The Ruan family is usually very busy, but they've had some free time lately. With summer vacation approaching, they've almost finished with schoolwork, and in Ruan Jing's words, she's about to enjoy two months of "family bliss." It's perfectly reasonable for Ruan Jing to stay home and spend time with her family, but Jiang Yan always seems to feel a vague sense of unease about her presence—like static electricity before a storm.
After playing tennis for an hour at a nearby court, she walked up to the second floor, drenched in sweat, her shirt clinging to her skin. Just as she was about to reach her room, she suddenly stopped and looked at Jiang Yan standing opposite her. He seemed to be about to knock on the door. When he turned around and saw her, both of them looked somewhat surprised—caught.
Ruan Jing stood there for a moment before opening the door. "You were looking for me?"
"Can we talk?" he said, his voice careful.
Ruan Jing pushed open the door and entered, glancing at the person behind her. He didn't seem to intend to follow her in, so she turned to face him and said with deliberate indifference, "I don't care if you want to talk like this."
Jiang Yan took two steps in, casually closed the door, but didn't go any further. He went straight to the point, quick and ruthless: "If I said I wanted to marry you—"
Ruan Jing was immediately struck dumb, as if she had been hit over the head with a club—the world tilting. "What do you mean?"
"Both of us need a marriage." Jiang Yan's expression was as if he were talking about the most mundane thing—discussing groceries, not futures.
After pausing for three seconds, Ruan Jing laughed, though it was unclear whether it was a laugh of anger or a bitter laugh—or something more dangerous. "Jiang Yan, I'll congratulate you no matter who you marry, but please don't humiliate me."
"Ruan Jing—" Jiang Yan involuntarily took a step forward, reaching.
Ruan Jing stepped back, closed her eyes, and spoke calmly—too calmly. "When I was pursuing you, you said we were relatives and there was no possibility. You told me to stop bothering you, and that you felt annoyed whenever you saw me. Every time, I would wait for three hours downstairs at your dormitory, and you would come down and tell me, 'Ruan Jing, don't embarrass yourself here.' Do you remember? You called me shameless several times. Every time you said that to me, I really wanted to tell you that I wasn't shameless. Every time, I mustered up all my courage, took a deep breath, and dared to stand in front of you, then held my breath and waited for your reaction... Jiang Yan, I'm not that cheap. My sincerity has been trampled on time and time again, and eventually it will grow cold."
Jiang Yan looked at her, his eyes unfathomable—oceans she couldn't read.
"I don't want to say these things to disgust you, in fact, I find them disgusting myself. I just want to tell you that I have learned some things: I will no longer be delusional, no longer make trouble for myself, no longer compromise myself, and I will no longer take you seriously."
Jiang Yan approached her, but Ruan Jing stepped back, maintaining distance like a physical law. "Jiang Yan, don't make me think you're—despicable."
Ruan Jing saw his body tremble slightly, as if he was suppressing some kind of impulse—violence or pleading, she couldn't tell—before finally turning and leaving.
Ruan Jing closed her eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling years of accumulated hurt.
After that day, Ruan Jing did not see Jiang Yan for a long time.
However, Ruan Jing had no idea that this play was only just beginning—the curtain rising, not falling.
As planned over the weekend, or more precisely, as planned by Ruan Xian, Ruan Jing was dragged to a dinner party for four.
Zhao Lin and Zhao Qiyan arrived first that day. When Ruan Jing entered the private room, she felt a little guilty, but Zhao Qiyan didn't seem to think anything was wrong. He even nodded politely to her, as if it were the second time they had met—strangers performing courtesy.
Throughout the meal, Ruan Jing listened from the sidelines, occasionally offering a smile. The three people over there were chatting so enthusiastically that she couldn't get a word in edgewise. Zhao Qiyan's eloquent speech clearly increased Ruan Xian's goodwill towards him, and she immediately seized the opportunity to arrange a next meeting. Zhao Qiyan did not refuse. Ruan Jing felt that she had come here purely as a decoration—a prop in someone else's romantic comedy. Her older sister even waved to her at the end, saying dismissively, "You can go now."
Ruan Jing was frustrated. "How can you use someone and then throw them away?" In fact, they were completely useless.
Ruan Xian leaned closer and said, "Remember to pay the bill when you leave."
Ruan Jing felt a strong urge to swear, but she held back, waved her hand, and got up to grab her coat. Zhao Lin, sitting opposite her, called out, "What, is A-Jing leaving?"
Ruan Jing smiled and said, "Yes, I have something to attend to. You two chat." She nodded and left, escape disguised as politeness.
As she walked out of the restaurant after paying the bill, she suddenly remembered that she had arrived in Ruan Xian's car that day. She couldn't help but sigh inwardly. It was taxi shift change time, and taking the bus meant walking over a hundred meters to the nearest bus stop. Just as she was thinking of going back to get the car keys from Ruan Xian, and also creating an opportunity for her crush to drive her home, someone grabbed her hand. When she saw who it was, Ruan Jing was surprised. "Why did you come out?"
