Chapter 76
Though Jiang Mu had heard plenty of wild stories while studying abroad, deep down, she was still rather conservative. And since it was broad daylight, she couldn’t help but feel tense and uneasy. But with the curtains drawn, the room took on a disorienting sense of night and day reversed.
After hanging up the call, Jin Chao tossed his phone behind him, lowered his head to loom over her, and, seeing the guilty look on Jiang Mu’s face, curved his lips into a smile as he told her, “Xiao Wen wouldn’t overthink it.”
He caught her chin, gently tilting it up, his lips brushing hers with a touch that was neither near nor far, like a current sparking straight into her chest. She asked softly, “Why?”
Her voice reached Jin Chao’s ears like velvet, sending shivers down his spine. His eyes glinted with unrestrained indulgence, yet the words that came out were, “Because in Xiao Wen’s eyes, I’m a proper man.”
Jiang Mu turned her head, eyes flashing. “You? A proper man? At twenty-something, you were already hanging around clubs with girls in your arms. Tell me the truth, how many women have you actually been with?”
Jin Chao pressed her back against the vanity, tugging her skirt down. Jiang Mu let out a startled gasp as he lifted her leg, his voice low and magnetic, “Too many to count.”
Jiang Mu immediately struggled, protesting, “I knew it! You’re way too skilled not to have experience.”
Before she could slip off the vanity, he pressed her back down effortlessly. His heated breath crashed down on her once more. “Countless women wanted to get into my bed,” he murmured, “but the only one I’ve ever let climb onto it is a little troublemaker named Jiang Mu Mu.”
As he spoke, that so-called “proper man’s” hands never stopped moving. Jiang Mu didn’t even realize when her clothes had slipped away; her thoughts burned into a haze as his kisses left her dizzy and lost. All she could catch was the sound of a zipper being pulled, and the sense of her very bones being pried open.
Perhaps finding the vanity too low, Jin Chao lifted her up and turned her around. Jiang Mu caught sight of her own flushed reflection in the mirror, and the image hit her like a shock, rattling Jin Chao so much he nearly lost control.
In the end, he pressed her against the windowsill. The storm he unleashed seemed endless, and she drowned in his gaze, with nothing left but the restless sway of the curtains.
Jiang Mu, still uninitiated, couldn’t withstand too much. Even the slightest intensity left her trembling like a fragile leaf. When it was finally over, she curled up among the pile of clothes with her eyes closed, her body covered in red marks, utterly drained of strength.
When Jin Chao came out of the bathroom and saw her like that, he couldn’t bear to drag her up. Instead, he gently moved the clothes aside, covered her with a blanket, and tucked her in.
In truth, Jiang Mu wasn’t truly asleep. Her body was just too soft and weak to move, and she didn’t want to open her eyes. Half-dreaming, she could hear Jin Chao tidying things around her.
Before long, the sounds faded. Jiang Mu opened her eyes to find him leaning against the windowsill, her keychain in his hand. It had been used for so long that the leather had oxidized and worn down, and the four characters carved on it, Yearning Night and Day, were no longer very clear. Jin Chao lowered his gaze, staring at it quietly.
Jiang Mu blinked once, then shut her eyes again. Only after Jin Chao had packed everything neatly into the suitcase did he pull her out from under the blanket and into his arms. Without a word, he reached for her clothes and began dressing her.
It was his first time helping a woman put on a bra. He even studied the clasp for a moment, and when he finally managed to fasten it, he deliberately unhooked it again to toy with it. The teasing made Jiang Mu unbearably sensitive, and she no longer dared to pretend to be asleep. She realized that if she kept pretending to sleep, she might not be able to get out of bed at all today.
They didn’t finish until well past noon. By then, even Xiao Wen had already joined them for lunch at the café. When he got Jin Chao’s call, he figured that after all this time, they must have a mountain of things to move. So, he asked Gu Tao to come along, worried it would be too much for one person to carry.
But when Gu Tao and Xiao Wen went upstairs, they saw only two suitcases waiting at the door. Xiao Wen could easily carry one in each hand and trot off with them. There was really no need for Gu Tao to be dragged along at all.
Even Jin Chao was a little surprised, asking, “Why did you both come?”
Xiao Wen explained, “You’d been packing for so long, I thought there’d be a lot more.”
