After the dinner, everyone went their separate ways.
The cinema wasn’t far, so Zeng Yu and Jiang Nan walked there. Zeng Yu walked on the side closer to the road, and whenever an electric bike came by, he would instinctively shield Jiang Nan. It was a natural gesture for him, but it touched Jiang Nan deeply.
Jiang Nan eventually chose an art film, and Zeng Yu had no objections. When they sat together in the theater, Jiang Nan felt the distance between them had closed almost completely, with just a thin layer of “window paper” left to break. She hoped Zeng Yu would be the one to do it.
But Zeng Yu wasn’t ready to make the first move; he believed in letting things happen naturally.
The film had a slow pace, depicting the lives of several young people under the pressure of a modern metropolis. Each character had a different attitude toward the future, and the director seemed to use slow-motion to convey these attitudes.
Jiang Nan quickly regretted her choice. Why did she pick such a slow-paced movie? It was dragging on so much it made her want to die.
She glanced over at Zeng Yu, who was leaning back in his seat, nodding off. She felt a sense of comfort—at least she wasn’t the only one who wasn’t enjoying it.
Drowsiness seemed contagious. After trying to stay awake for a while, Jiang Nan’s eyes slowly closed.
When the theater lights came on at the end, Jiang Nan was startled awake by the sound of people leaving. She opened her eyes to find Zeng Yu watching her. Their eyes met, like magnets attracting each other, neither of them wanting to look away.
After a few seconds of staring at each other, Zeng Yu smiled and said, “Let’s go. Everyone’s gone.”
Jiang Nan smiled back, stood up, and took Zeng Yu’s arm.
Everything felt so natural.
After dinner, Wang Chengfu was sent away. Yuan Lei wanted to go with him but was stopped by her father’s roar, “You’re not married yet! What’s the rush?”
Yuan Lei had no choice but to follow her father home, reluctantly bidding Wang Chengfu farewell.
Wang Chengfu, feeling like his wish had been granted, took Wang Zheng home and pulled out some wine, placing it on the table, “Let’s have a drink and talk about your father.”
Both uncle and nephew were in good spirits, drinking and chatting. They didn’t stop until they were both drunk.
Wang Chengfu, completely wasted, collapsed on the couch. Wang Zheng, swaying unsteadily, made his way to the door but tripped and fell flat on his face.
In the dim night, Jiang Nan’s face was slightly flushed.
“Do you believe in fate?”
“Not really, why?” Zeng Yu stopped and turned to look at her.
“I do. Some things are really destined to happen.” Jiang Nan gazed at Zeng Yu, standing still with her arms open.
Zeng Yu had always felt a bit of a lack of confidence around Jiang Nan. But at this moment, seeing her intense gaze, he didn’t hesitate anymore and walked toward her with long strides.
Zeng Yu’s embrace felt like he was trying to fuse them into one. Jiang Nan instinctively stood on tiptoe and rested her chin on Zeng Yu’s shoulder, her face full of happiness.
“I’ll do my best not to let you down.”
Zeng Yu’s deep voice whispered in her ear, and Jiang Nan closed her eyes, “Don’t talk, it tickles.”
Zeng Yu paused, then realized what she meant and couldn’t resist kissing her earlobe. Jiang Nan’s whole body softened, and she clung tightly to Zeng Yu’s neck.
Time seemed to freeze in that moment; their world consisted only of each other.
After a long while, as the blissful feeling slowly faded, Jiang Nan loosened her grip and whispered, “Is your neck sore?”
“You’re not that heavy. I could hold this pose until morning.” Zeng Yu joked, still holding her waist.
Jiang Nan gently bumped her head against his chest, “Remember that night at Blue Charm Bar?”
“Of course. That night, I had just quit my job and saw a stunning beauty. I couldn’t help but look twice, and unexpectedly got the chance to play the hero and save the day. That one chance led to this moment, where we’re holding each other. Heaven must really like me; maybe it’s fate.” Zeng Yu said emotionally, subconsciously tightening his grip.
Jiang Nan felt it, and without thinking, she hugged him tighter, “Then let’s just accept our fate.”
Zeng Yu nodded, thinking to himself: Yes, let’s accept our fate—if we love each other, we should be together.
It was already late at night. Before parting, Zeng Yu gave Jiang Nan a gentle hug and whispered, “It’s getting late, you should get some rest.”
Jiang Nan wanted to tell him that her parents weren’t home tonight and she had the place to herself, but a sense of propriety reminded her not to take that step too quickly.
“Okay, you go first.” Jiang Nan smiled in response.
Zeng Yu shook his head, “You go first.”
They stood there, teasing each other for a bit before Jiang Nan finally got into her car. She rolled down the window and waved goodbye to Zeng Yu.
Zeng Yu returned to his place, washed up, and went straight to bed. When he woke up in the morning, he instinctively checked the time on his phone, ready to get up for work, when he suddenly remembered that today was a holiday.
He lay back down, reminiscing about the warmth of the previous night, smiling foolishly to himself.
He went out for breakfast, checking his phone constantly, but there was no message from Jiang Nan, leaving him feeling a bit empty.
