When Chen Yi’s car stopped in the courtyard, it was only four in the afternoon. His grandmother Liu Wenqing came out from inside the house in surprise. “Didn’t you say you’d come over in the evening?”

He got out of the car, casually closed the door, and walked forward a few steps to hold the elderly woman’s shoulders. “There was nothing else going on, so I came over early.”

Lin Jiahui temporarily needed to stay in the hospital for recuperation for a while. When he left, she still hadn’t woken up. Ruan Mian was anxious to go back and look after her, so she only exchanged a few words with him before leaving.

“What about your girlfriend?” Liu Wenqing smiled warmly. “Didn’t you say before that there was a girl you liked? How come you still haven’t settled things by now?”

This time Chen Yi didn’t hide anything. “It’s settled. Next time I’ll bring her over for dinner.”

“Really?”

“Of course it’s real. Why would I lie to you?” Chen Yi helped Liu Wenqing walk inside the house. The air conditioning wasn’t on in the living room; a ceiling fan hung overhead, slowly circulating the air.

Liu Wenqing called for a servant to bring Chen Yi a bowl of cooling mung bean soup. A few lily petals floated in the clear broth. Fortunately there was no ice added. Chen Yi took it and drank a few mouthfuls.

The old lady sat by the table. “Your uncle is accompanying your grandfather to the nursing home to visit old comrades from the past. They probably won’t be back until five or six o’clock. Your aunt took Bao’er out shopping.”

Bao’er’s full name was Song Bao’er, the little girl from Chen Yi’s uncle’s family. To cultivate his daughter’s independence, Song Huai had sent her to boarding school starting from middle school. During winter and summer vacations, the little girl even signed herself up for various winter and summer camp activities. Throughout the year, she came home only a handful of times. This time was also by chance—she had just returned from the grasslands two days ago after finishing summer camp, and would be starting school again in a few days.

Chen Yi chatted with the old lady for a while. Another car horn sounded at the gate. Before it faded, urgent footsteps came running in from outside. “Grandma, is Big Brother here?”

The next second, Song Bao’er saw the figure sitting on the sofa and got so excited that she even blurted out English. Her mother An Yuzhao slapped her on the shoulder and told her to speak properly, which made her restrain herself a bit.

Chen Yi greeted An Yuzhao. The little girl bounced over to him. “Big Brother, happy birthday! Twenty-seven years old now.”

“If you didn’t mention the age, I might be a bit happier.” Chen Yi had doted on this younger sister since childhood. Although there was a ten-year age gap, the two got along without any generation gap issues.

Song Bao’er smiled mischievously and insisted on pulling Chen Yi to play the game discs she’d saved. The siblings played for most of the afternoon. After dinner in the evening, Chen Yi went to the kitchen to find the helper, wanting to pack up a portion of chicken soup to take with him.

The helper found a thermal container. Liu Wenqing heard the commotion and walked over. “Who are you bringing food to this late?”

“My girlfriend.” Chen Yi touched the tip of his nose. “She’s on duty at the hospital.”

“You child, why didn’t you tell me earlier that you wanted to bring food to someone.” Liu Wenqing walked into the kitchen and washed two boxes of strawberries to put in another thermal container. “Should I cook some wontons for you to bring along too?”

“No need, she can’t eat that much for a late-night snack.” Chen Yi took the things the helper had packed. “I’ll head over there now.”

“Alright, be safe on the road.”

“Got it.”

Chen Yi was changing shoes at the door when Song Bao’er came down from upstairs after her bath. Seeing him about to leave, she rushed downstairs. “Big Brother, didn’t you say you’d stay here tonight? Why are you leaving again?”

Liu Wenqing said with a smile, “Your brother isn’t leaving. He’s going to bring food to your future sister-in-law.”

“Wow!” Song Bao’er became interested. “I want to go too! Big Brother! Take me with you! What if next time you bring Sister-in-law back and I’m not home? I’d miss out big time.”

She was relentless. Chen Yi had no way to deal with her. After getting in the car, he sent Ruan Mian a WeChat message.

[CY]: I’m coming over to bring you some late-night snack.

[CY]: My younger sister is coming with me.

[Ruan Mian]: Okay, come over.

This message existed for only a few seconds. Chen Yi watched helplessly as it changed from a white chat bubble to “the other party recalled a message.”

Chen Yi: “…”

He found it amusing. Using the excuse of needing to take a call, he had Song Bao’er sit in the car while he got out and made a voice call to Ruan Mian.

