When Ruan Mian got home, Ruan Mingke hadn’t gone to sleep yet. She brought the zongzi into the kitchen and walked over. “Why aren’t you sleeping so late?”

“I had tea during the day, so I’m not very tired.” Ruan Mingke folded up his newspaper and placed it on the coffee table. After she sat down, he mentioned, “Your mom just called me.”

Ruan Mian didn’t need to guess what it was about. Pretending not to understand, she made an “oh” sound and picked up the remote control to randomly find a movie to watch.

Ruan Mingke looked up at the screen with her and said gently, “Your mother has worried her whole life. You’re her only daughter, so it’s inevitable she’s anxious about your life’s major matter.”

She lowered the TV volume. “I understand.”

“So what are you thinking?” Ruan Mingke laughed. “You haven’t found anyone all these years. To be honest, as your dad, I’m also a bit anxious watching this.”

“……”

“I know your work is busy, and I don’t want to rush you about this, but this time your mom is determined to arrange blind dates for you.” Ruan Mingke wore a helpless expression.

Ruan Mian scratched her face and head, unable to think of what to say for a moment.

Ruan Mingke suggested, “How about this—you listen to your mother’s arrangements and go meet one or two people. Job interviews have rejections too, let alone blind dates. You go meet them first, then you can say you’re not compatible later. That’s better than not meeting anyone and having your mother nag constantly.”

“All right, I’ll think about it.” Ruan Mian played Tai Chi. “I’ll go take a shower first.”

She fled back to her room as if escaping from something. Ruan Mingke shook his head with a laugh and called toward the room, “Grandma left you lotus seed soup in the kitchen.”

“Got it.” Ruan Mian came out of the room with her pajamas. “I’ll have it later.”

Ruan Mingke said nothing more and picked up the newspaper on the table again. By the time Ruan Mian finished her shower, he had gone to the study.

Passing by the study door, Ruan Mian saw him looking for something and asked, “Dad, what are you looking for?”

“Looking for some old documents.” Ruan Mingke turned on the light at the top of the bookshelf and looked back at her. “Go do your thing. Get some rest early.”

“Okay, you rest early too.” Ruan Mian dried her hair and went to the kitchen, took the lotus seed soup from the fridge, and sat in the dining room scrolling through her phone while eating.

Meng Xinglan had created a WeChat group last night, inviting all of them in, planning to gather everyone together during this break.

The group was chatting enthusiastically right now. She casually scrolled through it and put it down, getting up to take the bowl into the kitchen.

When she came out after cleaning up, Ruan Mian saw Ruan Mingke holding his phone, sending voice messages to chat with someone. She didn’t pay much attention, dried the water from her hands, and returned to her room.

But soon after, Ruan Mingke suddenly came to knock on her door. “Mianmian, come to the living room for a moment. Dad has something to tell you.”

“Oh, okay. Coming.” Ruan Mian shuffled out in her slippers.

Ruan Mingke spent two minutes explaining the whole situation to her. Worried she would refuse, he added, “This is the son of Dad’s friend. It’s different from those your mother arranged for you. Even if you meet and aren’t compatible, there’s no problem. Plus, this way you can report back to your mother. If she nags me about this again later, I can help block it for you.”

“……”

“What do you think?”

“……”

During the silence, Ruan Mingke received another voice message. He opened it—it was from Chen Shuyu with the time and place. “Mingke, let’s do tomorrow at noon. Same place we ate today. I’ve already booked the private room. Talk to Mianmian about it.”

Ruan Mingke didn’t rush to reply. Instead, he looked at Ruan Mian, as if inquiring about her opinion.

Ruan Mian felt like a duck being pushed onto a perch, both amused and exasperated. In the end, she could only compromise. “All right then, I’ll go meet them once.”

……

After that, Ruan Mian didn’t concern herself much with the matter, not even asking once about the blind date partner’s name. After returning to her room, she saw Chen Yi had sent her a WeChat message asking if she was free tomorrow.

