Feng Weiran wanted to say something, but seeing Jiang Shiyan’s expression that seemed to say “If you utter one more word, I’ll continue to make a scene,” he silently swallowed his words.
After dropping off the big boss at home, Feng Weiran returned to his place. As soon as he entered the room, he poured out his grievances to his wife.
Jiang Yanan, with a face mask on, mumbled, “Yang Jie knows my brother has a weak stomach. How could she let him drink too much? Two ounces of low-proof alcohol is the limit. How could that knock him out when he can usually drink a thousand cups without getting drunk?”
“Then?” Feng Weiran pitifully recounted the scene, not even having the chance to start his sales pitch.
Jiang Yanan frowned, “Did you mention Song Jing?”
Feng Weiran looked confused, “Isn’t he Yan Ge’s high school roommate? Why can’t I—”
Before he could finish, Jiang Yanan cursed “You deserved it” and peeled off her face mask, slapping it onto his forehead.
————
Rather than stepping on a landmine, it was more like being overprotective.
Yes, Jiang Shiyan attributed that inexplicable emotion he felt in the car to being overprotective.
After all, that person was Tang Yang.
To speak of him and Tang Yang, we have to go back to their first year of high school.
At the beginning of the school year, they became desk mates.
During their student days, it seemed every class had an exceptionally tall, robust student weighing over two hundred pounds. With soft white flesh, a love for video games, intelligent but careless, always cheerful and outgoing to everyone – that was Jiang Shiyan without a doubt. His classmates called him “Fat Bro.”
There was also a girl, short and slightly chubby, always at the top of the class, a teacher’s pet. Yet her desk was stuffed with the latest romance novels, game cards, and manga magazines. She was straightforward and helpful, with a popularity that blurred gender lines. That was Tang Yang, “Yang Ge.”
With these two sitting together, they naturally became the homeroom teacher’s main focus: “Tang Yang, Jiang Shiyan, what are you two chatting about so enthusiastically during class? Do you want to come to the office and tell me about it?”
“How many times have I emphasized that snacks aren’t allowed in the classroom? Jiang Shiyan, are you still opening a bag of chips with that ‘crunch’ sound during class? And you, Tang Yang, what are you laughing at? Wipe your mouth clean first.”
“…”
Despite all the commotion, they were still at that age.
When “It Started with a Kiss” was sweeping across the country, coincidentally, sitting behind them were “First High’s Jiang Zhishu” Song Jing, and “First High’s Pei Ziyu” Chang Xinyi.
Most of the girls in the class liked Song Jing, naturally including Tang Yang.
Most of the boys liked Chang Xinyi, naturally including Jiang Shiyan.
Coincidentally, Jiang Shiyan was Song Jing’s roommate and one of Song Jing’s few friends. Chang Xinyi and Tang Yang were roommates, and Chang Xinyi was extremely dependent on Tang Yang, who could navigate social circles with ease.
Once Fat Bro and Yang Ge discovered each other’s hidden feelings, they quickly formed a revolutionary alliance based on their resources, solemnly vowing to go running for three nights and lose weight rapidly within a month.
However, the cafeteria always seemed more tempting at night.
After just a few steps, Jiang Shiyan clutched his waist, panting, “A bowl of noodles is too much. Why don’t we buy a couple of chicken legs? Let’s have a late-night snack tonight, and we’ll run a few extra laps tomorrow night.”
Tang Yang was someone who could accomplish great things. She swallowed hard, then said seriously, “Fried food. We can’t run it off even with extra laps.”
Jiang Shiyan was exhausted, “Then how about a hamburger? Can we have a hamburger? If I don’t replenish my energy, I’ll die on the track. Right here, right now.”
Tang Yang couldn’t move two hundred pounds. After a moment of internal struggle, she said, “Let’s have a chicken wrap. There are vegetables in the chicken wrap. My mom says eating vegetables doesn’t make you fat…”
This scene repeated five hundred times, and their weight loss plan came to an end as their first year of high school drew to a close.
If you could say that Song Jing truly became familiar with Tang Yang through his relationship with Jiang Shiyan, even to the point where the three of them could go to the movies together, that was some consolation.
Then the division exam results came out, and Song Jing and Chang Xinyi both went to the experimental class, while Tang Yang underperformed and remained in the parallel class with Jiang Shiyan – that was bad news.
