Of course, Jiang Mu would never perform an embarrassing ballet in front of two grown men. How could she have imagined that her banter with San Lai would be overheard by the person in question? Had she known Jin Chao was upstairs the entire time, she wouldn’t have uttered a single word.
But what was done was done. All she could do was shrink back, her face flushing red as she scurried toward the corner where San Lai stood. San Lai, on the other hand, wore an expression of someone thoroughly enjoying the drama, clearly finding Jiang Mu’s flustered state a delightful addition to his Sunday morning.
To be fair, Jin Chao had indeed seen Jiang Mu dance ballet before. Back when she was still in kindergarten, Jiang Yinghan had enrolled her in a dance class. He had gone with Jin Qiang to pick her up once, and there she was—wearing a pink tutu and white tights, her hair tied into a perky little ponytail, her expression utterly serious amid a group of young children. At that age, she was still chubby and soft, her legs encased in white tights so adorably that one felt the urge to give them a playful nibble. She looked like a plump little swan.
Even now, Jin Chao could still recall the way she bounced and swayed to the music, her head bobbing along. The memory brought a faint smile to his eyes. Jiang Mu, feeling intensely self-conscious under his gaze, was relieved when Jin Chao didn’t linger long and soon left to open the auto repair shop.
Xiao Yang and Tie Gongji treated Jiang Mu as usual—cracking jokes, teasing her, and even ordering an extra lunch portion for her at noon. When Jiang Mu went to the shop to eat, Jin Chao didn’t say much, though after the meal he did remark, “Finish up and head back early.”
With a touch of pride, Jiang Mu retorted, “My legs belong to me.”
Jin Chao glanced at her, pressed his lips together, lowered his gaze, and went back to work.
In the afternoon, Jiang Mu looked up a bubble tea shop, asked everyone what they wanted to drink, and headed out to make the purchase.
Since moving to Tonggang, her frequency of ordering delivery had indeed decreased. With no other leisure activities to speak of, her only form of relaxation outside studying was going out to buy things.
It felt like completing a mission—setting a destination and then enjoying the unfamiliar streets along the way. Perhaps because her daily life was so monotonous, she would even stop to watch if two dogs happened to be quarreling. If she occasionally came across an unusual building or a street vendor she hadn’t seen before, she would linger even longer.
These little explorations added a sliver of novelty to her otherwise dull study routine, so much so that an hour passed and she still hadn’t returned.
Jin Chao backed the freshly repainted car out of the shop, stepped out, and asked Xiao Yang, “Where’s Mumu?”
Xiao Yang replied, “She went to buy bubble tea.”
“It’s taking this long?”
Only then did Xiao Yang pull out his phone to check the time, surprised. “You’re right.”
Jiang Mu had indeed gone to buy bubble tea. But on her way back, she came across a few elderly men playing chess and couldn’t resist peeking. Just then, one of the men needed to use the restroom and asked if anyone nearby could take over his game. Seeing how urgently the man needed to go, Jiang Mu volunteered to fill in.
The man sitting across from her, noticing she was just a young girl, asked skeptically, “Do you even know how to play?”Jiang Mu was quite proficient in everything from chess, Go, and military chess down to Gomoku, Double Bee chess, and Ludo. This likely stemmed from her deep childhood influence by Jin Chao. Besides competing with others in toy car races at model shops, his greatest childhood hobby was reading and playing chess. However, he couldn’t play chess alone, so he had no choice but to drag the tiny Jiang Mu along to play with him. Whenever she didn’t understand, he would patiently teach her over and over. But how could a young child sit still for long? Lacking patience, she would often fall asleep halfway through a game, drooling all over her chubby little arms.
Surprisingly, during her final year of kindergarten, Jiang Mu unexpectedly took first place in the school’s “Little Go Master” competition. From then on, she developed a strong interest in chess.
So when Jin Chao found her, she was sitting cross-legged by the roadside, facing an elderly man in a padded coat, one hand propping up her chin in a precociously serious manner.
Jiang Mu had a vague feeling that someone across the street was staring at her. She glanced up casually and spotted Jin Chao leaning against the stone bridge, a cigarette in his hand. She had no idea how long he had been standing there. Startled, she immediately abandoned the game, grabbed her milk tea, and said, “I’m done playing. I need to go back.”
The old man, not yet satisfied, urged her to stay: “What’s the rush? Let’s play another round.”
Jiang Mu forced an awkward smile and replied, “Another time, another time.”
Then she dashed across the street in one breath. Jin Chao promptly put out his cigarette and turned to leave. Jiang Mu hurried after him, step for step, and asked, “Did you come looking for me?”
“No.”
“You weren’t worried I’d get lost, were you?”
“No.”
“If I did get lost, would you be worried?”
Silence.
Watching his pace quicken, Jiang Mu muttered under her breath, “Stubborn but soft-hearted.”
Jin Chao suddenly stopped and turned around, his sharp gaze sweeping over her: “My temper is much better now. Otherwise, you’d already be in the river.”
