Jiangg Yao’s sweatshirt was splattered with oil, and a piece of eggshell was stuck in her hair, but none of that could diminish the excited look on her face.
She held a plate of scrambled eggs with tomato, the ingredients perfectly blended together, if a bit mushy.
Like a child showing off an achievement, she presented it to Chen Yuan, biting her lip and asking happily, "Look. Doesn’t it look appetizing?"
"...Of course it does!"
Chen Yuan couldn’t bear to ruin her good mood. He could see how much effort Jiangg Yao had put into this meal, so he clapped with a huge smile on his face. "This is great! Let’s eat!"
Steam rose in white wisps from the food. Jiangg Yao took a deep, satisfied sniff.
"I finally cooked a dish all by myself, the first one in my entire life!" she exclaimed, holding back the urge to cry, overwhelmed with emotion.
Two bowls of rice and one plate of food.
That was their dinner.
They sat on the couch together, ignoring issues like "I forgot the salt, let’s add some," "I didn’t put in the chopped scallions," and "The rice is a little undercooked." They stuffed the food into their mouths, bite after bite, with Chen Yuan occasionally offering an awkward compliment: "Delicious, delicious."
Jiangg Yao knew it wasn’t delicious. She pressed her lips together, a little embarrassed.
She lifted her face to gaze at Chen Yuan and was suddenly filled with happiness.
Not just ordinary happiness, but a deep, profound happiness.
Meanwhile, the entire city of Lanjing was being battered by a torrential downpour. The raindrops were so dense they seemed to collide and shatter mid-air, landing as a fine spray. The sky was as black as ink. At a certain intersection, traffic had ground to a halt. A chorus of car horns blared, and the bright glare of taillights was piercing, like countless pairs of angry eyes.
But here, in this cozy apartment in Fengting District, two people were whispering to each other.
It made one feel that no matter how fierce the storm outside, as long as they had each other to hold for warmth, nothing else mattered.
’So this is what love is like...’
「After dinner.」
The two of them were sprawled on the couch together when Jiangg Yao suddenly realized a very serious problem!
She held up her phone, showing Chen Yuan with a shocked expression. "It’s only been two hours, and some places already have their underground garages flooded! The news says the drainage systems can’t keep up. You can’t even walk on the streets."
"Our district should be fine."
"That’s not what I mean..." Jiangg Yao mumbled, pulling her sweatshirt down over her knees. She poked her fingers together, her gaze drifting. "How am I supposed to get home tonight?"
’That’s right!’
Chen Yuan snapped to attention. With the rain this heavy, it would definitely be dangerous for her to drive home.
’Doesn’t that mean... tonight, we’ll have to...’
’A man and a woman, alone in a room together, unable to go home, forced to share a bed???’
Chen Yuan suddenly grew nervous. ’Isn’t our relationship moving a little too fast?’ This was the difference between the girl chasing the boy and the boy chasing the girl. It wasn’t that guys weren’t reserved; it was that they didn’t pretend to be.
’During a relationship, being physically close is fine, of course. But girls can be shy. They worry that if things move too fast, their partner will think they’re easy and won’t cherish them.’
Chen Yuan didn’t think that way at all. So when Jiangg Yao initiated their cuddling, he was more than happy to enjoy the feeling of blushing cheeks and racing pulses together.
’But fast-forwarding to the ’paid content’ part of things...’
Chen Yuan shook those thoughts from his head. He lowered his gaze and glanced at Jiangg Yao. She looked equally bashful, and her evasive demeanor was adorable. She was already a beautiful older sister type, which was incredibly tempting for an eighteen-year-old boy.
’Honestly, it’s hard to hold back.’
They both fell into a shared silence. Although nothing physical was happening, their imaginations were running wild, leaving them with dry mouths, unsure of what to do.
Jiangg Yao nervously twisted the hem of her clothes. She was dying of anxiety; her mind was a complete mess.
’It’s almost funny, but in her entire life, she’d never once spent the night away from home.’ This was one way she was completely different from Jiangg Ning: she couldn’t sleep in unfamiliar beds.
