Jiang Mu jolted awake in bed, her first thought being that she must be late for school as daylight was already streaming in. Only after hurriedly finishing her morning routine and rushing out of the bathroom did she realize there was no schoolbag—it was Sunday.
She had just let out a sigh of relief when she remembered Shandian and her heart leaped into her throat again. Still wearing Jin Chao’s coat, she rushed outside. As she reached the repair shop, she saw Jin Chao standing with a man at the entrance, casually offering him a cigarette. She heard the man ask, “When?”
Jin Chao’s voice sounded serious: “In a few days. You’d better not come around here much.”
Jiang Mu slowed her steps. Just then, Xiao Yang returned from the restroom, and the man changed topics, asking Jin Chao, “Boss, how much?”
Jin Chao waved his hand: “Just take it, no charge.”
The man nodded at Xiao Yang: “Thanks for your help then.”
Xiao Yang smiled back: “Just adding some air, no big deal. Come back if you have any problems.”
“Sure.” The man finished his cigarette while standing by the car.
Walking out of the repair shop, Jiang Mu saw San Lai squatting at the pet shop entrance, slurping noodles from a large bowl, his gaze occasionally drifting to the man talking with Jin Chao. This made Jiang Mu study the man more carefully.
He appeared to be around forty, with a broad forehead and aquiline nose, wearing a navy down jacket and old-style leather boots. Though he looked quite sharp and was facing away from Jiang Mu, he showed remarkable alertness, immediately turning to look at her when she was studying him.
Jiang Mu turned away and asked, “Who’s that?”
San Lai slowly withdrew his gaze and answered unhurriedly, “Just a customer.”
Jiang Mu took out her phone and said to San Lai, “Send me the veterinary hospital’s address. I’m heading there now. By the way, what happened after yesterday?”
San Lai set down his large bowl and, while looking up the location for Jiang Mu, told her what happened after he returned to Wu Shi Village. Xi Shi had indeed formed an inexplicable vendetta against Da Guang, biting no one else but him. Fortunately, since the dog belonged to San Lai, no one dared touch it, so they just tied it up in the courtyard.
When San Lai got back, Da Guang’s pants had been torn by Xi Shi, leaving him standing bare-bottomed in the courtyard cursing, his backside covered in dog bite marks. He kept saying his rabies vaccine antibodies would last six months, lucky it was him who got bitten.
As for the fight, while Jiang Mu hadn’t seen it, according to San Lai’s account, all four men were weaklings—they fought for ages without anyone getting knocked down. If he had been there, he claimed, he could have had Da Guang on his knees singing the national anthem in no time.
Jiang Mu had figured out San Lai’s conversational style by now—no matter what they discussed, he would find every possible way to praise himself, though he managed to work it in quite smoothly.
But from his words, she gathered that although the four men had fought yesterday, nobody was seriously hurt. When he arrived, the police were already there, and they all went to the police station afterward. While dog theft was illegal, it didn’t constitute a crime, so they received administrative penalties. Today, people from Wan Ji would come to discuss compensation.
Thinking about Wan Ji’s people coming made Jiang Mu uncomfortable—even looking at them now made her sick to her stomach.
After sending Jiang Mu the location, San Lai looked up and said, “Heard Xiao Bian caught your leg yesterday? Don’t worry, his good days are over.”
“What do you mean?”
San Lai picked up his bowl again and told her, “Your Chao-ge gave the word. Jin Fengzi went to Old Man Wan this morning to have Xiao Bian transferred to his section. You know why they call him Jin the Madman?”
Jiang Mu shook her head blankly, and San Lai laughed, “Because he’s mad! Hahahahaha…”
San Lai’s laughter was so bizarre that it drew Jin Chao’s attention, making Jiang Mu feel inexplicably guilty under his gaze.
She could vaguely remember doing some embarrassing things last night—like locking herself in the bathroom being sick for ages, trying to make Jin Chao leave so he wouldn’t hear, then inexplicably feeding him food. Though these weren’t things a normal person would do, she had been drinking after all, and drunk people often do embarrassing things, so it shouldn’t be a big deal.
