Chapter 14

The workdays always feel like they drag on endlessly, grinding people down to the point of exhaustion, while the weekend leisurely arrives, almost too late.

After finishing work on Friday, Jiang Caifu packed her things and headed to her grandmother’s house to relax.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the weekend was gone.

It was so fleeting it almost felt like it had never been there at all. 🙂

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On Monday morning, her workload wasn’t too heavy. After wrapping up lunch quickly, she joined a few colleagues in taking a car to the exhibition venue to begin setting up their booth.

Everyone was well-acquainted with the routine, so the setup went smoothly and without a hitch. Afterward, they all went their separate ways.

Jiang Caifu left her house feeling full of energy that morning but returned home that evening completely deflated.

Her grandmother, who was watching TV in the living room, was startled by her appearance as she passed by.

“Was work tough today? Did your boss scold you?”

“No, not at all,” Jiang Caifu answered without thinking. “It was just the same as always.”

Her grandmother gave her a once-over. It was hard to tell whether her expression conveyed pity or disapproval as she remarked, “You look so worn out these days.”

“Really?”

Jiang Caifu glanced down at herself and thought her clothes and shoes looked clean enough. “I don’t look dirty.”

Her grandmother shifted her attention back to her soap opera. “I don’t mean physically. I’m talking about your spirit—you seem completely drained.”

She had left the house in the morning like a radiant little peacock, only to return as a dull little sparrow.

Jiang Caifu: “…”

Got it.

“It’s just how it is after work. You get used to it.”

She let out a deep sigh, her already slumped posture sagging even further. With heavy steps, she trudged toward the stairs and climbed up to the second floor.

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Maybe because she had done some physical labor during the day, she felt particularly tired that night.

After taking a bath and lying down, her eyelids grew heavy. Despite fighting off sleep for half an hour, she eventually succumbed and fell asleep early.

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The next morning, her grandmother had prepared fish porridge and bought two baskets of soup dumplings. As Jiang Caifu stumbled downstairs, yawning nonstop, her grandmother called her to the table to enjoy the warm breakfast.

As soon as she sat down, her grandfather praised sincerely, “This fish porridge is amazing—the fish slices are tender and smooth, and the porridge is thick and creamy. Fantastic, just fantastic.”

Her grandmother thought he was complimenting her cooking and smiled so widely her eyes turned into crescents. But then she heard him say, “Of course, it’s because it’s fish I caught. The quality of the meat is just excellent—it even makes simple porridge taste amazing.”

Her grandmother’s face instantly fell. She glared at him and snapped, “You can’t even eat without running your mouth, can you, old man?”

“What do you even know about good food?” she huffed before turning to Jiang Caifu, who was focused on her porridge. Seeing her eating with such gusto, her mood immediately improved.

“Take your time. If you like it, I’ll make it again tomorrow,” she said warmly.

Jiang Caifu coughed, choking a little. “Cough—no need for that. I’d rather have something different.”

After finishing most of the porridge, she picked up her chopsticks and ate the dumplings one by one.

There were ten dumplings in a basket, but she could only manage six. Her grandparents happily split the rest.

Feeling a bit stuffed after the dumplings, she washed them down with the last bit of porridge.

Having such a hearty and nutritious breakfast wasn’t a bad way to start the day.

After cleaning up the table and washing the dishes, she changed her shoes and bid farewell to her grandparents before heading to the exhibition.

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In City A, winters weren’t particularly cold, but the sky was often overcast, draped in layers of heavy clouds that begrudgingly let a few rays of sunlight through.

Today, however, was different. The dense clouds had dispersed, leaving a vast expanse of clear blue sky—a rare day of perfect weather.

After putting on her work badge and scanning the code to enter the exhibition hall, she headed straight for her company’s booth in Hall 7.

Two colleagues were already there, lazily greeting her as she approached.

“Morning.”

“Morning.”

She put down her bag. “When did you guys get here?”

“Just a few minutes ago—we only just sat down.”

“Ugh, I’m already feeling sleepy again… This coffee isn’t helping at all.”

One of them let out a long yawn, as if to prove their point.

“Seriously? You just woke up not long ago,” quipped another colleague, who promptly started yawning as well.

Yawns are undeniably contagious.

By nine o’clock, all the colleagues had trickled in. After waiting another half hour, the exhibition hall began to fill up with people.

Stretching her arms and rolling her shoulders, Jiang Caifu quickly switched into work mode.

Though she wasn’t naturally outgoing, she put on a polite and friendly smile to hand out business cards to potential clients. She had to set her discomfort aside to attract more business at the exhibition.

Even after a long lunch break and sneaking off to attend a presentation elsewhere, by the end of the day, her face was nearly frozen from smiling so much.

Thinking back, the workload for the day hadn’t been overwhelming, but it was still exhausting both physically and mentally.

Although the exhibition officially ended at 6 p.m., Jiang Caifu had already lost her focus by 4 p.m. When her milk tea delivery arrived, she wandered around the hall, aimlessly exploring.

Hall 7, dedicated to daily necessities and gifts, was filled with an array of dazzling products…

The variety of products on display was overwhelming, with everything so dazzling that Jiang Caifu couldn’t help but be drawn to the section of tableware. She couldn’t resist imagining what kind of delicious food she could serve on any items she liked.

Right now, she was eyeing an 8-inch porcelain plate. The plate was mainly white, with a simple yet elegant border of purple bellflowers. It was thinner than the plates she used at home, and for some reason, Jiang Caifu felt that if this plate were to break, the sound would be sharper and clearer than the plates at home.

The lighting in the venue was perfectly soft, casting just the right amount of glow. When she held the plate up to the light, she felt it shimmer with a pearlescent gleam, making her desire to buy it skyrocket.

“I’ll check online for a similar one later,” she thought.

Feeling cheerful, she put the plate down and turned around, only to spot a face, much paler than she remembered, not far away.

The person seemed to be sick—his face and lips were lacking color, and he occasionally bowed his head to cough, looking even more fragile than the porcelain plate she had just been admiring.

Why was he here, not resting at home if he was sick?

Her gaze was full of personal emotion, and even though Qiao Yumi was typically indifferent to others’ stares, he couldn’t help but feel someone was watching him. He instinctively turned around, and when he saw her, he froze for a moment, before quickly walking toward her.

Jiang Caifu, taking the initiative, asked, “What are you doing here?”

Qiao Yumi, feeling the nearly tangible hostility surrounding her, felt his already uncomfortable heart worsen. “I came because I wanted to, it’s not like it’s your personal space,” he retorted.

Though he said this, Jiang Caifu still felt frustrated. “Do you think we’ve been running into each other a bit too often lately? Doesn’t it feel strange?”

He raised an eyebrow. “What’s strange about it?”

He quickly calculated, “We only ran into each other three times in November, and now it’s December, so we’ve met four times in total. Is that really that frequent?”

He smirked, then snorted coldly. “You just don’t like me. You’re annoyed every time you see me, so you think we’re meeting too often.”

Jiang Caifu: “…”

At first, it seemed like there was no way to argue, but then she couldn’t help but reply—

“So, you know I don’t like you, huh?” She looked at him with a smile, as if examining a rare specimen. “Then why do you keep coming up to me?”

Qiao Yumi avoided her gaze and casually said, “I just happened to be walking in this direction. It’s not like I came here specifically to find you.”

Jiang Caifu: ?

You’ve really mastered the art of lying with your eyes wide open, haven’t you?