When the two arrived at the underground parking lot, the bright light around them gave Ji Chen a sense of security. His nerves, which had been tense, finally relaxed—— In fact, even with “The spring breeze of reform is blowing all over the land, the Chinese people are really inspiring^[1]《King of Poetry》 by Xiao Keer” ringing in his ears, Ji Chen was still shocked by the remaining movie scenes.

Jiang Baiwan looked at Ji Chen curiously. “I didn’t expect you to be afraid of watching horror movies…… I thought that a person like you isn’t afraid of anything.”

Ji Chen had sat on the driver seat and started the car when he heard Jiang Baiwan say this. He felt embarrassed for no reason, but Ji Chen disguised it very well and it wasn’t visible on the surface. “Everyone has weaknesses and even I have them. I’m just an ordinary person.”

“Saying such thing with your face and identity, it’s really not convincing at all.” Jiang Baiwan couldn’t help commenting. “But thank you for obliging me. You don’t actually have to force yourself. You should have just told me that you can’t watch horror movies.”

Ji Chen looked at Jiang Baiwan from the rearview mirror and said without thinking, “I’ll go watch movies with you regardless of the genre.”

As soon as this was said, both of them were stunned.

Ji Chen fell into silence, and Jiang Baiwan wanted to break the awkward atmosphere, but she didn’t know what to say. She bit her lip and stole a glance at Ji Chen, her brain was spinning at high speed—— What did Ji Chen meant by the words he just said?

For the first time, Jiang Baiwan felt a little regretful. She shouldn’t have found Ji Chen to watch a movie together.

“There’s nothing to it.” It was Ji Chen who spoke first and opened up the matter. “I mean, the two of us are friends after all.”

As he said that, Ji Chen showed a rare smile. “I actually don’t have many friends. It’s the first time coming out to watch a movie like this.”

Jiang Baiwan breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s okay. Whenever you’re free, I’ll accompany you at any time.”

After dropping Jiang Baiwan off her home, Ji Chen watched the little girl bouncing up the stairs and his face instantly fell. He furrowed his brows and drove home quickly without saying a word.

Ji Ying was home. She was sitting on the sofa while watching TV when she suddenly heard the front door open, and then saw her silly brother walking in with a serious face. Ji Ying wanted to call out to him, but could only watch as he darted to the stairs and then went up without even looking at her during the whole process.

Ji Ying: “……”

What’s wrong with this kid?

Ji Ying tossed the remote control aside and went upstairs with her slippers. The door of Ji Chen’s room was open. He had buried himself in the bed with his face pressed under the quilt, as if he was asleep.

“He’s been like this since he was little, how come this habit still hasn’t changed?” Ji Ying muttered in a low voice. She then stood at the doorway and knocked. “Can I come in and talk?”

Ji Chen didn’t answer so Ji Ying took it as his acquiescence. She walked directly into Ji Chen’s room and closed the door behind her.

“What’s wrong?” Ji Ying sat down on a chair off to the side. “Want to talk to me about it?”

Ji Chen was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, “It’s nothing. I just can’t figure out some things and need to think carefully about them.”

Ji Ying laughed instead. She said leisurely, “Let me guess, is it because of Jiang Baiwan?”

Ji Chen flopped down on the bed again and didn’t answer. Ji Ying smiled triumphantly, knowing she had guessed correctly.

“You can’t understand yourself?” Ji Ying stretched out her hand and poked Ji Chen. “Whether you like a girl or not, don’t you understand it in your heart?”

“I…… have never liked anyone before.” Ji Chen sat up, his hair looking a little messy. In front of his family, Ji Chen showed a rare hesitation and uneasiness. “Sis, I don’t know if I like her. I just feel…… quite happy when I’m with her.”

Ji Ying gave Ji Chen a deep look. “I can’t answer you in this kind of thing, but I advise you to hurry up, otherwise a cute girl like Xiao Wan will have men smarter than you who will like her.”

Ji Chen frowned and didn’t speak. For some reason, he suddenly thought of Luo Xiao who frequented Jiang Baiwan’s Malatang shop.

Similarly, after Jiang Baiwan returned home, she also fell into a rare moment of entanglement. She’s a girl after all and her keen intuition tells her that some things depend on whether she was willing to delve into them or not, and that as long as she makes a move, those things would collapse in an instant.

“I just wanted to watch a movie……” Jiang Baiwan wailed and buried her face in the plush toys by the bed. “How did the situation suddenly become complicated?”

That night, neither of them got a good night’s sleep. Ji Chen arrived at the company with heavy dark circles under his eyes, while Jiang Baiwan simply didn’t go to the Malatang shop at all—— She needed time to sort out her thoughts.

So when Luo Xiao went to the Malatang shop to find Jiang Baiwan, he unexpectedly didn’t see her. He asked the college student waiter in surprise, “Where’s Boss Xiao Jiang? She didn’t come today?”

“Yes, Boss seems to be occupied with something.” Said the college student waiter. “So she didn’t come today.”

