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After dinner, Jiang Zihan had already left.
Now, only the two of them remained in the room. Previously, with Jiang Zihan around, after they officially got back together, they would set aside time to be alone after work, often staying in Zhou Jinye’s room.
At this moment, she and Zhou Jinye were lounging on the carpet, resting. Pudding was also lying beside them.
She had sent a message to Wei Ming after eating, but he hadn’t replied yet.
Zhou Jinye was playing with Xu Wu’s little finger, gently twirling it: “How do you plan to spend your birthday the day after tomorrow?”
Time flew by quickly, and deep autumn had arrived. Her birthday was approaching. In recent years, she hadn’t celebrated her birthday much. It fell neither close to nor far from holidays, always landing smack in the middle—almost always during school or workdays—and passed like any other ordinary day.
Xu Wu watched as he played with her fingers, not pulling away, letting him toy with them without saying a word.
When she had returned to the Wei family during the Mid-Autumn Festival, Lin Qingshuang had asked her in a familiar tone about her birthday. She hadn’t expected anyone to celebrate it for her.
Since separating from her father, Lin Qingshuang had been in another city. The number of times she had come back to celebrate Xu Wu’s birthday could be counted on one hand.
“Before, I took you to the racetrack for your birthday—that was something I liked. Do you have anything you like?” Zhou Jinye stopped twirling her finger and instead gently traced the lines on her thumb.
Xu Wu paused. She rarely had things she liked, unlike Zhou Jinye, who enjoyed thrilling activities. When she was young, having her father by her side made everything seem enjoyable. But as she grew older and experienced many things, now she just wanted to stay quietly, finding peace in these quiet moments.
Honesty compelled her to tell Zhou Jinye: “I like just being with you like this.”
Zhou Jinye gently tucked a strand of hair that had fallen beside her face, softly pinching her cheek, which felt soft and plump: “Alright, if that’s the case, I’ll spend it with you.”
He had once promised her that he would celebrate every birthday with her. After the accident, no one had celebrated her birthday with her. Now, reunited with Zhou Jinye and together again, her life seemed to gain a texture captured by a camera.
But that video remained stored on Xu Wu’s phone, and Qin Shili hadn’t made any new moves recently.
She didn’t know what kind of strike he might unleash from the shadows.
“What are you thinking about with that look?” Zhou Jinye was very close to Xu Wu, observing her carefully.
His hand moved away, smoothing out the furrowed brows on Xu Wu’s forehead.
Xu Wu was half a head shorter than Zhou Jinye. Tilting her head, she could see her reflection leaning against Zhou Jinye’s shoulder on the black TV screen. The comforting scent of him nearby brought her peace.
“Are you still in contact with Qin Shili?”
Her skin was sensitive, and her nervous system could clearly feel Zhou Jinye’s hand pause for a few seconds as he smoothed her brows: “I’ve long since cut off all contact with him.”
“Was it when you were abroad?” she instinctively asked.
His hand shifted to pinch her fingers, his eyes appearing nonchalant, as though he wasn’t particularly concerned: “For a month or two while I was abroad.”
Hearing this, Xu Wu froze. She hadn’t expected Qin Shili and Zhou Jinye’s fallout to happen so early while he was abroad. She didn’t know how Zhou Jinye had managed during that time. His movements had now stopped, and Xu Wu began lightly stroking his fingers.
His fingers were different from hers; the blue veins stood out prominently under the skin, creating a textured sensation: “So how did you get by?”
“He cut off all my financial resources, even ‘keeping’ my ID card and passport for me,” Zhou Jinye continued, “but I still had the bank card my mother had saved up for me. That was enough to get by on while I was abroad.”
Xu Wu thought of the fading whip marks on his back—the scar now seemed to pierce her heart, causing her pain: “Did he hit you?”
Zhou Jinye turned to look at her: “No, he simply ‘imprisoned’ me in an unfamiliar environment, much like he himself had been.”
Suddenly, an image of Zhou Jinye surrounded by foreigners flashed in her mind. Beneath the bright exterior lay an endless abyss of mud. Hearing his words, Xu Wu realized that someone as sinister as Qin Shili would ‘imprison’ Zhou Jinye in this way.
Back then, she had pushed Zhou Jinye away, thinking it was for his own good, without considering him as an individual. She had pushed him back into that mud pit once again, and an invisible hand had trapped him in a cage abroad. Guilt surged within her.
Xu Wu cupped his face, slowly pressing her forehead against his. Their foreheads touched: “I’m sorry. I’ll never push you away again. I’ll only love you.”
It turned out that, from the beginning to the end, they had both remained in the same place, unchanged.
The promise he had asked her to make in the bathroom came out at this moment.
Zhou Jinye felt the warmth of her skin against his forehead as Xu Wu whispered her promise in his ear. He gently placed his hand on her face.
“You’re not saying this out of guilt, are you?”
