There were few people around here. A car passed by, honking twice, headlights on high beam. It lit up the interior of the car for an instant.
Then it fell back into darkness.
Feng Ning was stunned for a moment by his blunt, adult words.
Jiang Wen’s profile was wrapped in flickering light and shadow, his expression not exactly excited, but emotions churning beneath the surface. He held Feng Ning’s wrist but didn’t proceed to the next move.
Feng Ning stared at him, looking deep in thought, as if pondering something.
Finally, Jiang Wen moved. Without a word, he slowly loosened his grip and let her go.
The moment Feng Ning laughed, he kissed her again.
After a long while, the two separated.
Jiang Wen straightened up and said slowly, “You should go up now.”
…
…
As soon as she entered the house, Feng Ning saw the empty dog bed in the living room and sent a message to Min Yueyue.
Ning: [I’m back in Shanghai, I’ll go get the dog tomorrow, is he doing okay at your place?]
My: [He’s doing great! Where did you and Handsome Jiang go, playing until now before coming back?? Any progress?]
Ning: [Less gossip]
She thought about it, then sent Jiang Wen a message too.
Ning: [I’m here, getting settled. Text me when you get home.]
She waited two minutes, but he didn’t reply—probably still driving. Feng Ning put down her phone, took off her coat, and went to shower.
She hummed a tune unconsciously, eyes closed, letting the water from the showerhead pour down. When she reached up for the shampoo, she caught sight of the scar on her arm.
Her fingertip pressed against it, sliding slowly along the wound. Slightly raised, stretching across her skin.
She paused for a moment, then lowered her hand.
Her good mood dimmed a little.
Steam swirled in the bathroom, hazy, like a dream. These past two days with Jiang Wen in Nan City had also felt like being in a dream. She drifted, drifted, as if floating back to her carefree teenage years. Fearless of heaven and earth, crying loudly, laughing loudly, utterly unrestrained.
It wasn’t until this moment, alone with herself, that she felt a sense of being grounded in reality.
After her shower, the first thing she did was check her phone.
Her message from half an hour ago—Jiang Wen had replied with “got it.”
Feng Ning buttoned up her pajamas as she sat on the bed, texting Jiang Wen at the same time:
Ning: [Home yet?]
61nfiawJ: [No]
Ning: [It’s been this long?]
A few minutes passed—
61nfiawJ: [Done with your shower?]
Ning: [Done]
A few more minutes, then Jiang Wen sent an “oh.”
Ning: [Where are you, if you’re driving don’t text]
61nfiawJ: [Take a photo of the moon for me]
Feng Ning was baffled by this message. She thought Jiang Wen was being rather artsy. Amused, she got up, walked to the window, and pulled back the curtain.
She turned on the flash and casually snapped a photo of the crescent moon in the night sky. Leaning against the window, she sent the picture to Jiang Wen.
Ning: [How’s that, satisfied?]
61nfiawJ: [Photo]
Feng Ning opened the photo he sent—pitch black, with a single point of light flashing in the middle. She glanced at it briefly, assuming he’d also taken a picture of the moon.
She zoomed in, looked again more carefully. Something was off—why did this red building look so familiar? Wasn’t this her apartment complex?
Feng Ning zoomed in further with her thumb and index finger, and froze.
In the photo Jiang Wen had sent, that flashing spot was her lit window.
Feng Ning quickly pulled the phone away and looked down below, but unfortunately it was all pitch-black night, and aside from a few faintly visible trees, she couldn’t see anything.
Ning: [Are you still downstairs at my place?]
61nfiawJ: [Yeah]
So when he’d asked her to photograph the moon just now, it was only to catch a candid shot of her?
She had to admit, even someone as unsentimental as Feng Ning was suddenly swept up by his romantic gesture.
She laughed for a good while.
Ning: [So are you coming up?]
61nfiawJ: [No]
Ning: [?]
61nfiawJ: [Not safe]
Ning: [It’s fine, nothing unsafe about it, I trust you.]
61nfiawJ: [I’m afraid of myself not being safe]
Ning: [???]
Ning: [………]
Ning: [Alright then, your sense of self-protection really is quite strong]
Feng Ning laughed leaning on the windowsill. Once she’d laughed enough, she thought about calling out Jiang Wen’s name to interact with him across the distance. But it was so late, and she was afraid of disturbing the neighbors, so she gave up on the idea. She went back to bed and texted Jiang Wen.
Jiang Wen sat leaning against the flower bed. Watching from a distance, the lit window’s curtains closed, and the light dimmed.