Instead of leaving, Luo Xiao bought a bowl of Malatang according to habit. He was sitting in his seat waiting for a while when the bowl of Malatang was placed in front of him. Luo Xiao looked up and saw that it was Wei Dao himself who brought it to him.

Luo Xiao gave Wei Dao a friendly smile. “Master Wei.”

“You should leave after eating. Boss Jiang probably won’t come today.” Wei Dao smoothly said a couple of things, “I heard her say yesterday that she’s going out to watch a movie with Ji Chen, so the two of them should be on a date.”

Luo Xiao’s smile remained unchanged. “Watching a movie? I see. There are quite a lot of good movies recently and I remember Xiao Wan said before that she really likes watching movies.”

Wei Dao glanced at Luo Xiao, smiled inexplicably, but didn’t answer his words. He just turned and went back to the kitchen. On the other hand, Luo Xiao slowly ate the Malatang in front of him, as if what Wei Dao said to him was just idle chatter.

After Luo Xiao had left, the college student waiter asked Wei Dao in a whisper while in the kitchen, “Master Wei, is Mr. Luo chasing Boss Xiao Jiang? He comes here to eat Malatang every day, it’s obvious that he have other thoughts in mind.”

“Who knows.” Wei Dao glanced at the kitchen door and sneered. “Don’t worry so much about it, just do your job properly.”

Once again, Luo Xiao took out his phone after he had gone out the shop, but thinking for a while, he put it back.

Since things were moving in a good direction, there’s no need to report everything, right?

———

It was an uncommon occasion that Jiang Baiwan’s entanglement weren’t put back to the back of her mind, but instead buried in the bottom of her heart. Even though the movie was over and Ji Chen didn’t come looking for her during this time, Jiang Baiwan still couldn’t let herself go.

She can only work hard to manage the Malatang shop. In the past two days, she had been obsessed with studying seasonings with Wei Dao. The two of them discuss in the kitchen every day how to make it more delicious, arguing fiercely.

“That’s a lot of coriander!” Jiang Baiwan sat on the small bench, determined not to bow her head. “There’s a fundamental difference between putting a pinch and putting a handful!”

Wei Dao glanced at her. “Your phone is ringing.”

Jiang Baiwan heard her ringtone and hurriedly took out the cell phone. She answered the call directly without avoiding Wei Dao. “Hello, who’s this?”

“Sis^[2]Elder sister?” From the other end of the phone came a young man’s voice. “Sis, it’s me.”

Jiang Baiwan was taken aback. She had never heard the voice before, but it was obvious that the person seemed to be very familiar with her.

“Sis?” The young man called again in doubt. “Sis, why aren’t you talking? Is this Jiang Baiwan?”

“I’m sorry, I’m not buying insurance.” Jiang Baiwan said quickly. “I’m not buying a house, not to mention a car and I’m not looking for a job either.”

The person on the other end of the line seemed stunned by Jiang Baiwan’s string of refusals and was silent for a long time before saying weakly, “I’m not a salesman……”

At that, Jiang Baiwan took the phone in front of her eyes and glanced at the phone number, then placed it back on her ear and said, “Then you’re an operator? No need, I don’t want to buy a package either.”

“Sis, I’m really not a salesman.” The young man was obviously anxious and his tone of voice became slightly higher. “Sis…… can’t you recognize my voice? It’s me.”

Jiang Baiwan sneered and she said slowly, “It’s already 2018 and scams like yours have been outdated for a long time. Then since you said I know you, let me ask you a question, I have a mole on my face, where is it located?”

Wei Dao on the side looked at Jiang Baiwan’s smooth and beautiful face, and fell into silence for a while.

The person on the other end of the phone said, “Sis, you’re lying to me. When did you have a mole on your face?”

Oh, it doesn’t seem like he’s purely stupid? Jiang Baiwan snorted softly, “Then tell me, what is it that you want by calling me?”

“Sis, I just sneaked back to China behind Mom and Dad’s backs. I’m at the airport now and have no more money.” The young man spoke with some hesitation, “Do you have any money right now? Can you lend me some taxi money? I’ll pay you back when I get home.”

Sure enough, it was a scam.

Jiang Baiwan showed a frustrated expression. She said viciously, “Nice try! Making money is very hard. Do you have nothing better to do than scam people?”

After saying that, she hung up the phone while complaining to Wei Dao. “What age is this? Why are scammers still doing this?”

Wei Dao shook his head. “Maybe it’s a mistake?”

“Who knows?” Jiang Baiwan sighed. “Never mind, let’s continue with the conversation about the seasoning.”

While at this time, Ji Chen just got off the plane. He had been on a business trip for the past few days. He was at the airport and was just about to walk out of the gate when someone suddenly rushed towards him.

The bodyguards around Ji Chen reacted quickly, and without waiting for the person to get close, he was pinned to the ground. The person let out a cry of pain. “Brother-in-law^[3]Elder sister’s husband! It’s me!”