Back home, Zeng Yu turned on his computer and began organizing potential client information.
The first client had fallen into his lap by luck, but he knew such good fortune wouldn’t happen often. He needed to work even harder to quickly establish a market presence.
Jiang Nan didn’t get up until noon, starving. Fortunately, the housekeeper had prepared a meal.
After eating, Jiang Nan picked up her phone and sent Zeng Yu a message: “What are you doing?”
“Just finishing up organizing client information. Anything you need?”
Although he was working, Zeng Yu had kept his phone close by. As soon as he heard the message tone, he grabbed his phone in a flash. Seeing it was from Jiang Nan, his face softened, and he quickly typed a reply.
“Have you eaten yet?” Jiang Nan, having just eaten herself, thought Zeng Yu might have forgotten to eat.
Sure enough, Zeng Yu looked at the message and smacked his forehead, “I forgot. I’ll go out and eat in a bit.”
There was no reply from Jiang Nan after that. Zeng Yu waited for a while, but when she still hadn’t replied, he shook his head with a wry smile, “She must be busy with something. I’ll get back to work.”
Zeng Yu continued working, but when he said he was almost done, there was still quite a bit left to do. Jiang Nan’s reminder made him realize how hungry he was. He remembered he had some instant noodles and started snacking on the dry noodles while he worked, taking a few bites and then getting back to it.
Zeng Yu always felt he wasn’t good enough for Jiang Nan and needed to be more successful, and even more successful.
When Wang Zheng woke up, Wang Chengfu was no longer in the living room. He learned that his uncle had gone to report to his father-in-law.
His phone had a message from Wang Chengfu: We’re leaving tomorrow to handle your dad’s medical parole. Everything’s in order; it’ll be a breeze once we get there.
After reading the message, Wang Zheng called Ye Xiyan, but there was no answer.
“She must still be sleeping…” Wang Zheng muttered, getting up to wash and finding something to eat before grabbing his car keys and heading out. Tomorrow he was going to see his father, and he had to bring Ye Xiyan with him. Wang Zheng realized he hadn’t mentioned this to her before, but he thought it would be a nice surprise.
As soon as Wang Zheng left the house, he ran into Wang Chengfu and Yuan Lei. He walked over and greeted them, “Hello, Auntie!”
Yuan Lei wasn’t much older than Wang Zheng, so being called “Auntie” felt a bit awkward, but she was still happy about it. She smiled and nodded, “Hello, are you heading out?”
“Yeah, I’m going back to pack a few things.” Wang Zheng replied with a smile.
Yuan Lei handed him a paper bag, “Here, give this to your girlfriend. Make her happy.”
Wang Zheng saw that it was a set of skincare products and thanked her as he took it.
Watching him leave, Wang Chengfu laughed and said, “Feeling a bit weird?”
“You think?” Yuan Lei replied, “Good thing I came prepared. By the way, how much older is your brother than you?”
“Not by much, only twenty years. Don’t be surprised, we don’t have the same mother.”
When Zeng Yu heard the knock on the door, he had just finished looking through the client information. He grabbed the instant noodle packet next to him and went to open the door, wondering who could be there at that moment.
When Zeng Yu saw Jiang Nan standing at the door, he felt a mix of joy and worry. He was happy to see her, but concerned about his current state. He hadn’t shaved, his hair was unkempt, and he still had a half-eaten packet of instant noodles in his hand.
He awkwardly swallowed the mouthful of noodles, “What brings you here?”
Jiang Nan’s eyes were filled with concern as she scolded him, “Is this all you’re eating? You’re going to ruin your health!”
“It’s fine, I’m healthy.” Zeng Yu quickly tried to brush it off.
Jiang Nan huffed, “I knew you’d be like this, so I brought you some food. Now go clean yourself up; you look a mess.”
Zeng Yu went into the bathroom and tidied himself up before coming out. He was secretly relieved that he had at least taken a shower last night; otherwise, he would have looked even worse.
“I was in a hurry, so I just grabbed some quick takeout. Hurry up and eat.” Jiang Nan said as she opened the meal box and handed him chopsticks.
Zeng Yu gratefully said, “Thank you.”
Jiang Nan rolled her eyes, “No more thanking me.”
The meal came with a chicken drumstick and some ordinary side dishes. Even if it had been poison, Zeng Yu wouldn’t have minded. As he ate quickly, he couldn’t help but glance at Jiang Nan.
“Just eat your food and stop looking around.” Jiang Nan chided with a smile.
On the computer screen was the client information Zeng Yu had been organizing. Jiang Nan sat down and began reading through it carefully.
Zeng Yu had done a thorough job with the client data, even including his own analysis. He had carefully marked potential clients and explained why they were worth pursuing.
“The city is so big, with so many restaurants. Where did you find all this information? It must have taken a lot of time.” Jiang Nan asked, puzzled.
Zeng Yu swallowed another bite of food and shook his head, “It’s not as much work as you think. I found most of the information online and then did a simple evaluation based on the prices and customer reviews. There are a lot of restaurants in the city, but it’s really hard to get into the high-end ones. Feixuan Restaurant was an exception, a stroke of luck. Our target should be mid-to-high-end restaurants since we’re aiming for the middle-class crowd. These people wouldn’t even consider spending thousands on a bottle of Romanée-Conti, let alone Lafite. But they still enjoy a good bottle of wine, so that’s where Sophie comes in.”
