There are not many people in the supermarket at this time.
In fact, both Duan Ye and Zhou Ji lacked life skills, so they were clueless about what to buy after coming here. They wander around the supermarket like lost souls. After circling a few times, Duan Ye was the first to pick up a chocolate bar from the snack shelf, the one Jiang Yumo liked the most.
Zhou Ji also took one opportunistically.
However, he wasn’t sure which flavor Ning Zhiyu liked, so he followed Duan Ye’s lead and grabbed the exact same one. It seemed that whatever Jiang Yumo liked, Ning Zhiyu liked too.
Starting with this chocolate bar, the two of them finally began putting things into their shopping cart.
Considering the weather, Duan Ye picked out some sweet potatoes.
He happened to have an oven at home, bought by his mother, but he could count on one hand the number of times it had been used.
Roasted sweet potatoes should be good for the winter.
Zhou Ji : Darn it, just a step too late! He swears he really thought of it!
He could only turn his head and look at other things. The supermarket had everything, but there were so few things he could do or think of.
As they split up and went their separate ways, they agreed to meet again at the checkout counter. Zhou Ji glanced into the shopping cart when they reunited. Besides sweet potatoes, Duan Ye had also bought corn and some fragrant tea.
“Looks like you’re focusing on health,” Zhou Ji said, pretending to praise.
Duan Ye glanced at the shopping cart. Zhou Ji picked up a bag of ham sausages, a bag of semi-finished snowflake chicken fillet, and strawberry-flavored yogurt.
Later, they took a taxi to Duan Ye’s place. Mother Duan had gone to some southern island recently because she couldn’t stand the cold winter in Ningcheng. She told Duan Ye that she would come back before the Chinese New Year but for now, she could only survive on the island. With Mother Duan away, Duan Ye’s friends often visited his place for various reasons, and Zhou Ji was no exception. Zhou Ji’s parents had bought him an apartment in Ningcheng, which was spacious and well-decorated, and there was a housekeeper to cook and clean for him every day. However, apart from sleeping, he didn’t want to spend much time there because it always felt cold and unwelcoming.
He didn’t want to bring his friends there either, fearing they would ask, ‘Why are you living alone without your parents?’ and he wouldn’t have a good answer.
So, each of them carried on with their own activities.
Duan Ye bent down, furrowing his brows, still searching for the oven’s manual all over the room, but couldn’t find it. Helpless, he decided to call his Mom.
Wu Meiyun was enjoying the sea breeze with her boyfriend on the beach when she received her son’s call. Raising an eyebrow, she excused herself from her boyfriend and answered the phone, “Did the sun rise from the west? Why are you calling me?”
“…I called you last week.”
“Really?”
“Well, hmm,” Duan Ye asked with difficulty, “Where is the manual for the oven you bought earlier? I can’t find it.'”
“Oven??” Wu Meiyun was surprised. “You want to bake something, what are you baking?”
“Nothing special.”
Wu Meiyun burst into laughter instantly, teasing her son, “You’re baking something for Xiao Yumo, right? Hey, I haven’t tasted anything baked by my son yet.”
Duan Ye helplessly asked, “Where is the manual?”
Wu Meiyun, also forgetful by nature, completely forgot she had bought an oven, as such items often remain idle. “Let me think. Check if it’s in the storage room; it should be in a cardboard box.”
“I’ll go look for it.”
After telling his Mom to be safe outside, Duan Ye hung up the phone and rushed into the second bedroom that was converted into a storage room. After rummaging around, he finally found the cardboard box containing the oven and its manual. He breathed a sigh of relief.
He studied how to bake sweet potatoes and corn in the oven, while Zhou Ji was in the kitchen, occasionally making loud noises as if he were slaughtering a pig.
Duan Ye paid no attention to the noise, not even raising an eyebrow.
Zhou Ji stood in front of the gas stove, pouring almost half a pot of oil into the pan. Unexpectedly, when he was frying the ham sausages, the hot oil splashed out, scalding him.
During the operation of the oven, Zhou Ji ran out when he had a moment, and proudly discussed with Duan Ye, “How about this, later on, we won’t say which one you made and which one I made. We’ll observe their reactions. If they like what I made, then for the next week, you have to call me Brother Zhou.”
Duan Ye focused on the sweet potatoes inside the oven, afraid they might get burned. He wore baking gloves in his hands, ready to open the oven and flip the sweet potatoes and corn at any time.
“If they like the food you make, then I’ll call you Brother Duan.”
