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Tang Xizhou finally returned to duty.
Without her daily playmate to chat and play games with, Jiang Beibei felt stifled at home, growing restless.
Jiang Beibei’s grandmother went out to rehearse with her old colleagues for a choir performance. Seeing her granddaughter moping around the house, she asked if she wanted to join them. Jiang Beibei pouted, rolled over, and said, “No thanks. My mouth isn’t sweet enough. I’d have to ask everyone how they’re doing, which is annoying. Grandma Liu is there too—I feel so awkward seeing her…”
Grandma Liu had an eccentric temperament. The shocking “affair exposure” incident during the New Year was something Jiang Beibei forgot after just a few days. However, Grandma Liu still remembered and continued to feel humiliated, ignoring Jiang Beibei for half a month. In the past, if Jiang Beibei injured her leg, Grandma Liu would have rushed to live with her and cook meals. But this time, Grandma Liu didn’t even ask once.
Privately, Grandmother mentioned that Grandma Liu felt embarrassed because Aunt Xiao had brought over an elite gentleman. Believing Jiang Beibei had good prospects, Grandma Liu thought it would be nice for him to meet her at home. However, what happened next was like a slap in the face.
On their way, Grandma Liu and Aunt Xiao had praised Jiang Beibei extravagantly, calling her a prestigious graduate, a CCTV reporter, a pure, beautiful, and adorable girl who was also filial and sensible. They praised her all the way, and the young man clearly showed interest. But when they arrived home, they saw Jiang Beibei coming out of a room with the neighbor’s brother, bare-faced, messy-haired, and wearing pajamas.
When asked what happened, she casually said, “I... was sleeping in the room with my Brother Yao.”
Grandma Liu couldn’t bear to look anymore, sitting on the sofa with a sullen face, angry for such a long time.
As Grandmother recounted this to Jiang Beibei, she absentmindedly flipped through TV channels with the remote control. Finally, she stopped on a channel playing cartoons, watching Tom and Jerry, smiling and saying, “That’s why she’s Grandma Liu, and you’re my real grandmother.”
Her real grandmother said, “You’re just disrespectful and immature!”
“No way, I’m very well-behaved.”
“Behaved? You only behave in front of others! Behind my back, as soon as I’m not home, you let men into your room!”
“With other men, could I let them in? That’s my Brother Yao…” Jiang Beibei said, “They’ve already met my parents during the New Year. My parents didn’t send any dreams saying no, meaning they approve and have no objections. If my parents have no objections, neither do I, and neither does Grandmother. Isn’t this just a matter of time?”
“You’re a girl; girls shouldn’t...”
“Mm, then I’m not a girl. I’m a boy, okay?”
Grandmother: “You’re just stubborn!”
“It’s genetic, can’t help it.”
Grandmother went to the choir rehearsal, leaving Jiang Beibei bored at home. She started scrolling through her WeChat Moments and saw Huang Yuanbao’s mysterious program teaser about to go online. Curious, she asked her, “What date is Brother Yao’s special scheduled for?”
“Guess.” Huang Yuanbao teased, “The date is quite fitting.”
“...Qingming Festival?”
“Bullseye! No wonder you were the champion at the annual riddle-solving event!”
“Mm, alright. One episode per week, finishing in two months.”
“Wrong.” Huang Yuanbao said, “We’ll air it in March, starting with the ground floor duo. This way, we can catch the May Day special rebroadcast. I’m asking them for the schedule now. If we secure it, your unit’s special will run all week!”
“Wow! Editor Huang, are you writing a romance novel?”
“If I really mixed public and private affairs, I’d arrange exclusive interviews for every dog in the family!”
“Hahaha, looks like you don’t want to work anymore.”
After hanging up, Jiang Beibei continued scrolling through her Moments and coincidentally saw Qin Yuan’s new post.
He posted a photo of a funeral home with the caption: “Went to have lunch with Little Brother today.”
Jiang Beibei opened the door and shouted upstairs, “Third Brother! Where are you going? When are you leaving?!”
Qin Yuan opened the door while brushing his teeth, foam spraying everywhere, “Going to visit Xiao Yao at work. Leaving in twenty minutes. A friend’s father passed away, so I’m just attending the formalities. Want to come?”
“Yes, yes, yes!”
With nothing to do at home, she might as well go check on Chu Yao.
Honestly, Jiang Beibei had never seen Chu Yao at work. Though she had been to the funeral home twice, once for an interview and once just waiting for him to finish work outside, neither counted as in-depth understanding.
Qin Yuan got ready and knocked on her door, “Ready? All packed?”
“Ready!” Jiang Beibei hopped out, locked the door, and turned around just as Qin Yuan picked her up and started walking.
Jiang Beibei yelled, “Third Brother, respect yourself! I can hop down myself!”
“I respect myself more than your weight!” Qin Yuan said, “You hop down again, and you’ll end up in a cast too!”
Throwing Jiang Beibei into the car, Qin Yuan stepped on the gas, speeding out of the yard and onto the highway.
Jiang Beibei said, “Third Brother, it feels like you’re kidnapping me.”
“What would I gain from kidnapping you? You don’t have more money than me. At best, I’d be after your beauty, but since you’re colluding with Xiao Yao, I can’t even muster the energy for that.”
