After an intense battle of words, the vendor finally compromised with an expression that seemed to say, “I’ll soon be out of business at this rate.” Fang Ya En took out her phone to pay with Alipay, then turned to see Ye Meng returning from her cigarette break, and said with a smile: “I bought a few pounds of small salted fish. You can take some to the old lady, and also give some to Li—”
Before she could finish, Fang Ya En noticed Jiang Lu Zhi and Li Jin Yu entering behind her, and suddenly understood why Ye Meng had returned from her smoke break looking like a bitter lemon. Her gaze lingered for only a few seconds before she swallowed the second half of her sentence and cleared her throat, adding random details: “I also saved some for your little boyfriend.”
Ye Meng gave her arm an annoyed pinch, warning her not to stir up trouble. Unexpectedly, Fang Ya En continued brazenly: “Really, that male nurse isn’t bad. He’s handsome, just graduated, sensible and obedient, and most importantly, doesn’t have any messy ex-girlfriends.”
Recently, the old lady had indeed introduced Ye Meng to a young male nurse, four years her junior, with a rather sweet face. At that time, Li Jin Yu had rejected her so thoroughly that she tried having a meal with the nurse, found it rather bland, and didn’t pursue contact afterward.
Ye Meng knew Fang Ya En was trying to provoke Li Jin Yu. Like a spectator completely detached from the situation, she smiled and whispered: “How childish are you?”
However, for all of Fang Ya En’s indirect provocations, the two at the entrance showed no reaction. Jiang Lu Zhi asked Li Jin Yu to wait for her at the door, and he complied obediently. His tall, slender silhouette stood with his head lowered at the entrance, truly not entering as instructed.
Fang Ya En had repeated a grade and was once the top girl in town. Even elite types like Jiang Lu Zhi who made it big elsewhere would respectfully greet her with “Sister Ya En” when they met.
Jiang Lu Zhi was indeed very polite and considerate. But Fang Ya En simply didn’t like her, finding her too calculating and deep. She had little interaction with her during school and still didn’t like engaging with her after graduation. She responded with a cold “mm” and then pulled Ye Meng to leave directly.
“Ye Meng, please wait,” Jiang Lu Zhi suddenly called out to them. “Gou Kai asked me to bring you something from Beijing. I almost forgot. It’s in my car. Why don’t we go get it together now?”
Ye Meng felt Gou Kai couldn’t have anything important for her, and Jiang Lu Zhi probably just wanted to show off her ostentatious Porsche to her and Fang Ya En.
“What is it? If it’s nothing important, just throw it away,” Ye Meng said.
Jiang Lu Zhi looked helpless, spreading her hands: “I’m just responsible for delivering it. I know you don’t want to see me, but you know what Gou Kai is like. If you don’t take it today, I’ll have to deliver it to your home another day. Or I could give the key to the handsome guy at the door, and you could go with him?”
She finished speaking and immediately took out the key from her bag, tossing it to Li Jin Yu at the door without further discussion: “Little brother, accompany her to get something from my car. It’s on the back seat, a white box.”
Li Jin Yu looked particularly spirited today. Previously, his sideburns had been rather long, and his bangs often covered his eyes, making him look gloomy when silent. Now his sideburns were cut short, revealing a clean, full forehead. The contours of his cheeks were clearer and smoother. His face was thin, his eyes deep, like wet black glass beads—clean and youthful beyond comparison. His brow had a more boyish quality, like a vibrant young man.
Even Fang Ya En, a married woman usually immune to good looks, whispered in her ear: “If this guy seriously cleaned up, he could probably captivate crowds.”
Ye Meng thought he looked handsome this way, but not much different from other ordinary handsome guys on the street. She preferred his previous appearance which evoked sympathy.
Fang Ya En had parked in the back alley and went in the opposite direction to get her car. Ye Meng followed Li Jin Yu through the tidal wave of people shopping for New Year’s goods. Her nose could no longer smell the heavy seafood odor but instead detected the faint scent of men’s cologne on Li Jin Yu.
“Are you wearing cologne?” Ye Meng asked casually.
The farmers’ market was noisy shouting, hawking, and arguing that never ceased. Li Jin Yu didn’t hear clearly and instinctively bent down to lean in closer. “Hmm?”
His faint breath brushed Ye Meng’s face. She remained expressionless and repeated her question.
This time Li Jin Yu heard clearly. He looked down at her, shaking his head with emphasis: “Not at all.”