His phone vibrated—Feng Ning had sent a message.
Ning: [Okay, hurry back]
The arm holding the phone dropped to his side, a spot of scarlet light flickering on and off at his fingertip.
It took Jiang Wen a good while to pull his thoughts back together.
They’d been apart for less than an hour, and he’d already started missing her.
Feng Ning made herself a cup of milk, carried her laptop to bed, curled up under the covers, and began proofreading an English paper.
Jiang Wen sent a video call invitation.
She answered, propped the phone in a stand, reached over to adjust the angle. “Give me a few minutes, I’m almost done with a few more paragraphs.”
Feng Ning continued reading her paper.
After a while, she glanced at the phone screen and found Jiang Wen’s side was a black screen.
Feng Ning closed her laptop, set it aside, and picked up her phone. “Where are you? I can’t see you.”
Jiang Wen’s voice came through: “I just want to look at you.”
Feng Ning turned off the overhead light, leaving only a desk lamp on. She propped a pillow behind her, fixed her hair a bit facing the camera. “Watching myself is boring.”
Jiang Wen revealed half his face.
Feng Ning said, “You’re not… shy, are you?”
Jiang Wen said nothing.
She smiled a little.
The image on Jiang Wen’s end shook for a moment—he’d gotten into bed too, and this time showed his whole face.
Fresh out of the shower, his short black hair was still slightly damp, and he wore a low-collared sweater. Maybe it was the filter effect from the video, but his slightly upturned eyes looked especially gentle.
She studied the painting behind him for a while—deep, dark blue tones, like a twisted sunflower. “Where did you learn all these tricks for wooing girls, you’ve really got a whole set of them.”
Jiang Wen didn’t understand. “What?”
“Having me photograph the moon.”
Feng Ning was getting a little sleepy, yawning. “It’s at Min Yueyue’s, I’ll go get him back tomorrow.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Feng Ning: “Oh, sure.”
“What time tomorrow?”
“After work.”
Jiang Wen switched the phone from his left hand to his right, poured himself a glass of water. “What time do you get off?”
“Five thirty.”
On the other end, Jiang Wen asked tentatively, “Should I wait for you at your company?”
“Sure, do you even know where my company is?”
“I know.”
…
…
Drowsy, Feng Ning had no idea when she fell asleep.
The next day, woken by her alarm, she grabbed her phone and saw that she and Jiang Wen had video-called for several hundred minutes last night, not hanging up until past six in the morning.
Just after New Year’s, everyone was rather listless. Shi Yuange held an early meeting. Feng Ning was passing the pantry when she happened to overhear Guan Tongfu discussing something about Maruko.
Thinking of Jiang Wen, she took out her phone and searched for “Maruko.”
The first result to pop up was, oddly, Baidu Translate.
Maruko—dumpling noodles [maruko meaning “ball/dumpling”]
She paused, and then Baidu Images appeared. Everything linked to it was a familiar anime character—Chibi Maruko-chan.
She clicked on a Baidu Q&A post:
Chibi Maruko’s real name is Sakura Momoko, romanized in Japanese as sakuramomoko.
Her nickname is Chibi Maruko, romanized as tibimaruko.
Maruko… was that what it meant?
She remembered that day when she’d delivered documents to Manager Li, she’d gone to Jiang Wen’s company once, and their logo had been something resembling a cherry.
A flood of details and images flashed by, then all connected together. All at once, complicated emotions filled Feng Ning’s chest.
Ever since they were young, Jiang Wen had always been like this toward her. Awkward and proud, yet his affection for her had always been direct and sincere—his whole heart laid bare before her, for her to do with as she wished.
Xiao Zhu floated by with her water cup. “Goddess, what are you spacing out about?”
Feng Ning smiled. “Nothing.”
She was distracted the whole day.
Close to the end of the workday, Guan Tongfu came over with a contract to discuss details with Feng Ning.
Feng Ning was replying to Jiang Wen’s messages, only half-listening to him.
After a while, Guan Tongfu paused suspiciously. “Sister Ning, do you have something on your mind?”
Feng Ning went “ah,” “What’s on my mind?”
“That’s what I’m asking you.”
Hearing Feng Ning’s phone ring, Guan Tongfu closed his mouth. He watched her finish a phone call, about to continue speaking.
Feng Ning asked hastily, “Why aren’t you off work yet?”
Guan Tongfu: “What time is it even?”
Feng Ning glanced at her watch. “It’s five forty.” She started packing up the things on her desk.
