◎ Falling for you — and I have no regrets ◎

That flirtatious little exchange happened to be seen by Deng Zhe, who was carrying a baking tray. He grinned cheekily and teased, “You two are really something — torturing us single people even while grilling skewers. Can’t you give it a rest for five minutes?”

That one remark shattered the mood.

Yunque’s cheeks immediately flushed with heat.

Lu Rangchen shot Deng Zhe a wordless look — the kind of look that might as well have been a string of profanities.

Lu Rangchen let out a soft scoff. “It’s your darling little sister’s fault.”

At that moment, Deng Jiao was at Jiang Sui’s table, playing cards with a group of young men around her age, bouncing around with sheer delight.

“…Her?”

Deng Zhe pulled his gaze back, puzzled. “What did she do now?”

Yunque also looked at Lu Rangchen with a confused expression.

But Lu Rangchen deliberately ignored them both, simply tossing Deng Zhe a dismissive “Go tend to your skewers.”

Watching him now, it was clear the man was genuinely irritated. At the very least, since the two of them had reunited, Yunque had rarely seen him wear such a cold expression in front of her — and it was still because of her.

Yunque turned it over and over in her mind, but truly couldn’t figure it out.

Her nature wasn’t one to push people. Since Lu Rangchen wasn’t telling her, she simply didn’t ask — she gave him all the space in the world.

The result? The flame of jealousy smoldering inside Lu Rangchen only burned hotter.

Watching her bustling figure as she moved through the gathering, he was so exasperated he couldn’t help but run his tongue over his lips with a resigned smile.

There was truly nothing he could do with her.

He thought to himself: hoping for her to soften first — in this lifetime — would probably be harder than watching a listed company’s stock go up.

After a while, he lost any interest in helping with the barbecue and handed the job off to a few younger members of the club.

The sky deepened through laughter and chatter.

The evening glow spread across the heavens, night gradually rolling in, stars appearing one by one.

The balcony had been specially decorated for Yunque by Lu Rangchen beforehand: there were beautiful yet practical string lights, a rocking swing chair, and a small flower rack — all deeply romantic and girlish, as if he were raising Yunque like a cherished young girl.

Before long the lights came on, and the scene turned so romantic it felt like something out of a television drama.

Perhaps the relaxed atmosphere was to blame, but Li Tie — who had drunk a little and was pleasantly tipsy — suddenly raised his glass toward Yunque and spoke up.

He was originally from Inner Mongolia, and had only come to Nancheng for university.

Though he had lived here for many years, the straightforward, no-nonsense quality of his northern upbringing had never changed — he never beat around the bush. So when he opened his mouth, it was simply: “Come on, sister-in-law, let’s have a toast.”

That came out of nowhere.

It left not only Yunque surprised, but also the other three at the table momentarily frozen.

Under the astonished gazes of Zhou Jin and Deng Zhe, Lu Rangchen lightly furrowed his brow and shot Li Tie an unamused smile. “What are you stirring up now?”

His tone carried an unmistakable trace of disdain and impatience. Not only that — he also reached under the table and clasped Yunque’s hand, as if afraid that Li Tie’s antics would startle her again.

Feeling the warmth of the man’s palm.

Yunque’s heart gave a faint flutter, and she glanced sidelong at Lu Rangchen.

Just then, Lu Rangchen happened to be looking back at her.

Their eyes met, and as always, neither was willing to look away.

It was Li Tie who laughed and broke the spell, pulling Lu Rangchen’s gaze away as he said, “Am I some kind of raging flood or ferocious beast? You’d block your own sister-in-law from having a drink with me?”

Lu Rangchen regarded him with an earnest look, scoffing lightly. “What do you think?”

Zhou Jin beside them burst out laughing and couldn’t resist saying to Li Tie, “I told you — the attitude you showed her before was terrible. You scared her off.”

“…”

Li Tie’s expression became instantly difficult to read.

Not that Zhou Jin was wrong to say it.