He turned on the radio, and coincidentally, the song “Can’t Let Go” came on. Qin Yuan sang along, “Offering the world to win your heart, sung by thousands for ages to come...”
“Tsk tsk...” Jiang Beibei shifted positions, lying on the back seat, joking, “Third Brother, how about you passionately pursue me and let me experience being a femme fatale?”
“Would one pursuer be enough?” Qin Yuan drove while shaving his beard in the rearview mirror, “Just two suitors? What kind of femme fatale is that? A true femme fatale should cover the entire public security, prosecution, judiciary system, hospitals, individual businesses... and even Xiao Yao’s funeral home. Let’s calculate; a femme fatale should drown all handsome guys, some handsome girls... and dogs in a 360-degree angle. Think about yourself—do you measure up?”
Jiang Beibei: “Hahahaha... No, no, I’m not cut out to be a femme fatale.”
Qin Yuan added, “Have you ever seen a suitor as easy-going as me? Willingly taking you to see your boyfriend.”
“Not necessarily. What if your purpose is to stage a drama, making my boyfriend misunderstand, break up, and then you swoop in?”
Qin Yuan threw the razor, adjusted his collar, and commented, “Too dramatic! Why didn’t you audition for acting school? Such wasted talent.”
“Third Brother.”
“Yeah?”
Jiang Beibei asked, “Why do you like me? It’s strange...”
“Who gave you the courage to reopen my wounds?” Qin Yuan glanced at the rearview mirror. Jiang Beibei lay on the back seat, blowing bubbles aimlessly at the car roof, her face expressionless as she asked the question.
“Just find it strange. Third Brother suddenly says he likes...”
“Can’t liking be sudden?”
“Nope.” Jiang Beibei said, “Third Brother, I always thought you were like Second Brother, someone who teases me verbally. Whenever you say things like ‘keeping it in the family,’ though I’m a bit scared and a bit awkward, I never took it seriously... Your feelings haven’t changed. It’s just... With Brother Yao, I can sense a bit of genuine affection, but with you, it’s always been the same, without that feeling.”
“Don’t understand.” Qin Yuan said, “What are you asking?”
“Just asking Third Brother, what triggered you to suddenly tell me you want me to be your girlfriend?”
“...” Qin Yuan seriously considered the question and realized he didn’t know the answer either.
“Maybe it was seeing my mom arrange blind dates for you.”
Actually, no. Qin Yuan knew that his emotional shift towards Jiang Beibei occurred before his mother’s actions.
Perhaps it was breaking up with his ex-girlfriend that made him notice Jiang Beibei, or maybe it was a colleague’s teasing remark that all his girlfriends were essentially the same type, making him realize they resembled Jiang Beibei—or rather, Jiang Beibei resembled them.
If so, why waste emotions on outsiders with no future when he had someone he liked nearby, compatible and with an emotional foundation? Why couldn’t he pursue her?
“Third Brother, let me say something, don’t get mad, okay?”
“Go ahead.” Qin Yuan thought, I’ll decide whether to get mad based on the situation.
Jiang Beibei said, “It’s like when you handed me a cat… Though I like cats, you never asked if I wanted to keep it before giving it to me. And… though I like cats, do you know which kind I like?”
“Which kind?”
“I like orange tabbies.” Jiang Beibei said, “Though it’s still a cat, you brought me a blue cat and suddenly told me to keep it… Third Brother is like that. I think Third Brother is arrogant.”
“Arrogant as in haughty?”
“No, it’s… independent arrogance, like thinking something and doing it without considering others.” Jiang Beibei said, “Actually, it’s not bad. Third Brother is Third Brother; just stay true to yourself. I think Third Brother doesn’t need to waste emotions figuring out other things. One day, someone will like you for who you are…”
“But you don’t?”
“…Yeah.”
“What do you like about Yao’er?”
“He’s good-looking.”
Qin Yuan clicked his tongue twice, “Good looks, huh? Is he better looking than me?”
“To me, he’s the best-looking. Like cats, though they’re all cats, I prefer orange tabbies. You both are handsome, but I prefer Brother Yao’s type.”
“Mm, alright, point taken. Besides good looks, what else do you like about him?”
“Everything related to him, I like.”
“That’s called irrational, not love.”
“Really!” Jiang Beibei said, “I also like that he thinks of me, that he loves Aunt Yao, Uncle Chu, and even his grandmother—I like them all.”
Qin Yuan fell silent. When they arrived at the funeral home, he parked the car and asked, “Jiang Beibei, that day when I said I wanted you to be my girlfriend, I was serious. Tell me, why did you cry that day?”
“I… I couldn’t accept Third Brother’s feelings and felt sorry for you.” Jiang Beibei whispered, “Even now, I still feel sorry for Third Brother…”
“Mm, seems like I failed.” Qin Yuan leaned back on the seat, forcing a bitter smile, “Thinking of me makes you sad.”
“Not exactly...”
“Beibei.” Qin Yuan said, “In reality, my feelings weren’t that deep. Except for the moment I confessed to you, everything else wasn’t that significant. Look how easily I gave up. Maybe, in the end, I don’t care much about you either.”
“Third Brother…”
“What I cherish might be our existing bond.” Qin Yuan said, “This is enough.”
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