Guan Tongfu scratched the back of his head. “Sister Ning, do you have something going on?”
“Yeah, something’s come up, talk to the legal department about the contract.” As she spoke, she took off her work badge. “I’m heading out first.”
Guan Tongfu turned, brushing past Xiao Zhu.
Xiao Zhu chased after Feng Ning’s retreating figure. “—Sister Ning, wait for me!”
The elevator descended, Xiao Zhu chuckled a couple times.
Feng Ning touched up her lipstick using the reflective surface, glancing at her.
Xiao Zhu: “Sister Ning Ning, what shade is that lipstick?”
“Forgot.” Feng Ning wiped away excess red at the corner of her lips with her index finger, facing the mirror.
Xiao Zhu blinked, gossiping. “You’re this put-together even after work, going on a date?”
Ding—the elevator reached the first floor.
A brief silence, then Feng Ning put the lipstick away in her bag. “Why do you worry about so much, bored?”
Xiao Zhu pouted.
The two walked out together, and just as they exited the revolving glass doors, they immediately spotted Jiang Wen.
He’d parked his car by the roadside, standing under a tree. His suit was eye-catching enough that passersby couldn’t help but glance twice.
Xiao Zhu and Feng Ning both stopped in their tracks at the same time. “Eh… isn’t that…”
“A friend of mine is here, I’ll go over first.”
She said goodbye to Xiao Zhu, ignoring her look of astonishment, and walked straight toward Jiang Wen.
“How long have you been waiting?”
Jiang Wen raised an eyebrow, said nothing.
Feng Ning stood in front of him, reached up, and flicked his cheek.
A bit soft, nice to the touch.
So she couldn’t help but flick it twice more.
Jiang Wen watched Feng Ning quietly, letting her tease him for a good while, then caught her hand.
He was driving the same car as that day.
Feng Ning entered Min Yueyue’s address into the navigation—somewhere in Jing’an.
Jiang Wen drove, Feng Ning sat beside him texting Min Yueyue.
While waiting for a reply, she turned to look at him. Jiang Wen stared at the road ahead, driving very seriously.
Just as they reached a turn, he steered with one hand.
Feng Ning thought of the recent trend on a certain video app—filming your boyfriend driving.
On a whim, Feng Ning leaned to the side and opened her camera.
In the slightly shaky frame, his suit cuff was neat, a silver wristwatch on his left wrist, a few veins faintly raised on the back of his hand, half his palm resting casually on the steering wheel.
Long fingers, slender and straight, elegantly so.
Seeing Feng Ning filming him, Jiang Wen raised his right hand to shift gears. “What are you doing.”
“Ah, you look so cool driving, super alpha.”
Jiang Wen understood that Feng Ning was praising him.
Feng Ning directed him: “Come on, turn the wheel again.”
Jiang Wen: “…”
Feng Ning urged: “Quick quick.”
He glanced at her. “No more turns in the road.”
Her phone kept dinging in succession—WeChat notification sounds.
Usually after work, Feng Ning would turn off WeChat sounds in settings, leaving only vibration. Today she hadn’t gotten around to it.
She opened WeChat—a flood of messages, all from Xiao Zhu:
Zhuzhu Pig: [Sister Ning, if I’m not mistaken, that was Maruko’s boss just now?! We even had dinner together once!]
Zhuzhu Pig: [Oh my god! I’m losing my mind, did you just get in his car? That silver BMW?]
Zhuzhu Pig: [Oh right, you two are high school classmates… don’t tell me you went to a class reunion with him today?!]
Zhuzhu Pig: [But, but why did I see your grubby hands groping that hunk’s face? And copping a feel too? I think I’m seeing things…]
At that message, Feng Ning finally cut her off.
Ning: [Calm down a little?]
Zhuzhu Pig: [No way, I really can’t calm down, what’s your relationship with him?]
Ning: [Exactly what you’re thinking.]
Zhuzhu Pig: [……]
Zhuzhu Pig: [I don’t dare imagine]
Ning: [It’s fine, go ahead and imagine]
Zhuzhu Pig: [The kind you can sleep with?]
Ning: [.]
Ning: [Pretty much]
After half a minute of silence, Xiao Zhu, even more worked up than Shuang Yao, sent a screen full of exclamation points and question marks.
Feng Ning was about to reply to Xiao Zhu when Jiang Wen suddenly called out to her.
Feng Ning hummed, “What’s wrong, are we here?”
Jiang Wen said casually, “Need to turn.”
At first Feng Ning didn’t get it, paused, then it clicked, and she laughed.
