Speed and Love

Jin Chao lived very close to the coffee shop, and it only took a little over ten minutes to walk back with Jiang Mu. Previously, when Jiang Mu had taken walks with him, she hadn’t thought much of it. But ever since she learned about his health condition, every time she saw him, she couldn’t help worrying that he might be tired. Even though it was just a ten-minute walk, Jiang Mu was already starting to fret, glancing at him several times. Finally, Jin Chao turned his gaze to her and said, "I’m not made of paper."

His words made Jiang Mu carefully tuck away her worries, at least not wanting him to notice them anymore.

When they reached the entrance of the residential complex, Jiang Mu paused. Back when she was renting, she had seen listings for this area at the real estate agency. The environment was quite nice, and she had been drawn to it at first glance, but due to the high price, she hadn’t considered it further.

Jin Chao walked up to the complex entrance. After the facial recognition system verified him as a resident, the electronic gate automatically opened. He turned back to look at her, and Jiang Mu followed him inside in surprise, asking, "So you live here?"

Jin Chao glanced sideways. "You’ve been here before?"

Jiang Mu smiled without answering. She had been in Nanjing for so long without realizing they lived so close to each other. Before visiting Oon, she had never once run into him near her own home.

The elevator served two households per floor. As Jiang Mu stepped inside, she asked, "Which floor?"

"Eighth floor."

Jiang Mu reached out to press the elevator button. In that brief moment, the loneliness she had felt earlier in the day, thinking she would spend the holiday alone, completely vanished. A smile unconsciously crept onto her face. Since her back was to Jin Chao, she didn’t hold back.

But as she smiled, she gradually sensed something was off—it felt like someone was watching her. Slowly, she shifted her gaze to the left and decisively met a pair of dark, ink-black eyes. She had forgotten about the mirror inside the elevator. Jin Chao had been quietly watching her smile, and she had no idea for how long. As she turned her head, he averted his gaze, a faint, almost imperceptible smile playing at the corners of his lips.

That familiar feeling of social embarrassment washed over her again. Jiang Mu pretended to fix her hair and turned her face to the other side.

This was Jiang Mu’s first time visiting Jin Chao’s home. Only when they reached his door did she realize she had come empty-handed. Moreover, showing up at his place for a meal on a holiday seemed a bit inappropriate. She suddenly stopped in her tracks, and Jin Chao turned back to look at her. "What’s wrong?"

Jiang Mu pointed toward the elevator and said to him, "Are we missing anything? Should I go buy something to bring?"

Jin Chao had already opened the door. He glanced at her and said, "Just bring yourself. Come in."

Jiang Mu walked toward him hesitantly, though her hesitation lasted only a second. The next moment, Shandian came rushing over. Seeing that Jin Chao had brought Jiang Mu back, he was exceptionally excited, his front paws eagerly lifting as if he wanted to jump on her. But with one sharp look from Jin Chao, he obediently trotted to the shoe cabinet, picked up a pair of slippers in his mouth, and placed them in front of Jiang Mu—a pair of very large men’s slippers.

Jiang Mu deliberately asked, "Don’t you have any women’s slippers?"

Jin Chao lowered his gaze and replied, "Want to check the shoe cabinet yourself?"

Her little scheme had been seen through. Mumbling, she said, "It’s just… they’re a bit big on me…"

She changed into the slippers, crouched down, and rubbed Shandian’s big head affectionately. "How are you so well-behaved, huh? My little Shandian baby."

Her intentionally sweet, cooing voice reached Jin Chao’s ears, bringing a smile to his lips as well—even though it wasn’t directed at him.Jiang Mu's giant fur baby happily trotted over and generously presented her with its bone toy. After giving it a brief squeeze, she set it down, only for Shandian to pick it up and insistently push it back into her hand. Feeling too awkward to reject its goodwill again, she ended up hugging the large bone toy while calling out to Jin Chao, who was heading toward the kitchen, "Mind if I look around?"

Jin Chao, holding crabs, glanced back at her. She stood by the entrance, clutching Shandian's oversized bone—nearly half her height—and under the dog's enthusiastic urging, she kept holding it dumbly. A flicker of warmth surfaced in Jin Chao's eyes as he replied, "Suit yourself."

The apartment was decorated in a minimalist palette, with a spacious living room that matched Jin Chao's style. Free of clutter, the space felt clean and refreshing. A comfortable sofa sat there, but there were no extraneous decorations, plants, or even a television, lending the place a somewhat austere ambiance.

