The atmosphere in the room grew a little stiff.

Jiang Yan hadn’t yet recovered from the shock when Lu Yicheng came back to himself, realized what he’d said, and rubbed the bridge of his nose with a helpless sigh. Could he blame Jiang Yan? Jiang Yan didn’t know anything. But could he blame Siyan? That seemed far too harsh — children, especially toward their mothers, tend to have a possessive streak. There had once been a popular series of images online: for a child, if he or she is the universe, then the mother is the center of that universe.

Siyan might have already come to terms with the fact that his mother currently had another boyfriend, but that didn’t mean he could accept that man actually marrying her.

Small as he was, a child could still understand what marriage meant.

And that was precisely why Siyan had reacted so strongly.

So could he blame himself or Jiang Ruoqiao? No. Neither of them — not him, not her — had crossed any line. They had always kept a safe distance. Neither of them wanted things to turn out this way.

Lu Yicheng let out a long, silent sigh, reined in the outburst that had come over him, and returned to his usual mild demeanor. He apologized to Jiang Yan sincerely. “I’m sorry. My tone was a bit sharp.”

Jiang Yan was still confused.

But he didn’t take it to heart.

He just thought it was a little strange, the child’s reaction — though come to think of it, the kid was very fond of Ruoqiao, so hearing him talk like that had made him a little unhappy. And he himself shouldn’t have been teasing a small child like that. Jiang Yan quickly said, “It’s fine, it’s fine. I really shouldn’t have been talking about that kind of thing in front of a little kid.”

Lu Yicheng lowered his eyes. “He’s very fond of Jiang Ruoqiao.”

Jiang Yan understood now.

A little boy with a crush on an older girl — he probably had the adorable idea in his head that he’d grow up and marry her someday.

Not hard to understand. After all, he’d once gone out for a meal with Ruoqiao, and a small child had come over. Ruoqiao played with the child for a bit, and the kid had made a solemn vow: “Wait for me to grow up, sister. I’m going to chase after you.”

At the end of the day, it all came down to fondness for Ruoqiao.

He smiled. “She really does have a way with kids.”

Lu Yicheng found himself at a loss for what to say.

Jiang Yan thought it over and realized that he didn’t have the habit of napping, but there was a child in the room who needed to sleep. He might be a disturbance if he stayed. So he got up from the bed, grabbed his phone and charger, and said with a grin, “I’ll go hang out in Du Yu and Wang Jiangfeng’s room. Don’t want the noise of gaming waking up the little one.”

Lu Yicheng said, “Thanks.”

Jiang Yan raised a hand and bumped his shoulder. “What’s there to be formal about?”

Strange as it all was, Jiang Yan wasn’t the type to get upset over something this small. And since Lu Yicheng had apologized, he could understand — taking care of a child had to be exhausting, managing everything from meals to naps. Just thinking about it was overwhelming. Today Lu Yicheng had lost his temper, which was puzzling, but Jiang Yan also didn’t know what Lu Yicheng had been going through lately, or why he was now going to be responsible for a small child. Maybe Lu Yicheng’s nerves had been stretched thin and he’d just happened to catch the brunt of it.

They were friends, after all.

Jiang Yan added: “If you ever need help with anything, just say the word. And if you’re really going to be that formal about it, then you’re not treating me as a friend.”

Lu Yicheng fell even more silent than before.

Jiang Yan left the room, and only then did Lu Yicheng have a moment to turn to Lu Siyan.

Lu Siyan had already stopped crying.

He hadn’t been crying from sadness just now — he’d been crying from anger. It was the first time Jiang Yan had ever seen Lu Yicheng lose his temper, and it was the first time for Lu Siyan too. In Lu Siyan’s memory, his dad had gotten angry before, but even then his dad had always been gentle about it, never showing a side like this. For a moment, Lu Siyan was actually a little afraid of him, thinking his dad was going to scold him.

But even if he had to, he couldn’t apologize!

