After Wu Tong left, neither of them spoke. Feng Ning stared quietly at the person in front of her, unsure what scheme he was cooking up now.

She walked forward against the cold wind.

Jiang Wen followed behind, unhurried.

She felt something soft bump her foot and looked down.

The little yellow dog barked twice, looking up at her with damp eyes.

Her heart softened instantly.

She crouched down and scooped it up again. This time it didn’t struggle — probably recognizing her.

Feng Ning suddenly remembered something important and turned to ask, “Did you take the dog to get checked out?”

Jiang Wen made an affirmative sound.

“Vaccines?”

“Done.”

Feng Ning decided to forgive his childish behavior from earlier and thanked him. “Okay, thank you.”

“No need to thank me.” Jiang Wen said flatly. “I found your dog for you, you owe me a favor.”

Feng Ning’s brow furrowed slightly.

Seeing her expression, Jiang Wen raised an eyebrow. “What, planning to skip out on the debt?”

Feng Ning: “What do you want.”

“I haven’t decided yet. I’ll let you know once I’ve figured it out.”

Feng Ning hesitated for a long moment, then agreed anyway. “Fine.”

Jiang Wen smiled, satisfied.

Feng Ning jostled the little dog in her arms, adjusting it to a more comfortable position. “I’ll take him up now.”

“I’ll come too.”

Feng Ning paused.

“I found the dog, I need to see the handover through.”

She said, “You should quit while you’re ahead.”

Jiang Wen: “I’ll give him a bath and then I’ll leave.”

Feng Ning fell silent.

Jiang Wen had such nerve that she genuinely couldn’t find a way to refuse him.

After a standoff, for the little dog’s sake, Feng Ning gave in.

The two of them took the elevator up. Once home, she went in.

Glancing around, she’d cleaned up the night before, so the place was only slightly messy — nothing serious.

She turned on the AC with the remote, went to change into a sweater in the bedroom, and came back out to find Jiang Wen still standing at the doorway.

Feng Ning rolled up her sleeves as she said, puzzled, “Come in. What are you doing standing there, guarding my door like some kind of gatekeeper spirit?”

Jiang Wen lifted his eyelids. “You didn’t give me slippers, how am I supposed to come in?”

“…”

Feng Ning stared at him for a long moment without speaking.

She searched around. “I don’t have slippers your size, and no shoe covers either — just wear your shoes inside.”

Jiang Wen frowned, clearly unwilling. “That’ll get the floor dirty.” Quite considerate of him, apparently.

Feng Ning suggested, “Then just wear socks? I mopped yesterday.”

“I don’t want to.” Jiang Wen refused righteously. “That’s improper.”

“…”

She’d never met anyone more difficult than Jiang Wen. Feng Ning, a bit impatient, gestured vaguely toward the door. “Then leave.”

Jiang Wen looked at her silently.

The little yellow dog, not understanding what the two of them were up to, crouched by Feng Ning’s feet for a moment, then went to gnaw on Jiang Wen’s pant leg.

She walked toward the bathroom.

Jiang Wen turned, felt for the doorknob, and twisted it open, saying, “I’ll get going then.”

Feng Ning was a bit startled and turned back.

The door slammed shut with a bang.

She poked her head out to look; the entryway was already empty. Jiang Wen had really left.

This man’s temper really was… quite unpredictable.

Feng Ning stood there dazed for a few seconds. She couldn’t tell if it was relief she felt, or something else.

She went to the balcony and looked down for a while, saw nothing.

Feng Ning went to run water in the bathroom, feeling the temperature slowly shift from cold to hot, just about to bring the dog in.

The doorbell rang. Feng Ning wiped her hands and went to the door. “Who is it?”

A familiar voice came through. “Who else would it be.”

Feng Ning opened the door and looked at the person who’d returned. “What now? Didn’t you already leave?”

Jiang Wen: “Can’t I come back?”

Feng Ning: “…”

She spotted what he was holding and realized. “You went out just to buy slippers?”

Jiang Wen dropped the hastily-bought slippers on the floor and made an affirmative sound.

Feng Ning was completely speechless.

Young Master Jiang finally got his wish and put on the slippers. Like a leader on an inspection tour, he surveyed the living room.

The two of them went into the bathroom, and Feng Ning found a basin. Jiang Wen rolled up his sleeves and half-crouched, half-knelt. His legs were long, and there wasn’t much room to stretch out in this small space.

The little yellow dog resisted the bath, whimpering and struggling.

