Afterwards 4
When Jiang Yumo has free time, she will take a glance at that card.
Of course, she understands what he means. She always says that her courage has been drained away by someone, leaving only an empty shell. But why, at the age of thirty, does she still think the same way as she did when she was eighteen? Is the house really that important to her? She doesn’t value it that much. Even when others intentionally mention some advantages when introducing potential marriage partners, she doesn’t care that much.
So her Mom often jokes, saying that they’ve pampered her at home too much, pampered her to the point where she thinks that in this world, in a marriage, material things don’t matter at all.
These days, when she has some free time, she looks at the folders in her laptop.
One of them is encrypted, and when she opens it, it’s filled with their photos and screenshots of their chat records.
She always wonders if she can be this childish for the second time in her life.
She can’t.
What’s the point of saving chat records by taking screenshots?
Yes, she once did something foolish, copying all the text messages she exchanged with him from her phone.
They have too many photos together.
For a while, she loved taking pictures of him sleeping in the wild. She would always sneak a photo of him while he was asleep.
The same pose, the same expression, there are many of them.
She couldn’t help but feel bored with herself until her boss, the chief stewardess, showed her photos of when her boss became a mother. She would wonder why they took so many pictures of the same expression… and in that moment, she thought of the photos of him on her computer.
Yeah, she really likes him a lot. She can take many pictures of the same thing without getting tired of it.
There are also photos of them cooking together.
Going out together, hiking, going to the amusement park…
So many pictures.
On the day before her day off, Duan Ye sent a message with several photos in the chat box.
All of them were of her Polo.
Duan Ye : [I did maintenance for your car.]
Duan Ye : [I replaced the car mats with better ones, and I also changed the car film. It’s summer now, and this type offers better sun protection.]
Jiang Yumo : [Wow, it feels completely different, like it’s not even my car anymore.]
Duan Ye : [I put a few bottles of windshield washer fluid in the trunk for you. Remember to refill it. Oh, by the way, it seems like the windshield wipers had some issues, so I had them replaced for you.]
Jiang Yumo : [Thank you! If I had known earlier, I would have driven over sooner.]
Duan Ye chuckled, lowered his gaze, and tapped his finger on the phone screen a few times before sending another message : [When do you have your day off? I’ll come pick you up.]
Jiang Yumo : [I can have a day off tomorrow afternoon, but this time I won’t go back, something came up.]
Duan Ye was momentarily stunned.
The next second, Jiang Yumo sent another message : [Building D, Unit 903. Jiayuan Community, Xiadong Road, Jiaming Avenue.]
Duan Ye stared at the string of address she sent.
Jiang Yumo : [If you have time, come over. Oh, and remember to bring your ID card.]
Jiang Yumo : [The house I rented has a password lock.]
Jiang Yumo : [The password is 9111201.]
Duan Ye stood outside the shop.
These past few days, the weather has been unusually hot, and he had been receiving high-temperature warnings on his phone for several days.
His palms were burning, and so was his phone. Looking at that password, his throat felt dry. In the next moment, he clenched his phone with an unusual force, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged.
After a long pause, he replied : [Okay.]
The next day at noon, after finishing his work and giving instructions to the apprentices and masters in the shop, he drove onto the highway and arrived at the provincial capital. He used his phone’s navigation to find her address, and he smoothly reached this neighborhood, which wasn’t far from the airport. He entered building D, went up to the ninth floor, which had two elevators and six households on each floor. He found unit 903, stood at the door but didn’t go in. He stood there for nearly ten minutes before finally reaching out and pressing the password.
911120 …
The door lock opened.
He entered the room, and in the entrance, there was a doormat that was very cute, with several adorable cartoon animals on it, as if they were cheering—“Welcome home.”
The room wasn’t large, just a one-bedroom apartment.
The interior was cozy, with a double sofa, a small coffee table with a vase and a remote control on it. Jiang Yumo didn’t buy a television; she used a projector in the living room.
