Chapter 13 Little Jasmine
After lights out, Ruan Yu lay in bed, gazing through the gap in the curtains at the row of clothes drying on the balcony. Freshly washed, droplets still fell straight down. Though silent, staring long enough made her imagine she could hear the "plip-plop" sounds.
Ruan Yu turned over, shifting her gaze away.
Across from her, Jian Xiangxiang lay sprawled on her stomach, the faint glow of her iPad illuminating her troubled expression. She was still agonizing. Earlier, both Ruan Yu and Xia Qiaofeng had offered suggestions, but nothing satisfied her.
Jian Xiangxiang was a hopeless romantic, her heart entirely consumed by Zhou Xihe. She wanted to give him her very best—perhaps she believed no perfume could ever be worthy of him.
Romance seemed so troublesome, not to mention expensive.
Ruan Yu exhaled softly and closed her eyes. She had never been in a relationship and couldn’t fathom those feelings. Thankfully, she had no such desires either.
On Sunday afternoon, Ruan Yu arrived at the Teng residence at the time Shen Bing had mentioned, only to find the front door tightly shut. No matter how many times she rang the bell, no one answered.
Logically, Teng Hao should have been home.
Ruan Yu scrolled through her phone contacts—she only had Shen Bing’s number, but Shen Bing was away on a business trip. Contacting her now would be too abrupt.
After a moment’s thought, she sat down on the porch and waited quietly.
The neighborhood was lined with villas, each with its own yard. Individually, they resembled grand castles; from a distance, they looked like a storybook town.
From some direction, the sound of a piano drifted over.
Ruan Yu knew nothing about music and couldn’t identify the piece, but in this idle moment, it was nice to have something to ease the boredom—even if the melody wasn’t particularly cheerful.
An hour slipped by unnoticed…
Leaning against the porch pillar, she checked the time intermittently.
Where was Teng Hao? Could he be deliberately ignoring her?
The memory of those hostile eyes flashed through her mind—it wasn’t impossible.
"Teng Hao! Teng Hao!" Ruan Yu called toward the second-floor window a few times.
No response.
She felt deflated and didn’t want to wait any longer. It was such a waste of time.
Taking a couple of steps back, she turned to leave when her foot accidentally knocked against a black ceramic flowerpot tucked behind the pillar. The pot held a small jasmine plant, neglected and frail, its stems thin and leaves withered—clearly struggling to survive.
This lifeless little jasmine, placed at the entrance of such a grand villa, seemed utterly out of place.
Just like her.
Ruan Yu crouched down and shifted the pot slightly, moving it to a spot where it could bask in sunlight. Then, she unzipped her backpack, pulled out her water bottle, unscrewed the cap, and watered the parched, cracked soil.
"Why aren’t you inside?"
A voice suddenly came from behind her.
Ruan Yu’s hand trembled, nearly dropping the bottle.
She turned to find Teng Yi standing there, having appeared without a sound.
Dressed in a dark baseball jacket, he loomed over her like a shadowed mountain.
"There doesn’t seem to be anyone home," Ruan Yu said, standing up and tightening the bottle cap. "I rang the bell for a long time, but no one answered."
Teng Yi glanced up toward the second floor but said nothing. Instead, he turned and unlocked the door.
The keypad beeped as he swiftly entered the code, pushing the door open.Ruan Yu stood still in place.
He held the door open for her with his side turned. "Not coming in?"
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