What right did that person have to keep going on about marrying his mother!

If it actually happened, his dad and mom would never end up together in the future — and then he wouldn’t be here at all!

Since it was something that never came to pass, why keep talking about it endlessly?

Lu Yicheng sat on the edge of the bed and said nothing for a while, lost in thought.

After a moment, he reached out and patted Lu Siyan on the back, coaxing gently: “It’s getting late. Go to sleep.”

Lu Siyan asked, “Dad, aren’t you going to tell me off?”

Lu Yicheng smiled faintly. “I find it very difficult to say whether what you did was right or wrong. So I won’t.”

“Then…” Lu Siyan asked cautiously, “are you angry?”

“I wouldn’t go so far as to be angry with a child,” Lu Yicheng said. “And especially not my own child.”

Hearing that, Lu Siyan quietly let out a breath of relief, and said no more about Jiang Yan’s “bold proclamations.”

He took his nap every day without fail. Lu Yicheng patted him gently, and before long his eyelids grew heavier and heavier, until he drifted off to sleep.

Lu Yicheng stared at Lu Siyan’s sleeping face for a long moment before getting up and moving quietly to the bathroom, closing the door behind him, and splashing cold water on his face. He braced both hands on the edge of the sink and raised his head. The mirror was dotted with droplets of water, and through them he looked back at himself — expression grave, eyes blank and indifferent.

He didn’t know how long this situation would have to continue.

He had never imagined he had this side to him.

So many people had praised him so many times that even he had begun to believe he was gentle, that he was easygoing. But the person looking back at him in the mirror — which part of him was any of those things?

Lu Yicheng reached over and pulled down the towel hanging nearby, wiping his face.

Much better. He walked back out of the bathroom.

He was sleeping on the floor mat. He lit up his phone screen and saw that a few minutes ago, Jiang Ruoqiao had sent a text: 【Siyan said he came to find me about something. What was it?】

He stared at the screen for a long while, closed his eyes, then locked the phone and slid it under his pillow. He wanted to fall asleep, but no matter how long he waited for drowsiness to come, it didn’t. He gave up, opened his eyes, fished the phone out from under the pillow, and with patience he barely felt, replied to her message: 【He fell asleep】

On the other side, Yun Jia was lying back with her earphones in, catching up on a variety show. Jiang Ruoqiao was sprawled on the bed, scrolling idly through Weibo and browsing Taobao out of boredom. Finding no real enjoyment in either, she started practicing vocabulary flashcards. She had barely gotten through ten words when Lu Yicheng’s reply came in. At first glance it seemed perfectly ordinary — but just as she was about to switch back to her vocabulary app, the corner of her eye caught something, and she stopped cold.

Wait. Something wasn’t right.

Lu Yicheng — something was off.

Jiang Ruoqiao was the kind of person with a nearly uncanny eye for detail.

She casually scrolled through her message history with Lu Yicheng.

They still hadn’t added each other on WeChat.

Not that there was much reason to. Texts or calls worked fine for anything they needed to discuss.

What they texted wasn’t much — all of it was about Lu Siyan.

A person’s habits show up in many ways, including how they write messages. For instance — Lu Yicheng ended every text with a period. Without exception, when a sentence was finished, he put a full stop. He never left messages hanging without punctuation. That was just how he wrote.

So here was the problem: today’s text had no period.

Without exaggerating, Jiang Ruoqiao had been paying close attention to Lu Yicheng.

After all, he was her co-risk-manager.

So faced with this anomaly, she couldn’t simply ignore it. She weighed her words carefully and sent a reply: 【Are you okay?】

On the other side, Lu Yicheng saw that message and felt a complicated mix of emotions.

One part of him was struck by how perceptive she was.

Another part didn’t know what to say.

Lu Yicheng sat up abruptly and glanced sideways at Lu Siyan, who was sound asleep on his side of the bed.

Was there any reason to hide this from her? Should she not know?

Of course not.