The call was answered quickly. He could vaguely hear the sound of a door closing on the other end.

Chen Yi walked to the artificially constructed water pool in the courtyard. Spring water flowed clearly along the grooves of the decorative rocks, pouring directly down into the pool.

He deliberately played dumb. “What did you recall?”

“Ah, nothing, I clicked wrong.” Ruan Mian’s voice was very low. “Are you already on your way? With your younger sister?”

“Yeah, on the road now.”

“How come I never heard before that you had a younger sister?”

“My uncle’s daughter.” Chen Yi looked down at the fish in the pool. “She’s going into her senior year of high school this year. She’s usually busier than I am, so I rarely get to see her.”

Ruan Mian made a sound of acknowledgment. “When you arrive, send me a message and I’ll come down to meet you.”

“Okay.”

On the way to the hospital, Song Bao’er received a call from a classmate and didn’t have time to pester Chen Yi with questions. Even when they arrived at the hospital entrance, she was still clutching her phone and exclaiming.

Chen Yi parked the car and sent Ruan Mian a message, standing outside the car waiting for her. He heard Song Bao’er saying to the person on the phone, “Who said I was out fooling around? I came with my brother to bring late-night snacks to my sister-in-law.”

He lowered his head and curved his lips, saw Ruan Mian’s reply, put away his phone and leaned against the car door. The night breeze was quiet, and tall buildings held up the sky.

A few minutes later, a figure appeared at the bottom of the building. At first she was running, but when she saw him, she slowed down instead.

Song Bao’er leaned against the window, her tone excited. “Is that her? Is that her?”

Chen Yi made a sound of acknowledgment and looked back at her. “Your sister-in-law is rather thin-skinned. Behave yourself later, don’t scare her.”

Song Bao’er smiled without saying anything. When the person got close, before Chen Yi could say anything, she spoke first. “Hello, Sister-in-law!”

She was pretty and lively-looking, making people feel happy at first glance, but her voice was out of control, especially loud in the quiet night.

Ruan Mian was startled by that shout. After a few seconds to recover, she smiled at her. “Hello, little sister.”

Song Bao’er quickly got out of the car. At 1.73 meters tall, she was more than half a head taller than Ruan Mian. Without any shyness, she linked arms with Ruan Mian and chattered away.

In the end, Chen Yi had to chase her back into the car and lock both the doors and windows before things finally quieted down.

With a child present, Chen Yi didn’t make any overly intimate gestures. He handed her the thermal container in his hand. “How is your senior sister doing?”

“She’s okay now. She woke up just before I came downstairs.” Ruan Mian turned her head and saw Song Bao’er making faces at Chen Yi’s back through the car window. She couldn’t help but laugh. “Your sister is quite cute.”

“Cute? She’s a little demon king.” Chen Yi glanced back. Song Bao’er immediately behaved herself and smiled obediently at the two of them.

The two talked for a while. Around ten o’clock, Chen Yi watched her enter the hospital building, then turned back to get in the car. Song Bao’er squeezed over from the back seat. “Big Brother, how did you and Sister-in-law meet?”

“High school classmates.” Chen Yi said this, then thought of something. “When we first met, we were about the same age you are now.”

“Wow! Then why didn’t you get together back then?”

Hearing this, Chen Yi fell silent for a while, then said in a tone that seemed both joking and self-deprecating, “Because your brother was too stupid back then.”

So stupid he couldn’t see her feelings, letting them both waste so many years.

Song Bao’er misunderstood his meaning. “If you’re stupid, then there’s no justice in the world. Don’t tell me my sister-in-law is some kind of omniscient child prodigy?”

“Child prodigy wouldn’t be quite right.” Chen Yi said with pride, “But your sister-in-law was the top scorer in the college entrance examination that year.”

“…”

Song Bao’er was dealt a blow and lay down in the back seat without making a sound. But after a while, she sat up again and asked Chen Yi, “Big Brother, Aunt is asking in the group chat why Sister-in-law is at an obstetrics and gynecology hospital. What? Doesn’t Aunt know Sister-in-law works at a hospital?”

Just ten minutes ago, Song Bao’er had secretly taken a photo of Ruan Mian and posted it in the family group chat with the caption: My brother’s girlfriend.

Song Jing had learned about Ruan Mian’s situation from her husband Chen Shuyu early on and knew she worked at Xiehe Hospital. Her first reaction upon seeing the photo was puzzlement about why Ruan Mian was at the entrance of an obstetrics and gynecology hospital.