Seeing his stern expression return, Jiang Mu wasn’t intimidated. She went up to him, grabbed his sleeve, and shook it playfully, tilting her head to smile at him. Her little nose, red from the cold, made her whole face seem livelier. Jin Chao averted his eyes and pulled his hand back.
When Jin Chao returned to the auto shop, he went to deliver a car to a customer. Tie Gongji went out to buy parts, and Jiang Mu went back to the lounge to read. Around four in the afternoon, Xiao Yang, who had been busy in the repair bay, suddenly shouted angrily, “Get the hell out of here!”
Jiang Mu immediately looked up, stood, and walked out. As soon as she stepped into the repair bay, the pungent smell of paint assaulted her senses. When she reached the entrance, she was shocked to find that large splashes of red paint had been thrown all over the shop’s front. The foul odor hung in the air, and the bright red paint, like blood, made the once-clean entrance a ghastly sight.
Xiao Yang stood alone outside the repair bay, glaring fiercely at the roadside. Jiang Mu followed his gaze and saw two young men standing on the street, wearing smug, malicious grins.
Jiang Mu’s anger flared instantly. San Lai also pushed the door open and cursed, “Broad daylight, and instead of doing decent work, you pull this devilry. Motherfuckers.”
Jiang Mu asked, “Are they from Wan Ji too?”
Xiao Yang fumed, “Who else could it be but them?”It had only been a little over a month since these troublemakers last came, but this time they didn’t smash anything—instead, they splashed a bucket of paint right away. Just as San Lai had said, while they weren’t going as far as burning, killing, or looting, these kinds of actions were disgusting enough.
Shandian was still pacing back and forth at the entrance of the auto shop, barking furiously at the two men. His paws, stained with red paint, left tracks everywhere.
Jiang Mu crouched down and called out, "Shandian."
Hearing her voice, Shandian turned and trotted back. Jiang Mu whispered a few words to him and gave his rump a pat. Suddenly, Shandian dashed toward the two men. Seeing the situation turning against them, the men tried to flee to their car but didn’t make it in time. Shandian pounced on them, smearing red paint from his paws all over their clothes. Cursing and scrambling, the two finally fled into their car and sped off.
Shandian barked twice at the retreating car before running back. Jiang Mu patted his head and wiped his paws clean. Xiao Yang quickly fetched supplies to clean up the entrance. Worried that Shandian might lick the paint and get poisoned, San Lai brought out pet shampoo to help wash him and trimmed the fur that couldn’t be cleaned of paint.
By the time Jin Chao and Tie Gongji returned, Xiao Yang had mostly washed down the entrance. Though it wasn’t as ghastly as before, traces of red paint still remained.
Xiao Yang angrily recounted what had happened. Jin Chao’s expression was grim, but compared to Xiao Yang’s righteous indignation, he showed no other emotion beyond a fierce glint in his eyes. He simply patted Xiao Yang’s shoulder and said, "Just bear with it a little longer."
Later, when Xiao Yang brought up Shandian’s heroic act that day, his tone was filled with triumphant satisfaction. He asked Jiang Mu, "How did you get him to pounce like that?"
Jiang Mu hugged Shandian’s big head, stroking his fur as she pulled a strip of meat from her pocket. Xiao Yang immediately laughed. "You’ve got your ways."
Jin Chao glanced over at her thoughtfully, but when Jiang Mu lifted her head to meet his gaze, he immediately looked away and went into the repair shop.
Truthfully, Jiang Mu felt that this couldn’t go on. The people from Wanji were like sticky plasters, showing up every now and then to cause trouble and disrupt business. From what she had learned during this time, Wanji had several large-scale shops in Tonggang and held some influence. If they were really intent on bringing Jin Chao down, simply dragging things out like this could wear Feichi Auto into the ground.
As long as the conflict between Jin Chao and Wanji remained unresolved, these disgusting incidents would keep happening. It was clear they had no intention of letting Jin Chao live in peace, and who knew what they might do next.
This matter weighed heavily on Jiang Mu’s mind. Once, when she brought it up with San Lai, he even lectured her, saying it wasn’t something she should worry about.
In the following period, things mostly stayed the same. Although Jiang Mu no longer brought all her homework and materials over to spend the entire day, she still dropped by for a short while whenever she had time.
Xiao Yang, Tie Gongji, and even San Lai were all quite warm toward her. Only Jin Chao remained cold, even more so than when she had first arrived in Tonggang.
If the Jin Chao she had reunited with initially felt unfamiliar and distant, the Jin Chao now seemed like a tightly sealed block of ice, with no cracks to break through.Sometimes when she stood in the repair shop chatting with Xiao Yang, Jin Chao would get annoyed with her. He'd inexplicably shoot her a cold glare and say sharply, "Don't you have anything better to do? If not, go run a lap outside. Stop getting in the way here."
Then Jiang Mu would actually leave, going to play chess with the old men. She'd return to eat only when she got hungry from playing.
Compared to socializing with peers, the advantage of playing chess was that it required no awkward small talk or social anxiety. You just sat down and played, leaving when finished. Sometimes if another old man made unnecessary comments, the one playing with her would scold them.
