Jiang Zao felt ashamed of that single second of heart palpitations she’d just experienced.
Never trust this Xie guy to say anything reasonable.
Her face flushed, then paled. In the end, she turned away with a soft hum that melted into the wind.
Seeing her at a loss for words, Xie Lisheng raised his brows, looking quite pleased. He tugged at her as she veered crookedly along the sidewalk.
“Watch where you’re going.”
Jiang Zao limply waved his hand away. “Mind your own business.”
Xie Lisheng glanced at his pushed-away arm.
A bit of alcohol, and her temper flared even more than usual.
They crossed the street and reached the spot where he’d parked. Xie Lisheng had been drinking, so he couldn’t drive. He didn’t seem inclined to call a substitute driver either—probably planning to just leave the car there.
Jiang Zao followed him and soon spotted the Panamera. Xie Lisheng opened the door and leaned halfway inside to rummage around.
She leaned against the door behind the driver’s seat and tilted her head back to gaze at the stars.
…
She didn’t know how much time passed, but the man fumbling around in the car showed no sign of emerging. Sensing something off, Jiang Zao turned her head. Her gaze landed squarely on his perky rear, wrapped snugly in those wide-leg trousers. “…”
That position made his legs look even longer.
What was a grown man doing with an ass like that?
She wrenched her eyes away with effort.
“Excuse me, are my earphones that hard to find?”
Hearing her, Xie Lisheng slowly withdrew his upper body from the car. His eyes held a rare hint of bewilderment.
Seeing that expression, Jiang Zao’s eyes widened in disbelief. She held up her hand in midair and shook it. “The earphones? No way.”
Xie Lisheng braced himself against the door frame without a word, just turning his head aside as his Adam’s apple bobbed.
…
A moment later, he said, “Let me buy you a drink. Come on.”
“Hey!” She completely lost it and rounded on him. “Where did my big ol’ earphones go? Did you lose them somewhere? Don’t tell me you were carrying them around and…”
“Why the hell would I carry your earphones on me? You think I’m some kind of perv?” He scowled.
Jiang Zao was drunk, her emotions all over the place. Her eyes started to redden as she vented through gritted teeth. “Those were my brand-new earphones! I bought them on twenty-four-month installments—I haven’t even paid them off yet!”
“How could you do this? Did you lose them last time you mentioned it? Are you just trying to brush me off?”
Xie Lisheng mimicked her earlier pose, leaning against the car door and listening quietly, as if waiting for her to finish venting.
He was far too calm. Her complaints grew quieter and quieter. “Come on, say something… You’re making me sound like a nutcase.”
He finally got his chance to speak, but his first question was, “How much did those earphones cost?”
Jiang Zao thought back. “Around eighteen hundred yuan, I think.”
Xie Lisheng burst out laughing. “Eighteen hundred, and you put it on twenty-four installments?”
Her face turned beet red. “So what? I wanted instant gratification with delayed payment.”
He nodded lazily, though without any real approval. “Your spending habits are pretty unique.”
She only cared about the installment convenience—interest rates apparently didn’t factor in.
“But the point is, you lost them now.” Jiang Zao didn’t hold back, her words laced with barbs. “Can’t a big boss like you even keep track of a little pair of earphones?”
He was in the wrong, after all. When it came to that, Xie Lisheng dropped his casual air. He shut the door, locked it, and tossed her the keys.
Jiang Zao caught them, her eyes following him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He started walking ahead, lips curving up. “The car’s yours as compensation.”
Jiang Zao: ?
“Kidding.” Xie Lisheng pointed into the distance. “Convenience store. I’ll get you a drink.”
As if afraid she’d really start crying if they lingered, he quickly added, “I’ll buy you new earphones. Including that fuzzy case of yours, plus whatever’s left on those installments and the interest.”
“Come on. I’m thirsty.”
Jiang Zao tossed the keys back. The man caught them one-handed without even looking and pocketed them.
Her tone was odd. “Can I even trust you? Don’t go backing out later.”
“Want me to call my lawyer and have him draft up a formal promise?” Xie Lisheng’s eyes drooped at the corners, a mix of irritation and exasperation.
His firm stance softened her immediately. Jiang Zao felt awkward as she hurried after him, stepping on his shadow. “Fine, just this once more.”
“Actually, I don’t want a drink. I want some alkaline buns.”
“It’s the middle of the night—where am I supposed to find alkaline buns? You’re drunk.”
“Yeah, exactly. I am drunk.”
…
“You lost my earphones, and you’re still talking to me like that.”
