Chapter 67
Jiang Mu went on a three-day business trip to Pucheng. Before leaving, she noticed all her colleagues had bought crisp pears to bring back to their families. She felt like she should buy some too, though when it came to family, the only person she had in Nanjing was Jin Chao.
So, after buying them, she snapped a photo of the pears and sent it to Jin Chao with a message:
I’m coming back today. Bought you some pears.
But shortly after, Jin Chao replied: I’m not in Nanjing.
Disappointed, Jiang Mu didn’t respond to him for the entire journey back.
After dropping off her luggage at her rented apartment, Jiang Mu headed to OON in the evening with the pears in hand. All three staff were there, and business was doing well. When Xiao Ke saw her, she immediately lit up with a smile, “You went on a business trip, didn’t you?”
Lightning bolted out from the changing room. Jiang Mu crouched down and scooped him into her arms, hugging him tightly before replying to Xiao Ke, “Just got home.”
Then she placed the pears on the counter to share with them. “These were originally for your boss, but since he’s not around, make sure you finish them for him.”
Gu Tao came over, too. “Ooh, what’d we get?”
Jiang Mu smiled. “One OON, please. Thanks.”
She reached for her phone, ready to scan and pay, but the manager, Sister Fang, stepped in and blocked the QR code. “Boss’s orders, no charge when you come in.”
Jiang Mu froze for a second, then smiled and put her phone away without further protest.
Lightning kept circling her feet, tail wagging. Sister Fang asked, “You must know the boss, right? No wonder Mendan recognizes you.”
Jiang Mu replied, “Of course, I know him. This is my dog.”
The three staff members exchanged surprised glances, but seeing how clingy and loyal Lightning was acting, they couldn’t help but believe it. After all, Lightning was famously aloof even with them; he rarely responded, let alone showed affection.
Sitting on a high stool, Jiang Mu tapped the bar with her knuckles and said, “Let me ask you something. Has your boss ever been married? Or… does he have a girlfriend?”
Xiao Ke blinked in confusion, looking from Gu Tao to Sister Fang. Gu Tao shrugged. “Don’t ask me, I have no idea.”
Sister Fang hesitated before answering carefully, “The boss is always busy. We really don’t know much about his personal life.”
Seeing that she wasn’t getting any useful answers, Jiang Mu shifted her line of questioning. “Then why is he always traveling? Is it work-related, or does he live elsewhere?”
Gu Tao responded casually, “The boss isn’t employed by any company, as far as I know. He can’t really handle a nine-to-five job.”
Jiang Mu looked up, puzzled. “What’s wrong with his health?”
Sister Fang set the cup in the sink and discreetly nudged Gu Tao. Startled, Gu Tao lifted his gaze to Jiang Mu and explained, “It’s just that he still has to manage the cafe, and he’s often needed at the school. Taking on a full-time job on top of that would be too much for anyone’s health.”
Jiang Mu nodded. Since she wasn’t paying, she felt too embarrassed to let them serve her coffee, so she simply made it herself and took a seat in the same corner behind the pillar as last time. Then she waved at Lightning, who immediately trotted over and settled quietly beside her.
Jiang Mu took out her phone, leaned down, and snapped a photo from above, capturing the coffee, herself, and Lightning in the frame. She sent the picture to Jin Chao with the message: Thanks for the free coffee.
Jin Chao replied: I’ll be back tomorrow.
Satisfied, Jiang Mu put her phone away with a smile.
After sitting for a while, Lightning escorted her out of the courtyard, but unlike before, the dog continued to follow her step for step even after she left the courtyard, leaving Xiao Ke, who had rushed out after them, at a loss.
Jiang Mu simply said to her, “I’ll take him home. Your boss can come pick him up tomorrow when he’s back.”
With that, Jiang Mu walked off with Lightning, who obediently trailed behind. Xiao Ke hurried back into the shop and urged Gu Tao to call the boss. After a few short words over the phone, Gu Tao hung up.
Xiao Ke asked anxiously, “What did the boss say?”
Gu Tao turned to her and replied, “He just said, ‘Got it.’”
Xiao Ke finally let out a relieved sigh.
Since she had returned late from her business trip the night before, Jiang Mu had the morning off the next day. She took Lightning out for a walk, then went to the institute in the afternoon. In the evening, she bought some groceries and came home to cook. As she stir-fried, Lightning sprawled on the kitchen floor, keeping her company. While simmering the sauce over low heat, Jiang Mu stared blankly at the stove, wondering if Jin Chao usually did the same.
At least he had Lightning with him, though. She had nothing. The thought made her mood sour again.
The very culprit of her irritation texted her at seven, asking for her address. So, Jiang Mu sent him the name of her apartment complex, along with her building number.