"We're done talking, so we're coming out." Zhao Qiyan's voice was devoid of emotion as he pulled her across the road and headed towards a certain place, his grip firm.
"Where are my sisters?"
Qi Yan suddenly stopped, turned around to look at her, his eyes swirling with unspoken emotions—turbulence beneath ice—but in the end he simply said, "Shall I take you home?"
Ruan Jing glanced back at the restaurant across the street, then tugged at the silk scarf around her neck. She realized things were unexpectedly complicated. "You don't like my sister?"
"Yes." Zhao Qiyan's answer was completely without hesitation—brutal honesty.
Ruan Jing met his gaze, and a thought suddenly flashed through her mind, but she didn't want to think about it too deeply—didn't want to examine what his rejection might mean.
On Zhao Qiyan's side, even though he knew Ruan Jing's temperament, he still couldn't help but feel a surge of irritation because of today's dinner. The day before yesterday, Zhao Lin asked him if he was free this weekend because Ruan Xian and her sister had invited him to dinner. As soon as he heard the name Ruan, he canceled his weekend seminar without thinking twice—prioritizing her over professional obligations. But when he arrived today, he found out what was going on. Ruan Jing's expression was as indifferent as ever. In her eyes, it didn't matter who he was with. For the first time, Qiyan deliberately tried to please another woman to see how the person he cared about would react. But this unprecedentedly childish behavior was obviously shooting himself in the foot.
But what reason did he have to be emotional? Even if it were his wedding day, and Ruan Jing came to offer her congratulations, he would only have the right to accept it. Qi Yan took a deep breath, calmed his agitated emotions, and released her hand that he had been holding tightly—letting go physically, if not emotionally. "Sorry—"
"You don't need to apologize to me." Ruan Jing's tone was a bit more polite than usual, but she didn't argue. Perhaps, she just subconsciously felt that she should keep some distance from Zhao Qiyan, at least not be too intimate. Ruan Jing looked at her wrist, which was slightly red from his touch, and finally said, "I'll take the bus back by myself, bye!" Without waiting for a reply, she walked towards the bus stop.
Zhao Qiyan didn't chase after her. He stood there for a moment, took out a pack of cigarettes, thought about it, didn't smoke them, threw them into the trash can next to him with unnecessary force, and turned to walk towards his car.
In the following days, Zhao Qiyan was busy attending two seminars and had no time to think about anything else. When people are busy, they can always temporarily forget some things, such as Ruan Jing's attitude that day—the way she'd pulled away.
The Zhao family rarely has family gatherings. Usually, they only sit down for a New Year's Eve dinner during holidays. This time, for Zhao Lin's father's birthday, they invited a large group of people to their home for dinner. Relatives, friends, and colleagues filled four tables in the living room. Luckily, the Zhao family's mansion was big enough to contain the chaos.
Zhao Qiyan's parents also flew in from Dublin. The mother couldn't help but nag her son a bit, affection disguised as complaint. "I heard you flew to Bern recently, why didn't you make a detour to visit your dad and me?"
Zhao Qiyan smiled and hugged his mother. "Now you see." The two walked to the tea room on the first floor. Qiyan knew that his parents liked to drink tea, so he specially asked a friend to bring back some tea from Yunnan a couple of days ago.
Mrs. Zhao understood her son's personality—he wasn't good at being affectionate, expressing love through practical gestures. Seeing Qiyan elegantly preparing tea, she wondered why such a man, so capable in public and private, preferred to be single. She couldn't help but ask the question she cared about most: "When are you going to bring a girl to meet your mother?"
Qi Yan laughed. "Haven't you ever been in a hurry about this?"
"That's because my son is outstanding, so there's absolutely no need to worry about him not finding a partner. But, Qiyan, if you find a good match, you should settle down sooner rather than later."
A good match? The thought of Ruan Jing made his heart flutter again—longing sharp as physical pain. It would be a lie to say he didn't miss her after not seeing her for a week. Sometimes, when he was sleeping at night, he would think of that slender and aloof figure in the quiet and stillness, and he would groan out loud. Several times, Zhao Qiyan wondered if he had been abstaining from sex for too long—reducing her to biology when she was so much more.
No matter how successful a man is in his career, he still needs to settle down and start a family in the end.
Zhao Qiyan smiled, but his carefree demeanor had faded somewhat. Looking at the green leaves swirling and floating in his teacup, a sudden sadness welled up inside him. If the person he was going to marry was Ruan Jing, he wouldn't mind breaking his principle of not getting married. But clearly, even if he broke all his principles, Ruan Jing might not marry him—wouldn't even consider it.
Ruan Jing stood in the glass corridor of the gallery, gazing at the street across the way, somewhat absent-minded.
