The night before, Jiang Mu had felt quite embarrassed about the whole situation. How mortifying to be holding onto a childhood promise at her age—keeping that fountain pen and eagerly waiting for Jin Chao to come find her someday. It would have been fine if she had kept this little secret to herself, but the worst part was that the person involved had discovered it. The feeling was beyond shame.
Fortunately, after a night's sleep, that feeling had mostly faded. The awkwardness from the previous evening was tossed to the back of her mind, replaced by just one overwhelming sensation: exhaustion.
Though tired, when her alarm rang for the second time, she struggled to get up. After washing up and stepping out, she noticed that the textbooks and stationery scattered across the table last night had all been tidied up by Jin Chao. She figured he must be feeling somewhat guilty, and admittedly, her mood improved just a tiny bit.
Seeing Jin Chao busy in the workshop, she proactively greeted him, "Morning! Do you always wake up this early?"
Jin Chao glanced up at her, noticing she seemed completely unfazed, and replied, "I'm not a steamed bun vendor."
Since starting his own business, Jin Chao had enjoyed considerable freedom—no meetings to attend, no team to manage. He could open shop at 10 a.m. without anyone bothering him, and he didn't have to answer to anyone. But ever since Jiang Mu arrived, he unexpectedly started feeling like he was back in a regular job.
It should have been a pleasant and harmonious morning, but just as Jiang Mu was about to leave and reached into the plastic bag on the bedside table to grab another pack of sanitary pads, a small square box suddenly slipped out and fell to the floor.
For a few seconds, Jiang Mu froze, staring at the box. Then she crouched down, picked it up with two fingers in utter shock, and, as if discarding a hot potato, tossed the box of condoms back into the bedside table, quickly shutting the drawer. Her heart raced with confusion—why would Jin Chao give her a box of condoms?
Though the situation was utterly bizarre and she had no clue what was going on, the thought of asking Jin Chao about it made her too embarrassed to even consider it. This incident left her acting strangely all morning.
As she slung her backpack over her shoulder and stepped out of the workshop, she sneakily glanced at Jin Chao, who was smoking by the garage entrance, before hurrying straight across the street. San Lai, noticing her haste, called out, "Leaving early today? Want some noodles?"
Jiang Mu waved her hands frantically without looking back and headed to the bus stop. Unfortunately, Bus No. 6 was notoriously slow to arrive, and she ended up waiting for what felt like ages. Across the street, Jin Chao watched her idly, cigarette dangling from his lips, making Jiang Mu increasingly uncomfortable. Her eyes darted around, and she slowly shifted behind the bus stop pole—a thin post that barely concealed her figure. Unable to control her peripheral vision, she kept feeling his gaze on her, so she eventually turned her back to the street.
While most people waiting for the bus faced the road to watch for its arrival, Jiang Mu stood with her back to the traffic, her awkward posture puzzling Jin Chao. Seeing that it was getting late, he stubbed out his cigarette and was about to ask if she would still make it on time.
But before he could take a step, Bus No. 6 came roaring down the street. Spotting Jin Chao approaching as the bus hadn't fully stopped, Jiang Mu dashed forward, boarding first as if fleeing from a ghost.Until the bus disappeared at the end of the street, Jin Chao withdrew his gaze and murmured, "Girls at this age are truly mysterious creatures."
Just yesterday morning, she had been clinging to him, insisting he see her off, yet this morning she was suddenly avoiding him.
San Lai turned his gaze to Jin Chao, finding it peculiar. His brother had many things on his mind, but none of them involved women. Even during their adolescence, when everyone was restless, Jin Chao had never shown any interest in women. Now, however, he seemed to be pondering the nature of women.
With a sly grin, San Lai asked, "What did you do to her?"
Jin Chao let out a cold "Hmph" and turned his head. "What could I have done to her?"