Ruan Mian sat on the edge of the bed holding her phone. When replying to the message, she felt inexplicably guilty, as if she’d done something bad behind his back.

She sighed and didn’t think much more about it, only wanting to quickly get through tomorrow’s ordeal.

The next morning, probably because she had something on her mind, Ruan Mian woke up before eight o’clock. She accompanied Zhou Xiujun out to buy groceries, came back to tidy up, and around ten o’clock, went out with Ruan Mingke.

The restaurant was some distance from Huabang World Trade City—a forty-minute drive. On the way, Ruan Mingke received a call from Chen Shuyu saying they had already arrived.

Ruan Mingke smiled. “We’re almost there too, about ten minutes. You go to the private room first.”

“Okay, drive safely.”

After hanging up, Ruan Mingke saw Ruan Mian looking listless and didn’t bring up much about Chen Yi, thinking he’d talk when they got there.

Father and daughter got out of the car around eleven. Entering the hotel, they went straight to the ninth floor, which was entirely private rooms. The long corridor was carpeted, soft under their feet.

The hostess led them over. The private room door was still open. Through the hollowed screen, Ruan Mian could only see one person sitting there.

Perhaps hearing the movement at the door, Chen Shuyu looked up. He had very handsome features, his bearing refined by the years—mature and scholarly.

He smiled and stood up to greet them. Up close, Ruan Mian thought his eyes looked somewhat like a certain person’s.

“Mianmian.” Ruan Mingke called her and introduced, “This is your Uncle Chen.”

Ruan Mian put away those random thoughts and smiled politely at him. “Hello, Uncle Chen.”

Chen Shuyu responded with a smile. The corners of his eyes had obvious fine lines like Ruan Mingke’s. He invited them to sit down, but there was no fourth person in the private room.

A server came to pour tea. Ruan Mian looked at the steam rising from the cup, speculating whether the other party had fled at the last minute.

Just as her thoughts wandered far, a sound of a door opening suddenly came from beside her. Ruan Mian instinctively turned to look, and with that look, she froze.

From the private room’s washroom area, a lean and tall man was methodically wiping his hands as he emerged. He wore a black shirt of fine quality and black dress pants pressed without a single wrinkle. His belt outlined his lean and powerful waistline with absolute clarity.

The instant their eyes met, Ruan Mian saw him lightly raise an eyebrow at her, a roguish smile at the corner of his lips flashing by in an instant.

“……”

So after all this time, it wasn’t that Chen Shuyu’s eyes looked like someone’s—it was that his son’s eyes looked rather like his.

Ruan Mian was clearly caught off guard by the scene before her. While still in a daze, Chen Yi had already walked over. Chen Shuyu pulled him over for an introduction. “Chen Yi, this is Uncle Ruan’s daughter, Ruan Mian.”

Chen Yi followed his father’s words and looked at the woman sitting to the side. Light and laughter filled his eyes. The hand he extended toward her was fair and slender, the veins and vessels on the back of his hand clear and distinct, the small mole on the side of his index finger near the tiger’s mouth fully visible under the light.

His smile wasn’t as casual as before—it was as if he was truly meeting her for the first time, looking gentle and polite. “Hello, Chen Yi.”

“……” Ruan Mian didn’t know what the situation was now. She could only steel herself and shake his hand briefly. “Hello.”

The temperature of their hands differed greatly. Chen Yi imperceptibly curled his fingers, and at the moment of releasing her hand, whether intentionally or not, he tickled her palm.

Ruan Mian’s breath caught. She instinctively looked up at him, but he had already naturally withdrawn his hand and properly greeted Ruan Mingke.

Ruan Mingke and Chen Shuyu both looked exceptionally joyful and excited—they were just short of moving the Civil Affairs Bureau here. They completely failed to notice the unusual reactions of the two young people.

They chatted enthusiastically while Ruan Mian sat on pins and needles, especially when shortly after sitting down, she received a screenshot of their chat history from Chen Yi.

