Jiang Mu had been on a three-day business trip to Pucheng. Before leaving, she noticed her colleagues all bought crisp pears to bring back for their families. She felt she ought to buy something too, but when it came to family, the only person she had in Nanjing was Jin Chao.
So after purchasing them, she took a photo of the crisp pears and sent it to Jin Chao, saying: "I'm coming back today. Brought you some crisp pears."
But a moment later, Jin Chao replied: "I'm not in Nanjing."
Disappointed, Jiang Mu didn't respond to his message throughout her journey.
After dropping her luggage at her rental apartment, that evening Jiang Mu carried the crisp pears to OON. All three staff members were in the shop, and business was quite good. When Xiao Ke saw her, he immediately smiled: "You were on a business trip, right?"
Shandian also rushed out from the changing room. Jiang Mu crouched down and hugged the dog tightly, telling Xiao Ke: "Just got home."
Then she brought the crisp pears behind the counter to share with them, saying: "These were originally for your boss, but he's not around. Make sure to help him finish them."
Gu Tao also came over: "What's the good stuff?"
Jiang Mu said to him: "An OON, please. Thanks."
As she pulled out her phone to scan the payment code, shop manager Fang Jie blocked the QR code and told her: "The boss instructed that you don't pay when you come here."
Jiang Mu was momentarily surprised, then smiled and put her phone away without standing on ceremony.
As Shandian circled around her, Fang Jie asked: "You're familiar with the boss, right? No wonder Mendan knows you."
Jiang Mu said: "Of course I know him. This is my dog."
All three staff members showed surprised expressions, but seeing how devoted Shandian was to her, they had to believe it. After all, Shandian had an eccentric personality and usually couldn't be bothered with even them.
Sitting on a barstool, Jiang Mu tapped the counter and asked: "Let me ask you something - has your boss ever been married? Does he have a girlfriend?"
Xiao Ke looked blankly at Gu Tao, then at the shop manager. Gu Tao said: "I don't know, don't look at me."
Fang Jie didn't dare speak carelessly either, replying: "The boss is usually busy. We really don't know much about his personal matters."
Seeing she couldn't get any clear answers, Jiang Mu changed the subject: "Why does he always have business trips? Is it work-related or is his company located elsewhere?"
Gu Tao casually responded: "The boss doesn't work for any company, right? His physical condition doesn't allow him to work full-time nine-to-five."
Jiang Mu looked up puzzled: "What's wrong with his health?"
Fang Jie placed a cup in the sink and secretly nudged Gu Tao. Startled, Gu Tao looked up at Jiang Mu and explained: "I just mean he has to manage the coffee shop and often needs to go to the school too. Taking on a full-time job on top of that would be too much for anyone's health."
Jiang Mu nodded. Since she wasn't paying, she felt embarrassed having them serve her coffee, so she simply made it herself and sat in the corner behind the same pillar as last time. Then she beckoned to Shandian, who immediately ran to her side and quietly lay down.
Jiang Mu took out her phone, bent down and took a photo from above that captured the coffee, herself, and Shandian. She sent the photo to Jin Chao saying: "Thanks for the free coffee."
Jin Chao told her: "I'll be back tomorrow."
Satisfied, Jiang Mu put away her phone.
After sitting for a while, Shandian saw her out to the courtyard. But unlike before, even after Jiang Mu left the courtyard, the dog continued to follow her step by step, making it difficult for Xiao Ke who had chased after them.Jiang Mu simply told her: "I'm taking him home. When your boss returns tomorrow, have him come pick him up from my place."
With that, Jiang Mu left with Shandian, who obediently followed her. Xiao Ke hurried back into the shop to have Gu Tao call the boss. After saying a few words, Gu Tao hung up. Xiao Ke asked anxiously, "What did the boss say?"
Gu Tao turned to tell her: "The boss just said he knows."
Xiao Ke breathed a genuine sigh of relief.
Since she had returned from her business trip late the previous night, Jiang Mu had a half-day off the next morning. She took Shandian out for a walk, went to the institute in the afternoon, and bought some groceries in the evening to cook dinner. As she stir-fried, Shandian lay in the kitchen keeping her company. While reducing the heat to let the sauce thicken, Jiang Mu stared blankly at the stove, wondering if Jin Chao usually did the same?
At least he had Shandian for company, while she had nothing. At this thought, Jiang Mu felt displeased again.