He spoke without thinking, but Jiang Mu heard it differently. Her face flushed red as she ducked behind Jin Chao a step. Jin Chao, however, kept his tone steady as he added casually, “Mm, we packed carefully.”
Then he reached for Jiang Mu’s hand and drew her to his side. Jiang Mu turned to look at his calm, unruffled expression and couldn’t fathom how he could so brazenly lie without his face turning red or his heart skipping a beat.
After the things were dropped off at Jin Chao’s place, Xiao Wen left. In the afternoon, Jin Chao had work to deal with, while Jiang Mu needed to head back to driving school and continue grinding away at her second exam.
When she returned that evening, Jin Chao had already unpacked her luggage and neatly put everything away where it belonged. He asked her if she’d eaten.
Jiang Mu honestly admitted she had eaten outside. Seeing her hang her head, looking downcast, he asked if her practice hadn’t gone smoothly.
Jiang Mu hesitated half the night, swallowing her words again and again, but just before bed, she couldn’t hold it back anymore and asked, “Don’t you think reverse parking is really hard?”
For once, Jin Chao didn’t know how to respond. In his mind, as long as you had eyes, it wasn’t difficult at all. After all, even before he ever had a license, he could already handle reverse parking with ease. He’d taken his driving test early, back when Tonggang’s requirements weren’t so strict. Everyone knew each other, so the whole thing was more about paying the fee and going through the motions.
Seeing him stay quiet, Jiang Mu huffed, “My instructor said today I must be an undercover sent by the rival driving school to mess with him.”
“…”
That did it. Jin Chao burst out laughing. Jiang Mu had been bottling this up for so long, and this was the reason. Asking a former racer about reverse parking made her feel utterly incompetent.
Muttering under her breath, she turned her back and curled up against the edge of the bed, feeling like no one in the world understood her. Jin Chao switched off the lights, pulled her back into his arms, and let his big hand slip under her pajama hem to stroke her waist as he murmured, “It’s fine if you’re not good at driving. The more you practice, the better you’ll get.”
“…” Jiang Mu was pretty sure the driving he was talking about had nothing to do with the driving school.
On Sunday, Jiang Mu deliberately got up early to make breakfast for Jin Chao, only to find he was already up. He had a habit of early morning workouts, his self-discipline downright intimidating.
Over the past two days, Jiang Mu had already noticed that although Jin Chao’s build wasn’t as broad and muscular as it once had been, the well-proportioned lines of his body were still quite captivating when he was shirtless. Now she understood that no one could maintain a perfect condition forever. He simply invested more time to preserve his health and physical strength.
Jiang Mu still had to spend the entire day at driving school. Before heading out, she poked her head in and asked, “Will you be home all day?”
Jin Chao told her, “I need to go to university later.”
“Shall we buy groceries and cook dinner together tonight?” Jiang Mu asked.
Turning back, slightly out of breath, Jin Chao looked at her. “Won’t you be tired after a full day of training? I’ll take you out for a nice meal.”
“No, let’s save some money.” With that, her figure slipped past the doorway, only to hear Jin Chao call after her, “Then good luck transferring to the rival driving school today.”
“…”
Jiang Mu had started the day in high spirits, but the moment she boarded the subway, that mood vanished without a trace. Just the thought of facing her bald coach again filled her feel immense pressure. She couldn’t shake the suspicion that before he became a driving instructor, he’d been mixed up in some underworld gang. His entire presence radiated the aura of someone ready to kill at the slightest disagreement.
When she registered, Gu Zhijie had even made special arrangements, saying he’d found her a good coach. Everyone there said this instructor was the best and that his students almost always passed on their first try.
He was so intimidating that everyone called him Baldy Qiang. The moment he sat down beside Jiang Mu, even the sound of his breathing made her feel like he was about to pull out a knife.
The driving school was packed on weekends. The morning session was short, and Jiang Mu didn’t even get two turns behind the wheel. At lunch, she went to the cafeteria with other trainees from her group. Everyone started discussing how many times they’d taken the first theory exam. Some had taken it three times, others as many as five.
Jiang Mu, however, had aced it on her first try with a perfect score, being the first to stride confidently out of the exam hall, which naturally drew quite a few envious glances.
But that was only when it came to theory. She was fine with wielding a pen or memorizing textbooks. The moment she actually got behind the wheel, especially under the dual pressure of being watched by other trainees and scrutinized by the coach, she fell apart. Even before it was her turn to practice, her palms would already be sweating from sheer nervousness.
