Chapter 19: Stealing Peaches at Midnight

Jiang You hung up the video call and immediately burst into tears.

That night, Wen Nian came to her house to check on her. Seeing her crying, he asked what was wrong, but she refused to tell him. It was the first time he saw her this upset, so he didn’t press her further.

Later, Wen Nian asked if she had given the gift, and she confirmed that she had. The matter seemed to be forgotten after that.

But who would have thought, this misunderstanding would linger until now.

Jiang You explained, “That gift wasn’t for Brother Chaoyang.”

“WTF!!!” Wen Nian almost jumped out of his seat as if on the verge of dying, “Then who was it for? You’ve been hiding a man!!! You actually have a thing and I didn’t know!!!”

There was no helping it. Wen Nian really knew Jiang You too well.

Jiang You took a deep breath.

Based on her understanding of Wen Nian, she figured he wouldn’t stop her; he might even get excited and help her out…

“Come on, tell me! Who is it??”

Wen Nian felt betrayed. After eighteen years of friendship, his heart was shattered.

He hadn’t even been this hurt when Su Rui rejected him!

Waaa…

Jiang You tightened her throat and pretended to be serious: “=(.”

“Who?” Wen Nian thought he misheard.

“д=(д.”

Wen Nian narrowed his eyes: “What the hell? Speak properly!”

“Fu Jin.”

There was silence on the other end, both of them breathing heavily.

“Fu Jin.” Jiang You took another deep breath and spoke again.

Another long silence followed. No one said anything.

Jiang You could feel her heart racing, as if it might leap out of her chest.

This was the first time she admitted her feelings for Fu Jin to anyone, but she didn’t want to lie.

She liked him. What could she do about it?

She didn’t regret her decision. If she couldn’t even handle Wen Nian’s doubts, how would she face the judgment of others?

She didn’t want to care about other people’s opinions.

Unless Fu Jin explicitly rejected her, she wasn’t going to give up.

After a long while, Wen Nian’s voice came through, choked with tears.

“You You, how could you do this?”

Jiang You panicked. Had she misjudged? Could Wen Nian not accept this?

“I… What’s wrong with me?” She stammered in her panic.

“Do you know his relationship with us?” Wen Nian felt like the world was falling apart.

“Nian Nian…”

“You’ve gone too far…”

“Nian Nian, I’m not…”

“I treat you like a sister, and you want to be my sister-in-law.”

Jiang You: “…”

The call ended with Wen Nian’s line: “Go buy some emergency heart medicine.”

But later, Jiang You received a message from Wen Nian: [As long as it’s not my dad or my grandpa, I’ll help you chase any other man.]

Jiang You was so touched she almost cried, joking with him: [How about Su Rui?]

Wen Nian: [What a joke, what’s so special about men? I could knock him out and put him in your bed.]

Jiang You: [With you saying that, I’m sure I’ve got this.]

Wen Nian: [My uncle is not allowed, not because he can’t, but because I’m too scared…]

He was terrified.

Jiang You laughed: [Don’t worry, I’m scared too.]

Next month, the youth class had a design competition themed “In the Name of Flowers,” set against the backdrop of the Qixi Festival, asking participants to express their inner thoughts through flowers. Jiang You tried to bear it.

But for Jiang You, hunger was like a stomach ache—how could she possibly bear it?

By 11 PM, Jiang You was so hungry she was dizzy. Then, she remembered that the estate had an orchard, and it was the season for peaches.

Jiang You decided to be a fruit thief for the night.

Ruan Guixia.

Over the past few days, Jiang You had explored the estate and found that the orchard was behind Guihai Yuan, at the end of a wide asphalt road.

Streetlights on both sides cast a dim yellow glow.

The moon was tired and hidden behind the clouds, while a solitary star kept watch, twinkling in the sky along with the sounds of birds and cicadas.

Hydrangeas lined both sides of the road, with overlapping blue and purple petals and pink markings scattered in between.

As she walked, the full summer breeze brushed against her.

The orchard wasn’t far from the main building—about ten minutes away. As she got closer, Jiang You could smell the sweet fragrance of peaches.

The closer she got, the more fragrant it became. The hunger grew unbearable, and she quickened her pace.

She could finally understand the feeling of Sun Wukong wreaking havoc in heaven.

Who could withstand this?

Jiang You jogged to the orchard gate, pushed the iron gate, but it didn’t budge. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was locked with a chain as thick as her wrist.

To the right of the gate was a house, located within the orchard. It was for the workers who tended the trees. The lights inside were off, indicating they were asleep.

Jiang You wanted to cry. She was both hungry and anxious—how had she not thought about the gate being locked?

But now that she was here, could she go back empty-handed?

Going back would only make her even hungrier.

She might as well just lie down and starve!

Jiang You lifted her face. The top of the iron gate had sharp iron spikes, almost as if they could pierce someone. She looked again at the three-meter-high wall, which had a flat top.

On the left side of the gate, outside the wall, was a large tree. It wasn’t very close, but there was a branch thick as a small leg that reached straight to the edge of the wall.

Some ideas, once they came to mind, couldn’t be shaken off.

It happened in a flash. She rolled up her sleeves and went to work. She climbed the tree, scaled the wall, and with a leap into the grass, she could almost taste the peaches.

Jiang You wasn’t a stranger to tree climbing. She had done it often as a child at her grandmother’s house, picking loquats. Now, it felt easy and familiar.

In no time, she was up the tree, reaching the same height as the wall.

Balancing on the tree branch, holding onto the tree trunk, Jiang You carefully moved toward the edge of the wall, squatting down.

With one step, her left leg crossed into the wall. She lowered her center of gravity, sitting on the top of the wall. She shifted her hands, hugging the wall tightly, then lifted her right leg, looking down.

Climbing a tree was just like scaling a wall—don’t look down.

At that moment, Jiang You was perched on the wall, like riding a horse.

Looking at the tall tree on her right, Jiang You muttered a thank-you.

Lost in the joy of soon being able to eat peaches, she turned her face, smiling as she slowly glanced downward.