“Did you see a ghost or something?” If you listened carefully, there was unease hidden in Sun Xi’s flat tone.

But Yu Jiuqi didn’t carefully listen to what he said at all. Instead, she nervously scanned the hall. Fortunately, there was no one else—just the two of them. She secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Only then did she lower her head slightly, tilting her ear to ask: “What? What did you just say?”

Sun Xi’s discomfort became more obvious. His gaze turned downward, landing darkly on the heavy tray Xiao Jiu had been holding for quite a while.

Yu Jiuqi understood and hummed in acknowledgment. She freed one hand to slowly take down the items he’d ordered one by one—a bowl of cold noodles, three small dishes of spicy cabbage, peanuts, and small egg rolls. Her wrist was both sore and stiff, but her brain was abnormally active, chaotic thoughts exploding one after another like firecrackers.

At the root of it all was one question: how could Sun Xi, who had left Shicheng nine years ago, suddenly appear in this tiny, shabby cold noodle restaurant no bigger than ten square meters?

She could guess many reasons and could follow them to construct reasonable causes and effects, but the one ranked first was something Yu Jiuqi was unwilling to face.

How could that be? Xiao Jiu secretly glanced at him again—his face was thinner, his eyes bright and dark, his features still melancholy. When he didn’t speak, he looked a bit fierce.

He’d clearly said he’d changed his mind.

“You’re back.” Yu Jiuqi greeted him as naturally as possible, as if accidentally running into a familiar fellow townsman.

“Mm.” His nasal tone was a bit heavy.

“Which day did you come back?” Xiao Jiu’s voice wavered.

“A couple days ago.”

“Oh.” Yu Jiuqi mentally calculated the time, hoping she hadn’t caused trouble. “Come back…”

Before she finished speaking, Sun Xi suddenly interrupted: “I didn’t order this, did I?”

Yu Jiuqi looked and understood he was referring to that bottle of Arctic Ocean soda: “Oh, that? That’s on me.” After saying it, she felt awkward. “No, I didn’t know it was you. I’m just helping watch the shop. First time making cold noodles, afraid I’d do it badly.”

Sun Xi’s expression didn’t move.

Xiao Jiu thought of the past and suddenly understood: “I’ll change it for you. Still ice-cold mineral water?”

As she spoke, she casually grabbed the bottle of soda to leave, but her hand paused and stiffened. The bottle knocked against the tabletop, then fell to the ground with momentum, shattering with a bang. Orange juice wrapped in white foam spread across the floor tiles and splashed onto his rolled-up denim pants and sneakers.

In weather twenty degrees below zero, he was still wearing single-layer pants just like in his youth—Yu Jiuqi thought inappropriately amid the overpowering orange soda smell.

“I’m sorry.” Xiao Jiu pulled out two tissues for him, then turned to grab the mop standing by the door for wiping snow water.

Sun Xi took the tissues she handed him. His fingertip accidentally scraped the sparkly rhinestone on her nail extension.

He gripped the tissues in his hand and was also preparing to stand up when suddenly he heard a crisp shout from inside. Hurried footsteps ran over, urgently asking: “What was that sound? What happened?”

After General Manager Fu approached and looked at the mess all over the floor, he only stood two steps away, though his neck was stretched out: “Need help, Xiao Jiu?”

Yu Jiuqi glanced at Sun Xi and instinctively tried to move naturally and slowly in front of him, using her body to block him. In the chaos, she managed a strained smile at General Manager Fu: “No need, it’s fine. I’ll clean it up myself.”

But General Manager Fu looked past Yu Jiuqi, eyeing the young man behind her who seemed cold and distant with a hint of danger, as if trying to recognize something, frowning.

Yu Jiuqi suddenly felt a bit annoyed. For a moment she couldn’t figure out if she was feeling guilty, afraid, or wanting to protect someone. Unusually, she coldly dismissed General Manager Fu: “Um, why don’t you head back first? I still have to wait for Sister Jin to return. Who knows how long that’ll be? You go take care of your business.”

But General Manager Fu didn’t move: “I haven’t finished what I wanted to say.”

“Fine, go ahead.”

“Tell you privately.”

Yu Jiuqi turned her head back. Her gaze scattered, just happening to collide with Sun Xi’s, but he immediately and naturally slid his eyes away, picked up a pair of disposable chopsticks, tore them open. The plain ring on his long, elegant fingers flashed.

“Okay, wait for me a moment.” Xiao Jiu lowered her eyes.

“What do you want to tell me?”