The source of her displeasure texted her at seven o'clock, asking for her address. So Jiang Mu sent Jin Chao both the neighborhood name and her apartment number.
Forty minutes later, he arrived but didn't come upstairs, merely informing her: "I'm here, waiting downstairs."
Jiang Mu took Shandian downstairs and saw Jin Chao standing beside a ginkgo tree. Perhaps because he had just returned from a business trip, he was dressed quite formally—a dark long-sleeved shirt with the cuffs and collar buttons meticulously fastened. Under his feet lay golden ginkgo leaves, and the dim streetlight cast his tall, straight figure in a slender silhouette.
Strangely, over the years, Jiang Mu had met many people—handsome ones, those from good families, and the highly educated—but none had stirred her heart the way they used to. Sometimes she even wondered if her emotional state had aged beyond revival. Yet, upon seeing Jin Chao, the uncontrollable tension and palpitations made her realize: there would be no one else. Only this man before her had the power to easily unsettle her heart.
Wearing soft flats and casual clothes, Jiang Mu walked toward him. She had saved a few crisp pears for him—they were very sweet. Afraid of carrying too much weight, she hadn’t bought many and hadn’t indulged much herself. She handed him the bag, and Jin Chao took it. Jiang Mu asked, "Have you had dinner?"
He replied, "I ate on the way back."
Jiang Mu inquired, "Didn’t I give you the apartment number? Why didn’t you come up?"
Jin Chao glanced up at the building but didn’t speak. Jiang Mu narrowed her eyes and said, "He’s not home."
Jin Chao silently surveyed the neighborhood. Though relatively clean and tidy, it was built in the early 2000s, nearly twenty years old, with many renters and a mixed population.
He looked back and asked, "You’re living at his place now?"
Jiang Mu shook her head: "He doesn’t own a place. We’re renting here."
Jin Chao’s gaze settled on her face, his expression somber: "Weren’t you supposed to get married by the end of the year? No plans to buy a house?"
Jiang Mu answered matter-of-factly: "Ah, we can’t afford it. He earns just over four thousand a month, and after deductions for social security and housing fund, there’s not much left. I’m still an intern. Once I become a regular employee, I’ll save diligently and help him with the down payment."
Jin Chao frowned almost imperceptibly as he watched her. Jiang Mu turned and said to him, "I just finished eating. I’ll walk with you to see you off."So the two of them walked along the path outside the residential area, flanked by tall plane trees on both sides. The streetlights cast mottled shadows through the leaves. Jiang Mu held Shandian's leash while Jin Chao carried the crisp pears. They walked at a leisurely pace, maintaining a distance of about one person between them, as if deliberately keeping a certain space.
Jiang Mu asked him, "Didn't San Lai say Shandian was lost? Why is he with you?"
Jin Chao remained silent for a moment before replying, "You just settled abroad and might not want the trouble, so they sent him to me."
"Aren't you bothered by the trouble?"
Jin Chao responded lightly, "It's fine."
Shandian walked obediently ahead of them, turning back every few steps to check on them. Jiang Mu's voice was cool as she said, "Who was it that refused to let me keep him back then?"
Jin Chao's brows relaxed slightly, but he didn't speak. Jiang Mu glanced at him from the corner of her eye, and the corners of her own eyes curved slightly in response.
She hadn't been here long and was still unfamiliar with many places, but with Jin Chao walking beside her, she suddenly felt as if she had lived in this city for a long time. This sense of steadiness inexplicably filled her heart.
But then she suddenly remembered something and deliberately said with a hint of sarcasm, "Well, you're really something, keeping your ex-girlfriend's dog, naming a coffee shop after your ex-girlfriend, and coming to walk the dog with your ex-girlfriend late at night. Doesn't your wife mind?"
Jin Chao gave her a silent look. Jiang Mu met his gaze and said, "Am I wrong? Aren't I your ex-girlfriend?"
Jin Chao averted his eyes and retorted, "Then doesn't your boyfriend mind? You're out for a walk with another man late at night."
Jiang Mu replied naturally, "No, of course he doesn't mind. He often goes out singing with other girls—what have I ever said about that?"
Jin Chao frowned slightly and asked, "How does he treat you?"
Jiang Mu told him, "Just so-so. Last week, we had a big fight over changing my phone."
Jin Chao raised an eyebrow. Jiang Mu continued, "I've been using the same phone for over two years and wanted to replace it. He said since I don't play games and just chat and browse the web, I don't need a high-end phone. He spent the money on gaming equipment instead."
