On the way back, Tang Yang kept glancing at Jiang Shiyan, who kept his eyes straight ahead.
When he slightly turned his head to look at the rearview mirror, Tang Yang quickly averted her gaze, her heart racing like a guilty thief.
Entering the neighborhood, Jiang Shiyan parked the car at the entrance. Tang Yang suggested, “Let’s go for some porridge tonight.” It could help cool them down.
Jiang Shiyan got out of the car and locked it, responding coolly, “Mm.”
At the restaurant, Tang Yang ordered vegetable and lean meat porridge and blanched greens, filling the table with green dishes.
Jiang Shiyan didn’t say anything, eating quietly.
Occasionally, Tang Yang would act coy: “I want to eat some phoenix tail.”
The plate was right in front of her, but she couldn’t reach it. Jiang Shiyan didn’t point this out but expressionlessly picked some up for her. Tang Yang pouted, eating with less enjoyment.
Leaving the porridge shop, Tang Yang said she wanted to go home and change clothes. Jiang Shiyan responded, “Mm.”
Tang Yang changed into an ankle-length linen dress and asked Jiang Shiyan, “How about we go see a movie in a few days? There’s a new Hollywood movie about World of Warcraft. Didn’t you used to love that?”
Jiang Shiyan, sitting on the sofa, reached out to fix a strand of her hair: “Mm.”
A tense atmosphere settled between them.
Tang Yang sat beside him for a while, then tossed her phone aside. With a smile in her eyes, she shook Jiang Shiyan’s arm: “How about we go for a walk? The weather’s nice.”
Jiang Shiyan let her shake his arm, still responding indifferently: “Mm.”
The smile gradually faded from Tang Yang’s face as Jiang Shiyan went into the bathroom.
Tang Yang watched the tall, straight-back man, unconsciously pursing her lips.
Why was this person so hard to appease?
————
Next to the residential complex was a newly built artificial lake park. In front was a wide plaza with statues, and behind was a lakeside scenic area.
Every evening, groups of elderly people from the neighborhood would gather to dance in the front plaza, as if in formation. Towards the back hill, the lights gradually became sparse, and the loud songs of Phoenix Legend faded into the chirping of insects in the bushes, casual chats among friends, and the sound of strollers rolling over the bluestone paths.
Jiang Shiyan had changed into a T-shirt and casual pants, hands in his pockets.
Tang Yang’s head barely reached his shoulder. She held her phone in one hand, while her other hand was held by Jiang Shiyan and tucked into his pocket.
Both young people were exceptionally good-looking and well-matched.
Several elderly neighbors from their building recognized them and greeted them warmly: “Tang Yang and what’s his name… Jiang something, out for a walk too, eh?”
“Jiang Shiyan,” Tang Yang introduced patiently.
Jiang Shiyan nodded politely.
His hand was large and warm, the thin calluses on his palm fell on the back of her delicate hand. As they walked, the air moved around them, mixing his faint woody scent into her breath. After nightfall, the yellowish streetlights spread their glow. With each step forward, their shadows under the lights grew long and intimate.
If Jiang Shiyan wasn’t angry, such a relaxed evening walk would be very enjoyable.
But now, Tang Yang glanced at Jiang Shiyan every three seconds, each footstep filled with anxiety.
They reached a secluded path where the sounds of others were blocked by a bamboo grove.
Tang Yang stopped.
Jiang Shiyan took half a step forward out of inertia, then stopped as well.
Tang Yang looked up at the man’s profile, dimly lit by the street lamp. Her eyes flickered as she said, “I knew you were coming. Zhou Mo had communicated with the office, so I knew Wei Changqiu was coming too. When I came down from the top floor, you were only about 700 meters away from me.”
Jiang Shiyan lowered his eyes to the ground: “Mm.”
Tang Yang continued: “I’ve never had a good relationship with Gan Yiming. Then, when I was studying in B City, he used the excuse of celebrating my new relationship to treat all my colleagues to afternoon tea. It was bad enough that Zhou Xing called me up to talk about it, but I couldn’t stand him sneaking around on my computer, brazenly telling me to delete files, and threatening me about how the Jiang family would see my chaotic private life…”
Tang Yang couldn’t understand how Gan Yiming could be so vicious, but since he had come at her, she had no choice but to…
Jiang Shiyan remained silent. Tang Yang feared his silence but still confessed honestly: “He didn’t touch me. I smashed the glass myself, messed up my hair, and tore my clothes.”