She thought of the phone call Chen Yi had made to Chen Shuyu that morning, and her thoughts inevitably wandered elsewhere.

Chen Yi naturally understood Song Jing’s confusion and worry. He took Song Bao’er’s phone and sent a voice message in the group. “I’m driving. I’ll explain to you later when I get back.”

On the other side, when Ruan Mian returned carrying the thermal container, Lin Jiahui was on the phone. The words between them were clearly intense—it wasn’t hard to guess who was on the other end.

She stood by the door for a while. Only when there was no more sound from inside did she walk in. “Senior Sister, do you want to eat something?”

Lin Jiahui’s eyes were red and her face was pale. “I’m not hungry. You eat.”

“At least eat a little.” Ruan Mian ladled out a small bowl of chicken soup and handed it over. “No matter what, your own body is the most important thing.”

Lin Jiahui didn’t refuse again. She took it and reluctantly drank two mouthfuls, then asked, “What about Chen Yi? Did he go back?”

“He just left.” Ruan Mian also sat to the side holding a bowl.

“I really envy you two.” As Lin Jiahui spoke, a tear dropped into the soup bowl. She continued talking to herself: “Zhou Yuan and I have known each other for ten years. I gave him all my best youth, all my most precious time. But in the end, he wants to break up with me because of a child. But this is his child too. If I were really afraid of hardship, how could I have stayed with him for so long? I never wanted him to be wealthy or have a successful career. I just wanted to have a home with him. As long as that person was him, I didn’t care about anything else.”

Lin Jiahui covered her eyes with her hand. Afraid she would spill the soup, Ruan Mian reached out to take the bowl and set it aside.

As for her envy, Ruan Mian said nothing in response. Although compared to Lin Jiahui and Zhou Yuan’s ten years, she and Chen Yi could only say theirs was even more so.

Like those past years of her secret crush unknown to others, the heartache and sadness that arose because of him—during those two years at No. 8 High School and even for many years after, it had always been just her own one-person show.

But fate had never been unfair to Ruan Mian. What had once been beyond her reach, countless regrets and sorrows, had all finally been written off by the passage of time.

After Lin Jiahui vented, she seemed drained of all energy and quickly fell back into an unconscious sleep. Ruan Mian finished the remaining chicken soup and received a message from Chen Yi just before going to sleep.

[CY]: I’m here.

She rolled over and typed a few words.

[Ruan Mian]: Rest early.

[CY]: Mm, good night.

After sending this message, Chen Yi waited for Ruan Mian’s good night in return, then exited WeChat and called his mother back.

In a few words he explained the whole story. Song Jing relaxed. “Although you’re adults now, you still need to be careful about certain things. Also, don’t forget the rule your great-grandfather set down. Even though times are different now, these are still the words of an elder—don’t take them lightly. Your grandfather takes this very seriously.”

The Chen family was a century-old family, a prestigious clan from ancient times to the present. By Grandpa Chen’s generation, the Chen family had produced only one son and one daughter.

It should have been a good character, but this Chen family daughter had privately pledged herself to a teacher at the school and became pregnant before marriage. In that era, this was both a major taboo and a family disgrace. Although Old Master Chen protected this daughter, she still didn’t end up with a good outcome.

From then on, Old Master Chen—Chen Yi’s great-grandfather—established a family rule that no matter how many years passed, younger generations in the family would not be allowed to engage in inappropriate behavior before marriage.

Although society was now more open than before and such things had become quite common, Grandpa Chen, as someone who had witnessed his sister’s death due to pregnancy before marriage, inevitably cared about and minded these matters differently from ordinary people.

Since coming of age, Chen Yi had been instilled with this family ideology by his parents, and he had always followed this rule.

To put his mother’s mind at ease, he now made repeated assurances. Song Jing understood her own son and felt relieved, then brought up another matter. “Your father called Uncle Ruan this morning. Now that you and Mianmian are settled, I was thinking that when you come back for Mid-Autumn Festival or National Day, you should visit Uncle Ruan’s place. After all, you should make a formal visit.”

This was naturally the next step anyway. Chen Yi had no objections and was even happy about it. “Alright, no problem.”

Song Jing gave some other instructions, then said before hanging up, “You’re usually busy with work and don’t have much time. When you’re resting, spend more time with her. Don’t go out playing with friends. If Mianmian gets upset with you about this, don’t argue with her—it’s your problem to begin with.”

