After an intense battle of words, the vendor finally compromised with an expression that seemed to say, “I’ll soon be out of business at this rate.” Fang Ya En took out her phone to pay with Alipay, then turned to see Ye Meng returning from her cigarette break, and said with a smile: “I bought a few pounds of small salted fish. You can take some to the old lady, and also give some to Li—”
Before she could finish, Fang Ya En noticed Jiang Lu Zhi and Li Jin Yu entering behind her, and suddenly understood why Ye Meng had returned from her smoke break looking like a bitter lemon. Her gaze lingered for only a few seconds before she swallowed the second half of her sentence and cleared her throat, adding random details: “I also saved some for your little boyfriend.”
Ye Meng gave her arm an annoyed pinch, warning her not to stir up trouble. Unexpectedly, Fang Ya En continued brazenly: “Really, that male nurse isn’t bad. He’s handsome, just graduated, sensible and obedient, and most importantly, doesn’t have any messy ex-girlfriends.”
Recently, the old lady had indeed introduced Ye Meng to a young male nurse, four years her junior, with a rather sweet face. At that time, Li Jin Yu had rejected her so thoroughly that she tried having a meal with the nurse, found it rather bland, and didn’t pursue contact afterward.
Ye Meng knew Fang Ya En was trying to provoke Li Jin Yu. Like a spectator completely detached from the situation, she smiled and whispered: “How childish are you?”
However, for all of Fang Ya En’s indirect provocations, the two at the entrance showed no reaction. Jiang Lu Zhi asked Li Jin Yu to wait for her at the door, and he complied obediently. His tall, slender silhouette stood with his head lowered at the entrance, truly not entering as instructed.
Fang Ya En had repeated a grade and was once the top girl in town. Even elite types like Jiang Lu Zhi who made it big elsewhere would respectfully greet her with “Sister Ya En” when they met.
Jiang Lu Zhi was indeed very polite and considerate. But Fang Ya En simply didn’t like her, finding her too calculating and deep. She had little interaction with her during school and still didn’t like engaging with her after graduation. She responded with a cold “mm” and then pulled Ye Meng to leave directly.
“Ye Meng, please wait,” Jiang Lu Zhi suddenly called out to them. “Gou Kai asked me to bring you something from Beijing. I almost forgot. It’s in my car. Why don’t we go get it together now?”
Ye Meng felt Gou Kai couldn’t have anything important for her, and Jiang Lu Zhi probably just wanted to show off her ostentatious Porsche to her and Fang Ya En.
“What is it? If it’s nothing important, just throw it away,” Ye Meng said.
Jiang Lu Zhi looked helpless, spreading her hands: “I’m just responsible for delivering it. I know you don’t want to see me, but you know what Gou Kai is like. If you don’t take it today, I’ll have to deliver it to your home another day. Or I could give the key to the handsome guy at the door, and you could go with him?”
She finished speaking and immediately took out the key from her bag, tossing it to Li Jin Yu at the door without further discussion: “Little brother, accompany her to get something from my car. It’s on the back seat, a white box.”
Li Jin Yu looked particularly spirited today. Previously, his sideburns had been rather long, and his bangs often covered his eyes, making him look gloomy when silent. Now his sideburns were cut short, revealing a clean, full forehead. The contours of his cheeks were clearer and smoother. His face was thin, his eyes deep, like wet black glass beads—clean and youthful beyond comparison. His brow had a more boyish quality, like a vibrant young man.
Even Fang Ya En, a married woman usually immune to good looks, whispered in her ear: “If this guy seriously cleaned up, he could probably captivate crowds.”
Ye Meng thought he looked handsome this way, but not much different from other ordinary handsome guys on the street. She preferred his previous appearance which evoked sympathy.
Fang Ya En had parked in the back alley and went in the opposite direction to get her car. Ye Meng followed Li Jin Yu through the tidal wave of people shopping for New Year’s goods. Her nose could no longer smell the heavy seafood odor but instead detected the faint scent of men’s cologne on Li Jin Yu.
“Are you wearing cologne?” Ye Meng asked casually.
