Chapter 12

“You’re calling me a dog again!”

Even though he’d been called those countless times before, it had been a long while since he last heard it.

Hearing the familiar insult, Joe Yumian felt… a bit nostalgic.

Was he losing his mind?

His emotions were like a rollercoaster, swinging up and down wildly, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.

Jiang Caifu noticed his sudden silence and felt a bit puzzled. She wanted to say something but ultimately held her tongue.

The previously turbulent atmosphere suddenly calmed, like a stormy sea settling into tranquility.

The sudden quiet was so jarring that even Lu Jianlan, who had been watching from the sidelines, felt uncomfortable.

She watched Jiang Caifu pick up the spatula expressionlessly and clumsily make a pancake. The result, of course, was far from presentable—an unappetizing mess.

When Joe Yumian received it, he stared at it for a long while before he couldn’t hold back. “You deliberately made it this bad to spite me, didn’t you?”

Jiang Caifu, however, felt that since it was her first time trying to make a pancake, it was reasonable for her to mess up. She responded confidently, “Deliberately? I tried my best, and this is what I got. Take it or leave it.”

“Your best?” His brows furrowed as he examined the unrecognizable blob in his hand, trying to find any hint of effort. “That’s nonsense. The pancakes you posted on your social media looked amazing. Why does mine look like… this?”

Clearly, she was targeting him on purpose.

Feeling indignant, he was determined to demand an explanation.

But no explanation came.

Sensing something was off, he cautiously looked up, only to meet Jiang Caifu’s skeptical and disdainful gaze. “So, you really do have a secret account to stalk my social media?”

Busted. She knew he couldn’t hide anything for long.

Joe Yumian’s pupils contracted. Almost reflexively, he averted his gaze, avoiding her stare. “I didn’t!”

His voice was several octaves higher, practically screaming his guilt.

Jiang Caifu pulled out her phone and began scrolling through her friend list. “Which account?”

Joe Yumian, still trying to resist, mumbled, “I told you, I didn’t…” But seeing her icy expression, he hesitated before reluctantly explaining, “You didn’t block Shen Jiangli. I saw it through his account.”

He didn’t have many friends—just Lin Youyu and Shen Jiangli. Jiang Caifu had added both of them as contacts.

After the breakup, she had considered blocking all of them. But in the days, she hesitated, neither of them reached out, so she let it be. They remained quiet and out of each other’s way.

She hadn’t expected him to be so resourceful, using someone else’s account to spy on her.

“Impressive,” she said sincerely. “How can you be so clever, so resourceful?”

Though she didn’t use a single explicitly negative word, Joe Yumian felt utterly defeated.

But in this matter, he had no grounds to argue back. He could only endure her ridicule.

“Even after two years, I’m still being stalked by you. Dating you is like having a criminal record…” Jiang Caifu paused, then made a reasonable guess. “You’re not stalking all your exes, are you? That’s pretty creepy.”

Joe Yumian opened his mouth, trying to salvage his crumbling image. “…I’m not.”

Jiang Caifu’s eyes widened. “So, it’s just me? What’s your grudge against me?”

He tightened his grip on the pancake, the heat from the wrapper searing his palm through the thin material.

“I don’t have any other exes,” he said through gritted teeth.

Jiang Caifu didn’t think she was so special that he’d remain single out of undying love for her. “What, no one else wants you?”

Joe Yumian: “…Can’t you be a little nicer?”

“What else could it be?” she snapped, glaring at him with sharp eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re staying celibate for my sake?”

His lips moved as if to respond, but no words came out.

Instead, he lowered his head and took a large, aggressive bite of the pancake, as though venting his frustration on it.

After a few chews, the anger in his expression eased a little.

“It’s not… that bad, I guess.”

“If it’s that bad, don’t force yourself to eat it, okay?”

Jiang Caifu picked up her phone, asking Lu Jianlan to transfer the extra money to her. Then she sent it back to Joe Yumian.

He’s such a hassle, she thought.

“Don’t send me so much money out of nowhere again. I won’t always be this nice and return it,” she warned, her tone harsh.

Joe Yumian glanced at his phone, then back at her. “I didn’t ask you to send it back.”

The chat log showed her transfer, stark against the rest of the messages. The last time she’d messaged him was about their breakup.

Between that message and this one, there was a two-year gap filled with countless failed attempts from him, all marked with red exclamation points.

Realizing something, he impulsively sent her a single period.