Li Tie’s attitude toward Yunque in the past had indeed been quite awful — it was almost as if he’d wanted to devour her whole.

That was from an outsider’s perspective, of course.

Yunque herself hadn’t quite felt that way.

At the time, she had simply thought that Li Tie treating her that way was perfectly reasonable — that she deserved it.

So now, she proactively broke the awkward silence. “No, it didn’t scare me off. I was just a little surprised… and happy.”

That last word — “happy” — spoken with just a touch of shyness, made Lu Rangchen’s brow arch slightly, warmth rippling through his eyes.

Zhou Jin nudged Li Tie pointedly with her elbow. She didn’t say a word, but her eyes were clearly speaking up for Yunque.

This time, Li Tie was genuinely embarrassed.

He held his glass in an uncertain grip, and could only say with some awkwardness: “Well, that’s all in the past now. You two are married, and there’s nothing left for me to worry about.”

Zhou Jin rolled her eyes at him. “The way you say that, anyone would think you’re Ah-Rang’s parent — and yet his actual family hasn’t said a word. You’ve got some nerve patting yourself on the back.”

Nobody could roast you quite like your own wife.

Li Tie gave a pained groan and helplessly said, “Can’t you leave me even a scrap of dignity?”

He looked so woebegone and pleading, absolutely terrified of his wife — not a trace left of his usual company-manager composure. He was plainly a man utterly devoted to his wife, and the whole table erupted into laughter.

That laughter lightened the mood considerably.

And in Lu Rangchen’s deep eyes, watching Yunque, something like light suddenly appeared.

He curled the corner of his mouth into a gentle smile, looking at Yunque with eyes full of tender indulgence. “See that? My elder brother is trying to win your favor.”

Under normal circumstances, Li Tie would definitely have retorted.

But this time, he seemed to think better of it, and simply shrugged with a smile, saying nothing.

Yunque looked at Lu Rangchen with moved eyes, then shifted her gaze to Li Tie.

Li Tie was hardly the type to enjoy sentimental displays, but he raised his glass with practiced ease, tapped it against the table toward her, and spoke directly: “I did harbor quite a few misunderstandings about you in the past and said some pretty harsh things. It was only after Ah-Rang explained everything to me that I understood the situation — please don’t hold it against me.”

“Honestly, I never expected it to be like that. And I have to say, I really do admire you.”

“You were so young, and you endured so much back then. That truly wasn’t easy.”

“Of course, don’t be too hard on me either. I was genuinely worried that Ah-Rang would be hurt because of you again. But looking at you two now — you’re doing well together, and I have nothing left to worry about.”

“Like Zhou Jin said, I’m just Ah-Rang’s friend, not his parent. Even if I were his parent, I’d have no right to stop him from doing what he wants.”

“All in all, I only have blessings for the two of you from here on out. As long as you’re good to each other, that’s all I need.”

Having said everything he needed to say, Li Tie raised his glass and drained it in one go — a clean, decisive man through and through.

Zhou Jin watched him with eyes full of love. When he finished, she thoughtfully handed him a tissue to wipe his mouth.

Yunque understood the courtesy of the moment.

So with Lu Rangchen’s help, she poured herself a glass.

She was about to pick it up and return the toast to Li Tie, when to her surprise, Lu Rangchen covered the top of the glass with his hand and told Li Tie, “She’s been taking care of her health lately. Let me drink on her behalf.”

Yunque blinked, momentarily stunned.

She hadn’t expected him to intervene.

Of course, Lu Rangchen wasn’t making excuses — she had indeed been drinking traditional medicinal herbal tonics recently, which had been Lu Rangchen’s idea in the first place. One day not long ago, Yunque had felt dizzy again while teaching at the school, and Deng Jiao had called to “report” it to him.

The moment Lu Rangchen found out, he drove straight over from the club to pick her up after class.

His expression had been as dark as it could possibly be.

