Jiang Shiyan was merely teasing Tang Yang; he wouldn’t do anything in public, as he cherished her too much.
As they exited the cinema, the warm wind enveloped them like a net. Tang Yang’s cheeks, neck, and the tip of her nose were flushed red. Half embarrassed and half annoyed, she obediently followed beside Jiang Shiyan. Holding his little girlfriend’s hand, Jiang Shiyan recalled the previous scene. He tried not to smile but couldn’t help the corners of his mouth from curling up.
At 5:30 PM, it was just dinner time. Since their plans had already been disrupted, Tang Yang and Jiang Shiyan didn’t mind breaking them completely.
They went to the food street for a rotating hot pot, then browsed the vibrant array of succulents at the flower and bird market.
The flower pots were small and round, their curves as soft as the plants inside.
Tang Yang’s eyes were filled with adoration. Jiang Shiyan noticed and asked, “Do you want to buy a few more?”
Tang Yang shook her head.
Jiang Shiyan asked, “Why not?”
The twilight merged with darkness, the ink-like sky fading vibrantly behind Tang Yang.
“I can barely take care of the ones I have at home. If I buy more, I’d have to be responsible for them,” Tang Yang said softly, holding Jiang Shiyan’s hand. “Don’t tell me you can take care of them.”
Jiang Shiyan countered, “Why can’t I take care of them?”
Tang Yang thought of something, her little face reddening. Still, she tiptoed slightly, tugging at his hand, and whispered very softly in his ear, “Because a father’s love is different from a mother’s love…”
This statement was loaded with meaning, and Jiang Shiyan felt a jolt through his body.
Tang Yang gazed at him with sparkling eyes, then turned and started running.
The flower and bird market was full of elderly people walking their cats and dogs. Tang Yang nimbly weaved through them, holding up her skirt. Her exposed arms and calves were fair and delicate, like snow covering early summer in June.
Jiang Shiyan felt a tickle in his heart as if scratched by a cat’s paw. Unsatisfied with the sensation, he gritted his teeth and chased after her.
Jiang Shiyan didn’t run fast at first. When Tang Yang slowed down, catching her breath, he took a few quick steps forward and scooped her into his arms.
There were many people around, including other embracing couples.
Tang Yang repeatedly patted the back of his hand, chiding, “Don’t hug and cuddle in public.”
“I’m not hugging and cuddling,” Jiang Shiyan said, tilting his head to kiss the top of her head. “I’m hugging my baby.”
Although they didn’t know if they would have children in the future or when Tang Yang’s use of “father” and “mother” soaked Jiang Shiyan’s heart in sugar water. The evening was warm, but the sugar water was cool, making his breath sweet.
The couple planned to go to the riverside to see the river view. The speeding subway carried passengers and the night.
Jiang Shiyan stood in the corner, holding onto the handrail. Tang Yang held onto Jiang Shiyan’s arm, their toes touching.
Tang Yang occasionally looked up at Jiang Shiyan, while he watched her reflection in the subway window. When their gazes met, Jiang Shiyan suppressed a smile, and Tang Yang poked the dimple at the corner of his lips, leaving her finger there. They both laughed, not knowing why, but feeling that even the crowding of people seemed beautiful.
Exiting the subway and ascending the escalator, Yan Ke’s female voice repeated in the broadcast: “Please stand firm and hold on, mind your step, don’t lean on the escalator, don’t look at your phone, please be…”
Tang Yang’s index finger tapped a light rhythm on the handrail, her gaze wandering over the advertisements on the wall, some for real estate, others about fashion.
Jiang Shiyan led Tang Yang down the escalator and out of the station, repeating in a low voice.
Tang Yang leaned in to listen.
Jiang Shiyan said softly, “Stand firm and hold on, stand firm and hold on…”
Tang Yang didn’t think there was anything wrong with this phrase, but Jiang Shiyan’s eyes were filled with deep meaning.
Tang Yang tilted her head to look at him.