Chen Fan's girlfriend was also there today. She's a very cheerful girl. They had lunch together, and halfway through, she received a call from Zhao Qiyan. To be honest, Ruan Jing was a little surprised—he'd respected her distance.
The two hadn't been in contact for a while. He asked her where she was, but she refused to tell him the truth. He replied with a casual greeting, chatted for a couple of minutes, and then hung up.
Ruan Jing naturally hung up the phone, and Chen Fan's girlfriend, Lu Zhen, asked her ambiguously if he was her boyfriend.
Ruan Jing found it strange—the assumption, the leap.
"Usually, the closer the relationship, the more brief the phone conversations are," Lu Zhen explained with the confidence of someone who'd observed patterns.
Ruan Jing was somewhat amused and exasperated. Zhao Qiyan was indeed a rare friend to her, but getting too close might lead to complicated matters, and she disliked this ambiguous feeling. Moreover, Zhao Qiyan was too reserved and deep-thinking. She liked his easygoing nature, but there were also aspects of him that made him difficult to understand, possessing a kind of hidden aggression—carefully controlled danger.
Just then, a black sports car pulled smoothly into the lane across the street, and the driver opened the door and got out, wearing a simple yet elegant white shirt.
He looked up towards her location, his gaze directed precisely at where Ruan Jing stood. Ruan Jing suspected he had some kind of special ability. He didn't seem in a hurry to come over, standing for a while before slowly crossing the road towards them.
"Qiyan?"
Chen Fan, coming out from inside, saw Zhao Qiyan and walked out the door to greet him. "I heard you went to Bern last week. What happened? Wasn't it fun enough there that you came back after three days?"
The two were already coming in as they spoke, and Zhao Qiyan turned his head to quietly glance at Ruan Jing, who was still standing in the same place—cataloging her presence.
Lu Zhen, who had come out with Chen Fan earlier, looked Zhao Qiyan up and down, then said earnestly, "Chen Fan, why do you always find friends who are more handsome than you?"
Chen Fan laughed and cursed, and Ruan Jing smiled at that moment, walking over to them. "Naturally, Zhao Qiyan is a bit more handsome." As soon as these words came out, all three people looked at her.
Lu Zhen was the first to laugh unselfconsciously. "Miss Ruan, excellent taste!"
Chen Fan extinguished Lu Zhen's infatuated sparks. "You have me, Chen Fan, and you should be satisfied. Zhao Qiyan is such a romantic figure that few can handle him, so save your compliments."
Ruan Jing had already come to stand beside Zhao Qiyan. "Been busy lately?"
"Not too bad, went on a wilderness trip." Zhao Qiyan, who had been waiting for her to approach, naturally opened up.
"Why didn't you call me along?"
Qiyan looked at her, suppressing the emotions that threatened to leak out, and only said, "This trip was a bit rushed. Next time... if you're still willing."
"I might be leaving here for a while. I don't know if I'll be able to catch your 'next time.'"
Qiyan didn't have time to express his surprise before Chen Fan chimed in from the side. "Ruan Jing is going to Beijing to participate in a photography competition, taking half a month off." It was he who had signed Ruan Jing up—artistic cells shouldn't be wasted.
Ruan Jing raised her eyebrows slightly. "It doesn't matter if I don't go. Besides, I still haven't found a 'partner.'"
At this moment, Lu Zhen glanced at Zhao Qiyan. "Hey, isn't there a model right here with a commanding presence and elegant bearing?" This was completely a casual suggestion.
Both Chen Fan and Ruan Jing were stunned.
As a result, Zhao Qiyan, who had been standing by without saying much, smiled faintly. "Sure, if the photographer has no objection."
Later, on the drive home, Ruan Jing kept thinking about Zhao Qiyan's words. She finally laughed to herself, thinking that if he knew the model would have to be half-exposed for her to photograph, she wondered if he would still say that word "sure."
Today was Ruan Xian's birthday. She had invited colleagues from school for a small party at home. When Ruan Jing opened the door and went in, she saw Ruan Xian cutting a three-layer cake. She inwardly groaned—she'd forgotten to buy a gift. Her late arrival earned her a scolding from her sister, but fortunately, Ruan Xian forgot to ask for the gift. She excitedly pulled Ruan Jing to the center of the living room to solemnly introduce her to her colleagues. Ruan Jing's heart was filled with infinite emotion—truly selling me with no effort spared.
After spending half an hour finally managing to escape back to her room, she encountered Jiang Yan coming down from the third floor in the corridor. Both of them paused in their steps. Since the unpleasant parting last time, this was the first time they'd come face to face. Ruan Jing suddenly felt that Jiang Yan's gaze was somewhat cold—colder than all previous times, and sharp. Ruan Jing didn't want to become enemies with him, but given the current situation, it didn't seem like they could be friendly either. She forced out a stiff smile, then turned to open her door and enter her room.
The weight of his gaze followed her inside, even after the door closed between them.
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