Chapter 13

That evening, after returning home, Jiang Caifu casually tossed the jewelry box onto the coffee table.

She lay dazed on the sofa for a long time before lazily picking up her phone and opening Joe Yumian’s WeChat.

His profile picture was a painting he had done himself—an oil painting of a garden in full bloom, butterflies flitting everywhere. The brushstrokes were delicate, bright, and vibrant, entirely different from his outwardly aloof and slightly gloomy persona.

Jiang Caifu recalled that he’d been using this profile picture for almost four years now. Had he not gotten tired of it? Was he really so pleased with his own work?

Although, to be fair, the painting was quite well done…

She tapped on his profile picture, wanting to enlarge it for a closer look, and then—

You tapped ‘Joe Yumian’.

Crap. Her hand had slipped.

Jiang Caifu recoiled as if shocked by electricity, frantically trying to think of a way to excuse the misstep. Then, her gaze landed on the jewelry box on the coffee table, reminding her why she had opened his chat in the first place.

After typing and deleting several times, she finally sent:

[Jiang Caifu: What’s the deal with secretly giving me a bracelet?]

She hesitated, then added:

[Jiang Caifu: Still harboring feelings for me?]

Knowing his pride, Joe Yumian would never admit to caring for her even if he did. Under her provocation, he would definitely deny it.

As expected,

[Joe Yumian: Don’t be ridiculous.]
[Joe Yumian: I just bought it randomly with some other items. I didn’t need it and didn’t know who to give it to, so I tossed it in the umbrella bag and forgot about it. It just ended up with you by coincidence.]

[Jiang Caifu: …Oh.]
[Jiang Caifu: Then I’ll return it. Which floor is your office?]

[Joe Yumian: It’s just a small thing. Why bother returning it? Just keep it.]
[Joe Yumian: Otherwise, it’ll seem like I’m some petty cheapskate.]

[Jiang Caifu: …Which floor?]

After a long pause, he replied tersely:

[Joe Yumian: …24th floor.]

[Jiang Caifu: What’s the room number?]

[Joe Yumian: …2403.]

[Jiang Caifu: Okay.]

[Joe Yumian: Are you delivering it yourself?]

[Jiang Caifu: I’ll call a courier.]

[Joe Yumian: ???]
[Joe Yumian: Have you gotten that lazy, Jiang Caifu? It’s just an elevator ride.]

[Jiang Caifu: Do you really want me to say something unpleasant?]

He responded with a screen full of question marks:

[Joe Yumian: What do you mean?]

[Jiang Caifu: I don’t want to see you, so I don’t want to go up.]

The chat went silent for so long that Jiang Caifu wondered if he had gone offline. Then, he sent a “deathly smile” emoji.

[Joe Yumian: Fine, don’t come. It’s not like I’m eager to see you either.]
[Joe Yumian: I’m really busy these days. Even if you did come, I might not have time to see you.]
[Joe Yumian: Just send it by courier. That way, you won’t see me, and I won’t see you. A win-win situation.]

…

He kept rambling.

Jiang Caifu lay sideways on the sofa, motionless, watching her own messages get pushed off the screen by his long-winded replies.

How did he manage to say so much, yet have only one central theme: I don’t want to see you either?

And every message adhered so strictly to that theme. He must have been a master at padding essays in high school.

Finally, she moved her fingers and decisively ended the conversation.

[Jiang Caifu: Too many words. Not reading.]
[Jiang Caifu: Logging off.]

Then, she quickly locked her phone and went to shower. Out of sight, out of mind.

---

The new week began with Jiang Caifu riding her newly purchased electric scooter to work.

It was her first time commuting by scooter.

The biting wind rushing past her ears, the strange, indescribable mix of exhaust fumes and the scent of grass and trees, the dust kicked up by the wheels, and the honking horns all felt refreshingly new.

It was an experience she could never have had while walking or taking the subway—though it was a bit chilly.

For once, she managed not to clock in at the last minute. A small victory.