—Are you free tomorrow?

—I might not be free tomorrow. My family has something going on.

“……” Ruan Mian was so speechless she nearly collapsed. Not knowing how to respond, just then Meng Xinglan sent another message.

[Meng Xinglan]: Mianmian, what are you doing?

[Ruan Mian]: On a blind date.

[Meng Xinglan]: ?

[Meng Xinglan]: ???

[Meng Xinglan]: Are you dreaming? Who are you on a blind date with????

Ruan Mian looked up at the person sitting across from her and slowly typed two words.

[Ruan Mian]: Chen Yi.

[Meng Xinglan]: ……?

[Meng Xinglan]: ????????????!?????????

[Ruan Mian]: I can’t explain this in a few words. I’ll call you later to explain. I’m a bit busy right now. Gotta go.

After sending this, Ruan Mian turned off her phone, completely ignoring Meng Xinglan’s bombardment of messages one after another.

See?

Anyone hearing this news would find it hard to believe, let alone her. Before coming, Ruan Mian had never—absolutely never—imagined that the colleague’s son Ruan Mingke had mentioned so many times would be connected to Chen Yi.

In her understanding, the blind date partner could equal anyone, but absolutely not Chen Yi. Yet it just so happened, by such coincidence, that it was him who came.

Ruan Mian stared somewhat absently at the patterns on the tablecloth. When recalling Chen Yi’s reaction after coming out of the washroom and seeing her, she seemed to remember something and looked up toward the opposite side.

Chen Yi was listening to Ruan Mingke speak. Noticing her gaze, he looked up, eyebrows slightly raised, as if asking what was wrong.

Ruan Mian gave no response. She just felt it strange—Chen Yi seemed not at all surprised by her appearance, as if he had known all along that she would be the one coming.

Once this thought emerged, it was like wild grass growing with the spring breeze, spreading across the entire wasteland in a rush, impossible to cut down completely.

She lowered her head to take a sip of tea and heard Chen Shuyu asking her, “Mianmian, which middle school did you attend before?”

Ruan Mian put down her cup and answered methodically, “I was at Sixth Middle School in my first year of high school. Later in my second year, I transferred to Eighth Middle School. After graduation, I went back to Sixth Middle to repeat a year.”

Hearing this, Chen Shuyu was somewhat surprised. “You also studied at Eighth Middle? Then you and our Chen Yi are schoolmates. Which year did you graduate?”

“……” Ruan Mian stumbled slightly and inconspicuously glanced at Chen Yi. He had a calm and composed appearance, as if not anxious about her answer.

She pressed her lips together and answered honestly, “I was the class of 2010.”

The surprise and delight on Chen Shuyu’s face visibly increased. “Oh my, what a coincidence! Chen Yi also graduated that year. So you two were classmates. Don’t tell me you were even in the same class.”

Ruan Mian was stumped by the question, momentarily unsure whether to confess or what to do. Fortunately, Chen Yi picked up the conversation in time. “No, we weren’t in the same class.”

Chen Shuyu: “Even so, that’s still fate—after going around in circles for so many years, you can still meet a former classmate.”

The speaker was casual, but the listeners were attentive. Ruan Mian and Chen Yi almost simultaneously looked at each other. In the exchange of glances, both had a feeling of eternity.

……

After the meal, Chen Shuyu and Ruan Mingke said they were going to the teahouse for a while, letting the two young people make their own plans—do whatever they wanted without worrying about them.

Ruan Mian followed Chen Yi out of the hotel. After getting in the car, neither said where they would go next. Wind blew in through the open car window.

The atmosphere was somewhat silent for a moment.

Ruan Mian looked down at her phone. Meng Xinglan had sent her dozens of messages earlier—just short of coming over directly.

She briefly explained the ins and outs.

[Meng Xinglan]: Incredible.

[Meng Xinglan]: Too! Incredible!

