TSDT - 30

On a early winter morning, the sky was dim, not truly bright.

Inside, with the blackout curtains drawn, a thick sleepiness enveloped the room; whether it was dusk or dawn, it mattered not.

The alarm was the only tear.

Jiang Ying groaned, burrowing deeper into the covers.

Someone turned off the annoying ringing for her, and the world returned to peace.

Her consciousness grew hazy again. Jiang Ying was half-asleep, feeling something warm touch her face, then heard distant and close sounds. The voice was deep, and it took her two tries to hear clearly that it was in her ear.

Meng Jingshu called her: “Jiang Ying, wake up.”

She rolled over, moving away from the warmth near her ear, and grumbled, “I’m so sleepy...”

Meng Jingshu said, “Go to bed early tonight.”

“No... you say that every day...”

But he was always the one who kept them up late. Why wasn’t he tired? He must be compensating for one thing by doing another!

She threw a tantrum: “It’s all your fault, go away! Go back to your own home, I don’t want to sleep with you anymore!”

After two seconds of silence, Meng Jingshu said blandly, “I heard Jiangbin Restaurant started serving morning tea. If you get up now, there’s enough time.”

“...” Jiang Ying sprang up, her messy hair making the quilt thump, “So cold, so cold! Quick! Give me my underwear! And that... where’s my sweater, where’s my sweater?!”

Meng Jingshu, taking her instructions perfectly, found and tossed her desired clothes one by one, watching her quickly put them on and then rush to the bathroom to wash up.

He stared at her retreating figure, unable to stop himself from laughing.

How could she be so cute? Such a big person, yet still so easy to coax like a child.

________________________________________

Every Friday, a vibrant atmosphere filled the workplaces from morning onwards. Meng Jingshu smiled as he accepted the morning greetings from his colleagues.

Soon after arriving at the office, someone knocked on his door with repeated “Good morning, Mr. Wei” greetings.

Wei Zhanfeng held a cup of coffee in one hand, sipping, and slapped another cup onto Meng Jingshu’s desk.

“Here you go.”

Meng Jingshu’s gaze was fixed on the fluctuating data on his computer screen; he didn’t look at him: “Thanks. But I’m not tired, you keep it.”

Having hit a few walls early in the morning, Wei Zhanfeng was annoyed. He insisted, “I’m giving it to you, just drink it!”

Meng Jingshu looked up at his face and chuckled, “Couldn’t pick her up?”

Wei Zhanfeng had recently been pursuing a woman he liked. The girl was an art curator, with high standards for both taste and fun. She showed little interest in Wei Zhanfeng, and he had returned empty-handed several times despite his efforts to impress her.

He himself was down in the dumps, while his brother was enjoying a successful romance. Wei Zhanfeng had been feeling increasingly bitter towards Meng Jingshu lately, and now, provoked, his tone was particularly sharp.

“Yes, couldn’t pick her up, she didn’t want to be picked up, that’s why I’m giving it to you, alright?!”

Meng Jingshu considered himself free of arrogance and capriciousness, but he was certainly not so kind that anyone could shout at him.

“Can’t drink it,” he said, feigning casualness, “That morning tea place you recommended was quite good.”

A precise knife, plunged into Wei Zhanfeng’s heart.

“You, you went with a girl?!”

“Otherwise?”

Wei Zhanfeng was absolutely fuming.

Too much, this guy was too much!

The morning tea at Jiangbin Restaurant was a place Wei Zhanfeng had specifically sought out two days ago, after hearing that his crush liked Cantonese cuisine. At the time, he just casually mentioned it to Meng Jingshu, who showed no reaction, as if he hadn’t heard. Yet now, he turned around and took a girl there to please her, and even used it to provoke him.

What kind of brother was he?!

He picked up the coffee in fury, a cup in each hand, going at it from both sides. He needed to cheer himself up, work hard. Only money was real; all this friendship and love, it was all fake, fake!

Unlucky in love, lucky in business, Wei Zhanfeng was eloquent and skilled at talking. After a few phone calls, he chatted and laughed with people, and didn’t stay long in the office before heading out for a meeting.

Wei Zhanfeng’s ideas had taken shape, and the company officially established a gaming department. To expedite the approval process, the office was bustling every day, and Meng Jingshu moved back and forth between the software and gaming departments. Fortunately, they had conceived this idea early, and the framework was already set, so they weren’t in a frantic rush.

