"Mr. Jiang?"

"Yes."

"Please take a seat in the back. Help yourself to water and wet wipes. This ride is headed to xx, it’s an honor to serve you."

Jiang Nian nodded and turned to look out the window. The surrounding buildings were low, the streetlights dim and yellow, the view wide open.

He didn’t know if it was just an illusion, but Beijing at night carried a bleak sort of atmosphere, solemn and austere.

This was the administrative center, the heart of the city.

Vrrr!!

His phone lit up with a call. Jiang Nian lowered his eyes for a glance. It was the class monitor, so he answered without thinking.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?" Li Qingrong’s tone was steady, betraying no emotion. "Are you in the car?"

"Uh... wasn’t it you who called this car?"

"Yeah."

Li Qingrong’s voice was calm, like it was only natural. "So where are you now, and how long till you get here?"

Jiang Nian: "???"

"Uh... almost there, I’ll check..."

After chatting for a bit, he hung up and couldn’t help lowering his gaze in thought. That place sounded like a residential compound.

Didn’t sound like any kind of hotel.

Hmm...

He honestly didn’t know if coming this time was right or wrong. But there was no doubt he had no room to refuse.

Nothing he could do—Qingqing knew way too much.

And she was his angel investor.

Jiang Nian felt a little on edge, then thought again that this kind of felt like... forget it. Things had come to this, he might as well go see.

When he arrived, it was a mid- to high-end residential compound.

Li Qingrong was waiting at the gate, wearing a white shirt. She raised a hand to him, her figure tall and slender.

"Over here."

Jiang Nian felt a bit dazed; they hadn’t really seen each other much in almost a month. For a moment, it was actually a little awkward.

"Oh, oh."

He walked over, about to take out the gift.

"Qingqing, this is what I brought you..."

He was suddenly pulled into a hug, almost to the point he couldn’t breathe.

"Cough, cough!!"

Li Qingrong also seemed a bit embarrassed and let him go.

"You sure took your time getting here."

"Not really, that was pretty fast." Jiang Nian took her hand. "Oh right, where’s your sister?"

Li Qingrong: "..."

As expected, Jiang Nian immediately got smacked. "Hiss~~ I mean, does she know I’m here?"

Li Qingrong shot him a look. "What are you expecting?"

"No, I mean," he said, "your sister definitely doesn’t want me to come, so I’m just asking."

"Mm." Li Qingrong nodded, her expression indifferent. "She said I couldn’t, but I didn’t listen."

"Uh..."

Well, you couldn’t say that wasn’t reasonable.

The two of them went into the compound together, winding paths leading deeper inside. The lights were dim, just bright enough to see the road.

Hazy and soft, with a certain beauty to it. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"You live with your sister?" Jiang Nian suddenly realized a blind spot. She couldn’t still be living at home.

"Yeah." Li Qingrong turned to look at him. "She’s on a business trip. She’ll be back the day after tomorrow."

Hearing that, Jiang Nian froze.

"So that’s what July sixth meant?"

"What else?" Li Qingrong countered, her tone cool and clear. "I told you to come earlier."

Jiang Nian: "???"

Like hell anyone would guess that.

Couldn’t she just say it straight... oh, right, this kind of thing, yeah... girls can’t really be that blunt.

Otherwise it’d sound like...

But even if she didn’t say it straight, if he had come earlier, it didn’t seem all that different from, well, that.

"I was busy back then."

"Selling clothes?" Of course Li Qingrong knew, she replied to his messages every day. "How’s it going?"

"Pretty good, steadily improving." Jiang Nian didn’t talk too big. "Once I make money, I’ll treat you to dinner."

Li Qingrong nodded. "Mm."

She swiped her card and they got in the elevator, standing side by side. Jiang Nian was about to take out his phone when he suddenly heard the class monitor say:

"She’s going to Beijing University too?"

Jiang Nian’s hand shook, and he almost dropped his phone.

"You mean Xu Shuang?"

"Her grades are good enough... but I haven’t really asked, so it’s probably one of the two she’ll choose from."

"Mm." Li Qingrong just gave him a look.

Once they got inside, Jiang Nian let out a breath of relief. This trip was the dangerous part; if he survived until the day after tomorrow, he’d count that as a win.