Ye Meng had been with Gou Kai for many years and knew men’s cologne inside out—she could guess most of the notes from start to finish. Seeing an ex-girlfriend brought out so many pretenses, yet he still denied it? Not cute at all. She coldly replied with an “oh” and couldn’t be bothered to continue the conversation.
“You don’t believe me?” Li Jin Yu wasn’t completely clueless about women and could sense Ye Meng’s sarcastic tone. He explained, “It’s my grandmother. She hasn’t bathed for too long, so I sprayed some cologne on her this morning. We only have one bottle of men’s cologne at home, and it belongs to Yang Tian Wei.” He casually lifted the fabric of his shirt to his chest and sniffed, confirming he could smell it too. “It probably transferred.”
“Oh,” Ye Meng asked seriously, “How is your grandmother’s health?”
“Still recovering,” he said without elaborating.
Ye Meng had nothing more to ask, so she simply said, “Oh.”
Li Jin Yu responded: “Mm.”
Ye Meng: “Oh.”
Li Jin Yu still: “Mm.”
“Oh.”
“Mm.”
“Oh.”
“Mm.”
“…”
The two walked to the car with this exchange of “oh” and “mm” the entire way. Li Jin Yu skillfully unlocked the car, and Ye Meng inwardly sneered again. She bent down to take the white box from the back seat without a word to him: “Let’s go.”
Li Jin Yu supported himself against the car roof over the back seat, standing in the open doorway, and looked down with a helpless smile.
Fang Ya En’s car had yet to appear, so Ye Meng could only stand by the roadside holding the white box, aimlessly waiting. Li Jin Yu closed the car door and half-sat against the Porsche’s hood, not leaving either.
In the town, Porsche already attracted significant attention. Add a handsome man blatantly leaning against it, and it practically became a 5A-level scenic spot. Anyone passing by couldn’t help but repeatedly look back.
The human attraction was seriously playing with his phone.
Li Jin Yu was scrolling through Ye Meng’s Moments. She had posted a lot of content, like fish crossing a river, sharing whatever was trending. And her profile was completely open. His fingers were sore from scrolling until he finally found a photo of her with Gou Kai from March or April 2019.
Lemon Leaf: [Just landed in Guangzhou, booked the wrong hotel. Boss Gou says we can’t expense it and I’ll have to sleep on the street.]
Fang Ya En replied: [Where will he sleep?]
Lemon Leaf replied: [He says he’s rich, so he’s staying in the presidential suite, which doesn’t need to be expensed.]
Fang Ya En replied: [He wants you to sleep in his presidential suite.]
The accompanying pictures showed Ye Meng sitting on a swinging swing eating a popsicle with a bewildered expression, seemingly trying to block the camera because she didn’t want to be photographed. However, the photographer was skilled at capturing candid moments and caught this blurry, startled shot.
Li Jin Yu could imagine how intimate the two must have been that night. Otherwise, Ye Meng wouldn’t have taken a separate photo of Gou Kai sitting and smoking.
Gou Kai was the best photographer in their group. He had a dressing room at home filled with various cameras and lenses, piled up like mountains. In the past, Li Jin Yu would give him hard-to-find cameras and countless lenses every year.
To be honest, after not seeing him for so long, Gou Kai’s methods of pursuing women had only improved.
Li Jin Yu put his phone back in his pocket and looked up, staring at Ye Meng standing by the roadside. He lowered his head and thought for two or three seconds as if making some decision. Just as he was about to step forward, Jiang Lu Zhi’s voice came unexpectedly from behind: “Little brother, what are you thinking about? Let’s go.”
Both Ye Meng and Jiang Lu Zhi liked to call him “little brother.” From Ye Meng, it was purely playful, teasing, even flirtatious. From Jiang Lu Zhi, it was treating him like a genuine younger brother, with the air of an elder commanding a junior.
The Porsche’s trunk was in the front, right where Li Jin Yu was sitting. Hearing her voice, he retracted his foot that was about to step forward and could only move aside. Jiang Lu Zhi threw a large package of bird’s nest and dried seafood into the trunk and said to him: “The bird’s nest is for grandmother to eat, and you boys can eat it too. I’ve also ordered a carton of premium cigarettes from the supermarket to give to grandmother later.”
Before Li Jin Yu could say anything, Jiang Lu Zhi immediately preempted: “Don’t refuse. This time it’s truly my fault. I should apologize to you both. Especially to grandmother—I let her down. I don’t know what grandmother can and cannot eat, which is why I asked you to come with me. Otherwise, buying too much would be wasteful.”
Since she had said everything, Li Jin Yu could only touch his nose and get in the car with her.