San Lai wore an enigmatic expression as he leaned in closer. "Don't bother trying to figure out a girl's thoughts. It's always the same—budding affection, secret infatuation, unrequited love. Don't you know what you look like? Back in school, how many girls her age wanted to be with you? I just don't get it. With your arrogant attitude—showing no care, tenderness, or romance—why are so many girls still drawn to you? The more I think about it, the more unbalanced I feel. Back in the day, I was handsome, witty, and charming. How could I not measure up to you? If you ask me, those girls must be blind. No matter how you look at it, I was the obvious candidate for school heartthrob…"
San Lai then rambled on about the school heartthrob topic for another five minutes. He had been obsessively bringing up this same issue around Jin Chao for eight years, and it was baffling how fixated he was on that title.
Annoyed by the noise, Jin Chao cut him off. "I'm going home for a bit later, then heading to Quan County this afternoon. I might not be back tonight. If you're free, go pick up Mu Mu after school, Mr. School Heartthrob."
San Lai's expression suddenly turned serious. "You've decided?"
"Yeah." San Lai knew there was no use trying to persuade him otherwise.
After a moment, he asked Jin Chao, who was busy with something, "If—just hypothetically—Jiang Mu really developed feelings for you, would you be as ruthless to her as you are to other women?"
Jin Chao was momentarily stunned, then slowly raised his eyes to look at San Lai before cursing, "Fuck off… get lost."
…
Throughout the journey, Jiang Mu's emotions were in turmoil. Just before leaving home, she had been wondering why Jin Chao had given her a box of condoms.
But after arriving at school, it finally dawned on her. She thought he might have intended to use them himself but accidentally placed them in the plastic bag he gave her. That raised the question: should she return them to him?
Though it was normal for someone Jin Chao's age to have that kind of life, the thought of him being with a woman left Jiang Mu feeling slightly unsettled. Who was that woman? Little Green Snake? But judging by San Lai's attitude yesterday, it didn't seem likely. Could there be someone else?
Who exactly was this other person? Although Jiang Mu didn't know, the mere thought of such a person existing left her feeling dazed.
After leaving the hospital that night, she had felt utterly hopeless. Over the past couple of days, her mood had improved slightly because, at the very least, she had a temporary shelter at Jin Chao's place, giving her some refuge in this unfamiliar town.
But if Jin Chao had a woman, her presence would become incredibly awkward. Of course, it wouldn't be appropriate for her to keep disturbing his life. Even a biological sister would feel out of place, let alone a pseudo-sister like her, who hadn't been in contact with him for years.So before the mock exams, while everyone else was busy with final preparations, she suddenly appeared in Old Ma's office asking about transfer procedures.
Old Ma was quite surprised and told her she needed a parent to bring the household registration to school to apply. After the school reviewed it, it would be reported to the academic affairs department for approval. The parent would need to contact the receiving school's education bureau to handle procedures according to local policies, which of course also involved waiting for verification from both the receiving school and local education bureau.
Old Ma knew something about Jin Qiang's family situation and asked with concern if Jiang Mu wasn't getting along well with her father's family. Did she need him to talk to Jin Qiang? Jiang Mu firmly refused and told Old Ma to pretend she'd never visited.
Leaving Old Ma's office, Jiang Mu felt somewhat dejected. Transferring back to Suzhou would be impossible without going through Jin Qiang and Jiang Yinghan, but involving them would create a lot of trouble. Moreover, the approval process duration was uncertain, making the whole ordeal hardly worthwhile. She could only endure staying here until the college entrance exams.
When she entered the exam hall with her stationery, Pan Kai excitedly waved at her, but Jiang Mu was too distracted to notice him.
Pan Kai hadn't expected to be assigned to the same exam hall as Jiang Mu. Though separated by several seats, he still wanted to help her. However, throughout the entire exam, Jiang Mu never once lifted her head, leaving Pan Kai no opportunity to play the hero.
Right after the exam, Pan Kai rushed to Jiang Mu's side and whispered gossipily: "Was that guy really Seventh Day? How do you know him? He's quite handsome, just his gaze is too sharp - I didn't even dare look at him..."