The very next day he took her to see the best traditional Chinese medicine doctor in the city. He only relaxed when the doctor told him she simply had a deficiency in both vital energy and blood circulation.

But the herbal tonics had been a daily fixture from that day on.

In most things, Yunque could hold her own against Lu Rangchen — but not in this. If she didn’t take proper care of herself, this man genuinely got angry.

So she thought for a moment and said, “I forgot. I’ll substitute with a soft drink then.”

Li Tie — who had always hated how some company managers pressured people into drinking — was not the sort of man who put on airs for appearances. He cheerfully said it was fine and to let Lu Rangchen drink on her behalf.

Men drink like it’s child’s play.

That entire large glass — Lu Rangchen tilted his head back and downed it in one unbroken breath.

The line of the man’s throat was sharp and attractive. And even after finishing, he didn’t forget to glance at Yunque, his gaze burning as he raised an eyebrow. “How come I don’t see you handing me a tissue?”

“…”

Yunque truly had no idea what to do with him.

Unable to suppress a laugh, she pulled out a tissue and stuffed it into his hand with perfunctory indifference. “You need to compete over this too?”

Lu Rangchen laced his fingers through hers so their hands were fully interlocked.

Playing lazily with her hand like that, his eyes grew dark and deep, and he grinned with casual nonchalance. “I worked so hard to marry her — of course I want to show off a little.”

…He really was insufferably competitive.

Fortunately, neither of them spoke loudly, or Deng Zhe across the table would have been even more thoroughly tormented with envy.

Yunque’s lips curved into a sweet smile, and she suddenly felt that this life in front of her — this life she was living right now — was so wonderful it didn’t feel real.

She had never dared to dream that she could live a life like this: with someone who loved her, with friends, with blessings, and with a solid foundation to stand on.

Nothing to fear. Nothing to worry about.

Once a person finds happiness, it hits like a drink of good liquor.

She had only had a modest sip or two, yet a rosy flush — like the warmth of gentle tipsiness — had already spread across Yunque’s face.

The conversation at the table had, without anyone quite noticing, drifted toward her and Lu Rangchen.

Some of those questions had been asked at the last gathering, but since Li Tie and Zhou Jin hadn’t come that time, they knew nothing at all.

Later, in the midst of all the excitement, Zhou Jin asked Yunque very directly: “Oh, by the way — I’ve always wanted to ask: what made you decide to come back to Nancheng back then? Was it something that happened, or did you just… miss him?”

Lu Rangchen had never asked this question out loud.

So his gaze paused, and he looked at Yunque along with everyone else — as though hoping to catch an answer that would satisfy his heart.

Yunque had no intention of letting him down.

She said, quite gravely: “I’d gotten sick at the time and thought I might not make it. I didn’t want to leave with regrets.”

Deng Zhe’s eyes went still, taken aback. “What kind of illness? Was it serious?”

Yunque said, “It looked pretty serious at the time, but I recovered.”

She was just about to add what the illness had been, when Lu Rangchen suddenly cut in with a calm voice: “Viral myocarditis. She recovered fully, no after-effects — not a big deal.”

A casual enough tone.

Yet within those words was an undercurrent — as if he were quietly staking a claim.

“…”

Yunque’s brow lightly gathered, and she stared at Lu Rangchen in a momentary daze.

Lu Rangchen looked back at her. His eyes were warm and deep — quietly, wordlessly captivating.

“Viral myocarditis,” Zhou Jin sighed. “My niece had that before. It was really grueling.”

Li Tie added, “It really is — my wife’s niece was hospitalized for a long time before she recovered.”

Yunque pressed down the surprise rising in her chest, parted her lips to say something — but once again it was Lu Rangchen who spoke first. His tone was unhurried: “She fell off the podium at school and ended up in the hospital.”

As he said this, he turned to ask Yunque the question that had lived in his mind for a long time: “Was there anyone there to look after you?”

His voice was calm, yet the depth of his concern ran quietly beneath it.