Jiang Shiyan was still quiet. Tang Yang’s voice grew softer: “And the top button of the shirt… I undid that myself too.”
From start to finish, Gan Yiming hadn’t anticipated this move from Tang Yang. He hadn’t even had time to react.
After Tang Xiaocuo (Little Mistake) confessed everything, Judge Jiang still didn’t respond.
Tang Yang’s hand, enveloped in his warm palm, began to sweat slightly.
In the silence, she recalled the entire process.
“Do you think I’m quite…” Tang Yang paused, “unscrupulous?”
She forced a smile.
“No,” Jiang Shiyan slowly tightened his grip on her hand, “Given the situation, what you did was the best choice and the optimal choice.”
Tang Yang had played a game of chess. She and Jiang Shiyan had known each other for many years, with complete understanding and trust. Assuming Jiang Shiyan would take her side, she had gambled on Wei Changqiu’s face and Zhou Zisheng’s bottom line.
The worst outcome would have been a falling out with Hui Shang Bank, forcing her to seek another path. The best outcome, as it turned out that afternoon, was to use one against the other, pulling the rug out from under them. Gan Yiming’s backing was Wei Changqiu, and it was Wei Changqiu who uprooted Gan Yiming completely, destroying his foundation.
It aligned perfectly with Jiang Shiyan’s initial plan to have Yixiu do the marketing for Qianqian.
“But you’re angry?” Tang Yang tilted her head to look at him, scratching his palm.
Jiang Shiyan’s breathing became irregular, then: “No.”
Tang Yang was certain: “You are angry.”
Jiang Shiyan denied: “No.”
Tang Yang persisted: “You are angry—”
“Stop asking.” Jiang Shiyan’s tone grew heavy, his expression turning ugly.
Now, Tang Yang felt reassured.
Not only was she not afraid, but she questioned him even more loudly: “But you haven’t spoken properly to me all afternoon! Do you think I’m blind and deaf, a little Helen Keller who doesn’t know? You’re angry but keep saying you’re not.”
Jiang Shiyan slightly raised his chin, his eyelashes half-lowered, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
Tang Yang, thinking about how all her attempts to appease him had failed, suddenly felt aggrieved: “You said yourself it was the optimal choice, and I only dared to act recklessly because I knew you were coming. How can you be angry? Why are you angry—”
“Please, I beg you, stop asking! Okay? Alright? Pretty please!” Jiang Shiyan gritted out each word, his face as dark as storm clouds.
Tang Yang also lost her temper: “Not even allowed to speak, how impressive, you’re angry—”
“Of course I’m angry, why wouldn’t I be angry?!” The anger Jiang Shiyan had been holding in since the afternoon exploded like a bomb, “I’m furious at what kind of trash Hui Shang is full of, what kind of dog people, what kind of bullshit matters. But I can’t just tell you to quit your job and let me support you, can I? This isn’t some novel or TV drama.”
Jiang Shiyan grew angrier as he spoke: “I wanted nothing more than to rush up there and flip Gan Yiming’s lips over the back of his head, grab his hair, and bash his face into the trash can over and over. But I had to maintain my image, all gentle and calm, calling him ‘sir’ this and ‘sir’ that. Are you satisfied now?!”
The last few words were almost shouted.
Tang Yang, hearing him say “all gentle and calm” while remembering his ice-cold demeanor that afternoon, doubted if “gentle and calm” would want to take credit for that.
Tang Yang laughed inwardly but held Jiang Shiyan’s wrists, widening her eyes in disbelief: “You’re yelling at me…?”
“Yes, yes, yes, I’m yelling at you!” Jiang Shiyan impatiently shook off her hands, turning his head to avoid her maddening eyes.
Tang Yang wasn’t upset at being shaken off. She moved to face him again, looking at him pitifully and tentatively: “Then should I prepare to cry now?”
“Go ahead and cry! Cry!” Jiang Shiyan turned back, with Tang Yang following. Jiang Shiyan was extremely annoyed and lashed out: “Go on, cry! Why don’t you cry? If you can’t cry, should I spray some pepper spray in your eyes? That’ll make you cry, you little spicy chicken!!”
Jiang Shiyan cursed fluently without taking a breath.