Two people and one dog wrestled it out. Feng Ning held its leg steady with one hand while working up a lather with soap. The little dog fought back, its other paw flailing, splashing water all over her face.

Feng Ning laughed despite herself, shaking her head, wiping her face with the back of her hand. Under the bright lamp, her eyes were bright, still glistening with water. She happened to glance up and caught Jiang Wen looking back at her.

She startled, feeling a bit awkward.

Both of them stopped at the same moment, turning their faces away unnaturally.

It took half an hour to get the dog clean. Feng Ning fetched a hair dryer and dried its fur, then wrapped it in a large bath towel.

As she stood up, she suddenly heard a growl.

Feng Ning’s movements paused.

They looked at each other, and she said, “You haven’t eaten?”

Jiang Wen didn’t seem embarrassed either, his voice low with a hint of complaint. “No, I haven’t. I was waiting for you the whole time.”

Maybe it was her imagination, but from that sentence, Feng Ning thought she detected a note of grievance.

She glanced at the clock in the living room and said, “Then go eat. Things are mostly wrapped up here.”

Jiang Wen: “Eat what?”

Feng Ning, baffled: “How would I know?”

He asked, as if it were only natural: “I waited for you in the cold wind for hours with the dog, and you’re not even going to make me a meal?”

Feng Ning had nothing to say to that.

She got the dog settled, then went to wash her hands in the kitchen. She’d boiled some dumplings for breakfast before leaving that morning, and the pots and dishes were still soaking in the sink.

She tidied up a bit.

Jiang Wen made a call outside, then went into the bathroom.

“Feng Ning.”

Young Master Jiang started calling her again.

“What now.”

Feng Ning came out holding a spatula, and the moment she saw him, her voice cut off abruptly.

Jiang Wen stood bare-chested from the waist up, one hand propped against the doorframe. “Where did you put the hair dryer just now?”

Feng Ning had seen all kinds of things in her life, and pointed the spatula at him. “What exactly are you doing?”

He glanced down at himself, not the least bit embarrassed. “My clothes are all wet, I can’t wear them. What if I catch a cold?”

Seeing her ignore him, Jiang Wen added, “You just want to make me suffer, don’t you?”

Feng Ning had never encountered a grown man so delicate. “Taking your clothes off in a single woman’s home — do you know how dangerous that is?”

Jiang Wen: “?”

He said, “Then restrain yourself. Just don’t get any ideas about me.”

“…”

A thick skin was something you built up through practice — once you’d gone all in once, the rest got easier. In her whole life, Feng Ning had never been rendered speechless like this.

She stared at Jiang Wen for a moment, then pulled her phone from her pocket.

“Why don’t you take your pants off too.”

Jiang Wen: “?”

Feng Ning sneered, lifting her phone, snapping photo after photo of him from head to toe.

Startled, he instinctively covered his chest. Jiang Wen tried to look composed. “What are you doing?”

“Aren’t you so capable?”

Feng Ning waved the phone back and forth in front of him. “Go on, strip. Might as well go all the way. I’ll get a full set of shots and post your nude photos and contact info to some adult site — more people to appreciate you that way. What do you think?”

Jiang Wen stood frozen, dumbstruck.

“The hair dryer’s on the coffee table in the living room.”

Tossing out that line, Feng Ning turned and went back to the kitchen.

Ten minutes later, Jiang Wen came out fully dressed. “You’re the most vicious woman I’ve ever met.”

Feng Ning ignored him, crouching down to pull a few bags of frozen food from the fridge.

Jiang Wen said, “I don’t like this.”

Feng Ning glanced up at him and put the items back. “Dumplings then, want some?”

“No.”

She rolled her eyes inwardly, not particularly patient. “Then what would you like, sir?”

“Noodles.”

“I don’t have noodles at home.”

Jiang Wen instructed her, “Use the Ele.me app, order some now, there’s a supermarket that delivers.”

He had all sorts of requirements for his noodles too — not too soft, not too hard.

Feng Ning patiently cooked for him.

Young Master Jiang leaned nearby, looking refreshed as he issued instructions. “Don’t put too much salt or vinegar, keep the ratio at 2:1. Also, I don’t like ginger or garlic…”

Finally, she lost her patience and spoke slowly. “Say one more word.”

Jiang Wen fell silent.

After a while, he muttered quietly, “Why are you so fierce.”