But even someone as unconventional as San Lai couldn't understand her mysterious hobby. He once asked Jin Chao, "Has your little sister started aging prematurely? How did she manage to single-handedly infiltrate that mysterious organization of retired cadres in West Lowland Hollow?"
Jin Chao remained silent, always feeling this matter had something to do with him.
This situation continued until one day when San Lai suddenly cut off his long hair and shaved off the beard that had perpetually adorned his face. When he went to the auto shop to smoke with Jin Chao, not only were Xiao Yang and Tie Gongji startled, even Jin Chao looked at him bewildered: "What's gotten into you?"
San Lai laughed, "Mumu said I look fresher like this."
As he spoke, he offered Jin Chao a cigarette. Jin Chao took it, lit up, and silently studied him.
Recently, Jin Chao hadn't been giving Jiang Mu much friendly treatment, so she had indeed been visiting San Lai quite frequently. Sometimes she'd stay there for one or two hours. San Lai treated her casually too - he'd have her help bathe the cats and dogs without any formality, never treating her as an outsider. Since San Lai loved to chatter, Jin Chao often heard their intermittent laughter coming from the neighboring pet shop while he worked at the entrance.
He just never expected that San Lai would cut the long hair he'd kept for years just because of something Jiang Mu said. After a while, Jin Chao gave San Lai another couple of looks. San Lai grinned and rubbed his freshly shorn head: "What? Still as handsome as ever, right?"
Jin Chao didn't respond, silently extinguishing his cigarette.
On Friday evening, just as Jiang Mu got off Bus No. 6, San Lai spotted her. He proactively opened the shop door and stepped onto the street, ready to receive enthusiastic compliments.
But though he struck his pose perfectly, Jiang Mu walked straight past him without even recognizing him.
Amidst Xiao Yang and Tie Gongji's hearty laughter, Jiang Mu finally sensed something amiss and turned back to look at the man posing on the street.
Jiang Mu was somewhat nearsighted to begin with, and San Lai's completely transformed new look was worlds apart from his original sloppy style. This caused Jiang Mu to completely fail recognizing him at first glance. Only after squinting and studying him for half a minute did her lips form an "O" in surprise: "San Lai Brother?""
San Lai finally felt his long wait hadn't been in vain. He wanted to toss his hair stylishly, only to realize there was nothing left to toss. Aborting the head movement halfway, he awkwardly pulled back and walked up to Jiang Mu: "So? What do you think?"
Jiang Mu seriously looked him over from head to toe. Though San Lai was quite lean, he wasn't short - standing at about 180cm. But he usually preferred shuffling around in slippers with hunched shoulders, always looking like he hadn't woken up properly. Jiang Mu had never associated him with the "handsome guy" category before.Seeing his clean-shaven face for the first time, Jiang Mu was genuinely taken aback. She finally understood why San Lai had kept himself so unkempt with facial hair—his features were remarkably refined. With a touch of eyeliner, he could easily debut as a flower boy idol. Yet, his delicate features carried a certain feminine beauty, and the beard had indeed added a touch of masculinity.
However, San Lai’s laid-back and somewhat roguish personality gave him a natural, effortless charm.
Perhaps to match his new look, he had even changed his dressing style these past few days—no longer sloppy but noticeably more spirited. Jiang Mu immediately burst out laughing and exclaimed, “San Lai, did you get plastic surgery? Is this what you really look like? I feel like I’ve been knowing a fake version of you.”
San Lai, seeing the expected reaction, lifted his head proudly, thoroughly enjoying the moment.
Hearing Jiang Mu’s voice, Jin Chao glanced over and saw her circling around San Lai as if she had discovered a new continent. Eventually, she even followed him back to the shop without a second thought.
Jin Chao spat out his chewing gum, leisurely removed his gloves, and walked to the sink to wash his hands twice with soap. Then he headed to the break room and said to Xiao Yang, “Go next door and call Mu Mu back.”
Xiao Yang stuck his head out and called, “Jiang Mu.”
Before Jiang Mu could even sit down, she heard Xiao Yang’s voice and walked out of the pet shop to return. With a smile still on her face from whatever she had been discussing with San Lai, she asked, “What’s up?”
Xiao Yang tilted his chin, signaling her toward the break room. Puzzled, Jiang Mu headed that way. As soon as she pushed the door open, she saw Jin Chao sitting on a chair with his legs crossed. This was the first time in many days that Jin Chao had actively sought her out, and Jiang Mu was equally surprised.
Seeing her enter, Jin Chao lifted his eyelids and said to her, “Close the door.”
Jiang Mu turned and shut the break room door. Xiao Yang and Tie Gongji peered inside through the glass, but Jin Chao shot them a glance and casually pulled a cord, causing the break room curtains to drop immediately. Jiang Mu had never noticed before that there were curtains on this glass pane. She had a feeling Jin Chao wanted to say something to her, but she couldn’t guess what. She could only press herself against the wall and stare at him.
OpenNovel