She put down the perfume and gestured toward the door, “Come on in, my darlings!”
As soon as she spoke, the two children, dressed in dance outfits, rushed in like bullets.
They were so intrigued by the makeup products on Jiang Yumo’s table.
Jiang Yumo smiled, picked up a lipstick, and applied a dot to each of their foreheads.
The two of them were immediately satisfied.
“Why did you come to find Teacher?” Jiang Yumo opened a drawer, took out a handful of candies, and handed them to the kids.
“Teacher Xiao Jiang, we just wanted to ask you if you’re getting married.”
Jiang Yumo couldn’t help but chuckle, “Who said that? It’s too early for that.”
“We saw it ourselves!” one little girl widened her eyes, “Teacher Xiao Jiang, we’re a bit scared of your boyfriend.”
Now, this question was getting serious…
Jiang Yumo reached out and touched their faces, asking earnestly, “Why are you scared of him?”
“He’s really tall!”
“Yes, taller than my dad!”
“He doesn’t smile much either~”
“The little bully in the Taekwondo class is afraid of him, and also, also!” The little girl excitedly continued, “He has a scar on his hand. The little bully said it was from a gunshot, a mark of a hero. But I’m a bit scared.”
Jiang Yumo could only sigh.
What on earth…
Even kids can be so gossipy.
However, the scar on Duan Ye’s arm… Jiang Yumo lowered her gaze, concealing the pain in her eyes. It happened last year when there was a dispute at a construction site. Several big bosses refused to intervene, and Duan Ye happened to be there with Zhou Ji. They encountered the turmoil, and Duan Ye’s arm was accidentally pierced by a steel bar. Zhou Ji was furious and almost got into trouble, but Duan Ye stopped him. When she received a call from Zhou Ji that night, she was so scared that she could hardly walk steadily. Nevertheless, she forced herself to take the train and go there. By the time she arrived, it was already the next morning. Duan Ye woke up to see her sitting by the bed with red eyes. His first reaction was that he wanted to hit Zhou Ji.
Zhou Ji shouted with a hoarse voice and red eyes, “You almost fainted from pain back then, and you were calling her name!”
Duan Ye closed his tired eyes, still holding Jiang Yumo’s hand. He said to Zhou Ji, “You wait for me.”
Zhou Ji replied, “I’ll wait. Get well soon and come hit me. Come on, hit me.”
“Teacher? Teacher Xiao Jiang?”
Jiang Yumo snapped back to reality, looking at the two little girls in front of her. She smiled and said, “It wasn’t hit by a gun, but it’s indeed a mark of a hero.”
“Wow!! Teacher Xiao Jiang, we just wanted to ask you, do you love your boyfriend?”
Kids nowadays are truly something else.
For these past few years, the two of them hadn’t dared to utter the word ‘love.’ Yet, these two girls said it so casually.
After work, Jiang Yumo walked towards the elevator, still thinking about the question those two girls had asked.
“Do you love your boyfriend?”
The elevator doors closed.
When they opened again, there were several people sitting in the lobby on the first floor. Judging from their conversation, it seemed they were discussing where to eat later.
“Damn it, Zhao Zheng, don’t think we don’t know the military pays you a salary every month! Don’t be so stingy, treat us to supper tonight!”
“A bunch of vampires! Zhou Ji, I have to say, you don’t have a trace of the rich young master look anymore. You even dressed like Xiao Guozi.”
“Hahaha, I got this on a discount, 50% off.”
“50% off?? I got ripped off then. The salesperson told me it was 20% off. I bought it for a little less than a hundred yuan!”
“A little less than a hundred yuan?” came a soft and gentle female voice. “You told me two hundred yuan, where did the remaining hundred go?”
“Hahaha, looks like things went wrong! Yuyu, quickly check his financial situation. The novel mentioned it : a good man never carries more than two hundred yuan in his wallet; he gives all his money to his wife.”
“Oh my, Yan Qing, you’re screwed. Zhao Zheng’s wallet probably has more than two hundred yuan, maybe ten or twenty times more.”
Jiang Yumo burst into giggles.
All seven of them looked in this direction and shouted in unison, “Teacher Xiao Jiang is here!”
Yan Qing even whistled, “Happy birthday, Yumo darling!”
Duan Ye stood up. He was almost twenty-one this year, much more composed than when he was eighteen or nineteen. The only thing that remained unchanged was that whenever Jiang Yumo appeared, he would only look at her.
Thank you for the update.