Min Yueyue was holding the dog leash, waiting downstairs, with Bo Hongyi standing next to her.
This turned out to be a rather awkward situation.
The four of them stared at each other.
The moment Little Yellow saw Feng Ning and Jiang Wen, he barked excitedly, tail wagging furiously. Min Yueyue pointed at them in shock, her eyes dropping to their clasped hands. “You two are…”
Feng Ning took the dog.
Bo Hongyi froze on the spot.
Min Yueyue at least had some mental preparation; he, on the other hand, had no idea at all, facing this shock head-on. He stared, wide-eyed with disbelief, looked twice more—it really was Jiang Wen.
After a good while, Bo Hongyi found his voice: “Ryan…?”
Min Yueyue kept signaling at her with her eyes.
Feng Ning was very composed. “Thanks for looking after the dog, how about we treat you two to a meal?”
Min Yueyue happily agreed. “Sure, sure.”
While Jiang Wen and Bo Hongyi talked, Min Yueyue pulled Feng Ning aside. “Are you two really together?!”
Feng Ning was a bit exasperated. “Why is it that every time I start dating someone, everyone looks at me like they’ve witnessed a bombing?”
Min Yueyue pinched her face hard. “Duh, obviously because your boyfriend is such a prize catch!”
…
…
In the car, Jiang Wen drove, Feng Ning sat in the passenger seat.
Bo Hongyi and Min Yueyue sat in the back.
Having weathered plenty of storms himself, Bo Hongyi quickly accepted this new reality, sighing a bit. “I really never expected that Ryan’s high school ex-girlfriend would be you.”
Min Yueyue, reminded of this, said, “So you two, after all this back and forth, ended up with each other after all?”
Feng Ning joked, “I’m only twenty-six, how is this already ‘the end’?”
Jiang Wen drove quietly, not joining their banter.
All evening, Bo Hongyi kept describing to Feng Ning just how popular Jiang Wen was in the Chinese social circle abroad.
Every time he went to a party, crowds of women would approach him. The more reserved ones would ask for his number; the bolder ones would go straight for a one-night stand. But he accepted none of it, making him seem almost asexual.
The funniest part was that word of Jiang Wen’s supposed lack of interest spread through the circle, and someone even sent Bo Hongyi an anonymous email, sincerely suggesting he take Jiang Wen to see a therapist.
While telling these stories, Feng Ning started out laughing. But the more she laughed, the more it stung a little.
After dinner, Min Yueyue and Bo Hongyi were going to see a movie, so the group split up.
…
…
There was a park nearby, and they took a walk after dinner to help digest, walking the dog in the night breeze.
“Jiang Wen?” Feng Ning called his name.
Jiang Wen stopped walking, turned his head to look at her.
“I’m a little tired, let’s find somewhere to sit.”
They found a pavilion and sat down. It bordered a plaza, with a bunch of elderly people exercising nearby.
Little Yellow lay obediently on the ground.
Feng Ning smiled and asked him, “Those things Bo Hongyi said earlier, were they true?”
Hearing no answer, she asked again, “Were they true?”
“A bit exaggerated,” he said. “More or less.”
“Are you an idiot?” Feng Ning leaned against him, and though she was smiling, her heart ached. “How can you be so stubborn, all these years, you never thought of trying with someone else?”
Jiang Wen touched his pocket—empty, no cigarettes.
She looked at Jiang Wen’s face.
Almost everyone found it unbelievable, that a man like Jiang Wen could be won over by her. Even Feng Ning herself found it strange—how exactly had she charmed him back then?
Over these eight years, Feng Ning had recalled things about Jiang Wen countless times. From the moment they met, she’d been mean to him, always messing with him. Later, when things went wrong in her family, Jiang Wen silently stayed by her side; after her mother passed away, it was also him who absorbed nearly all of her negative emotions.
The older she got, the more she realized just how much genuine sincerity Jiang Wen had shown her back then.
Feng Ning said helplessly, “Jiang Wen, did I feed you some kind of love potion, otherwise why must it be me and no one else?”
A long silence.
Jiang Wen stared at her for a good while, then said slowly, “I fell for you when I was a teenager. I don’t know how to flirt, don’t know how to scheme step by step. If you reject me, don’t like me, there’s nothing I can do. If you’re even a little good to me, I don’t want anyone else.”
Feng Ning was speechless.
“Sixteen was our beginning.”
Jiang Wen’s voice was a little low, but still clear. “Twenty-six isn’t your ending, but it is mine.”