“Great thinking. Now hurry up and eat. Once you’re done, you can get back to making money for the company. Right now, we’re only representing Sophie. Once we make a name for ourselves, we can go to France and secure more brands. Who knows, you might become the biggest wine distributor in the country!” Jiang Nan said, unable to contain her laughter.
“Hey, you’re the big boss here. If anyone’s going to be the biggest distributor, it’s going to be under your name.” Zeng Yu joked back.
The atmosphere between them was light and easy.
Zeng Yu had a lot of ideas for the company’s future: how to expand the business, how to motivate employees, how to secure brand representation, and so on.
After hearing him out, Jiang Nan felt a bit embarrassed. As the company owner, she hadn’t thought as deeply about these things. Jiang Nan wanted to tell him that the winery belonged to her family, and securing distribution wasn’t something he needed to worry about. But she didn’t dare say that because it would blow her cover.
“You don’t have to work so hard.” Jiang Nan finally said after a long pause, handing him a napkin to wipe his sweat.
“I’m a shareholder too, you know?” Zeng Yu said, closing his eyes as he held her hand, which was wiping his sweat. “Fate has been kind to me, and I don’t want to be greedy. I just want to work hard to repay you.”
“If it’s because of me, then I hope you don’t overwork yourself.” Jiang Nan said softly, not pulling her hand away as Zeng Yu held it against his face.
After a long while, Zeng Yu finally let go, smiling as he looked at her, “This is for our future.”
Jiang Nan got up from her chair and sat beside him on the bed, speaking quietly, “As long as two people are together and not lacking in food or clothing, that’s enough.”
Zeng Yu wrapped his arm around her shoulder, gently rocking them both, “You’re right, but as a man, I feel it’s my responsibility and duty to work hard so that my wife and kids can have a high-quality life.”
The time they spent together flew by, and before they knew it, it was time for dinner.
Zeng Yu and Jiang Nan exchanged glances and spoke in unison, “Let’s order takeout.”
They were both thinking the same thing—they were enjoying each other’s company too much to bother doing anything else. This was the feeling of being in love—just wanting to be close, doing nothing in particular, but feeling incredibly content. Most couples in love experience this phase.
As the city lights began to twinkle, Wang Zheng decided to surprise Ye Xiyan by going to her workplace at the supermarket and inviting her to join him in picking up his father.
He first bought a bouquet of flowers and then took a taxi to the supermarket. Wang Zheng walked around but didn’t see Ye Xiyan anywhere, which left him puzzled. Had she not come to work?
He asked one of the supermarket staff and was shocked by the response.
“Ye Xiyan doesn’t work here.” the woman said, adding kindly, “She quit a while ago. Such a young and pretty girl, there’s no way she’d last long in a place like this.”
Wang Zheng felt a surge of irritation but managed to thank her with a blank face before turning to leave.
The woman muttered under her breath, “These days, you can’t trust what young girls say. That poor guy probably got tricked.”
Wang Zheng stiffened, then walked to the door and tossed the flowers into the trash can.
The fact that Ye Xiyan had lied to him was a huge blow. Thinking back, he realized that he had often dropped her off at work, watching her walk into the supermarket before leaving. There was no doubt she had been putting on an act the entire time.
Wang Zheng looked up and noticed a nearby nightclub, its neon lights flashing. A group of women, dressed to the nines, was walking together, and Wang Zheng recognized one of them as one of the girls he had planned to introduce to Zeng Yu at Ye Xiyan’s birthday party.
He quickly followed them, hoping to get some answers. But as he reached the nightclub’s entrance, an elevator door opened, and out walked Ye Xiyan.
Just ten minutes earlier, Ye Xiyan had quit her job at the nightclub and settled her wages.
The boss had shown some decency and didn’t make things difficult for her. Expecting her wages to be withheld, Ye Xiyan was feeling good and had a smile on her face.
But as she stepped out of the elevator and saw Wang Zheng, her smile vanished, and her face turned pale.
She wanted to explain, but she couldn’t even find the strength to speak.
She stared in despair at Wang Zheng’s furious expression. Only one thought ran through her mind: This day has finally come. She had imagined countless breakup scenarios, but she never thought it would happen like this.
Seeing her close her eyes in fear, unable to face him, Wang Zheng’s mind flashed back to the happy moments they had shared.
He said nothing and turned to leave.
When Ye Xiyan opened her eyes, all she saw was his back. She leaned against the wall, tears streaming down her face as she watched him disappear into the colorful lights.
It was over. Everything was over.
Though she had mentally prepared herself for this moment, the pain of it still tore through her heart.
After a moment, she wiped her tears, hailed a taxi, and went home. Feeling guilty, she had no intention of asking Wang Zheng for forgiveness, but as she opened the door to their small apartment, she still held onto a sliver of hope.
Everything inside was just as it had been. Wang Zheng wasn’t home, and neither was their past.
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