Just as Jiang Lu Zhi was backing out, she caught sight of Ye Meng still standing by the roadside and casually asked: “Did you give her the item?”
Li Jin Yu lazily propped his elbow on the car window and made a sound of agreement.
Jiang Lu Zhi turned the steering wheel and followed with a sigh, showing a sense of helplessness: “Nothing I can do.”
Li Jin Yu didn’t quite understand the conflicts and emotions between women and wasn’t interested in expressing any opinion. After maintaining a moment of silence, he pulled his hand back from the window sill, lowered his head to check his phone, and asked seemingly casually: “The sisters don’t get along? Because of that Gou guy?”
By then, Ye Meng had also gotten into Fang Ya En’s little Golf with the white gift box. Jiang Lu Zhi stepped on the brake behind them and asked in return: “Is she beautiful? Who do you think is more beautiful, her or me?”
Why do women always like to ask this kind of question?
Li Jin Yu stared at her for a while, and Jiang Lu Zhi turned her head away self-mockingly.
“Are you two fighting over a boyfriend?” he asked.
Jiang Lu Zhi turned the car out of the alley entrance onto the main road and said: “Gou Kai is our boss. There’s nothing else between us.”
Gou Kai was known for pursuing women by any means necessary, and Ye Meng had a straightforward personality. These two were like fire meeting gunpowder—if something had happened between them, it wouldn’t be surprising. Li Jin Yu only felt that the world was very small.
Jiang Lu Zhi said: “But as far as I know, she never got together with Gou Kai. Gou Kai looks down on her because she studied journalism but didn’t graduate from a prestigious school. Her professional skills aren’t strong, and she’s lazy with no ambition, but she’s like a cockroach—she can survive anywhere. You could casually drop her in a refugee camp, and she’d end up becoming a joint district leader with the locals.”
Li Jin Yu listened while looking down at her messages on his WeChat, with all those “baby” endearments. Hearing this, he couldn’t help but curl the corners of his mouth. But she hadn’t sent him any messages for half a month, so his smile faded, pressed into a straight line.
The two were lost in their thoughts. Jiang Lu Zhi seemed to have found an outlet to vent and kept talking as she drove: “She had someone investigate me, believing that Gou Kai and I pushed her out together. Honestly, the company isn’t mine. I’m just a legal counsel partner. How the company operates is entirely up to Gou Kai with a single word.”
“Why?” Li Jin Yu didn’t even raise his eyelids.
“I don’t know the full details, but I know Gou Kai is a bit twisted,” Jiang Lu Zhi said. “From the little he’s mentioned, he wanted Ye Meng not to change, yet wanted her to depend on him—to be a ‘loyal dog’ he could call on anytime, anywhere, living at his beck and call. Ye Meng wasn’t content with that; she wanted to establish herself in Beijing. She secretly tried to start her own business, but Gou Kai found out and sidelined her, not giving her any projects. Ye Meng couldn’t take it and resigned. Gou Kai probably never expected Ye Meng would leave. He thought she’d just be upset for a couple of days and then return. Now he can’t let go, you see? After the New Year, he says he’ll come personally to win her back.”
As soon as Ye Meng got in the car, she opened the white gift box and took a look. After seeing what was inside, she felt nothing, expressionless as she tossed it onto the back seat.
Fang Ya En curiously glanced back, “What is it?”
Ye Meng rested her head against the car window, saying carelessly: “A camera.”
Fang Ya En clicked her tongue twice, “For intimate photos? I didn’t know you two were so adventurous.”
“When will you wash that brain of yours filled with yellow waste?” Ye Meng straightened up, leaned against the car seat, and glanced at her. “It’s photos from that business trip to Guangdong. That night I was bewitched and almost slept with him. He probably thinks that looking at this camera will give me some beautiful memories. Sorry, I don’t have any.”
“I’m quite supportive of you going back. I don’t think you should be here,” Fang Ya En said.
“I’m not going back. I’ll start work in the city after the New Year. I’m going there to rent an apartment in a few days,” Ye Meng said.
Fang Ya En was stunned, “So you’re not pursuing the little brother anymore?”
Ye Meng cursed: “He’s like a stone in a toilet—both stinky and hard. Even if I were fermenting pickles, they should have been ready by now! He dared to go out with Jiang Lu Zhi. Aren’t they afraid people will think he’s the third wheel?”