At first, Bald Qiang sat in the passenger seat, pointing out which markers to watch and when to turn the wheel. But later, he simply yanked the door open and stood outside the car, barking instructions. The louder he shouted, the more Jiang Mu panicked, her mind going blank as the system kept flashing fail.
Timidly, she poked her head out and asked, “Am I crooked?”
Bald Qiang was so furious that even his nose hairs seemed to quiver. “You’re not crooked. The lines on the ground are crooked!”
The row of trainees on the long bench behind them burst into laughter. Mortified, Jiang Mu swept them a glance, only to catch sight of a familiar figure at the edge of the crowd, lips curved in a smile. Her cheeks flushed crimson. She had no idea Jin Chao would come, let alone witness such an embarrassing scene.
“Practice on your own,” Bald Qiang barked.
With that, he stepped aside. When Jiang Mu checked the rearview mirror again, she saw Jin Chao had somehow joined Bald Qiang, chatting with him, even offering him a cigarette. The two of them stood there casually, commenting on her driving skills like spectators at a show, making Jiang Mu wish she could just crawl under the car’s chassis.
Jinag Mu tried reversing twice more. The first time she stalled halfway, the second time was even worse, the rear end of the car sticking straight into the neighboring bay and completely throwing off the poor lady practicing next to her.
In despair, Jiang Mu cast a pleading look at Jin Chao, wishing he could possess her body and steer for her. Instead, she only saw him standing shoulder to shoulder with Bald Qiang, both grinning at her. Jiang Mu felt utterly defeated; she had never struggled so hard to learn anything in her life.
Later, when Bald Qiang went off to pour himself some tea, Jin Chao casually followed him. When Jiang Mu got out of the car to look for him, she caught sight of Jin Chao slipping something into Bald Qiang’s hand. Bald Qiang tried to wave it off at first, but eventually pocketed it.
On the way back, Bald Qiang said to Jiang Mu, “Don’t leave yet. I’ll give you some extra one-on-one practice later.”
Jiang Mu nodded obediently. “Thank you, Instructor.”
Then she hurried over to Jin Chao and demanded, “What did you just slip to my instructor?”
Jin Chao answered lightly, “Nothing.”
“I saw it. You bribed him, didn’t you?”
Jin Chao turned his head, a smile tugging at his lips. “How could that be called bribery? I was soothing him for having to put up with a student like you.”
“…It’s just the reverse bay parking I’m bad at. Everything else isn’t so bad!”
Jin Chao lowered his gaze and chuckled. “Yeah, not bad at all. Out of everyone, you’re definitely the most entertaining to watch.”
“…” Jiang Mu puffed up her cheeks and deliberately stepped away from him, but Jin Chao seemed to sense it immediately and pulled her back into his arms.
Jiang Mu tilted her head up to him and pressed again, “So what did you give him?”
Jin Chao answered casually, “Just two packs of cigarettes.”
Jiang Mu couldn’t help asking, “Did you just smoke? Why do I hardly ever see you smoking now?”
“When I was in the hospital, I couldn’t. Later, once I got out, I just stopped.”
Only then did she recall that ever since they’d reunited after she returned home, she’d never once seen him smoke. Not even at his place did she notice any cigarettes. If it weren’t for smoothing things over with her instructor today, he probably wouldn’t have touched them at all.
Her irritation melted instantly. She hooked her arm through his and looked up at him with a bright smile. “So… is there still hope for me?”
Jin Chao gazed at her indulgently. “With your first teacher right here, how could I let you end up unable to drive?”
Later, he sat with Jiang Mu by the sidelines, teaching her how to read the turning radius and when to steer, analyzing the common mistakes each trainee made. With his breakdowns, Jiang Mu slowly started forming a clear picture in her head.
As the sun dipped low and the crowd thinned out, Bald Qiang finally called her back to the car. This time, he didn’t bombard her with theory. Instead, he bluntly taught her a few practical tricks. He didn’t even tease her anymore. Jiang Mu was convinced that whatever Jin Chao had given him, it couldn’t have been just two packs of cigarettes, it must have been the equivalent of two gold bars.
Sure enough, before leaving, she managed two perfect reverse parks in a row. Ecstatic, she turned her head and beamed at Jin Chao. Standing at the edge of the lot with the sunset spilling over him, arms crossed, he gave her a firm thumbs-up.