Work that day was as tedious as ever, but there was a slight change: during a meeting, the manager assigned a few employees, including Jiang Caifu, to attend a local exhibition next week.

Though reluctant—since it required setting up the booth a day early—she perked up upon seeing the exhibition’s location. It was near her grandmother’s house.

Realizing she could use this opportunity to visit her grandmother and stay a couple of days, she didn’t mind the assignment so much anymore.

After work, she told her mom about it on WeChat and later called her grandmother.

The elderly woman’s hearing wasn’t great, so she spoke extra loudly into the phone.

“When are you coming? Oh, the exhibition is next Tuesday? You’ll pack up and come here this Saturday? That’s great! Your grandpa can make your favorite steamed pork!”

Jiang Caifu smiled as she ended the call.

She moved her phone a bit further away and said, “Oh, great. Mom and Dad said they’re planning to visit you on Saturday too.”

Grandma let out a mock sigh of annoyance. “Why are they coming? They’re always visiting… By the way, Xiaobao, do you have a boyfriend yet?”

… Here it comes, the inevitable conversation about relationships.

At 24 years old (25 in traditional age), with people casually rounding it up to 26 or even 27, Jiang Caifu felt a cold sweat break out.

“Soon, I think,” Jiang Caifu replied vaguely, trying to brush off the topic. “I should find someone suitable within the next two years. Anyway, Mom’s already lining up blind dates for me. Once her students finish their college entrance exams, she’ll have time to focus on finding matches for me.”

Grandma sighed deeply, the kind that carried an unspoken why are you like this sentiment. “You still need Pingping to find someone for you?”

“What else can I do?” Jiang Caifu replied with conviction. “Mom knows so many people and has a wide network. If I rely on myself, where am I supposed to meet new people?”

Grandma was silent for a moment before letting out a frustrated sigh. “Sigh, I keep telling you to go out more on weekends, but you refuse. Look at Ayun—he’s getting engaged, and here you are, still without a boyfriend…”

Initially, Jiang Caifu was half-listening, absentmindedly responding, but when she heard this, she froze. “Engaged? Who?!”

“Your cousin Ayun. He’s getting engaged during Chinese New Year. Pingping didn’t tell you?”

“She didn’t say a word!”

This news hit Jiang Caifu like a bolt from the blue, completely scrambling her thoughts.

“He’s even younger than me by a year—only 23! Why is he already getting married?!”

This was way too early!

Were they not all around the same age? Could it be that she was the only one who still thought of herself as a kid?

Honestly, the shock of hearing her younger cousin’s engagement news was no less impactful than seeing high school classmates post baby pictures on social media.

“Ayun and his girlfriend have been together for three or four years. It’s about time they got engaged,” Grandma said cheerfully. “He even brought her to visit me last New Year. Such a sweet and lovely girl…”

Jiang Caifu barely registered the rest of what Grandma said, responding with absent-minded hums. Her mind was elsewhere.

After hanging up, she found her muted family group chat, scrolled through the messages, and sure enough, saw a post from Ayun last week. He had sent a red envelope to everyone, along with an announcement about his engagement during Chinese New Year.

Opening the red envelope, she saw it was a generous 200-yuan one. Missing out on it was a true regret!

Feeling aggrieved, she privately messaged her cousin for the first time in ages: [You’re really getting engaged?!]

It didn’t take long for him to reply: [Auntie didn’t tell you? I thought everyone in the family already knew :)]

[Jiang Caifu: …This is so sudden. I need time to process this news orz.]

[Meng Yun: You’re not the one getting engaged. What do you need to process?]

But then it clicked for him: [Wait a minute. Among us cousins, you’re the only one still single, right? You really should be panicking.]

[Jiang Caifu: sweat emoji]

[Meng Yun: So, are you coming to my engagement party? Just don’t let all those nosy relatives swarm you and steal my and my fiancée’s spotlight, okay?]

[Jiang Caifu: …Not feeling well. Gotta go.]

After ending the chat with her cousin, Jiang Caifu sighed dramatically and decided to see what her peers were up to.

