Jiang Mu took a long time to tidy up before finally emerging from her room. Her ear-length short hair now lay obediently against her cheeks, and she wore a soft long sweater, giving her an overall delicate and refined appearance.
Everyone else was already seated at the table, waiting for her. She walked to her spot and found Jin Chao sitting directly across from her. When she glanced up at him, he caught her gaze and lifted his eyes, but she pretended to fiddle with her hair to avoid his look.
Zhao Meijuan spoke up: "Jin Chao mentioned you don’t like dumplings, so he stir-fried two dishes for you. You can have rice."
As she spoke, she moved the dishes in front of Jiang Mu and handed the dumplings to Jin Xin. Jiang Mu lowered her eyes and said, "Thank you."
After a moment of silence, she looked up again. Seeing her gaze return, Jin Chao’s lips curved into a faint smile as he slowly replied, "You’re welcome."
It was a perfectly ordinary exchange, yet it felt overly polite—so much so that Jiang Mu sensed an undertone of something fabricated, covert, and imaginary.
After the meal, Jin Qiang and Zhao Meijuan took Jin Xin back to their room for a nap. When Jiang Mu came out of her room, Jin Chao was nowhere to be seen, and the main door was slightly ajar. She pushed it open and stepped into the stairwell, where she heard a faint clicking sound. Following the noise, she spotted Jin Chao sitting on the steps, smoking, idly flicking a slide-top lighter in his hand.
Jiang Mu walked over to him, stepping up one stair. Jin Chao shifted aside to make room, and she sat down beside him.
Jin Chao transferred the cigarette from his left hand to his right and asked her, "Does the smoke bother you?"
Jiang Mu hugged her knees, staring at the burning cigarette between his fingers, and remained silent for a long while. The stairwell was so quiet that only their breathing could be heard. Jin Chao turned his gaze toward her, and suddenly, Jiang Mu reached out and snatched the cigarette from his fingers, bringing it to her lips for a puff. The filter still carried the warmth of his mouth, and the moment it touched her lips, Jiang Mu felt as if she had lost her mind.
The next second, she was coughing uncontrollably, tears streaming from her eyes. Jin Chao forcibly took the cigarette from her hand, stamped it out, and said in a stern voice, "Don’t you want to get better?"
But Jiang Mu turned to him and retorted, "How would I know if it’s bothersome without trying?"
Jin Chao’s expression turned cold. "There won’t be a next time."
Jiang Mu lifted her eyes nonchalantly and said, "Didn’t those women who ride motorcycles smoke? Wan Qing smokes too."
"You’re not like them."
Jiang Mu tilted her head, studying him. "How am I different?"
Jin Chao turned to meet her gaze, a peculiar tension oscillating between them. The afternoon sunlight spilled in from the other end of the stairwell, its rays intertwining like delicate threads.
Jin Chao let out a soft laugh and averted his eyes.
Jiang Mu pressed on, "Then how am I different from Jin Xin?"
Jin Chao couldn’t quite explain it. Before Jin Xin was born, he had assumed all little girls were like Mumu—fond of acting spoiled, causing a ruckus, senselessly silly yet utterly endearing, capable of melting the entire world with their whimpers.
It wasn’t until later, when Jin Qiang had Jin Xin, that he realized there was only one Mumu in this world. Jin Xin would listen to him, but she didn’t cling to him the way Mumu had as a child. The age gap between him and Jin Xin was too wide. In that irretrievable chapter of his childhood, only one girl had ever stayed from beginning to end—irreversible and irreplaceable.Jin Chao remained silent for a moment before saying, "You're more mischievous than her, more prone to crying, and harder to handle. Jin Xin would listen to what I said, but when you were little and threw tantrums, you were utterly unreasonable."
Jiang Mu immediately puffed out her cheeks: "You're about to lose me as your sister."
Jin Chao replied with a half-smile, "The biggest difference is that Jin Xin knows to be afraid of me, but with you, I can only use coaxing."
