She was already in the car, so might as well go with the flow.
There was a queue at the car wash, probably because it was near year-end and everyone wanted their cars clean for the new year. Feng Mi waited for a while and became impatient. “Yan Tuo, let’s go eat first and wash the car afterward.”
Since there was no escaping Feng Mi for the evening, Yan Tuo thought for a moment. “Why don’t we wash it ourselves?”
Wash it themselves? And did he say “we”?
It sounded interesting, and washing the car together with frequent interaction would help build their relationship.
Feng Mi became enthusiastic. “Sure!”
Yan Tuo called over a car wash attendant, borrowed a bucket and spray bottle, bought some sponges, car wash wax, and towels, then drove the car to a water tap nearby.
After parking, Yan Tuo picked up the spray bottle to fill it with water and instructed Feng Mi, “Help me clean the drainage channel under the windshield, especially any fallen leaves in there.”
Feng Mi agreed and climbed onto the hood, cleaning what she could by hand and blowing away what she couldn’t reach—as with most things, people start with full patience and enthusiasm.
When she was almost done cleaning, Yan Tuo returned with the filled bottle and handed it to her. “Help spray down the whole car. Remember, you need to spray everywhere. Spray the sandy areas multiple times to wash away the grit, otherwise, it’ll scratch the paint when we wipe it down with the towel.”
Feng Mi had never washed a car before, and hearing Yan Tuo speak so knowledgeably made her look up to him for a moment. However, after spraying for a while, she started complaining. The car was so big, and manually pumping the spray bottle over and over made her arms ache quickly.
This wasn’t what she had in mind. She’d imagined some light flirting while getting the car clean—how did it turn out to be such hard work?
Looking up at Yan Tuo, she saw him with his head down, mixing the car wash wax with water in the proper ratio and stirring up the suds.
Well, she had agreed to this, so she couldn’t just put down the spray bottle. Feng Mi had no choice but to continue, switching from her left arm when it got tired to her right, and back again. She had to refill the water twice before finally getting the whole car wet.
When she finally finished, she dropped the spray bottle on the ground and vigorously shook her arms to relax them.
Yan Tuo walked over with the bucket of mixed wax solution and picked up the spray bottle, filling it again.
Feng Mi had a bad feeling. More spraying?
“We’re not spraying again, are we?”
Yan Tuo didn’t look up. “That was just to get the car and soften the dirt. Now comes the actual washing, and after that, we still need to wipe it down. Since you’re a girl, I’m only giving you the lighter tasks.”
At first, Feng Mi had wanted to suggest switching roles with Yan Tuo, letting her do something else while he sprayed. But hearing this, she realized she had an easier job and kept quiet.
Damn, which crossed the wire in her brain had made her think car washing would be fun?
When she picked up the spray bottle again, Feng Mi nearly wanted to cry.
Yan Tuo pointed at the roof: “Spray the roof first. We’ll wipe from top to bottom too, since the dirty water flows downward.”
Just moments ago, Feng Mi had admired Yan Tuo’s serious and professional attitude. Now she wanted to curse: You’re a man, aren’t you? When a man takes a beautiful woman to wash a car, the keyword is “beautiful woman”—how can you only focus on the car?
Yan Tuo took a sponge and slowly wiped the roof where she had sprayed the wax solution. He wasn’t tired at all, since Feng Mi was doing all the heavy work.
After spraying the entire car again, both of Feng Mi’s arms felt like they didn’t belong to her anymore. She was panting heavily and wiped her forehead with her wrist, about to sit in the car for a rest when Yan Tuo tossed her a sponge. “Help me wipe that side.”
Feng Mi wanted to throw the sponge back but was too tired. “Can’t you do it?”
“I am wiping, but it’s too slow with just one person. If we wait too long, the wax will dry and we’ll have to spray again.”
Damn it…
Feng Mi felt murderous but carelessly wiped the window a few times before finally snapping: “What other fucking steps are there?”
Yan Tuo didn’t look up: “After washing, we’ll rinse it with water and then dry it with towels—since I’m worried about tiring you out, we’ll just do this simple wash.”
…
When they finally finished washing the car, Feng Mi was so tired she could barely stand. When she sat in the passenger seat, she couldn’t even sit straight, slumping like a pile of deflated meat.
