In the apartment rented by Xu Miyu, on the long sofa in her living room, Ji Feng pressed Xu Miyu down onto it and offered to give her a massage first.
His rough and clumsy hands couldn't quite gauge the right amount of pressure, alternating between too light and too heavy, leaving Xu Miyu either ticklish or in pain, with no comfort at all. One moment she was giggling from the tickling, the next she was gasping in pain.
She wished for this torment to end quickly and begged Ji Feng to stop.
But Ji Feng seemed unable to stop himself, his hands resting on her waist, now gripping tightly, now pinching lightly. He seemed particularly fascinated with that part of her.
Finally, she twisted her waist to shake off his hands, finally freeing herself from his mischievous grasp.
Then it was Ji Feng's turn to lie face down on the sofa, letting Xu Miyu give him a massage.
Xu Miyu rubbed her hands together and said crisply, "Here I go! Now I'll let you experience what an emperor-level massage feels like." With that, she placed her hands on Ji Feng's shoulders, applying skillful pressure as she began to knead and press.
From his shoulders to his back, from his back to his waist. Ji Feng was immediately captivated, moaning in comfort. It felt as if his bones had been softened by her touch, as if his soul had been lightened by a few ounces, floating upward as if intoxicated without any wine.
As the massage continued, Ji Feng felt that Xu Miyu's hands were no longer just massaging him—they were setting him on fire. He realized he was already undergoing a change.
He was both comforted and unable to endure it, as if a parched emptiness had emerged within him, urgently needing her to fill it.
When her fingertips trailed down along his spine, he could hardly take it anymore. Lying face down, he strained to lift his head and turn it toward her, his voice already hoarse as he spoke: "Do you know you're pushing me to the brink of losing control?"
She moved forward a bit so he wouldn't have to twist his neck so much to see her, smiling as she asked, "I wasn't exaggerating, was I? Isn't this an emperor-level experience?"
Lying on the sofa, he grabbed one of her hands, squeezing it gently in his palm: "How did they get so good at this, hmm? Did you learn it especially for me?"
Hearing this question, Xu Miyu stiffened slightly, freezing for a moment, unsure how to respond. She had learned it long ago, specifically for Nie Yucheng.
Her stunned expression immediately made Ji Feng realize he had once again blurted out a foolish question, just like the previous "unlike you" remark.
He quickly said, "It's fine, it doesn't matter who you learned it for. Come on, keep going."
He lay back down properly.
Xu Miyu tried hard to suppress the indescribable, scattered emotions in her heart, placing her hands on his back and massaging with even more care and effort than before.
Neither of them spoke again. It seemed both were afraid that saying the wrong thing would only make matters worse.
In the increasingly heavy silence, he suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled hard, making her tumble down.
Everything proceeded silently yet intensely.
This time, it seemed they were more deliberately invested and forceful than ever before.
When quiet returned, both were breathless and exhausted.
Xu Miyu lay on the sofa, too tired to move.
Ji Feng leaned close to her ear, his warm breath gradually steadying from its earlier shortness. He was also utterly spent—in that final moment, even his fingertips had gone numb. But after a brief adjustment, he forced himself up from the sofa and walked to the bathroom to wash off.Xu Miyu lay on the sofa gazing at the bathroom door. She suddenly realized that although they always showered beforehand, no matter how exhausted Ji Feng was afterward, he would force himself to get up and wash again before he could sleep peacefully.
Xu Miyu couldn't help feeling melancholy. His behavior seemed as if he couldn't stand the mingled scents left on each other after their intimacy.
Listening to the sound of shower water coming from the bathroom, Xu Miyu's heart gradually filled with restlessness and confusion.
Had he been so intense earlier, making love with such ferocity, because something was troubling him and he was using this to vent? Was he perhaps bothered and uncomfortable, thinking her massage skills were learned for her ex-husband?
At this thought, Xu Miyu felt a surge of regret and helplessness.