Tang Yang lowered her head, silently wiping non-existent punctuation marks off her forehead. She couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Laugh! What’s so funny?! She’s laughing?!
The pepper spray Tang Yang had was bought by Jiang Shiyan, specifically chosen for its extra spiciness. Heaven knows when Tang Yang rushed over to hug him and cry, the pepper smell nearly tore his heart out. He could handle anything she did, but how could she be so reckless with herself? Didn’t her eyes hurt? Wasn’t she in pain? What the hell was she thinking?! And she’s still laughing?!
Jiang Shiyan was so angry he paced back and forth with his hands on his hips, breathing heavily, his breaths muffled and suppressed.
Tang Yang watched his nostrils flaring like a bellows, his chest heaving as if he couldn’t catch his breath.
The dim light from above cast a soft glow on Tang Yang’s curved eyebrows and eyes.
“Carry me on your back,” she stood in front of Jiang Shiyan, smiling sweetly and opening her arms to him.
Look at her, she didn’t even know what she did wrong. How thick-skinned, still asking for a piggyback ride? Was she three years old?
Jiang Dage, with his fiery temper, firmly refused, “No.”
Tang Yang waved her arms up and down, her smile growing sweeter as she insisted, “Carry me on your back.”
“No,” Jiang Shiyan frowned, turning his head away.
Seizing the opportunity, Tang Yang nimbly circled behind him. Her slender arms hooked around his neck as she attempted to climb onto his back, pleading, “Carry me, carry me, carry me.”
Jiang Dage, in his irritation, dared to say anything. “You’re too heavy. I can’t carry you.”
“I don’t care, I don’t care, I don’t care,” Yang Yang’s voice was soft and coquettish.
As she tried to climb onto Jiang Shiyan’s back, hugging his neck tightly while jumping and squirming, Jiang Shiyan let out an “Ouch!” His knees buckled, and following Tang Yang’s momentum, he began to fall backward.
Tang Yang froze for a moment, quickly composing herself. Not daring to let go completely, she supported his neck with one hand to steady him, then moved to his front. Her other hand gently touched his waist, “Did you hurt your back? Don’t move for now.”
Her small, soft hands rested like cotton against Jiang Shiyan’s neck and waist.
Jiang Shiyan felt a slight tickle, his gaze fixed on her furrowed brow as his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.
“I didn’t mean to. I thought you could carry me,” Tang Yang said remorsefully, wrinkling her face. While soothing his waist to reassure him, she maintained a calm expression as she dealt with the sudden situation, fishing out his phone from Jiang Shiyan’s pocket. “I’ll call your assistant right away to bring the car over. There’s a clinic at the park entrance—”
Jiang Shiyan’s arms swiftly moved under Tang Yang’s arms and knees, suddenly lifting her in a princess carry.
Tang Yang let out a soft “Ah!” as her delicate skirt fluttered around her slender calves in Jiang Shiyan’s arms.
Jiang Shiyan started running with Tang Yang in his arms, explaining seriously as he went, “We have to run fast, or my wife will catch up to us.”
“Where’s your wife? Where?” Tang Yang came to her senses, peering out from his side to look behind them. With exaggerated seriousness, she covered half her face with the phone, “I’ll use this frying pan to hide my face, and she won’t be able to see us.”
“If you can see her, she can see you,” he replied.
The stone path was uneven like a chessboard, but although Jiang Shiyan ran quickly, each step was steady. In a few strides, he carried Tang Yang out of the small path and into a patch of bright light.
Jiang Shiyan stopped, looking up at the distant moon.
Tang Yang followed Jiang Shiyan’s gaze and saw that tonight’s moon was full and round, with a hazy dark glow like a thin veil covering its surface.
The average orbital radius of the moon is 384,403 kilometers.
After looking for a while, Tang Yang played along and remarked, “Your wife… is big.”
Jiang Shiyan had expected Yang Yang to say something else, and after waiting so long for this comment, he was both amused and exasperated. He pretended to loosen his grip as if to drop Tang Yang.
Feeling herself wobble, Tang Yang quickly tightened her arms around his neck, frightened.
Jiang Shiyan chuckled secretly, securing the small bundle in his arms before running forward again, carefree and directionless.
Tang Yang, also capable of being wild, especially nestled in his arms where passersby couldn’t see her face, let out soft “Ah, ah” cries, framing Jiang Shiyan. Her face pressed against Jiang Shiyan’s chest, burning red and hot from his clear, strong heartbeat.