Listening to his endless chatter about Jin Chao, Jiang Mu rubbed her temples and called out: "Pan Kai."
"Here."
"Shut up."
"Okay."
After school ended in the evening, San Lai waited at the school gate in his white Honda. Unlike Jin Chao's low-profile style, San Lai's return to his alma mater was exceptionally flamboyant. With his small ponytail, printed jacket, and large sunglasses perched on his head even at nine in the evening, he looked like he was heading to a banquet. He was even chatting familiarly with the security guard about the affiliated high school's recent educational reforms and future development direction.
His conspicuous presence made Jiang Mu somewhat embarrassed to get in his car in front of everyone. After fastening her seatbelt, she couldn't help asking: "San Lai Ge, were you quite popular in school back then?"
San Lai told her very proudly: "Back in my days at the affiliated school, countless girls came just to see me. With my flowing bangs, I was the Takeshi Kaneshiro of Tonggang, the Kimura Takuya of our school, the Oguri Shun of Class 7, Grade 10."
"..." That's a bit much, really.
He grew more enthusiastic as he spoke: "For all three years of high school, I was the number one handsome in the band, just one position away from being the school's most handsome."
Jiang Mu asked puzzled: "What does 'one position' mean?"
San Lai thought about it with displeasure: "What else could it mean? During freshman registration, this guy came after me and stole all my thunder. He was taller than even the seniors, looked at people without glancing down, and carried this 'the air up here is fresher' kind of superiority complex. All those superficial female classmates spread the word and went to gawk at him instead. That person was that damn You Jiu."Although Jiang Mu wasn't from their generation, she could still imagine the sensational scene. There had been a junior at her previous school who wasn't even as handsome as Jin Chao, yet many girls had been infatuated with him.
At this point, San Lai suddenly remembered something and chuckled: "Let me tell you something interesting. Back then, many boys hadn't hit their growth spurt yet, but You Jiu was already over 180cm tall. During classroom cleaning, his class always assigned him to clean the windows. While others needed stools, he could reach the top windows just by stretching his long arms. So he ended up being responsible for all the windows in his class. Sometimes even neighboring classes would come borrow him. Every time he cleaned windows, many young girls would stand in the corridor craning their necks to watch him. At first I didn't know what they were looking at, but later I learned they were specifically waiting for You Jiu to stretch his arms - when his school uniform would ride up, they could see his waist."
Jiang Mu was puzzled: "What's so interesting about a waist?"
"How would I know about you women's strange preferences?"
As he spoke, San Lai casually mentioned: "By the way, You Jiu won't be back tonight."
Jiang Mu turned her head and asked: "Where did he go?"
San Lai answered vaguely: "Business trip out of town."
"..." Does car repair require business trips?
Jiang Mu felt this explanation was rather forced. After staying quiet for a moment, she asked: "Jin Chao... does he... have a woman?"
San Lai had been lazily holding the steering wheel, but upon hearing this, he paused briefly before bursting into exaggerated laughter that left Jiang Mu completely bewildered.
When he finally stopped laughing, he glanced at Jiang Mu with a curved lip and said: "About such matters, since You Jiu hasn't confirmed anything, as his brother I shouldn't speculate recklessly."
Jiang Mu didn't respond, instead looking out the window. She felt her guess was probably close to the mark - there really was such a woman.
Then San Lai continued slowly: "Several years ago, I went with You Jiu to an arcade to play street games. When we came out, there was a night market. I dragged You Jiu to look around, and he was quite impatient. In the end, I didn't buy anything, but he spotted a pendant and bought it. He's carried it with him ever since. The answer to your question lies with that pendant. He used to have a motorcycle, and the pendant was attached to the motorcycle key. As far as I know, that pendant should now be on a spare key for the shop's roll-up door. Normally he doesn't use it much, but he often carries it with him in case he needs to give his keys to Xiao Yang or others when something comes up. If you get a chance to find that key, you'll have your answer."
Jiang Mu furrowed her brows and looked at San Lai in confusion, but San Lai just smiled without saying another word.
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