Lu Yicheng steeled himself and typed out what had happened today, then sent it.

Lu Yicheng: 【We’re sharing a room with Jiang Yan. Today Jiang Yan joked with Siyan about marrying you after graduation, and even invited Siyan to be the ring bearer at your wedding. Siyan got very upset after hearing that. I cut Jiang Yan off, and afterward I did apologize and explain things clearly.】

Jiang Ruoqiao read the message and fell into thought.

In a way, this was partly a consequence of her own procrastination.

Lu Yicheng didn’t know they were living inside a novel, and didn’t know the plot. But she did. In the novel, almost every character got a happy ending — except for her. She didn’t know how strong the pull of the plot was, didn’t know whether her awakening would change its course, and didn’t know whether any changes would push things in a better direction or a worse one.

So she was waiting.

Waiting to verify an answer to one question.

That Lin Kexing would come on this rural homestay trip — that hadn’t surprised her. In the original story, this segment of the plot contained a very important event.

She wasn’t sure whether it would still happen, or whether the storyline had shifted.

Because in this part of the story, there was now one person who was never supposed to be here — Lu Siyan.

Jiang Ruoqiao thought for a long time and then replied: 【Give me a little more time.】

After the text sent successfully, she felt like what she’d said was… maybe a little odd.

Even though her intention really was to ask Lu Yicheng to give her a bit more time…

Wait, putting it that way made it sound even stranger somehow.

She fell into further thought.

On the other side, Lu Yicheng read the message and also found it strange.

He thought for a moment and started typing a reply: 【I wasn’t trying to pressure you to break up with him…】

No, that was wrong. That wasn’t right at all.

He deleted the characters one by one and started over: 【That’s your business and his — it doesn’t really have anything to do with me…】

That wasn’t right either.

It had, in fact, just a little bit to do with him.

Lu Yicheng: “……”

Forget it.

He considered deleting Jiang Ruoqiao’s message, but in the end he didn’t. He sent back one word: 【Okay.】

Jiang Ruoqiao received it. He had put a period this time. A full stop.

So he was fine.

Jiang Yan had made his way to Du Yu and Wang Jiangfeng’s room.

Guys their age basically never napped. The room had the air conditioning on, and the nightstand was stocked with snacks and soda — naturally they were going to play a round of games. Summer demanded no less.

When Jiang Yan arrived, the two of them had just finished a match.

Du Yu was grumbling loudly: “Summer break really does bring out all the newbies. I was dragged down and it was painful to watch!”

He tossed his phone down and, seeing Jiang Yan walk in, patted the spot on his bed. “Come on, boss Jiang — sit. Uncle Du is about to give you a lesson in morals and ethics.”

Jiang Yan rolled his eyes. “You’re not anyone’s uncle.”

He said it, but he sat down on the edge of Du Yu’s bed anyway. “Go ahead.”

Du Yu was the youngest in the dorm and was usually all smiles and wisecracks. Right now, though, his expression had gone oddly solemn. “Boss Jiang, I’m telling you, the way you’re handling things is not okay. You’re digging your own grave and you need to know that. Setting everything else aside — just be honest: what exactly is the deal between you and that Kexing girl?”

Jiang Yan was tired of this.

Why did everyone keep acting like something was going on between him and Kexing?

It was one thing for Ruoqiao to be bothered. But Du Yu too?

“What deal,” Jiang Yan said flatly. “I’ve already explained. Her mom and my mom are good friends. My mom works for her family. That’s all. Simple.”

Du Yu rolled his eyes. “Let me extract the key information here: you two are childhood sweethearts.”

Jiang Yan: “?”

What on earth — how had he and Kexing become childhood sweethearts?

He said sharply, “Don’t talk nonsense. She’s just a kid!”

Du Yu wasn’t intimidated, and shot back bluntly, “Look at you, completely hopeless. Do you even know what a kid is? Lu Yicheng’s Siyan is a kid. What eighteen-year-old is a kid? She’s an adult. And you still have the nerve to say that out loud.”

