Chapter 10. Softened Heart

The rain kept falling. It was barely five o’clock, but the sky was already dark. Assistant Chen was checking in luggage at the service desk, and Lin Sang, seeing the time, told Lin Xingzi to head to security.

She turned around and saw Lin Xingzi standing there like a statue, staring into the distance.

“Stop looking. If he hasn’t arrived by now, he’s probably been held up,” Jiang Yan hadn’t promised to come send her off, and he wouldn’t make empty promises when he wasn’t sure he could deliver. “If you miss him, just give him a call and tell him.”

Lin Xingzi snapped back to reality, pretending to be nonchalant, and casually agreed.

Assistant Chen finished checking in the luggage. Lin Xingzi took one last look around; people were coming and going, but the person she wanted to see still wasn’t there. Although she knew he had work, she still felt a little disappointed.

As she went through security, she remembered how, when she arrived yesterday, her only thought was to discuss a divorce with Jiang Yan. She was young and not short on money, so why cling to a marriage that felt like she was a widow? Not seeing him made her irritable, and seeing him made her even more so. A divorce would end it all.

Her marriage with Jiang Yan had started with a misunderstanding.

The night before the new year, Lin Ke and Lin Sang had a class reunion at the same restaurant where Lin Xingzi happened to be. She had too much to drink and asked Lin Sang for a room key, but when she opened the door, Jiang Yan was inside.

Before that, they hadn’t seen each other in eight years.

A month later, Jiang Yan stumbled upon Lin Xingzi at the hospital, looking disheveled, squatting on the ground, and vomiting with a pregnancy test report in her hand. The next day, he went to the Lin family to propose.

No parents would look kindly on a man who showed up after getting their daughter pregnant, even if Jiang Yan was one of Li Qing’s favorite students. He worked in the anti-drug unit of the municipal public security bureau, and Lin Xudong also quite admired him. But once he was involved with their daughter, any good impression of him became an eyesore.

For a full week, Jiang Yan arrived at the Lin family house promptly at 8 AM every morning, taking their abuse without fighting back, and even when they finally refused to let him in, he still said the same thing: “Director Lin, Teacher Li, I truly like Jiangjiang. Please let her marry me.”

But it turned out to be a misunderstanding. She had picked up the wrong test report; the other person had the same surname and birthdate.

She wasn’t pregnant; her nausea during that period was due to an upset stomach.

Lin Xingzi was utterly mortified.

Not long after they got their marriage certificate, Jiang Yan was transferred to this city. They barely saw each other a few times in six months. When you don’t have something, you don’t really think about it. But once you have it, and it’s not what you expected, the sense of disparity and loss can grow like wild weeds.

Lin Xingzi thought it was better to just get divorced; if it was gone, she wouldn’t keep thinking about it.

But in just one night, her heart softened.

People really can’t be spoiled.

Her phone was in her hand. She felt it vibrate the first time, and the smile that appeared on her lips when she saw the contact name flashing on the screen went unnoticed by her.

“What are you doing? You’re breathing so heavily.”

Jiang Yan had just asked the staff; her flight hadn’t taken off yet.

“Nothing much, just moved some things,” he wiped his face, unable to tell if it was rain or sweat. “Have you gone through security?”

“Yes,” Lin Xingzi looked out the window. “It’s not delayed. We’ll board in a few minutes.”

“Text me when you land.”

“...I’m very busy. I might not remember.”

Although he couldn’t see her, Jiang Yan could imagine the girl’s expression on the other end of the line. He unconsciously softened his tone, “Then I’ll watch the time and text you. When you’re done with work, just reply when you have a moment.”

The sound of the broadcast almost filled the airport terminal. Lin Xingzi’s fingers played with a strand of her hair, twisting it around and around. After a long while, she finally distinguished whether the sound was from her side or from the phone.

Jiang Yan also paused for a few seconds and couldn’t help but chuckle.

Neither of them spoke. After the broadcast finished, Lin Xingzi suddenly called out to him.

“Jiang Yan!”

“I’m still here. What’s wrong?”

“I... I...” Some words were just a momentary impulse. After that second, Lin Xingzi couldn’t say them, but having called him, she couldn’t say nothing. “Did you put away my clothes? It’s been raining all day. I really like that outfit; it’s very comfortable to wear, and it’s hard to buy another one.”

Half a minute later, Jiang Yan straightened up and smiled gently. “Yes, I did. I’ll bring them back to you when I come.”

The plane took off, and Lin Xingzi felt drowsy amidst the discomfort of weightlessness and ringing in her ears.

This man was truly cunning.

If he didn’t say which day, she would have to keep waiting.