It had to be said that the topic of height brought the atmosphere in the private dining room to life, and the tension that had gripped Lu Yicheng’s nerves eased up for the time being.

He had been far too nervous. The moment he stepped out of that way of thinking, this was all really quite simple. With Jiang Ruoqiao’s level of carefulness, did he really think she hadn’t considered what might happen at a meal like this? Never mind that he and she weren’t even in that kind of relationship — even if they were, she would never have let him feel awkward and uncomfortable. Sometimes when he thought about it, the two of them did share quite a remarkable sense of connection. Not because of Siyan — but rather in terms of their upbringings.

Still, her life had been considerably happier than his. Both her maternal grandparents were alive and well, and they doted on her immensely. It could be said that, aside from some emotional loneliness she felt on the inside, materially speaking, her grandparents had never given her any cause for want. She had never needed to shoulder the weight of life’s hardships from a very young age.

And yet, even so, deep within her, she was also resistant to the idea of meeting a boyfriend’s parents.

But she was only twenty this year, and all three of the boyfriends she’d had were not much older than herself — at their age, the thought of meeting each other’s families and discussing marriage simply never entered anyone’s head. So they had always broken up before officially reaching that stage of meeting the parents.

But she was still afraid.

Sometimes, in quiet dialogue with her own soul, Jiang Ruoqiao would find it almost funny — that she, of all people, would be afraid of something like that.

Just picturing the scenario for a moment was enough to make her skin crawl.

For instance, what if the other person’s parents asked, “What do your parents do?”

“Have your parents both retired? Where are they living now?”

Questions like that… probably only those who grew up in complete, warm families could never understand that particular pang.

She supported her mother’s decision to seek other possibilities after her father’s passing. She had never once hoped that her mother’s life would be tied down because of her.

But her father’s death was a wound in her heart that would ache the moment it was touched.

She didn’t want to tell others that her father had already passed away.

She didn’t want anyone asking how he had died, and even more so didn’t want to see the sympathy in their eyes, or that flash of subtle discomfort they couldn’t quite hide in time.

All these years had passed, and she was still unable to say those words with true composure: *My father is gone.*

She understood Lu Yicheng’s family situation, understood his upbringing — and precisely because of that, she did not want him to feel that same way. On the way over, she had told her grandparents about this, explained the basics of his family circumstances, and made them promise that no matter what, they would not press him on these matters.

Her grandmother had sighed at the time. “This child has had to be so capable of taking care of himself.”

Inside the private dining room, her grandmother watched Lu Yicheng sitting with a posture so impeccable he could have been placed directly on television, and she smiled and said, “Young man, you’re this tall, and this handsome on top of it — well then, I can rest easy knowing our Siyan will grow up to be a tall, good-looking young fellow too!”

Her grandfather said disapprovingly, “How shallow. Does height matter? Does looks matter?”

Her grandmother nodded. “Very much.”

Her grandfather: “…”

Lu Yicheng’s expression also softened into something resembling ease.

Her grandmother moved into the main topic. “I heard from Qiaoqiao that you were the top scorer in your year?” She slid a glance at her grandfather. “That question matters, doesn’t it?”

Lu Yicheng replied, “Yes. I’m a bit uneven across subjects — the sciences are my strong suit.”

Jiang Ruoqiao played the role of his supporting act. “You call that uneven? That’s excessively modest.”

Lu Yicheng wasn’t quite sure what expression to put on. If her grandparents hadn’t been there, the likelihood was that he would have laughed.

Her grandfather immediately piped up, “Our Qiaoqiao is also very capable, young Lu! If our Qiaoqiao had taken her university entrance exams here, she might very well have been some kind of top scorer too!”

Jiang Ruoqiao: “…”

This really wasn’t necessary. Truly not necessary.

Lu Yicheng gave a fairly approving nod. “I’ve heard as much. Back in high school, our teachers used to mention that the exam papers from the Xi Shi area were notably difficult.”

Nearly every student who made it into University A had fought their way through fierce competition to get there.

“Young Lu and Qiaoqiao go to the same university,” her grandmother said, clearly pleased by this. “That means our Siyan comes from a household of highly educated parents.”

Well, as she put it…

Her grandmother wasn’t wrong — though she was saying it in the way people from her generation used to speak of such things.

To both Lu Yicheng and Jiang Ruoqiao’s ears, it carried a distinctly old-fashioned charm.

Her grandfather muttered under his breath, “These days if I tossed a sweet potato peel on the ground and someone tripped over it, chances are they’d be a university graduate.”