Even though Jin Chao hadn't mentioned a single way in which she surpassed Jin Xin, Jiang Mu's eyes still curved into crescents. She turned her head and asked, "By the way, how is Tie Gongji's dad doing?"
Jin Chao's expression grew more solemn: "Not well."
Tie Gongji's father had previously acted as a guarantor for someone. It was said that this person had a twenty-year relationship with his father—they entered the factory together when they were young, ate and lived together, found wives and started families one after another. The two families often visited each other, their relationship closer than that of relatives. No one could have imagined that this person would cause a huge disaster and then vanish without a trace. Now, with the person missing, creditors showed up at Tie Gongji's father's house with black-and-white contracts, pressuring him to sell his home.
Tie Gongji's family wasn't particularly well-off. If they sold their only house, the whole family would be left with nothing. During this New Year's return to their hometown, they had intended to borrow money from relatives. However, when their relatives heard about the situation, they relentlessly scolded his father for being foolish and muddle-headed. Already cornered and desperate, and fearing he would drag down his wife and son—especially since Tie Gongji wasn't married yet—his father worried that selling the house would leave his son with no prospects for marriage.
After drinking, overwhelmed by despair, he jumped from the roof of their hometown house, thinking death would end everything and spare his wife and child from suffering. Unexpectedly, he didn't die but was seriously injured.
The creditors, afraid that his death would mean they couldn't recover their money, brought a crowd to the hospital to cause trouble. So, Jin Chao and San Lai stood guard at the hospital for two days, preventing those people from laying a hand on Tie Gongji and his mother.
In the end, they negotiated a payment of 50,000 yuan upfront, with the rest to be settled after Tie Gongji's father is discharged from the hospital.
His father's life was pulled back from the brink of death, but this hospitalization cost a lot of money. Even this 50,000 yuan was advanced by San Lai and Jin Chao for Tie Gongji.
Jiang Mu found the whole situation distressing, especially during the New Year. She could only sigh that every family has its own troubles. Compared to Tie Gongji's plight, her own family's house being sold seemed trivial.
In the following days, Jin Chao brought Shandian back to the auto repair shop to care for him personally. Before Shandian's accident, although he was kept at the shop, Jin Chao's care had been limited to providing food and a shelter. But after Shandian was discharged from the hospital, Jin Chao took full responsibility—administering medicine, feeding, nursing, and grooming him.
After going through this ordeal, Shandian's temperament changed somewhat. Although his leg gradually healed and he could stand and walk, he became somewhat fearful of people. Aside from Jin Chao and Jiang Mu, even when San Lai and Xiao Yang called him, he would wag his tail but wouldn't approach them. Unlike his previous wandering nature, he now mostly stayed inside the repair bay, often following Jin Chao around. If Jin Chao didn't take him out to relieve himself, he could hold it all day without going out on his own.
Jiang Mu often felt melancholy about Shandian's change. Physical wounds could heal, but they couldn't erase the psychological trauma for him. They could only care for him with extra diligence, hoping time would fade the shadow of that incident and his wariness of people.
Before returning to Australia, Jiang Yinghan contacted Jiang Mu, informing her that the property in Suzhou had been dealt with. She told her to focus on the college entrance exams and that they would see each other again in a few months.Jiang Mu started the new semester, and her coursework became even more demanding. The auto shop wouldn't reopen until after the Little New Year, so during his free time, Jin Chao took the opportunity to help Jiang Mu identify and fill gaps in her studies. Although Jiang Mu told him her grades had already placed her in the top thirty of her year—a personal best—Jin Chao merely smiled without comment. He meticulously prepared review outlines and mind maps for her, never slacking on the practice problems she needed to complete. She strongly suspected Jin Chao harbored high hopes for her academic success, and while she wasn't particularly enthusiastic about studying, she quite enjoyed spending time with him. Even when he read while she worked on problems, she never found it dull.
After the minor incident at Wuyin Temple, they seemed unchanged on the surface, yet something between them had undeniably shifted.
