Jiang Mu added San Lai on WeChat. After finishing her meal, she noticed a sink on the first floor of the shop. She washed the used bowls and chopsticks, dried them, and brought them back to the table.
San Lai had already prepared a cup of chrysanthemum tea for her. Jiang Mu held the warm transparent glass, sniffed the tea, and realized that every time San Lai stood at the door, he seemed to be holding a cup of chrysanthemum tea.
She couldn't help but ask, "Is chrysanthemum tea really that good?"
San Lai shrugged, "This is the only tea I have here. I don’t usually drink anything else."
Jiang Mu took a small sip. It was slightly bitter. Compared to jasmine or rose tea, she preferred the latter two. So she asked, "Why?"
San Lai replied seriously, "It helps reduce internal heat."
Jiang Mu asked earnestly, "Do you have a lot of internal heat?"
San Lai burst out laughing and said mischievously, "Next time, ask You Jiu if he gets 'heated up' in the middle of the night."
Jiang Mu suddenly caught his meaning, her cheeks flushing bright red. She lifted the teacup and took a flustered sip, changing the subject: "He’s ignoring me now..."
San Lai leaned lazily back in his chair and looked at her, "If he ignores you, just ignore him back. Focus on your studies—it’s not like he’s going to eat you."
Jiang Mu set down her cup, placed her hands on the edge of the cushion, and asked, "Did Jin Chao… get into an accident during a motorcycle race, which caused him to miss the college entrance exam?"
That was the most plausible explanation she could come up with. But San Lai’s expression gradually turned serious as he said, "It had nothing to do with that. He hasn’t touched a motorcycle since his second year of high school. Even back then, racing was something he had no choice but to do."
Jiang Mu looked grave, her eyes filled with urgency. "Why?"
San Lai glanced at her and began, "You probably know about his family situation. His father—well, your father—only covered his tuition and living expenses. There was never any extra pocket money. You Jiu had a lot of friends. One day someone would treat him to a meal, the next day someone else would buy him a drink. But he wasn’t the type to take advantage of others.
Plus, he loved browsing bookstores. Buying just a few books could cost him a week’s worth of meal money. Money was tight everywhere, and since he was underage, no one would hire him. Eventually, some of his motorcycle-riding friends joined an underground racing group. It wasn’t really a formal team—just some young people in Tonggang who would gather at Sidang Mountain at night. Each person would put in a few dozen yuan, sometimes up to a couple hundred, as a bet. The winners and the fastest racers would split the money.
You Jiu borrowed money to buy a secondhand motorcycle, modified it himself, and headed to Sidang Mountain. People didn’t recognize him and didn’t expect much, but he ended up being the dark horse, making a name for himself in one race. He paid back the loan the same day.
While others raced for fun, You Jiu did it to survive. That’s why he raced fearlessly, never backing down from any opponent. The moment he swung his leg over the bike and scanned the competition, others would already feel intimidated.
After that, he often went to Sidang Mountain to race and earn some extra cash. During that time, he really built a reputation for himself. But later, the police started cracking down. They’d wait at the mountain entrance at night, confiscating bikes from any young riders they caught. At one point, they even closed the mountain entirely. After that, the racing scene fell apart, and You Jiu never went back."Jiang Mu never imagined that Jin Chao raced motorcycles in high school for money. Jin Qiang now worked in property management, where the average wage wasn't high—after deducting social security, he probably took home just over three thousand a month. Since Zhao Meijuan had to care for Jin Xin, she spent most of her time at home, only occasionally working hourly promotions at supermarkets, earning a meager income each month. Jiang Mu could easily picture how tight Jin Chao's life must have been.
In contrast, not long after Jin Qiang left Suzhou, Jiang Yinghan sold their old, dilapidated home. She left her job to open a lottery store and used the remaining money, along with earnings from the shop, to gradually buy two properties. Later, as housing prices doubled, both properties appreciated. She sold one to pay off the loan on the other, leaving her with enough funds to comfortably support Jiang Mu's upbringing. Thus, her life had remained relatively affluent all along, and she couldn't fathom how difficult it must be for a high school student to juggle heavy academic loads while scraping by.