Everything had been so good lately, she thought they had finally moved past the awkwardness caused by that half-spoken remark. But it turned out they couldn't escape it after all.
So all his recent efforts to accommodate her and complete the "100 things couples should do" together were ultimately just compensation for that vague half-sentence he'd uttered before.
Yet despite their earnest attempts at dating seriously and conscientiously completing so many activities together, everything had circled back to that original point of tension and misunderstanding.
They had tried so hard to date each other, putting in the effort as if they were each other's first love, but ultimately they couldn't escape the fact that she had been married before, couldn't avoid the many life experiences she had shared with her ex-husband that had become ingrained in her daily life.
She suddenly understood - her past was right there, and even if she and Ji Feng tried hard to avoid mentioning it, it wouldn't disappear. Instead, it was becoming a hidden landmine, exploding unpredictably between them.
She wondered blankly, what should she do going forward? She couldn't rely on a car accident or falling down stairs to lose her memory, so her past experiences wouldn't be forgotten, meaning this hidden landmine would always exist.
If he continued to mind her history with her ex-husband, what should she do in the future?
Ji Feng emerged from the bathroom after his shower. She quickly closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.
He walked over quietly, gently cleaned her with a towel, then carefully picked her up from the sofa. His movements were tender and cautious, his touch both cherished and considerate. Her heart softened instantly.
He carried her into the bedroom, laid her down gently, moving slowly as if afraid to wake her. Then he lay beside her and softly drew her into his embrace.
Xu Miyu's heart melted completely in his arms. His embrace told her that he truly did care for her.
She sighed inwardly. Perhaps this was enough.
According to their progress through the "100 things couples should do," the next activity was going to KTV together. Xu Miyu didn't like KTV, and coincidentally, neither did Ji Feng. So they decided to replace this activity with something else.
A few days earlier, Xu Miyu had discovered a small program. It couldn't really be called a game - if approached seriously, it should be considered a sincere longing for the future. It was a mini-program called "Time Capsule," where two people could write letters to their future selves. The content would remain confidential until the designated opening time, when the writer could invite their partner to read it together.
Xu Miyu pulled Ji Feng along, suggesting they replace KTV singing with writing letters to their future selves in the Time Capsule."Aren't you curious about what we'll be like in the future, what we'll be doing?" And whether we'll still be together.
This sentence, tinged with both melancholy and romantic decadence, remained unspoken, echoing only in her heart.
Ji Feng's reaction was straightforward—toward this act of writing letters to the future, he expressed the same level of disinterest as he would toward karaoke.
"It's childish and boring. Let's find something else to do."
In the past, Xu Miyu would always agree when Ji Feng suggested switching activities. But this time, she grew stubborn.
"Could anything be more boring than you harvesting crops and farming every day?" She was practically in awe of his dedication to managing the farm.
Not a single day passed without him harvesting and planting crops—not during storms, not during disasters, not even after an intense night with her when he was so exhausted he could barely keep his eyes open. After showering and collapsing into bed, he'd suddenly remember that he hadn't harvested or planted that day, and he'd force his eyes open, get up, find his tablet, tend to the crops and fields, and only then lie back down to sleep.
That night, Xu Miyu had a dream. She dreamed that both she and Ji Feng's tablet were questioning him: "If Xu Miyu and the tablet with the farming app fell into the river, who would you save?" After asking, she and the tablet plunged into the water with a splash. And Ji Feng, without hesitation, went to rescue his tablet.
Xu Miyu jolted awake. She never imagined she'd have such an absurd nightmare in her lifetime. Her worth as a girlfriend felt so light, not even comparable to a tablet or a farming game.
Hearing Xu Miyu mention the farming game, Ji Feng thought about it and realized she had a point. He had persisted with something so boring for over a decade; accompanying Xu Miyu in playing that tedious time capsule game just once was something he shouldn't refuse.
So he agreed: "Alright, let's write a letter to the future."