The water in the pot came to a boil. Timing it, Feng Ning fished out the noodles with chopsticks. “Your chanting is giving me a headache.”

“I helped you find the dog yesterday, almost got hit by a car. I say a few more words and you’re already annoyed? Is this how you show gratitude?”

He repeated his sob-story tactic from before, but this time Feng Ning was unmoved in the slightest. “Honestly, when you stand on the moral high ground like that, I really don’t have anything to say back. But sorry, someone like me has been stuck in the moral lowlands since birth. Moral guilt-tripping doesn’t work on me. If you’re smart, get out now and do whatever you want. If you keep buzzing in my ear like a fly, don’t blame me for being rude.”

Jiang Wen laughed despite his anger.

Feng Ning added slowly, “Not sure if you remember, but I used to study martial arts.”

Jiang Wen: “…”

…

…

Out of politeness, Feng Ning sat across from Jiang Wen and chatted with him while he ate.

The freshly bathed little yellow dog wandered lazily around, walking a bit, lying down a bit. This moment carried a certain subtlety. The living room TV played a variety show, the dining room lights glowed a warm, cozy yellow, and outside a fine night rain fell.

Fragments of the past seemed to slowly wake in her memory. For a few seconds, a long-lost, unfamiliar warmth crept over Feng Ning’s heart.

Out of nowhere, Jiang Wen spoke. “You want some too?”

Feng Ning snapped back to attention. “Huh?”

“Why are you staring at my chopsticks in a daze?”

Feng Ning said offhandedly, “I’m sleepy.”

She yawned. “Are you done eating? Once you’re done, you should go. I need to shower and sleep — work tomorrow.”

This time Jiang Wen didn’t make a fuss. Silently, he finished off what was left in his bowl.

Outside, the rain hadn’t stopped. Feng Ning handed him an umbrella. “Message me when you get home.”

Jiang Wen nodded as he changed shoes at the entryway.

She saw him off; the door locked behind him.

The little yellow dog waddled over and curled up at her feet.

Leaning against the shoe cabinet, Feng Ning gazed at the ceiling light for a while, wondering if she was falling ill again.

Jiang Wen had made a racket all evening, and she’d been thoroughly annoyed by him. Now that he’d left, the apartment had finally returned to quiet.

Everything seemed no different from usual, yet somehow it felt a bit desolate to Feng Ning.

The dead of night.

It seemed too quiet.

The next day was New Year’s Eve.

Tomorrow was New Year’s Day, and the office had let out for the holiday that afternoon.

Feng Ning was dragged out to dinner by Min Yueyue.

This young lady had recently been all lovey-dovey with Bo Hongyi and hadn’t had time to bother Feng Ning. Today Bo Hongyi was on a business trip abroad and couldn’t make it back, so she’d finally remembered Feng Ning.

Min Yueyue talked as much as ever, rambling on about nothing in particular, going from handbags to shoes. Suddenly she remembered something. “Oh right, there’s a New Year’s Eve party later, come along. My brother and some of his friends will be there — one of them is half-Chinese, half-American, tall and handsome. Want to meet him?”

Feng Ning: “Were you a matchmaker in a past life? Always thinking about setting me up with men whether there’s a reason or not. Do I really seem that desperate?”

Min Yueyue pouted, looking at her pleadingly. “You know people have nothing better to do, no one else to worry about, so I’ve got to worry about you.”

She had a memory like a goldfish, and bringing this up suddenly reminded her of Jiang Wen. She asked eagerly, “Have you two made any progress?”

Feng Ning didn’t answer.

After dinner, Min Yueyue dragged her to browse a nearby cosmetics store. While Min Yueyue was paying, she suddenly got a call.

Feng Ning listened to the other end for a bit, then frowned. “Where?”

“I’ll tell you when I get there. Where are you?”

She glanced at Min Yueyue. “Forget it for today.”

His voice dropped a notch. “Forget it?”

“I’m with my friend.”

“Then consider that favor you owe me repaid today.”

With that, without giving her a chance to refuse, Jiang Wen hung up.

Her phone buzzed right after.

61nfiawJ: Address sent.

……

……

They stood at the entrance of the busy mall.

Jiang Wen arrived quickly. His short black hair was a bit disheveled; he wore a very formal single-breasted wool overcoat cinched at the waist, with a charcoal-gray British-style suit underneath, and clean leather shoes.

He walked over from a distance, turning heads among the girls nearby. Min Yueyue gushed, “So handsome.”