The low heated platform in the private room was on a timer and needed to be restarted every two hours. The time had long passed now. The platform was ice-cold. Even sitting on the cotton cushion, it was impossible to avoid frozen feet. But Yu Jiuqi didn’t even have the extra thought to bend down and press the electric heated platform switch. She only wanted a quick resolution to get him out.

But General Manager Fu wasn’t in a hurry, gripping his hot tea, staring blankly at the sliding door. Only when Xiao Jiu knocked on the table again to remind him did he come back to his senses, yet abruptly said: “How come that guy just now looked a bit familiar?”

Yu Jiuqi startled, then suppressed it: “Is this what you wanted to tell me?”

“No.” General Manager Fu put down his cup, kneeling properly in front of her, his face solemn: “I’m going to say it now. Be mentally prepared.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t be too surprised.”

“I won’t be.”

“I want to marry Sister Wen.”

“Who?”

“Your mom, Wen Wen.” General Manager Fu stared steadily at Xiao Jiu, enunciating each word clearly: “I plan to marry her.”

Yu Jiuqi froze, then lowered her head and pressed her lips tightly together, as if thinking or restraining something. She tensed for a moment, then burst out laughing.

Although General Manager Fu was a native of Shicheng, he’d been sent by his parents to study in Hong Kong starting in middle school, then later studied abroad in Singapore. Last year when his father was hospitalized with a cerebral infarction, as an only child, he’d returned to consider taking over the family’s two shopping malls. Truth be told, he didn’t know Shicheng all that well, nor did he know much about Xiao Yu Jiu, the good girl everyone praised.

Everyone said Yu Xiao Jiu from the bathhouse owner’s family was a simple, kind-hearted girl with a gentle, adorable exterior and a clear, transparent soul. But although he’d only eaten a few meals with Yu Jiuqi, he didn’t entirely agree with the outside world’s assessment of her. He always felt she was living while hiding something.

He considered himself a sensitive, delicate person, but even he couldn’t see what Yu Jiuqi was hiding. Only occasionally would he be shocked by the glimpse of something not belonging to a good girl that she exposed—a trace of offense, like right now.

General Manager Fu looked at Yu Jiuqi’s suddenly uncontrollable smile and saw naked mockery—mocking his overestimation of himself.

So he hurriedly justified himself: “Maybe it’s not appropriate to say this, but Sister Wen and I—we’re in love. She says she loves me, and of course I love her too.”

Yu Jiuqi raised her eyes to look back at General Manager Fu, steadied herself, and seriously looked at this Shicheng’s number one golden bachelor who was only three years older than her, her gaze full of calm compassion.

She compassionately wondered: should she save this poor person who was about to fall into a fire pit for love?

But how should she tell him? She loves you in this moment, and in the next moment she can love something else entirely. She just continuously uses crazy love and hate to maintain her vitality.

Including you, and including the past me—me again and again.

If General Manager Fu were smart enough, at this moment he should be able to see two big characters on Xiao Jiu’s face: “Run fast.”

But he didn’t. He blinked his innocent big eyes forcefully and said with the courage of burning bridges: “And I know Sister Wen’s past. I know about her situation with the Sun family. I really sympathize with her, feel sorry for her. On this matter, I’ll always stand by her.”

Yu Jiuqi’s body stiffened, looking at him expressionlessly.

His courage grew bolder and bolder, his face resolute: “Her enemies are my enemies.”

“I don’t understand.” Xiao Jiu’s tone was calm.

“It’s nothing much,” General Manager Fu’s fair face flushed with two patches of red from excitement, like a male student making a solemn vow. “Just watch my actions.”

The private room seemed even colder. Yu Jiuqi turned to look at the small skylight and discovered it was completely dark outside. Yellow streetlight from the roadside projected in, creating a thin shadow.

She remembered when she’d just delivered the meal, the sky hadn’t been this dark yet.

How long could it take to eat a bowl of cold noodles?

Yu Jiuqi turned her head back, her tone instantly recovering its usual amiability, smiling: “So you’re telling me all this—you don’t want me to help you propose to my mom or something, do you?”

“Not that. I know what to do.” He paused and said, “It’s just that if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you to speak well of us to your family. I know your parents, although divorced, have always gotten along like family. Sister Wen also said your dad is a very important person to her.”

He looked sincerely at Xiao Jiu: “Is that okay?”

Yu Jiuqi blinked lightly and only said: “I understand.”

General Manager Fu was sensible enough not to ramble on. He knew with Xiao Jiu, getting to this point was enough. What he needed to work hardest at winning over was Wen Wen’s attitude. Finally, he thanked her very politely.