Sometimes, while solving problems, Jiang Mu would lift her head and find herself staring blankly at Jin Chao. He would tap the table to remind her, "Focus." But occasionally, he would also lose himself gazing at her, and she would wave a hand in front of his face, teasing, "I'm pretty, aren't I?" Jin Chao would just chuckle and walk away, never once admitting she was beautiful.
Jin Chao still went out frequently, mostly at night, unbeknownst to Jiang Mu. When his absences stretched beyond two days and couldn't be concealed, she would repeatedly urge him to be safe, safe, above all else safe. She would anxiously await his call after he finished his tasks.
Tie Gongji returned after the Little New Year, and even Jiang Mu noticed he had grown noticeably thinner. Feeling she couldn't be of much help, she thought about cooking a meal for everyone. Since she always mooched food and drinks, it was time to contribute.
San Lai expressed deep skepticism about her cooking skills and specifically requested sweet and sour mandarin fish. So, Jiang Mu dragged Jin Chao to the market. At the fish stall, crowded with customers, she stood bewildered for a long moment before turning to Jin Chao and asking, "Do you know what a mandarin fish looks like?"
Jin Chao smiled, selected a plump fish, and had the vendor weigh it. Jiang Mu beamed sweetly at the vendor and said, "Please clean it for us." The vendor, seemingly familiar with Jin Chao, glanced at him. Jin Chao gave a slight smirk and said, "No need, you're busy."
After paying and carrying the fish away, Jiang Mu pressed closer and asked, "Don't they clean fish here? How are we supposed to handle it uncleaned? It needs scaling too—I'm afraid I won't do it properly. I've never gutted a fish, and most importantly, I don't dare kill it."
Jin Chao shot her a sidelong glance. "Didn't you see the long line?" Jiang Mu looked back; business was indeed booming. She turned to him again and pursued, "But you can kill a fish, right?" Jin Chao replied offhandedly, "I can even kill a person."
Jiang Mu laughed and caught up with him. Spotting a scallion stall, she tugged at Jin Chao, picked a single scallion, and handed it to the vendor. The auntie didn't take it, just stared at her. Unsure what was happening, Jiang Mu held it out and asked, "Don't you need to weigh it?" The two stared at each other in silence until another customer tossed over a bundle, which the vendor accepted. She then said lightly to Jiang Mu, "Just take it. Don't waste my scale."
Jiang Mu, having scored a free scallion, felt a bit guilty yet thought the vendor was incredibly generous. She turned to Jin Chao, proudly presenting the scallion. "Look, the vendor gave it to me—didn't charge a thing!"A glint of amusement flickered in Jin Chao's eyes, though he refrained from telling her that in their local market, buying scallions like she did was usually seen as a provocation. Had he not been standing behind Jiang Mu earlier, the vendor would have already started cursing.
Later, Jin Chao led her to the meat section to buy pork ribs. Jiang Mu wasn't very knowledgeable about selecting ribs—she couldn't really tell the difference between good or bad cuts or how much meat was on them. So while Jin Chao picked out the ribs, she stood there holding her scallions, her gaze wandering around.
Just as Jiang Mu turned her head, she spotted a man in a stand-collar jacket buying pork belly four stalls away. Her eyes immediately caught on his nose—a prominent bridge with a slight hook at the tip. It seemed familiar, as if she'd seen it somewhere before. Quickly sifting through her memories, she recalled the man with the aquiline nose and nudged Jin Chao, asking, "Has that guy ever come to Feichi for car repairs?"
Following her voice, Jin Chao glanced over. The man had just taken his meat, paid, and happened to turn in their direction. Jin Chao had already averted his gaze and said flatly, "Don't know him."
The man brushed past them with his bag, and Jiang Mu kept staring back at him. "Are you sure you don't know him? Last time he came to inflate his tires, and you didn't charge him."
Jin Chao tossed the selected ribs to the butcher, turned to her, and replied, "Do you know how many passing cars come for tire inflation in a year? It's a small favor. For local regulars, I usually don't charge—do I have to memorize everyone's face too?"
