CHAPTER 5: What kind of love is this?

Su Jiasui was so absorbed in the movie that she didn’t even notice there was a guest. She only heard Ms. Sun tell Jiahe to get a towel, but he didn’t budge. This brat—doesn’t study properly, and now he dares ignore orders too? Naturally, Su Jiasui had to teach him a lesson.

But when she turned her head, she was instantly embarrassed.

Fortunately, it wasn’t like she’d embarrassed herself in front of someone important. Ms. Sun didn’t seem to mind. “You two really can’t behave, can you? Sorry you had to see that, Xiao Jiang. Come on in—you haven’t had dinner yet, have you? Go take a hot shower, and Auntie will cook you a bowl of noodles.”

Jiang Yan softly replied, “No need to trouble yourself, Auntie.”

“What trouble? Just treat this like your own home, don’t be so polite. Jiang-jie, get him a pair of slippers.”

“Okay.”

Ms. Sun was both polite and warm toward Jiang Yan. Aunt Jiang felt deeply grateful. As for those two siblings—she couldn’t complain. They were just kids, after all. Thin-skinned now, but give it time and they’d warm up.

Aunt Jiang asked her nephew to change into the slippers and wanted to take him to shower. But a shower required a change of clothes. Jiang Yan’s luggage was an old, army-green canvas duffel bag, clearly from another era. It had been thoroughly soaked in the rain, and the clothes inside likely hadn’t escaped either.

Ms. Sun noticed Aunt Jiang’s awkward expression and gave her a reassuring smile. “Let the boy take a hot shower before he catches cold.”

Aunt Jiang instantly felt more at ease. With red-rimmed eyes, she led Jiang Yan to the bathroom. Meanwhile, Ms. Sun went upstairs to Su Jiahe’s room to fetch some clothes for him. The once-rowdy living room fell silent.

“Tsk…” Su Jiahe slung an arm around Su Jiasui’s shoulders and said in a weird tone, “This Xiao Jiang is actually pretty good-looking, huh, Jie?”

In terms of appearance, Jiang Yan wasn’t quite as striking as Ji Jing.

Ji Jing had long legs and a tall, well-proportioned figure. Even in plain long sleeves and pants, his every movement carried a kind of bold, confident energy that made him stand out effortlessly.

But Jiang Yan was like a mountain spring from twenty years ago—clear and quiet, nourishing in silence. He had none of the restlessness or sharp edges typical of boys his age.

Su Jiasui couldn’t help but nod. Her first impression of Jiang Yan was very favorable. She thought maybe Ms. Sun’s “bad idea” might accidentally work out after all. If Su Jiahe spent more time around someone like him, even if his grades didn’t improve, maybe he could at least learn to rein in that awful temper of his.

Seeing her nod, Su Jiahe widened his eyes and immediately turned to Ji Jing. He couldn’t hide the grin creeping up his face. “See, what did I say? My sister’s totally into academic types. You’re doomed—this guy’s your rival.”

Su Jiasui snapped back to attention and was about to explain, but Ji Jing grabbed her wrist and pulled her up from the sofa. “Let’s go,” he said. His movement wasn’t exactly gentle, but his tone was almost pleading. “Help me memorize vocab. I haven’t finished today’s yet.”

“But I was watching that movie…”

“This movie sucks. Totally unrealistic.”

A rich heiress falls in love with a poor guy, and her well-matched fiancé even plays matchmaker for them? Ji Jing scoffed at both the plot and the title.

Compared to that, memorizing vocab was clearly more important. Su Jiasui put on her slippers and followed him upstairs.

Aunt Jiang came out of the bathroom to find only Su Jiahe left in the living room, peeling an orange furiously.

“Where’s Sui Sui and Xiao Jing?” she asked.

“Upstairs,” Su Jiahe grumbled.

Aunt Jiang knew Su Jiahe’s attitude wasn’t directed at her, but a cold face was still a cold face. She gave an awkward smile and took Jiang Yan’s soaked luggage to do laundry.

The washing machines were on the balcony of the housekeeper’s room—three in total, plus a small one next to the sink. Old Mr. Su was particular and liked cleanliness. He doted on his daughter, so the small washer was reserved specifically for Su Jiasui’s undergarments.

Aunt Jiang had been a live-in maid for years and was good at adapting to her employers’ habits. Despite having three washing machines, she always washed her own clothes by hand—and naturally, she’d do the same for her nephew’s.

She filled a plastic basin with water and soaked the clothes when Ms. Sun pushed the door open.

“Jiang-jie, here’s a set of Jiahe’s pajamas. He only wore them once—haven’t been washed, but they’re clean. The underwear is new, but I’m not sure if Xiao Jiang can wear them.”

“He can, he can. I think he and Jiahe are about the same height.”

“Right? You never mentioned Xiao Jiang was this tall—and so handsome too.” Ms. Sun placed the pajamas and underwear on the bed and added jokingly, “Looks like we’re in trouble now. Our Xiao Jing’s definitely going to be jealous.”

Adults always speak with honeyed words, but those who’ve tasted too much bitterness can no longer tell sweet from sour.

Aunt Jiang was sharp—she instantly caught the hidden meaning behind Ms. Sun’s words. She also understood her worries. A well-off family, a smart and beautiful daughter—who wouldn’t fear inviting a wolf into their home? What if they encountered someone greedy and lustful, someone who knew how to manipulate others? It’d be too late for regrets.

Aunt Jiang smiled and said carefully, “Wouldn’t have guessed, but Little Jing’s actually the jealous type. That’ll make life tough later on. Sui Sui is such a striking girl—just the boys who like her could probably fill ten school fields. And that’s while she’s still young. When she grows up, who knows how many promising young men will be lining up behind her.”