Duan Ye finally spoke, “Boring.”
Every day, Father Jiang would come to pick up Jiang Yumo after school, and today was no exception. Duan Ye didn’t want today to be an exception either.
Zhou Ji asked Uncle Zhong to come along and met Duan Ye at the gate of Fifth High. Just like Sheriff Black Cat, he stared intently at the gate. When Ning Zhiyu appeared, Zhou Ji opened the car door and rushed over. Now, Ning Zhiyu wouldn’t be surprised to see him coming out from any corner. “What’s up again?” she asked irritably.
“Here to pick you up,” Zhou Ji said, afraid she wouldn’t agree. He added, “Let’s go to find Jiang Yumo. We already agreed to meet downstairs at her house.”
Although Ning Zhiyu didn’t know what he was up to, she knew he wouldn’t lie. She could only follow him in the direction of the Toyota car. Zhou Ji was about to open the passenger door when someone inside rolled down the window, and Ning Zhiyu realized that Duan Ye was sitting in the front seat.
Duan Ye looked at Zhou Ji and said, “I’ll sit in the front.”
Zhou Ji almost whistled. What is brotherhood? This is brotherhood!
When they came here just now, both Zhou Ji and Duan Ye were sitting in the back seat. In the blink of an eye, Duan Ye voluntarily sat in the front passenger seat, giving up the back seat to Zhou Ji and Ning Zhiyu. Zhou Ji couldn’t help but sigh; Duan Ye truly understood, was considerate, and knew what to do.
Zhou Ji turned his head to Ning Zhiyu and said with some difficulty, “Let’s sit in the back then.”
Ning Zhiyu had long seen through this trick, not surprised at all. Even if Duan Ye wasn’t here, Zhou Ji would still sit in the back seat with her.
After Uncle Zhong drove to the residential area where Jiang Yumo’s house was located, he found an excuse to get off the car, leaving the space for the four students. He happily said, “I heard there’s a popular spicy hot pot restaurant here, and I happen to be hungry too.”
Zhou Ji shouted to Uncle Zhong, “Uncle Zhong, next month, I’ll have Zhou Chenglei raise your salary!”
Uncle Zhong chuckled and waved his hand at him, “Don’t forget it then!”
Jiang Yumo already knew they were coming, and she told her father the truth. Ning Zhiyu was indeed a ‘weathervane1‘ Upon hearing that Ning Zhiyu was also present, her parents allowed her to go without any objections, but she had to return early. So, the four people squeezed into the car again. The seating arrangement was the same as before. Zhou Ji was wealthy and didn’t let Uncle Zhong turn off the car engine. He even turned on the heater, making the car interior especially warm.
“We made these ourselves,” Zhou Ji emphasized, “we cooked them ourselves. Come, try it.”
He opened several insulated containers: one contained sweet potatoes, another had corn, and Duan Ye brought a thermos, but there wasn’t enough water, so they could only make two cups of milk tea.
There was also an insulated container filled with fried ham sausages and chicken fillets.
Jiang Yumo really wanted to eat the ham sausages and chicken fillets… Although they were junk food, they were really tempting, but…
She shook her head, she couldn’t eat them.
She had passed the provincial unified exam, but there were more challenging school exams ahead. She heard from a senior that some people had to take the exams four or five times, so she couldn’t slack off.
After some thought, she reached out and took a roasted sweet potato from the insulated container.
Duan Ye was afraid she might burn herself, so he took it from her, peeled off the potato skin, and then handed her a disposable spoon, asking her to eat with it.
Zhou Ji: “?”
Aren’t ham sausages delicious?
Aren’t fried chicken fillet delicious??
Fine! Anyway, he didn’t make them for Jiang Yumo; he made them for Ning Zhiyu.
He looked at Ning Zhiyu.
Ning Zhiyu hesitated for a moment, then took out half of a corn cob from the insulated container.
Zhou Ji couldn’t bear it, “Why don’t you eat this?”
He pointed at the insulated containers with the ham sausages and chicken strips, questioning her.
Ning Zhiyu replied honestly, “Fried food… It’s not good for the body at night, and I’m not hungry. This corn looks a bit healthier.”
Duan Ye spoke, “Starting from tomorrow, for one week.”
Zhou Ji retorted, “Didn’t you say it’s boring?”
“Now I find it somewhat interesting,” Duan Ye replied, looking at Jiang Yumo. Jiang Yumo was eating the roasted sweet potato and looking at the two of them in confusion, not knowing what they were talking about.
