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Jiang Yining’s mother had called her that afternoon, but she didn’t have time to answer. She wasn’t sure if something had happened at home again.
“The meal today went pretty well.” Jiang Yining sat up in bed. After taking a nap, she felt so sore it was hard to even lift her arms.
“After lunch, I went home and had a meltdown. In the afternoon, I went to the gym with He Chi.”
She felt that being too obedient only made it easier for others to take advantage of you. She might as well go a little crazy—make herself feel good and let others suffer.
In the past, her Father would constantly play the victim in front of her, using emotional manipulation over and over until she kept backing down.
Zhang Qiao asked, “They didn’t give you a hard time when you went back, did they?”
“No.”
Hearing that, Zhang Qiao didn’t press further about what had happened and instead laughed. “I used to ask you to come to the gym with me. No matter how I begged, you wouldn’t go. But with He Chi, you’re all for it.”
She added with exaggerated indignation, “Clearly, He Chi’s words carry more weight than mine.”
Listening to her, Jiang Yining felt like she was being accused of ditching her best friend for a man—but Zhang Qiao wasn’t entirely wrong. She tried to smooth things over. “Okay, okay. From now on, I’ll go with you.”
She pulled a card out of the drawer. “The gym owner knows He Chi. He met me today and gave me a VIP card.”
Jiang Yining had no idea what use this so-called “Supreme Gold Card” had.
Zhang Qiao glanced at it. “Whoa, this gym is pretty well-known in Lincheng. They have several branches. That Supreme Gold Card is a lifetime membership—it works at all of them.”
Jiang Yining sighed with regret. “It’s registered under my name. Otherwise, I’d give it to you. Feels like a waste on me.”
“I think He Chi’s probably someone who works out regularly. You could go with him when you’re free,” Zhang Qiao said.
But Jiang Yining was someone who would never sit if she could lie down. She preferred staying home, reading poetry and novels—living a life of quiet, artistic idleness.
Her constitution wasn’t the best either. Every time flu season rolled around, she’d catch it for sure.
As Zhang Qiao was talking, Jiang Yining lay back down again. She gave a half-hearted “mm” and then mumbled under the covers, “There’s some sea salt cheesecake in the fridge for you.”
Seeing her like this, Zhang Qiao laughed. “I’ve taken two days off, plus the weekend—I’ll have several days free. I’ll help you with the move.”
Hearing that, Jiang Yining poked her head out from under the covers and grinned playfully. “Qiao Qiao, you’re my lifesaver. All those days of living together weren’t for nothing!”
“……”
Zhang Qiao was momentarily speechless. In the end, she just shut the door.
Living together, huh? She wasn’t even worried about people overhearing and getting the wrong idea.
The next morning, Jiang Yining and Zhang Qiao began packing together. During the process, Jiang Yining received a phone call from Jiang Yufang.
Jiang Yining said straightforwardly, “Auntie, I’m in the middle of moving right now. If you have something to say, let’s talk after I’m done.”
Jiang Yufang was caught off guard and could only reply, “Alright.”
After hanging up, she sat there dazed, unable to shake the feeling that her niece wasn’t quite the same as before. Something had changed, but she couldn’t put her finger on what.
Last night, Zhao Hong had called her to complain, saying that Jiang Yining was trying to kick their whole family out.
Jiang Yufang didn’t believe that Jiang Yining would actually do something like that, and she had wanted to help smooth things over between her and Zhao Hong.
But now, it seemed she would have to wait a few days.
The argument yesterday between Jiang Yining and her family had been loud enough for the neighbors to hear. Word had spread fast—especially with Aunt Sun chiming in to amplify it.
Zhang Qiao had heard bits of the story from her own mother the night before and roughly understood the situation.
When she saw Jiang Yining hang up the call, she finally asked, “Ning Ning, what are you planning to do about all this?”
“If Zhao Hong refuses to return the money, are you really going to sell the apartment?”
Jiang Yining understood Zhao Hong well. That woman was full of schemes and always chasing petty gains.
And in Zhao Hong’s eyes, Jiang Yining was cold and indifferent—definitely the type capable of selling the apartment.
Calmly, Jiang Yining said, “Zhao Hong’s been coveting this place for years. She won’t be willing to cough up tens of thousands easily, but even less so would she give up the apartment.”
“I’ll get the money back first, then draft a written agreement. I won’t let Zhao Hong take advantage of this place, not one bit.”
Zhang Qiao chuckled. “Ning Ning, you’re getting more and more ruthless when you need to be. I like it.”
Ever since she was young, she’d had a gentle disposition. Aunt Du had doted on her, letting her grow up carefree. Later, she had to face someone as shameless as Zhao Hong on her own, while Uncle Jiang stood by doing nothing.
Being able to hold on to the apartment all these years hadn’t been easy.
Zhang Qiao was packing Jiang Yining’s bookshelf, which was filled with vintage romance novels.
She pulled one out, gently flipping the corner. “The 99th Escape: The CEO’s Sky-High Priced Little Wife…”
Jiang Yining’s face flushed red. She rushed over and snatched the book out of Zhang Qiao’s hands. “Everyone has their little indulgences!”
“You sure you want to move all these too?”
Jiang Yining hesitated. “Then what should I do?”
Zhang Qiao said, “You’ve got too many books. Just leave them here for now—you can slowly move them later.”
Jiang Yining carefully placed the book back in its spot. “Some of these are out of print. You can’t find them on the market anymore.”
She’d lived here for nearly two and a half years and never thought she had that much stuff. But now that they were packing, she felt overwhelmed.
Jiang Yining started by packing all the books she needed for work and study—three full boxes. Just moving those with Zhang Qiao was a struggle.
Zhang Qiao gave up. “These three boxes… We’ll have to get He Chi to come up and carry them.”
That evening, Jiang Yining messaged He Chi: [Are you free?]
She didn’t get a reply right away—but a voice call came through instead.
By the time she hit “answer,” Jiang Yining still hadn’t processed what was happening. “Hello?”
On the other end, He Chi sounded much more relaxed than usual. His deep voice came through, with soft lounge music playing in the background. “How’s the packing going today?”
He had just walked into a lounge bar when he saw her message. On impulse, he decided to call her—but even he was surprised at how unfamiliar it still felt between them.
They were a flash-married couple still in the “getting to know each other” phase.
Jiang Yining asked first, “Are you at a bar? Am I bothering you at work?”
He Chi replied, “Not at all.” He let out a faint chuckle. “If you were bothering me, I wouldn’t have called you at this time.”
Hearing his voice, Jiang Yining’s fingers tightened slightly around her phone. She tried to keep her tone calm as she replied with a soft “oh,” then added, “We just did some basic packing today, but it turns out… we have way too much stuff.”
“There are a few boxes of books that are too heavy—just the two of us can’t manage them.”
He Chi said immediately, “I’ll handle the heavy stuff. You two shouldn’t be lifting things like that—you might hurt yourselves.”
“I’ll have the company driver bring a small cargo vehicle tomorrow. Don’t worry about how much stuff there is—we’ll get it moved.”
Jiang Yining heard someone on his end call out, “Chi-ge,” and quickly said, “You go ahead. Sounds like you’re busy.”
He Chi chuckled. “Alright. This time I really am. See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
Originally, Jiang Yining just wanted to let him know she had too much stuff. Now that He Chi said he’d bring a small cargo vehicle, she felt reassured.
But when she saw the so-called “small cargo vehicle” the next day, Jiang Yining was completely stunned.
She stood frozen for a long moment before she came back to her senses and asked He Chi, “This is… the small car you mentioned?”