Somehow, he truly understood Xu Wu at times. Though she harbored guilt towards Zhou Jinye, she said: “No, I mean it. I’m not saying this out of guilt.”
This time, Xu Wu pressed her forehead against Zhou Jinye’s, her eyes meeting his, their gazes locked together: “I’ve avoided so much. This time, I want to face my true feelings.”
All Zhou Jinye could hear was the sound of his fingers caressing her skin. His voice sounded slightly hoarse, but his tone rose: “I’ve finally waited for you to say this, Xu Wu. You can’t take it back now.”
Tears welled up in Xu Wu’s eyes. Her hand rested atop Zhou Jinye’s, conveying all her sincerity: “I won’t.”
They gazed at each other, and the hard-earned tears of their reunion were swallowed in a kiss.
In the days they spent alone together, when emotions became uncontrollable, they acted like any normal couple, kissing passionately.
But this time was different. Like their encounter in the bathroom, there was a certain confessional quality to it—a tenderness that lingered. In the room, they expressed in this manner how much they had missed each other over the years, all drowned in this gentle, burning kiss.
________________________________________
When Xu Wu received Wei Ming’s message, she had just finished bathing and stepped out of the bathroom.
Zhou Jinye hadn’t stayed behind and had already returned to his room.
[Brother, may I ask you something?]
This message was sent after Xu Wu and Jiang Zihan had finished packing.
Wei Ming’s reply came through at this time: [What is it? Just say it.]
Xu Wu didn’t beat around the bush and went straight to the point: [During university, when I was in quarantine with the flu, besides you, did anyone else visit me during that period?]
The other party probably didn’t expect this question and paused for a few seconds before replying: [Yes, Zhou Jinye returned to the country during that time.]
He didn’t hide it and directly mentioned Zhou Jinye’s name.
Jiang Zihan had mentioned that Wei Ming had spoken with Zhou Jinye. Xu Wu sent another message: [Did he say anything to you at the time?]
Regarding her question, the other party answered directly: [When I saw you going in, I happened to bump into Zhou Jinye coming out. We didn’t talk much. I know about Qin Shili. The clothes he was wearing looked like he had been wearing them for several days, as though he had just escaped from abroad. I asked him, and he didn’t deny that he had come to see you.]
[At the time, he looked at my bag and told me that you don’t like dishes with onions added.]
Wei Ming didn’t send another message.
Xu Wu stared at the phone screen, forgetting even to breathe—it was really him.
He had returned to the country at that time.
A few minutes later, [By the way, your birthday is coming up. Are you coming home to celebrate?]
Wei Ming transferred money again, but Xu Wu didn’t accept it.
Over the years, he had always done this, making Xu Wu feel like he was truly her older brother. She replied: [No.]
Knowing about Lin Qingshuang’s relationship with her, Wei Ming didn’t say much more. In a brotherly tone, he told her to rest early.
After exchanging goodnights,
Xu Wu didn’t turn off her phone screen but instead stared at the conversation with Wei Ming. Between the lines of their dialogue, she recalled Zhou Jinye mentioning earlier that after going abroad, his passport and ID card had been controlled by Qin Shili, restricting his ability to return to the country.
And obtaining a passport required an ID card. Qin Shili had obstructed every possible way for him to return. She didn’t know how Zhou Jinye had managed to obtain these documents to come back and see her.
She pursed her lips, as if the warmth of the sky still lingered on them.
As night fell, she drifted off to sleep while thinking about these things.
________________________________________
Meanwhile, Zhou Jinye had just lain down on his bed when his phone buzzed with a message.
His room was always lit at night—he usually slept with the lights on. Under the bright light, Zhou Jinye lowered his head, his bangs casting a shadow.
It was an unknown number.
Even through the screen, the tone of the person’s message revealed who it was.
[I’m outside the suburban area, not far from Linjing.]
He hadn’t messaged him recently. The number displayed was within the province. After returning to the country recently, he had changed his phone number.
A picture followed shortly after.
[The plants your mother used to grow are now taller than me.]
Seeing the picture, Zhou Jinye immediately knew where he was.
The house in the suburbs had been a wedding gift from his grandfather to his mother.
When his mother was alive, she had taken him to live there. The house had been designed according to her preferences.
Even the flowers and plants in the courtyard had been planted by her own hands. Back then, as a child, he had stood in the yard where the plants were low and barely reached his feet.
After his mother passed away, the keys to that house had gone missing, and Zhou Jinye hadn’t visited since.
Knowing where he was, Zhou Jinye could guess: [So the keys to that house are with you.]
[Your mother saw I had nowhere to live and gave them to me.]
Since their last meeting after his injury, Qin Shili’s presence had disappeared, let alone any visible actions.
He remained in the shadows, and Zhou Jinye didn’t know what he was planning. Now that he had returned to the country, Qin Shili didn’t know he was back. This time, he intended to complete what he hadn’t been able to finish abroad.
[Find some time. Let’s meet.]
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