She uttered an “mm” and crouched down to slowly clean up.
After her graduation, Zhao Yanyun had put down the down payment for this house with a thirty-year mortgage; with her career success these two years, she had prepaid quite a bit.
“This house is mine, the one back home goes to your dad. Divorce cooling-off period is thirty days; once that’s up, we’ll handle the paperwork.”
Zhao Yanyun smiled: “We can call it parting on good terms.”
Twenty years of entangled feelings ended with “parting on good terms.”
Tao Shuran dazedly asked: “You don’t love each other anymore?”
“At this age, what’s there to talk about love or not? Things aren’t the same anymore.”
Zhao Yanyun curved her lips: “Our lives are worlds apart; he doesn’t understand my field, and I can’t get his hobbies.”
“By the way, tidy up and come meet a friend with me later?”
At this age, Tao Shuran was especially sensitive to “meet a friend.”
She asked one more time: “Which friend? Aunt Song?”
“No, a friend’s son about your age.” Zhao Yanyun glanced over and continued, “Change into a skirt.”
Tao Shuran refused: “I don’t want to go.”
Zhao Yanyun glanced at her and said listlessly, “You just got back and you’re like this? Mom really doesn’t have the energy to argue with you right now.”
She looked so drained saying this; when Tao Shuran crouched to pick up trash, she accidentally cut her hand on a shard of porcelain.
Tao Shuran hurried to her room for a bandage. Lowering her head, she saw the dark circles under Zhao Yanyun’s eyes and finally compromised.
The dinner was set at a restaurant in Fuqing City.
That day’s dishes were actually something Tao Shuran could no longer remember clearly. She only recalled that the guy and her mom came together, and the atmosphere between the two of them was very oppressive, while the two moms chatted enthusiastically.
After a while, Zhao Yanyun took the initiative and suggested, “Let the two kids spend some time alone. We’ll go out for a stroll.”
Only the two of them were left in the venue. The guy proactively poured her a glass of water.
He asked with concern, “Are the dishes not to your taste? You hardly ate anything.”
Tao Shuran replied, “No, I just got back from North City, and I haven’t adjusted my condition yet.”
“Oh, what do you do for work?”
The guy asked, “Are you in the system?”
Tao Shuran let out an “ah” and lowered her head to touch her earlobe, saying softly, “I’m still studying.”
“Third year of grad school this year.”
“Oh oh, quite scholarly. So what are your plans after that? I heard that your archaeology major doesn’t have great job prospects?”
“Are you planning to take the museum exam?”
Tao Shuran gave a dry laugh. “I haven’t thought about what comes after yet.”
“This rose baked milk is pretty good. Want to try some?”
The conversation fell into a brief lull as the scorching afternoon sun baked the glass window mercilessly.
Tao Shuran’s head throbbed. She turned her head and tapped her temple against the glass window.
And just like that, she locked eyes with the person outside—
Liang Yuanjing didn’t know how long he had been standing there. He wore a deep black flight jacket paired with light gray jeans and had a pair of sunglasses perched on his face.
His tall, slender figure was particularly eye-catching. Located in the bustling city center, his outstanding appearance had already drawn clusters of onlookers.
Just as Tao Shuran was wondering how to handle this situation, she saw someone approach Liang Yuanjing from behind.
He leaned in to borrow a light. His sharp-profiled side face turned away without so much as a glance in her direction, cold and indifferent.
Tao Shuran instantly calmed down.
Meanwhile, Liang Yuanjing walked on casually.
Feng Ruoji smiled and said, “Captain Liang, what are you doing standing at the restaurant entrance staring like that?”
“Like you’re staring at your girlfriend.”
“You actually got it right.” Liang Yuanjing shoved one hand in his pocket and drawled lazily, “My ex-girlfriend is inside on a blind date.”
Feng Ruoji let out an “ah.”
“Little girl, how much for the flowers?”
Liang Yuanjing pulled out his phone, bent down to scan the code, took out a rose, held it in his hand, then patted the little girl’s shoulder and said,
“I’ll take them all. Help me send them to the sister inside.”
The little girl asked crisply, “Brother, do you want me to say anything for you?”
Liang Yuanjing thought for a moment and said, “Ask her if she’s willing to date me.”
“One flower if one isn’t enough, two if two aren’t, three if three aren’t.”
“What if I send all the flowers and the sister still says no?”
The little girl spoke innocently, “My mom has a bookstore there too. Brother, you should buy all the flowers from her shop.”
Feng Ruoji burst out laughing with a “pfft.” “You’re quite the little businesswoman.”
“Little money-grubber.” Liang Yuanjing squatted down and pinched the little girl’s cheek. “If you can help me win over the sister inside, I’ll buy a bouquet from your mom’s flower shop every day.”
…
At the most awkward moment in the atmosphere, Tao Shuran received a rose.
At first, she thought it was the guy’s doing. The two of them stared at each other for a moment before a little girl poked her head out.
Her round eyes fixed on her as she recited her lines perfectly.
“Sister, there’s a brother outside asking if you’re willing to date him.”
The little girl pulled out one rose after another from behind her like a magician, over a dozen roses clustered together like a blooming bouquet.