After that poor young man left, Yu Jiuqi sighed heavily. The entire cold noodle restaurant returned to quiet—only the clicking sound of the wall clock outside could be heard.

It was a bit too quiet.

She slowly walked out of the private room and looked around the main hall. As expected, it was completely empty.

The bowl of noodles at the door had been finished. Only a small half-bowl of soup base mixed with sesame and chili oil remained. The side dishes hadn’t been touched much and were neatly arranged on the table. The tabletop was clean.

A wave of empty restlessness. She went to the cashier counter and rummaged around but couldn’t find a single cigarette. Even more annoyed.

She simply found a random seat and sat down. In the empty cold noodle restaurant, she watched the scattered people on the street outside, trying to sort through everything that had just happened and find a feasible plan, but as if floating in an endless universe, she felt powerless all over, completely at a loss.

In her daze, several student-looking young men and women walked in and stood at the door.

The male student in front coughed loudly. Yu Jiuqi sat up properly, looking over blankly, blinking as if she’d lost her soul.

“Hello, is there food available now?” the male student asked.

“Eat what?”

“Cold noodles and mixed rice.”

“How many people?”

“Four. Can you make it?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I can’t say for sure.”

“What do you mean you can’t say for sure?”

Yu Jiuqi followed the male student’s gaze and looked down, discovering she was still wearing Sister Jin’s apron. Suddenly understanding: “Oh, I’m not from the restaurant. I’m also here to eat. If any of you know how to cook, go ahead and make it yourselves.”

The several people looked at each other, then actually turned their heads and started discussing in low voices.

At that moment, Yu Jiuqi’s phone vibrated. She picked it up to look, suddenly nervous, as if finally struggling to land from floating in the air. She stood up abruptly.

One of the girls also stepped forward: “If it really doesn’t work, how about I try…”

“Fine.” Yu Jiuqi didn’t wait for the girl to finish. She quickly took off the apron and threw it to her, grabbed her down jacket, walked out, leaving behind one sentence: “Help me watch the shop for a bit. I’ll be right back.”

The young students stood there with eyes wide open, though they quickly accepted this magical reality. As they walked into the shop, they discussed what had happened to that pretty older sister who’d rushed out in such a state.

What scared Yu Jiuqi was a WeChat message from General Manager Fu, just one sentence:

**I just remembered—isn’t that guy at the door the son from the Sun family? That scumbag?**

Yu Jiuqi ran around the front and back of the cold noodle restaurant but didn’t see a single person. She stood on the street looking left and right. Behind her, across one street, were the high-speed rail tracks. In front was the road leading to the city center. The surroundings were so deserted there weren’t even passing cars.

The cold wind blew right through her. She wrapped her down jacket tightly, in a daze not knowing what she was doing, which direction to run, where to look.

Fortunately, she still knew who she needed to find. She quickly dialed a phone number.

He answered quickly: “Hello?”

Yu Jiuqi was a bit flustered, momentarily frozen.

“What’s wrong?” His voice sounded a bit hoarse.

“Um, did you pay your bill just now?” She somehow squeezed out this sentence. Wanted to die.

“I scanned the code. You can check.”

Yu Jiuqi took a deep breath, sobering up a bit: “Sun Xi, why did you come back?”

He coughed lightly: “Am I not allowed to come back?”

“No, I mean… that phone call that day was a mistake.”

“A mistake?”

Yu Jiuqi walked back and forth with her head down. The friction sound of her feet on the packed snow gave her some confidence: “I wasn’t rational that day. I was impulsive. Just consider that I’d had too much to drink and made a joke. I didn’t mean it like that, really, I…”

Sun Xi suddenly interrupted her, his tone extremely cold: “You think I came back for you?”

He seemed to laugh lightly: “Didn’t I respond to you on the phone?”

Right. Yu Jiuqi stood under a low streetlamp, looking at her short, bloated shadow on the white snow, like a complete idiot.

After a long silence, the phone was quiet. Just as she was about to pick it up to see if he’d already hung up, she heard his brief explanation.

“My family has some issues.”

“Oh, what’s wrong?” Yu Jiuqi breathed a sigh of relief, putting on fake courtesy: “Can I help?”

“You want to help? Sure.” Sun Xi laughed more bluntly, without any concealment. “Then lend me some money.”

“…How much?”

“Let me see. I need some food and lodging expenses, plus these past few days’ expenses for handling affairs.” He paused. “Give me five thousand to use for now.”

Yu Jiuqi felt her body sinking bit by bit.

“Enough?”

“If not, I’ll ask you again.”