But for some reason, she felt Jin Chao’s gaze carried something different this morning—examining, studying, and something else she couldn’t quite define. He kept glancing at her, making her feel like she was on a steamer, uncomfortable all over, constantly worried she might have done something mortifying without realizing it.
So she hurriedly told Jin Chao, “I’m going to the vet to see Shandian. I’ll return your clothes later.”
She rushed to hail a cab without looking at him, while Jin Chao called after her, “Can your leg handle walking?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
With that, she vanished. At the hospital, seeing Shandian’s pitiful state made her heart sink again. Shandian still lay there with closed eyes, on an IV drip. She called out to it twice, and its eyelids twitched slightly, but only slightly. The situation looked bad, and remembering how lively and energetic it had been before made Jiang Mu sad. But all she could do now was let the hospital do its best to save it.
Since Shandian needed to stay hospitalized, Jiang Mu returned to Jin Qiang’s house to change clothes. Jin Qiang had just returned from his night shift not long ago. After Jiang Mu got drunk yesterday, Jin Chao informed Jin Qiang.
However, when Jin Qiang saw Jiang Mu return wearing Jin Chao’s coat, he hesitated before saying, “Your mom called me yesterday, saying she’ll be in Tonggang on Saturday. I wanted to invite her for a meal at home, but she seemed unwilling to come with that foreigner. Well, I did my part—if she won’t come, that’s that. You should probably spend less time at Xiao Chao’s place recently.”
Jiang Mu was about to enter her room but turned back at these words: “Why?”
The three words carried a particularly serious tone. Jin Qiang replied awkwardly, “Aren’t the holidays coming up soon? You should focus on your schoolwork.”
Jiang Mu gave Jin Qiang a look, nodded without saying anything, and went to her room.
She changed out of Jin Chao’s clothes, folded them neatly into a bag, then worked on some problems and studied for a while. Near evening, she took Jin Chao’s clothes and left, but this time she didn’t tell Jin Qiang where she was going, only saying she’d be back soon.
When she arrived at the repair shop, a familiar red sports car was already parked outside—Wan Ji’s people had indeed come to negotiate. However, Jiang Mu hadn’t expected the person to be Little Green Snake.
She suddenly recalled her conversation with San Lai.
“You Jiu could never want her.”
“Why?”
“She’s Old Man Wan’s daughter.”
Back then, Jiang Mu couldn’t understand, but now seeing Wan Qing, she suddenly grasped San Lai’s meaning.
She walked straight to Jin Chao and handed him the bag, hearing Little Green Snake say, “You Jiu, just say the word—how do you want to resolve this?”
Jin Chao merely took the bag from Jiang Mu and replied coldly, “The dog isn’t mine. Ask her how to resolve it.”
Two or three men Jiang Mu didn’t recognize, presumably, Old Man Wan’s people stood at the entrance.
Little Green Snake’s expression stiffened slightly at Jin Chao’s words. Without looking at Jiang Mu, she fixed her gaze on Jin Chao and said, “Give me your stance—do you want Xiao Bian and the others to come apologies, or should I just send them away? Just one word from you.”
Jin Chao slowly turned to look at her: “Alright, if one word is enough? Then have your father come personally.”
Wan Qing’s face changed immediately, saying to Jin Chao, “He’s my father, can’t you just—”
“No.” Jin Chao didn’t let her finish.
Standing between Jin Chao and Wan Qing, Jiang Mu could feel two opposing currents surging in the air like undercurrents.
San Lai came to pull Jiang Mu away, saying, “Give me a hand.”
Jiang Mu kept looking back at the tense atmosphere at the shop entrance. Xi Shi stood obediently in the sink, covered in soap suds. Jiang Mu took off her jacket and rolled up her sleeves, asking San Lai while scrubbing Xi Shi, “Wan Qing, does she… really like Jin Chao?”