Two rooms branched off from the main area: one door was shut, while the other housed a large bookshelf and a dark wooden desk. Jiang Mu stepped inside and noticed several tender documents and project proposals on the desk. Peering closer, she saw they were all related to power engineering, and the bookshelf predominantly held volumes on mechanical manufacturing.

Beyond that room lay a generous balcony outfitted with several sets of fitness equipment and assistive devices. As she emerged, Jin Chao had just started steaming the crabs. Jiang Mu inquired, "Did you buy or rent this place?"

"Bought it," he answered offhandedly.

Surprised, Jiang Mu remarked, "The prices here can't be cheap, right?"

Pulling ingredients from the refrigerator, he responded, "Made some money from projects these past few years. The down payment was manageable."

Jiang Mu pointed toward the closed door. "Is that the bedroom?"

Jin Chao gave an affirmative hum and asked, "Something to drink? Soda or tea?"

"No need to trouble yourself. I'm not thirsty right now," she said. "Can I take a peek inside your room?"

He paused briefly before replying, "Can I say no?"

Pouting and tilting her chin defiantly, Jiang Mu teased, "What, hiding a woman in there? Too shy to let me see?"

Jin Chao lowered his gaze with a soft laugh, saying nothing. His evasiveness only fueled her curiosity. Gripping the doorknob, she challenged, "I'm going in, okay?"

He lifted his eyes, his dark gaze intense and unwavering. In the end, Jiang Mu released the handle, respecting his privacy. Instead, she turned toward another door and asked, "This is the bathroom, right? Mind if I use it?"

Jin Chao opened his mouth as if to say something, looking slightly uneasy. Perplexed, Jiang Mu joked, "Don't tell me there's a woman hidden in here too?"

He averted his eyes, turned away, and muttered, "Do as you please."

After he left, Jiang Mu opened the bathroom door. The space was divided into wet and dry areas, spacious and impeccably tidy. Even the sink counter was neatly arranged—clearly, no one was hidden there. Yet Jiang Mu froze on the spot. The floor tiles were entirely slip-resistant, safety grab bars lined the walls, and the shower area was designed as a barrier-free facility, complete with a fold-down bath seat and a movable wheelchair parked nearby.

Although she had learned about Jin Chao's condition that day, stepping into his daily life and witnessing these adaptations firsthand still left her profoundly affected.Once so agile, he could lift her effortlessly with one hand and carry her up five flights of stairs without breaking a sweat. Now he was trapped by the smallest things in life. Jiang Mu felt a pang in her heart, her eyes misting over, but she composed her expression before stepping out of the bathroom.

Jin Chao was busy in the kitchen, and Jiang Mu walked in as well. The L-shaped kitchen was spacious, filled with the aroma of crab. Jin Chao was preparing dinner, and Jiang Mu leaned in to take a look before rolling up her sleeves and saying to him, "Let me make a couple of dishes too."

Jin Chao glanced at her sideways, his tone teasing. "You’ve become capable."

Jiang Mu widened her eyes, deliberately putting on a pitiful expression. "What else could I do? No one’s taken care of me all these years—I couldn’t just starve to death, could I?"

She took off her jacket, and Jin Chao reached out to take it. Seeing her slightly reddened eyes but deliberately casual demeanor, his lips tightened. He averted his gaze and asked casually, "Hard to believe no one’s pursued you."

Jiang Mu slapped a piece of ginger hard with the back of the knife, indignant. "No one pursued me? The line of people chasing me stretches from Canberra to the Sydney Opera House, okay?"

Jin Chao hung up her jacket and walked back, his tone faint. "Why not date one of them?"

Jiang Mu finished chopping the side dishes, placed them on a plate, and turned to him. "How do you know I haven’t? Honestly, I’ve dated quite a few men. The most outrageous one was this rock musician. On our first date, he took me deep into the mountains. I thought we were going to barbecue, but he jumped straight into the river without even taking off his shoes. Then he told me to jump in too. I was stunned—the river was still frozen over."

Jin Chao frowned slightly, his movements slowing as he gave her an incredulous look. Jiang Mu immediately laughed, tilting her head. "See? I can say anything, and you’ll believe it."

Jin Chao fixed her with a penetrating stare. "Ran out of things to talk about?"

"Oh, there’s plenty. Are you still working with cars?"

"More or less."

"When I returned to China, I went back to Tonggang and ran into Pan Kai. He gave me your contact info—a landline number in Changchun. I tried calling, but it didn’t go through. Why were you in Changchun?"