Did she still hold a grudge against Jin Chao? It seemed to vanish in that instant, replaced more by a suffocating tightness in her chest. If their lives hadn't split back then, would he have been spared all this? Jiang Mu didn't know—it was a hypothetical question with no real answer, but in that moment, she felt an ache that pierced straight to her heart.
After speaking, San Lai lifted his large tea mug and took a sip of chrysanthemum tea. Before Jiang Mu could ask further, he deftly shifted the topic to himself, saying he also had a Yamaha back then. Whenever Jin Chao went racing, San Lai tagged along. Though he never competed, his Yamaha was undoubtedly the flashiest bike on the mountain.
For some reason, when San Lai called his motorcycle the "flashiest," Jiang Mu's mind didn't conjure images of a cool design, but rather a bike decked out with garish LED lights, blasting thumping music. She felt San Lai was totally capable of such a thing—after all, even his current Honda was fitted with ambient lighting, complete with projection lights on the ground when the doors opened, as if afraid others didn't know he was about to step out.
As for why he never raced, San Lai justified it unabashedly: keeping up with the last-place rider wasn't the issue; the real concern was his delicate constitution—if he fell, he was afraid of the pain.
When he showed up at Si Dang Mountain, striking a pose, countless scantily clad beauties would flock to his bike for selfies.
"I'm not boasting, but back in the day, I was a legend at Si Dang Mountain. Whenever I showed up, I never lost a bet—always came down with pockets full."
"How did you manage that?"
"Simple—just bet everything on You Jiu."
"…"
When Jiang Mu first heard the news Pan Kai dug up, it hadn't fully sunk in. But tonight, sitting in San Lai's shop, listening to him recount their youthful days, everything formed vivid images in her mind. Through his words, she could glimpse their past—absurd, passionate, boiling with blood, but above all, a youth that could never be reclaimed.
Yet, every time San Lai only spoke of their days before senior year of high school; anything after that, he always skillfully avoided.Time passed quickly in casual conversation. Before they knew it, an hour had slipped by. Jiang Mu was completely captivated—undoubtedly, if San Lai was an utterly unreliable and endlessly rambling orator, then Jiang Mu was absolutely his most devoted audience.
Because it seemed only through this way could Jiang Mu glean from San Lai's words what Jin Chao had been like during the years she hadn't been part of his life.
Of course, more often it was San Lai's baffling descriptions of his own appearance. To be honest, having known San Lai for over three months now, with his face always covered in stubble and his hair often disheveled, Jiang Mu could never really make out what he actually looked like. Every time she heard him describe how charming he was, she had the illusion that he was praising someone else entirely.
So much so that she stared at San Lai again, carefully and seriously studying him for a long while before asking, "If you have such heaven-defying good looks, why do you make yourself look like this?"
San Lai shook his leg lazily and replied, "Look like what?"
Jiang Mu felt too embarrassed to say it directly, so she tactfully gestured by touching her chin. "Just... very hairy."
San Lai put his leg down, leaned in mysteriously, and told her, "Your San Lai ge here has too many admirers. I'm afraid women would be so captivated they couldn't walk away, which would affect business. So I deliberately keep my true handsomeness elusive."
"...Well, you've certainly put a lot of thought into it."
San Lai nodded in agreement.
Seeing his serious expression, Jiang Mu couldn't hold back anymore and covered her mouth as she laughed. "But seriously, if you shaved your beard and cut your hair, you'd probably look quite fresh and clean."
Noticing she was finally laughing, San Lai's expression relaxed into a smile as well.
Just as they were chatting and laughing, someone knocked twice on the glass door of the pet shop from outside. Both turned their heads simultaneously to see Jin Chao's figure standing at the entrance. San Lai called out cheerfully, "Didn't you say you were closing up? I thought you'd already gone to sleep."
Jin Chao pushed the door open and walked in. His gaze swept over Jiang Mu—her laughter hadn't fully faded, and her face still held a relaxed expression. Then his cool eyes shifted to San Lai as he remarked, "Are you two never going to stop? How can anyone sleep with all this noise?"