He asked Xu Miyu, "How far into the future should we set it?"
At first, Xu Miyu wanted to say one year. The words rolled to the tip of her tongue but were pushed back down.
It was as if her subconscious was telling her that a year was too long.
After a moment's thought, she said, "How about we set it for a hundred days from now? Let's see how we change in a hundred days."
Ji Feng raised an eyebrow. "A hundred days? That's too short. A hundred days from now, we'll definitely be the same as we are now—nothing to look forward to. It should be at least a year."
Suddenly, Xu Miyu understood why her subconscious felt a year was too much. Because their relationship had never been filled with a sense of security. Her relationship with Ji Feng was as precarious as walking on thin ice. Measuring it in years felt too long and extravagant. If they could make it through one hundred days, then another, and another... that alone would be something worth commemorating and celebrating. Their love was different from others'; the gap between them was simply too vast.
Xu Miyu quickly thought of a reason to choose a hundred days: "Who knows if this little app will even last a year? If it doesn't, our letters would be for nothing. Let's try a hundred days first and see."
Ji Feng nodded. "I actually think you make a good point. Let's do a hundred days, then."
They bent their heads, typing on their phones, each completing the letter that would appear before both their eyes simultaneously a hundred days later.Ji Feng quickly finished writing and buried the letter in the mini-program according to the steps.
He turned to look at Xu Miyu, who was still writing with her head down, focused and earnest.
Unable to resist, Ji Feng leaned in to sneak a peek, but Xu Miyu immediately covered her phone screen upon noticing.
"How come even when writing a letter you're trying to cheat?" she teased him.
Ji Feng scoffed, "I finished ages ago, okay."
Xu Miyu turned sideways, blocking the phone screen as she continued writing. Curious, Ji Feng asked, "What are you writing that's taking so long?"
"I'm revising," she told him.
At this point, Ji Feng couldn't help but wonder if his own attitude while writing the letter had been too perfunctory and hasty. After all, Xu Miyu was putting so much care and effort into hers.
A twinge of guilt surfaced in his heart, but he quickly dismissed it, thinking it didn't matter—in a hundred days, he could write it again, and next time he would definitely be more serious.
Once Xu Miyu finished her letter, she buried it in the time capsule just like Ji Feng had.
As she put away her phone, she felt as if she had accomplished a monumental task and let out a long sigh of relief.
Ji Feng couldn't resist trying to pry, "What did you write?"
Xu Miyu shot back, "What about you? What did you write?"
Ji Feng played coy, "You said it yourself—it's a secret until the due date, so how could I tell you now?"
"..." Xu Miyu felt like Ji Feng was being unreasonable and couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, so you won't tell me what you wrote, but you're trying to trick me into revealing what I wrote? Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Aren't you?" Ji Feng teased her with a grin.
"If I'm stupid and you still chose to date me, doesn't that make you even stupider?"
"I just like you being this way, what's wrong with that?"
As he spoke, Ji Feng reached out to grab Xu Miyu, who laughed and dodged.
Ji Feng caught her in one swift motion. Just as he was about to have his way with her, an annoying ringtone sounded from the coffee table in the living room.
It was Xu Miyu's phone. She negotiated with Ji Feng, asking him to let her go first—what he wanted to do could wait, she wasn't going to run away.
Reluctantly, Ji Feng released her.
Xu Miyu walked to the coffee table in the living room to pick up her phone.
The caller ID showed it was her second sister, Xu Minan.
Xu Miyu hesitated. Her family understood the situation perfectly well—they knew that her parents, eldest sister, and younger brother had all offended her deeply, and that calls from them would be sent straight to her blacklist. So, they had her second sister reach out instead.
While she hesitated, the ringing stopped. Xu Miyu breathed a sigh of relief.
Ji Feng followed her into the living room and, noticing the change in her expression, asked, "Who was it?"
"My second sister," she told him.
Ji Feng raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know you had a second sister."