…
~~~
Drunks completely lost all sense of their limits. She grabbed another can of beer at the convenience store.
The two of them strolled out and wandered back toward the Riverside Boardwalk where they’d started.
On Friday night, the city’s young people hurried off in search of entertainment to vent the exhaustion of their workweek, clustering together and slinging arms over each other’s shoulders.
A gentle evening breeze rustled through, as the two of them strolled side by side, maintaining a perfectly normal distance.
The boardwalk etched their reflections into the surface—one tall and sturdy, the other slender and graceful. Though they had nothing to do with each other, there was an inexplicable harmony between them.
Xie Lisheng had bought himself a can of beer too. He held it pinched in one hand, gazing at the river as he took a couple of steps, then a sip.
When he tilted his head back, the sharp line of his jaw stood out even more, and his eyes, as they scanned the scenery, carried a bored sensuality.
Jiang Zao watched his broad back, wondering if it was just her imagination, but in a certain moment, she caught a glimpse of something fragile in Xie Lisheng.
It was like seeing a stray dog wandering through the noisy city.
And yet, he clearly had a happy family and a successful career.
How strange.
The two of them leaned against the railing along the riverside, letting the river breeze wash over them. There were plenty of couples and tourists nearby, so the atmosphere wasn’t exactly quiet, but somehow it put the mind at ease.
With the alcohol making her body feel soft and languid, Jiang Zao draped her arms over the stainless steel railing and stole occasional glances at the man beside her.
Her feelings toward Xie Lisheng were complicated now. Strictly speaking, they hardly knew each other at all, but in a situation like this, they seemed like the kind of people who could chat for a bit.
Though that blind date of theirs had been utterly pointless, she could sense that he had shifted in her mind from a mere passerby in life to something else entirely.
Something else… what, exactly?
“How was yours?” He suddenly turned his head to look at her.
Jiang Zao snapped back to attention. “Huh?”
“The blind date. Just casual chit-chat.”
It had only been a short while since she’d parted from the guy, and yet she could barely recall his face. Propping her forehead on her hand, she thought it over. “Uh…”
“Yours is hard to judge too?” Xie Lisheng teased, throwing her own words back at her. “So how do I stack up?”
Jiang Zao took a sip of her beer, her gaze traveling boldly from the top of his head downward, scanning him head to toe. “Which part?”
Xie Lisheng turned around, leaning his back against the railing with his elbows propped on it, head tilted slightly upward. The relaxed pose only accentuated the breadth of his frame.
He couldn’t remember how many grueling days he’d worked nonstop, just as he couldn’t recall how long it had been since he’d wandered aimlessly outside like this.
Xie Lisheng glanced sideways at her, drawling out his questions one by one in a lazy tone. “Age?”
Jiang Zao didn’t mind sharing her blind date stories. “Older than you.”
He asked, “Job? Salary?”
She replied, “Finance gig. Probably doesn’t make as much as you do running your own business, though.”
“Height?”
She pondered. “Looks shorter than you, but he claimed 183.”
Xie Lisheng nodded knowingly. “Guys who say that are usually topping out at 179.”
She burst out laughing.
He fixed his gaze on her eyes, which curved into crescents when she smiled. “Build?”
Jiang Zao faltered, turning her head away as her eyes fluttered uncontrollably over his form before she awkwardly looked elsewhere. “…H-how do you even compare that?”
“Not like you’ve seen it.”
Xie Lisheng paused for a beat, but he was already getting used to her bluntness. He tugged at his lips, tilted his head, and took a swig of beer.
In the midst of their idle chatter, she hadn’t noticed how they’d gradually closed the distance between them until she could smell the fresh scent of his hair mingled with the rich, malty aroma of his dark beer wafting on the wind. Lifting her eyes, she realized how close his gaze had gotten.
Jiang Zao met his eyes levelly, only for her focus to snag on his lips, holding her captive for a moment.
His lips were on the thinner side, but far from plain—beautiful lines paired with a healthy flush that suited his perpetual half-smirk, half-sneer expression. It was downright seductive.
She dragged her gaze upward bit by bit, only to find that his deep black eyes were an even more dangerous prospect. She heard him ask, “Personality?”
Jiang Zao suddenly couldn’t look him straight in the eye. She stiffly turned her head away and spoke without holding back. “And you have the nerve to compare personalities with other people…”
Xie Lisheng couldn’t hold it in. He threw his head back and laughed heartily, the sound low and unrestrained.