Yan Tuo, however, was energetic: “Shall we eat?”
At the mention of food, Feng Mi perked up.
Yan Tuo chose a popular roadside restaurant.
The place wasn’t big but was packed with people, tables, and chairs pressed against each other, every table noisy and bustling. The noise was enough to give anyone a headache, and you had to shout to have a conversation. Feng Mi wanted to leave after just two minutes, but Yan Tuo had already scanned the QR code and ordered.
Feng Mi had to eat amid the chaos, and her nerves were frayed for the entire half-hour meal.
When they left the restaurant, Yan Tuo asked her, “Should we go to the next place, or head home?”
Usually, Feng Mi could party until dawn, but not today. She was already tired, and the meal hadn’t sat well, making her slightly nauseous.
She replied listlessly, “Let’s go home.”
***
Finally back at the villa.
As soon as Feng Mi entered her room, she collapsed on the bed. The rest of her body felt fine, but her arms were trembling with fatigue—she must have pumped that spray bottle thousands of times.
As she was slowly recovering, someone knocked on the door.
It was probably Xiong Hei or Lin Xirou, coming to ask about her “time” with Yan Tuo today.
To hell with that—she’d just helped him wash his car.
Feng Mi opened the door irritably.
It was Yan Tuo again.
He had changed into running shoes and casual sports clothes, with earphones in his ears.
Feng Mi: “What are you doing?”
Yan Tuo smiled: “Going for a run. We ate late and had a lot, it’s healthier to burn it off.”
Feng Mi was speechless: “It’s so cold outside…”
“You’ll warm up once you start running.”
Feng Mi’s words of refusal caught in her throat. Aunt Lin had told her to pay attention to Yan Tuo, and this was only the first day—she should see it through.
Besides, running together at night was still spending time together.
She gritted her teeth and said: “Wait a moment, let me change clothes.”
***
The streets around the villa complex were perfect for night running, with each lap being about five kilometers.
Five kilometers—Feng Mi was intimidated just hearing it. It wasn’t that she couldn’t run, but was it worth torturing herself like this?
Between her lack of enthusiasm and laziness, she quickly fell behind Yan Tuo.
However, Yan Tuo was quite thoughtful: after leaving her behind a bit, he would stop, turn around, and wave at her, waiting until she got closer before continuing—in short, he never ran out of her sight.
That was fine. While Feng Mi felt reassured, she also worried: if Yan Tuo ran every night, would she have to accompany him every time?
…
The distance between him and Feng Mi grew. Stop, watch her approach, turn, and continue running.
After the third such stop, Yan Tuo called Xing Shen.
He used a dedicated phone, which stored only Xing Shen and Nie Jiuluo’s numbers, both set to speed dial—fortunately, he had this extra phone from monitoring Lu Xian, and now it came in handy.
Xing Shen answered quickly: “Hello?”
Yan Tuo watched Feng Mi in the distance: “It’s Yan Tuo.”
Xing Shen made an affirmative sound: “A Luo told me. Do you have time to meet?”
A Luo—Xing Shen called her A Luo, so they must be close.
Given his current situation, “time” wouldn’t come easily, but never mind that. Meeting Xing Shen was the priority.
“Yes.”
Xing Shen was direct: “Come to Hanzhong first. Call me when you arrive, and I’ll tell you where to go.”
He didn’t want to reveal the exact location immediately, which was reasonable. Yan Tuo hesitated: “I’m in Xi’an. Is there any chance you could come here?”
With only about fifty meters between him and Feng Mi now, Yan Tuo waved at her and turned to run forward at a quick pace.
Xing Shen’s voice came through the earphones: “Not possible. A Luo trusts you very much, but sorry, I don’t. Until we meet and talk, I remain skeptical. Are you… running?”
“Yes, I don’t dare make calls in the room, it’s safer outside. I understand I’ll get to Hanzhong as soon as possible and contact you then.”
“Talk then.”
With a soft beep, Xing Shen hung up.
Yan Tuo kept running, sprinting over a hundred meters before stopping and turning around.
Feng Mi was left behind again. Seeing him stop, she also stopped to rest, bending over with hands on her knees, breathing heavily.
Going to Hanzhong—he needed an excuse to go to Hanzhong.