One second, two seconds, three seconds.
Recalling a certain bedside moment, Tang Yang’s ears suddenly turned red, and her whole body felt so hot it seemed about to melt.
“Pervert! Jerk!” They had reached the sparsely populated riverside. Tang Yang exclaimed, jumping up and down to step on Jiang Shiyan’s feet.
Jiang Shiyan didn’t dodge at all, instead pulling her into his arms.
Tang Yang pretended to struggle, while Jiang Shiyan’s arms encircled her waist. His lips curved in a smile full of tenderness as he leaned down to kiss her.
The night breeze whispered, and ship horns sounded from the river. The few passersby from earlier had turned the corner, leaving the quiet space entirely to the couple.
The sky seemed to be torn apart by the river, intertwining darkness and city lights. Those lights seemed to gild Jiang Shiyan’s eyes, and Tang Yang felt as if she could see herself reflected in them.
Jiang Shiyan’s tongue lightly probed, and Tang Yang let out a soft “Mmm”: “There are people…”
Jiang Shiyan: “There won’t be anyone…”
Tang Yang stopped resisting.
Jiang Shiyan kissed her for a while, then his lips traced from her eyebrows to the corner of her eye, then to the tip of her nose and her lips. He carefully outlined the contours of her lips with his tongue, his hand caressing the fabric at her waist, the warmth of his palm seeming to seep through the cloth onto her smooth, delicate skin.
This touch felt extremely good for both of them.
Tang Yang and Jiang Shiyan slowed their breathing, and even the insects in the nearby shrubs seemed to quiet their chirping.
Suddenly, “Buzz, buzz, buzz.”
Tang Yang’s phone vibrated.
Jiang Shiyan didn’t want to stop: “Shall I hang up for you?”
Tang Yang murmured an “Mm,” and Jiang Shiyan freed one hand to reach into her bag, pressing the phone button without looking.
After another minute, “Buzz, buzz, buzz.”
The two reluctantly parted. Jiang Shiyan rested his chin on top of Tang Yang’s head as she caught her breath and took out her phone.
It was an unfamiliar number.
Jiang Shiyan: “It might be someone selling fake alcohol, or a Kweichow Moutai Distillery lottery notification…”
Tang Yang burst into laughter, putting her phone back in her bag: “How do you know that so well?”
Jiang Shiyan nuzzled Tang Yang’s soft hair with his chin.
As the two were being affectionate, Tang Yang suddenly remembered something. She gently pushed Jiang Shiyan away a bit and took out her phone again.
Tang Yang leaned her elbow on the riverside railing and called back, while Jiang Shiyan held her in his arms, bending slightly to look out over the river.
Tang Yang glanced up at his jawline, putting the call on speakerphone and explaining apologetically: “It might be someone from the military I’m coordinating with. Even though it’s not a workday, I should call back since I hung up on them…” She trailed off as the call connected.
The “beep beep” of the phone stopped.
Tang Yang fell silent, not yet speaking.
“Hello, is this Tang Tang?” came a male voice from the phone, crisp and clear.
When he spoke, his voice was like water flowing from the highest mountain peak under the moonlight, and when it reached the ears, it was like a late-night radio show. His unhurried enunciation struck the eardrum, and at the same time, a faint electric current seemed to seep through the body, making every cell tingle slightly…
It had been exactly ten years since their last contact.
The expression on Tang Yang’s face gradually froze.
Jiang Shiyan’s face, which had shown dissatisfaction and a hint of temper, slowly cleared of all expression upon hearing these four words.
Tang Yang looked up at Jiang Shiyan.
Jiang Shiyan stared straight ahead into the distance.
From the phone came, “Tang Tang, are you listening?”
When other men called her “Tang Tang,” it often carried a hint of ambiguity, but coming from Song Jing’s mouth, it was neither too intimate nor too distant.
All of Tang Yang’s close friends called her “Tang Tang,” and faced with this politely familiar address, Jiang Shiyan couldn’t even bring himself to object.