Her grandmother fixed him with a withering stare. “Would you please not interrupt when I’m talking?”

“This is a good thing, don’t you know!” her grandmother continued, exasperated. “It means everyone has access to education these days. I make one comment, you make another — do you physically itch all over if you don’t contradict me at least once a day?”

Both Lu Yicheng and Jiang Ruoqiao found something very interesting to study about the tips of their own noses and said nothing.

After the two elderly people had their little squabble, her grandmother resumed her warm and amiable manner and turned to Lu Yicheng. “Young Lu, are you planning to pursue a graduate degree?”

“Yes,” Lu Yicheng nodded. “I’ll most likely be keeping my place through the university’s guaranteed admission program.”

University A’s guaranteed admission rate was already high to begin with, and for top students like Lu Yicheng, it was a given.

Her grandmother was satisfied. “Then with looking after the child by yourself, can you manage?”

Lu Yicheng instinctively glanced at Jiang Ruoqiao. “It’s not just me looking after him — the two of us are looking after him together. It’s manageable.”

In all honesty, by the end of the meal, her grandmother hadn’t asked much — just Lu Yicheng’s height and age, and his academic plans going forward. This put Lu Yicheng completely at ease.

Midway through the meal, Jiang Ruoqiao accompanied her grandmother to the restroom, along the same corridor as the day before. Her grandmother patted the back of Jiang Ruoqiao’s hand and said in a lowered voice, “Don’t worry. Your grandfather and I won’t be using the fact that the two of you have a child together in the future as grounds to insist you must be together. The reason I asked those questions was mainly to understand what kind of person the child’s father is — because the child isn’t yours alone. Parents have a profound influence on a child. The father influences the child, and the child influences the mother. If he were an irresponsible sort who ran his mouth in front of the child all the time, that would be a bad example. The child is still so young, after all.”

Jiang Ruoqiao gave a quiet affirmative. “He’s quite good.”

“That’s good then,” her grandmother said. “I can tell. This young Lu is a decent, upstanding person.”

…

That afternoon, Jiang Ruoqiao accompanied her grandmother to the hospital to register.

Lu Yicheng, meanwhile, stayed with her grandfather, who wanted to go in person to pick up Lu Siyan from school himself.

Professor Huang Hongying appeared to be of some seniority, but she was remarkably warm and approachable. After having her grandmother go for imaging scans, she had Jiang Ruoqiao add her assistant’s contact information on messaging — they would be placed in the queue for a hospital bed, and once one became available, her grandmother could be admitted directly. Just before they were about to leave, her grandmother made a point of asking Professor Huang quietly, “Professor Huang, is it very serious? My granddaughter is still so young — she can’t afford to be without someone.”

Jiang Ruoqiao bowed her head and worked hard to hold back the prickling in her nose.

Professor Huang smiled and said, “You’re a very fortunate woman. You have such a devoted granddaughter. And the most important thing is — it was caught early!”

Professor Huang also told Jiang Ruoqiao that it was truly thanks to her attentiveness — knowing to bring the elderly lady in for a check-up. Had this been left for another year or two, the course of treatment would have become much more complicated.

With those words from the professor, her grandmother finally felt her heart settle back into her chest.

Jiang Ruoqiao brought her grandmother back to the guesthouse.

Lu Siyan was already there. He and her grandfather had struck up a close friendship, and her grandmother, complaining that her grandfather had taken the opportunity of her absence to be underhanded about it all, refused to be left out. Setting aside any worry about the test results, she crowded in alongside her grandfather to entertain Lu Siyan.

Lu Siyan was naturally a lively little soul.

He was utterly thrilled. After all, this was the first time he had ever met his great-grandparents. Small children had a remarkable gift — they were acutely sensitive to who genuinely liked them and who didn’t. His great-grandparents adored him completely, and Jiang Ruoqiao stood to one side and watched, feeling the clouds over her heart gradually dissolve. She had always heard people say that grandparents doted on grandchildren even more than their own children, and her grandparents certainly cherished her — but watching them lavish affection on Siyan now…

Jiang Ruoqiao thought: *Grandpa, Grandma, look at me too!*

On the National Day holiday, Jiang Ruoqiao brought her grandmother to the hospital to complete the admission paperwork.