Having just returned, excuses would be hard to find, but he couldn’t delay too long: Lin Ling was already dating Lu Xian, and the progress of that relationship depended on Aunt Lin. Who knew what ideas Aunt Lin might come up with?
Aunt Lin had asked him to take Feng Mi around, so perhaps taking Feng Mi along would work better. Say it’s for tourism? Hanzhong was a big place, surely there were some good tourist spots?
Yan Tuo called Nie Jiuluo.
The call connected but no one answered immediately.
Yan Tuo gave a thumbs up to Feng Mi, who had started running again, then turned to sprint forward.
Still no answer.
Nie Jiuluo must be busy. He should have sent a message first to ask—in modern society, many people, especially busy ones, don’t appreciate sudden calls or visits.
The call connected.
“Who is this?”
Yan Tuo: “It’s me. Am I disturbing you?”
This was the first time he’d heard her voice since leaving her courtyard.
“Yes, you are. I’m busy. Are you… running?”
Yan Tuo: “Wait a moment.”
He gathered his strength and ran far ahead in one go, then stopped and turned around: Feng Mi was far away, this time he could talk longer.
“Since I’m already disturbing you, should I hang up?”
“You’ve already disturbed me, so why hang up now?”
After a pause, she asked: “Running while making phone calls—is it inconvenient to call when you’re not running?”
“Yes, someone’s running with me. I have to leave her behind to talk conveniently. Something feels strange about this return.”
Nie Jiuluo sounded nervous: “What’s strange?”
He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
Lin Xirou appeared mysteriously in his room, saying some cryptic words, asking him to take Feng Mi around, and at the same time, Feng Mi getting into his car—who knew if she had been searching through it?
Thinking about it now made him anxious. Fortunately, he had left Chen Fu with Nie Jiuluo.
“It feels like I’m under suspicion, but what’s unreasonable is that if Aunt Lin suspects me, she should be discreet and not let me know, then investigate me secretly until she catches me red-handed.”
“But she spoke to me and made some arrangements. She must know this would make me alert and cautious.”
It was too contradictory—both targeting him and letting him know he was being targeted.
Nie Jiuluo seemed to find it strange too, pondering without speaking.
Yan Tuo said: “I need to run.”
Seeing Yan Tuo start running again, Feng Mi exclaimed in exasperation: “How much further?”
What was going on today?
The car washing she imagined was different from reality.
The romantic dinner she imagined was different from reality.
The romantic night run she imagined…
Was he deliberately messing with her?
Yan Tuo didn’t look back, accelerating: “Almost there, we’re about to loop back.”
When he stopped again, Nie Jiuluo laughed on the other end: “This isn’t easy for you. You need quite some stamina to pull this off.”
Yan Tuo smiled wryly: “It’s a crude method.”
In his rushed state, he couldn’t think of anything else.
Nie Jiuluo said: “Lin Xirou’s behavior reminds me of an inappropriate example.”
“Go on.”
“It’s like when an emperor knows his favored official is taking bribes. He wants to give the official a chance, so instead of exposing it, he just hints: I already know, I can tolerate it this time, but don’t continue. If you do, things will get ugly.”
Yan Tuo’s whole body trembled.
He remembered Lin Xirou’s words: “Aunt Lin hopes this family bond between us never changes. If it did change, Aunt Lin couldn’t bear it.”
So that’s what she meant.
Had Lin Xirou truly developed some parental affection for him and was subtly hinting at him?
If it changed, Aunt Lin couldn’t bear it.
But it would change eventually, wouldn’t it?
Nie Jiuluo noticed his silence: “Yan Tuo?”
Yan Tuo came back to his senses. In his vision, Feng Mi was getting closer, and this time, he didn’t plan to run anymore—he was tired of running.
He asked softly: “How’s your arm?”
***
On the other end, Nie Jiuluo was slightly startled, the pen she had been spinning stopping between her fingers.
She was indeed busy, spending the evening drawing sketches for a new clay sculpture.
On the drawing paper was a small figure hugging a broken plum branch, smiling so widely their eyes were almost closed.
She was planning to sell it to him for a thousand or so.
Nie Jiuluo lowered her head, adding another tiny flower to the plum branch, and said: “Better.”