[Ruan Mian]: ……

Her phone had vibration on. Meng Xinglan kept sending messages, making quite a bit of noise. After a long while, Ruan Mian finally reacted and pressed the volume button on the side of her phone to switch to silent mode.

Chen Yi, hearing no more sounds, turned his head to look at her. “Where do you want to go?”

Ruan Mian had no experience with blind dates before, much less with blind dates with acquaintances. She said casually, “I’m fine with anything. Where do you want to go?”

Chen Yi made an “oh” sound and drawled, “You look quite—”

He deliberately paused. Ruan Mian turned to look and couldn’t help asking, “Quite what?”

“Quite experienced.” He said with a smile.

“……” Ruan Mian retorted, “This is my first blind date.”

Chen Yi’s eyebrows rose slightly, his lip line also lifting. His tone was leisurely. “So, the blind date is the ‘family matter’ you mentioned?”

Ruan Mian knew she couldn’t dodge this. Embarrassed to a certain degree, she instead became frank. “My dad dragged me here to stop my mom from arranging other blind dates for me. Plus, Uncle Chen is my dad’s friend, so if there are any issues, it’ll be much more convenient to handle them.”

Chen Yi laughed. “What issues could there be?”

“Like for instance—” Ruan Mian picked the most common problem. “The two people aren’t compatible.”

“I see.” Chen Yi nodded. His fingertips tapped the steering wheel twice, then suddenly asked, “So, do you think I’m compatible?”

This question was like a sharp sword that caught them off guard and cleaved through the ambiguous layer between them. Ruan Mian met his gaze.

In such a quiet environment, she seemed able to hear her own heartbeat—fast, somewhat frighteningly so, as if standing at the edge of a cliff where one more step back would be an endless abyss.

Her eyelashes trembled slightly, as if she’d lost the ability to speak.

Chen Yi looked at her almost without blinking. He smiled, blinked, breathed, his Adam’s apple moved—every small action was magnified in this narrow space.

After a long while, a car horn sounded outside. Ruan Mian came back to her senses and threw the question back. “What about you?”

The two maintained their distance, neither far nor close, gazing at each other. In the cramped space, they seemed able to hear each other’s heartbeats.

Chen Yi looked into her eyes, his Adam’s apple sliding up and down in small movements. “Do you know why I came on this blind date today?”

Actually, based on his previous reactions and this question, Ruan Mian could already guess, but she still followed along and asked, “Why?”

“Because I knew it was you.” Chen Yi looked at her and smiled. “Actually, when I found out it was you yesterday, I was betting on whether you’d come today. And you really did come.”

“Then what if……” Ruan Mian realized her voice had become so low it was almost inaudible. She swallowed before saying, “What if I hadn’t come today?”

“There would probably be a shadow left in my life—getting stood up on my first blind date.” Chen Yi withdrew his arm from the steering wheel and called her name with particular seriousness. “Ruan Mian.”

The instant she heard this, Ruan Mian’s heartbeat suddenly skipped a beat. The atmosphere became exceptionally quiet and tense.

Chen Yi’s withdrawn arm seemed to have nowhere to rest. He placed it back, turned to look at her. “I’ve never been on a blind date before and don’t know what the process is, but I think since we’re both here, I should say this formally.”

Ruan Mian was so nervous her voice trembled. “Say what?”

“My personal situation.” Chen Yi laughed. Looking at her, his gaze was both direct and ambiguous. “I come from a clean family background, have stable work, don’t smoke, occasionally drink, have no bad habits, own an apartment and a car in B City, so—”

He paused, as if deliberating over a very important sentence, or waiting for her reaction.

In any case, those dozen or so seconds seemed stretched infinitely for Ruan Mian, each millisecond passing with exceptional caution and care.

Those things she had hoped for, things she once didn’t even dare to think about, seemed about to become concrete reality in the next second.

In those brief dozen seconds, Chen Yi restrained his smile. His expression became serious, his eyes unable to hide his nervousness. He looked somewhat uncertain as well. “So, would you consider me as your blind date partner?”