By the time he reached them, Min Yueyue still wouldn’t let go of Feng Ning’s hand, deliberately being difficult. “What is this? Ningning promised she’d spend tonight with me.”

Jiang Wen stood there, glancing first at Feng Ning, then at Min Yueyue. He narrowed his long, thin eyes slightly and smiled. “Let me cut in line?”

“…”

Utterly without resistance, Min Yueyue was charmed into surrender on the spot by his smile, immediately handing Feng Ning over. “Fine, fine, she’s yours. I won’t interrupt your couple’s world.”

…

After Min Yueyue left, only the two of them remained, facing each other, the mood a bit awkward.

Jiang Wen handed her something.

Staring at the plane ticket, it took a full half minute for it to register. Feng Ning hesitated. “What’s this for?”

He looked into her eyes. “I just want you to spend one night with me.”

Feng Ning didn’t understand at first.

She took it and flipped the ticket over, seeing the place name printed on it.

Then she understood.

Feng Ning might have been possessed by something.

She only came back to her senses at the ticket check, reflecting on how she’d let her head get so hot that she’d agreed to Jiang Wen just like that.

The way he’d looked at her a few times — it was as if all her reason had vanished.

Since reuniting, they’d drawn close, pulled apart, tested each other, tormented each other again. She knew clearly that the two of them were more or less meant to end here, knew in her heart that she’d already made her decision. She prided herself on her iron will, yet whenever she faced him, she let herself sink deeper, again and again.

Feng Ning felt a bit resentful.

— toward herself.

The flight from Shanghai to Nan City took an hour and a half; she didn’t say a single word the whole way.

Not until the cabin announcement began: Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking, we will shortly be landing at Nan City Airport, please return your tray tables to their upright position. The ground temperature at the airport is 2 degrees Celsius, relative humidity…

Feng Ning pushed up the little window shade and gazed at the brightly lit city. In the gentle night, the dazzling lights formed a golden river running through the entire city of Nan City.

As she watched, the resistance in her heart suddenly dissolved completely.

Jiang Wen put away the magazine beside him.

The plane had already begun to taxi.

About ten minutes later, the cabin door opened. They were at the front, and as they disembarked, the wind hit their faces full force.

The cold air enveloped them completely. Feng Ning shivered, stamping her feet where she stood, pulling her coat tighter.

She didn’t ask Jiang Wen what he’d been planning by booking two round-trip tickets to Nan City for today.

She didn’t need to ask.

They both understood perfectly well what New Year’s Eve meant to them.

The drive from the airport to downtown took about half an hour.

Feng Ning gazed out the window at the familiar scenery, pulled a piece of hard candy from her pocket, handed one to Jiang Wen, and popped one in her own mouth.

She turned her head. “Where are we going?”

Jiang Wen answered, “Don’t know.”

Silence again the whole way.

Compared to eight years ago, Nan City hadn’t changed much. Some old buildings had been torn down, new ones had gone up in their place; the prosperity remained.

Music played everywhere on the streets — some celebrating the new year, some love songs. Lin Junjie sang amid the festive cheer, laughing that love makes people crazy… crying that love makes people anxious… unable to forget that person, surrendering…

They walked for who knows how long.

“Feng Ning.”

She was staring at a cute panda-shaped rock across the street and reacted half a beat late. “Huh?”

“Last time, we walked this same road too.”

The sentence came out of nowhere, so sudden.

But almost instantly, Feng Ning understood what he meant.

Jiang Wen’s voice was very faint, very light. “That day after we got off the bus, I followed you the whole way. You stepped on a manhole cover, and I stepped on it too.”

“In the end, you never looked back.”

Feng Ning steadied her emotions and spoke to interrupt him. “Jiang Wen, all that is in the past.”

“Right, it ended a long time ago.”

Feng Ning’s heart clenched, and she stopped walking.

He lowered his dark eyes and repeated, “It should end.”

Looking at each other, Feng Ning said, “So… this is why you brought me back to Nan City today?”

Jiang Wen’s gaze was fixed directly on her.

Just as Feng Ning thought he was about to say something —

“Wait here for me for ten minutes.”

Feng Ning couldn’t keep up. “What?”

“Wait here for ten minutes.”

He said only that, then turned and walked away.

…

…

Waiting in the cold wind for not quite ten minutes, just as her heart began to settle, he came back.

Feng Ning tucked her hands into her sleeves for warmth, watching Jiang Wen approach step by step.

As he got closer, she noticed his face was a bit flushed.