"Yes. She's the only one in my family who hasn't caused a scene at the hotel, so you didn't know about her," Xu Miyu replied with a self-deprecating smile.
Just as they were speaking, Xu Miyu's phone rang again. It was still Xu Minan.
"Should I answer?" Xu Miyu asked Ji Feng.
"If you're hesitating, it probably means you should."
Xu Miyu picked up the call.
As soon as the connection went through, Xu Minan's frantic and panicked voice came through, each sentence louder than the last.
"Third Sister, why did it take you so long to answer? How can you be so heartless? Don't you think if it weren't for a major emergency at home, I'd be calling you nonstop like this? Why didn't you just answer the phone? Do you want to drive me crazy??!"Xu Miyu’s ears were nearly deafened by the noise.
She moved the phone slightly away from her ear, waiting for her second sister to calm down before bringing it back. Then she asked, “So what’s the big, urgent matter?”
Xu Mizi said urgently, “Third Sister, you need to come home right away! Mom suddenly had a heart attack, and it’s really serious—she might not make it!” As Xu Mizi spoke, her voice trembled, and choked sobs followed. “No matter what grievances you’ve had with Mom, she’s still your birth mother, and you’re still her flesh and blood. At a time like this, don’t be so unreasonable. Come back and see her—this might be your last chance!”
Xu Miyu froze in place.
“Did she really have a heart attack?” she asked Xu Mizi.
Xu Mizi immediately yelled at Xu Miyu, “Xu Miyu, how can you say something like that? Are you implying Mom is faking a heart attack? Take a good look at the photos Mibao and Eldest Sister sent you in the messages—see if Mom isn’t lying in a hospital bed, barely hanging on! I never thought, Xu Miyu, that you could say something so inhuman!”
Hearing this, Xu Miyu’s heart tightened slightly.
She gripped the phone tightly and asked Xu Mizi, “How did she suddenly have a heart attack?”
“It’s all because of you!” Xu Mizi shouted. “Ever since she went to your workplace to see you, not only did you argue with her, but you also let outsiders bully and scare her, saying she owed your company hundreds of thousands. She’s been depressed and terrified ever since—I haven’t seen her smile once this whole time. She just keeps sighing all day long. Third Sister, you’re really… you’re so unreasonable! You’ve made Mom sick with anger! Yesterday, she was sitting there fine, eating, and then Mibao just mentioned you. As soon as Mom heard your name, she collapsed and lost consciousness! Luckily, Eldest Sister was there yesterday and knew some first aid—she barely managed to keep Mom alive until the ambulance arrived! The doctor said her heart attack was caused by anger, and it’s still uncertain whether she’ll pull through!”
Xu Mizi paused to catch her breath and urged Xu Miyu again, “Third Sister, Mom’s condition is all because of you. You can’t just ignore her, can you? Hurry up and take a ride home now!”
Ignoring Xu Mizi’s complaints and nagging, Xu Miyu replied, “I’ll call you back later.” With that, she ended the call.
Then she opened her phone’s blocked messages folder to check the intercepted texts.
Xu Mizi and Xu Mibao had indeed sent her MMS photos. In the pictures, Jiao Xiumei was lying on a shabby hospital bed in a rural clinic, tubes attached to her body, motionless and barely breathing.
Staring at the photo of Jiao Xiumei, Xu Miyu wasn’t sure how she felt.
She immediately called Xu Mizi back: “Which hospital is she in? I’ll go there.”
Xu Mizi told her, “Come home first. Dad says he has something to discuss with you, so you don’t go straight to the hospital and end up saying the wrong thing, accidentally killing Mom with anger. Dad says he’ll take you to the hospital after he’s talked to you.”
Xu Miyu said, “Okay, I’ll set off right away.”Just as she was about to hang up, Xu Minan seemed to finally remember something important she had nearly forgotten: "Third sister, you... remember to bring money! Mom needs surgery, and it requires a large sum. What we few have is far from enough. You're also Mom's child, you have the obligation to contribute to saving her life. Besides, it was mainly you who upset Mom, so logically you should cover the bulk of the hospitalization and surgery fees!"