Perhaps because of this question — which suddenly made her recall so many difficult moments from the past — Yunque’s eyes began to sting.

But given the setting, she forced it back and lied with a nod. “…Yes. There was.”

Lu Rangchen’s brow smoothed slightly.

Then Yunque asked him: “How did you know about all this?”

Lu Rangchen raised an eyebrow with studied seriousness. “What do you think?”

Yunque’s lashes fluttered lightly. Before she could work it out, Deng Zhe spoke up, laughing: “How else would he know? He asked Xu Linda, of course. Hasn’t that always been his thing?”

“…”

Yunque was briefly at a loss for words. She looked at Lu Rangchen, incredulous. “Really?”

Lu Rangchen had had a few drinks. The faint haziness of alcohol lent a warm depth to that already striking, sculpted face — making it look somehow even more tender and full of feeling.

And that face — so full of feeling — was now fixed on her with an intensity that bordered on devotion, unwavering.

A smile surfaced in his eyes — unhurried, unconcerned with being found out — and he said: “What’s the matter? Surprised?”

Yunque: “…”

It had gone beyond surprise or no surprise.

She was simply, completely, undone — undone by how deeply Lu Rangchen cared for her.

Every emotion in her softened and turned over a hundred times in that moment.

Yunque drew a quiet breath in through her nose and said, “When did you ask her? I had no idea.”

Lu Rangchen pinched her slender, pale fingers, light as bamboo shoots, and said casually: “I didn’t exactly ask. I overheard.”

“Overheard?”

“Mm. Forgotten? The dumpling shop downstairs.”

Lu Rangchen suddenly smiled — a smile that gently teased. “That day you chased me into the elevator — I’d already heard before that.”

“…”

Yunque’s heart gave an embarrassed lurch.

So he had already noticed her that day.

“Wait — that actually happened??”

Zhou Jin lit up at this, propped her chin on her hand, and leaned forward eagerly. “Yunque, you actually had a moment like that?”

It wasn’t hard to understand Zhou Jin’s surprise.

Given Yunque’s composure, her cool and quiet nature — anyone who knew them both would have instinctively assumed that in this relationship, Lu Rangchen had been the one to make the first move.

And yet Yunque had also tried, in her own way.

It was just that her efforts had been too subtle, too hidden, too imperceptible.

Lu Rangchen had to stand in one place, watching her, waiting for her — waiting a very long time — before she would take a single step toward him.

That was also why, in the end, Lu Rangchen had grown tired of waiting, grown weary of it — and had simply abandoned his position to go to her instead.

Perhaps he had owed her something in a past life.

Lu Rangchen smiled with a kind of resigned acceptance, and glanced at Yunque with a quirk of his brow. “Do you want to tell them?”

Meaning: if she didn’t want to, he’d put a stop to Zhou Jin’s questions.

Yunque had no desire to be the one who killed the mood.

So she shook her head and said, “Nothing I can’t say.”

After a brief pause to gather her thoughts, she said: “When we first ran into each other again, I really was the one who latched on first…”

Perhaps because the feelings had been pent up for so long, the moment she said it aloud, Yunque felt a release — a lightness — and her eyes grew soft. “I’d just come back from the capital around that time and was still staying in the school dormitory. I hadn’t rented a place yet. I kept thinking: if I could find out where he lived, I could move nearby — then I’d be able to run into him more often.”

“But for some reason, we just kept missing each other.”

“I went to places he used to frequent — he wasn’t there. I ate at the restaurants he used to love — still nothing. Every single time we just missed each other.”

The night breeze made her eyes grow faintly damp. Yunque smiled and looked at Lu Rangchen — whose gaze was full of quiet depth. “Eventually I even thought: I might as well just go find him at the club.”

Lu Rangchen looked at her, and his throat shifted slightly.

As though overwhelmed by some unexpected rush of emotion, his shoulders and neck tensed, and the darkness in his eyes deepened and warmed at once.