Her grandfather, being elderly and having high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol, was clearly not suited for overnight stays at the hospital. Fortunately, since it was still the holiday period, Jiang Ruoqiao was unwilling to hand this responsibility to anyone else and decided to do the overnight nursing herself. Following Lu Yicheng’s suggestion, Jiang Ruoqiao checked out of the guesthouse, and her grandfather moved into Lu Yicheng’s rental apartment. On this, Lu Yicheng said, “Honestly, it’s me who should feel bad about asking the elderly gentleman to help look after the child.”

Jiang Ruoqiao knew he was saying this simply to make her feel better.

She had initially been reluctant, but she truly couldn’t feel comfortable leaving her grandfather alone in the guesthouse overnight. A man of his age shouldn’t be without someone nearby at night.

After completing the admission paperwork, Jiang Ruoqiao walked Lu Yicheng out of the hospital. The area around the hospital was bustling. She found a coffee shop nearby — small, and every seat inside was taken. As was her habit, she ordered an Americano for herself, then turned her head to ask Lu Yicheng, “What would you like to drink?”

Lu Yicheng’s eyes reflexively moved to the menu to find the cheapest option.

The moment his eyes started to slide that way, she knew exactly what he was thinking. She reached out and covered the menu with her hand. “Order what you actually want to drink.”

Not the price!

There was a clear warning in her eyes.

Lu Yicheng lowered his head, but a smile had appeared on his face, and his voice carried that same smile. “Alright then… Americano?”

“Good.” Jiang Ruoqiao turned to the server. “Two Americanos, thank you.”

She swiftly took out her phone and presented the payment code to pay.

The server was efficient, and the two Americanos were ready in no time.

By the time they picked up their drinks, a light drizzle had begun to fall.

There was no particular hurry to be anywhere. Amid all this frantic, anxiety-filled time, standing under the eaves watching the rain fall while drinking coffee was, in its own way, a quiet pleasure.

The two of them stood beneath the overhang.

The rain was not heavy. The October air was not cold. The people on the street seemed entirely unbothered.

For ease of movement, Jiang Ruoqiao had worn a button-down shirt and jeans that day, with the shirt hem tucked in loosely. Her slightly wavy long hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, giving her a youthful, fresh-faced look.

She held her coffee cup and took a sip with her chin tilted up, the corners of her mouth lifting.

Lu Yicheng wore a white T-shirt and black trousers. He hadn’t brought his backpack today. The two of them standing under the eaves drew more than a few glances from passersby who couldn’t help but look twice.

They really were a sight.

Both of them twenty years old, both carrying that same quality of ease and refinement. At this moment, they genuinely gave off the impression of two people posing for an editorial shoot.

“Surgery must cost quite a bit, I imagine,” Lu Yicheng said.

Jiang Ruoqiao started slightly and replied, “I’ve looked into it. Because it was caught relatively early, it should be manageable.”

Her grandparents had some savings, but she didn’t want to touch them — that money needed to be kept for their daily living expenses.

Fortunately she had savings of her own. If there was a shortfall, her aunt should be able to help cover the rest.

“Out-of-area medical insurance can still be used for reimbursement,” Jiang Ruoqiao said.

“Mm.” Lu Yicheng nodded and took a sip of his coffee. “If you need any help, just say the word.”

Jiang Ruoqiao let out a soft laugh and turned her head to look at him, eyes curved with amusement. “Hmm… and what would the interest rate be?”

Lu Yicheng blinked. “Interest rate?”

He hadn’t even thought about that.

Then he saw the laughter in her eyes and understood — she was teasing him. He could tell she had been under tremendous psychological pressure lately, and wanting to ease her anxiety, he went along with it, playing his part with elaborate seriousness. “Not sure. What do you think?”

Jiang Ruoqiao really got into it, pulling out her phone. “Let me check what the current financial product rates are. Wait — actually it’s you who’d be losing out. I’ve heard the interest rates on peer-to-peer lending apps are quite high.”

Lu Yicheng nodded solemnly. “I’m hardly a regulated financial institution. It doesn’t need to be that high.”

Jiang Ruoqiao burst out laughing.

Lu Yicheng laughed too.

Jiang Ruoqiao freed one hand and made an OK sign at him. “Don’t worry, it hasn’t gotten to the point where I need to borrow money yet.”

Lu Yicheng gave a quiet acknowledgment.

If she said she didn’t need it, she probably truly didn’t.

After all, they had known each other for a while now, and he knew she wouldn’t be stubborn about this sort of thing.

Jiang Ruoqiao watched him take a sip of coffee and immediately wrinkle his brow, and she smiled. “A bit bitter, isn’t it?”

Lu Yicheng nodded honestly. “A little, yes.”

“You get used to it.”

—