The day after tomorrow, Li Lanying would be back.

Enemy and friend in one—whoever said that was really something (thumbs up).

After they went in, Jiang Nian was settled in the guest room. He hadn’t brought much, so once he put his stuff down, he went back out.

He wandered around outside for a bit and then picked a random food court to grab dinner.

Along the way, Jiang Nian steered clear of certain topics and basically kept the conversation around Li Qingrong, asking how she’d been this last half month.

"Interning at your sister’s company?"

"Yeah."

"What do you do there?"

"Not much to do, mostly miscellaneous stuff." Li Qingrong sounded a bit helpless.

"Oh~~!"

Jiang Nian understood. Li Lanying was keeping a close eye on her. Mostly to keep the class monitor busy and distract her.

Some things, you just needed to cool down from.

Something like that.

He snapped out of it and hesitated before asking, "So... in your sister’s eyes, am I basically a lingering ghost that won’t go away?"

Li Qingrong actually smiled for once, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly.

"Mm."

Jiang Nian: "..."

Fuck, he was clearly the one being coerced here. But he couldn’t say that—if he didn’t want to, who could coerce him?

"Fine." He nodded, took two bites of food. "Then I should leave before the day after tomorrow?"

"Why?" Li Qingrong asked.

"Huh?" Jiang Nian didn’t get it. In his head, he was thinking, what do you mean why? "Isn’t your sister coming back?"

"So what?"

"Um..." Jiang Nian felt awkward and sensed danger. "It’s just not really good, it’d be weird if we all stayed together."

"Besides, don’t you have to go to work too?"

Hearing that, Li Qingrong sighed. "Yeah, I promised her before, so I had to come."

"When does it end?"

"Before school starts."

"I see, that is pretty long." Jiang Nian nodded, thoughtful. This move of Li Lanying’s was actually...

Pretty good.

A lucky break that extended his lifespan.

After all, there was no way he could stay in Beijing long-term. Objective conditions didn’t allow for it. In Yuhang he still had room to survive.

After dinner, they strolled slowly back.

Jiang Nian more or less understood the situation now and silently vowed to never call Li Lanying an old hag again.

Who knew about later, but for now he’d lived to see another day.

Night deepened.

After washing up, Jiang Nian changed into his pajamas. He didn’t dare wander into the living room and stayed obediently in the guest room.

In an unfamiliar environment, he was inevitably a little restrained.

But this time he was mainly here to see the class monitor. He wouldn’t be staying long; after a brief stop, he’d head back.

Once things picked up in Yuhang, he wouldn’t be able to get away.

First make a small profit, then start school. Even if he’d be studying, living in Beijing was never going to be easy.

Better to get ready now so he wouldn’t always feel this constrained.

He was lost in thought when he suddenly heard a knock at the door—dong, dong, dong. He froze for a moment, then called out.

"Come in."

Li Qingrong opened the door, her hair damp. Looked like she’d just showered, even her eyes looked dewy.

She glanced over Jiang Nian and spoke.

"Help me blow-dry my hair."

"Oh, oh." Jiang Nian stood up, suddenly reminded of Jing Mansion. "In the living room?"

"My room."

"Huh?"

Li Qingrong’s room was simply furnished: solid wood floors, a white wardrobe, all in a Nordic style.

Whooo, the hair dryer roared.

Jiang Nian helped blow her hair, his fingers weaving through the smooth dark strands, blow-drying it into a style.

"Done."

He wasn’t entirely sure, so he touched the hair on her forehead. "Should be all dry now."

He couldn’t resist, and brushed her cheek.

Soft and springy.

After hesitating for a bit, Jiang Nian still laid out his plan. "Qingqing, I’ll probably the day after tomorrow..."

"We’ll talk tomorrow." Li Qingrong stood up and gently wrapped her arms around him, her hands hooking behind his neck.

Bit by bit, drawing closer.

The air was like someone had tossed a burning coal into it, the tiny soft gap between them melting away millimeter by millimeter like sugar.

Li Qingrong’s whole body went still, like someone had hit pause. Her breathing turned hot, spiking in that moment of contact.

Her eyes were closed, her lashes trembling.

Yet it was still as if flecks of golden light were filtering in, bit by bit, shining straight into her heart.

Spreading a warm glow all over.