Seeing him so delighted at being roasted left her momentarily speechless. She’d never seen anyone take a jab like that and look so smug about it.
Once his laughter subsided, he shifted his position, flipping around to lean in even closer to her.
The riverside breeze flowed slowly through the narrow space between them, thickening the air with mingled scents.
Xie Lisheng drew his conclusion. “So, aside from personality, I’m the best catch you’ve met on these blind dates?”
Jiang Zao blinked, caught off guard. She’d never thought about it from that angle before.
Come to think of it… yeah, he probably was.
He didn’t seem to expect an answer from her at all. He smoothly skipped past the topic and asked instead, “Why the blind dates, anyway?”
It was a question she’d pondered now and then, but one she’d never voiced to anyone.
Maybe it was because the man before her was an “ex-candidate,” or perhaps because the gap between them was so obvious—virtually no room for anything more—that Jiang Zao felt no burden in telling him the truth.
“If I said I wanted to find romance, would you believe me?” She laughed at herself. “Pretty childish, huh? Who goes on blind dates looking for a boyfriend?”
What she really wanted to ask was: Do you ever feel like there’s just an empty void inside you? Even when you’re busting your ass in life, it still feels incomplete somehow.
But phrasing it like that was way too stream-of-consciousness. He probably wouldn’t get it anyway.
Xie Lisheng glanced at her.
Jiang Zao corrected herself right away. “Kidding, of course. No way.”
She paused, staring at a tourist boat gliding along the river. “I just think it all ends up the same. Even a normal romance—doesn’t it lead right here in the end? Facing each other’s material conditions, making an objective call on whether you’re suitable to start a family.”
“No matter how much you like someone or how in love you are, if marriage isn’t on the table, all that time and emotion you poured in beforehand feels wasted.”
He’d been listening quietly without offering any judgment, which made Jiang Zao feel a twinge of guilt. She lobbed the question back at him. “What about you? Why are you doing blind dates?”
Xie Lisheng kept it short and to the point—answering without really answering. “I’m not anti-marriage. Blind dates are obviously for getting married.”
“If it doesn’t work, drop it. If it does, next step.”
Jiang Zao fell silent for a moment and nodded. “That’s a lot simpler way to think about it.”
Even when hunting for a romantic partner, it was the same deal.
Xie Lisheng shook his beer can at her and held it out, inviting a toast.
Jiang Zao gripped her own can and leaned in, but she was drunk—her hand lost its strength for a second, her wrist going limp and veering off to the side—
His large hand caught her wrist and the can, steadying them firmly.
His body heat seeped into her skin, sending a tingling magnetic field rippling through Jiang Zao’s nerves.
In that instant, she suddenly wondered.
Had she dared to speak those truths to Xie Lisheng earlier because she saw such a clear divide between them—or because she wanted to know how he really saw her?
But she knew full well that Xie Lisheng looked down on her.
Unaware of her inner turmoil, Xie Lisheng noticed her eyes going unfocused again and smirked. “If you can’t handle it, don’t push yourself. One last sip, right? Finish it and head home.”
He leaned down. “What’s up now?”
That steadying touch had brought them even closer. The space between their hearts thrummed in sync, squeezing the oxygen out of the evening breeze.
Sensing the aura he carried as he bent toward her, Jiang Zao’s heart skipped more erratically. “Hey, let me ask you something.”
He murmured softly. “Mm?”
She tilted her head up, her expression dead serious. “Back in the day, you kinda disliked me, didn’t you?”
An unnatural flush tinted Jiang Zao’s cheeks, her eyelids drooping heavily. The way she looked at him was bright yet blurry, her voice thick and slurred.
He wasn’t sure if it was fair to apply normal logic to a drunk.
Xie Lisheng stared at this face that differed so much from his memories. Two answers hovered before him, waiting for his choice.
He hesitated for two seconds, looked away from her gaze, swallowed hard—and opted for the truth.
“Yeah, a bit.”
The Jiang Zao from their school days hadn’t impressed him in any way.
That was just a fact.
But now, he wanted to qualify it a little. Just as he extended his beer can to clink glasses with her and continue—
Jiang Zao pulled away from his can, tilted her head back, and chugged her last sip on her own.
“I’m so sleepy. Heading home.”
With that, she shuffled forward on unsteady legs toward a trash bin, not looking back.
“…” Still holding his nearly empty can, Xie Lisheng stood rooted in place, eyeing her retreating figure. After a long moment, he ducked his head and let out a breathy chuckle.
Always insisting on hearing the truth, then sulking the second she did.
What kind of person was she?