No one could dislike flowers. Tao Shuran was suddenly amused.
Such a gesture made the meal seem tacky by comparison. The guy across from her started to back off and picked up his phone to say goodbye.
“I’ll settle the bill first. I have something to attend to, so I’ll head out.”
“Wait a second.” Tao Shuran took out her phone. “How much? I’ll transfer it to you later.”
Transferring money basically meant there would be no follow-up.
The guy glanced at her and simply pulled out his payment code. “185.4. Just send it directly. No need to add contacts.”
The meal had reached such a tasteless point.
Tao Shuran poured the remaining bit of baked milk for the little girl to drink and casually asked, “Who told you to deliver the flowers?”
“The one at the door.”
There was no one at the door anymore.
But Tao Shuran knew who it was.
She found his WeChat and dialed. After three seconds of ringing, the call connected quickly.
“Something up?”
Tao Shuran drew in a sharp breath. “You didn’t send the flowers?”
“I did.” Liang Yuanjing nodded candidly.
Tao Shuran said, “My blind date thought you liked me and ran off.”
“Classmate Tao, correction—this isn’t a misunderstanding. It’s a fact.”
Liang Yuanjing’s voice on the other end carried a hint of laughter as he spoke to her in a slow, leisurely tone.
Tao Shuran said indignantly, “Because of you, my blind date ran off.”
“This isn’t the first time.”
Last time with Zhao Han, he had turned into a total fanboy upon seeing Liang Yuanjing and completely forgotten about the blind date.
“You’re in such a hurry, huh, Tao Shuran.”
Liang Yuanjing chuckled, his tone lifting. “How about I make it up to you?”
“What do you think of me?”
Tao Shuran: “…Not much.”
“That’s pretty picky.”
He was still chuckling teasingly. “I’ll throw in two villas and a mansion as dowry. Think about it again?”
…
Five seconds after hanging up, Feng Ruoji stood by the roadside, having just finished gnawing on a whole piece of malt candy.
The candy stuck to his mouth so he couldn’t speak. His face scrunched up as he “tsk”ed.
“Captain Liang, that smile of yours is getting a bit too cheap.”
Liang Yuanjing slowly tucked his phone back into his pocket, the smile gradually fading from his face.
He turned around, raised a brow at him, and let out a light hum.
“Mind your own business.”
“You guys who haven’t been in love wouldn’t get it.”
Afternoon at 5:10, Tao Shuran took a cab back home.
It ended earlier than she had expected. Exhausted to the point her eyelids wouldn’t stay open, she went to the convenience store at the gate to buy two bottles of drinks to take back.
Fu Changpei sat at the counter handling checkout.
Tao Shuran rubbed her eyes, thinking it was an illusion.
Fu Changpei stood up proactively and greeted her. “Long time no see.”
It really had been a long time.
Their last meeting was around her college graduation, right?
Tao Shuran remembered that day clearly. After graduation, everyone went their separate ways.
Only he was interning in Shanghai and had traveled all the way back to take a graduation photo with her.
“Why’d you suddenly come back?”
“On annual leave to visit grandma. Still the green ones, right?”
Fu Changpei took two bottles of green apple-flavored soda from the fridge and looked at her helplessly. “You should cut back on carbonated drinks for your teeth.”
Tao Shuran covered her ears. “Can’t hear you, can’t hear you. Whatever you say, I can’t hear it.”
A couple years ago, her teeth had hurt badly, so she went to Shanghai for treatment. Shanghai’s medical care was much more advanced. Hearing Fu Changpei was there, Tao Shuran tentatively messaged him.
Unexpectedly, he took her on a full-day hospital tour, handling everything from registration to queuing perfectly.
Compared to their three lives running around everywhere, over the years, only Fu Changpei had steadily progressed step by step.
“Who’s this medicine for?” Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a bag of meds on the counter. Tao Shuran bit the bottle cap and asked casually.
“Your teeth really done for?”
Fu Changpei grabbed a bottle opener from the wall, lifted his hand, and the cap clattered crisply to the ground.
His tone was casual. “A Jing has a fever. Asked me to drop off some meds.”
“He has a fever?”
Tao Shuran said offhandedly, “Doesn’t he need to see a doctor? Meds only handle regular colds.”
Fu Changpei’s gaze deepened as he looked at her. That look made Tao Shuran uncomfortable all over. She lowered her head to cover it up and drink her soda—the sour-sweet flavor was one she loved.
He suddenly suggested, “How about you come with me to check on him later?”
“No, that wouldn’t be appropriate.”
Tao Shuran waved it off. “Nah, I need to go back and nap.”
“Tao Shuran.”
Fu Changpei suddenly called out to her. His voice was soft as he said, “Liang Yuanjing likes you.”
“Have you really thought it through? About giving up on him?”
Tao Shuran froze in place.
She turned around, her smile fading a bit as she joked lightly, “What, after all these years, you’re still trying to play matchmaker for us?”
“No.”
Fu Changpei smiled faintly, his reserved, gentle eyes suddenly brightening the moment they met hers.
He looked at her slowly and said, “Because I like you too.”