"I stayed there for a couple of years. After graduating, I came here, but I still have business there, so I go back sometimes."

"What kind of work?"

"Projects—nothing fixed. The place you called moved once, and the number’s no longer in use."

Jiang Mu muttered, "No wonder."

Then she asked, "Was it the gaokao or the adult college entrance exam?"

Jin Chao had already neatly cleared away the scraps she’d cut off. "Self-study exams."

Jiang Mu was taken aback. She’d heard that self-study exams meant studying independently, and you had to pass over a dozen subjects to get a diploma. It wasn’t easy, especially since he also had to earn a living and juggle both.

She asked, "Are self-study exams difficult?"

"The associate degree isn’t too hard, but the bachelor’s requires more effort. Still, it’s manageable."

It took Jiang Mu a moment to process this. Strictly speaking, he hadn’t finished high school and had to start with the associate degree. She couldn’t help asking, "Do you have to memorize a lot?"

Jin Chao smiled almost imperceptibly. "Stuff like 'Introduction to the Basic Principles of Marxism.' I memorized it during my rehab when I had nothing else to do."Jiang Mu never doubted this—Jin Chao had a sharp mind. Since childhood, he memorized things faster than her. Vocabulary learned at school during the day would be perfectly recited by evening. Before her college entrance exams, he even shared his memorization techniques with her—highly unconventional methods that twisted phrases into completely unrelated contexts. Yet strangely, whenever he encountered the same material again, it stuck in his memory instantly.

"Did you major in this field?"

Jin Chao deftly peeled and deveined the shrimp, replying, "Back then, Guangyu referred me to Changchun. I had experience but no diploma, so I just studied Mechanical Design, Manufacturing, and Automation."

"Are you in graduate school now? Still in the same major?"

"Thermal Energy and Power Engineering. Graduating next year."

Jiang Mu was genuinely impressed. While many might not find a graduate degree remarkable, for Jin Chao—especially after seeing the state of his bathroom—it tugged at her heartstrings. The harder he climbed upward, the more she felt the weight of every step he took.

Sensing her mood, Jin Chao changed the subject: "You're asking more questions than an HR interviewer. Should I make you a copy of my diploma?"

Jiang Mu finally laughed and fell silent. After removing her coat, she wore a cream-colored turtleneck sweater, her long hair loosely tied back with a few strands framing her cheeks. Her gentle charm breathed life into the sparse kitchen.

Under the warm light, Jin Chao glanced at her, then opened a drawer and handed her an apron. Jiang Mu was still marinating the pork belly, her hands covered in sauce.

Worried she'd stain her light-colored clothes, Jin Chao stepped behind her and slipped the apron over her head. She felt his shadow envelop her, her breath catching slightly as her hands stilled. But he quickly moved away.

Jiang Mu glanced at his profile—the taut lines of his face radiating restrained warmth—then turned to see Shandian lying at the kitchen entrance. The scene felt surreal, like something from a dream.

She prepared crispy pork belly and addictive fish head, while Jin Chao stir-fried several dishes. The crabs he steamed were enormous. Before the meal, his phone rang. Though not on speaker, Jiang Mu faintly recognized the voice on the other end.

She leaned close to Jin Chao, pricking up her ears, and indeed heard San Lai's boisterous laughter: "If you won't come over, we'll come to you! We can head out now—just two hours away. Spending the holiday alone is so dull."

Jin Chao lifted his gaze to Jiang Mu, who had pressed close, and replied flatly, "Who said I'm alone?"

San Lai immediately backtracked: "Sorry, didn't count Shandian. Seriously though, we're coming over now."

"No need. I'll be there next week anyway," Jin Chao responded.

Jiang Mu grinned, pitching her voice into a deliberately sweet, flirtatious tone as she cooed into the phone, "Darling, hurry up~"

"..."

Dead silence filled the line. Jin Chao shot her a frosty glare while Jiang Mu muffled her laughter with her hand.

After a solid ten seconds, San Lai finally blurted, "Holy sh—" then stammered, "Uh... bro, you're... busy. I'll hang up."

The call ended. Jiang Mu tried to dart away, but Jin Chao grabbed her collar and pulled her back, his tone low and stern: "You just ruined my impeccable reputation."Jiang Mu said playfully, "How about I take responsibility for you?"

Jin Chao's gaze gradually darkened, and the air suddenly grew still. The smile on Jiang Mu's face faded, but her eyes remained fixed intently on him.