Zhou Jin blinked and said, “And then? Did you go? Is that where you two reunited?”

“No. At the police station.”

Yunque lifted her chin, gesturing toward a table nearby — where Deng Jiao, whose face was already covered in several sticky notes from the card game, was still playing happily and bouncing with excitement. “I was there keeping her company while she waited for her family — and then, out of nowhere—”

She turned her head and glanced at Lu Rangchen. “There you were.”

In that very instant, Lu Rangchen looked at her without blinking — his gaze like indulgence, and something beyond indulgence.

If the circumstances had been different, he thought, he absolutely would have lost all restraint and pulled her onto his lap to kiss her.

But right now, he could only press down every surging emotion, maintain his composure — as if not quite moved — and smile faintly, his voice low and husky: “And then? Were you surprised?”

Yunque borrowed his own phrasing back at him. “What do you think?”

“I think you weren’t very surprised.”

Lu Rangchen leaned into that infuriating way of his, as if deliberately provoking her into saying more. “The way you looked — who could tell what was going on in your head?”

Zhou Jin interjected: “What did she look like?”

Deng Zhe slipped in with a grin: “Calm on the surface, obviously — barely a ripple.”

He glanced sideways at Lu Rangchen and added: “This man right here has zero confidence when it comes to this relationship of yours.”

They say brothers know each other best — and that observation was dead on.

Lu Rangchen heard this and let out a low laugh.

He was just about to tell Deng Zhe to get lost.

But Yunque misunderstood, thinking Deng Zhe’s remark was aimed at her. She cast her eyes downward and said quietly: “Mm — I really didn’t have much confidence… I never have.”

Deng Zhe paused, about to say something — but Lu Rangchen cut him off. Lu Rangchen leaned in with piqued curiosity: “What is there to be lacking confidence about? Where exactly have I given you reason to feel that way?”

The topic pivoted, smoothly and naturally.

Yunque lifted her eyes — bright under the warm lamplight — and found herself momentarily speechless.

Lu Rangchen watched her with a kind of genuine earnestness, then suddenly smiled. “Yunque — in this relationship between us—”

“It was always me who had no confidence. Not you.”

The gathering that evening didn’t wrap up until nearly ten o’clock.

The next day was Monday, and apart from Yunque and Deng Jiao, everyone had work — so no one had drunk too much, and no one lingered too long.

Deng Jiao had apparently had such a wonderful time that Deng Zhe ended up taking her home.

Under normal circumstances, she would definitely have put up a fight — but at that moment, she was absolutely dying to leave. Before going, she even pulled Lu Rangchen aside and whispered to him, asking him please, please not to tell Yunque that she had been the one who found that diary.

But Lu Rangchen’s character was hardly one that meekly fell in line.

The smoldering fire in him had been banked since before dinner — simmering, contained, held back — and the moment everyone left, all he wanted was to peel back every layer of Yunque’s secrets. He was not about to spare a thought for Deng Jiao’s tearful pleading.

So once the last person had gone.

He didn’t let Yunque deal with the mess out on the balcony — he simply pulled her back to their private sanctuary.

The bedroom.

Only one soft, amber floor lamp was left on.

Its warm glow cast an intimate hue — a color he had helped Yunque choose, and which was now finally being put to good use.

He pressed Yunque back against the pillows, locked her wrists above her head with one hand, pinned her in place, and kissed her in a breathless, intoxicating way.

The alcohol on his breath was heady and disorienting. Every emotion he’d been containing poured into that kiss — Yunque felt herself nearly overwhelmed, nearly unable to breathe. After a long time, the kiss finally pulled back.

Lu Rangchen’s palm and breath alike were hot.

His nose skimmed along hers. His voice was magnetized and husky, with an edge of urgent longing. “Everything you said to them tonight — was all of it true?”

She had known he would come back to settle this score.

Yunque looked at him with those dark, luminous eyes — wholly unsurprised.