At fifteen or sixteen, a girl’s secret crush seems to be more tenacious than a boy’s.
During the summer vacation after their first year, while Jiang Shiyan was digesting his sorrow in internet cafes, Tang Yang shut herself at home, working through a whole stack of study materials.
When the second year of high school began, just as Jiang Shiyan announced he had fallen in love at first sight with a senior girl, Tang Yang had already leaped from over three hundredth place to ninth in the grade-wide preliminary test. This was a score that outperformed the second place in the parallel class by a wide margin.
As time passed, other classmates were surprised to find that Tang Yang had become quieter, more composed, and even more diligent in her studies. They gradually changed her nickname from “Yang Ge” to “Genius.” They also noticed that her attitude towards Fat Bro seemed to remain the same as in their first year.
When other students asked Tang Yang a question, she would patiently explain it.
When Jiang Shiyan asked Tang Yang a question, she would patiently explain it, then criticize him once: “I just explained this eccentricity problem to you yesterday. They just changed the conditions a bit. Can’t you mark it with a star as an important point? Didn’t you make a mistake book like I told you to? Did you do it in your dreams?”
She would criticize him twice, “Choose A, A as in ‘HANG’ with the second tone, not the fourth tone, bro. If I have to explain this to you for the fifth time, I’m a dog.”
But every time Jiang Shiyan turned his head and cheerfully called out “Yang Ge.”
What could she do after being called that? Fine!
Tang Dog covered her aching head and sighed, then continued to criticize…
The two sat as desk mates on and off until their third year of high school, by which time Jiang Shiyan’s grades had stabilized in the top five.
In April, they entered the final sprint for the college entrance exam.
First High was a full boarding school, and many parents rented houses near the school to cook meals and bring them to the school gate in thermal containers. The crowded scene at noon was comparable to the Spring Festival travel rush.
Tang Yang’s father was a Chinese railway engineer, often starting projects in remote mountains and forests, only able to see his family once every few months or even a year. Tang Yang’s mother was the leader of the A City Chinese language research group. She had been taken away by the college entrance exam question-setting team in February before the new year even began, leaving Tang Yang with some living expenses and completely cutting off contact.
The third year was in a newly moved independent campus, and the cafeteria food was barely edible.
While others were experiencing parental affection, Tang Yang’s stomach growled as she hesitated in front of a bowl of chicken soup: “Your mom prepared this for you. It doesn’t feel right for me to drink it.”
“I’m so fat, I won’t lack nutrition. You eat first, and I’ll finish whatever you leave,” Jiang Shiyan thought girls were too wordy. “Hurry up and eat, it’ll get cold soon. Why so much talk?”
On one occasion, when Jiang Shiyan’s mother came to the school and entered the classroom, Tang Yang was hugging Jiang Shiyan’s thermos and smacking her lips.
Madam Jiang and Jiang Shiyan were cut from the same mold, from their faces to their body types.
Tang Yang, like a small animal caught in the act, her mouth smeared with oil, looked at the beautiful plump woman in front of her, not knowing what to do.
Jiang Shiyan reacted quickly: “Mom, this is Tang Yang, the one I often tell you about. Yes, the one Song Jing mentioned when he came to our house, that iron buddy…”
“It’s not me troubling her to explain problems, she volunteers to explain them to me. Before Yang Ge was a top student, so I was blessed by the light of a top student. Now Yang Ge is an exam god, so I’m blessed by the light of an exam god…”
“Her parents aren’t home, so I just share some with her to drink…”
“…”
For this kind of well-behaved, good-studying female classmate who had a huge help on her son’s grades, Madam Jiang had no resistance. The “Yang” in her name was a bit difficult to pronounce as a repeated sound, so Madam Jiang raised her hand and gave her son a knock on the head: “Why didn’t you say earlier that Tangtang’s parents weren’t home? You’re such a big lump and still have the nerve to steal a little girl’s soup? Has all the meat grown on your face?”
Tang Yang said softly, “Auntie, I was being presumptuous.”
“If you say that, Auntie will be unhappy,” Madam Jiang said lovingly. “Look at how thin this little face is…”
Tang Yang, whose figure was still slightly chubby, blushed.
Jiang Shiyan held back his laughter.