Night fell, with few pedestrians around, and the wind whistled in their ears.
Jiang Shiyan carried Tang Yang to a small shop in a remote area before setting her down.
Both leaned on their knees, panting heavily in sync. Jiang Shiyan, being frugal, bought only one bottle of water, which they shared. He then bought some dusty fireworks from the shop, and together they climbed to a deserted hillock by the lake.
At the top of the slope was a viewing platform with an open grassy area in front.
“Why set off fireworks?” Tang Yang asked as she held the lighter, helping Jiang Shiyan who was unwrapping the plastic.
Jiang Shiyan thought for a moment, “Today is May 4th, Youth Day.”
Tang Yang suppressed a laugh, “Try another reason.”
Jiang Shiyan: “To celebrate Conan’s birthday.”
Tang Yang: “Another one.”
Jiang Shiyan: “The formation of Mayday.”
“But you prefer Sodagreen,” Tang Yang smiled. The swelling around her eyes had subsided, and her pupils were like clear springs, bright and sparkling.
Jiang Shiyan lit the fuse, grabbed Tang Yang’s wrist, and pulled her back. They both fell sitting on the dew-dampened grass.
The scent of actinomycetes and fresh grass filled their nostrils. With a “hiss,” the firework shot into the sky, bursting open with a “bang” in the night.
“Tang Yang is a bad person!” Jiang Shiyan shouted along with the sound of the fireworks, his voice as solid and dependable as bedrock.
Of course, Tang Yang knew why Jiang Shiyan was setting off fireworks.
Back in high school, Tang Yang had been a study representative for a while. The other study representative, also a girl, often tattled to the homeroom teacher, saying certain subject teachers had called out Tang Yang and Jiang Shiyan for talking in class. Both Tang Yang and Jiang Shiyan found her annoying. Whenever that study representative scored lower than Tang Yang on a test, Tang Yang and Jiang Shiyan would splurge on three fried eggs each at the noodle shop by the school gate. When the study representative underperformed in the college entrance exam, they outwardly consoled her along with everyone else, but that night they couldn’t contain their joy and spent the entire evening playing games at an internet cafe.
Looking back now, they were childish!
Now, as a sophisticated urban woman and a bank executive, Tang Yang’s expression turned scornful for a moment before she turned to shout at the night sky: “Jiang Shiyan is a bad person!”
Jiang Shiyan yelled: “Tang Yang is stupid and weak-minded!”
Tang Yang shouted: “Jiang Shiyan is stupid and weak-minded!”
“Tang Yang is an idiot!”
“Jiang Shiyan is an idiot!”
“…”
Towards the end of their back-and-forth, Jiang Shiyan glanced at Tang Yang: “Tang Yang is invincibly handsome, cool, and awesome!”
Tang Yang, leaning back on her hands with her eyes narrowed to slits, retorted: “Jiang Shiyan is the universe’s most invincibly super-duper big dummy!”
Jiang Shiyan was quite annoyed.
But she was happy, and as his annoyance faded, he found himself smiling.
They continued shouting randomly for a long time until their voices became as dry and raspy as rusty metal, but they had no water left.
Both laughing and exhausted, the oppressive pressure and unpleasantness from earlier seemed to have dissipated in their fatigue.
The distant moon rushed to perform a magic trick, with half suspended in the night sky and half sinking into the lake.
The sky and water mirrored each other, rippling with light. Two neat rows of street lamps illuminated a celestial market, beginning at the heart of the moon in the water and ending at the heart of the moon in the sky. In the tranquility, one unconsciously softened their breath.
On the small hill, Tang Yang’s hand was five centimeters away from Jiang Shiyan’s.
Jiang Shiyan’s pinky moved, Tang Yang’s pinky moved, and their fingertips barely touched before interlocking.
The rustling sound was their hands moving on the grass, like ripples stirring in the moon.
Tang Yang gently poked Jiang Shiyan’s palm, gesturing for him to look.
“The moonlight is beautiful tonight,” Jiang Shiyan said casually.
Tang Yang was about to criticize him for not being serious when she turned and met his deep, dark eyes. Jiang Shiyan wore a tender expression, smiling. He slowly brushed her stray hair behind her ear, his low voice carrying a hint of lazy charm.
“But I can’t help but look at you instead.”