She draped her arms around Lu Rangchen’s shoulders. Her cheeks were flushed a deep rose, her eyes like a lake that could draw a person in and swallow them whole. “I’m not sure which part you mean… but I didn’t say anything untrue tonight.”

Barely had she finished.

Lu Rangchen kissed her again — domineering and forceful, as if giving vent to everything — swallowing her words before she could say more.

Yunque was kissed until her breath came in soft, helpless sounds.

But Lu Rangchen drew back just as things were deepening, like someone savoring a taste they couldn’t get enough of, retreating to hold her gaze — and then demanded: “And what about the diary? Who else have you ever liked, besides me?”

His burning breath fell against her lashes — the lingering heat of a man in full possession of his jealousy.

Yunque’s lashes were damp. “What diary?”

Even as she said it, something lit up in her mind — and she suddenly remembered. “You saw my diary?”

Lu Rangchen didn’t answer. His eyes were fixed on her with unusual stubbornness.

Several seconds of silent staring passed before his throat moved quietly as he swallowed and said: “Deng Jiao found it. I happened to notice.”

It wasn’t hard to guess — it must have happened just before the gathering began.

Yunque spoke softly: “So that’s why you were annoyed at her?”

“Why would I be annoyed at her?”

Lu Rangchen let out a quiet, derisive sound. “Don’t try to change the subject.”

As he spoke, he hooked an arm around her waist and lifted her, settling her to sit against the headboard, cradled in his lap.

Yunque’s hair was slightly tousled and her expression bewildered. “I can barely remember where I put that diary — how did she even find it?”

She paused, then laughed helplessly. “And what do you mean, I liked someone else? When did that ever happen?”

It was as though something heavy that had been pressing down on his heart abruptly fell away.

Lu Rangchen exhaled silently.

Then, all at once, it caught up with him — how absurd, how childish he had been tonight.

He gave a sudden, self-deprecating laugh.

Yunque pinched his face. “What are you laughing at?”

Lu Rangchen caught her hand and pressed it against his cheek, his clear eyes pinned directly and unflinchingly to her face. He let out a low, resigned sound. “You tell me.”

Yunque knew perfectly well. She tugged her lips into a faint curve and said, “So — did you read the diary?”

“Do you want me to have read it?”

Yunque hesitated for a moment. “Honestly, I can barely remember what I wrote back then.”

“Sounds like there was quite a lot written.”

Lu Rangchen raised an eyebrow with a hint of teasing. The amber light cast his already deep-set eyes in even warmer, softer shadow. “Was it written for me?”

The piercing clarity of that gaze in that instant.

It nearly made Yunque’s heart stop.

The girl she had once been — how could she have ever dared to imagine that this diary, one day in some distant future, would actually fall into the hands of the person it was written about?

And that person — the one who lived inside every page of that diary — would become her husband.

There was no stranger, more miraculous feeling in the world.

Yunque fell into a brief daze, then — as though guided by something she couldn’t explain — nodded. Docile and earnest, like a child who would do anything you asked.

As though he had suddenly received something he had wanted for a very long time.

The curve of Lu Rangchen’s lips visibly, unmistakably deepened. He raised a hand and tucked her loose strands of hair behind her delicate ear, and asked: “Can I look at it now?”

Color bloomed softly in Yunque’s face.

“Is the diary with you?” she asked.

Lu Rangchen glanced toward the bedside table. “It’s there.”

Yunque looked over at the bedside table, and felt a swell of admiration for this man.

Even with the diary right there in front of him — he hadn’t let his possessive impulses take over. He hadn’t opened it behind her back.

They were both grown adults now.

Yunque wasn’t especially embarrassed — she just felt that pulling it out to show him right this moment would be a little awkward.

Who knew what melodramatic things her teenage self had written all those years ago.

After a moment’s thought, she said: “Tomorrow — can we wait until tomorrow?”

She looked at him with an unusual gravity, genuinely asking his opinion. “At least let me check first whether I wrote anything too mortifying.”