“Okay.” Chen Yi defended both himself and Ruan Mian. “Don’t worry. She won’t get upset with me over something like that. Besides, I can’t bear to argue with her anyway.”

“You’re something else.”

“…”

The next day, after several days of stifling hot weather in City B, a sudden downpour washed everything clean. Chen Yi ate breakfast at home, looked at the torrential rain outside the window, picked up his phone and sent Ruan Mian a message asking if she was still at the hospital.

Ruan Mian replied with a voice message over ten minutes later. The background sound was clearly rain. “No, I’m going back now to get some things for Senior Sister.”

Chen Yi called her. “Are you in a car yet?”

“Not yet. It’s hard to get a taxi in the rain.” Ruan Mian said, “I’m planning to go take the subway.”

Chen Yi made a decisive decision, brooking no refusal. “Wait for me at the subway station. I’ll come pick you up.”

The hospital and the residential compound were in the same direction, not too far apart. It was just that the rain made road conditions complicated, taking over twenty minutes longer than coming over last night.

After picking her up, Chen Yi handed over the ginger soup he’d prepared before leaving. “Drink some.”

“What is it?” Ruan Mian lifted the lid. The smell of ginger rushed at her. She immediately closed it again and opened the window a crack before feeling the suffocating sensation in her breathing lessen considerably.

She put the cup back and explained, “I don’t like touching anything with a ginger smell. Besides, I didn’t get rained on just now, so I won’t catch a cold whether I drink it or not.”

Chen Yi said nothing, his gaze moving away from her damp shoulders.

Outside the car, rain poured down heavily, making dull sounds as it struck the car roof and windows. Ruan Mian hadn’t slept well last night. Listening to the rain now, drowsiness welled up and she soon fell asleep leaning against the seat back.

When Chen Yi stopped at a red light, he glanced at her and reached up to turn up the air conditioning brightness, also closing her window tightly.

When they arrived, the car couldn’t drive in. Chen Yi woke Ruan Mian up. After verifying their information, they were allowed through. A few minutes later, the car stopped steadily under the apartment building.

Ruan Mian unbuckled her seatbelt. “Do you have something to do later?”

“No, why?”

“A friend of Senior Sister’s rushed over from their hometown this morning. I’ll go back over in the afternoon. Do you want to come upstairs and sit for a while?”

Last time there were people, so Chen Yi hadn’t wanted to disturb them. This time the timing, place and people were all favorable—there was no reason to refuse. “Sure.”

The two got out of the car. Ruan Mian noticed Chen Yi had also brought down the thermal container, and her eyelid couldn’t help but twitch.

The place had been unoccupied for several days and seemed rather cold and empty. Ruan Mian found a pair of clean cotton slippers from the shoe cabinet. “There are no summer slippers. You’ll have to make do.”

“No problem.” Chen Yi changed his shoes and followed Ruan Mian inside. On the living room sofa were several plush toys and cushions printed with cartoon characters. Though the place was small, warmth could be seen everywhere.

The two bedrooms faced each other with the living room’s distance between them, not disturbing each other.

“Sit wherever you like. I’m going to charge my phone.” Ruan Mian went into the bedroom and came back out quickly. She smelled a faint ginger scent in the air and looked toward the coffee table.

—Chen Yi was drinking the ginger soup he’d brought himself.

Ruan Mian wished she could stay several meters away from him, but Chen Yi put the lid back on, turned to look at her, his voice low and magnetic. “Come here.”

She hesitated but still walked over. However, her heart still resisted accepting that pungent smell. She emphasized, “I won’t—”

Halfway through her words, Ruan Mian was pulled over by Chen Yi and fell into his embrace. The ginger smell in her breathing mixed with the man’s uniquely cool scent, somehow suppressed by several degrees.

She had no choice but to brace herself against his body and sit up. The warmth of his chest remained on her palms. The living room curtains were half-drawn. In the dim light, this distance seemed especially ambiguous.

Chen Yi leaned close, reached up to grasp the back of her neck, his lips kissing down bit by bit from her temple. “Don’t like things with a ginger smell?”

“Mm…” Ruan Mian was practically sitting on him. Because of the kissing motion, her head was slightly lowered, her hands unconsciously clutching his clothes. Her ending tone trembled lightly—clearly timid yet somehow seeming like seduction.

Chen Yi’s Adam’s apple rolled lightly. He tilted his head up to bite her lower lip, his teeth grinding slightly, his voice low and deep as if bewitching. “What about me?”