’Jiangg Yao was completely unable to sleep in unfamiliar environments. And unlike her previous forwardness, she hadn’t come over with any intention of staying the night. After all, her apartment was just next door. She could just say the word and go right back, no need to even walk outside at night.’
’When she first came to Lanjing to rent an apartment, she couldn’t sleep for several days, waking up intermittently.’
’Opening her eyes to a completely strange room filled her with an indescribable panic.’
’Thankfully, her sister was sound asleep beside her. Listening to the steady rhythm of her breathing, Jiangg Yao had snuggled closer, pulling her sister’s hand over to rest on her, which made her feel a little better.’
’But when it came to romance, if Jiangg Ning was the more traditional one who felt that cuddling was the absolute limit and was more shy...’
’...then she, by contrast, was a little more open.’
’That much was clear from the way she had initiated their kiss.’
’However, a girl’s innocence is something she values immensely.’
’Spending the night at a guy’s place is an absolute no-go.’
’On this point, the two sisters were in complete agreement.’
Thinking of this, Jiangg Yao snuck a glance at Chen Yuan, suddenly at a loss for words.
’The rain outside is so heavy. What if I say I want to go home, and he says no?’ she thought. ’I know Chen Yuan is just concerned about my safety. He’s not necessarily some little pervert; I can tell that from our time together.’
’So should I agree to stay, or refuse?’
’If I refuse, will he be disappointed?’
A problem bound to arise in any relationship had just occurred so suddenly. Jiangg Yao agonized over whether to stick to her principles and refuse to stay the night, or to follow her heart and see where the racing pulse led...
’Even if I agree to stay, there’s still another problem.’
’What if Jiangg Ning calls to check up on me tonight and finds out I’m not home, that I’m out ’messing around’?!’
’If that happens, I don’t even have to think about it. The outcome would be a fate worse than death!’
To maintain this relationship, Jiangg Yao was practically turning into a double agent. She didn’t have the courage to tell her sister that she had broken their mother’s rules and found a boyfriend, nor did she have the courage to tell Chen Yuan that the person he liked had... split in two. She was two different people.
’She’d told so many lies. It was impossible not to feel guilty. How many more would she have to tell?’
...
Just then, Chen Yuan spoke up.
"How about this? I’ll walk you home. You don’t live too far from here, right?"
Hearing this, Jiangg Yao snapped her head up to look at him. "For real?"
"Of course."
"How would you take me?"
Chen Yuan thought for a moment, then stood up and looked down from the window.
"The streets are a total gridlock. If it’s not far, we can walk. We’ll just end up soaked to the bone. You have cold medicine at your place, right?"
"I do."
"Alright then. We’ll gear up. I’ve got a few waterproof jackets in my closet. The kind with hoods. I bought them for hiking."
Seeing him shrug, his expression utterly sincere, it was clear he wasn’t joking.
Jiangg Yao was completely and utterly stunned.
’He can be this pure? My little young master...’
’This wasn’t just a lamb walking into a tiger’s den. This was a plump, tender, and delicious lamb standing right at the tiger’s throat, and the tiger just says, "Little lamb, let me walk you home."’
At that moment, Jiangg Yao was more than just touched. She just blinked, staring blankly.
Her gaze toward Chen Yuan now had an automatic filter on it.
’This is so... boyfriend material!’
’So cool!’
’He really is the guy I like.’
Jiangg Yao could have stamped her feet and beaten her chest with emotion. Her dilemma was solved in an instant.
’To be honest, even if her new boyfriend couldn’t control his urges right now, ignored her whimpering pleas, and forcefully washed, peeled, and devoured her, Jiangg Yao would have understood.’
’After all, she was a drop-dead gorgeous beauty. It was the same feeling she got when she teased her sister—staring at a face like that all day, her only regret was that she wasn’t a man.’
’What to do?’
He had offered to take her home, and now Jiangg Yao was actually starting to feel bad about it.
She vowed internally: ’Chen, I’ll remember what you did today. When we get married, I’ll have at least five kids for you! Otherwise, I’d be letting you down! Waaah...’