In that moment, Yunque looked exactly like that earnest, conscientious student she had once been.

Lu Rangchen was so endeared he couldn’t help but smile — and how could he possibly say no?

So he lifted his hand and cupped the back of her head, pressed a kiss to her lips, and said: “I thought you were going to make me trade something for it.”

“A trade?”

Lu Rangchen put on a mysterious air. “Want one? Show me how serious you are.”

“…”

Yunque had no interest in playing this game. She made to climb off his lap.

Lu Rangchen wrapped an arm around her waist and laughed. “One little tease and you’re going back on it already?”

“I’m not.”

Yunque pressed her lips together. “I’m going to get the diary.”

“Checking it right now?”

“…Right now.”

Lu Rangchen had no choice but to let her go, giving a lazy smile. “Fine. I’m going to shower and sleep.”

Yunque’s follow-through had always been swift — ever since she was small. She paid no mind to the ironic resignation in Lu Rangchen’s voice. She retrieved the diary from the bedside table and headed straight to the study.

She was in there for quite some time.

And the study door stayed firmly closed — as if she were deliberately keeping him out.

Lu Rangchen drifted near the doorway for a bit, hands in his pockets — but in the end, he didn’t disturb her. He turned and made his way back to the bedroom. Just before falling asleep, he sent her a message reminding her to come to bed at a reasonable hour.

What he didn’t know, however, was this:

Yunque had already promised Ye Tian long before this that the two of them would take Zhu Yuxuan to the newly opened amusement park early the next morning.

Yunque hadn’t told Lu Rangchen.

She was afraid he’d be jealous.

But what else could she do? Lu Rangchen was so busy — he couldn’t carve out time, not really.

With tomorrow’s plans on her mind, Yunque didn’t stay long in the study that night. By the time she had washed up and came back to the bedroom, Lu Rangchen — with all the drink in him — was already fast asleep.

This time, it was her turn.

She placed the diary on Lu Rangchen’s bedside table.

After lying down beside him, she even leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. She curved her mouth into a smile and whispered good night in his ear.

Later that night.

Lu Rangchen still held Yunque tightly in his arms — even in sleep, he needed to feel the warmth of her.

The next morning, daylight came.

Yunque was up early, got herself ready, and headed out.

Before leaving, she took a moment to set out a simple breakfast for Lu Rangchen.

But Lu Rangchen had been worn down by preparations for the competition these past few days, and had also drunk quite a lot the night before — and so he simply slept on until nearly noon before he finally stirred.

When he first woke, there was a brief, disoriented moment.

The apartment was so clean and tidy, with so little trace of Yunque left, that for an instant Lu Rangchen thought she had disappeared again — the way she had before.

Thankfully, after he washed up and the fog of alcohol lifted, it came back to him a few seconds later: she had gathered her things and gone out early in the morning. She had even told him before she left — she was taking Zhu Yuxuan somewhere to play.

She just hadn’t said where.

Which was mildly baffling.

Lu Rangchen smiled to himself — at his own excessive possessiveness, and at this woman who knew exactly how to keep him on his toes.

But the thing that weighed most on his mind was still her diary.

Half-expecting her to play him for a fool again, Lu Rangchen ate his breakfast at a leisurely pace and sent her a message: 【Where’s my diary?】

She must have been occupied with something on the other end.

It was a while before Yunque replied.

The first thing she sent was a photo — taken from inside a Ferris wheel, looking down over the amusement park from above.

Then: 【Playing with Xuanxuan — only just saw your message】

Two seconds later: 【…Since when did it become your diary?】

Lu Rangchen ate the sandwich she had made him, a faint smile playing at the corner of his mouth, and typed with one hand: 【I say it’s mine, so it’s mine】

Reading this.

Yunque, seated inside the Ferris wheel cabin, couldn’t keep her lips from curving.

Warmth spread through her eyes like sunlight on honey.