Wang Jiangfeng, who was playing on his phone, laughed out loud.

Jiang Yan: “……Old Du, what are you implying?”

“Nothing.” Du Yu said with complete sincerity. “I’m worried you’re going to drag down our dorm’s moral score.”

Jiang Yan: “?”

Wang Jiangfeng couldn’t hold it together anymore and burst out laughing, giving Du Yu a thumbs-up. “That’s exactly the right way to put it.”

Du Yu saw Jiang Yan was about to blow up and fixed him with a serious look. “Boss Jiang, truly — this isn’t okay. Whatever the situation is between you two, real childhood sweethearts or not, the fact is she’s eighteen. She’s not a child. She is genuinely not a child. And you have a girlfriend. Shouldn’t you be a little more mindful of boundaries when it comes to relationships? Forget everything else — if there were a guy like that around Jiang Ruoqiao, someone who took her gaming and brought her along on trips, would you be okay with that?”

Jiang Yan said nothing.

Du Yu sighed. “I’m not trying to scare you. Keep this up, and one day Jiang Ruoqiao is going to break up with you over this girl of yours.”

Jiang Yan snapped, “Shut your mouth and stop jinxing things!”

Wang Jiangfeng, who had stayed out of the whole discussion until now, finally spoke up. “Bystanders see more clearly. Old Du might be a goofball but he’s right this time. Watch the distance. Don’t let the boundaries get blurry.”

Du Yu seized the moment. “See? He agrees with me!”

Jiang Yan rubbed his head with agitated fingers. “It’s not what you two think.”

Between him and Lin Kexing — it really wasn’t what they thought.

He was genuinely grateful to the Lin family. Because of Madam Lin and the Lin family’s support over the years, he and his mother hadn’t had to struggle. From the age of ten, he had experienced the full range of what people could be — and at some point, the Lin family had become a kind of harbor for him.

The people around wealthy women these days were all sharp and capable. There was no shortage of competent young assistants for someone like Madam Lin. Yet Madam Lin had kept him and his mother for ten years, and their wages had always been higher than others’…

Ruoqiao mattered enormously to him. He was willing to do so much for her, to give so much. But with his girlfriend on one side and Lin Kexing on the other, he couldn’t lean toward either without it being wrong. If he truly put Ruoqiao first and completely distanced himself from Kexing — would that even make him a decent person? Would he still be the person Ruoqiao had fallen for?

Du Yu and Wang Jiangfeng exchanged a glance. Seeing Jiang Yan like this, they figured there was no point saying anything more.

Jiang Yan had no heart left for gaming either.

By afternoon, everyone had rested, and people began drifting out of their rooms.

Since it was a rural homestay, they were supposed to experience it properly. They divided tasks clearly: the boys went down to the river to catch fish; the girls went to the vegetable garden to pick and wash produce. Lu Siyan clung to Jiang Ruoqiao, so the others told Jiang Ruoqiao to keep him with her while the rest of them got to work.

And so Lu Siyan and Jiang Ruoqiao ended up with the easiest job of all.

Jiang Ruoqiao took Lu Siyan for a walk around the surrounding area.

It really was lovely here. At first glance it had something of the feeling of a place apart from the world. There were no asphalt roads like in the city, no dense flow of traffic — just trees and grass in every direction, and in the distance, faint wisps of smoke from chimneys. No wonder city people liked to come out to places like this. It truly let you set aside the anxiety and pressure for a while and feel life again.

Lu Siyan had something on his mind, and before long he brought up everything that had happened at midday in one go: “When we arrived earlier, that Jiang Yan wanted Dad to carry a box for his sister. I said my stomach hurt and I needed to go to the bathroom — but that wasn’t true,” he said, looking a little guilty. “I was lying to Dad. I didn’t want Dad to carry her box.”

Jiang Ruoqiao had been there at the time.