She opened her social media.

The first post that caught her eye was from Lu Jianlan, who was having another late-night emo meltdown about something existential. She gave it a like.

The second post was from Huang Siyu, a high school friend who was, once again, ranting about her company, her boss, and her colleague who always shifted blame. Another like.

The third was from Li Yiman, a college clubmate who had become a photographer at a media company. She was on a work trip to the grasslands, where it was snowing. Her post featured a grid of photos showing endless snowy plains, herds of cattle and sheep, and mouthwatering lamb hand-grab rice. Like.

The fourth post was a wedding photo from a former middle school classmate. She quickly scrolled past.

Finally, she stopped at a post shared by Joe Yumian earlier that morning:

[Ryan Home Intelligence releases new flagship products. Serenity37, a dual-arm robotic vacuum cleaner, takes the spotlight…]

Oh, it was just an ad for his company’s new products.

She had no interest in reading the article, so she habitually liked the post and kept scrolling. Then she froze and hastily unliked it.

She had nearly forgotten that she was supposed to be cutting all ties with him—at least according to her one-sided decision.

Unliking it so quickly, he probably wouldn’t notice, right?

As she worriedly scrolled down, her phone vibrated a few seconds later.

[Joe Yumian: Why are you liking and unliking my post in the middle of the night? Can’t sleep?]

Jiang Caifu: …

The message seemed normal enough, without even an emoji, but she could feel his smugness radiating from the screen. It was as if he were saying, Caught you red-handed, huh?

This is why impulsive likes are dangerous.

Denying everything, she replied: [You’re mistaken. Don’t jump to conclusions.]

Her adamant refusal to admit anything made Joe Yumian laugh in frustration.

He sat up from his bed and fired back: [Who’s jumping to conclusions?]

Knowing full well that Jiang Caifu wouldn’t admit defeat until faced with evidence, he promptly sent her a screenshot showing her like.

[Joe Yumian: This isn’t you?]

After sending the message, he felt a sense of triumph.

It had started as a casual bedtime habit of scrolling through her posts, and now…

Just as he was scrolling through her past posts, the system suddenly notified him that she had liked one of his posts.

At first, he thought he had misread it. He quickly clicked on the notification and frantically took a screenshot.

Sure enough, the like disappeared a second later.

His heart nearly stopped, but he felt lucky that his reflexes had been quick enough to capture proof. Otherwise, there would have been no evidence.

Feeling triumphant, he waited for a response from her. However, the other side remained silent for minutes.

The smirk on Joe Yumian’s face gradually straightened, and his initial sense of victory turned into growing unease.

Why wasn’t she replying?

He reread his messages, word by word, several times, completely puzzled. Were they that hard to respond to?

…They weren’t exactly harsh or offensive, right?

Or maybe she hadn’t seen them at all?

The thought annoyed him, and he angrily tapped twice on Jiang Caifu’s avatar—a silly Psyduck that only made her seem more ridiculous.

I patted “Fu Bao”.

He tapped several more times in frustration, spamming her until she finally replied curtly, clearly fed up:

[Jiang Caifu: Tired, going to sleep, logging off.]

Joe Yumian: ???

What? That’s it? That’s your explanation? You just go to sleep?!

How can you sleep so easily at your age?!

Unwilling to give up, he continued to “pat” her avatar. Minutes passed, then ten, but the chat remained eerily silent except for his persistent tapping noises.

Fearing she might block him out of annoyance, he reluctantly stopped.

Frustrated, he tossed his phone aside and began ranting in his room:

“Sleep, sleep, sleep! That’s all you do! Hope you sleep forever!”

Then, with a face darkened by anger, he sat at the edge of his bed, stewing in his endless grievances.

…

A few minutes later.

He calmly climbed to the foot of his bed, retrieved his phone, lay back down, and pulled the blanket over himself.

He resumed scrolling through Jiang Caifu’s social media.

Where had he left off?

He forgot. Oh well, better start from the beginning again.