Jin Chao clenched his jaw, remained silent for a moment, and then asked, "What do you see in him?"
Jiang Mu let out a long sigh, filled with the hardships and uncertainties of life, the bitterness and hesitation, and replied, "Well, I'm at the age to get married, so I'm just settling for someone to make do."
A few kids on scooters rushed past behind Jiang Mu. She dodged closer to Jin Chao, her arm brushing against his body. The electric shock-like sensation made her look up at him in surprise. Jin Chao stopped walking, moved her to the inner side of the path, and looked down at her with a heavy gaze, making Jiang Mu's face burn.
People strolled by on the street from time to time, and cars occasionally passed. Jin Chao didn't move forward but instead looked at her intently, his voice low as he said, "Don't joke like that with me again."
If Jiang Mu's earlier fabrications had been smooth, her final remark about "settling for someone" completely gave her away. Influenced deeply by Jiang Yinghan and Jin Qiang's failed marriage since childhood, she was destined never to compromise in marriage—this much Jin Chao was certain of.
He took the dog leash from Jiang Mu and said to her, "Let's head back. No need to see me off."
Jiang Mu pouted as she watched his retreating figure and called out to him, not too pleased, "What makes you think I was joking? How am I joking? Why can't I say that?"Jin Chao halted his steps and turned around, gazing at her from a few paces away. Jiang Mu defiantly lifted her chin: "Say something!"
His deep, shadowed eyes rested on her as he spoke: "It hurts me to hear that."
Those six words kept echoing in Jiang Mu’s mind long after she returned to her rented apartment, sinking onto the sofa the moment she opened the door. So much so that she completely overlooked the fact that Shandian had been taken away by him.
That evening, Jiang Mu seemed to revert to her teenage self—agitated by Jin Chao’s words, she alternated between silly grins and expressions of deep resentment. It wasn’t until bedtime that she finally realized: Shandian had been taken away by him, without so much as an explanation. He was her dog, after all!
So she shot him a message: Why did you take my dog away again?
A few minutes later, Jin Chao replied with a smiling emoji. Since she had work the next day and couldn’t take the dog back to care for it, she decided to let it go for the time being.
...
Autumn in Nanjing had a way of plunging into winter overnight. The previous evening, Jiang Mu had been wearing a short-sleeved shirt at home, but as she was about to leave work the next day, a sudden ghost wind swept through. Leaning out of her office window to feel it, she shivered and sneezed.
A colleague posted in the work group chat, sharing the latest update from the meteorological bureau: due to a cold front, heavy rainstorms were expected over the next two days, and everyone was advised to travel safely.
On her way home, Jiang Mu thought about forwarding the message to Jin Chao as a reminder to dress warmly. But then she reconsidered—what exactly was their relationship? She’d show concern, and he’d respond with indifference.
To her surprise, as soon as she stepped inside, a message from Jin Chao arrived: It’s going to rain and get cold tomorrow. Remember to wear more and bring an umbrella.
Jiang Mu held her phone, suppressing a faint smile, and deliberately didn’t reply.
In the following days, her team took on a new project, and her workload suddenly surged. She was so busy she didn’t even have time to visit Oon. Midweek, she accompanied the research team to a conference in Shanghai.
While in Shanghai, she unexpectedly received a call from Jin Chao. Still occupied with work, she declined the call and didn’t call back until evening, after returning to her hotel.
When the call connected, Jin Chao asked, "Where are you?"
Jiang Mu teased, "I’m not telling you."
Through the phone, she could hear his steady breathing. She stayed silent, standing by the hotel window overlooking the night view of the Huangpu River, until he finally spoke: "Do you have time to meet? I have something for you."
Jiang Mu replied, "No time."
Unhurried, Jin Chao pressed patiently, "What would it take for you to have time?"
Jiang Mu watched her reflection in the glass and gradually smiled. "Go hiking with me this weekend."
But Jin Chao fell silent on the other end, not speaking for a long while.
Her smile faded. "If you don’t want to, forget it. You never followed through on your promise to take me out before, and San Lai said we’d all go hiking during summer break—that never happened either. I remember all of it."
Jin Chao seemed to let out a soft sigh. "Will going hiking make you less angry?"
"Maybe not, but does that mean you won’t go?"
After a long pause, Jin Chao answered carefully, "Alright. We’ll go hiking this weekend."
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