“Yes,” Tang Yang moved her lips as if waking from a trance, looking away from Jiang Shiyan.
She repeated softly, “I’m listening.”
At the same time, Jiang Shiyan slowly lowered his gaze to look at Tang Yang…
The person on the phone was once his best friend, and also Tang Yang’s friend.
He was the boy who sat behind Tang Yang, whom she had secretly liked, and later became her first love that she never mentioned again.
After Tang Yang answered “I’m listening,” the phone fell into a brief silence.
At this moment, Jiang Shiyan felt that according to his personality, he could make a joke to ease the atmosphere. But his knuckles, gripping the railing, slowly turned white, and his half-dry, half-parched throat rolled, unable to produce any sound.
On the phone.
“I’m returning to A City tomorrow,” Song Jing said. “I’m considering retiring from the military.”
“Mm,” Tang Yang’s voice trembled slightly, “Congratulations.”
Song Jing chuckled faintly: “But this time, I’m not coming back to retire.”
He continued: “There’s a cooperation project between the military and A City’s Huishang Branch Bank. I happen to be on leave, so I’ve been assigned to oversee it. Tang Tang,” Song Jing called, “You joined the bank later, right?”
Tang Yang: “Yes.”
Both parties fell silent again.
Song Jing said: “If it’s convenient for you, do you think we could meet for a meal?” He continued, “I’ve changed my phone number many times and haven’t been in contact with other classmates for a long time. It’s very abrupt, but yours is the only number I remember…”
Tang Yang’s half-closed eyelashes flickered: “Alright.”
Jiang Shiyan listened to Song Jing ask “if we could meet for a meal,” watched Tang Yang, saw her ear tips turn red, her face unnatural, saw her not looking up at him, heard her very quietly but without hesitation answer “Alright.”
The whole process was quite amusing, Jiang Shiyan thought.
The first joke was that Song Jing did scientific research in the military, and setting that aside, he had an almost photographic memory in high school. Both he and Tang Yang had never changed their numbers, yet he said he only remembered Tang Yang’s.
The second joke was about what kind of person Song Jing was. In middle school, when roommates saw him going to the bathroom, they were as amazed as children who thought teachers never used the toilet, exclaiming, “Song Jing looks like an immortal, yet he uses the bathroom!” At the beginning of high school, many pretty female classmates would wait at the classroom door with gifts. Song Jing would enter and exit with him without even glancing at them. Jiang Shiyan had pitied them at the time: “You should at least say hello, they’ve been waiting for so long, won’t they be heartbroken?”
Song Jing had found it strange: “What does that have to do with me?”
It was this Song Jing, whose nature was so aloof and cold, who had always been the one others looked to, who was now hiding his feelings and carefully asking Tang Yang “if it’s convenient.”
Then, the third joke was that Jiang Shiyan struggled to smile.
Tang Yang was a person who always had a clear grasp of things. In her second and third years of high school, she had repeatedly hammered herself with practice tests. When he had messed up in college, she had even gritted her teeth and slapped him once. She had always known what she wanted and what she could get. Before dating him, she had saved the contact information of more than a dozen potential matchmaking candidates. After getting together with him, worried about making him uncomfortable, she had quietly deleted them all. She would take the initiative to tell him about Xiao Qin who sent roses, would report which male classmates were in the new department, would consider his feelings, always maintaining a proper distance from other men.
And it was this same Tang Yang who, just now, when answering Song Jing’s question, truly had nothing else in her eyes, and had answered “Alright” as if no one else was there.
See? Isn’t it all very funny?
After Tang Yang hung up the phone, she didn’t speak.
Jiang Shiyan also remained silent, his gaze falling on the surface of the river.
The night wind rustled, the evening sky dark. In the distance, a fishing boat seemed to want to dock, and the indicator light on the shore flashed quickly in Jiang Shiyan’s eyes.
Then, it went out.