She looked at Lu Siyan in surprise. She had honestly thought the little one needed the bathroom — she hadn’t imagined he was putting it on.

My goodness! Were five-year-olds this convincing nowadays?

“Lu Siyan,” Jiang Ruoqiao said, looking at him, “you’re quite something. Well played.”

He had even fooled her.

Lu Siyan hung his head. “I was scared you’d be angry, Mom! When you’re angry, it’s really serious!”

“Who said I’d be angry?” Jiang Ruoqiao asked.

Lu Siyan looked up with wide eyes. “You wouldn’t be angry? I made a bet with Dad. Dad said you wouldn’t be angry, and I said you would. If I win, Dad buys me a Lego set. If I lose, I have to eat carrots for a week.”

Jiang Ruoqiao asked with interest, “What else did you two say?”

Lu Siyan had an excellent memory, and piece by piece he recounted his conversation with Lu Yicheng.

Jiang Ruoqiao shook her head with an amused smile. “You got outsmarted by your dad, you know that?”

Lu Siyan tilted his head. “Mom, you really won’t be angry? But before, there was a girl from Dad’s company who called him on the phone late one night, and you were super angry. Dad spent days coaxing you back!”

Jiang Ruoqiao: “……”

She suddenly found herself rather interested in that story. “And then what?”

“Then?” Lu Siyan thought hard. “Then Dad took me to his company. His desk had a lot of photos of Mom on it.”

Jiang Ruoqiao marveled. “He’s quite the operator too.”

That future version of Lu Yicheng had known to take the child to the office for a visit.

Had known to display “her” photos on his desk to make clear he was a married man.

“What happened after that?”

“After that, Dad never got late calls from that girl again,” Lu Siyan said. “And then Mom stopped being angry.”

Jiang Ruoqiao turned it over in her mind and then gave herself a little shake, banishing every bit of that misplaced curiosity.

No. She shouldn’t be interested in any of this.

That wasn’t a future she was heading toward.

“You almost distracted me completely.” Jiang Ruoqiao said. “Back to what we were talking about — what are we going to do? I very much want you to win, but you’re destined to lose. Better go ahead and eat your carrots every day this week~”

Lu Siyan couldn’t believe it. “If Dad had carried her box, you really wouldn’t have been angry??”

How could that be??

Jiang Ruoqiao nodded. “I’m sorry to say, I wouldn’t have been.”

Besides which, a late-night phone call and carrying a box were two entirely different things — you couldn’t lump them together. It was just that the child was still too young to grasp that. He was probably puzzled too: if a phone call made her angry, why wouldn’t carrying a box?

“Why not?!”

Jiang Ruoqiao said, “Because he’s not my anything. He’s not my boyfriend. And honestly, even if he were, I still wouldn’t. There’s nothing to it. Lin Kexing doesn’t have any feelings for your dad. She’s just a perfectly ordinary girl — like a fellow passenger on a train. If she can’t lift her box and someone helps her, that’s nothing, right? And it’s not even like she asked your dad directly. It was your dad’s friend who asked him…”

She paused. “Siyan, this really isn’t a big deal. It’s completely different from a late-night phone call. If your dad’s colleague calls late because it’s work-related, I think I wouldn’t be angry about that either. What made me angry meant that she wasn’t calling for work — and I knew it. Siyan, when you keep assuming I’d get upset over small things, it actually makes me a little unhappy.”

“That future version of me might come across as unreasonable — but I believe the me now is not, and the future me won’t be either.” Jiang Ruoqiao said. “When I get angry, there’s always a reason. There’s always a justification that holds up. Otherwise who could put up with it?”

Lu Siyan was deep in thought.

Jiang Ruoqiao reached out and flicked the tip of his nose lightly. “Understand?”

Lu Siyan shook his head. “Not really.”

Jiang Ruoqiao, in a manner borrowed from Lu Yicheng, said, “Alright then. When you’re a bit older, we can revisit this. For now, let’s file it under ‘things to sort out later’ — okay?”