…
“This matter is my fault towards Jin Yu. He’s not a third wheel. At that time, I was quarreling with my boyfriend and listened to my mother’s advice to come back for an arranged date with Jin Yu,” Jiang Lu Zhi sat in the dim hospital room, sincerely apologizing to the old lady in a soft voice. “Later, I accidentally learned that my ex-boyfriend was getting married, so I acted first and registered marriage with him. You can imagine what happened next—home turned into a mess, and I really couldn’t attend to Jin Yu’s side. So I came especially this time to apologize. If there are rumors in town saying bad things about Jin Yu, I will have my mother clarify the situation with them.”
Grandmother’s eyes were full of sorrow. After sighing several times, she finally said regretfully: “No need. It’s just that our Jin Yu doesn’t have good fortune.”
Jiang Lu Zhi looked at the old lady, filled with guilt, not knowing what else to do to show more sincerity. She instinctively turned to look for Li Jin Yu, only to find he was gone.
After searching everywhere without finding him, Jiang Lu Zhi could only send Li Jin Yu a WeChat message.
Jiang: Jin Yu, I’ve explained everything to grandmother. I’m very sorry. If there are still rumors in town speaking ill of you, I’ll help clear them up. In any case, take good care of your grandmother and yourself too.
In the dark, quiet hallway, a phone dinged.
With a “tick,” someone unlocked it. A faint screen light illuminated Li Jin Yu sitting on the top step, his long legs stretched across two or three steps.
He replied with a simple “mm” and casually tossed the phone aside. He buried his head in his bent knees, absently rubbing his faintly throbbing temples.
From the stairwell entrance came faint voices, one belonging to a male nurse. Ning Sui had only one tertiary hospital, and in the entire hospital, there was only one male nurse.
“Nurse Gao, off work so early? In a good mood today? Got your year-end bonus?”
“The year-end bonus was given out ages ago,” the male nurse’s voice was elevated, unable to hide his excitement and happiness. “A sister I like invited me to dinner. We met through a matchmaking introduction before. She’s been rather lukewarm toward me, but today she suddenly invited me to have dinner at Dai Ji.”
“Dai Ji? That place isn’t cheap. Looks like our little Nurse Gao is about to be off the market?”
“My horoscope said I’d have romance soon. I wonder if it’s accurate. Gotta go, sis! Please keep an eye on the patient in bed 10. That grandmother just finished chemotherapy and might vomit tonight.”
This male nurse had graduated not long ago. He was indeed very handsome, well-behaved, and had a sunny disposition that Li Jin Yu lacked. He was extremely patient with patients, always calling the old lady “grandmother” with great affection whenever he came to change her dressings.
But for some reason, today when the male nurse came to change grandmother’s dressings, Li Jin Yu felt uncomfortable. A feeling suddenly arose within him—this nurse had stolen Ye Meng, and now he wanted to steal his grandmother too.
But when did Ye Meng become yours? Didn’t you reject her? Didn’t you adamantly refuse to date? Didn’t you not want to change your life trajectory? Didn’t you not want anyone else to enter your life with your grandmother? Didn’t you say you would never again put yourself in someone else’s hands!?
The rooftop corridor was dark and spacious. No one came up here; it was very secluded. Someone sent another message, and the phone dinged as the screen suddenly lit up, the faint light appearing desolate in this lonely corner.
He hadn’t experienced this feeling for a very, very long time.
Dizziness, anxiety, insecurity, feeling like he couldn’t grasp anything. His temples throbbed, pulling at his entire being, the pain making it hard to breathe.
It felt as if thousands of ants were crawling through his blood, over his hands, his spine, his nerves, finally swarming into his chest and heart, occupying all his breathing space.
He felt terrible.
He didn’t even know why he felt terrible.
His mind was empty except for Li Ling Bai’s words—
“You are a seed of evil. Do you think your brother shared your love? Wrong, Li Jin Yu. No one will ever love you. No one. Nothing belongs to you. Your possessiveness is so strong, you’re sick!”
“You’re sick! You’re just sick!”
“You can’t hold on! You’ll never hold on to anything!”
…
His brain felt invaded. Li Ling Bai’s ferocious face gradually became clearer. Li Jin Yu finally couldn’t bear it anymore. He clutched his head and let out an uncontrollable, deep, hoarse roar.
The sky seemed to split open. There would be no more peace in heaven or earth.
Then the sky darkened completely, gloomy and oppressive like a great black curtain covering the entire town. Not a trace of light remained in the corridor.
At that moment, Ye Meng sat in Dai Ji restaurant, humming a tune, and posted to her Moments:
Lemon Leaf: Dai Ji changed chefs? Ah, then I won’t need to bring my baby here next time.