She decided not to hide it from him anymore, and tapped out: 【Check beside your bed on your side】

Lu Rangchen: 【Okay】

After sending that, Lu Rangchen didn’t message her again.

Yunque’s heart suddenly began to beat faster. She gazed out at the vast, open sky beyond the glass — high clouds, bright expanse — and couldn’t help wondering: when Lu Rangchen read it, what would his reaction be?

At that same moment, on the other side of the city, Lu Rangchen had already found the diary in the bedside table.

The same notebook as yesterday.

For some reason, it felt heavy.

Lu Rangchen settled into the sunniest spot on the ground floor and, carrying a feeling of reverence he had never quite had before, crossed a span of time longer than eight years — and opened it.

It seemed she had reorganized it before giving it to him.

When he turned to the first page, he found a crisp one-hundred-yuan banknote tucked there. Beneath it — pressed under the bill — were all of a young girl’s secret feelings for him, written during her youth.

— September 13th, 2013. Sunny.

I saw him today.

A surprise — beyond just the supermarket.

I didn’t expect it to happen like that.

The mop and I were probably both looking quite terrible. My glasses weren’t even clean.

But he was still so handsome — bright, clean, warm, like the blazing and passionate sun, turning the whole world into colour.

It’s hard to admit.

But I don’t want to lie to myself.

I like him.

As naturally as a kite likes the wind.

— September 14th, 2013. Overcast.

Deng Jiaqiang once said I was scheming. I don’t deny it.

Because I really am that kind of bad person — to get what I want, I can lie, and I can use whatever means necessary.

It was the same with test scores. And the same with meeting him.

I just never expected to be this lucky — that he would actually, actually come to the pavilion with his friends to smoke.

And that he’d add me on WeChat…

He seems slightly gentler than I imagined. His eyes are deep too.

In front of him, I feel like I can never be natural.

Maybe that saying is true.

Liking someone means feeling inferior.

But if the person I like is him — then I’m willing to feel inferior.

— October 1st, 2013. National Holiday. Sunny.

I don’t know what to say. I just feel very sad.

I had been so happy — because I ran into him at the bar, and he even sang for me.

But then — why?

Why does he already have a girlfriend?

What is she like?

Does he like her very much?

…Forget it. Stop thinking.

Yunque, he is not the story of your youth. Don’t be so pathetic.

— October 3rd, 2013. Overcast.

I ran into him on Donggu Street… he stopped me from drinking.

So he saw all of it.

Saw how completely wretched I looked. It must have been even worse than I thought.

I also saw his girlfriend — short hair, not especially beautiful, but warm and radiant.

The kind of person I could never become.

— October 25th, 2013. Sunny.

A rather eventful day.

Not just because Mama came to take me to the new home — but because I ran into him there.

…He is the son of Mama’s friend.

I would never have dared to dream of this, even in my wildest imagination. And yet it really happened.

Most importantly — I had misunderstood him. He doesn’t have a girlfriend…

But he really is terrible.

How did I not see it before?

How could he do that — tease me in front of both our parents, bringing up how he caught me sneaking glances at him like it was nothing?

God knows how fast my heart was beating.

Would he have given me mouth-to-mouth if I’d fainted? ???

…Alright, that’s beside the point.

What I mean is — he really is so gentlemanly. So gentle.

Gentle as the moon that hangs at the edge of the sky and never falls.

Forgive my melodrama…

But in short — falling for him, I have no regrets.

“…”

Reading this, Lu Rangchen’s long eyes dropped, and he couldn’t hold back — the corner of his mouth bent into a smile.

He truly hadn’t expected it.

That beneath Yunque’s cool, composed exterior lived such a charming, endearing soul.

Unable to resist any longer, he sent her a message that felt like a journey back through time —

Lu Rangchen: 【My Yunque darling, falling for you — I have no regrets either】

Author’s note: The diary still has quite a lot more to it But I was afraid you might not want too much of it, and there’s also the word count to consider, so let’s stop here for now~