During lunch break, Meng Jingshu went to the pantry to make tea. While waiting, he heard a few employees return with their takeout, chatting as they ate.

“Finally no overtime tonight, want to play basketball? Sitting all day makes me feel stiff.”

“Sure, but I’m not very good.”

“It’s fine, just for fun.”

“There aren’t enough of us, let’s go pull some people from next door later.”

“You guys go, I won’t be joining.” Someone suddenly said.

“Come on, join us, let’s have a few drinks after the game.” Someone persuaded.

“No, no, I have to watch a movie with my girlfriend tonight. I haven’t had a date with her all week, how dare I go drinking?”

“Bro, that’s some good realization! I also want to watch a movie with someone, I just need a girlfriend!”

Everyone, hearing him say this, expressed understanding and envy. As they talked, the topic surprisingly shifted to wanting someone to set them up on blind dates. Single men this age were all like peacocks displaying their feathers, emitting courtship vibes. This was normal.

Meng Jingshu twitched the corner of his mouth, holding his teacup as he left. The young people who were engrossed in their food saw him, quickly swallowed their mouthfuls, and tried to greet him, looking quite flustered.

They were all around the same age, and Meng Jingshu didn’t care for such formalities. He waved his hand, smiling faintly, and said, “You guys eat.”

The company was on the twelfth floor, the same height as her home. The soft sunlight streaming into the office from the window was also the same as at her home.

The weather really had been good, ever since they planted the mint. That’s why Piglet and Panda had taken root and survived before the severe winter, even sprouting new tender shoots.

Very good luck.

The casual chat among his colleagues earlier gave Meng Jingshu an epiphany.

He had had several relationships, none of which he had actively pursued, yet every single one ended with him being dumped. It’s probably hard to believe, but it was true.

He was perhaps a bit aloof. Since childhood, his grandmother often called him heartless and arrogant. While reprimanding him for only caring about himself, she would also pity him for losing his parents at a young age, saying he grew up this way due to a lack of parental affection.

He listened with one ear and let it out the other, finding it unbearable. Over time, when he thought about it, those words would float through his mind like scriptures.

During festivals, when burning incense and praying to Buddha, his grandmother would always murmur, “May Heaven bless Xiao Shu to grow up well. May his heart be warmer, not so isolated and cold. Xiao Shu’s familial bonds are thin; if you can see him, please compensate him more.”

Perhaps Grandma was right.

But Meng Jingshu never felt a deficit; his life was affluent and free. Seeing his friends tightly controlled by their parents, sometimes even subjected to corporal punishment, he would feel fortunate. Although his grandparents loved to nag, their energy was limited after all, and many things were just talk. He had their indulgence, his own sense of boundaries; the world was his oyster, he could do anything.

So all along, he only had eyes for himself.

Relationships also required balancing effort and reward; if you were careless, others would naturally leave.

Meng Jingshu knew he wasn’t a great lover, but he had been this way from the start, with no deception or change. Whether they stayed together or broke up, it was their own choice. When he met someone he liked, while not necessarily gentle or attentive, he was tolerant and generous, never wavering. As for the past, he had a clear conscience and truly didn’t care much.

Selfish?

Perhaps.

So, when the day truly came that he cared about everything, according to Grandma, should he be blessed with good fortune?

He hadn’t experienced it, but he understood that such good fortune was hard-won.

The light outside the window dimmed. Winter was like this; a few gusts of wind, thick clouds drifting, the sun obscured, and the temperature for the entire day began to drop from that moment.

But it was a carefree Friday, so what if it was a little cold?

A minute later, a message popped up on Jiang Ying’s phone screen, who was playing a 5-person game with colleagues. Her vision was blocked, and she, critically low on health and trying to escape, was taken out by an “Italian Cannon.”

________________________________________

She furiously opened WeChat, seeing the other party ask: “Watch a movie tonight?”

Why on earth watch a movie? The top-ranked comedy of the year, starring a cheating scumbag?

She replied: “No.”

Then she coldly closed WeChat, returned to the game, revived just in time, and fully immersed herself in the battle.

________________________________________

This peaceful Friday night, Meng Jingshu spent at the gym.

Before leaving work, he spitefully told Jiang Ying that he had plans and wouldn’t be having dinner with her. As he sent it, he felt a little anticipation. He imagined her asking why he suddenly had plans again, or sending a pitiful emoji.

