While Tang Yang and Chen Qiang were talking downstairs, Jiang’s mother was chatting with guests upstairs, and Jiang Shiyan kept checking his watch.
He finished his CT scan at 4 pm and saw Tang Yang’s “mwah” expression. His finger on the screen felt as if it had been kissed by the emoji child, both tingly and itchy.
He replied.
[Hubby: I knew you’d miss me~]
Ten minutes passed, and Tang Yang didn’t respond.
Jiang Shiyan sent another message.
[Hubby: I miss you too~]
Another half hour passed, and Tang Yang still hadn’t replied.
Jiang Shiyan started to feel uneasy.
[Hubby: ??? Where did you go? Are you in a meeting? Didn’t you just have one this morning?]
[Hubby: Well, have a good meeting then. I’m heading back to the ward to handle some work.]
During the week more than Jiang Shiyan had been hospitalized, his assistant had been coming and going. Usually, the assistant would bring documents in the morning, Jiang Shiyan would review them in the afternoon, and the assistant would pick them up from the hospital the next day. But today, the assistant had only delivered the documents in the afternoon, and in less than an hour, he received a call from the efficient CEO Jiang.
The assistant came over to inquire about details, and Jiang Shiyan responded while continuing to message Tang Yang.
[Hubby: I’ve finished reviewing the documents. It’s almost 5:30 now. My mom said she was going home to cook and bring it over later. Do you want to eat together? What do you want to eat? If you’re joining, I’ll ask her to make more of what you like~]
Still no reply.
After that, Jiang’s mother went home, cooked, brought the food back, and ate with Jiang Shiyan. She started welcoming the fourth group of friends for the day, but Tang Yang still hadn’t come and hadn’t replied to messages.
Jiang Shiyan watched the clock move from 4 to 7, staring at the string of one-sided chat bubbles on his phone. He responded with “Mm” and “Yes” to the guests’ conversation, but couldn’t help feeling disappointed inside.
[Hubby: It’s past 7 now, why haven’t you come yet?]
[Hubby: I’m not trying to rush you or demand that you must come. I just… miss you a bit.]
[Hubby: Am I sending too many messages and bothering you, Yang Yang…?]
[…]
All met with silence.
Yang Yang… Jiang Shiyan didn’t dare to think, but the more he tried not to think about it, the more he couldn’t suppress the thought. Had Yang Yang stopped loving him? Was she not serious when she said she wanted to try? Did she have another dog outside…?
As Jiang Shiyan’s mind was racing, Tang Yang arrived at his hospital room door.
Tang Yang had put her phone on silent and disconnected from the network during the morning meeting and hadn’t checked it since. Now, as she took it out to send Jiang Shiyan a message, just as she connected to the Wi-Fi, messages started popping up one after another.
Tang Yang scrolled through them, imagining his pitiful expression as he typed each one, her heart softening uncontrollably.
She was about to reply when she thought of the four groups of young ladies, the last of which was still in his hospital room…
How much was that softened heart worth?
Tang Yang snorted coldly and turned to go to the bathroom at the end of the corridor to touch up her makeup. She removed her matte lipstick and switched to a brighter, more vibrant shade.
Although Tang Yang was angry, when she came out and thought about how he hadn’t received her reply, she couldn’t help but go downstairs to buy a serving of put chai ko for the poor thing. It was his favorite.
Upstairs, Jiang Shiyan saw “The other party is typing” flash at the top of the chat box, then it changed back to “Wifey,” and then nothing more.
Having hope and then having it dashed was probably more painful than having no hope at all.
“Knock knock knock.”
A knock on the door interrupted Jiang Shiyan’s surging emotions.
Jiang’s mother got up to open the door, and Tang Yang entered carrying something.
“Have you eaten, dear?” Jiang’s mother asked.
“I have,” Tang Yang saw two other people sitting in the hospital room, showed a surprised expression, then smiled and said, “Did I catch you at a busy time? It’s rarely this lively.”
Jiang’s mother pulled Tang Yang over to introduce one of them: “This is a friend of mine. She’s been in New Zealand and just returned to the country at the end of last year. When she heard that Shiyan was ill, she brought her daughter to visit. This is CEO Ni Pingbo,” Jiang’s mother said, “Tang Tang, you can call her Auntie Ni like Shiyan does.”
Tang Yang obediently greeted her.
Ni Pingbo responded kindly, pulling the young woman beside her: “This is my daughter, Sheng Nina.”
Jiang’s mother added: “This is my daughter, Tang Yang.” As she was speaking, she realized something was wrong, “Ah no, no, no, not my daughter. Tang Tang is Shiyan’s good friend, for many years now.”
Everyone laughed at Jiang’s mother’s mistake.
The two elders asked Sheng Nina and Tang Yang to compare their ages.