The farmers’ market was noisy shouting, hawking, and arguing that never ceased. Li Jin Yu didn’t hear clearly and instinctively bent down to lean in closer. “Hmm?”
His faint breath brushed Ye Meng’s face. She remained expressionless and repeated her question.
This time Li Jin Yu heard clearly. He looked down at her, shaking his head with emphasis: “Not at all.”
Ye Meng had been with Gou Kai for many years and knew men’s cologne inside out—she could guess most of the notes from start to finish. Seeing an ex-girlfriend brought out so many pretenses, yet he still denied it? Not cute at all. She coldly replied with an “oh” and couldn’t be bothered to continue the conversation.
“You don’t believe me?” Li Jin Yu wasn’t completely clueless about women and could sense Ye Meng’s sarcastic tone. He explained, “It’s my grandmother. She hasn’t bathed for too long, so I sprayed some cologne on her this morning. We only have one bottle of men’s cologne at home, and it belongs to Yang Tian Wei.” He casually lifted the fabric of his shirt to his chest and sniffed, confirming he could smell it too. “It probably transferred.”
“Oh,” Ye Meng asked seriously, “How is your grandmother’s health?”
“Still recovering,” he said without elaborating.
Ye Meng had nothing more to ask, so she simply said, “Oh.”
Li Jin Yu responded: “Mm.”
Ye Meng: “Oh.”
Li Jin Yu still: “Mm.”
“Oh.”
“Mm.”
“Oh.”
“Mm.”
“…”
The two walked to the car with this exchange of “oh” and “mm” the entire way. Li Jin Yu skillfully unlocked the car, and Ye Meng inwardly sneered again. She bent down to take the white box from the back seat without a word to him: “Let’s go.”
Li Jin Yu supported himself against the car roof over the back seat, standing in the open doorway, and looked down with a helpless smile.
Fang Ya En’s car had yet to appear, so Ye Meng could only stand by the roadside holding the white box, aimlessly waiting. Li Jin Yu closed the car door and half-sat against the Porsche’s hood, not leaving either.
In the town, Porsche already attracted significant attention. Add a handsome man blatantly leaning against it, and it practically became a 5A-level scenic spot. Anyone passing by couldn’t help but repeatedly look back.
The human attraction was seriously playing with his phone.
Li Jin Yu was scrolling through Ye Meng’s Moments. She had posted a lot of content, like fish crossing a river, sharing whatever was trending. And her profile was completely open. His fingers were sore from scrolling until he finally found a photo of her with Gou Kai from March or April 2019.
Lemon Leaf: [Just landed in Guangzhou, booked the wrong hotel. Boss Gou says we can’t expense it and I’ll have to sleep on the street.]
Fang Ya En replied: [Where will he sleep?]
Lemon Leaf replied: [He says he’s rich, so he’s staying in the presidential suite, which doesn’t need to be expensed.]
Fang Ya En replied: [He wants you to sleep in his presidential suite.]
The accompanying pictures showed Ye Meng sitting on a swinging swing eating a popsicle with a bewildered expression, seemingly trying to block the camera because she didn’t want to be photographed. However, the photographer was skilled at capturing candid moments and caught this blurry, startled shot.
Li Jin Yu could imagine how intimate the two must have been that night. Otherwise, Ye Meng wouldn’t have taken a separate photo of Gou Kai sitting and smoking.
Gou Kai was the best photographer in their group. He had a dressing room at home filled with various cameras and lenses, piled up like mountains. In the past, Li Jin Yu would give him hard-to-find cameras and countless lenses every year.
To be honest, after not seeing him for so long, Gou Kai’s methods of pursuing women had only improved.
Li Jin Yu put his phone back in his pocket and looked up, staring at Ye Meng standing by the roadside. He lowered his head and thought for two or three seconds as if making some decision. Just as he was about to step forward, Jiang Lu Zhi’s voice came unexpectedly from behind: “Little brother, what are you thinking about? Let’s go.”
Both Ye Meng and Jiang Lu Zhi liked to call him “little brother.” From Ye Meng, it was purely playful, teasing, even flirtatious. From Jiang Lu Zhi, it was treating him like a genuine younger brother, with the air of an elder commanding a junior.