This time, it didn’t bounce back.

His heart pounded wildly, out of rhythm.

Suppressing a smile, he glanced at Jiang Caifu, noting her seemingly indifferent demeanor. She had already put her phone away.

Unable to contain his eagerness, he quickly changed the subject to divert her attention.

“Are you coming back tomorrow?”

“Are you coming back tomorrow?” he asked awkwardly.

Jiang Caifu turned to Alana. “Are we?”

Alana shook her head regretfully. “I’d love to, but I have to be in the lab tomorrow.”

Jiang Caifu looked a bit disappointed, but Joe Yumian seemed even more so. He hung his head and sighed. “Alright, then.”

Jiang Caifu watched as the pancake in his hands visibly shrank with each bite until it was gone, and then she began ushering him out.

“Aren’t you leaving yet? Don’t you have a job? Why are you so free?”

“It’s Saturday. Can’t I have a break?”

Joe Yumian slowly finished the last bite of his pancake, wiped his mouth with a neatly folded handkerchief, and, after a moment of hesitation, asked, “So… are you two still going to the bar to find male models?”

Jiang Caifu: “…Get lost. We’re broke; how could we afford that?”

Joe Yumian was eventually called away by a work call.

It was clear that having to go back to the office on a Saturday was a big blow to him. When he left, he looked thoroughly dejected, the air around him heavy with frustration.

Jiang Caifu crossed her arms, watching his figure disappear from view. She muttered, “Damn it, I think he actually wants to get back together with me.”

Alana, who had thoroughly enjoyed the drama, raised her eyebrows. “What?”

With a laugh, she added, “Yuan Che’s feelings for you are so obvious, and you’re completely blind to them. But when your ex wants to reconcile, you see right through him?”

“I don’t really know Yuan Che. How would I know what he’s thinking?” Jiang Caifu pursed her lips. “But that stupid dog Joe? I know exactly what kind of person he is.”

Hearing this, Alana nodded thoughtfully. “So, you were acting like a complete jerk on purpose just now? To make sure he doesn’t misunderstand and think you’re still interested?”

That explained why Jiang Caifu had suddenly acted so out of character, bickering with him like a schoolkid.

Jiang Caifu shrugged. “He’s ridiculously full of himself. If I so much as treat him a bit better, he’ll think I’m still hung up on him.”

She really didn’t want to have anything to do with Joe Yumian again. It would be such a hassle, and it felt like her peaceful life might completely unravel.

Alana peeled back the plastic seal of her bubble tea, scooping out the toppings with a spoon. “I don’t really get the back-and-forth between you two, but I’ll admit—he’s handsome, he’s generous, and while his personality is a bit much, nobody’s perfect. Dating him isn’t exactly a criminal record.”

“Yeah, sure. If I weren’t worried about him getting the wrong idea, I’d love to be a bit kinder to him too,” Jiang Caifu said lazily as she stretched. After a moment, she added with genuine feeling, “If only he could stop talking.”

“…You sound kind of scary when you say things like that.” Alana tossed her empty bubble tea cup into a nearby trash can and noticed a bag next to Jiang Caifu. Her curiosity was piqued. “What’s that?”

“He returned my umbrella.”

Without it, Jiang Caifu mused, he’d probably have found some other excuse to show up.

Still, she was happy to get it back. While she had several spare umbrellas at home, none were as big as this one, and it always made her feel safer in the rain.

She lifted the bag and took out the umbrella.

When she had lent it to him, it had been loosely packed, the fabric all wrinkled and bunched. But now, it was neatly folded and carefully arranged.

Inside the bag, in one corner, lay an exquisite jewelry box.

Jiang Caifu paused for two seconds, took out the box, and opened it.

Inside was a simple bracelet with a hexagonal honeycomb design, tightly interlocked. The diamonds embedded in it were small but dazzling.

Alana glanced at it and laughed. “Giving you gifts on the sly, huh?”

Jiang Caifu’s expression was complicated. “Probably because he’s afraid I’d throw it back at him.”

It wouldn’t be the first time she’d done that.

If it had been just the two of them today, he might have handed it to her directly.

But with so many passersby on the street, he probably didn’t want to risk the embarrassment of being rejected in public. So, he resorted to this sneaky approach instead.

She held the bracelet up to the sunlight, her eyes momentarily blinded by the brilliant sparkle of the diamonds.

Honestly…

Two years had passed, and his tactics for trying to win her over hadn’t changed one bit.