San Lai retorted flippantly, "Then don't sleep. If you were really tired, you could sleep through a tractor roaring next to your ear. This just proves you're not actually sleepy."
Jiang Mu checked the time—it was indeed getting late. She stood up, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and said to San Lai, "I should head back now."
San Lai rose slowly. "Going back so late?"
Jiang Mu glanced back at Jin Chao. "Yeah, no one's offering to put me up for the night."
San Lai's eyes crinkled with laughter. Jin Chao's gaze drifted toward her indifferently. "If you know that, then you should leave earlier."
Perhaps chatting with San Lai had strengthened her mental resilience. Facing Jin Chao's aloof attitude again, Jiang Mu found herself somewhat immune now. She replied just as flatly, "I'm going right now. No need to see me out. Goodbye."
Then, true to her word, she unhurriedly opened the door, wandered to the auto shop entrance to pat Shandian's big head, and finally walked to the roadside to hail a taxi before leaving.
On Sunday morning, the red packets Jin Chao hadn't accepted were gradually refunded to her digital wallet. For once, Jiang Mu didn't laze in bed. She got up early, went downstairs to find a clean and hygienic breakfast stall to fill her stomach, and even brought some meat-filled potstickers with her to Tongren Lane.The auto shop's door wasn't open yet, the roller shutter was still drawn. She had no choice but to knock on San Lai's shop door. San Lai seemed to have just woken up, his long hair casually tied into a small bun, shuffling in slippers while wearing pajamas, diligently busy as a poop-scooper tending to the litter boxes.
November in Tonggang had already ushered in winter mode. Jiang Mu wore a warm white padded coat, pulling the furry hood over her head until only her palm-sized face peeked out as she craned her neck to look inside.
San Lai turned his head and saw an adorably fluffy-dressed girl. He smiled, put down the litter scoop, and opened the door for her. Jiang Mu carried steaming hot potstickers, instantly filling the pet shop with the aroma of meat filling. All the small animals became excited, and Jiang Mu felt she had instantly mastered San Lai's summoning code.
She placed the bag on the small glass table and asked, "The auto shop hasn't opened today?"
San Lai closed the cabinet door and said to her, "There are few customers in the morning, so they don't open until after 10. After you left, You Jiu returned to normal operating hours."
"Hmm... so he hasn't gotten up yet?"
San Lai went to wash his hands and said, "That freak sleeps very little, usually waking up before 6 or 7 AM."
Jiang Mu waved her fingers outside the glass cabinet door, teasing the cats, and asked, "Then what does he do after getting up?"
San Lai turned around, pulled a tissue, and stared at her with a smile while wiping his hands.
Seeing he wasn't answering, Jiang Mu turned back and asked, "Do you think he'll try to chase me away again when he sees me later?"
San Lai walked over, picked up a potsticker, and asked, "If he does chase you away again, what will you do?"
Jiang Mu declared righteously, "What can I do? Sing for him? Perform crosstalk? Do magic tricks? If nothing works, I'll dance for him!"
"You can dance too?"
"Not really. I learned ballet as a child, so I'll just give it a try. If I dance for him, how could he still have the nerve to chase me away?"
San Lai looked at Jiang Mu dressed like a bear, completely unable to imagine how eye-searing the scene would be with her dancing ballet in such a clumsy coat. The entire pet shop filled with San Lai's unrestrained laughter. Seeing him so amused, Jiang Mu laughed along too.
Then amidst the cheerful laughter, San Lai suddenly looked up and shouted toward the upstairs, "Hear that? Aren't you coming down to see the little swan?"
Jiang Mu's smile instantly froze, her face turning pale in shock as she stared at the staircase. There was movement from the second floor, followed by a pair of long legs casually descending the stairs. Jiang Mu's heartbeat began to quicken until Jin Chao completely appeared in her line of sight.
His footsteps stopped at the staircase landing. He turned around and slowly leaned against the handrail, his gaze drifting over: "Go ahead and dance."
OpenNovel