As they were talking, Sheng Nina pondered: “I think I’ve seen Sister Yang at Youran Residence before.”
Tang Yang looked at Sheng Nina for a few seconds and also remembered: “Right, at Cheng Siran’s gathering, the lawn barbecue.”
Ni Pingbo: “What a coincidence.”
They all laughed and chatted some more.
From the moment Tang Yang entered, Jiang Shiyan’s gaze had been fixed on her. When she spoke, he smiled; when she laughed, he laughed too. It wasn’t clear what he was smiling about, maybe because she came, maybe because she didn’t have another dog, or maybe because she looked so beautiful today.
After chatting with them for a while, Tang Yang went to the bedside and handed the steaming chai ko to Jiang Shiyan.
Jiang Shiyan, who had voluntarily been a background character for hours, now spoke up to seek attention.
“Did you buy this especially for me?” he asked, looking pleasantly surprised.
It was just downstairs.
Tang Yang, still harboring some anger, responded curtly: “Yes.”
Jiang Shiyan saw her bite her lip, his eyes brimming with tenderness: “Should I say thank you?”
Tang Yang met his gaze and almost lost her composure. She turned her head and cleared her throat: “You… do as you like…”
Jiang Shiyan smiled silently and opened the bag to start eating the soft cake.
Jiang’s mother pulled Tang Yang to sit beside her and said to Ni Pingbo and her daughter: “This child is so thoughtful, she comes every day.”
Ni Pingbo inwardly scoffed, thinking about the Jiang family’s status in A City. How could there be so much simple friendship?
The mother and son barely glanced at the gift box Nina had brought, yet they were making such a fuss over a few yuan worth of put chai ko?
Jiang Shiyan ate with refinement and joy.
Ni Pingbo smiled and said: “Actually, Nina wanted to come much earlier, but we weren’t sure if it was convenient for Shiyan. Plus, Nina is busy too. She just finished filming a script here, and there’s an advertisement deal there. She often has to run to events until midnight. How to put it, girls should still have their careers.”
Sheng Nina was a popular actress, praised by fans as a heavenly beauty. She sat opposite Tang Yang wearing light makeup. Jiang’s mother carefully compared: Sheng Nina was of mixed race with charming features, while Tang Tang had typical Jiangnan girl looks, cute and lovable. They were of different types, objectively speaking, it was a tie.
“That’s right, Tang Tang is the same,” Jiang’s mother held Tang Yang’s hand, agreeing very much, “You say she’s beautiful, but she’s always had good grades since she was little. She quietly went and got a doctorate. You’d think someone who studied so much might be inflexible, but she’s a management trainee, a deputy director of a Huishang branch at 28.”
Jiang Shiyan interjected: “She’s now the acting director.”
“Right, right, she’s a director now,” Jiang’s mother said to Ni Pingbo, “Just think about what we were doing at 28, barely literate, running around not knowing where our next meal was coming from…”
While the elders were talking, Tang Yang and Sheng Nina didn’t join in. Tang Yang peeled an orange for everyone, while Sheng Nina shelled some nuts. Tang Yang poured water, and Sheng Nina went to close the ventilated window.
Several times, Jiang Shiyan wanted to ask Tang Yang to sit next to him, but seeing that she wasn’t looking his way, he gave up.
As Ni Pingbo talked about how excellent Nina was, Jiang’s mother would mention similar points about Tang Yang. The more she talked, the more she felt Tang Yang was good in every way, good no matter how you looked at her, except for the fact that she wasn’t her daughter-in-law, alas.
As they chatted, Ni Pingbo suddenly asked: “Does Director Tang have a boyfriend? Being so outstanding.”
Tang Yang and Jiang Shiyan were pretending to be just friends, and she was still angry, but Tang Yang couldn’t bring herself to outright deny it and hurt Jiang Shiyan.
But if she didn’t deny it, who knows how pleased Jiang’s big dog would be.
Jiang Shiyan understood Tang Yang.
Just as he was gazing at Tang Yang with a pleased expression, and Tang Yang was about to speak.
“Not yet, she has high standards and won’t settle,” Jiang’s mother answered first.
The smile on Jiang Shiyan’s face froze instantly as if it were a sticker.
Yang Yang would probably say no, right? It wasn’t like her to boldly contradict others. Moreover, that person was his mother, and they had agreed not to tell others until things were stable…
Jiang Shiyan felt like there was a cloth stuffed in his mouth, making him uncomfortable.
But Tang Yang didn’t hesitate. She curved her brows and eyes, saying softly: “I have someone I like.”
She didn’t answer whether she had a boyfriend, but she had someone she liked.
Someone she liked, huh?
The cloth in his mouth turned into cotton candy, soft and fluffy, with threads of sweetness shooting straight to Jiang Shiyan’s heart.