Xu Miyu felt utterly drained. Even at a time like this, her own sister was still fixated on money matters. She told Xu Minan, "The medical expenses will be split equally among the four of us siblings." After saying this, she hung up again.
After ending the call, she froze for a moment, then began searching all over the room for her bank card. She remembered putting it in the drawer, but no matter how much she rummaged, she couldn't find it.
Ji Feng noticed that although Xu Miyu appeared calm on the surface, her hands were trembling slightly. He called her name twice, wanting to ask what had happened, but she didn't respond and continued searching through her things.
Suddenly, Ji Feng walked over, grabbed her hand, and turned her shoulders to face him.
"Calm down and tell me what's going on."
Xu Miyu looked at Ji Feng's face, took a deep breath, and tried to control her emotions as she said, "That Ms. Jiao has been hospitalized. A heart attack, very serious. She might not make it, and she needs surgery now. I'm looking for my bank card."
She was surprised at how calmly and clearly she managed to explain the situation.
Ji Feng frowned slightly. Although he deeply disliked that shrewish woman, she was still Xu Miyu's mother, and now she was fighting for her life. He could understand Xu Miyu wanting to break free from her mother's control and exploitation, but he never wished for her mother to die.
He immediately took out his wallet, pulled out a card, and handed it to Xu Miyu. "Take my card. The password is the day I opened the farm. Oh, it's 111213. The money in there should be enough for your mother's surgery."
Xu Miyu immediately shook her head in refusal. "No!"
Her face turned ashen as she thought, absolutely not, she absolutely couldn't use Ji Feng's money. The failure of her previous marriage wasn't just due to Nie Yucheng's infidelity; another major reason was her allowing her maternal family to continuously drain resources from her own family, until her home fell apart. She had worked so hard to build a life with Ji Feng; this time, she absolutely could not plant the seed for her maternal family to start leaching off him too!
After her firm refusal, Xu Miyu noticed Ji Feng's brow furrow, his face clearly showing displeasure.
She quickly explained to him, "My maternal family is a bottomless pit. I can't let you step into that! Don't worry, I have some money now. Didn't I tell you that a lot of the money I was scammed out of was returned? I deposited it all into one of my cards."
At this, she suddenly had a flash of insight and remembered that she had used that card as a bookmark in the book she read every night.
She hurried to the desk, grabbed the top book, and shook it. Sure enough, the bank card fell out.
Picking up the card, Xu Miyu turned to Ji Feng and said, "Found it! I'll head home now. Will you go back to the penthouse at the hotel?"
Ji Feng thought for a moment and said, "It's almost dark. I'm not comfortable with you traveling alone. I'll take you home."Xu Miyu shook her head vigorously like a rattle-drum: "No way!" she refused decisively once more. "If my family sees you driving me home in a Rolls-Royce, they'll try every possible means to skin you alive through me!" she told Ji Feng. "I'll take a taxi back. It's expensive, but I have some savings now and can afford it. I'll set you as my emergency contact. If anything happens on the way, my phone will automatically send you a message. That should reassure you, right?"
To prove she wasn't making it up, she called a ride in front of Ji Feng using the app, then set him as her emergency contact right before his eyes.
A ride was matched, and Ji Feng immediately received an automated message from the ride-hailing app, informing him of the license plate number of the vehicle Xu Miyu would be taking and the planned route.
He felt somewhat reassured.
But after Xu Miyu got into the car, he couldn't help but tap on the window.
When the window rolled down, he solemnly told her, "If anything unexpected happens, make sure to call me. No matter how late it is, I'll come to help you right away."
Xu Miyu's previously flustered heart was instantly warmed by his words.
She nodded at him, gave a radiant smile, and said, "Okay, I will!"
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