San Lai sneered, “Like? She might as well have ‘marry me’ written on her face.”
As San Lai explained, Jiang Mu learned that Little Green Snake and Jin Chao had met at Wan Ji. He was handsome, hardworking, and clever, soon catching Little Green Snake’s attention. She began frequently visiting his workspace.
The workers would privately joke that Jin Chao was the Wan family’s future son-in-law and that all of Tonggang’s Wan Ji business would eventually be his.
San Lai continued rambling: “Women are strange. Back in school, You Jiu was the same—looking down on everyone, and cold towards women, yet girls still flocked to him. What did they see in him?”
Jiang Mu couldn’t answer because, in her eyes, Jin Chao wasn’t arrogant—he just usually preferred keeping his distance from others. People who’ve experienced too many separations tend to instinctively maintain distance from others. She was the same way.
So she asked, “Were Jin Chao and Wan Qing… ever together?”
San Lai remained silent for a long time, only speaking after rinsing all the soap off Xi Shi: “I don’t know either.”
“…”
“You Jiu’s sister, well, the other sister you know about—Little Green Snake introduced her to a traditional Chinese doctor who was quite effective. Later the condition was controlled and stopped progressing. After that, You Jiu’s attitude toward her improved a bit, maybe to thank her. He treated her to meals a few times. Can’t say if they were together or not, but anyway, after that incident happened, there was no chance of anything—the thing Jin Fengzi told you about.”
Jiang Mu wasn’t sure if Wan Qing and Jin Chao had broken up after he discovered the truth, or if they’d fallen out just before getting together. But judging from Wan Qing’s reaction earlier, she hadn’t made peace with it. Jiang Mu had sensed something during Wan Qing’s previous appearance, but this time the feeling seemed even stronger.
Jiang Mu dried her hands and left San Lai’s shop, finding that Wan Qing was still there at the entrance. Seeing Jiang Mu emerge, she directly asked, “Since You Jiu said to resolve it with you, name your price.”
Jiang Mu was angry—angry about what Wan Ji’s people had done, not just to Shandian but the indelible harm they’d caused Jin Chao. Although Wan Qing might not have had much to do with it, Jiang Mu simply couldn’t be friendly toward her. She looked at Wan Qing and retorted, “Do you think money can solve everything? Then Sister Qing, how much is your life worth?”
Xiao Yang and Iron Rooster were probably preparing to end their shift, each eating an apple while watching from the entrance. Jin Chao had stopped paying attention to the group and bent over working on something at the repair shop entrance.
Jiang Mu didn’t give Wan Qing a chance to respond, turning directly to ask Xiao Yang, “Any more apples? I’d like one too.”
Xiao Yang got an apple from inside, washed it, and tossed it to her. Jiang Mu caught it and took a bite, discovering it was mealy rather than crisp. She walked a few steps to Jin Chao, who glanced sideways at her. Jiang Mu directly offered him the apple: “It’s mealy, I don’t want it.”
Jin Chao’s eyes narrowed inquisitively. It was one thing for Jiang Mu to do such absurd things while drunk last night, but now she was sober and knew exactly what she was doing.
Yet he still bent down and bit into the apple she had eaten from. His indulgence stunned Wan Qing. Jiang Mu turned back, lifting her gaze to look at Wan Qing expressionlessly: “I’ll have the hospital send the bill directly to you.”
Wan Qing looked at Jin Chao once more before leaving with Old Man Wan’s people.
Jiang Mu stood by the shop until the car’s taillights disappeared when she heard a voice behind her: “Pretty confident, aren’t you? What makes you think I’d eat something you’ve eaten?”
Jiang Mu didn’t turn around, her eyes flickering: “Did you want her to keep pestering you?”
She turned back to look up at him. In the evening’s neon lights and sunset glow, her face was painted in brilliant colors. Her clear black and white eyes held scattered starlight, transparent to their depths, like the rising sun—sincere, open, showing him who he used to be. Finally, a smile tugged at Jin Chao’s lips.