Lu Siyan gave a firm nod. “Deal!”

“But I can tell you don’t like her,” he muttered again.

Jiang Ruoqiao gave a soft laugh. Perceptive little thing.

But Lu Siyan was still too young. He could only see one side of things.

She truly didn’t like Lin Kexing — no one could warm to someone who brought all manner of complications into their future. But not liking her was one thing. Actively despising or loathing her? It hadn’t quite come to that.

Lu Siyan murmured quietly, “I don’t like your boyfriend.”

Jiang Ruoqiao: “?”

She was speechless. She ruffled his curly hair. “Oh? So what kind of person do you like?”

Lu Siyan gave it serious thought, ticking off fingers: “Someone taller and a bit leaner. Someone who can cook, especially sweet and sour spare ribs and cola chicken wings. Someone who goes to the market to buy groceries. Someone who keeps the house spotlessly clean. Someone who makes toys out of cardboard boxes for me…”

Jiang Ruoqiao said, “You might as well just give me your dad’s ID number directly.”

Lu Siyan pressed his lips together, revealing a pair of charming dimples. “Heh heh.”

Jiang Ruoqiao said without mercy, “Your description is too on-the-nose, so I’m not taking your suggestion for now. Finding a boyfriend is about who I like. But don’t worry — when I do look, I’ll take your opinion into account.”

Lu Siyan puffed up his cheeks.

Jiang Ruoqiao patted him. “Alright — you lost the bet, but I’ll buy you a Lego set anyway. How about that?”

Lu Siyan forgot all about his dad in one second flat.

Dad who? Never heard of him!

He was thrilled to pieces. “Yay!!”

Mom is the best!

Lu Siyan was fully satisfied.

The rest of the group had been making their way back one by one. The four boys had done well — under the owner’s guidance, they’d caught a good haul of fish, big and small. The smaller ones would be made into red-braised mixed fish; the larger ones would be wrapped in foil and grilled. The girls had also done a fine job, picking an abundance of vegetables and fruits, and had even brought back a big ripe watermelon from the garden. The owner’s wife put the watermelon in the well to soak — the well water was refreshingly cold, and after a few hours in there, it would be even better than anything pulled from a refrigerator.

Before the meal, Lu Yicheng took Lu Siyan to wash up.

They were alone in the bathroom, father and son.

Lu Siyan perched on Lu Yicheng’s shoulder and whispered into his ear. “I asked Mom already. She said if you’d helped that girl carry her box, she really wouldn’t have been angry!”

Lu Yicheng smiled. “Then you lost. Don’t forget what you promised — you’re eating carrots every day this week. No picking at your food.”

“Of course I’m happy!” Lu Siyan gave a secretive little smile. “I’ll let you in on something, Dad — Mom said she’ll buy me a Lego set~”

It looked like he’d lost, but somehow he hadn’t entirely lost.

Whether Dad bought it or Mom bought it, the winner was always him. He had new Lego coming — that alone was something to be happy about!

“Congratulations,” Lu Yicheng said.

Lu Siyan was absolutely delighted with himself. “Mom is the greatest~”

Lu Yicheng felt helpless. This little fellow clearly didn’t know that he’d already placed an order for that Lego set on his phone. If Mom was the greatest and Dad was invisible, then he might as well go ahead and request a refund.

“How strange,” Lu Siyan marveled on. “Mom really wasn’t going to be angry.” He remembered something and looked up at Lu Yicheng again. “Mom said — you’re not her anything. Not her boyfriend. Not anything. So she wouldn’t be angry.”

Lu Yicheng: “……”

He ruffled Lu Siyan’s curly hair and said with weary resignation, “Little blabbermouth. Can you take a break for a bit?”

Whatever Jiang Ruoqiao said, he didn’t need it relayed back to him like that.

Lu Siyan snapped to attention. “Yes, sir!”

Okay okay — off duty. No more carrying messages.

—