Jiang Mu fell silent. Jin Chao took the ribs, scanned the code to pay, then turned and asked her, "Anything else you want to buy?"
Jiang Mu shook her head. Jin Chao pointed toward the fruit shop at the market entrance. "Then go pick out some fruit. I'll have a smoke by the door."
Jiang Mu selected a few oranges and eyed the strawberries for a moment. Newly arrived strawberries were always expensive, packaged in elegant boxes and sold by the piece. After hesitating for a few seconds, she resisted the urge. When she looked back, Jin Chao was on the phone by the entrance. Just as she watched, he hung up and turned around.
Jiang Mu handed the oranges to the shopkeeper to weigh. Jin Chao casually picked up a box of strawberries, placed it on the counter, scanned the code, and left.
Following him out, Jiang Mu reminded him, "Actually, if we wait another month, strawberries will be much cheaper."
Jin Chao glanced at her sideways. "What if you don't feel like eating them by then?"
Jiang Mu laughed. "I never said I wanted them."
"Mm, I do."
Back home, Jiang Mu seriously screenshotted the cooking steps for sweet and sour mandarin fish and studied them carefully. Jin Chao washed the strawberries and set them beside her. So she jotted down the steps while popping strawberries into her mouth.
Perhaps because they were so expensive, they tasted exceptionally good. Before she knew it, she had eaten more than half. She hurriedly grabbed the box and ran to find Jin Chao, saying, "Didn't you want to eat strawberries? If I leave them here, I'll finish them all."
Jin Chao's eyes crinkled slightly as he told her, "Just leave them there."
Jiang Mu set the strawberries aside and only then noticed that while she was preparing, Jin Chao had already handled everything from cleaning the fish to scoring it.
He had even heated the oil for her. But when it was time to fry the fish, Jiang Mu grew nervous at the sight of the bubbling oil. She turned to Jin Chao and asked, "Can you turn off the heat first? I'll put the fish in and then you can turn it back on."
Jin Chao popped a strawberry into her mouth, took the fish, and tossed it directly into the wok. The sizzling sound and rising smoke startled Jiang Mu so much that she ducked behind him.So Jiang Mu participated in the entire process as well—like opening the ketchup bottle, drizzling oil a few times, and finally arranging the finished dish on the plate.
Throughout, Jin Chao intermittently fed her a few strawberries. By the time the fish was cooked, she had finished all the strawberries. Puzzled, she asked Jin Chao, "Did you eat any strawberries earlier?"
Jin Chao carried the fish inside and tossed back, "I did."
"Did you? Or did they all end up in my mouth?"
"Thanks for taking one for the team."
"..."
During the meal, San Lai, Xiao Yang, and Tie Gongji praised her lavishly upon seeing the impressively presented sweet and sour mandarin fish, calling her a little culinary genius of Chinese cuisine.
Jiang Mu blushed and glanced at Jin Chao. The feeling was akin to having a ringer take an exam for her and scoring full marks—except the ringer, the examiner, and the test-taker were all sitting at the same table, which made her somewhat guilty.
Jin Chao simply kept his head lowered, a faint, elusive smile playing on his lips. He didn’t expose her, fully demonstrating the professional integrity of a dedicated ringer.
Author’s Note: Leave a comment to enter the red envelope giveaway.
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided nutrient solutions between 2021-09-24 16:16:38 and 2021-09-25 16:09:20~
Special thanks to the little angels who threw landmines: 《Radiant》 x1, Peach Loves Kiwi x1, Takayasan x1;
And to the nutrient solution providers: Foshan Shadowless Kick x26 bottles; Don’t Hit Me, I’m So Bad x20 bottles; Wandering Fish x10 bottles, ^O^ You Er? x10 bottles; 41416783 x5 bottles; Meoww x3 bottles; Warmth x2 bottles; Grace x1 bottle, 6:30 Salted Egg Yolk x1 bottle, Exclusive Witch x1 bottle~
Thank you all so much for your support—I’ll keep working hard!
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