On the wall behind the sofa, there were many photos hung up, along with a string of small lights.
In the photos, almost all of them were pictures of the two of them together.
From the age of eighteen to thirty, over these more than ten years, they have separated and reconciled several times. In fact, upon careful reflection, they have visited many places together. They climbed the Great Wall in Yanjing, asked tourists to help take photos in front of the Heroes Monument, visited the Forbidden City, and even went to the seaside.
Even on the days they were apart, they never forgot each other, and they never stopped missing each other.
On the other side, at the airport, Jiang Yumo finally finished work. She had originally planned to change her clothes, with one button already unfastened. However, she changed her mind and fastened it again. She opened her locker, inside which was a bottle of perfume and some makeup items like lipstick and powder. She meticulously touched up her makeup. A colleague came in, rubbing her waist, and when she saw Jiang Yumo like this, she teased, “Yumo, do you have a date today?”
Jiang Yumo nodded with a smile, “Yes.”
Her colleague chuckled, “Really? You’re going on a date in your uniform? Why not change into something else?”
Jiang Yumo blinked mysteriously, “It’s a secret.”
Her colleague leaned closer, cupping Jiang Yumo’s face as she appraised her, “Oh my, this must be a date. You’ve been looking so good lately. Come on, tell me honestly, is there a man making you bloom? And let me guess, you’re not changing out of your uniform because this man likes it, right?”
Jiang Yumo : “…”
She should reflect on this.
Why did she have a friend like Yan Qing during her school days?
And why did she have a colleague like this at work?
Shouldn’t she reflect on the fact that the problem might be with her? Does she have a special talent for attracting such friends?
Deep in thought, Jiang Yumo took a ride back home.
There were several fruit shops competing at the entrance of her residential complex, and recently, grapefruits were quite cheap. She chose the one with the best reputation and bought some grapefruit to take back home.
Upon entering, she immediately smelled the fragrance wafting from the kitchen and couldn’t resist her appetite after taking off her high heels.
Duan Ye, upon hearing the sound, also came out, wearing her cute apron, looking quite comical.
“What are you doing? It smells delicious,” Jiang Yumo sniffed and asked.
“I’m making braised beef,” Duan Ye replied.
Jiang Yumo was greatly surprised, “You know how to make this?”
Duan Ye felt a little embarrassed and pointed to the phone in the pocket of his apron. A woman’s voice came from the phone:
[Simmer over low heat, let the beef fully absorb the flavors in the braising sauce…]
Jiang Yumo burst into laughter, leaning against the door frame. “You’re learning to cook from online videos too? My Mom does the same thing. When she goes into the kitchen, you can hear the sound of those videos playing on loop.”
Duan Ye explained, “I just downloaded it.”
He didn’t have much time to watch those trending online videos on usual days.
Jiang Yumo opened the refrigerator and called out with a somewhat unhappy expression, “Seriously? I just managed to empty the fridge, and now you’ve filled it up again.”
The fridge contained yogurt, fresh milk, and fruit juice.
There were several types of fruits as well.
Not to mention the fresh chicken wings, beef, and pork in the freezer.
Duan Ye nodded, “Take your time to finish it; it won’t go to waste.”
“Alright,” Jiang Yumo took out a bottle of yogurt, “I’ve redecorated again this time. How does it look? Nice, right?”
Duan Ye looked for a while before nodding, “It looks pretty good.”
“But my colleagues all say it doesn’t look as good as before,” Jiang Yumo turned around in front of him, “By the way, I haven’t told you, at the end of last year, I passed the assessment and now I’ve been promoted to regional chief steward.”
“Very impressive,” Duan Ye said as he cracked eggs and chatted with her.