But she was direct and concise, replying: “Okay, got it.”

This message, along with the resolute “No” from earlier, irritated him.

When did he ever need to actively ask people out? Being rejected was one thing, but she didn’t even care about his whereabouts. He had never met a woman like this.

He really should ask Grandma next time she burns incense to pray for her too, so she’ll grow a conscience.

After running ten kilometers on the treadmill as a warm-up, he went to lift weights with a cold expression. The equipment area was filled with the grim grunts of various male voices. As Meng Jingshu exerted himself, his muscles engorged and bulged, straining his athletic T-shirt into a solid shape. He held his breath, his expression unchanging, and he wouldn’t make a sound.

It was actually very tiring this way; he sweated more than others. When his clothes got wet, his body shape became even more apparent, and several passing ladies’ eyes lit up.

He noticed the gazes of the opposite sex; after all these years, he was used to it. But at this moment, a strong indignation arose within him because of it—Jiang Ying looked at his body with the same kind of gaze.

It was like that on their first night; when she took off his clothes, her eyes sparkled with an admiring light, as if she had found a treasure—that was raw desire for his flesh.

It was also like this normally; when they were alone, she wouldn’t even look at him, her hand would just automatically go to his lower abdomen, excitedly muttering to herself, “Chocolate, it’s eight blocks of chocolate again today...”

He was speechless, only able to secretly suck in his breath and tense his muscles, making his abs lines deeper.

Abs... always just abs.

Because of his abs, she wouldn’t even let him drink milk tea.

Bad woman.

________________________________________

After his workout, Meng Jingshu took a quick shower in the changing room. With a towel draped over his shoulder, his hair still dripping wet, he didn’t even bother to dry it before opening his locker to get his phone.

There were a few new messages, but none were what he wanted to see.

It’s been almost three hours, right? Not a single word.

Didn’t she know she was supposed to comfort him when he was in a bad mood?

She’d only grown older, but had actually gotten dumber than before. She used to be so good at reading his expressions when she was little.

Back in high school, when he was caught climbing over the wall at noon and his grandfather confiscated his phone, she knew he was in a bad mood and didn’t dare to nag him for days. Even when she occasionally caught him smoking, she would just give him a frustrated look. It wasn’t until he ranked in the top ten in a subsequent exam and legitimately got his phone back from his family that she reverted to her old ways. She’d subtly try to persuade him to quit smoking, occasionally giving him a box of mints, muttering, “If your mouth feels bland, eat candy. My dad and his colleagues ate these when they quit smoking.”

He took them, but thought to himself, who wants to quit smoking like a middle-aged man?

But the candy was quite tasty.

She was so cute back then. Not like now.

Meng Jingshu irritably rubbed his hair a few times. After replying to his messages, his hair was no longer dripping. He picked up his things and walked out.

The gym is where modern people forge their bodies, and more than other places, it’s where hormones are released. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, attracting a few admirers is not surprising.

For instance, this time, as he left the changing room and was about to leave, he was stopped by a girl waiting at the door.

“Um...” the girl smiled, saying quite casually, “You seem to have been working out for a while. Want to go get some salad or a drink together?”

It was evident the girl was also a gym regular, wearing figure-hugging workout gear, with a simple ponytail and perfectly maintained delicate makeup. She was a beauty.

Meng Jingshu naturally wouldn’t rudely stare at her. He just got a general impression when she called him. After she finished speaking, he didn’t rush to reply.

During the brief pause, the girl felt her psychological pressure sharply increase under his emotionless gaze. She thought, Why is hitting on someone so terrifying? Maybe I should just ask for his contact information instead...

Then she heard him say, “Sorry, my wife is rushing me to pick up our child from the Youth Palace.”

The girl’s expression stiffened, and when she reacted, she quickly said, “My apologies...”

She thought to herself, Such a good-looking man, fine if he married early... but his child is already attending interest classes at the Youth Palace... is he just making this up to reject me?

Never mind, it just meant no chance, so she would excuse herself.

Just then, a hearty yet affected male voice rang out: “Darling~ I’m here, have you been waiting long?”

Then came the sound of approaching footsteps, and a hand clapped onto Meng Jingshu’s shoulder, exaggeratedly rubbing his damp short hair.