After that, Tang Yang relied on Madam Jiang’s various nourishing soups and after-meal fruits to get through the most difficult season before the college entrance exam.
When the results came out in July, Song Jing underperformed in the college entrance exam and went to a provincial university of science and technology, while Chang Xinyi went abroad.
Tang Yang smoothly enrolled in the School of Economics and Management at A City Jiaotong University. The incense that Madam Jiang had burned for the Jiang family ancestors was particularly effective, as Jiang Shiyan performed exceptionally well in three subjects and became Tang Yang’s classmate once again.
In their freshman year, Jiang Shiyan fell for a girl from the Chinese Department.
Tang Yang wasn’t sure if she still liked Song Jing, but she still accompanied Jiang Shiyan to the gym every day.
When Jiang Shiyan couldn’t resist eating late-night snacks, Tang Yang would just show her white teeth, braced with iron wire, in a smile.
Naturally, Jiang Shiyan didn’t lose weight, but Tang Yang developed a waistline first.
Everyone in the School of Economics and Management knew they were buddies. Before Tang Yang had her braces removed, male students from their department would occasionally ask Jiang Shiyan about her. After she had her braces removed, male students from other departments started waiting for Jiang Shiyan through wind and rain.
Jiang Shiyan, following Tang Yang’s instructions, would respond with vague “oh”s and “um”s. He couldn’t help but examine the person in question: her eyes were still those eyes, she was whiter and thinner, and when she wasn’t being sharp-tongued, she was pretty. But was she as… beautiful as a painting, as they said?
Tang Yang was in the middle of completing a dining plan with Jiang Shiyan that wouldn’t disconnect them from the internet after leaving campus when she sensed his gaze. She instinctively looked back: “What are you looking at?”
Jiang Shiyan cleared his throat: “Nothing, nothing.”
By the time of the class reunion during the summer break of their freshman year, Jiang Shiyan was still the lovable Fat Bro, Tang Yang stunned everyone with her beauty, and Song Jing remained clear-eyed and handsome.
However, Song Jing had a solitary nature. Even though he used to hang out with Tang Yang and Jiang Shiyan often in their senior year of high school, after not seeing them for over a year, he just greeted the two with his eyes and then leaned back on the other end of the KTV’s long sofa, playing with his phone.
Tang Yang intentionally tried to control her gaze but faced with a boy she used to like – now described by classmates as a “scholarship winner” and “campus heartthrob” – who was still outstanding, she tried to be casual but still frequently turned her head.
When the bottle in Truth or Dare pointed at Song Jing, others didn’t dare to joke about the school idol. Jiang Shiyan glanced at Tang Yang and took the lead in whistling like a hooligan.
Song Jing had been drinking on and off since Tang Yang entered the room. Now he stood up, his figure backlit, his fingers long and slender.
Tang Yang’s eyes flickered. Song Jing wore a hint of a smile, called out “Yang Ge” in a low voice, and pressed her onto the sofa in an extremely restrained yet intimate manner…
Faye Wong’s “Dark Undercurrent” played softly, the lamplight casting extremely ambiguous shadows…
When Tang Yang, her face flushed, straightened up from Song Jing’s arms, she realized that Jiang Shiyan had left early.
In their sophomore year, Tang Yang and Song Jing were in a long-distance relationship, while Jiang Shiyan went to Taiwan for an exchange program and met his destiny – a girlfriend who matched his consistent aesthetic: tall, with charm in her eyebrows and eyes.
At the start of their junior year, Tang Yang and Song Jing broke up, and Jiang Shiyan, having finished his exchange program, naturally also ended his relationship.
Jiang Shiyan had lost nearly a hundred kilograms.
When Tang Yang went to the airport to pick him up, she couldn’t find him. His phone was off when she tried to call. She looked around and approached a handsome guy who had been repeatedly hit on but didn’t seem to respond much, and who also seemed to be waiting for someone.
The handsome guy was indeed good-looking, with long arms and legs. He wore a simple hoodie and casual pants that made him look vigorous. With one hand in his pocket and the other on his phone, the bright light cut across his profile.