“It’s actually quite strange. I complained to my Mom before, saying that flying all the time is tiring sometimes. My Mom suggested I change careers. We have a relative who owns a company and needs people, so she asked me to go there.” Jiang Yumo sighed, “My parents even suggested I return to Ningcheng and take civil service exams. Scared me to death. I thought about it, and I quite like this job. Oh, I have to tell you,” She brightened up as she remembered something happy, “I met a little kid last time, and he gave me a sketch, it was of me. I was quite moved.”
She could finally tell him.
Yes, she didn’t dislike this job. On the contrary, day by day, when she saw the clouds, when she saw the fluffy white clouds like cotton candy, and every time she comforted passengers until they safely landed during turbulence, she felt content.
She was no longer afraid of heights. Could this be considered good news?
She could look down from a high place now, even go on a ferris wheel.
Duan Ye listened quietly.
He knew what she wanted to say.
She had never regretted it, but she didn’t know that he felt the same way.
Whether it was achieving success and fame or living an ordinary life, all he initially wanted was to be with her.
After finishing dinner, Jiang Yumo led Duan Ye into the room, opened the wardrobe, and found a set of men’s pajamas and some short-sleeved shirts from the innermost part. She proudly said, “Do you remember this pajama set? You didn’t take it with you back then. I brought it with me when I moved. And this short-sleeved shirt, I bought it when I was shopping. I often wash it and hang it on the balcony.”
“Oh, and there’s this,” she opened a drawer, inside were several neatly folded men’s underwear. “I bought these during the Singles’ Day sales, and I’ve washed and aired them too. You know how it is online, right? Girls living alone might attract unwanted attention, so I hang all these clothes and underwear out, just to let those weirdos know that there is a man in my house.
“Pretty clever, right?”
Duan Ye wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t find it in himself to do so. Finally, in a low voice, he said, “I’m sorry.”
Jiang Yumo was taken aback and waved her hand. “I was just trying to show off my cleverness to you. Well, now you have pajamas and clean clothes. Don’t go back today; I have plans for tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Whatever she said was fine with him.
Duan Ye habitually went to wash the dishes.
Jiang Yumo made a homemade iced drink for him. He didn’t like the heat but also didn’t really enjoy sugary drinks. Fortunately, there were some unused ice cubes in the fridge. She poured them into a glass, added a few scoops of grapefruit juice, and mixed it with sparkling water.
“My colleagues all have dishwashers at home, which makes life much easier, freeing up their hands. I thought about getting one too, but I’m afraid to add big appliances to a rental house. It would be too much of a hassle later when moving.”
Late at night.
Moonlight filtered in through the window, and the wooden bed occasionally made creaking sounds.
The tide was rising, and Jiang Yumo was almost drowned. She desperately wanted to hold onto something and finally grabbed the rabbit doll on the bed.
The person behind her was supporting her with rough and dry hands, preventing her from falling.
She wasn’t sure about the soundproofing of the room, so she bit her lip hard to keep from making any noise.
She couldn’t tell whose heavy breathing was entering her ears.
She turned her head to try to see him, but it was difficult to make out.
After everything had calmed down, he breathed softly and kissed her neck with gentle, delicate kisses.
Jiang Yumo buried her face in the pillow, turned her head to the side, and breathed in the fresh air. She spoke softly, “I didn’t check earlier. Can you see if it’s expired?”
She also didn’t know how she had brought the unused ones with her when she moved.
Perhaps it was being too thrifty; after all, they were bought with money.
But those things must have an expiration date, right?
Duan Ye lay on top of her, reached out a hand, and found the torn-open packaging on the bedside table. He picked it up and looked at the date.
“Not expired,” he replied unsteadily. “It’s good until December 2023.”
Saying this, he opened a drawer and searched for another unopened one.
In a daze, Jiang Yumo remembered a question she had once seen:
How do you determine if you like someone?
Would you resist being intimate with them?
She thought that even her own body seemed to resist anyone but him.
She felt like a dry well.
But why did she now feel so clearly that this well was slowly filling up?
- I believe this is Duan Ye’s birthday? ↩︎