“Tomorrow, you’ll find out.” Duan Ye coaxed her.
Jiang Yumao said, “I feel like it’s going to be something very interesting.” Whatever drives Zhou Ji crazy must be quite amusing.
“Not bad.”
Ning Zhiyu didn’t know what they were talking about, and she wasn’t very interested in finding out. After reluctantly finishing half of the corn, she didn’t take the strawberry yogurt Zhou Ji handed to her. She said, “It’s getting late; I should go back.”
Jiang Yumao glanced at the strawberry yogurt and snorted lightly.
Duan Ye said, “You two go ahead.”
“…” Zhou Ji perked up a bit, “Alright, I’ll take Ning Zhiyu back first. You two want to be alone, huh?”
Duan Ye reminded, “Tomorrow, one week.”
Zhou Ji : “…”
A few minutes later, Jiang Yumo got off the car with Duan Ye, and they could see Uncle Zhong coming their way from a distance. Inside the car, Zhou Ji coaxed and deceived Ning Zhiyu to sit in the backseat with him. He even mentioned that the front passenger seat was the least safe. “I’ve downloaded a lot of songs. Tell me what you want to listen to later, and I’ll play it for you. This car might be average, but the sound system is pretty good.”
Ning Zhiyu held her school bag and said calmly, “I want to listen to English listening exercises.”
Zhou Ji : “?”
“Okay, I’ll find some for you tomorrow!”
Ning Zhiyu turned her head to look out the car window. Jiang Yumo was bending over, waving at her. She felt a sense of relief in her heart.
This winter… made her feel less cold; it turned out to be very warm.
Watching the Toyota car leave the neighborhood, Duan Ye finally shifted his gaze back to Jiang Yumo and proactively reported today’s situation, “I picked out a basketball for Ye Wenxu, and he treated us to a meal. He also asked me if you passed the provincial exam.”
Jiang Yumo also breathed a sigh of relief, “So, this matter is completely resolved now? We can turn the page?”
“En,” Duan Ye nodded.
“That’s great,” Jiang Yumao said, “It’s better that you handled it maturely. This approach is better than what I had in mind before. If we had returned the crystal ball to him, it would have resolved the issue, but it still felt somewhat off.”
Duan Ye smoothly changed the subject, “After the college entrance exam, let’s go on a trip, and then I’ll take you to the school for enrollment.”
Jiang Yumao was still surprised, not understanding why he brought up going on a trip after the exam and taking her to enroll.
“I might go to the north,” Duan Ye mentioned this for the first time, “My uncle lives there, and he has always hoped that I could come and help him.”
Jiang Yumao hesitated and asked, “What does he do? Is he a car mechanic?”
Duan Ye glanced at her and furrowed his brows, “Car mechanic? No. It’s related to real estate, with some small projects. He said he’s too busy to handle them all and wants me to learn something by working with him.”
Jiang Yumao fell into deep thought as well.
She tried hard to recall the original plot but found that both she and Duan Ye were merely supporting characters, hardly mentioned by the author. The author dedicated very little attention to them, and Duan Ye’s future was not mentioned at all. It was only briefly stated that he eventually returned to his hometown, Ningcheng, and opened a car repair shop with someone else.
Where did he go? What did he do?
Not a single word was mentioned.
But it didn’t matter…
Jiang Yumo’s mood opened up once again.
Knowing the future had once made her feel confused and even anxious, but she had come to terms with it. Perhaps this was her miracle.
Knowing the future would only make her cherish the present even more.
What is more important than the future is always the present.
“Duan Ye,” she looked up at him, her eyes bright, “I had a dream just now, a dream about when we are thirty years old.”
Duan Ye was startled, looking down at her, “Thirty years old?”
Thirty years old… it seemed like it was still very far, far away for them.
“Yes, thirty years old!”
“Then what?” No matter what topic she talked about, even if it was unrelated, he always listened attentively.
Jiang Yumo placed her hands behind her back, her lips curled up, and she spoke with a relaxed tone, “Then? Then we are happy together every day, exceptionally happy.”
- a metaphorical expression that refers to a person or thing that can indicate or predict the prevailing trends, attitudes, or opinions of a particular group or society. It’s something used to gauge the direction or changes in public sentiment. In this case, it means that Ning Zhiyu’s presence can change Jiang Yumo’s parents’ attitude. ↩︎
That is how you two should be.
Thanks for the translation!