Even though Tang Yang had dated Song Jing for a year, as she approached, she couldn’t help but feel her heart skip a beat. She steadied herself and said, “Excuse me, I saw that you also picked up your luggage from the BR Taipei flight. Have you seen a guy about your height, and then,” Tang Yang gestured a width about twice her own, “this fat…”
Before she could finish describing, the handsome guy let out a chuckle. He took his hand out of his pocket, ruffled her hair, and said with a mix of held-back and uncontrollable laughter: “You little idiot.”
Then, he walked past her.
Tang Yang, having witnessed this transformation, was stunned for a full half minute before exclaiming “Oh my god!” and bursting into laughter.
Tang Yang scratched her head a couple of times, then quickly followed him with a “tap tap tap” of her steps.
In the following two years, Jiang Shiyan gained popularity on Weibo and started to have entrepreneurial ideas.
Jiang’s parents had built their business from scratch. They had no other requirements for their children except hoping they would study more and pursue higher education. The higher the degree, the better. Especially when Song Jing, Tang Yang, and most of their peers were preparing for graduate school, and starting a business. And online? You can’t even distinguish departments in the family company, what business are you going to start? You play computer games, what business can you create from that?
Jiang Shiyan had pride in his bones. When his parents stopped his supplementary card, he wouldn’t reach out to Tang Yang either.
After several arguments with his parents, he was left penniless, barely able to distinguish whether he wanted to start a business or was simply being stubborn.
When Tang Yang discovered him bussing tables at a fast food restaurant near the school gate, her hands shook with anger. She dragged him back and gave him a good scolding.
Tang Yang saw the problem clearly and her words cut to the heart. Jiang Shiyan turned his head, quietly tearing up.
They were both students, and Tang Yang didn’t have much money either. Fortunately, the living expenses given by Tang’s parents were ample. Tang Yang gave up buying the bags she liked, didn’t buy lipstick, and gave all her scholarship money, competition prize money, and research bonuses to Jiang Shiyan.
Jiang Shiyan refused to accept them, but Tang Yang was even more resolute: “This is all for my future wedding, childbirth, and my child’s full moon celebration. I’m keeping track of it, so remember to pay me back tenfold.”
During tougher times, if Tang Yang had a meal, Jiang Shiyan would have a bowl of soup.
Occasionally, when Tang Yang went to cook for a few of his friends in his small, combined living and office space, she would only have some vegetables and say she was on a “diet,” while Jiang Shiyan would dig through his fried rice to reveal a generous portion of meat underneath.
Perhaps due to some stroke of luck, Jiang Shiyan’s arduous situation didn’t last long before he secured Series A funding.
Later, Tang Yang was accepted into a Master’s and Ph.D. program in B City, while Jiang Shiyan stayed in A City, reorganizing and restructuring his company.
They were both very busy but kept in touch.
When Tang Yang graduated with her Ph.D. and joined Huishang Bank, Jiang Shiyan gifted her a Mini Cooper she liked. Tang Yang accepted it without any psychological burden and returned the favor with a watch. Tang Yang would always call Jiang Shiyan as soon as she got home, and Jiang Shiyan did the same when he visited B City. At the end of the year, when Tang Yang was reassigned back to A City, Jiang Shiyan naturally pushed several big clients to accommodate her, scheduling their meeting from two weeks ago to today.
Just like before, they talked about everything except Song Jing and the days in the small shed.
In Tang Yang’s view, she didn’t want to discuss Song Jing, and helping Jiang Shiyan with instant noodles was a minor thing. It was similar to the encouragement and comfort Jiang’s Mom had given her before the college entrance exams, even more comforting than the chicken soup.
In Jiang Shiyan’s view, Tang Yang was the person who had chosen to be his deskmate in high school, raised his grades bit by bit, accompanied him every day in college while waiting for investor calls, and jogged alongside him on the track.
Yes, Song Jing was a buddy.
But as soon as Tang Yang was involved, and since Song Jing had once said he would treat Yang Ge well but then broke up and made Tang Yang cry for so long,
No matter the reason for their breakup, in Jiang Shiyan’s mind, it was all Song Jing’s fault. Song Jing was simply a scumbag.
No need for explanations.
If he had to criticize, he would do so himself.
As long as it wasn’t a matter of serious moral wrongdoing or criminal activity, Jiang Shiyan never reasoned when it came to Tang Yang.
Both were college graduates and if there had to be a reason, then Tang Yang was Jiang Shiyan’s reason.
Song Jing? Just don’t mention him.