Forty minutes later, he arrived, but he didn’t come upstairs. Instead, he simply messaged: I’m here. Waiting downstairs.
Jiang Mu took Lightning and went down, spotting Jin Chao standing beneath a ginkgo tree. Perhaps because he had just returned from his business trip, he was dressed rather formally, in a dark long-sleeved shirt, its cuffs and collar buttoned with meticulous precision. At his feet lay a scattering of golden ginkgo leaves, and the dim streetlight cast his tall, straight silhouette in a faint glow.
It struck her as strange. Over the years, Jiang Mu had met all kinds of people—handsome ones, those from good families, the highly educated, yet none had stirred her heart the way they once might have. Sometimes, she even wondered if her emotions had aged decades, leaving her incapable of feeling that kind of excitement again. But the moment she saw Jin Chao, the uncontrollable tension and fluttering in her chest made one thing clear that there would never be anyone else. Only this man had the power to effortlessly unsettle her.
Jiang Mu walked toward him in soft-soled flats, dressed casually. She had, after all, saved a few crisp pears for him—sweet ones, bought sparingly because she hadn’t wanted to carry too much, and even then, she’d barely eaten any herself. She handed him the bag, and Jin Chao took it.
Jin Chao accepted them. Jiang Mu asked, “Have you had dinner?”
He replied, “Ate on the way back.”
Jiang Mu frowned slightly. “Didn’t I send you the building number? Why didn’t you come up?”
Jin Chao glanced up at the building but didn’t answer. Jiang Mu narrowed her eyes and added deliberately, “He’s not home.”
Jin Chao silently surveyed the neighborhood. It was clean and well-kept, but the buildings were from the early 2000s—nearly twenty years old now. The complex had plenty of renters, and the residents were a mixed crowd.
His gaze returned to her and asked quietly, “You’re living at his place now?”
Jiang Mu shook her head. “He doesn’t own a place. We’re renting here.”
Jin Chao’s eyes darkened as they lingered on her face. “Weren’t you getting married at the end of the year? No plans to buy a place?”
Jiang Mu answered matter-of-factly, “Yeah, we can’t afford it. He makes a little over four thousand a month, and after taxes and insurance, there’s not much left. I’m still an intern right now, but once I’m full-time, I’ll live frugally and save to help with the down payment.”
Jin Chao’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly as he studied her. Jiang Mu turned away. “I just finished eating. I’ll walk with you a bit and see you out.”
The two walked along the tree-lined path outside the neighborhood, flanked by tall plane trees whose shadows dappled the pavement under the streetlights. Jiang Mu held Lightning’s leash while Jin Chao carried the bag of pears, both moving at a leisurely pace with a careful one-person gap between them, as though to keep some unspoken boundary.
Jiang Mu broke the silence, “San Lai said Lightning went missing. Why was he with you?”
Jin Chao paused before answering, “You’d just settled abroad. Probably didn’t want to trouble you, so they sent him to me.”
“And you weren’t troubled by that?”
Jin Chao replied lightly, “It was fine.”
Lightning trotted obediently ahead, glancing back at them every few steps. Jiang Mu, her voice slightly chilly, asked, “Who was it that refused to let me keep him back then?”
The corners of Jin Chao’s eyes softened slightly, though he remained silent. Jiang Mu peeked at him from the corner of her eye, feeling the corners of her own eyes curve upward gently.
Though she hadn’t lived here long and much of the city still felt unfamiliar, walking beside Jin Chao suddenly made her feel as if she’d belonged here for years. A strange yet comforting sense of belonging filled her heart without warning.
But then, as if suddenly recalling something, Jiang Mu spoke deliberately with a hint of sourness, “You really have a big heart, raising your ex-girlfriend’s dog, naming your café after your ex-girlfriend, and even coming out at night to walk the dog with your ex-girlfriend. Doesn’t your wife mind?”
Jin Chao glanced at her silently. Jiang Mu met his gaze directly, “Am I wrong? Aren’t I your ex-girlfriend?”
Jin Chao looked away and threw the question back at her, “Doesn’t your boyfriend mind you strolling around with another man at night?”
Jiang Mu responded naturally, “Why would he mind? He often takes other girls out for karaoke anyway. Have I said anything?”
Jin Chao frowned slightly, asking, “How does he treat you?”
Jiang Mu replied casually, “Just average. We even had a big fight last week over getting a new phone.”
Jin Chao arched an eyebrow as Jiang Mu continued, “I’d been using that phone for over two years. When I wanted to upgrade, he said since I don’t play games and just chat or browse online, I didn’t need anything fancy, then went and spent the money on gaming gear instead.”
Jin Chao clenched his jaw, silent for a moment, before asking, “Then what do you even see in him?”