She had someone she liked.
Jiang’s mother looked lost, but still kindly said: “Keep working hard. When you’re sure, you can bring him home. Auntie will give you some advice.”
Ni Pingbo said with relief: “I was going to say Cheng Siran is not bad. They’re both well-behaved and would get along well with Tang Yang.”
Jiang’s mother half-jokingly said: “My Shiyan is not bad either. He has a wild temperament, he needs a gentle nature like Tang Tang to manage him.”
Ni Pingbo: “Nina is gentle too, quiet and refined.”
Jiang’s mother laughed it off: “Young people’s affairs are for young people to worry about.”
Before entering the hospital room, Tang Yang had imagined that all of Jiang Shiyan’s visitors would be socialites, planning business marriages. Jiang’s mother would like them, and Jiang Shiyan wouldn’t like them but couldn’t openly show his displeasure. At that point, she should have displayed a slightly more assertive presence, relying on the goodwill she had accumulated over the years to guide Jiang’s mother’s attitude towards her side.
But as things unfolded…
The script seemed to have been flipped…
After Jiang’s mother said “Shiyan needs Tang Tang to manage him,” Tang Yang was overwhelmed with shame for her scheming thoughts.
“I’m going to the bathroom,” she said, her ears burning as she stood up.
Jiang’s mother gently reminded her: “The door in the ward is broken and won’t open. Tang Tang, you’ll need to go outside.”
As soon as Tang Yang left, Sheng Nina also stood up: “I need to use the bathroom too.”
Sheng Nina had ulterior motives, but she and her mother hadn’t reached that point in the conversation, so Jiang Shiyan naturally couldn’t be bothered. Seeing her follow Tang Yang out, Jiang Shiyan also sat up: “I need to use the bathroom too.”
“Why are you joining the crowd?” Jiang’s mother lightly smacked Jiang Shiyan but still bent down to find his slippers.
It wasn’t about joining the crowd. He knew Sheng Nina was definitely going after Tang Yang and would surely try to stop her. But he didn’t know if Tang Yang knew that Sheng Nina wasn’t good.
What if Sheng Nina said something? What if Yang Yang was unprepared and couldn’t say anything in response? What if Sheng Nina brought up the two families’ business relationships and other messy stuff? What if Yang Yang listened to her…?
Not knowing what might happen, he decided to go check.
Jiang Shiyan had always protected Tang Yang. Now that she was his girlfriend, he could barely contain his love and care for her, how could he bear to let her suffer even the slightest grievance?
Tang Yang went into the ladies’ room, Sheng Nina went into the ladies’ room, and Jiang Shiyan washed his hands at the public sink by the door.
Tang Yang came out of the stall and met Sheng Nina coming out of the adjacent cubicle. Tang Yang raised an eyebrow.
As early as Cheng Siran’s gathering, Sheng Nina had been paying attention to Jiang Shiyan.
She knew Jiang Shiyan liked Tang Yang but wasn’t sure if Tang Yang liked Jiang Shiyan. However, they weren’t together.
While they weren’t together yet.
Tang Yang washed her hands at the sink inside the ladies’ room.
Sheng Nina walked to her side to wash her hands. “Sister Yang,” she called politely, “You’ve been close friends with Shiyan for so many years, you must know some of his habits, like what food he likes?”
Tang Yang looked up at the mirror: “I don’t know.”
Sheng Nina changed the subject: “Then you must know what movies or flowers he likes. Could you tell me?”
Tang Yang said flatly: “That’s not convenient.”
Sheng Nina’s expression stiffened slightly, then she thought Tang Yang might feel that Jiang Shiyan would be angry if she said these things. She smiled awkwardly and retreated: “Then what restaurants or clubs does Shiyan usually like to go to? That should be okay to say, right?”
This time, Tang Yang simply didn’t answer.
The atmosphere became awkward for a moment.
Sheng Nina’s hand at her side tightened: “I used to not believe in pure friendship between men and women, but seeing you and Shiyan for so many years, I seem to believe it now. To be honest, I like Shiyan,” Sheng Nina paused, “I originally thought that as a friend, you’d want to see him happy more than anyone else, but now it seems…”
Sheng Nina, used to such things in her circle, continued: “Who doesn’t have some ulterior motives? Let’s be frank, Shiyan is so good to you. Whether you’re keeping him as a backup or a long-term meal ticket is none of my business, but have you ever treated him as a friend?”
Her final tone was extremely sarcastic.
Tang Yang ignored her, continuing to wash her hands, turn off the water, and pull out a paper towel to dry her hands. Only after she finished drying did she unhurriedly turn around and look up at Sheng Nina.
Tang Yang’s eyes curved into a smile, her attitude soft yet polite as she said: “I’m sorry, but I’m his girlfriend now.”