Feng Ning caught a familiar scent. “What did you just go do? Drink?”

Jiang Wen tilted his head, confessing to her, “I just downed a whole bottle of Moutai.”

A small bottle of Moutai, he’d drunk almost all at once. He’d gulped it down too fast, too urgently.

From the tip of his tongue down through his throat, a spicy heat burned.

Feng Ning was stunned for a moment, then let out a helpless, exasperated laugh. “Are you an idiot? Why would you drink like that?”

He said, with a hint of temper, “For courage.”

A brief silence.

Jiang Wen said hoarsely, “Give me a minute to recover…”

Feng Ning: “How much did you actually drink, do I need to take you to the hospital?”

Jiang Wen shook his head.

She crouched with him on the ground for a while.

The alcohol slowly began evaporating through his system, his mind growing heavier and heavier. Jiang Wen swayed a little, unable to tell past from present.

Feng Ning looked around, ready to go to a convenience store to buy him some water. Just as she started to walk away, someone grabbed her hand.

Feng Ning froze.

He gripped her hand, using it for leverage to stand up.

Once he was steady, Feng Ning tried to pull her hand back.

Jiang Wen didn’t let go.

Both their hands were sweaty, tangled together, damp.

“What are you doing?”

Feng Ning clearly sensed a moment of hesitation as Jiang Wen looked at her.

Then, he pulled her forward and drew her entirely into his embrace.

Feng Ning struggled. “Jiang Wen, don’t use the alcohol as an excuse to act crazy.”

Jiang Wen, acting like a child throwing a tantrum, said fiercely, “Don’t move.”

Having snapped at her, he then murmured, aggrieved, “It hurts…”

Drunk like this, he seemed to have become an entirely different person. She’d never seen Jiang Wen this fragile before.

Feng Ning stopped talking, letting him hold her.

As if some silent permission had been granted.

The two of them stayed locked in that embrace, motionless amid the bustling street. It drew no small number of curious glances from passersby.

…

…

Not sure how much time had passed, Jiang Wen suddenly said, “Feng Ning, I lied.”

Noise drifted from nearby on the street. She looked at a tree a few meters away, saying nothing, listening to him.

“I said, remembering the past doesn’t mean I still care.”

Jiang Wen said it again. “I lied.”

Jiang Wen really was very drunk.

Feng Ning thought.

“In the first few years after I went abroad, I hated you. I tried to start a new life. I didn’t dare let myself stop, afraid I’d think of you again — think of the bus we used to ride together, the food you cooked, the cake, the gifts you gave me, the sticky notes. I didn’t dare think of any of it. I was afraid I’d regret it — regret breaking up with you.”

“You liked Nietzsche, so I went through every bookstore in New Haven. Every time I thought of you, I hoped you were doing well, and I was also afraid you were doing too well.”

His voice, low and secretive, carried ambiguity, shyness, and a bittersweet sorrow mixed in.

Feng Ning’s throat tightened.

“Before, I suffered from not getting a response from you. That was the first time I learned that loving someone could feel this hopeless. For me, whether to give up on you or not — either way was torment.”

Back then, she’d only dipped her toes in, standing still on the shore.

But his love had already gone under, sinking deep into the mud, unable to pull free.

Jiang Wen’s voice carried a heavy nasal quality. He forced a light tone. “In the end, I got too clever for my own good — I chickened out, so I chose to retreat. I wanted to forget you.”

“Stop, Jiang Wen.”

Feng Ning’s body trembled slightly, her heart clenching hard. She didn’t dare listen further.

She was afraid — but even afraid, she still, quietly, longed to hear more.

“It took me eight years to finally understand — so what if you didn’t like me as much as I liked you?”

In a place Feng Ning couldn’t see, an emotion he could no longer hide surged in his eyes.

“After we broke up, I felt relieved. But in every minute, every second after that, I was never happy again.”

Sentence after sentence, Jiang Wen was drunk down to his bones, his breathing heavy and searing.

Feng Ning bore his weight, nearly unable to breathe.

Every word he said felt like a blade, carving itself into her heart stroke by stroke.

Jiang Wen’s eyes were rimmed red. He bent close to her ear and said softly, “Feng Ning, I love you.”

Her heart stopped for a beat.

Finally, a single tear, trembling on the edge of falling, dropped and landed with a soft plop into the hollow of her neck. “Since I was sixteen, I’ve loved you. All this time, I’ve loved you.”