Jiang Mu let out a long sigh, heavy with the weariness and helplessness of life, tinged with bitterness and hesitation, replied, “Well, it’s about that age to settle down. Might as well make do with someone.
Just then, a group of children on scooters whizzed past from behind, causing Jiang Mu to instinctively move closer to Jin Chao. Her arm brushed against him; the sudden electric sensation startled her, and she looked up at him. Jin Chao stopped walking, shifted her gently to the inside of the sidewalk, and gazed at her with eyes dark and deep, making Jiang Mu’s face flush with heat.
Occasional pedestrians and cars passed by, but Jin Chao didn’t move forward. He simply stood there, looking at her intently, and said in a low, solemn voice, “Don’t joke with me like this again.”
If Jiang Mu’s earlier excuses had seemed somewhat convincing, her last phrase, ‘make do with someone,’ completely gave her away. Growing up under the shadow of Jiang Yinghan and Jin Qiang’s failed marriage, she was never the type to settle in relationships, and Jin Chao knew that for certain.
He took the dog leash from her hand and said, “Go back. No need to see me off.”
Jiang Mu pursed her lips as she watched his retreating figure, then called out in frustration, “Why do you assume I was joking? Who said I was joking? Why can’t I say things like that?”
Jin Chao stopped and turned to look at her from a few steps away. Jiang Mu defiantly lifted her chin, challenging him, “Say something!”
After a long pause, Jin Chao’s dark eyes rested steadily on her as he softly admitted, “It hurts to hear you say that.”
When Jiang Mu finally returned to her rented apartment, she fell onto the sofa in a daze, Jin Chao’s quiet words still echoing endlessly in her mind. She was so distracted that she didn’t even notice Lightning had been taken away by him.
That night, it was as if she had reverted to her teenage self, her emotions swinging wildly because of Jin Chao’s words. One moment she’d burst into silly giggles, and the next she’d wear a bitter, resentful expression. It wasn’t until just before falling asleep that she suddenly realized Lightning had been taken without explanation. It was her dog, after all!
She quickly sent him a text message: Why did you take my dog away again?
A few minutes later, Jin Chao replied with nothing more than a smiling emoji. Given she had work the next day and couldn’t care for the dog herself, she had no choice but to temporarily let him off the hook.
……
Autumn in Nanjing had a way of tricking people into thinking winter had arrived overnight. The evening before, Jiang Mu had been lounging at home in a T-shirt, but by the time she was about to leave work the next day, a sudden, eerie gust of wind sent a chill down her spine. She stuck her head out of the office window to test the temperature and immediately sneezed from the unexpected chill.
In the work group chat, someone forwarded an announcement from the weather bureau: Due to an incoming cold front, there will be heavy storms tomorrow and the day after. Please exercise caution while commuting.
On her way home from work, Jiang Mu considered forwarding the weather alert to Jin Chao just to remind him to dress warmly. But then she hesitated, thinking it wasn’t appropriate for her to act so concerned when their relationship was so unclear. She didn’t want her warmth to be met by his indifference.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she stepped into her apartment, a message from Jin Chao popped up on her phone: It’ll rain and get colder tomorrow. Remember to wear something warm and bring an umbrella.
Jiang Mu gripped her phone, suppressing the slight curl of her lips, and deliberately chose not to reply.
The next few days kept her unusually busy with a new project at work. She didn’t even have time to visit OON, and midway through the week, she accompanied her research team to a conference in Shanghai.
While in Shanghai, she was surprised by an unexpected call from Jin Chao. Tied up with work, she declined it, only returning the call that evening from her hotel.
As soon as the call connected, Jin Chao asked her, “Where are you?”
Jiang Mu deliberately kept him guessing, “I’m not telling you.”
She could hear Jin Chao’s steady breathing on the other end of the line. Neither spoke for a moment, and Jiang Mu stood by the hotel window, gazing out at the nighttime scenery along the Huangpu River, until Jin Chao finally broke the silence, “Do you have time to meet? I have something to give you.”
Jiang Mu replied calmly, “I don’t have time.”
Patiently and without rushing, Jin Chao asked her, “Then when will you have time?”
Looking at her reflection in the hotel window, Jiang Mu gradually broke into a smile. “Come hiking with me this weekend.”
Yet Jin Chao fell silent on the other end, not responding for a long while.
The smile slowly faded from Jiang Mu’s face. “If you don’t want to go, forget it. Anyway, you promised before to take me out, and never kept your word. San Lai also said we’d all go hiking during summer vacation, but that didn’t happen either. I still remember all of it.”
Jin Chao seemed to sigh softly, then asked, “Will hiking help you feel better?”
“Even if it won’t,” Jiang Mu shot back, “does that mean you won’t come?”
After a long pause, Jin Chao answered her carefully, “Alright. We’ll go hiking this weekend.”