Her words made Ms. Sun beam with joy. Seeing this, Aunt Jiang added,
“But Xiao Jiang’s different. He seems calm and mature, sure, but he’s actually terrible with words. Doesn’t even know how to talk to girls. I’ll bet you—if he says more than three sentences to Sui Sui in a week, I lose.”

Whether Jiang Yan was ineloquent or not, Ms. Sun didn’t know. But after hearing Aunt Jiang say this today, she finally felt at ease. Aunt Jiang would surely remind her nephew to keep his distance from Su Jiasui.

—

Upstairs.

Su Jiasui tossed aside the vocabulary book and said to Ji Jing, who was sitting in the swivel chair:
“Do you know how many you got wrong?”

Ji Jing leaned on the desk with his elbow, spinning his pen smoothly between his fingers.
“Don’t scare me. I know. Not a single one.”

“Nice, nice. You’re getting faster at memorizing.”

“So, don’t I deserve a little reward?”

“Hey! I wasted my time studying with you, and now you want a reward from me?”

What kind of relationship is this—
Ji Jing leaned back against the chair and let out a long sigh.

Su Jiasui thought she’d discouraged his study motivation. After a moment’s thought, she pulled a hundred yuan from her wallet and stuffed it into his hand.
“That’s all I’ve got.”

Ji Jing couldn’t help but laugh. He suddenly tugged his girlfriend onto his lap.
“Just a quick hug.”

At this close distance, Ji Jing’s skin looked flawless, his lashes were long, and his lips had a rosy hue. She remembered a teacher once saying that overly red lips might be a sign of poor liver health. As Su Jiasui worried about Ji Jing’s liver, her mind wandered back to a hug from last summer.

Back then, he’d also said “just a quick hug”—
But the hug had lasted a long time.

It had been nearly six months since they officially got together, and during that half-year, they hadn’t gone on a single date alone. Mainly because Ji Jing had his own group of brothers, and she had her own circle of friends. Every outing turned into a crowd.

Besides, her relationship with Ji Jing hadn’t been all that harmonious before. Suddenly calling a truce and diving straight into romance left no time for a transition. Any slightly intimate gesture between them would quickly turn awkward.

That is, until the final exam results came out—she miraculously ranked first in the grade. Old Su was so thrilled that he decided to send her abroad for a study tour during summer break. He even drafted a formal itinerary—New York, Paris, Italy—saying she needed to see more of the world while she had the chance.

Su Jiasui was overjoyed. She brought the itinerary to school to show Ji Jing and promised to buy him a souvenir from every city she visited.

Ji Jing was probably happy too—that’s likely why he asked for “just a quick hug.”

But that hug happened on the sports field, and it didn’t escape the sharp eyes of the dean. They were instantly caught—one a lazy school board kid, the other a freshly crowned top student—openly dating under everyone’s nose.

The dean didn’t say a word before calling both their parents in.
Her study tour was canceled on the spot, and Ji Jing got a beating from Ji Hanhua.

That’s how the story of Su Jiasui smashing a wine bottle and Old Su smiling through a dinner table apology came to be.

A year flew by in a blink. Looking back now—how fast time passes.

“Jie Sui.”

“Yeah?”

Ji Jing actually wanted to ask, “Do you really think that Xiao Jiang guy is handsome?” But the words stuck in his throat.
“Can I stay over at your place for a few days?”

“Sure.” His girlfriend slapped his shoulder with a brotherly vibe. “Stay as long as you want.”

Since their relationship went public, Ji Jing had become a frequent guest at the Su household. Although Old Su wasn’t too thrilled, luckily they had a son around the same age. A boy bringing a male classmate home to stay over was far more acceptable than a daughter bringing home her boyfriend.

Only Su Jiahe suffered for it, having to share a bed with someone he couldn’t stand.
Every time Ji Jing stayed over, Su Jiasui had to “negotiate” with her brother.

Su Jiahe wasn’t in the room just then, so the two of them headed back downstairs.

Ms. Sun was chatting with Aunt Jiang and Jiang Yan while holding Su Jiahe close. Upon seeing them, she waved.
“Sui Sui, Xiao Jing—come, let’s do proper introductions. This is my daughter, Su Jiasui, and her classmate Ji Jing. They’re both in Hai High’s rocket class. This is Xiao Jiang—Jiang Yan. You met him earlier.”

Jiang Yan was wearing Su Jiahe’s pajamas, sitting on the plush sofa. He didn’t look lazy though—his hands rested on his knees, back straight. His upright posture resembled someone from the military. That gave Su Jiasui a better impression of him.
“Hi, Xiao Jiang.”

“Hello…” Jiang Yan responded shyly.

Ji Jing pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, then suddenly said,
“Sui Sui got into the rocket class based on her final scores from sophomore year. If you’re transferring into Hai High, there should be an entrance exam.”

“Yeah, the school said transfer students will take the exam this weekend, and get placed in classes afterward.”

“The dorms at Hai High are pretty full. But the teachers’ dorms still have space. If your scores are good, the school might make a special exception.”

Kids really couldn’t hide their feelings—

Ms. Sun stifled a laugh and then turned to Aunt Jiang.

“Even for a special exception, there are procedures. Let’s see first how he adjusts at school. We’ll consider the dorm situation later.”

Aunt Jiang truly wanted to keep Jiang Yan close so she could care for him. But she had to be wary of the “principal” in front of her—worried he’d cause trouble for Jiang Yan at school. After a pause, she said,

“My husband and I aren’t educated people. We really don’t know what’s best for the kid. But since you call me Sister Jiang, I’ll take the liberty of treating you like a younger sister. I trust you. You decide what’s best.”